Shoe challenge #53: Red lace and cherries

I thought of this outfit as my "grown-up" look. You see, my boyfriend always jokes that I dress too young for my age. Apparently, it's because I wear so many colourful things. Well, what does he know? I try to explain again and again, that just because a lot of people dress mainly in blacks, blues and greys and I prefer pinks and purples and yellows, it doesn't mean that I dress too young. I exactly don't consider myself "mutton dressed as lamb" just because I love bright clothes. I don't think you would find my typical style in the wardrobe of a 16-year old. They dress in a much more casual way. While part of my personal style is the tendency to be overdressed. I'm almost always in a dress and high heels. I'm almost always match my shoes to my belt and the rest of the outfit. That outfit just happens to be colourful most of the time. So whenever the boyfriend says stupid things like that (still love him though, obviously), I tell him that it's not that I dress too young, but that my look is just a bit more cheerful than what people are accustomed to.

That said, my "grown-up" look. I call it that mainly because the combination of a button-up with a pencil skirt makes me feel like a proper business lady. (not that I'm into business, mind you) It makes me feel professional. And then I have to ruin the credibility by pairing it with plastic cherry shoes and a leather motorcycle jacket. Because that's just me, that's what I do.

My cherry Lady Dragons must be one of my favourite pairs of shoes ever, not only because they are majorly pretty and smell nice, but because they were truly a steal. Thanks to what can only have been an error on the Asos site, I scored these for a mere € 45 or something. I saw the strange price drop in my wishlist at just the right moment, and I pounced on it. Only minutes later, the price was back to the way it was before, about five times as much as what I had just paid. Score!

Skirt Mango / shirt Zalando / shoes Vivienne Westwood x Melissa (last year's challenge)

Shoe challenge #37: Heart to heart

You guys, I'm well proud. After more than a year I figured out I can take pictures of myself outside my front door by putting my camera on the window sill. Sometimes I can be so silly (read: stupid), but at least I discovered it. Beats never discovering at all. And I only got "caught" once, by two cyclists who didn't even bother to find out what in the world I was doing.

Today I went with the fuchsia version of my Lady Dragons (I already saved my yellow ones) and I stuck with the team. If you've got pink and hearts, pile on more pink and hearts. It's very seldom that I wear this dress with different shoes than I usually do, as they seem to be meant for each other, but these work mighty well too.

As you know, I usually love wearing bright colours, especially in summer time, but this dress holds a special place in my heart, despite it being black. I guess it's the fun little pink hearts, as well as the 40s feel to it. And I just love simple fabrics, like this cotton blend.

I really feel like I'm on a roll with all this sunshiny weather going on, and I can't wait to tackle another pair of shoes tomorrow!

Dress no idea, bought at a festival (seen here) / shoes Vivienne Westwood x Melissa (seen here)

Shoe challenge #18: Stripes and hearts

These two were made for each other, I'm so sure of it. A perfect combination. The yellow of the shoes matches the yellow stripe of the dress exactly! While I scoured eBay for the shoes (these yellow Lady Dragons seem to be quite rare), the dress was a find during a girls' weekend in Luxembourgh. Don't you just love it when your clothes carry nice memories like that, because of where you bought them or when you wore them?

I love the detail in the back as well, the deep V and the big bow. No girl can say no to a big ass bow, or at least I certainly can't! I guess it looks a bit rinkled though, after a whole day on my work chair.

Dress Promod (seen here) / shoes Vivienne Westwood x Melissa (seen here)

A bite of mango

More Lady Dragons, I know I know, I'm starting to bore you, no doubt. These striking orange ones struck my fancy immediately. They are from the latest Vivienne Westwood + Melissa collection, and will set you back £120.

I especially love the little metallic heart. My pairs have plastic hearts, maybe that would be a good excuse for me to buy these as well. Get them at Hervia.

Wearing: yellow Lady Dragons

I felt it was high time to get the outfit posts back on the road, more specifically for those outfits that involve new shoes that weren't included in the shoe challenge. To be honest, the amount of shoes I've gathered since the challenge ended in September is disturbing. These yellow Lady Dragons have been on my wishlist for a really long time, they're from a few seasons back, but I finally tracked them down on eBay. Still on the list: the golden ones, which seem almost impossible to find in my size (must mean people really love them), and the pink glittery ones.

I was planning on wearing these to a party in Brussels on Saturday, but to be completely honest I was pretty quick to change into my flats once I got there. They're not too high and easy to clean off (as it promised to get a little dirty, with people throwing their cups and cigarette buds on the floor), but after a while they pinch my toes, as they're quite narrow. And I had already walked quite a bit in them, and I ended up on my feet until six in the morning. So yes, I actually was sensible about it.

This dress gets picked from the collection quite a bit actually, it's a real staple piece in my wardrobe. I love the simplicity of the figurehugging black mini, and the edginess of the puffy sleeves. Definitely one of my best purchases ever, especially since it's special and cheap. That's double score in my book! I usually get quite a lot of compliments about it. Also back in the game now that it's getting colder, are my Bambi earrings. Those were an Etsy find. They're 3D printed and add just the right touch of whimsy to any outfit. You'll probably see a lot more of them!

Dress and tights (H&M), and shoes (Vivienne Westwood & Melissa).

Shoe challenge #49: Fruit cocktail

You can see what I did there, right? I put lemons and cherries together and called it a fruit cocktail, I'm laughing so hard I might hurt myself. But, let's get to business, shall we? I got a very sweet (hahahaha) deal on these Lady Dragons last year, I hardly could believe it myself. I mean, €44, come on! Too good to be true.
This gorgeous lemon dress from New Look arrived in the mail on Tuesday, so when we had the most gorgeous weather on Wednesday (24°C at 5pm after work, bingo!), I couldn't not wear it to work. Yes, I might have looked a bit overdressed (again), but who cares. I sure don't, because I felt great.

Don't I just look as if I'm about to burst out in song and hug small children on the street and stuff?

Dress (New Look),
shoes (Vivienne Westwood
+ Melissa)

I got this dress together with this purple beauty and this white/pink one (still not sure about that last one), but this one immediately struck me as my favourite. It reminds me so much of this Stella McCartney number, but we saw a lot of fruit in general on the runways recently.
This particular one has netting underneath, which gives it that extra 50s vibe, which I adore. I love how it's plain coton, it's my favourite fabric to wear when the weather gets hotter. For now, I wore it with a white belt and a lime green cardigan, which I took off as soon as I was in the sun with a glass of rosé wine. Delicious spring!
It does get two negative marks. First, it's rather small. Even with a size up (12 instead of my usual 10), it's very tight across my boobs. Second, the bodice isn't fully lined. Not only is it a bit too see-through, you can very clearly see on top where the lining ends.

I'm still completely head over heels with these shoes, but they have completely ruined my feet. They were fine on Wednesday, but then I wore them again yesterday (with just jeans), and they totally started cutting into the sides of my feet. Result? Not one, not two, but three blisters! Another result? Another day of ballet flats for me...

Shoe challenge #45: Hot pink hearts

Dress and tights (New
Look), cardigan (Vero
Moda) and shoes
(Vivienne Westwood
+ Melissa)

As soon as this scenic print dress arrived, I wanted to put it on. I had been eyeing it on the New Look website since forever. And then it sold out. And then I manically checked the website every - single - day. When I saw that there were tiny specks of hot pink in it, I knew I had to pair them with my hot pink Lady Dragons. Of course my mum told me I'm completely bonkers.
Just for proof, you can see the pink spots just under the buckle of the belt (that came with the dress btw, woohoo!).

I wore this dress to a networking event on Friday, and I did get hit on by a few men actually. I even got a rose from someone! After which I pointed at The Boy, no sense in leading people on. But, safe to say, the dress and the shoes were both a succes. 

Even though these are actually not as high as I generally like my shoes, I like the looks I get with them from people on the street. Although one person on the train was staring so hard at me in the morning, it actually made me uncomfortable. Unfortunately they did start to rub after I walked all the way through Brussels because me and my friend got lost on our way to the party. The Boy had been waiting for over an hour. And then he had to come and find us. But hey, at least I know my way around the shops. And I'm still thinking about getting a gold pair...

Shoe challenge #16: Deep burgundy

Purple jeans (H&M), top (NafNaf)
and shoes (KENs)

Today started off as the most boring Ruby Shoesday ever. Obvious result of not enough sleep, and not enough red shoes. I went with a comfortable outfit and these burgundy courts, even though I'm not entirely sure they deserve to be saved. I can't remember the last time I wore them (combination of a midi heel, a simple shape and the fact that they rise to high over my feet, so no toe cleavage) and I might still get rid of them at one point or another. Suffice to say that when these bad babies arrived, I ditched the burgundy and pulled on the cherries!

Part of the Lady Dragon club

I have no idea why I got these so cheap. But they sure make up for those terrible Louboutins. (theoutnet.com did provide me with a very quick full refund) I think it must have been a tiny mistake on the Asos website, since they were only down to 43 euro for about an hour or so. But I took advantage of it as soon as I saw.
At least I was right to suspect that the white they were labelled as, actually turned out to be the pretty beige version. These are actually gorgeous and they received a lot of compliments from colleagues today. The only thing that bothers me a bit is the smell. The fake bubblegum smell. I could do without, but hey, everyone has a cold nowadays anyway.

When temptation gets too hard to handle...

Vivienne Westwood for Melissa

These were already greatly reduced in price (€87, while all the other Lady Dragon styles sell for €110-150), but Asos brought them down even further. These white cherry slingbacks are now €44. That kind of sealed the deal for me. While I'm still lusting after the fuchsia heart ones, I couldn't not hear this cry to buy...

Even if I did splurge last night already, I have to get the taste of those Louboutins out of my system. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!