This has to be my favourite dress in my wardrobe. Period. I bought this recently in the sale from Zara for a mere £15.99 and it was half price. I think I was drawn in by the gorgeous boho chic style to it, and the gorgeous crochet detail around the neck.
As much as I think I’d fit right in at a Festival (namely Coachella!) in this outfit, it wouldn’t exactly be the most practical dress for a festival, so excuse me whilst I go sit in a corner & cry.
The dress was purchased for my Cousins wedding at the beginning of August and I was so happy with this floaty number in pale pink that I just could not wait to wear it. Not only does it make me feel like a total Queen, but it has this super sexy low back which you can just about see.
I vamped it up a bit by teaming it with my bargain Fedora from New Look to give it that slightly edgier feel. I begrudgingly didn’t wear the hat to the wedding after much deliberation! (According to the Mr & my family it wouldn’t have been ‘’very wedding-y’’)
Of course this dress warranted a barefoot kind of approach! A la Nude Feet! So I hope they don’t creep you out too much.
Have you found anything in the sales that you are particularly taken with like I am with my Zara dress? I’d love to see what you’ve bought!
HAT C/O THE HUT || JUMPER TOPSHOP || DRESS eBay || SHOES CAMDEN MARKET
When I started to put this outfit together I felt like I was having a ‘’Throwback Thursday’’ moment because it looked like I had just jumped out of the 70’s. Especially the light brown colour of the Topshop netted jumper. I literally cannot wait to wear it at Leeds Festival teamed with a cute pair of shorts!
The dress was a bargain find on eBay and cost me £3.98. I wanted a light cami dress for the Festival and didn’t want to spend a fortune, just in case it get’s ruined.
The shoes are such a delight and from Camden Market. My manager just handed them to me one day ‘You’re a size 5 right?’’ and plonked them on my desk, best boss ever? Yes, I think so!
As a rather larger, busted lady it was nice to wear an outfit that feels like I’m hiding them quite well!
I love to find bargains online & on the high street. All in all this out fit cost me less than £10. It’s not often you can say you have got a whole outfit for under a tenner, is it?
What’s the thriftiest outfit you have ever bought, I’d love to hear!
I’m always on the look out to find new brands and clothing apparel that is a little unusual to what you might find on the high street. Imagine my delight when I came across Cupcake Couture whilst browsing through Instagram one day. Ever the profile stalker I seeked out who was behind it all and it led me to Cara’s own personal Instagram/twitter account. Since that day I have ogled the website deciding what garment I should order when I finally had money again after the wedding. Rather than me ramble incessantly about what an amazing brand it is I thought I could do a quickfire Q&A with the lovely Cara from Cupcake Couture (so she can do an equal if not more level of gushing!)
Hi Cara, tell us about the lady behind this cute brand? I’m a 26 year old fashion lover from Leeds. I like tea, polka dots, cheese and wine. When I’m not busy working and sewing I like to go out with friends, spend time with my family and boyfriend and go hoarding round the charity shops for my latest little find. I have a degree in Theatre& Performance from Leeds University so I particularly enjoy watching musicals and going to the theatre. I love cooking (which I think my boyfriend really appreciates) and I am always looking for new and exciting recipes. In my spare time I like to take Cupcake Couture to different vintage fairs to share my brand with different cities and I have recently become a registered trader for Britain Does Vintage and Lou Lou’s Vintage Fair so keep an eye out for an event near you.
What made you start picking out these amazing pieces and also creating them yourself? I originally started experimenting with sewing because I wanted to have unique and one off pieces of clothing. There’s nothing worse than being on a night out and spotting someone in the same outfit as yourself, especially if they look better in it. I started off just sewing embellishments and bits of fabric on tops and dresses to make them different and then it developed from there. I am self-taught but I think I inherit it from my mum as she used to knit us dolls and clothing when we were younger. My first proper dress made from scratch was one I made for a family trip to Ladies Day at Ascot – I felt so comfortable knowing that nobody else would be wearing it and got complimented on it so much I decided to start designing and making dresses more and more. As my confidence grew I branched out into skirts and tops and I now have the Couture Unique items on my website which are solely handmade by me. I finally took the plunge after thinking about it for a while and did a Fashion Course at college in 2012 where I learnt lots of new skills and techniques which I have used going forward on my handmade pieces.
You’ve won my heart with your clothes but seriously, you bake cupcakes too?! What is your favourite type of cake & why? I absolutely love baking, if I’m ever feeling down or a bit stressed there’s nothing I enjoy more than grabbing my mixing bowl and whisk and whipping up some cupcakes, buns or brownies. I think it’s kind of therapeutic in a way. On the down side it’s extremely difficult to stay skinny and diet when I am always trying out new baking recipes, my colleagues at work are always being dished out treats so I don’t eat them all myself when I’ve been testing out ideas. My favourite cake has got to be chocolate cake. Forget diamonds, I believe chocolate is a girl’s best friend, the more chocolate the better. I love making the ‘Chocolate Joy’ cupcakes, they are chocolate sponge with buttercream icing and a large white chocolate button decoration and they are yummy if I do say so myself.
What’s your most favourite piece on your website? I pride myself on sourcing the best quality vintage and using durable fabric when making my handmade pieces so my customers receive the best they can get so I do have quite a few favourites. My all-time favourite piece, and something it took me a while to put on the website and not keep for myself is the 80’s Polka Dot Blouse. It reminds me of Bette Midler in Big Business (whose wardrobe in most of her films I envy) and the shoulder pads just make it amazing. The fabric is soft and really flattering and it can be worn with anything. I found this piece in a charity shop in Tenerife (I really can find one anywhere – it’s a gift!) and fell in love straight away. Clothing from the 80’s is my favourite – statement blouses, big shoulder pads, large faux-gold earrings and clothing covered with sequins and diamante. A lot of trends from 1980’s are coming back which I am very pleased about; jelly shoes, crop tops, patterned jumpers and oversized blazers so when I find a genuine piece of vintage from the 80’s I get very excited indeed.
You are a local Yorkshire lass (honorary sister in my eyes!) so where do you shop when you aren’t wearing Cupcake Couture? As the Arctic Monkeys would say I really am a ‘Topshop princess’ however I do like to support local and small clothing brands too. I look out for brands on Twitter and Instagram and try to vary where I buy my clothing. My wardrobe is a bit of everything ranging from Urban Outfitters to clothing imported in from American brand ModCloth. I really do have a bit of everything. Recently on my shopping list is Drop Dead Clothing, ASOS, Fashion Union, Ark, and Zara. I also love to have a snoop round other stalls at the vintage fairs I do and use DIY blogs to create cute accessories and handbags – www.abeautifulmess.com – this is a personal favourite of mine and I am looking at making their Leather Cat Purse.
If there was one piece of clothing you had to wear FOREVER what would it be? Pick good! Ooooh that’s a toughie! It would have to be my liquorice allsorts skirt I made; it sums me up to a tee. I made the skirt because my surname is Bassett, it’s also what everyone calls me – to most people I don’t have a first name. Since making it most of the family with the same name want one too. It matches my personality because I’m fun, unique and quirky and it’s got a personal touch with the Bassett’s Allsorts pattern on it. I am absolutely gutted that it is now too big for me so has taken a place on my website but I will be without a doubt making myself another one.
Last but not least sum up your clothing brand in 3 simple words! Buy. Something. Now! Just kidding, I’ll go with: Unique. Fun. Memorable.
Thank you so much Cara. So what are you all waiting for, go & head over to Cupcake Couture and have a look at all things pretty or you might just catch Cara at one of the local Vintage Fairs this summer.
Hello, Hello, Hello & welcome to August! Can you believe another month has flown by? This month I am super excited as it is the month of Leeds Festival and I cannot bleeding wait. It is such an electric experience being at a festival and you cannot compare it to anything else in life.
When the lovely SOPHIE asked if some of us wanted to get on board with a ‘’Celebrity LookALike’’ challenge/collaboration I jumped at the chance.
Most of you know my absolute LOVE for the band, Haim. It sounds big headed but alot of people tell me about my resemeblance to resident Baby Haim aka Alana. Now I don’t know if it is because I’m pint sized or rock the middle parting? But apparently, I do. And of course I am ever so humble when people tell me that…. YEAH RIGHT?! You have to scrape me from the ceiling any time anyone says that because to me, they are my idols. Simple.
So because I’m not a huge make up junkie or beauty blogger as such, I thought I would take my own spin on things by doing a more ‘’Fashion’’ related post by depicting their style. If you want to read my post on Alana Haim’s Outfit Inspiration you can read it here! I tried to keep it very simple because that is exactly what Alana’s style is like.
My Hair. I literally wake up on a morning and this is what it is like. slightly wavy or kinked (in slightly annoying spots!) with my middle parting. I should probably do more with it, but it is just how the Haim Sisters rock it?!
The Top. This was another eBay find. ‘’MORE ISSUES THAN VOGUE’’. I absolutely love the over sized feel to it & I will be taking this to Leeds Festival with me this year. YAY!!
The Shorts. These are an old vintage pair of Topshop roll up shorts. Excuse the legs, lumps and bumps galore. But, you know whatttttt, I don’t care bitchessssss! Alana never goes on stage without parading around in the teeniest, tiniest shorts in her wardrobe and she looks super duper cute!
The Chelsea Boots. I love my chelsea boots but I haven’t worn them much as it’s summer and I want to get my tootsies out whilst I can. During the winter these are my staple, go to boots. They were from Barratts and cost £50!
The Socks. Oh my little frilly socks. I feel like I have rewound back to class 4 and I am just starting a new school year, with my brand new uniform on. Those were the days where you could get away with frilly socks. Not at the ripe age of 24! But, again, Alana rocks it. So that makes it ok, right? They were from Primark of course, priced at a cool £1.50.
Now, time to send you over to all the other girls collaboration pages to see how they rocked their celebrity inspired look! Head over to:
I’m a thrifty shopper, if there has ever been one & I love to get a deal as much as the next person. I feel like I have hit the jackpot when I win something for 99p on eBay that still has tags on & should have cost £40 in store. Naturally, when I have a dress that can work as a festival/day time look and also be dressed up for an evening, I am a very happy girl lady.
Imagine my delight when The Hut asked me if I wanted to style a Festival outfit for £30! I was delighted. After browsing their amazing and easy to navigate website I was drawn to this beautiful dress. I have a little bit of a love for clothes with birds on for some reason? Maybe it’s because we have chickens. I’m not quite sure, but I did know that I was drawn to canary (yes, bird related again!) yellow dress.
The detailing is beautiful and so intricate! I was instantly drawn to each individual section almost like I was taken on a fabric version of watership down. Yes, a terrible way to describe it but look at the pretty?!
Festival Look || Floral Crown, eBay || Dress, Glamorous @ The Hut () || Hunter Wellies, Cloggs UK ()
I love this look, it’s exactly how I would rock up to a festival. Cloggs UK are a fabulous online shoe shop and if you have a penchant for lots and lots and lots (and lots!) of shoes you will never be left in doubt if you head there. With free, next day delivery you always feel like they are giving back for your little purchase. You really should go see!
Evening Look || Hat, The Hut () || Dress, Glamorous at The Hut () || Shoes, eBay (New Look)
Now, I realise this dress looks VERY short in this photo, I guess the way you carry yourself wearing heels does not help when wearing dresses. I don’t think I accounted for dem hips n’ thighs when ordering a size Medium! Alas, look at that hat doe. Isn’t she beautiful. I recently instgrammed/tweet a photo with me wearing this hat before the Blog Yorkshire Meet (which you can read about here!) but I was a chicken and didn’t wear it in the (queue the bork bork borkkkkkkk sounds!)
I am so excited to give them a proper outing! Which is your favourite look? How would you have styled this dress, I’d love to hear from you.
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