Styled by Helen: Bold Prints

I'm totally in love with Kim's outfit for our Bold Prints theme. In fact, I was so in love with it that I got distracted and decided to wear a dress that didn't actually have a bold print. The pattern may be in your face, but it's not printed on the fabric - it is the fabric. Woven not printed - doh! Considering I studied clothing design for 4 years, that is one rookie mistake. So, let's forget about that and just pretend that it's a print, ok?

This dress was a rather last minute purchase. I wanted something fun to wear to the opening of the new exhibition at work. It's called Shonky: The Aesthetics of Awkwardness and the artworks are all very bold and colourful. Of course I wanted my outfit to fit in - I love dressing to a theme after all! I'd ordered the macaroni cheese tshirt that I featured on my December wishlist and thought I could wear it with my yellow tropical print trousers for a suitably Shonky look. It turned out that I'd left it too late and the tee didn't arrive in time. Realising my planned outfit wasn't going to be an option, I ended up "accidently" going into a few shops and "accidently" buying this dress.



I was mostly attracted to it because the pattern reminded me of jazzy bus seat covers. Plus it's super comfy to wear and I'm all about the comfy clothing. The only thing that made me a little apprehensive about it was the fit. It's definitely a little more figure hugging than I'm used to wearing. I'm not one to be overly bothered about my weight but I know I'm not exactly the smallest dress size I've ever been. But hey, this is what I look like and I ain't going to let some extra lumps and bumps stop me from wearing my bus pattern dress of dreams. Also, I'm a big believer in 'the more you wear something, the more confident you feel in it'. That's certainly true for my love of bright colours and patterns. Back in my school days, wearing a patterned belt felt a bit too out there but now I seek out the brightest items whenever I go shopping and feel more than happy to walk down the street in clashing prints. Fake it till you make it and all that. So I bought the dress, wore it to the opening, had a great time and felt fab.



Dress | Zara
Boots | Primark
Brooch | Freya Alder
Earrings | Abbie Gaiger
Belt | H&M
Glasses | c/o Spex Pistols

Kim asked in her post "how are you dressing for Spring?" My answer: in bold, patterned dresses. As long as they're stretchy and comfy, of course. I have my Monki one and now I have this one too.  Combined with my midi skirt looks from last summer, I'm pretty much sorted for warmer weather. Let's just hope we get some more of it!