Pink Haired Princess

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.

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). 

Hola!  A funny one for you this week, jogging bottoms! Bet you didn't see that coming.

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.

Shift your eyes away from those wonderful shoes for a wee minute, because it's the leggings I'm talking about today.  I bought a pile of new clothes recently, mostly from the new plus-size range at Wallis .  I've spent almost all year in my jammies, so splurging on clothes seems a bit of a waste when I can't or don't wear them.  However I've started at physio again (think it's around 10 years since I've been) and the first thing out of my mouth when the doctor mentioned the referral was "what am I going to wear?"  Yes jammies are not suitable outdoor attire!  He passed that anecdote onto the physio who said as soon as I came in "oh you found something to wear then"!  I know I make life difficult, but I like to stay true to myself and I didn't want to suddenly start wearing tracksuit bottoms and a sweatshirt because that's what I "should" wear to the gym.  It's really not me, I'd be self conscious, uncomforta...

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.

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.

I had a rather massive splurge at ASOS the other week, so I've got plenty of new buys to keep you amused with over the next couple of months.  I have to admit to typing 'unicorn' into clothing website search boxes just to see what comes up.  On ASOS, I do it daily.   Maybe even more than once!

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.

As is usually the way with my shopping habits, I really wanted something but didn't have money for it at the time.  Watched it slowly sell out, sad face, moan, moan, moan, stalked it until I eventually found one in my size and yay, bought it!  It happened a couple of weeks ago and it gave me the opportunity to try out the new Sunday service from ASOS .  I've always been a big advocate for the ASOS UK Premier service, which I've used for years (I promise I've not been asked/paid to say any of this).  If you don't know it's a yearly subscription and in return you receive free unlimited next/nominated day delivery, free returns (courier alongside the usual Collect+ or Royal Mail) along with every issue of the ASOS magazine, special sales, discounts and previews before regular customers.  Lately with free postal returns and free shipping (albeit by a slower method), I've been thinking they might see a reduction in those taking up the offer.  Personally I love t...

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...

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...

A couple of weeks before Christmas, my parents went through to Edinburgh for some Christmas shopping and a nosey at the festive markets. As always though, they were armed with a list from me, of things to look for in Primark. It's been months since I was last in Primark, but hopefully after the sales have calmed down, I can get back into shopping. Anyway the dress I wanted, they didn't get (they've already looked in Edinburgh once before and Dundee twice, so I think I've definitely missed my size), however they did come home with lots of other goodies and you'll be surprised to learn it was mostly socks and t-shirts. Yes, really! Pearl first brought these super cute Bambi socks to my attention via Facebook and then I almost forgot about them entirely. I was browsing something else on eBay and it led me to finding out about most of these things and thus the list was compiled! I realised they also did Little Mermaid socks. Well you don't have to ask m...

Last week I went on a mission. There's usually a stand-out dress every season in Primark and normally I struggle to find it in my local store. I'd spotted this tartan dress (below), clearly inspired by Saint Laurent, months ago and knew I had to have it. I was dubious if my local would ever get it though. Once I knew a rough idea of when it was due instore, I contacted my friend who kept an eye out for me at the Edinburgh store. She said they would get it before my local as it's a massive shop. Rather than wait all that time, then miss out on it, I decided it would be easier to go to Edinburgh myself. Now, I'm here to talk about clothes, but a 'quick trip' to Edinburgh isn't really an easy or cheap thing for me even although it isn't too far away. Despite being in the capital almost every weekend in my Uni days, I've only been a handful of times in the 11 years I've been ill (and several of them were for mandatory bridesmaid dress fittin...