Apologies To The Bank Balance... Part II

I have returned from an afternoon of browsing and the results are interesting.

I promised to take pictures and I did. This in itself was difficult I was trying to avoid the embarrassment of it being obvious I was photographing myself (camera flash, camera clicky noises etc). Then without a flash some of the pictures came out a bit blurry. And also taking a photo of your own body is both tricky and unflattering. With that in mind and the previous post to hand, here's how I got on.


I parked the car at Debenhams and walked through. Browsed the rails of the concessions in there that included Miss Selfridge, Warehouse, Oasis, Red Herring and Julien McDonald. I wasn't impressed, and I couldn't find Dress Number 4.

After a quick overall scour I went round again to have a closer look at what was on offer. I picked up 4 dresses in the end, all Miss Selfridge.

First up, a one shouldered spotted number. Not particularly flattering on me and a bit low on the bust. Thumbs down. This one was even worse. No idea what's going on around the chest area at all. This was the best of the four, and it just makes me look all hips. The third one I tried on I'm not even going to post, safe to say it was a disastrous Aztecy number. Not good so far. In fact I was actually so glad to put my own clothes back on. This one is mine. By far my favourite in that changing room... Moving on, I checked Oasis and Warehouse's full range in their stores. Yawn yawn yawn.

I then almost ran to Republic as I knew I wouldn't be let down in there. Lots of lovely sequin numbers but I wanted to avoid them, as I already own a sequin dress and I wanted something a bit different.

First up remember Dress Number 2? It turned out to be a tad too casual, so I ended up with an armful of some that were completely different.


This one reminded me a bit of the River Island one that I had looked at, with lace-effect detailing at the top. It was "nice", but nothing special, and something I wasn't particularly excited about wearing. (Yes I cheated slightly, there's a sequin striped top in there that I just HAD to try on.)

Next I thought I was onto something. I really REALLY liked this Jessica's Attic beaded dress:


I would probably have bought this if it was any other occasion. There's a tunic underneath and then a beaded layer over the top which tied at the back with little tassels!

Told you that the self portraits were not flattering. And oops, there's my bra!

Once I decided that I needed something a bit more special I moved on. I headed into Dorothy Perkins and immediately came across Dress Number 5. Two of them. In a size 8 and a size 10. Fail! The entire back section is actually satin and the front seemed to be equally flimsy and not a good look for the curvier figure, so I scrapped that idea.

Next up, River Island. Could NOT find Dress Number 1. Nor did anything else take my fancy. I was beginning to feel a bit desperate.

Topshop was my last hope. I had walked the entire length of the shopping centre and this was the one shop remaining.

I started hunting for Dress Number 3 to no avail. Along the way things were catching my eye so I picked up two other dresses and on the way to the fitting room I found something else...

First up I tried that red and black number hanging up at the side. I liked that immensly until I literally put it over my head and decided that maybe I didn't like it, and that I would probably never wear it again anyway.

Then I tried on this purple one. This does appeal to me but it's a bit too prom-like and shiny and for the occasion.

BUT - we have a winner.


I do need to tie it properly (and may I just say there are some weird shadows going on the armpit area in that photo). However this nude cutie from TFNC, which I discovered stands for "Time For New Clothes!" by the way, is so me. I realised then that when I started out I didn't have any true idea of what I was looking for, just the boots I wanted to wear with it.

So this is the one and I'm picking it up in the morning. It's £60 and right at the top end of my budget but it's definitely going to be worn again and again.

I was so happy that on the way back to the car I treated myself to a GOSH lipstick in Darling. It had to be a lipstick ;)