dress Archives - Running in Lavender

HeleddDecember 2, 2014

Date Night - Celebrating 5 Years

On Friday my husband and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. I can’t believe it’s already been five years since our special day. Five years is wood, not the best one on the ‘anniversary list’ but Dom did well and got me a Jo Malone ‘Pine and Eucalyptus’ candle, which is my favourite festive candle - and of course associated to wood. He also got me a beautiful wood photo frame - so I was very happy.

Where we went

To celebrate our anniversary I’d arranged for my parents to look after the girls, so we could have a rare night out - a date night! Before we got married and had children we used to have at least one date night a week but these days we’re lucky if we manage one every few months, so this was a big night. We went to Sticks & Sushi in Wimbledon, which was amazing! We shared lovely cocktails, delicious sushi and yummy puddings. I just wish we could do it more often, I think it’s so important to be able to spend some one on one time with my husband, who also happens to be my best friend.

What I wore

Back when we used to go out regularly I had a whole section in my wardrobe dedicated to ‘going out’. These days my wardrobe looks very different and this ‘dressing up’ section is long gone. I wanted to feel special on our big night out so I chose a long sleeve, black and gold Kaliko dress, a black stone necklace from Jacques Vert and a pair of Reiss black shoes, which I’ve had for a few years and are super comfy! The dress was designed to look like a wrap dress and had a pretty black and gold lace overlay. As we left the house the girls gave me a big thumbs up!

Thank you to Kaliko for sending me this fab dress!

Linking up to #reasonstodress #streetstylesunday

HeleddNovember 20, 2014

The Best from Mothercare S/S 2015

Last week I found myself at the Mothercare S/S 2015 press event. This was especially exciting because it meant I got a sneaky peek at the new Little Bird by Jools Oliver range. Now it’s no secret on this blog that I love Little Bird. For me, it’s the perfect kids range; colourful, comfortable, stylish, with a nostalgic sprinkling of my own childhood fashion memories. I really think Mrs Oliver has found a perfect niche with this range.

Okay, so you get the message - I love this range! Now, what can I tell you about the new collection? Well, let’s just say, she’s done it again! It’s full of brightly coloured, beautifully designed pieces that I can easily see myself snapping up for the girls come Spring. New to the range comes a clear raincoat with a matching umbrella, babywear makes a welcome comeback and there’s a new pair of fab pyjamas!

Here are my personal two stand-out items from the new collection…

Having gushed over the Little Bird collection, I then went on to view the beautiful mothercare S/S2015 range, which was full of gorgeous separates that could be easily mixed and matched to create different outfits. This range had a very different feel to the usual mothercare collection - which made sense when I was told that they have a new creative director at the helm. I was really excited by this range, which had an obvious French influence with lots of navy and red pieces. Here are my must-have outfits

The award winning BabyK by Myleene Klass range for S/S2015 was super pretty! With lots of daisy flower and spotty prints, tutu skirts and girlie styles. To be honest, in the past this range hasn’t been to my taste but this collection really caught my eye. I know my eldest daughter would love these designs

Many thanks to the team at Mothercare for allowing me to preview these stunning collections. I enjoyed every second!

Linking up to #FashionFridayand #StreetStyleSunday

HeleddNovember 19, 2014

Vintage Elegance with the Jacques Vert Group

Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to the Jacques Vert Group press day, where they were showcasing their S/S 2015 collections. The group has a number of well known brands including (of course) Jacques Vert, Kaliko, Precis, Planet, Windsmoor and Dash.

Every collection was very elegant, feminine and had a nod to bygone eras - which I personally love. This is a run down of my favourite collections and their stunning, must-have pieces.

Jaqcues Vert

This collection had a very definite 1920s, Downton Abbey feel. The colour palette was muted in beautiful greys and creams and embellished with crystals and pearls. As a massive fan of this era, I could have happily spent hours going through each elegant piece. I think this top encapsulates the collection’s style and theme perfectly, it was also my favourite piece.

Jacques Vert Top £79

Kaliko

The Kaliko range also had a very vintage feel but this time we jump forward 30years to the 1950s. The collection was full or vintage Dior inspired A-line dresses and diamanté accessories. Again, I could have spent hours going through each dress and bejewelled accessory. A really interesting fact is that Kaliko have gone back to their original designs from the 1950s and reworked them for this collection. This is such a genius idea, as vintage is such an important fashion story at the moment. I don’t know why other brands aren’t do the same! Here are my personal favourite pieces from this gorgeous collection

Kaliko dress £149

Kaliko headband £49

Precis

As a brand that targets the petit market, Precis know how to design and cut for the smaller woman. As I’m only 5″2 myself I was really interested to see what they had to offer. If I’m honest, this collection was not really to my taste, however the designs and prints were very classic and I know that my mum would have loved them. Having said that, there was one stand-out piece that really caught my eye. And that was this Chanel inspired jacket and broche.

Precis jacket £149

I could definitely see myself wearing this jacket with a vest and some jeans come spring next year.

There were so many other amazing collections and pieces I could have mentioned but these items were my personal favourite.

All the collections mentioned above will hit the hight streets and online in January.

Linking up to #FashionFriday and #StreetStyleSunday

HeleddNovember 12, 2014

Not Just Because We Have a Poppy

Since my eldest daughter was born back in 2010 I’ve been obsessed by finding beautiful dresses, stylish play pieces and general cool kids clothes. On the whole I love Next and Gap for everyday play clothes and Boden and Jools Oliver’s Little Bird collection (for Mothercare) for more special occasions.

Every now and again I come across a new brand, a brand that really makes me sit up and take notice! One of my most recent finds is Poppy England. The brand says that they ‘aim to escape the fast track world of fashion’. Their prints and clothes are designed to become heirlooms, passed down the generations. I love the thought that these dresses will be passed down to my girls’ own daughters. The design, shape and quality means that this is a very real possibility!

Always inspired by children’s books the Poppy dresses are so much more than ‘just another dress’. In 2006 they decided to combine the owner’s love of books and illustration with the company’s tradition of creating beautiful prints. By doing this they were able to literally tell a story with the dresses. These days a storybook comes with every Poppy dress - so you can literally read the story and live the tale, by wearing the dress!

Poppy England design their own prints and the dresses are made from 100% natural cottons and linens. For me these are definitely special occasion dresses, for a wedding, a party of maybe even Christmas Day?

I love the sweet patterns on these dresses and the pretty lines and shape mean that they will look beautiful on every little girl, regardless of her height or shape. Each dress has been designed and in most cases made here in the UK, making it a true British brand.

However, what really drew me into Poppy England was the matching ‘mummy dresses’! In 2010 (by popular demand) Poppy launched their first womenswear collection. Now I’m not usually a fan of ‘matchy matchy’ clothes but these are so gorgeous, I’d definitely make an exception. My girls love wearing matching clothes. I wonder at what age does it become a big fashion faux pas to be seen dressed in the same clothes?

The dresses are not cheap but as I’ve already mentioned they are a real fashion investment and worth every penny for the craftsmanship and quality that goes into each dress. The girls’ dresses start at around £60 and the women’s dresses start at around £134.

So there you have it a new brand (to me) that I love and not just because I have a Poppy of my own!

http://www.poppyengland.com/

HeleddSeptember 19, 2014

My Holiday Style

Have you ever noticed that your dress sense/ style seems to change while you’re away on holiday? I realised this as I was looking through our recent holiday pictures. I have what I call my ‘holiday dresses’ that I only seem to wear when I’m away. I’m not sure why this is, as I really like these dresses but for some reason don’t have the confidence to wear them in the UK, as they’re slightly more revealing or loose.

My holiday style mainly consists of a sun hat (again… which I never wear in the UK, even on the hottest days), a pair of dark sun glasses, flat sandals (a must for running after my girls) and a cool, loose slip dress…

Shop the look…

1. Topshop dress £38

2. Monsoon hat £15

3. Ralph Lauren Glasses £111

HeleddAugust 18, 2014

Lili finds a dress

My word of the week is Shopping! Like most women, I love shopping. Before I had kids I liked nothing more than spending a Saturday afternoon going from one shop to another - but lets face it shopping with little ones is just not fun!

I have two daughters (age 4 and 1) who at the moment hate shopping. They don’t mind popping to the grocery shop if they think they might get some sweats as a ‘reward’ for being good but clothes shopping, forget it! Having said that, this week we were shopping with my mum - Poppy was being very quiet in her pushchair and Lili was happy as she’d just had an ice cream at Pizza Express. At the risk of pushing my luck I decided to venture into Monsoon Kids, as I hadn’t done any sale shopping and saw some cute pieces in the window.

And boy am I glad I did! Lili was in excellent spirits and for the first time ever, she picked up a dress and said “mummy I like this, do you like it?”

After picking my jaw up from the floor, I had a look at the dress, it was beautiful and in the sale! That was the beginning of it, this is what we walked out with…

The sale was amazing, the jacket was £9, skirts £6 and playsuit £11. If you like a bargain and let’s face it we all do, head down to Monsoon or head over to Monsoon.com. I’m over the moon with our finds.

Plus, it was lovely to have a little glimpse into my shopping future with the girls.

HeleddAugust 2, 2014

My Wedding Story

Lets face it we all love a good wedding story. If a cover of OK or Hello magazine has a wedding on the cover, it’s sure to catch my eye! And if I see a wedding story on a blog (as I’m trolling through) you can bet I’ll stop to have a quick read and get engrossed in the romance of the day. With this in mind, I thought I’d ‘share the love’ and tell you about my own special day.

The first thing you need to know is that Dom and I had been together for 10 years before he proposed (yes, I know!). So as soon as I had that diamond ring on my finger, I was ready to walk down the aisle. Also, I’m not a very patient person, if I decide to do something I just get on with it - I think you get the picture. In short, I organised my wedding in 4 months, here are the full details…

Dom and I got married on the 28th of November 2009 in Hurst House, Laugharne, West Wales. We had 90 guests in total, my dad is one of eight so the list was never going to be the ‘intimate 50’ I had in mind. My three best friends were my beautiful bridesmaids and I had three little flower girls with me to walk down the aisle.

The theme for the day was very much in-keeping with the venue’s own relaxed, luxury style. We had vintage tea lights and diamanté studs dotted around the venue to add to the glamour, echoing the diamanté studs in my dress, hair and flowers.

I had a very definite style in mind when I went shopping with my mum for THE DRESS. I’d seen Giselle at the Oscars a few years before and was obsessed by the empire line gown she was wearing.

The day went just as I’d imagined it. The guests all arrived at 3.30pm for a drinks reception before our candle lit ceremony at 4pm. I was (and this is a first for me) on time, in my Pronovias dress and silver Louboutin shoes. I felt amazing! My hair was down in big relaxed waves and my jewellery was limited to a diamond bracelet and my grandmother’s wedding ring (which was my something old and borrowed - my dress was new and I had a blue garter).

Dom and I really wanted the reception to be very relaxed and feel more like a party than a wedding. We had another drinks reception with nibbles after the ceremony and had old ‘rat-pack’ and Christmas tunes playing in the background. As soon as the dining room was ready, we all went in to enjoy the meal, which was, as my brother called it ‘a very posh buffet’. Everything was homemade, or home grown - it all looked sensational and tasted even better! Our wedding cake served as the dessert, as it was made up of individual cakes made of white chocolate cups, filled with a square of white chocolate brownie (or blondie), topped with a vanilla mousse and decorated with more chocolate and blueberries. They were delicious and a real show-stealer!

As soon as the speeches were done (after the meal), the party really got going! Dom and I danced for most of the night and made sure we stayed close to one another all night. Many of my friends had told me that they hadn’t actually spent much of their wedding day with their other half, so we made a real effort to stay together as much as possible. The party went on until 5am the next morning and yes, the bar stayed open all that time… Amazing service from Hurst House!

Our song is and always will be ‘She’. I walked up and down the aisle to it being played on the piano (by my very talented auntie) and our first dance was to the Elvis Costello version. Dom even used some of the lyrics in his speech.

My advice for organising a wedding…

Don’t feel pressured to stick to traditions or rules. This is your special day, your (hopefully) one chance to create the wedding of your dreams. I organised our wedding in 4 months because I couldn’t wait any longer. It goes without saying that you have to be organised, a wedding folder is a really good idea and gives you a special keepsake after the event. I can’t wait to pass my folder down to my daughters one day.

Make lists and try not to worry too much. Enjoy the process because IT IS fun - keep in mind that you’re organising a celebration - a truly happy event.