To a Tea or Two

Considering the amount of tea I drink combined with the fact that I live in the capital of tea-land, it's some what shocking that I've never been for a proper afternoon tea in town before. So, I made a date to take a friend to Sanderson's famous Mad Hatter Afternoon as an engagement gift.  About a week before the day, I got invited to another, champagne tea at the Sanctum Hotel in Soho - from nought to two in one day, what are the odds?

So, I spent my Saturday sprinting from one posh hotel to another - oh, how difficult life is!

Both were so great, but the Mad Hatter's Tea was just fantastically weird and wonderful. The pictures here don't even begin to give it justice. I highly recommend it to anyone who's in town.

In other news: I wore my new Maitland Dress out for the occasion, and I'm just in love with it. It's so comfy to wear. Just a couple of things to clairfy about it, as there seems to be some confusion in the reviews: the dress does have a zipper, though I find mine (a small) is roomy enough that I can pull it on over my head. Also, the slip is not detachable from the crochet, alas. I'll do a proper review soon, but needless to say that I loved it enough to buy it at full price, eek.

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Cover your shame!

No outfit post, I'm afraid, as I was gym-bunnying it today - no one needs to see me in my Lululemons and fleece (and, latterly: a sling). 

But, I do have an issue that I thought you might be able to help me with: I'm looking for a beach cover-up. I'm going to be in Bermuda from the second week of May and I'm determined to have something to pull on over my swimsuit other than a ratty uni tee. 

What does everyone else where? I'm hilariously impractical. I usually insist on wearing heels, which look great until I actually get onto the sand and then I have to carry them, I usually cope with this by tossing my hair a lot and pretending that carrying my footwear was the look I was going for. I also have a tendency to forget key things I'll need after the beach: skirt, knickers, you name it.  So, I'm trying to get my act together this year. But everything I seem to have found lately is made in a sheer, kaftan-esque style, usually with some indescribable animal/tribal print, or stretchy uber bright - read: cheap - colours. The only thing I've found that's caught my interest is this dress on ASOS: 

It's cute, airy, slightly slouchy and probably not possible to wear anywhere other than the beach. But, at £40, it's a little steep.  

I think it's time for a little sleuthing on Pinterest. Let me know if you have any leads

By the way, apologies for not getting back to comments - I seem to be having some trouble getting Disqus to cooperate, all the text is hardly legible. Bear with!

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Lady in Red

During a quick visit to Anthro (to make some returns, natch) I had just enough time to try this beauty on. There are few better things in fashion, than a perfect red dress. 

Now, this doesn't seem to be on either Anthro website - either I missed it on the US one, or it was never listed. Fingers crossed that it turns up in greater numbers soon, because by the looks of it this dress is selling like hotcakes. 

I originally grabbed a UK10/US6 to try on and while it looked fab from the front (erm, hello boys!), it was giving me about four boobs from the side. Sizing up one (seen below) managed to get rid of the quadra-boob, and there was very little difference in between the sizes through the rest of the body. I would go so far as to say that this runs slightly small. 

This is a properly classic style, with a pretty deep v in front, in case you hadn't noticed, which means that it's not NSFW, and a matching deep back which won't interfere with your bra strap.

The material was (surprise, surprise) dryclean only and a silk/rayon/cotton mix but looked like raw silk. In some ways, despite my love of the colour, it would be even better if this came in black, as it would be the perfect LBD. 

My only complaint about the dress would be that it's pretty steep and that the zip didn't feel particularly robust to me - it is one of those gold ones that Leifsdottir likes so much. 

As for my outfit of the day, I went casual - don't think any less of me. 

Wearing: UNIQLO Lulu Guinness tee (available now), Level 99 Jeans, M&S flats.

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Spring

So, as the clothes at Anthropologie finally show some promise of returning to their former glory, and as spring makes its tentative first steps, so I hear the siren call of the Anthro-community. What can I say, guys? It's good to be back.

Wearing: Armani glasses, Ginger Gold Dress by Karen Walker in a US6 (on sale in UK stores) and H&M heels.

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Happy Halloween!

Still alive! I managed to get into Anthro for the first time in a long time recently, and I couldn't help but grab some snaps for old time's sake, particularly as I happened to have on the gorgeous Caridad Ruffled Dress. 

This dress is gorgeous, much more green and sophisticated in person than it seems on the website. The silk outer feels amazing (though you're going to want to keep it away from velcro/pets/small children as it seems fragile) and the sheer panel at the top lends it an extra something. The only downsides are the belt, which seems little more than an afterthought - but it could easily be left off or substituted for something else, like a skinny silver belt - and the slightly unfortunate bust darts, which can look like a wardrobe malfunction. The dress is so pretty, though, that I'm kind of willing to give it a pass! It does make this a try before you buy, though, as you need to see how it lays on you. 

I'm wearing a UK10/US6 here, which is the right fit for me as the size up was huge on me. A strapless bra is necessary to wear this dress, but as you'd only really be wearing this as an occasion dress, this shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Happy Halloween everybody!

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Fashion Night Out

Just a quick note to say that I'll be dropping in on Anthro's Fashion Night Out event tonight, if any other Anthrophiles are around.

All moved into my new place (Anthro duvet in place) so expect pictures soon!

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Graduate

These are a little overdue, but better late than never! 

Graduation day happened to be the same day that the torch for the Olympics was coming through town, so we got quite a show.

Katy B and Mark Ronson were the ones carring the torches, and we were all asked to keep our graduation gowns on for the cameras. Great in theory, until it turned out to be 28c on the day, not ideal when you're wearing heavy woolen gowns!

Needless to say, first chance I got, I was stripping off my layers. But not before the obligatory (and lovely) family photos:

End of a chapter. The new one starts now as I desperately scrabble for a place to live in London. Watch this space!

Outfit: Bike Lane Dress, Final Flourish Heels, Giorgio Armani glasses/Ralph Lauren sunglasses, and electric blue Mulberry Bayswater.

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