This Season's Best High Street Flapper Dress?

If you're a regular reader, you'll know how much I love vintage style, but, although I've always loved '20s designs, with my hourglass shape I typically stick to waist cinching '40s and '50s inspired cuts. As Gatsby fever began building momentum several months ago, however, I became determined to find a drop-waisted frock to fit me. Arms piled high with beaded lovelies, I entered the H&M and River Island changing rooms, only to re-emerge empty-handed, and I'd all but given up hope when mum spotted this George at ASDA beauty online! At £25, we figured it was worth a punt, and set off to collect it along with our veggie burgers a couple of days later.

Lo and behold, it beat the competition hands down! I ordered one size up, in the hope that it would skim, rather than tent, which turned out to be the right decision (I did wear this M&S minimiser bra with it too, but it still looks fine without). The finishing isn't perfect, but for the price, it's still amazing value. The beading is dramatic enough for a stunning night out look with a chic updo, but subtle enough, along with the delicate nude shade, to make it hot summer day (anyone remember those?) appropriate too. And it's super comfy! I was surprised to see some people on ASDA Direct complaining that it was too short (and see-through - which you can see it isn't, camera flash on full power or no!) - I'm 5'7 and it's still only a few inches above the knee on me - pretty much perfect for an authentic flapper look!

Charleston Dress: George at ASDA (Available Here), Shoes: Peacocks (Past Season), Jacket: Primark (Past Season)

Anyone else got flapper fever?

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The Party Dress Archives

I've decided to dedicate this week's posts to preparing for all things festive - last minute gift ideas and special offers, finding the perfect party outfit, finding the perfect things to wear under and over your perfect party outfit...

Now that you've seen a few of my dream party dresses and accessories from this season's selection, I thought I'd show you some from my own archive. I love a new dress as much as the next girl (and styling down sequins with a sweater for day as much as the next blogger), but always think it's sad that "special occasion" items that don't lend themselves to being re-styled for other circumstances tend to be relegated to the back of the wardrobe after one or two outings, never to be seen again. So, I decided to honour my collection of frock-stars by digging them out and documenting them for posterity...

N.B. If you hang onto your party dresses long enough, a rummage in the back of your closet becomes analogous to a whole new (free) outfit drop courtesy of Santa - I thought I kept a close eye on my wardrobe contents with my bi-yearly re-organisations, but was amazed to find, amongst all the old familiars, an unworn dress which I'd completely forgotten about, but instantaneously fell back in lust with! Allow me to introduce you to some of my past and eternal loves...

Top Row (L-R):

1. Moulin Noir

Dress and Boots: Primark; Belt: ASOS
Worn: Out for dinner, 2010 and 2011 - A classic corset-satin pencil skirt combo in one handy package; I love the subtle tulip shaping at the hips.

2. Sweet Like Candy

Dress: H&M; Belt: Primark; Shoes: M&S
Worn: On my birthday, September 2010 - The spoils of my Oxford Street birthday shopping dash with mum; I remember looking in the mirror before I went out in the evening and thinking that, after 20 years, I'd managed to achieve my number one dream aged 5 - to become a human Barbie (I had platinum blonde hair and a doll fringe at the time!)

3. Baby's First Cut-Out Frock

Dress: River Island; Boots: Peacocks
Worn: Christmas 2011 - One of mum's finds on another present-hunting shopathon; Alesha Dixon wore this on the Strictly Come Dancing judging panel about a week later.

4. Marilyn Moment

Dress: Freemans; Shoes: New Look
Worn: November 2007 - To my dad's 50th birthday party on a Thames riverboat (not quite as genteel as it sounds, or as I looked at the beginning of the day!) - Along with dresses 5 and 10, this was ordered from a catalogue in response to a severe craving for classic vintage-style cuts, before they really hit the mainstream.

Middle Row (L-R)

5. Marilyn Goes to Prom

Dress: Freemans; Shoes: New Look.
Worn: University Ball, Summer 2007 - I'd been starved of '50s shapes my entire life, how was I to choose between pencil and prom?

6. Back to the Future

Dress: H&M; Shoes: Primark; Hair Band: New Look
Worn: To an afterparty after a dancing gig, Spring 2010 - Chosen by mum and purchased alongside dress 2; I can't resist playing up the exaggerated '80s style shaping with a fun bow hair band.

7. Red Velvet

Dress: Primark; Shoes: New Look
Worn: Valentine's Day 2011 - Unbelievable attention to detail and finish for under £30 - anyone who persists under the delusion that everything Primark sells is of inferior quality is invited to come and inspect this dress! Velvet and chiffon combined to perfection.

8. Greek Odyssey

Dress, Belt and Shoes: Primark
Bought in 2011, but not yet worn - its time in the limelight is nigh... Classic Grecian goddess - everyone should have a glamorous toga in their bag of tricks!

Bottom Row (L-R)

9. Where Did You Come From?

Dress: Jane Norman; Shoes: Primark
Bought in the 2010 January Sales, and promptly and unaccountably forgotten! It was worth the 3 hour photoshoot and 2 hours of collage construction that went into the making of this post just to rediscover this beauty. Loving the bandage/sheer panel combination...

10. An Early Call For My First Midi

Dress: Morgan; Shoes: New Look
Worn: University Ball, 2006/07 - Back in my student days, when I deemed a bottle of wine an acceptable (and prudent) single drink order, hence my lack of recollection regarding the exact year!

11. Flapping Up A Storm 

Dress and Shoes: New Look
Bought online at the same time as dress 9, when I had the time to spend the first 2 hours of every day scouring the web for special offers and "must-haves" (those were the days...) but never worn, until this week, when I had the presence of mind to layer it over a fringed skirt to add a few inches of much needed length! Layers of fringing on a bodycon base render flapper chic hourglass-appropriate. Working a "faux bob" for added '20s flavour!

12. Keeping Up With The Kardashians 

Dress: American Apparel; Shoes: New Look
Worn: Halloween 2008 - This is the American Apparel bandeau pencil dress - you can play around with the straps to give it about 76 different looks!

I'd Also Like To Thank...

A feature on party dresses wouldn't be complete without a nod to my previously featured lovelies (click to peek)...

The velvet bodycon maxi (with a special mention to the embellished cape which ices it oh so perfectly)

The bodycon mini/sheer maxi dress


I'll be showing you a few of my favourite alternatives to the classic party dress over the next couple of weeks... Will you be going classic or edgy this year?

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This Weekend's Hottest Online Fashion and Beauty Deals

So I found a few more drool-worthy dresses (all in the name of research, obvs) - that just happen to be amazingly good value if you snap them up today... A|Wear is offering 25% off selected dresses for a limited time, and Dorothy Perkins is taking 20% off all full price dresses until midnight tonight.

1: A|Wear, usually £50, now £37.50

I have been sneaking onto the A|Wear website for weeks now to admire this gorgeous vintage-style peplum tea dress - it's just crying out for matte red lips and a victory roll!

2: A|Wear, usually £59.99, now £44.99

Also available in cream, how gorgeous is this flapper frock? Sheer layers over a cinched base allow you to work the traditional silhouette without losing your waist.

3: Dorothy Perkins, usually £29.50 - 20% off today only

You wait months for a peplum tea dress and a whole convoy arrives at once! This stretch, below-the-knee, tie waist style is super flattering, and also comes in a beautiful bird print, as well as block black and purple. Their fitted shift range in general is incredible at the moment - you'll find a piece for literally any occasion you can think of.

Also worth a mention - Max C London is offering a huge 50% discount today with code TWIT50 (well worth following them @MaxCLondon). I am currently bemoaning my wardrobe's sad lack of spike studs, and this peplum top is amazzzzing (usually £25).

Finally, if you're stocking up on hair and beauty essentials, check out the HQ Hair sale quick, before it ends at midnight tonight - you can bag 25% off Kerastase products and over 40% off Moroccanoil! Plus, buy 2 sale products and you'll get an extra 15% off with code SALE15.

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AW12 Lust Haves... This Season's Most Darling Dresses

I'm having to take a brief enforced break from outfit posts at the moment, as my little pink point and shoot point blank refuses to shoot anything resembling a decent photo in this lovely dull October light, and I'm having issues finding a DSLR that agrees with me (as well as with my bank balance)... So, until I can share my birthday haul with you, I thought I'd share a few things which are still on my new season lust list...

1 & 2: Both AX Paris at New Look 

The mixi is going from strength to strength this season, and AX Paris is coming up trumps (these are both £35 or under) - rich-toned florals (and other prints, like peacock) on dark bases are perfect for AW. I'd wear these with heels and a metallic belt for evening, or opaques, boots, cute knits and a leather jacket for day.

3: New Look

All I want for Christmas... is an embellished flapper frock. I adore '20s style and have wanted something like this foreeeever - the lines of this dress make it look like it would hang beautifully, and I'm hopeful that, coupled with the neckline, this means it would work on an hourglass figure without turning into a potato sack!

4 & 5: Both Glamorous

A website I'd never have thought of hitting up until Look showcased some picks from their AW collection on their website. I'll admit I sneered at the sheer skirt trend when it first hit, but I'm completely in love with it now, and these two dresses are juuuuust divine. I've finally managed to snag the Primark bodycon mini dress with sheer maxi back and sides (to be showcased soon), so I think, other than that, I'll probably concentrate on teaming sheer maxis/mixis with bodies and other tops to create my own versions of this look, but if I could stretch my sheer clothing budget a leeetle bit further, these would definitely be on the wish list.

6: Primark

Now this, I will almost definitely be grabbing if and when I see it touch down  - my second shopping rule of thumb (after #1: Only buy it if you love it), is: If you love it and you're in Primark, buy it now (only occasionally relaxed when I consider something ridiculously overpriced, like that £14 cardi which I had the last laugh over when I got it in the sale for £6). I love the juxtaposition of the printed drop hem skirt against the leather top, and it will look fab dressed up or down.

See my past posts for a few more of my AW12 dream dresses in metallics, leather and velvet. More new season picks coming soon...

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