Today, as promised, is a good fashion day. Yes, it’s a dress – my favoured uniform – and, yes, it’s NW3 by Hobbs – a brand I adore – but that doesn’t mean this was easy. In fact, I get oh-so-many brownie points for this one.
This autumnal patterned dress is gorgeous but, uncharacteristically for me, has been languishing in my wardrobe for about seven months without so much as a peek at sunlight. Poor dear. This, I promise you, is its debut and, for me, it’s a truly triumphant one.
To the back-story then. Prepare yourselves because this is going to come as a shock. Your body changes when you’ve had a baby. Not surprised? Well, believe it or not, this obvious little detail shocked the hell out of me!
When I bought this stunning pleated dress, I thought it had me written all over it – the kind of thing I’d wear almost habitually to work or to lunch with friends so, when I saw it on sale (and feeling desperate to wear something other than grim, flap-ridden nursing tops), I clicked it into my cart and waited for the postie with bated breath.
Imagine my disappointment when my not-quite-perfect-but-nicely-voluptuous-hour-glass figure had suddenly become…what, an apple? No. Two giant apples and a watermelon in a sack. Oh. Dear. But, mawkish to the end about my beloved Hobbs, I could not send it back. They had done no wrong. It was I who had committed the crime against fashion…or rather my errant paunch. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not repulsed by my post-baby body. In fact I’m quite stalwart in my admiration of it but facts are facts. This dress no longer suited me. Until, that is, I made a simple resolution…
So, here it is and all it took was a scraggy, oversized t-shirt to make me fall totally and utterly in love.
The bag and boots too, have scant seen love since they came into my life. I bought the bag from Caaaamden market last January and it hasn’t adorned my shoulder since then. Likewise, the suede Bertie boots – bought on the same trip to London – have taken barely a step out of the closet. I told you: brownie points…
…in fact, so many brownie points that tonight I am going out to dinner in a brand new Hobbs dress. Because I can. I’ve earned it. Well, at least the earrings have been dredged up from the abandoned jewellery pile – an unworn vintage Ebay buy intended for my wedding day three years ago that were ditched in favour of a better pair. Well, tonight, they finally go to the ball!
So, here are the details: