Monday wasn’t a good day for me this week (actually, the whole week has been a bit of a write-off I’m honest), so I did what any normal person would do and went to bed early with my iPad and Katy Perry: Part of Me lined up to view. The (self-proclaimed) Northern Love Machine was surprisingly not in the mood for this film, so it seemed like the perfect time to indulge in a bit of high brow viewing.

The main thing I took from the film? I need to inject a bit more colour into my wardrobe, like KP herself. 

Don’t worry, I’m not suggesting I walk around with a cupcake on my head and a fluffy pink skirt, but I think we could learn a lot from the lack of black in Katy’s outfit choice here.

As the sun has made more of an appearance this week and I’ve been attempting to perk myself up a bit I’ve made a couple of purchases inspired by Katy Perry: Part Of Me. Number one on the list is a bottle of Liz Earle Hot Polish Cleanser, as I try to get a flawless complexion. Number two is a tub of Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream. And number three is a new top from Asos – with not a hint of black in sight:

Thanks Katy Perry. And thanks Netflix, for making me buy a top in a colour I would never usually go for.

***

Disclosure: This post is written as part of the Netflix Stream Team collaboration. For more information please see my disclosure page. 

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I love boots. Always have done.

I remember being about ten years old and getting a brand new pair of boots for school. The excitement as they crunched on the gravel down the path to the school gates was palpable. They were just a pair of boots, but they made me happy. 

The end of the school holidays were always made brighter by the fact I could choose some new boots. I went through DM’s, platforms, suede flats and – when I was older – cowboy boots. These days, during the colder months, I live in my converse hi-tops and my various pairs of flat boots. I have sheepskin lined suede boots, Ugg boots, ankle boots and – now – black biker boots.

These beauties are Earth Spirit Biker Boots from Barratts and cost £68. They’re comfortable, versatile and I LOVE them.

They go with pretty much every staple daytime outfit I own: black opaques and a dress, skinny jeans, leggings and a baggy knit. I have lived in these boots for the past two weeks and have even shunned my heeled boots on a rare night out to the pub in favour of these beauties. That’s dedication.

***

Disclosure: The boots featured in this post were a sample pair sent to me for the purpose of this review. All opinions remain my own – they really are THAT good. 

Linking up to Wednesday Wardrobe at Emma and 3.

The post These boots were made for walking (to pre-school) appeared first on Mother's Always Right.

It’s not a huge thing. And I don’t want to get bogged down in blogging about it (although I probably will, eventually), but it’s a thing nonetheless.

As the weather heats up, rains and heats up again, I’ve been having a daily dilemma about what to wear. I say “dilemma”, and I mean “dilemma”. My more dramatic moments have seen me point blank refuse to leave the house. It’s that body thing again, you know. 

Anyway, my wardrobe’s saving grace has been a maxi dress I bought last year from Sainsbury’s. (Yeah, I know – the best fashionistas probably don’t buy their clothes next to the fruit and veg section, but you’ve got to take your fashion fixes where you can when you have a diva toddler who doesn’t like shopping.)

This dress has got me from hot to cold, to sun to rain. It’s hidden the bits of my body I’m currently having that thing about, and made me walk a step taller when all I really want to do is crawl under a rock / back onto my sofa and hide.

So, in an attempt to recreate this Maxi saviour, I’ve been trawling Shopcade in the hopes of finding something similar.

Here’s what I’ve come up with:

Or if you prefer your dresses a bit less stripy and a tad busier, there are these beauties…

Which one should I go for? Votes in now.

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As a Shopcade ambassador I am compensated for occasionally featuring the site on this blog. All views remain my own. To find out more about Shopcade, have a read of this post. 

The post Maxi fantasti appeared first on Mother's Always Right.

One of the things I like best about being a Shopcade ambassador is discovering new brands.

Until recently, I’d never come across Joy The Store or 18 and East before – but what a discovery that was.

I’m currently in the market for a range of wedding outfits to kit me out for the gazillion weddings I have this year. Weddings don’t come particularly cheap, so I’m not keen on spending a fortune on a different dress each time. But now, with the help of trusty Shopcade, I don’t need to.

Joy The Store and 18 and East are both my new go-to places for inexpensive fashion, that I won’t be likely to see on another guest at a party. Their designs are unique enough to be a bit quirky and cheap enough to avoid the guilt I often feel when buying frivolous stuff I don’t really need. (Both dresses in the picture above are from Joy and retail at £20 each.)

It’s not all about the dresses though. If you’re not a dress type of person you can browse a bit more and come across your favoured skirt/top or trouser/top combo.

Both the skirt and top in this picture are from Joy – and both cost less than £50.

And – because Shopcade is full of familiar and new brands alike – you can also find items from your old faithfuls, like Dorothy Perkins, Asos, Debenhams etc.

I know what you’re thinking: “Yeah, whatever. She’s a Shopcade ambassador, she would say that.” But it’s true. I genuinely never buy anything online now without checking for a deal on Shopcade. And, most of the time, I already know what I want because I’ve already added it to one of my Shopcade lists.

I get points just for logging onto the site, and I don’t just use it when I’m in the mood for buying. If I have a spare 5 minutes, I’ll pop onto Shopcade and have a browse – in much the same way as I would if I was early for a meeting and there was a shop over the road.

If the idea of social shopping puts you off, it needn’t do. Shopcade is very similar to Pinterest and incredibly easy to navigate – even I can do it without a hitch.

If you join up, come and find me on there – and check out my Fashion for Under £50 list. It’s FULL of bargains!

***

Disclosure: As a Shopcade ambassador, I regularly get sent lovely things from the site. All views in this post remain my own. Obviously.

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I love glamour. Not fake tan, extensions, blinding white teeth glamour but proper, old-school glamour.

The sparkly brooches of days gone by, the tassles of flapper dresses, the cute little hats and feathers of the 1920s. This is probably why I’m a teensy bit excited about The Great Gatsby’s release – and have been using my role as ambassador of Shopcade to put together lists of my favourite Gatsby-esque finds.

I haven’t been to the cinema since – wait for it – before my daughter was born. She turns three years old at the end of June. That’s a LONG time not to watch a film on the big screen. But, until now, there’s not been a movie out that’s grabbed me in the way The Great Gatsby has.

So indulge me for a minute while I show you the items I’ve been putting together on my Gatsby Style Shopcade list.

What do you think? Fancy a cocktail?

***

Disclosure: As an ambassador for social shopping site Shopcade.com I regularly get sent lovely things from the site. All opinions (and love of 1920s glamour) remain my own.

The post Gatsby Style appeared first on Mother's Always Right.

*whispers* Is it just me, or does it finally feel like it could, possibly, maybe, perhaps, be spring?

The last couple of days have seen moments of sunshine and blue sky that have left me blinking. I’m not suggesting we all get carried away and start donning a bikini or hotpants, but the brighter days have definitely left me wanting a bit more colour.

As the spring days tease us, I’ve been busy catching up on my recent addiction: my spring colour boards on Shopcade.

This is a site that works a bit like Pinterest, where you make lists of things you want. But with Shopcade, you can actually buy the stuff. Plus, you get points for your activity (if someone follows you or repins something you’ve found, for example) which lead to lovely rewards. And you get more rewards if you buy stuff through the site. Seriously, it’s great.

You can follow me on there and see my boards here, I recommend the trainers and boots lists. I’ve toiled long and hard over those.

Here are some of the products currently featuring on my spring colour boards:

I also rather like this very serious and sophisticated jumper from Boden, which I think would look pretty good with early morning uniform of jeans and converse.

Then there are the numerous shades of lipstick I’ve been looking at, the bunches of daffodils winking at me in the supermarket, as well as my sudden hankering after a fresh salad rather than a hearty stew.

I’m telling you, spring is on the way. Hopefully.

***

Disclosure: As a Shopcade ambassador, I get sent lovely items every now and again. For more information about commercial content please see my disclosure page.

The post In search of some colour appeared first on Mother's Always Right.

I have had to wear glasses since the age of 14. My first glasses were gold rimmed and now remind me of the wolf dressed up as the grandmother in Little Red Riding Hood. They did me no favours.

Fast-forward a few years and I started opting for black-rimmed, thin wired ones. Then the frames got a bit heavier. And then this happened:

After my toddler broke my favourite pair of glasses I was left with red-rimmed Timmy Mallet ones. Again, they did me no favours.

That’s why I jumped at the chance to work with Specsavers and try out their eye test and frame fitting service. It turns out my eyes have got worse since they were last tested a year ago. I regularly drive long distances on the motorway in the dark and that hasn’t helped my short-sighted peepers.

To be honest, though, I’m not bothered. Not when it means I can now wear these beautiful new glasses with pride, knowing I actually need them:

While the eye test itself was quick, thorough and fascinating (they showed me a photograph of the inside of my eye – it’s like a whole other world in there!), the frame fitting service was fun, easy and addictive.

I tried on a load of frames with a dedicated member of staff. The only guidance I gave him was, “Don’t make me look like Timmy Mallett” and “I like the preppy style, but I can’t pull off Jarvis Cocker”. He brought back gorgeous heavy-rimmed frames from the new Armani range, Gok Wan range and FCUK range. The ones I went for (pictured) were the FCUK ones.

With a plastic frame and no uncomfortable bridge, they don’t leave a red mark on my nose and I barely even know I’m wearing them. Plus, they actually make me look half decent, so I don’t feel the need to pull them off and hide them away as soon as I don’t need to wear them.

Now I just need some new make-up to go with them. *cough*

***

Disclaimer: I was given a free eye test, frames and lenses for the purpose of this review.

The post The one in which I get new specs appeared first on Mother's Always Right.

I’ve written here before about not being particularly materialistic. When it comes to furniture, I’m happy to opt for second hand and give it a bit of upcycling love. Although Boden kids clothes are my achilles heel, I’m just as content dressing my toddler in the second hand versions rather than the pricey brand new ones. My car is anything but flashy and my coat is not designer.

But. Well, I have a confession to make. I am a bit hooked on boots. Especially the ones on offer at online clothing and shoe store Zalando.

Given five minutes free time on the internet, my eye will immediately wander over to look at pretty boots and trainers, adding more styles to my personalised lists on Shopcade. It’s my new favourite (and very indulgent) hobby.

That’s why I got a little over-excited when I received an email from the Zalando team offering me the chance to do a review. I’d first come across the site after reading the rave reviews and tweets from my blogging mate Nickie at I Am Typecast, so I was no stranger to the types of lovely things on offer.

I had no idea, however, of the extent of gorgeous boots Zalando feature. It took me a good hour to trawl through all the different designs, creating a shortlist of my favourites before finally picking the ones I wanted.

Eventually, I plumped for this slightly rock chick pair from Even & Odd:

I have a real thing for black ankle boots, already owning two other pairs. In my defence though, none of the boots in my current collection have pretty stars and studs on or sport a gorgeous wooden heel.

I wore them all day – including driving 50 minutes to work in them – and they left me with no blister at the end. They were cute enough to team with skinny jeans but I think they’ll come into their own with my favourite black lace skater dress. (Incredibly frivolous but it’s nice to feel nice, no?)

My new boots went rather well with my new black silk T’shirt – also from Zalando – which perfectly skimmed any wobbly bits.

(Yes, those are grubby fingerprints on the mirror. I have a toddler, what can I say?)

My sensible head is telling myself not to get too carried away with the love of snazzy new clothes, but I couldn’t help but notice the lovely feeling I had when I wore this outfit earlier this week. There’s something about wearing something I feel good in, which looks pretty, that makes me walk a bit taller. Call me indulgent, shallow and vacuous, but I just can’t help myself.

Every now and again, it’s nice to have something new to wear. Especially when it’s new boots.

Thanks Zalando!

***

Disclosure: The products featured were provided for the purpose of this review. For more information please see my disclosure page.

The post Boots – my weakness appeared first on Mother's Always Right.

Ever since becoming a mum I’ve been veering more and more towards the No Clothes Camp. First of all, my favourite jeans refused to stretch with my newly wobbly belly. Then my tops refused to shrink with my newly shrivelled mammary glands. Then Every. Single. Pair of socks I owned got up and did a disappearing act.

So I’ve been spending my days since June 2010 dressed in a mixture of clothes borrowed from my sister and my husband, with the odd Primarni purchase thrown in for good measure. And no socks.

And it takes so bloomin’ long to get dressed doesn’t it? Especially in the dark when you have nothing for company but the loud percussion provided by your snoring husband’s wind orchestra. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve wandered out of the house in the morning dressed in a fetching ensemble of milk splattered pyjama top and holey leggings, simply because it was all I could find in the pitch black.

Then you’ve got the whole getting the child dressed in the morning thing. If we were to become nudists, the Battle of the Tights would be forgotten. A peace treaty could be signed to signal the end of wrestling matches over jumpers. Bliss.

Can you imagine a world where you only had to get up and make a cup of tea in the morning before leaving the house? A world with no daily choosing of outfits? A world with no hide and seek games to persuade reluctant children into clothes?

I can just see us now -  a family of three, wandering about Berkshire free as the day we were born, with nothing to cover us but a content smile (and maybe a pair of nipple warmers in the current climate).

Lateness would be a thing of the past. We’d be on time, every time.

Punctual. Happy. At peace. What’s not to love about being a nudist?

Well I suppose the heating bills could be a bit pricey. And there’d be nowhere for the cellulite to hide…

Maybe not then.

Someone who would be rather pleased about becoming a nudist

The post Thinking of becoming a nudist appeared first on Mother's Always Right.

This Super Woman goes by the name of Lisa Talbot and happens to be a very fabulous stylist. Within ten minutes I knew of the perfect top – and exactly where to get it. This was, quite literally, the holy grail for a woman with a less-than-flat stomach and an out of practise shopping technique.

Because Lisa’s lovely like that, she agreed to write a guest post, revealing some of her secrets. So, without further ado, I bring to you the first ever guest post to feature on Mother’s Always Right…

Lisa Talbot, Stylist extraodinaire

If you’re anything like me, my day starts at 6.45am and finishes at, well do they ever really finish?

In between I have my 7 year old twins to get up, which breakfast they so desire that morning to organise, packed lunch to pop in the lunchbox, get them dressed at high speed as they dawdle over breakfast, drop them at school, walk the dog and get to my destination of work (which could be any shopping centre within a 50 mile radius ).

I could tell you about the rest of my day but I’d be writing forever and I think you get the jist of it!

Does this sound familiar? I think every women can relate to this, afterall we are all superwomen aren’t we?

So, as a busy mum and more importantly a stylist who understands ‘normal’ women who shop in the high street, I wanted to help you with ‘What is Style’?

When you are thinking about style, consider this:

• Style is not about clothes alone
• Fashion can be bought – style cannot
• We are not always born with a sense of style –but it can be learned
• Style is consistent – but not boring

What is your style?

The most important principle, in my mind, is to dress yourself according to your personality and lifestyle. This will make your life so much easier.

There is no point is dressing in a business style dress if you are a stay at home mum – and vice versa.

When dressing a body bear these points in mind; dressing yourself is like wrapping a gift and depending on the shape and size of the parcel we dress it to suit an individual’s requirement:

• Colour
• Texture
• Pattern
• Accessories

In the same way you would you choose to flatter, disguise and personalise your gift, the same principles apply to
wrapping the body.

Outer and Inner lines:

Everyone has an outer line to his or her face and body. We are born with this shape. This basic shape does not change whether you are a size 8 or 28.

We must, therefore, wrap our body in clothes, hairstyles, accessories and glasses to suit and mimic our outer shape.

Helping everyday women dress for their body shape is my biggest mission and one which I believe has the greatest impact in not only how we look but how we feel.

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