Fashion Archives - Page 23 of 26

Posts Tagged ‘Fashion’

Shop in your own wardrobe

August 19, 2014 / Fashion, News / 8 Comments

I’ve been reading Nikki Parkinson’s book Unlock Your Style. Nikki writes the popular fashion blog Styling You, which I have been a fan follower since February 2013. Despite my fashion styling qualifications, there is always something new to learn when it comes to dressing yourself and other people.

I’m a big Styling You fan because by reading Nikki’s blog, I was able to get myself out of a style rut that I seemed to find myself in after leaving an office job for a trade, which was later cemented when I became a mum. Clothes and fashion became less important to me.

After going to Problogger conference last year, I was guns ablazing about re-starting my blog on Styled by Bec until a couple of months later I found out I was pregnant and the exhaustion hit me pretty hard.

I tried to keep the blog going, but I was still keen to maintain my plumbing blog. The Plumbette won out in the end. When I caught up with Rachel from Redcliffe Style at the Pregnancy, Baby and Children’s Expo, she told me that Styled by Bec would always be there for me to go back to. And it has.

While I have focused more on my plumbing blog, I have also been thinking about what would make me different to other fashion bloggers on the blogosphere. I’m aware that there is a responsibility when it comes to consumerism with fashion blogging. I don’t want to be showing off new outfits all the time because firstly I can’t afford to and secondly I have more than enough clothes in my wardrobe that I can show you which hopefully will inspire you to create outfits from what you already own in your wardrobe. But I am a woman and I do enjoy shopping and of course will share purchases as they are made.

Before children, I wouldn’t bash an eyelid spending hundreds of dollars on new clothes, but these days money is tight and I know that if I want you to read my blog, I need to show you how to shop in your own wardrobe before you start spending money on a new one.

When you have a wardrobe full of clothes that work for you the temptation to buy clothes for the sake of it disappears because there is no longer a need to be filled. I also think that when you’re not shopping week in and week out, it’s easier to find pieces that you love as opposed to items that little emotion is attached.

So on Facebook and Instagram I will take part in the #everydaystyle challenge to show you what I’m wearing and there may be times where I’m wearing the same outfit but there will be subtle changes with the accessories.

If you have any styling questions, don’t hesitate to email them to me using my contact form. I will admit that I did buy some new clothes this week, only because I’m going to Problogger Conference in a couple of weeks time and the pants I wanted to wear and create outfits around, no longer fit me. The two items of clothing that I purchased are very versatile and once I’ve lost my baby weight, I will be able to sell them online. Both came to a total cost of $90 which suited my budget very well.

So tell me, how often do you shop for clothes? How do you budget for new clothes?

I’m linking up with Essentially Jess for I Blog on Tuesdays.

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What to wear when you’re pregnant

August 13, 2014 / Fashion / 12 Comments

I’ve had a break from this blog because I found it too overwhelming maintaining this blog while writing at The Plumbette and juggling being a great mum and housewife. Being pregnant also drained a lot of my energy and so I focused on what I could handle and this blog got put on the backburner, but my sense of fashion didn’t.

I thought I’d put a collage together of some of my favourite maternity outfits to give you some inspiration on what to wear when you’re pregnant. This was my last pregnancy so it feels fitting to end this era of my life with a little gallery of maternity outfits. I wrote some advice in relation to building a maternity wardrobe on Styling You, so if you are needing more inspiration or help, head to this post what to wear when you are pregnant.

My maternity wardrobe was filled with essentials like maternity jeans and pants, basic maternity nursing t-shirts and I then used accessories or show pony pieces to add interest to my outfits. Some of these items weren’t maternity clothes and will assist with my post-baby wardrobe.

If you have a limited budget when it comes to creating a maternity wardrobe, invest in the basics and add interest with accessories. You will see through out my gallery of outfits, I used the same accessories with different outfits.

Are there any favourite or stand out outfits from my collection? What essential items have you built your maternity wardrobe on?

If you like this post, why not follow me on Facebook and Instagram.

I’m linking up with the ever fashionable Kimba Likes for Wardrobe Wednesday.

Five tips for purchasing fashion on Ebay

April 24, 2014 / Fashion / 23 Comments

Just over a month ago I went to my cousin’s wedding. I left it a week before the wedding to find a dress to wear to the event.

I have a few maternity dress favourites that I turn to for special occasions but because I had worn them a fair bit this summer, I really wanted a new outfit but I didn’t want to spend a fortune on a new maternity dress.

In these situations I usually head to ASOS online but there was nothing there that was grabbing my fancy and the delivery wasn’t going to work with my tight time frame.

So I headed to Ebay. I wanted a dress which would have a hemline just above the knee and have some sort of black pattern so I could wear a black jacket and my black Easy Step wedges.

I scrolled and scrolled through Ebay. I searched for ‘Size 16 Cocktail Maternity Dresses’. I find the more broader the search, the more dresses that come up on the screen.

I ended up finding an Olian Maternity dress in size XL, brand new with tags. The hem length was exactly what I was looking for and it had a black swirl pattern which would tie in my shoes and jacket.

The dress was listed for $7.50 but it had another three days of bidding left and it was from Clare in SA which would mean the dress wouldn’t come in time for me to wear to the wedding.

Not to be put off by the circumstances of the sale, I contacted the seller and asked for a buy it now price and whether I could pay for the dress to be sent via Express Post.

The seller replied promptly and said I could have the dress for $35 and the express postage would be $10. I was happy to pay this because maternity dresses can cost a bomb!

I paid for the dress with Paypal and the dress arrived two days before the wedding!

My gamble worked and the dress fit me perfectly. I was shocked to see that the original price on the dress was $189!!!

This is the dress I purchased…

Here are five tips when purchasing fashion on Ebay.

You need to be realistic about your size. With maternity wear I always find that bigger can be better because you can grow into your item. Knowing what size you fit into a certain brand helps when purchasing that brand online. If in doubt, ask the seller for measurements.
Usually there are no refunds when purchasing from second hand sellers, but don’t despair if the item doesn’t fit, resell it on Ebay for the price you paid.
Have a good understanding of what suits your shape. The dress I bought is a very similar cut to another maternity dress in my wardrobe so I was fairly confident the style was going to suit me.
If you really love an item and can’t wait for the bidding to end or don’t want to miss out on the item, ask the seller for a ‘buy it now’ price. This price will be higher than the current bidding price. If the buy it now price is a bit extreme, you have no obligation to purchase the item. I remember bidding on an item that I really didn’t want to miss out on. When I asked for a buy it now price, the price given was much more than I was prepared to pay. I ended up waiting for the bidding to end and I ended up winning the item at a much lower cost than the seller wanted.
Always pay through Paypal. If the item sent to you is faulty or not like the description, you have the right to demand a refund. If the seller doesn’t give one, you can lodge a claim through Paypal and once proof has been shown that the item is faulty or not as per the description, Paypal will reverse the transaction. (This can take a couple of months though.)

What do you think of my bargain dress? Have you ever bought anything on Ebay?

How to get what you want within a budget

April 1, 2014 / Style tips / 15 Comments

I am on maternity leave which means our household has been living off one wage. There isn’t a lot of cash left over for personal spending, but I do try and put a little bit of money aside for clothes and shoes because they are a need.

Last winter, ankle boots were a big trend and they are making their season debut. Since clothes aren’t really on my radar due to my fluctuating size, a new pair of boots have been.

I fell in love with these Zoe Kratzmann Boots which are $289. I loved the colour and style, but not so much the heel height and they only go up to a size 10.

I researched boots online by looking at other shoe retailers and I loved these boots by Nine West and they were cheaper than my Zoe Kratzmann boots at $179.95. I even became quite partial to the orange boots (which were reduced by $20) but reasoned the beige colour would get much more cost per wear value.

Last week I went to Nine West at Robina to try the HippyChic boots on and their size 10 was a bit too snug for my foot. The sales assistant said that the leather would stretch but I’m not a fan of wearing shoes in while creating blisters on my feet. The assistant advised they didn’t go up to a size 11, although now looking online they actually did, but she mustn’t have had the size available.

I was disappointed because most of my online research and even window shopping hadn’t been successful for what I was looking for.

I decided to head to Harbour Town at Southport which is a factory outlet shopping mall, to see if I could find what I was looking for and low and behold, every shoe store I went into didn’t have my size (I’m a 10.5-11) or didn’t have the colour or style.

I then walked into Joanne Mercer and found these two pairs of boots.

The Orange Suede Boots were a size 10 and were reduced from $179.95 to $49.95. They were a generous size 10.

The Natural Tan Boots were a size 11 and were reduced from $169.95 to $69.95.

There was also an extra 30% off sale prices while I was in the store. I ended up with two new pairs of boots for $85. I was very pleased with my purchases and can’t wait to wear them this winter.

To get what you want within a budget comes down to good research and sometimes compromising on style and colour. It’s important to remember when buying shoes, a good fit is much more important than style, so don’t go and buy a style you love that doesn’t fit your foot properly. My natural colour boots aren’t beige like the original style boots I was intending to purchase, but I know they are a workable colour within my wardrobe.

In the end my compromise saved me money, and I got two pairs of boots.

How do you go about getting items to suit your budget? Had any good bargains lately?

I’m linking up with Essentially Jess for I Blog on Tuesdays.

What I wore to a 30th Birthday Dinner Party

March 5, 2014 / Fashion / 26 Comments

I went out to my first 30th Birthday Dinner party for the year to celebrate a school friend’s Birthday. I rarely get the excuse to dress up these days, so I welcomed the night out and knew a new dress would be needed for the occasion. Sadly the dress that I had wanted to wear, had a hole under the underarm seam, and even though no one would notice, I didn’t want to constrict my arms all night trying to conceal my fashion faux pas.

I was nearly in tears before the party because every dress I tried on was too tight around my bump or too big around my hips. I’m in the middle of my pregnancy, so I have seemed to only have put weight on at my belly and nowhere else.

I bought this teal Kimono sleeve-like maternity dress for ASOS specifically for a wedding that I wanted to go to this weekend, but because of my wardrobe dilemma, decided to wear it earlier to the 30th.

This is the Skater Dress from ASOS Maternity:

And this is how I wore it.

What I love about this dress is the colour and the stretchy material and wider arm sleeves which will allow for future body expansion. I will be able to layer this dress in Autumn and Winter too with some black leggings and a long sleeve black tee underneath.

I limited my accessories by wearing this gorgeous peacock feather headband that I bought from the Portobello Markets in London. I matched the look with Easy Step black wedges (wedges and flats are all I seem to be able to wear these days) and my Zjoosh Accessories Black Sequin Clutch.

Have you ever had a wardrobe dilemma like me and decided to wear something you were keeping for another separate occasion?

I’m linking up with Kimba Likes for Wardrobe Wednesday.

If you choose to purchase this dress via the link above, I will receive a small commission but this is no extra cost to you.

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