30+ blogger

The sun is shining and *sings* I’m feeling gooood!!! One of the best things for me as the weather warms up is the opportunity to wear more colour. I love bright colours and always feel confident and happy wearing them.

Todays outfit is all about the colour coral. Coral is a great colour to wear for Spring and Summer as it is bright but not over-powering, is super cute and feminine and is flattering to most skin tones. And here I am wearing a shirt, jumper & skirt combo embracing the hue.

I love a full skirt and this one with pockets from my favourite haunt Primark, is just perfect – and it’s so flattering. You put it on and feel like you should be in an episode of Mad Men, all cinched waist and shwoosy hemline. Plus it only cost me £5.00 in the sale!

I love to use a white shirt as a layering piece and think it adds a great preppy edge to what could be a ‘too pretty’ outfit. Make-up wise I wore the coral lipstick I got recently from Poundlands Make-Up Gallery (blogged here). I’m definitely loving their bright lipstick colours and its adds that extra pop of colour!

And finally, gold pointed flats from Matalan complete the look. Metallics are perfect with bright colour as wearing a dark shoe just looks odd. I’m not one for high heels so a pretty, pointed flat gives me a feminine look without the discomfort (pain is not good when you’ve got a school run to do!)

This is one of my favourite outfits I’ve styled so far this year and it got a lot of great feedback via Instagram (follow my feed here). So, what do you think about coral – hot or not? You know where I stand.

Shirt – Matalan

Jumper – Per Una @ M&S

Skirt – Primark

Shoes – Matalan

A few weeks ago I was contacted asking if I wanted to take part in a 30-plus fashion blogger challenge. I jumped at the chance (having just turned 42 I more than fitted the bill!) The idea was to team up pairs of bloggers and for them to pick an outfit for each other from the current SS15 Bonmarché range.

I was teamed with the lovely Charli, blogger of CurvyGirlThin and I got to work picking her out an outfit I hoped she’d love – Charli’s blog features clothes and lingerie reviews from a curvy girls perspective so check her blog out to see my outfit choice for her. My package duly arrived and I was thrilled with it. Charli and I must be psychic because we both picked the same hero piece – a gorgeous colbalt blue biker jacket for each other!

The outfit chosen for me was contemporary daytime look that could be dressed up for an evening – biker jacket, black slim leg jeans, a white vest and a statement necklace. You can see why I was happy! I added my own shoes – black and leopard print flats and was ready to go! The David Emanuel jacket is a real hero piece – a strong colbalt blue but not too bright and made from a soft, moleskin type fabric. I wore a UK size 10 – its a good fit and also looks great zipped up which isn’t always the case with a biker style jacket.

To make the look a bit more ‘fashion’ I rolled up the jeans slightly. For a daytime look I would throw on a leopard print scarf – this also ties together the print on my shoes and I think looks super chic. The jean length unrolled works well too (see photo) and again gives you different style choices if say, you were wearing a heeled boot.

The jeans themselves were a great fit. I wore the size 10 with a 27″ inside leg. At 5’2″ this was the perfect petite length for me and I was very impressed with the fit. I’d say the sizing is true/slightly generous and if you’re in between sizes go down a size. They were tight enough, but not skin tight and with 2% elastane had a great stretch fit. The bit I liked best about them was the way they sat on your waist – I find once you have reached an *ahem* certain age, lower rise jeans are just a nightmare for bulges and unflattering muffin tops. These jeans were very flattering and comfortable and perfect for if like me, after kids your tummy and waist isnt what it once was.

The necklace featuring the colbalt blue of the biker jacket finished the look off, however a necklace of this style isnt quite ‘me’ and I personally would probably have gone for something a bit more edgy without the ‘bling’ of diamanté or a scarf as I styled it. I do love a big statement necklace and will most likely co-ordinate this outfit with one I already have – but lets be honest, jewellery is a very personal thing! I think this particular necklace would look great worn with one of the David Emanuel dresses.

I really love this look and think it works on lots of levels. I have to say, I have been really impressed by both the quality and fit of the items and will definitely be popping in to my local store to see what other pieces I can add to my SS15 wardrobe.