A mini treat from Vivienne Westwood

My 10 week old daughter already owns a pair of Vivienne Westwood shoes. I don't even have a pair, so the decision to get her some before me chaffed a little! But when I saw this pair of Vivienne Westwood Melissa mini shoes...and that they were in the sale on Hervia, down from £60 to £18, I couldn't resist buying them for her.

She'll have to wait until she's about 18 months old before they'll fit her...but it'll be worth the wait to see her looking very cute in them.

I'd hoped to post a link to where you can buy them on Hervia but they don't seem to be on sale any more, even at full price. This link shows the range of shoes that were on sale over the past year.

I promise my Edna blog won't become totally dominated by baby attire...but as I have had a baby, a bit more will start to slip in...though I'll try to make sure it's stylish and not awash with baby pink!

Bargain Preen

I've been meaning to post a photo of my Preen for Debenhams dress ever since I bought it back in March but I've only finally got around to getting the camera out this week. This is going to sound repetitive but yet again it's one of my non-maternity, maternity dresses and I love it! I love the contrast of the casual grey jersey with the frilly, chiffon black hem. And I'm hopeful that it will work just as well when I get a waistline back again!

Preen for Debenhams Editions dress - £45

 

I'm wearing the dress with a Zara blazer (which is always appearing on Edna and I gloat about it only costing £10!), Max C handbag and leopard print Kurt Geiger shoes.

My jewellery is a Lola Rose necklace, bought on the cheap from London Fashion Weekend, a wooden bracelet that was a present, and the orange ring is from the Untold range at House of Fraser. The heart print scarf was from a shop near Spitalfields market but I can't remember what it's called.

 

Essential black jersey!

I blogged a few weeks ago about the latest designer collaboration ranges at Uniqlo...and not long afterwards I ventured into a store and made a purchase. Yet another non-maternity, maternity dress! 

It's a draped black jersey dress from the Costello Tagliapietra range, with a diagonal hemline and ruching around the chest and neckline.

I know black jersey dresses aren't particularly exciting but I find them so useful and have already worn it loads. Although I bought a size bigger than I'd normally need, I figure that post pregnancy...at some point down the line when I have a waistline again...I can cinch it in with a belt. 

I wore the dress with a sales bargain Zara blazer (£10!), sales bargain Max C bag (£10 too!), M&S scarf, Lola Rose necklace and ring, Bex Rox bracelet and my amazingly comfortable Cath Kidson espadrille wedges (with not very exciting maternity leggings!).

The cat print dress

Sorry for being all quiet on the Edna front...once again! I think I may have to accept that I can no longer blog quite as frequently as I used to...though I'll do my best to make them good ones when I do!

Obviously since I last blogged there has been major, international dress news with the royal wedding! What did you think of the frock? This may sound tragic but I shared the moment over the phone with my sister in Cardiff...and we both cooed over how stunning it was. And she didn't go for the usual weddingy designers - you've got to love a bit of McQueen for a royal wedding!

In other, slightly less exciting, dress news I've finally taken some photos of my much mentioned Dorothy Perkins cat print dress. The dress that got many compliments at London Fashion Weekend and disbelief when I told people where I got it from! It's another of my non-maternity, maternity dresses and I love it.

I'm also wearing my brand spanking new glasses! I got them from the Gok Wan range at Specsavers...which I was really impressed with. I know it's probably not the coolest brand to buy and I didn't think 'shit, I must go and get myself some of those Gok Wan glasses'...but they are affordable and there are some great styles. There are lots to choose from...including sunglasses, which I've also bought! Unfortunately I've bought aviators which match the Ray Bans Mr W wears...he is unamused and I do concede that we'll look like a right pair of tools if we both wear them when out together!

The rest of my outfit is my worn to death Zara blazer, H&M maternity leggings (folded up because they're too long for my short little legs!) and Office brogues.

Busting out the spring brights!

The sun was shining in London today...a truly gorgeous day, which always brings out the best in this city. And given the lovely weather, I decided to bust out a bit of colour from my wardrobe.

It was so refreshing to not only wear bright colours but to have shed the layers and the thick winter coat. I got to wear a jacket that I bought in September at London Fashion Weekend and haven't been able to wear since because it's been too cold.

Most of my outfit was bought at a discount. The jacket from Berman Black was bought at a huge discount at London Fashion Weekend (I think for something like £40), the dress is a BCBG Max Azria number bought from a discount village in the USA, the necklace and ring were also bought at London Fashion Weekend from Lola Rose (the necklace was only £25, which if you look at the website you can see is a massive reduction on what Lola Rose necklaces normally cost; the ring was a birthday present), and the bracelet is Bex Rox but bought on sale on Cocosa.

The rest of the outfit is my worn to death Copenhagen boots, Uniqlo cardigan and Max C handbag.

Maternity leopard print!

I'm experiencing the joy of a long weekend...which has meant spending today with my mum and sister, hitting the shops of Cardiff. I love Cardiff...it's such a great city and the shopping just gets better and better. There's now so much choice and every time I come up, new shops have opened (including a huge Urban Outfitters since I was last here).

Today I debuted one of my purchases from London Fashion Weekend (the brilliant discount shopping event in London, which follows fashion week...I blogged about it when I went with my sister back in September and went to the recent one in February).

It's a leopard print maxi dress bought from 'Never Fully Dressed', which sells lots of gorgeous and easy to wear chiffon dresses.

The high, slightly empire line fit means it's perfect to accommodate growing baby bump but will also be fine post-pregnancy.

I also love the length - if you're under 5ft 5" so many maxi-dresses can end up billowing around your toes and are not hugely practical on a day-to-day basis. But it's also not in the danger midi-zone, which I know is very fashionable right now but can be difficult to pull off.

And there's always room for a bit of leopard print in your life...even when pregnant! In fact, I love it even more because it's feels a bit anti-maternity wear!



I love this long skull necklace which I bought from
London Fashion Weekend last September...
but I can't remember the designer!


The rest of the outfit is an Asos bomber jacket which is years old, Asos studded boots, my beloved Sonia Rykiel for H&M gilet (or as Mr W has started calling it 'that bloody gilet'), and a Max C handbag (I won't share where my black undergarments are from as that really isn't interesting!)

Maternity shopping revelations

I promised that just because I’m pregnant, I wouldn’t turn Edna into a maternity clothing blog...which I hope I’ve stuck to! But, over the last few months I’ve entered a whole new world of shopping and wanted to share my experiences so far.

I knew from general grumblings in the past from pregnant friends that maternity wear can be fraught with fashion frumpery and shopping can become a depressing experience.

The choice has got better but it’s still not an experience that fills you with the usual shopping thrill.

I know some people swear by specialised brands such as Isabella Oliver - which does have a seven day sale on at the moment - but forking out around the £100 mark for a dress that will only be worn for a few months seems like quite a splurge.

I’ve been focusing on what’s available on the high street because that’s where I do most of my shopping anyway and I don’t want to spend a fortune on clothing that has a limited shelf life.

This is what I’ve discovered...

• Shops seem obsessed in selling pregnant women combat trousers. Even if they haven’t got a single pair in the rest of the store, they always seem to stock them for their maternity range. I know comfort is key in pregnancy but I’m not sure why this automatically translates to dressing like All Saints circa 1998!

• Even big department stores seem reluctant to give floor space to maternity clothing. I went into John Lewis on Oxford Street and wandered around for a while trying to find maternity clothes. Eventually I asked and was told that it was only available online...not a single item of maternity clothing over five floors! (But in wonderful John Lewis style the person was so helpful and friendly that it was impossible to get cross about it!)

• The best maternity items I’ve bought have been maternity tights and leggings (from H&M)...worth every single penny. You can wear the loveliest, most comfortable maternity dress but if you have normal tights on digging into your pregnant belly or rolled down underneath your belly and cutting off the blood supply to your nether regions, you will not be a happy lady! I know, I attempted it a number of times and almost tore the tights off in public!

• It can be very difficult to maintain your usual style of dressing if you rely solely on maternity wear. Too many ranges do err on the very conservative side and can be very uninspiring. Topshop has one of the best maternity ranges that actually resembles its main stock...so you don’t feel like you’re totally sacrificing style for comfort. 

• Dressing throughout pregnancy is much easier if you’re more of a dress than trouser/jean wearer. I pretty much live in dresses and so many of my normal dresses have been fine so far...I’ve had to buy far fewer clothes that pregnant friends I know who usually live in trousers.

• Finally, to keep your shopping and style sanity, don’t limit your maternity wear shopping to maternity departments. So much of the normal collections are fine in pregnancy...anything with an empire line is great, stretchy jersey is perfect and lots of other clothes are fine in a slightly bigger size than you usually fit into (and dresses in a larger size can often be worn post pregnancy with a belt to cinch them in).

So far, all I’ve bought are maternity tights and leggings, new underwear (underwired bras feel like cheese wire across your chest!), my maternity winter coat...and I had a little spree in Dorothy Perkins last week, which had a 20% off everything voucher that was itching to get used!

I bought three dresses...all suitable for a growing bump and not one from the maternity range.

And this is one of them...bought in the sale for £22 and with 20% off...worn for a birthday meal with Mr W! The waistline is just above the bump and it's a stretchy jersey so can accommodate the growth (I know I don't really look it in these photos, but I am five months pregnant and have quite a big bump!). 

Zara blazer, KG by Kurt Geiger boots and red belt from Gap

Kenneth Jay Lane gold bangle and Bex Rox gold & neon friendship bracelet

Mawi skull necklace

New winter coat for growing bump!

A few weeks ago I blogged about my wardrobe malfunction when my expanding pregnant belly finally burst through the buttons on my winter coat. My lovely mum took pity on me and bought me an early birthday present...the gorgeous maternity coat from the Red Herring maternity range in Debenhams. And it has been essential given that winter is still firmly upon us...it's hardly been off my back since.

I also think that although the coat is maternity wear, it will be fine for future winters with its slightly looser styling and the multiple layers I wear throughout the winter (the oft-worn gilet was always a bit of a test for my form-fitting black M&S coat!). 

The scarf is an old favourite from M&S

Very pretty butterfly print lining

Detailing on the back of the coat

And underneath, I wore my designer bargain BCBG Max Azria silk dress (bought for something ridiculous like $40 at a discount outlet), with striped Gap top, my black winter boots from somewhere in Copenhagen, and jewellery that were presents (either from others or myself!).

Slightly straining around the waist!

And if you’re remotely interested, the lipstick is the Maybelline one I mentioned the other week, as recommended by Sali Hughes!

Spring stripes

You know that I’m partial to a stripe and have to resist the urge to pack my wardrobe full of them. I always gravitate towards a stripe in a shop and have to really stop myself being a striped bore! Other than replacing worn out striped t-shirts, these days any other stripey purchases have to be very special for me to crack open my purse. 

At the moment, I have my eye on the pink striped dress by Ann-Sofie Back for Topshop. I love the ruching detailing and have been speculating on whether I can buy a slightly bigger size and get away with it as maternity wear.

Given it’s a new season and I’ve already got my eye on this new season stripe, I thought I would show you my favourite stripes in the shops right now.

Pink stripe ruch front dress by Ann-Sofie Back for Topshop - £55

Black stripe leggings by Ann-Sofie Back for Topshop - £35 (I'd wear these underneath something rather than on their own!)

River Island blue kaftan bubble top - £19.99

Warehouse drop waist stripe dress - £65 (lovely but not sure it would suit pear shapes like me) 

Red Herring Maternity black striped dress - £28

Dorothy Perkins corsage - £7

 
A very Prada SS11 dress...Asos stripe egg maxi dress - £45

 

Evil Twin 'Sinking Feeling' Stripe Ships Wheel tshirt - £40
 

 

Irregular Choice hawkeye shoes - £89.99

And in my ‘hey, I’ve just found £200 down the back of the sofa’ scenario, this is the beauty I would be splashing out on! Boutique by Jaegar ric rac striped tea dress - £199