THE OLD WITH THE NEW AND STEPPING OUT IN NEW SEASON NEUTRALS

Another relaxing weekend has been and gone, which you might have heard all about over on my Instagram stories but let me quickly recap for you just incase you missed it;  A cosy night in watching Twilight with a takeaway curry on Friday night, a trip to Liverpool with the family on Saturday followed by a Saturday evening of baking (yep, I baked for the first time in YEARS) banana bread, eating banana bread and watching La La Land whilst Gee went out and dj-ed. Whilst Sunday was spent cleaning and reading followed by a couple of G&T’s at my aunties house for her birthday. How so very wholesome ey!? How was your weekend my loves?

I’m writing this at 6am on Monday morning having been woken up by the dogs downstairs at 4:45… Initially I was fuming, but that was quickly replaced with joy as it meant I could catch up on all the Oscars goings on and of course RAMI MALEK AND QUEEN! Not to mention the incredible Olivia Coleman and THAT SPEECH!

So anyhoo on with the show and today’s outfit; one that is a little out of my comfort zone and out from the usual thing I like to wear but an outfit that did me the world of good I must admit.

For as long as I can remember I’ve always shied away from midi-lengths as something that didn’t suit me and my 5ft4 frame. However, in the past few months we all know that the silk bias cut slip skirt has been DOING THE ROUNDS (understatement of the century!?) Petite babes such as my sister Faye, Monikh and Chloe have been rocking them and it got me thinking that perhaps I could too!?

It’s taken me a while to find one that I truly loved and that was possibly a little bit different to the ones I’d seen around, predominantly by Topshop. I bagged this one at H&M as it was the perfect combination of a trend piece and a bit of me with the animal print. As well as being the must have silhouette of the season and seasons past but it’s also a rather lovely nod to the SS19 trend of neutrals, something that on paper isn’t really my bag but in practice, and when combined with some fabulous animal print or some epic tailoring such as this vintage Valentino blazer, it’s a trend I can get involved with!

How could I just drop in the fact that this blazer is vintage Valentino without divulging you just how it came to be.
Well, I found it on the rails of my favourite vintage shop Cow Vintage and as I laid eyes on it I must admit I did a rather loud squeal and ran straight to the fitting room to try it on! It’s tailored to perfection, with darts in all the right places meaning it sculpts my shape impeccably. It’s made from a beautifully tactile suede/velvet hybrid and also features the most insane seventies inspired oversized lapels, an absolute dream piece for me and at only £35 there was no way I was leaving it behind!
I’ve been rocking it with jeans and kick-flares for an evening out but I really do believe that it’s all about styling it in a tone-on-tone fashion to create a really modern and totally appropriate SS19 look.

It's one of those outfits that I doubted to begin with, wondering if I really could pull it off and whether this whole slip skirt trend was something I really ought to avoid. However, the blazer combined with a plethora of textures such as a delicious grey cashmere hoodie- this one was a gift from Me&Em and is one of my favourite things to wear right now whether it’s at home or out and about to add a little further interest to a look, it’s a truly fantastic piece and of course SO damn soft, I can’t wait to travel in it.

As well as seventies silhouettes and textures aplenty, another way to make something feel that little more "me" is to throw in some colour of course. If, similarly to me neutrals isn’t always something you tend to go for, simply throw in yet another SS19 trend with a highlighter bright such as this knit from Primark; a failsafe way to take a classic piece such as a slip skirt and make it that little bit younger and a whole lot fun-ner.

Knee boots, fancy handbags, lashings of gold jewellery and sunglasses all totally essential too of course 😉

x M

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROSIE BUTCHER