No, this isn’t a post about the life and style of Cyndi Lauper, as much as I enjoyed her early work, ‘True Colours’ was a classic school disco slow dance song after all, I’ve never been a huge fan of her dress sense. Instead this is a rather broad title for some colourful clothes. I was inspired this week by the purchase of this Ganni dress. My dress obsession has reached peak levels. I have had to find a separate hanging area for them in my room as they won’t all fit in my wardrobe. Definitely feel another cull coming on.
I fully blame Instagram for 90% of my recent dress purchases. I saw the Ganni dress on there and had found it and bought it within the space of about 20 minutes. Obviously I rooted around to try and get it at the cheapest price (Oxygen Boutique online as it had 20% off your first purchase, but I think they’ve sold out now) I’ve lost count of the amount of email addresses I have on the go so I can sign up for all those ‘first purchase’ discounts. I’m not sure how ‘legal’ that is, but surely we all do that, right?
The dress I bought is Red. I was going to do a fully Red post, but then I realised it’s probably not for everyone, so I’ve branched out to some of the other primary colours instead, mostly green to be honest, as that’s also MY colour. I am in no way advocating you wear all primary colours together, no-one needs to look like early JLS or a CBeebies presenter, and Red and Green together is a bit too ‘Christmas Elf’ for summer. Basically what I am saying is just try to inject some bright colours into your outfits. It makes me feel happy, or at least happier than the miserable witch I was when I woke up…
COLOURS: THE RED DRESS
Love this Ganni dress. The colour, the pattern and the style. Word of warning though, you need to seriously wear either a slip or some secret leggings underneath, as this wrap dress has a massive tendency to flap wide open, thus exposing your knick knocks to every Tom, Dick and Harry in the immediate vicinity. I went for secret leggings and a t‑shirt underneath. I also found a cheaper, and shorter, alternative from New Look. Don’t ignore New Look. Yes, the shops are full of pre-teens and Love Island wanna-be’s but online is your friend, like M&S, they have some gems if you dig deep enough.
1. Ganni Silvery Crepe Wrap Dress
2. & Other Stories Graphic T Shirt (on sale)
3. New Look Red Ditsy Print Wrap Dress
4. Maje Lace-up Studded Suede Sandals (on sale)
5. Adidas Stan Smith with Rope Trim Soles
COLOURS: THE GREEN DRESS
Just to even things out here’s another Ganni and another New Look dress but this time in Green. They are both ‘My colours’. Although I never did have my ‘colours’ done back in the early 90’s when it was a thing, but I imagine I would be a primary girl. My mum did have it done, she was ‘Autumnal’. Is having your ‘Colours’ done still a thing? I’d actually be interested to see what I really am.
1. Claudie Pierlot Crepe Dress (on sale)
2. Next Mid Blue Denim Jacket
3. Top Shop Black Leather Strappy Sandals
4. New Look Green Floral Midi Dress
COLOURS: THE SKIRT
I won’t dwell too long on the skirt as I did a whole post on them a few weeks ago. But don’t think I covered the wrap skirt, so let’s have a look at a few of those. Word to the wise, a small stitch or discreet safety pin is probably a good idea with any wrap skirt, unless you want to expose a lot of leg. I appear to be featuring a lot of Ganni this week, their new collection is just too good. I think it will be a big part of my wardrobe in the coming months.
1. Mango Embroidered Frida Kahlo T- Shirt (on sale)
2. Mango Bon Voyage T Shirt (on sale)
3. & Other Stories Asymmetric Wrap Skirt
4. Ganni Georgette Wrap Skirt
5. Claudie Pierlot Leather Trainers
COLOURS: THE TROUSERS
I’m not massively keen on red trousers, they always remind me of ‘Rah Rah’ men. There used to be a great blog dedicated to this subject. It’s not been updated since about 2013 but it’s still worth a look for the LOLS. So let’s go for Green or Yellow instead. Word to the wise, if you want Bella Freud at a High Street price AND with the added major bonus of all proceeds going to the Warchild charity then grab yourself this great t‑shirt too.
1. Bella Freud for Warchild T Shirt
2. M&S Embroidered Sweatshirt
3. Zara Yellow Pleated Trousers
4. Cos Wide Tapered Trousers
5. Common Projects Achilles Leather Trainers
COLOURS: THE TOP
This is a really easy one, just throw on a bright top with your jeans, the add some matchy-matchy or colourful contrasting shoes just for luck. All of the items in this set are on sale, apart from the Red Shoes, sorry about that, but they were too nice not to include. If you’ve never owned an Equipment shirt then now’s your time. They are honestly THE BEST shirts ever. Pricey, but worth it as they are absolute classics an the quality of the silk is incredible.
1. Claudie Pierlot Cotton Sweatshirt (on sale)
2. Equipment Silk Shirt (on sale)
3. 7 For All Mankind Cropped Boyfriend Jeans (on sale)
4. Topshop Dark Blue Boyfriend Jeans
5. Alexandre Birman Ruffle Suede Mules
6. Ganni Suede Slingback Shoes
One last thing before I go. Check out these great sweatshirts from Pickle London. £5 from every HAPPY Sweatshirt, and £2.50 from every tee, will be donated to UK Mental Health Charity MIND. I love a good charity purchase. Guilt free shopping at it’s finest!
K x
