Challenge day 21: Belt your outerwear.

Well the "challenge gods” were shining on me today (or so I thought) ..After 30 minutes of trying to make my coats look nice with various belts all of which made me look like a sack of spuds tied in the middle, a delivery from French Connection arrived with a cream trench coat WITH belt. Brilliant! my challenge is done…Ummm.
 I have been looking for a beige/tan coloured classic trench coat for a while and thought I had found the perfect one. It is totally the wrong colour it looked darker on the picture and wouldn’t last two minutes with a sticky fingered toddler who wants picking up every second (like me, he is not fond of walking) and it is far to stiff. The fabric is quite thick and doesn’t move like the cotton ones I am in search of. So please if you have seen the elusive trench coat I am after please tell me.

So I have half filled the challenge…... What do you think to this trench coat?

I wore it with some black leather and jersey trousers, black shirt, tartan scarf and skater shoes.
I hope to be back on form tomorrow because it is a challenge with my name on it.

Trench coat: French Connection HERE

Trousers: Just Cavalli 

Tartan scarf: Alexander McQueen

Skater shoes: Kurt Geiger: HERE

Challenge day 20 : Dress down your favourite black dress.

I can’t believe I am on day 20 of the challenge, only 10 more to go and I am going to buy myself a little medal for my great achievement !
Today's challenge was unusual for me as you know I am not a great fan of a skirt in the day, so to wear a black dress and dress it down was pushing me to my comfort limits!
I chose a dress that was in a jersey material so instantly it felt easier to wear in the day, it is a pencil dress with a peplum around the waist which is extremely handy to cover any lumps and bumps or Sunday lunch, and is a really simple and classic shape.
To dress it down a teamed it with a soft leather biker jacket and some classic Chanel ballet pumps and Gucci bag.
I would normally wear this type of dress with a heel but when I put the heels on it instantly dressed it up, so sticking to the brief I went for the ballet pumps.
How would you dress down a black dress? 
I have included a picture of Spiderman who kept photo bombing me and was determined to get in the pictues! 

Take care 

Amanda x

Dress: French Connection SIMILAR HERE

Jacket:  Muubaa SIMILAR HERE

Ballet pumps : Chanel 

Bag:  Gucci

Challenge day 19: Pair your favourite denim pieces together. ( Also Harvey Nichols Fashion show highlights)

Hi, What another glorious day and I am certainly full of the joys of spring! Firstly yesterday I was the winner of the Harvey Nichols twitter competition, where you had to pick an outfit to go with an IRO Paris leather jacket and I won and won the IRO Jacket (Worth £900..WOW!!) So as you can imagine my day started off brilliantly as it was also my youngest son’s 4th Birthday.
After a great day out with Charlie and hubby, I went to the Harvey Nichols SS14 fashion show at Leeds which was fantastic and I got the chance to take lots of pictures of some really beautiful outfits.
I have chosen a selection of my favourite looks to share with you so I hope you like them.
On with today's challenge though and it is to pair your favourite denim pieces together to get a denim on denim look, I was always told to never trust anyone in double denim, but here goes!
I thought I would team my light denim shirt with darker denim jeans for a bit of contrast. I have got my eye on some gorgeous denim dresses for summer but need to sort the old pins out first before they see daylight, fake tan is needed to cover up the light blue colour they are currently sporting.
What are your favourite denim pieces? And are you summer ready yet? Please let me know I am not the only one reaching for the tan in a bottle!
I have put all the details of the fashion show pics underneath is picture, all available from www.harveynichols.com

Tamara Mellon Top £375
Tamara Mellon Leather skirt £725
Gucci Bag £1610
Tamara Mellon Shoes £595

Sandro top and pants
Miu Miu Sunglasses £ 190
Casaedi Shoes £580
Saint Laurent bag £1350
Alexander McQueen  Bracelet £230

Gucci jumper £460
Gucci trousers £825
Gucci coat £1335
Gucci shoes £490
Gucci handbag £1150

Gucci dress £1610
Gucci bag £1810
Jimmy Choo shoes £350

Amanda Wakeley top £345
Marc Jacobs jeans £195
Alexander Wang bag £731
Jimmy Choo shoes £450

Mother of Pearl Jumpsuit £620
Saint Laurent bag £1240
Muubaa leather coat £365
Jimmy Choo shoe £625

Mother of Pearl dress £605
Sophie Webster shoes £180
DKNY bag £210

Victoria Beckham dress £ 860
Jimmy Choo shoes £375

Whistles Skirt £450
Whistles Top £350
Aquazzura shoe: £600

Dolce & Gabbana Dress £990
Dolce & Gabbana shoes £525
Alexander McQueen bag £1395

Maxmara coat £1080
Sportmax Trousers £ 205
Maxmara top £250
Aquazzura shoes £435

Roksanmda Ilinic skirt £850
Roksanda Ilinic top £520
Jimmy Choo bag £595
Sophia Webster shoes £360

Finders keepers skirt £105
Finders keepers top £120
Jimmy Choo shoes £360

Alexander McQueen dress £ 1080
Gucci Shoes: £655
Balenciaga bag £1130

Phillip Armstrong lace dress £990
Saint Laurent shoes £370

Alexander Mcqueen dress £1175
Rupert Sanderson shoes: £475

Denim shirt : Asos HERE

Jeans: Topshop Baxter HERE

Jacket Zara ( last year) SIMILAR HERE

Peep toes Leopard print shoes River Island (last year)SIMILAR HERE

Bag: Bayswater Mulberry

Challenge day 18 : Test out a new “tuck"

Well now I am feeling completely back to normal, but possibly just a tad confused (again) with this challenge. Now correct me if I am wrong but I can’t imagine that there are many different ways to “tuck” a top in, or have a missed the memo on this seasons “tucking styles” …good job I never attempted to say that on Saturday night!!
I would think that you can either tuck it all in or just tuck the front bit in, which I did.
Are there anymore tucking techniques I am unaware of? Can you do “ back tucks” ? Who knows, but at the end of the day its not the most exciting of challenges.
Today however is an exciting day as its my little boy Charlie’s 4th Birthday and he has been asking if its his birthday everyday for what seems about 6 months, so it is a relief the day is finally here. The only problem is his party is not until the 23rd so I will now have the “is it my party now” for the next 12 days.
We are having a little day out today though and also when he is tucked up in bed I am going to the Spring/Summer fashion show at Harvey Nichols in Leeds, which I am so excited about and will feature all the pictures on my blog over the next few days.

I hope you will rush to your wardrobe after this post and practise with your “tuck”…. 

Take care

Amanda x

Jeans: New Look HERE

Top: Topshop SIMILAR HERE

Necklace: Topshop SIMILAR HERE

Shoes: Christian Louboutin SIMILAR HERE

Challenge day 17: Winterize your favourite summer skirt.

Hello, I am alive ( just) I apologise for the mysterious 2 day skip in my 30 day outfit challenge but the weekend was pretty hectic and after attending a charity ball on Saturday night I was in a haze of pain and regret on Sunday after the wine had flowed oh so freely…. It seemed a good idea at the time!
So today I am back on track, just about, I am not going to say “never again” because we all now that this is a lie, but maybe “not for a while” might be more realistic.
Anyway enough of my sorry story of greed and debauchery and onto today's challenge “Winterize your favourite summer skirt” ..Ummm if you have been following my blog for a while you will know that I am not a big skirt person, or massively into print so you will probably be shocked that my favourite summer skirt ( well its actually a dress, but lets not split hairs) is a red leopard print tea dress. I fell in love with this, probably because it is leopard print last year when I saw it, it is not a shape I really go for either but when I tried it on it felt great, fitted in all the right places and was perfect for summer days.
My winterization ( my word) of it was simple, black tights and ankle boots, cropped black jumper and can you believe it, I actually wore my hat again.
Do you ever mix your summer things up for the winter? I must admit this is the first time I have done this, as I usually pack away my summer clothes to make room for my winter ones and vice versa.
So I hope you like what I have done and do share your thoughts on mixing up your clothes.

Take care

Amanda x

Dress: Topshop (old) SIMILAR HERE

Cropped jumper: Topshop SIMILAR HERE  ( and with a red dress, Spooky!)

Hat : Topshop HERE

Ankle boots: Zara SIMILAR HERE

Bag: Chloe

Ready for the Ball..

Alexander McQueen Dress and Bag

Sophie Hulme Belt 

Christian Louboutin Shoes 

Challenge Day 16 : Go monochrome in a bright colour

I am slightly confused with this challenge, which after a week of 6’oclock awakenings by a boisterous 3 yr old it's hardly surprising. Frankly the competition questions on “Daybreak” are a struggle at the moment so I have just made up my own interpretation of the challenge and hoped for the best.

Go monochrome in a bright colour…. does this mean go monochrome ( black and white for those who are also easily confused) and add a bright colour? Or does it mean do a light and dark version of a bright colour?………….Who know’s. Its Friday and this is what I did.

I wore my new white Zara swing blouse which I love, my husband on the other hand turned his nose up and said it looked like a tent, and that he didn’t like me in shapeless things. I am sure men would be happy if we wore bandage dresses everyday…. its not going to happen!
So ignoring his comments I wore it with a bright blue Zara blazer and ripped black jeans and of course my lovely KG leopard print skater/slip-on’s.

Comfortable, monochrome and with a bright colour. Mission accomplished ( maybe) .

I have not checked what the weekends challenges are yet but tomorrow night we are at a charity ball and I am going to wear my Alexander McQueen black dress, so I will post the pics.

Also today is Brain Tumour awareness and I would be massively grateful if you could buy a bandanna for £3 from Brain tumour charity  Brain tumour research is given only 2% of cancer research money and is the cancer they know the least about, shocking really. So it would be great if you could help. 

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend

Take care 

Amanda x

Jacket: Zara CLICK HERE

Blouse: Zara CLICK HERE

Black Jeans CLICK HERE

Slip-on’s CLICK HERE

Challenge day 15: Create a look with 3 levels of layering.

Phew, back to my comfort zone of “plain” clothes all the prints made me dizzy!
I love this challenge and have no problem layering up, especially today as it was freezing.
I choose my new favourite denim shirt, cropped Topshop jumper and cream Zara coat, not a pattern in sight and a very happy me.
I think I need to acquire a few more cropped tops as they look to be everywhere for Spring/Summer but only to be layered for me, even if I went to the gym everyday for a month I can not get my head around flaunting my midriff at 42, sometimes you have to be realistic, modest and not embarrass your children!
But again this is just my opinion for me only and if you feel comfortable with a bare tummy then go for it.
I love the midi high waisted skirts with the cropped tops that show just a tiny weeny bit of flesh, but again I think I will leave this look to the young’uns.

I don’t think I am going to get a six pack anytime soon as I have discovered the art of cupcakes and the kids just can’t get enough. Not being the best cook in the world, I am shocked how good they are and revelling in praise from my children ( including a sweet-toothed Hubby) I am churning out a batch a day. I am sure they will get bored soon but I am so pleased Spencer is telling all of his friends “ Mummy can cook now”

How will you be wearing the cropped look this summer? 
To bare or not to bare? Let me know your thoughts.

Until tomorrow have a great day

Take care

Amanda x

My lovely cupcakes!!

Jeans: Topshop: CLICK HERE

Denim shirt:  CLICK HERE

 Jumper: Topshop : SIMILAR HERE

Coat Zara: SOLD OUT

Shoes and Bag: Mulberry