Getting all Dolly and Dotty!

Dress: c/o Dolly and Dotty. Belt: Vintage. Cardigan: Dorothy Perkins. Shoes: Bait Footwear. Sunglasses: Specspost. Hair Flower: Pin Up Curl.

I've had this dress for quite awhile and I've been desperately meaning to post about it but I just wasn't happy with the photos, however these only came out marginally better and I do hope you don't mind. I wish the photos without the cardigan were cuter than they are but I wanted to show you how the fabric is on the bust and back of the dress (both extremely comfortable!) This is the Melissa Bandeau dress the lovely team over at Dolly and Dotty sent me to review. You may recall be reviewing another of their dresses at the beginning of the year and me being surprised at how true to size they were as so often I find vintage reproduction or inspired brands can be on the smaller size but I am happy to report again that Dolly and Dotty's sizing seems to be spot on if not a little generous. Here I'm wearing a UK20 and it's comfortable and doesn't cut in on my waistband, I do however find the dress a little long in the body though I am only 5'2 so this is something that I usual find in the vast majority of dresses I wear! I also find the bust quite full as well so if you have boobs bigger than me (for reference I wear a 38DD/E generally in bras) you should still be fine even with it being strapless. I'm wearing my go to Curvy Kate Luxe strapless bra under the dress in these photos. 

I decided to colour coordinate the whole of my outfit and threw on the cardigan and belt over as I just think it looks so cute and is a great option for wearing this dress in the cooler months as well! If you're looking for fun vintage style dresses which are easy to care for and extremely well priced I'd definitely check out Dolly and Dotty! 

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Polka Dot Pretty with Lady Vintage.

Dress: c/o Lady Vintage. Shoes: Bait Footwear. Beret: old! Clutch: Primark.

Lately I've been delving a little deeper into the retro loving side of my own personal style and from my blog posts over the last few months it's been even more obvious than ever! So I was so excited when Lady Vintage asked if I'd like to review The Maria Dress from their Lady Voluptuous range which goes up to a UK32. A size range in such a scale as theirs is sadly often lacking when it comes to vintage reproduction brands. Lady Vintage have been on my radar for quite awhile but I'd never gotten chance to get my hands on a dress before! 

Here I'm wearing a UK20 which I would say is very true to size. If you've read my blog for awhile you'll know that I often mention how in vintage reproduction brands in the past I've found sizing to run small compared to high street sizing etc but I'm happy to report that in this Maria Dress that isn't the case! The dress itself is well made and the fabric is a thick stretch cotton mix meaning it hugs to the body well but also keeps it's shape! What I particularly love about this design is the flattering shape of the neckline and gathers across the chest and the 3/4 length sleeve as these aren't often on dresses and it does mean that there isn't any need for a cardigan if you were at all self conscious about your arms. I styled the dress up with a cute beret that I don't wear enough. these Bait Footwear flats which I utterly adore but they're just a little too snug to wear a lot and my go to classic red lip! The clutch bag was a recent and rather frivolous purchase from Primark but I just couldn't resist! 

If you're now dying to get your hands on a Lady Volup piece, the team have been nice enough to offer you guys 10% off your order with

ROSIE10

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Polka Dots and Poodles.

Peplum Top: c/o George at Asda. Jeans: Matalan. Necklace: Me and Zena. Clutch: Asos. Shoes: Evans.

I took these photos far to long ago but with my massive graduate hand in and the after math of a weddings and my brother and his girlfriend staying for a week I've only just had the chance to sit down and finally write a blog post. Unfortunately I am pretty behind on posts and have an array of fabulous things to show you which I'm hoping to get posted over the next few weeks so please do bare with me. I'm a little refreshed and hopefully have my blogging mojo back!

This style of top is one of my favourites for summer, long enough to pair with leggings for a comfortable look but can equally be dressed up with denim and heels for a less casual look like I've done here. In this I sized up to a UK22 as I like them to be looser for the warm whether and it also means that the top would be longer on me making sure it covered my crotch for wearing with leggings! The back of the neck also have a really lovely scoop and tie at the back which I unfortunately couldn't master getting a decent photo of! I decided to finish the look by mixing prints in the form of this cute clutch back I picked up on sale at Asos (a bag I'll probably use for photos but rarely out as I like to carry a lot of crap around with me!), denim to break up the dark colours and cute hair and make up, which was from a shoot I did at HMS Vintage and can't WAIT to show you when I get a chance! 

Again sorry for the radio silence but I'm glad to be back and I hope you're glad too! 

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Spring Time Wellies.

Denim Jacket: M&Co. Dress: Dorothy Perkins. Wellies: c/o Jileon Wellies. Hair: Thanks to Nancy!

I don't know about you but I've never been a massive fan of wellies, probably because I couldn't get cute one that would fit around my calves or fit my wide feet. In fact I recall having some tops of wellies when I was younger being slit down the back so I could get my legs in! But in the last 2 years I've found the joy that is Jileon Wellies who sent me a pair to try in November 2012 (check that post out here) which I loved back then but they have come on leaps and bounds since then! They were lovely enough to offer me the opportunity to review there new style and I'm genuinely blown away! 

 The buckles are perfect they actually lock so they don't come undone as you walk which ones in the past have. On where the clasp is for the buckle and cord it can't fall out all together which is another well thought out feature, having them made our of fabric instead of the rubber of the wellie has worked out perfectly. They're also insanely comfortable because they actually fit my feet so I don't get aching soles after wearing them for a few hours. These are almost closed on me and they fit up to a 53cm calf so would be perfect for all manner of calves. So not only are these practical and fit wonderfully but they're also really pretty, I adore the ditsy print of the flowers and the fact it doesn't cover the whole boot makes it easier to match with clashing prints and this time I wore them with this cute polka dot get up, red lips (which I'm rarely without) and my lovely vintage hairstyle, which is thanks to the lovely Nancy and I'll be showing you more snaps from this soon! This was slept on hair as well, super impressed! Back to the Wellies, I'd recommend Jileon to anyone with wide calves, I love these so much that I'm seriously lusting over this second pair!

Jileon Wellies have been even more fabulous by offering my readers a fabulous 20% OFF! Just use the code ROSE20 at the check out, this will be active for 2 WHOLE weeks! Let me know if you order any I'd love to see what you chosen!

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Marisota SS14 Style Challenge.

Biker Jacket: c/o Marisota. Jeans: Matalan. Top: Asos Curve. Socks: Urban Outfitters. Shoes: New Look. Necklace: Topshop. Glasses: Jeepers Peepers.

The lovely guys at Marisota gave me the chance to style up an item from there upcoming SS2014 pieces and I was lucky enough to be sent this beautiful Boucle Biker Jacket from the Ava by Mark Heyes collection. It's something I wouldn't usually go for as it's such a pale colour and for someone as accident prone as me it's something I tend to shy away from. I can't get over how grown up I actually feel in this get up, of course I've still got my creative focal points to stop me feeling overly mature with my polka dot socks, pointed flats, quirky frames and heart necklace but I felt very professional in this like I could take over the world? I received this in a size 20 and it fits a dream, it doesn't zip up on me but as I don't wear any jackets done up this isn't a problem for me. It even fits well with a jumper under neath, so perfect for layering!

I decided to style this with jeans to keep it on the more casual side another item I tend to avoid due to the fact they never seem to fit me nicely and I end up with my tummy getting cut in two with the waistband or just a very baggy bum! For the time being these basic straight leg jeans from Matalan ( a bargain at a £10) shall suffice. The top is a very recent purchase for my upcoming trip to London for a few days with uni as it's comfortable, doesn't crease easily and I love the mesh piece at the top, I actually sized up to a 22 in this thinking it would be loose but as you can see it's not so I'd certainly suggest going up a dress size. I finished the look with my latest piece of bling that fabulous heart cut out necklace and a slick of my trade mark coloured lips!

Apologies if my photographs are a little off, I've recently upgraded to a snazzier camera and I'm still getting used to the setting and no I haven't bothered reading the instructions....

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Polka Dot Pretties.

 Xelence Mini Spot Tights - Light Shape Dress Size 16-20.

Xelence 30 Denier Semi Opaque Tights - Light Shape Dress Size 16-20

Dress: Dorothy Perkins Concession. Glasses: Jeepers Peepers.

I was contracted way before Christmas by the lovely team at Charnos to see if I'd like to review some tights from there XeLence range which are made with us plus size girls in mind and go up to a size 32. I received the size 16-20 in both styles, though I have to admit I was a little dubious initially as I always tend to size up with tights as so often if I buy ones that will only reach to my knees! Of course I needn't have worried as even though I'm at the top of the size bracket they fit like a dream and don't really cut into my stomach at all!

I was really excited to receiving the polka dot pair as I've been swooning over this cutesy look for so long but just didn't want to risk such thin tights because I've lost count of the times I've put my fingers through tights when trying to yank them on! When I originally popped these pretties on I was really careful not to snag anything but they pulled up really easily are very soft to the touch and even with them being thin I didn't feel like I was going to have to carry a bottle of clear nail varnish with me to stop any ladders! The second pair of tights being perfect for daily and basic wear and something I'd certainly feel comfortable wearing all day in the office or at uni, another thing I noticed when I wore these out was that they didn't fall down a lot either which is always a nice thing!

Each pair of Charnos Xelence is constructed with a higher denier yarn on the thigh area to help combat chub rub which I personally think is a fab idea but doesn't feel like it's heavier or tighter on your skins. They also each have a clever feature of a single layer waistband which helps eliminate the elastic band effect you can get across your stomach when wearing tights (I get this ALL THE TIME!) Priced between £7 to £10 I do think this is a great price for such a wonderful piece of hosiery and I certainly plan to order some more in myself in the future.

I think Charnos have really hit the nail on the head by saying there Xelence range is Custom Made For Curves and I can't wait to see more!

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Polka Dots and Red Lips.

Dress: Vivien of Holloway. Top: M&Co. Shoes: Matalan. Brooch: Vintage. Flower slide: Primark.

At the start of the month I was looking at the lovely blog DIY Fatshion by Dani (go check her out shes so sweet!) and saw her Polka dot get up and felt totally inspired by her. Of course I don't own the exact same outfit (If only!) but I certainly own more than enough of my fair share of spotty items, they're like my kryptonite... along with stripes obviously!

The outfit ended up coming out pretty vintage inspired with my beautiful VOH dress which I bought from Rachel who runs A Dress Is For Life and my eBay petticoat under neath. One of my favourite colour combinations is red and monochrome so I added my bargain £2.50 shoes and lashing of red gloss! I just couldn't resist blowing you all a kiss as a thank you for following me and putting up with my ramblings! As I've just reached 400 GFC followers today, SO CHEERS!

For once I don't have much else to say, first time for everything right! It was my birthday this weekend I turned the rip old age of 20, but I didn't really plan much as all my friends were still at Uni etc but it was lovely all the same with my family even though it rained! Hopefully I'll have some snaps from our day out up soon once I get my hands on them!

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The Fat Fabulous Four Challenge!

Today (well normally Saturday evenings but I'm late... my time skills are awful!) is the launch of  a lovely little challenge collaboration between me (obviously), Becky of The Ramblings of Mrs BeBe, Toni of The only way is Toni and Mhairi of Lilybobombs. We will all be bringing you a new post every two weeks on a saturday with our own takes on some top trends and styles, starting this week with lace!

Dress: Asos Curve. Black Tee/(P)leather Jacket: Dorothy Perkins. Trainers: Matalan (£5!)

Now I'm a massive fan of lace, I own a large quantity of the it but this is the only non black piece I own. I have worn it without a long sleeved top under but it was so bloody cold today that I had to! The only downside to this dress is the white top piece under the lace slides down, I wore it to see One Direction as few weeks back and they got an eyeful as they passed over us that's for sure! 

These trainers have hardly been off my feet since I picked them up in the Matalan sale for a fiver! I bought them for summer but as all my shoes have slowly fallen apart and these were the only things that didn't let water in I had to start wearing them and now I honestly don't think they'll last that long! My (p)leather jacket was also thrown on for a little warmth, something else I've hardly had off since I got it back in January! 

Do you still see lace as a fancy even sexy fabric? Or do you wear it casually as well?

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Subtle Spots.

Shirt/Clutch: Simply Be. Leggings: Matalan. Sandal Flatforms/Moose(?) Necklace: Primark. Gold Chain Necklace: Charity Shop. Black Slip (from an old dress) Dorothy Perkins. Tight Socks: Urban Outfitters.

Okay so this probably doesn't seem like subtle spots but just check out my little tight socks tying the whole spotty look together, so cute! I got them as a gift a while back off my dear friend who seems to always get me the best presents (shes also the girl who got me the lovely Asos bag in my last outfit post). I adore this shirt from Simply Be its something I love having in my wardrobe though I'm yet to properly wear it out for a full day as the fabric makes me boiling so I'm hoping to get a lot more wear out of it come the cooler weather. The clutch I bought from the Simply Be store in Leicester when it first opened ( I did a post about it here ) I did get it discounted but it was still probably the most expensive bag I've ever bought other than school rug sacks!

These shoes are quickly becoming a firm favourite in my life... not that I've worn them for long periods of time yet. I want to try and wear them when I'm at events in London but I know my feet would probably kill towards the end of the day but it would be worth it to look at my adorable and probably red and swollen feet! these necklaces are actually two of my favourites but I rarely wear the simple gold chain, the moose necklace I've worn a lot I added some extra length to the back so its longer on me and I love it, people have often asked me where its from and not believed it was good old primark for a pound!

My make ups has become much better applied in the last month or so thanks to my new brushes and me realising I can actually wear blusher! I won't lie but blusher is making my life I love the rosy cheeked look and even more when its not naturally my own. The lip colour is a stain from 17 which has really good colour pay off and I use it most days and still hasn't dried out so is really good!

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My Shirt.

I thought I'd share with you something I've made for one of my subjects at uni, if you follow me on twitter you may of seen me moaning in great detail about this and worrying over my presentation of it but fear not I did it this morning and it went surprisingly well! My tutor had some good points on pieces I'd done wrong but realised so I understood what had happened. This was mainly a learning curve for future reference. So over all feel I did pretty well, my lovely model is my friend Sophie and she's roughly a size 8 and I think the shirt would probably fit up to a size 12 but the arm holes may be tight as they have run slightly small.

Like I said I just wanted to show you because even though last night I was worried it wasn't good enough I am pretty proud of it, just a shame I can't wear it myself! I know I sound like I'm tooting my own horn but how adorable is the collar, I've got quite a lot of binding and polka dot fabric left so I'm thinking of adding the collar detail to a few plain shirts of my own, what do you think of the idea? Or making them on the binding to wear as necklaces, cute idea or not?

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Polka Dots, Retro Bag and Red Lips.

Bag: vintage, charity shop. Dress: Matalan. Belt: Peacocks. Shoes: Evans. Lipstick: Rockalily, Hot Rod Red.

Just a quick outfit post to prove I am still alive and actually wearing clothes! I'm so sorry its taken me so long to get a half decent post up but here it is now finally! I'm also showcasing a new dress and bag, I feel as if I may actually be ready for spring and summer now judging by this outfit. If I'm totally honest this is about as summer as I'll probably get other than maybe some Jelly Sandals and pastel coloured socks (YES I love that trend!)

I adore my Lipstick in these pictures and I'm dedicating a WHOLE post to it soon enough well in fact I already have the pictures to do it! But I'll just mention now that its a Rockalily in Hot Rod Red and its just the perfect formula, I AM IN LOVE.

Right tonight I am off to an Indie Soul night in my local town which is ran by my brother and his lovely mate they also have a blog which sooner or later I shall be doing a few guest posts on. Though its probably not right that I'm getting ready by drinking wine out of a Harry Potter mug and listening to Justin Bieber?!

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Going Dotty.

This is one of the dresses the ever so lovely Simply Be sent for me to review for you all. The second one I plan to have posted by next week at the latest. I have to say I utterly love this dress and there's only one draw back for me its a little bit to long for me so I plan to take it up a little bit just because then I know I will wear it so much more. I also think I could of probably sized down in this dress as I feel its a little roomy but it still looks lovely, for these pictures I pulled it under the elastic a little and kept in place with the tie it seems to have worked pretty well though you couldn't walk around with it like this.

I adore the mix of colours and pattern and I especially love anything spotty or dotty though usually I play safe with it only ever being in monochrome but I love this turquoise colour with with pink and brown which is a combination I'd never think of pairing and wearing (oh look at that I'm a poet and I didn't even know it!) I also love the button detailing on the dress and sleeves another thing I would like to see on more dresses is buttons right up to the neck though I'm sure there's a lot of plus size women who don't like that so I totally get why its not on many pieces. While I'm on the subject of buttons I like that the shirt style at the front is actually a whole piece and the buttons and there stand is just a design feature which means NO GAPING which is brilliant and so man of my shirts do gape! I just wore my new jumper from Matalan with it because the colour works with the dress. And yes there is a picture of my face for how tired I at the moment my dark circles don't look so bad thank god for collection 2000 concealer and camera flash!

Right now I'm supposed to be writing an 1000 word essay but I'm really struggling to start it, the annoying this is I can write masses on here but when it comes to essays or notes I'm awful my theory is I can write on here because its something I genuinely want to do out of choice and the essays are because I've been told to do them, does that make sense? And right now I've written coming up to 450 words so why can't I write that this when it comes to my actual work....

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Centre parting and polka dots.

Yayyy finally I've got another outfit post up! Sorry I've not been brilliant with them lately its just because I'm not overly keen on my beautiful blue curtain in the background and I have no where else to do them at the moment so here will have to do.

Now this is what I'd like to wear for simply be event next Thursday but unfortunately you can see my belly quite obviously through the jeans and I don't want it to look like bad but I maybe brave and go for it. I actually really like it all together, the top is new from Primark and in my opinion was a little pricey (a tenner) but I loved the polka dots and the collar, very me. the beret is also from Primark and I bought it about 4 years ago but I've worn it almost every Christmas and now my fringe has grown out it even looks okay as a centre parting as long as I have my hat on. The jean leggings (which are okay to wear a trousers unlike normal black leggings!) are from new look inspire and they fit my bum really well but are too big on my waist so the crotch sags sometimes and does not look very good, that and I'm always pulling them up as they fall down when I walk!

So tonight I'm off to see The Risk (they went out of xfactor a week or so ago) I'm pretty exciting as you will all know I do love a good boyband! Me and some girls from uni have also found a house for next year which is exciting not only terrifying!

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Who will buy this wonderful feeling...

This Dorothy Perkins jacket has been worn out once for about 3 hours and that is all, really nice quality and was bought a few years ago. I'm thinking Maybe £15 pound but I am Happily open to bartering with in reason. Size 18 I can still get it on now and I'm a 20 but its tight on my broad shoulders.



These leather wide fit shoes are by marks and Spencer I had them for my cousins 18th and have only been worn a handful of times. There's a slight damage on the heel which I have photographs of so I was thinking of maybe 10 pounds for them they were £25-30 new. size 6



This is new look dress from there main range it was bought a couple of years ago, it is a size 18 and £25 new. with a really pretty floral patchwork pattern and is in pretty good nick. so I was thinking 10 pound for this.



This skirt is Per Una at marks and Spencers and has never been worn and still has its tags on, really good quality but you need to be a slimmer size 18 or just possibly a taller one (I was 5ft 2 when I bought this) it was originally roughly 40 quid, but I got it on offer when buying something else at the time. I'm thinking £20 for this but please barter with me!



Hello, sorry its been a WHOLLE week but I've been really ill and it wasn't pretty. I've been getting really bad toothache and last Sunday it was horrific and by Monday I couldn't eat anything (and for me not to eat it must be serious!) Then by Tuesday night my face started to swell up and by my appointment on Wednesday half of my face was like the elephant man and insanely painful, they couldn't check anything or x-ray because it was so swollen. So I've been put on antibiotics for a week which I should have finished by Tuesday, though then I'm still on pain killers which just don't seem to work. Anyway with that massive ramble over I just wanted to say lets hope I'm on the mend and will be back to normal soon so I can get back to outfit posts and having energy and eating real food, not living off porridge...


So I've had a few pieces of my wardrobe photographed ready to put up on eBay but I never got round to it so I was just wondering if any of my followers or anyone really would be interested in any of my stuff. Just comment on this blog or tweet, email me and I can find out how much it would cost to send to wherever you are. For now I'll probably just reserve things for you until I've full on sorted my pay pal out. Yes its true you guys have the first picks of things before I put them up on eBay, I'm nice aren't I? Also while I'm on this subject if I get positive response about all this I might set up a little selling blog for all my bits and bobs.

I hope everyone is well and has had a better week than I have.

P.s I have lots more things photographed so keep your eyes pealed for the odd post with them on!

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