A Slouchy Black and Orange Dress: Nothing to Do With Halloween #iwillwearwhatilike

Dresses make me happy. Orange patterned dresses make my heart sing.

As I write I have yet to wear this outfit – I’m planning to wear it to an event on Thursday. Hopefully the weather will hold out long enough for me to get away with just the dress and no layers… let’s not add roll necks, tights and boots to this beauty of a dress until the autumn proper, shall we?

So while I’m lamenting the end of (meteorological) summer and girding my loins for the ever-darkening onslaught that is autumn/winter, I thought I should give my new orange and black blur print dress a whirl. It’s VERY “transitional season”. It’ll also be great in the colder months. But by ‘eck I ain’t going near it around Halloween: I thought I’d give that one a miss.

I’ll get a couple of wears in pre-Halloween and then LOTS of wears post-Halloween, say, from 20 November onwards? Gives the shops (and Pinterest) enough time to get pumpkins and skulls out of their system. And now I’ve seen it in the photos, I really, really like this dress – I mean I REEEEEALLY like it.

 

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SHOP THE LOOK:

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The dress actually came with a matching fabric belt that loops inside and creates a drawstring waist. Its style on the website is described as “slouchy” – I’m currently in between sizes, went for the smaller size, and found it had PLENTY of room. (When they said slouchy, they MEANT slouchy.) However, in my unexplained need to take my (AW16?) tortoiseshell handbag (similar) out with me, I knew the outfit needed a touch of brown somewhere else just to tie in the whole black, orange AND brown thing I had going on (I never make it easy for myself). A quick rifle through my belts drawer and I found this two-tone belt in black and brown: perfect.

I’ve just got to thread the matching belt back into the dress after I’ve worn it else I risk losing it!

Funnily enough, I watched one of Trinny Woodall’s IGTV videos yesterday and she was going through her belt collection – I agree with her that a belt can absolutely make an outfit, hence why I have loads. Though not enough to stop me wanting to buy even more after finding loads of fabulous ones while I was searching for alternatives for you guys.

Yes, I NEED a mustard belt in my life! And a burnt orange one, and a stripey brown one, and a millennium pink one, and a… and a… ; -)

 

Finally: yes, I plan to keep those black mule sandals on all evening. They are the comfiest sandals in all the world – I wore them all day at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2017 on one of the hottest days of that year (weirdly for May). I’m so sorry they’re not current, but M&S make pretty comfy shoes so I reckon these black mule sandals would be a wise choice if you want something similar (the 118 reviews on their website confirm this). A fraction of the price of my Madeleine ones, as well.

Are you doing the transitional season dressing thing yet? Have you found a brand that sells heels you can walk in all day to recommend to everyone? Comment below…!

P.S. Do add your outfits to this week’s link up – and if you’ve added a link to here or my button to your post you may be featured in my bi-monthly Women Who Wear What They Like post!

Dress: Asos
Heels: Madeleine (similar, also these)
Belt: Asos (LOVE this one, this one and this one)
Bag: Lotus (similar)
Headband: Asos
Locket: notonthehighstreet.com (read about it in last week’s post)
Necklaces: Asos

 

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Thank you for joining the #iwillwearwhatilike link up! This started as a campaign on Instagram in August 2015 where women over 30 wore everything on a journalist’s list of “inappropriate” items for 30+ women (including leopard print, short dresses and oversized sunglasses. Yes, really). It was so popular that I decided to carry it on weekly where women of all ages link up their fabulous style, never mind what anyone tells them not to wear!

The link up goes live every Tuesday at around 3pm UK time and will stay open for a week. Whilst the original article was of course aimed at the 30+, you can be ANY age to link up. The only prerequisite is that you’re wearing whatever you damn well like!

Click here to receive an email reminder for the next #iwillwearwhatilike link up as soon as it’s live!

Linking up etiquette…

CLICK HERE to read the rules of linking up (and to grab the #iwillwearwhatilike button). Basically it’s just good manners to link back to here – to leave a comment is even nicer!
Click here to enter

PLEASE NOTE: This is for linking up WHAT YOU’VE BEEN WEARING ONLY. Non-outfit links will be removed! Also: by linking up you’re saying it’s okay for me to drop you an email to say the link up is open – you can unsubscribe at any time.