Pink Haired Princess

Have you heard of Dolly And Dotty ? They have a website bursting full of affordable, retro, rockabilly dresses, skirts, tops and accessories. I can't see anything over £40 and they cater for a broad range of sizes, 6-24. They very kindly sent me a lovely package; a dress and headband to review (the latter I stupidly forgot to photograph)! I was spoilt for choice on the website actually, there's swing dresses, wiggle styles and in the prints you'd expect from vintage-esque, pin-up clothing; polka dots, cherries, florals and stripes, all in a plethora of colours. If you fall in love with either a shape of dress or print, then you'll find it in many other colours/prints or styles.

You know I've been crazy about bags lately (maybe more so than shoes?) and my latest addition, is this flamingo one. Isn't it gorgeous? Read on for my review and also a 10% discount code.

So, I've wanted a Lindy Bop dress for a looong time. I've put it off because I was unsure which size I'd take, blah, blah, blah. Then I got an email notification last year to say the dress I'd lusted after for so long was back in stock (and in the sale), so I knew now was the time to take the plunge.

Do not think this is an old post creeping into your reading list, it's new honest!  If you've been following the escapades of this floral dress, then you'll know that I've already unsuccessfully tried two and here is my third (time lucky) attempt!

ASOS have been quite generous with discount codes over the past couple of months, so I've been ordering rather regularly. I thought I'd share some of my purchases, starting with a smallish order a couple of weeks ago, which included the wiggle dresses I reviewed last week (Tall and winter floral crepe ones). 

Golly, I can't tell you the amount of half written posts I started last week. I keep finding something more important to write about, then ditch that for something else. I'm annoying myself! I've had ASOS orders arriving almost every day (not joking that much) and in amongst them has been even more 'wiggle dresses'. Uh-huh, more than the zillion I already have. So instead of dragging it out each week in Bought & Thought (which would likely last until next summer), I figured I'd do a massive compilation in one post with reviews of each one. A lot of these have gone into the sale right now (which is why I thought you'd appreciate a review now) and some have only come out in the past couple of days. I'm going to start with some of the more recent ones, because they are freshest in my mind and the amount of photos for older styles vary as I didn't have the foresight to know I'd write this post!

This dress was half price for one day only, so I took the opportunity to snap it up, having had my eye on in for a couple of weeks.

Growing up, I was obsessed with Sindy dolls, like proper ' all I ever wanted ' obsessed.  Royal couturiers 'The Emanuels' (David and Elizabeth, famous for designing that wedding dress for Princess Diana) produced a collection of Sindy outfits. Beautiful full length, frilled, taffeta gowns with velvet capes and coats all shrunk down to miniature size for my favourite doll (don't worry this is leading somewhere). Even as a small child, I knew those outfits were epic . I even had a VHS (probably still do somewhere) of a Sindy documentary (featuring David and Elizabeth talking about their dolly creations) that I watched over and over, until it got a bit 'jumpy' in bits. Nowadays David is probably known outside of the fashion world for I'm A Celebrity (I didn't watch it) and he also has a clothing line at Bonmarche.

So I've bought dozens more 'wiggle dresses' from ASOS recently (well, maybe a slight exaggeration) and because they're experimenting a little with some of the details and more notably, the fabric, some have fitted and some have not.  One of the best ones for me is the animal print wiggle dress £50 (in a size 18, also available in Tall here ).

Last month I spoke about the welcome expansion of plus-size ranges at House of Fraser and today I'm featuring another one of those brands, Lipstick Boutique. LB's main range comes in sizes 8-16 and features celebrity collaborations with the likes of Amy Childs, Binky and Jessica Wright. The 'curvy' range comes in sizes 18-24 and very much adopts the same ethos as the main range, with bodycon silhouettes, lots of floral and lace and that same party-girl feel. That's not to say there's nothing suitable for daywear, I find the range easy to wear and it can definitely be dressed up or down, depending on the occasion.

With the nights drawing in and winter looming, the shops are filled with new season clothes-my favourite time of the year! I'm not sure why, but A/W fashion always gets me much more excited than S/S. John Lewis have launched their fashion magazine online , brimming with new pieces and trends (it's also available free via the app store if you have a fancy phone/tablet/whatever new thing has just launched-'fraid I'm not that tech minded) and they've asked me to pick out my favourites. Hard job, but someone has to do it, wink, wink! I'm happy to see what I'd consider staples and classics rather than entirely 'new' trends and this little lot has me wishing I was instore trying and buying right now!

Hola!  Bit of a funny story for you with Bought & Thought this week.  So you know how I'm a massive fan of the ASOS 'wiggle dresses'? Well I was uber excited by this new one .  It was selling fast and I did the usual, it sold out, but eventually managed to get my hands on it.  It's made from this weird textured fabric, can't say I'm thrilled with the feel of it, but it doesn't look too off-putting in the flesh.  The colour is gorgeous , the bold rose print is beautiful .  So now to the funny bit.  I tried it on when it arrived (nobody home) and managed to get stuck in it!  I do this thing where if I can't get a dress on with the zip closed, it's too small.  I always think if I get into it with the zip open then I'll be really scuppered if it's too tight, because I don't have a zip to open for extra room to get out (hmm, not so great thinking there).  Obviously the waist is the smallest bit, so it was getting that over my chest that...

It's always good to see more places catering for plus size ladies and House of Fraser are the latest, with a selection of popular plus size brands like Anna Scholz, Evans, Chesca, Lipstick Boutique, AX Paris Curve and Little Mistress Curvy. Alongside that, is in-house brand Dickins & Jones, which come in sizes 8-20 in their main range, with a selection of styles in sizes 22-26. I think it's brilliant to see HoF reaching more customers and understanding that plus size women are like everyone else; shopping on different budgets and looking for a variety of fashionable styles. It's always nice to know there's somewhere else on the high street that we can walk into and try things on (often very rare for plus-size customers) or of course shop online and try at home if we choose.

With reviews and hauls over the past couple of weeks, it's been a while since I've done a simple 'Bought & Thought' post.  I can't recall where I first spied this dress, in some magazine I think and I had to track it down, because it looked  so  gorgeous.  It's from Boden and I buy a lot for my youngest nephew from there but haven't paid much attention to the adults section if I'm honest.  I therefore didn't know anything about their sizing or if they even went up to my size.  I was pleasantly surprised to find the dress in stock, in sizes 6-22 and bonus, it was in the sale!  I'm usually an 18-20 though I'd say a 20 has been more accurate recently, so I thought I'd read the reviews to see if I should size up, down or what!  I was completely overwhelmed by them, there were just so many and all with conflicting opinions and points!  I did that internal thought process of trying to make myself hate it "it likely won't fit me a...

Graphic bodycon dresses for Mid Week Must Haves this time. My high street honey is this adorable but slightly crazed Disturbia 'Bunnies' dress £31.99 from Pulp. The print comes in several pieces for summer and I really love those crazy-cute buns. My high end hottie is this House of Holland 'Cock Tale' dress £125. Henry Holland has turned cult movies, such as Cocktail and True Romance into slightly disturbing prints for his pre-fall collection. Just look at that print close-up, who doesn't want a googly eyed Tom Cruise all over a dress?! Too kitsch? Is there even such a thing? Mid Week Must Haves by pinkhairedprincess Post contains affiliate links.

I don't know what happened to Bought & Thought last week, I missed it! I've not been keeping to my schedule as well as I'd like, but I'm not going to dwell on it. So, I bought these dresses a while back when I had a discount code. If you follow The Shoe Girl Diaries then you'll know I'm fond of the ASOS wiggle dress ! I've bought them in every print and colour that has fitted (and sadly sent back several that didn't). As much as I love the style, one thing that I'd sometimes like to change is the longer length (it's just past mid-calf on me).  You have to consider which shoes to wear with it proportion-wise. So I was mega excited to see some 'mini' versions of the style. They looked really short on the model, but then the longer version looks shorter on them too (I'm not exactly model height), so I assumed they would be a little longer in real life. The middle and right in the photo below are the shorter lengths (sorry for...

Hello my lovelies, I hope you are all well and enjoying the little bit of sunshine. If you follow my other blog, The Shoe Girl Diaries , then you'll be fully aware of my love for the H! by Henry Holland range. I find it's generally quite generously sized, so being on the cusp of 'plus-size', the 18's actually fit me well. Debenhams is one of the rare places I can walk into and have options and choice on what to buy, which makes a pleasant change.

Where can you buy a dress for under £15? Y'all just yelled "Primark" at me, didn't you? How about three dresses for under £15? Anybody? Well, SheLikes has come up with the novel idea of a ' Minimum Wage Dress ' collection with prices starting at just £3.68. For a dress! The dresses are available in limited numbers and come in a variety of colours. I'll start cheapest first, with this knotted front 'Nathalia' number. It comes in 'cream' (looks 'white' to me), black, lime or coral and although I doubt it would cover my bottom, where else can you get a dress for only £3.68?? The "Student Minimum Wage Dress" aimed at those aged 18-20, is 'Penni', this lovely skater skirted dress with cap sleeves. It's available in black, royal blue, 'cream', red and coral for an incredible £4.98. Finally for those minimum wagers aged 21+, how about the 'Paloma' contrast bodycon? Also known as "The...

I've been growing more and more stressed about not having suitable clothes for this warm weather, so a couple of weeks ago, I decided to rearrange my wardrobe. I figured I'd try stuff on, if it didn't fit, I'd take it out. This would hopefully give me some space as I keep pulling out dresses to wear and they're totally creased, so I put them back! I hate the thought of dragging out the iron and ironing board every day for one dress, if you haven't already guessed that from my usually crumpled attire! The stuff gets ironed when it's been washed, but my wardrobe is so full it ruins that! Anyway, I had a massive 'iron' pile and decided, I might as well keep going and 'properly' clear out my wardrobe. That turned into clearing my cupboards, drawers and a chair in my room which has clothes piled to my height (oops). It's hard graft I tell you! I'm not capable of much with my M.E. anyway, but between hauling heavy piles, standing...

Did I mention I love that Primark is now available at ASOS ? Hmm, did I? More than once probably, well I do love it, I truly do. This little unexpected project has more than proved how ace it is. On Tuesday I bought Look magazine. "Oh there's a cute dress dress at Primark, look". "Bet ours will never get it in though". Fast forward to Friday and my usual 'let's stalk ASOS and guess which Primark items are new today' routine happened a little later than usual. Guess what I found? The red dress I'd wanted in the magazine! So I decided to test the ASOS Premier service to it's limit and ordered at quarter to 9 in the evening with free next day delivery. I received an email this morning (Saturday) to say it would arrive between 17.15 and 18.15 and right enough there was a knock on the door at half five. The delivery guy noted my eagerness immediately and said "I bet you've been waiting all day for this and thought I was neve...