Fashion

The dress that made my day

Sophie

Floral maxi dress and rucksack

Isn’t it wonderful when you put on an item of clothing and instantly feel great? Those moments have been rather lacking for me recently, as I’m in a sort of limbo right now – we’ve moved out of one flat and are waiting to move into another, so I’m writing this from my parents’ house, where I’m staying for a few days.

My room here is covered in boxes and bags of stuff that I don’t really fancy unpacking if I’m only going to have to pack them again 2 days later, and it has meant that I’m grabbing the top item from the nearest bag each time I get dressed – an approach that hasn’t gone all that well for me, I must admit. I’ve been arriving at work in some very questionable outfits lately, and they haven’t exactly made me feel like the best version of myself.

What to wear with a maxi dressNew Look floral maxi dress

So last weekend, when I wanted to snap some outfit photos in the midst of the packing and transporting madness, I popped on this dress – mostly because it was easily accessible, seeing as it’s new and hadn’t yet been packed up like the rest of my wardrobe.

I had bought it on a bit of a whim the previous week; I haven’t owned many maxi dresses before and actually have no idea why I took this one into the changing rooms with me, but something made me give it a whirl and I’m so pleased I did. It might not be a super cool trend-led piece but it is very pretty, and sometimes that’s exactly what you want – so it ended up coming home with me.

Black floral dressHow to style a floral maxi dressDress – New Look | Trainers – Converse | Rucksack – Primark

It’s a fairly simple dress with some lovely details – like the button down front, and the little frill trim along the neckline as a nod to this year’s ruffle trend. I love that it’s black, with a gorgeous floral print in shades of pink, and the flowing skirt and tied waist makes me feel fantastic; there’s something about a flowy maxi dress that just makes you want to twirl and frolic like a little girl dressing up, isn’t there? Hopefully I’m not alone in starting to walk differently and taking every opportunity to swish my skirt around the moment I’m wearing this sort of dress.

It’s also very affordable at £27.99 from New Look, which is pretty reasonable if you ask me. It does come up quite long (for reference I am around 5′ 5″), but the fit is a dream other than that – I’ve tucked it up slightly at the waistband here which did the job but in time might get a little bit taken off the bottom to avoid dragging it along the floor too much.

Black floral maxi dress

What pleased me most about this purchase is that it reminded me of one of my favourite small pleasures in life. Something as simple as a pretty dress actually can lift your mood; this is the reason I love fashion and why I spend what is probably too much money shopping for clothes. It had been a crazy week at work and a busy one at home since we were desperately looking for a new place to rent and attending viewings while packing up our old one. Add trying to keep up with blogging and social channels (not to mention eating, exercise, keeping in touch with people, sleeping, showering, and all the other things you have to do to like…be a person) and I was feeling pretty frazzled by the time Sunday rolled around.

We decided afternoon to take a car load of stuff back to the parents’ houses (lucky them) since it was becoming apparent we wouldn’t be moving straight in to a new place. I put this on with my old black converse and a tasselled rucksack I’d rediscovered in the flat dismantling fun, we dropped the stuff off (unloading a full car is an absolute ballache, isnt it?!) and stopped off on the way back to have a little wander. Swishing through the grass in the early evening light wearing my new dress, I honestly felt uplifted – that might be a really shallow thing to admit, but it really did raise my mood. For the first time that weekend I felt like I could forget all the boring adult stuff going on and be carefree for an hour or so – even if that just meant twirling around in a field like a bit of a prat (it definitely meant twirling around in a field like a bit of a prat).

Anyway, enough of my rambling. What have we learnt here? Well, firstly; make sure you have somewhere to move to before you go recklessly handing in notice on your current tenancy. Secondly; moving is time-consuming. And finally; if it makes you feel great, buy the dress.

New Look Maxi dressMaxi dress and tasselled bagFloral maxi dress and tan bagNew Look maxi dress silhouette

Photos: Rob Poor

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Published by Sophie

30 thoughts on “The dress that made my day”

    1. Thank you so much ❤️ And haha, it’s funny you mention the location – it came out looking nice in the photos but it was literally a weird patch of scrubland between a farmers field and a building site haha xxx

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    1. Pahaha I’m glad someone appreciated that bit! And thank you 🙂 Sometimes its just really nice to wear something you feel good in ❤️ xxx

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    1. Thanks so much Amanda – we (as in me and the poor boyfriend I have demanded take photographs of me) were pleased with them! x

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  8. Lovely dress Sophie. I love maxi dresses and definitely need to get some more. It’s the little things sometimes that can make us feel happy and relaxed isn’t it x

    Jenny | LuxeStyle

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  9. It’s definitely not shallow that a dress can lift your mood – it’s so true that feeling good about yourself makes for a better day and even just a bit of red lipstick can lift my mood sometimes! This is an absolutely stunning set of pictures, I love the dress, the little frill detail is so pretty – I love a good maxi dress and I think New Look definitely have the best selection!
    Amy xx
    http://www.callmeamy.co.uk

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    1. Yessss I’m so glad you think so too – and high fives for the red lipstick, I find the same with that, such a little mood lifter! Thanks so much gal, I might have to add a few more maxi dresses to my wardrobe 🙊 xxx

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  10. ”If it makes you feel great, buy the dress” – totally in agreement with you there! I feel as though I’ve been doing a fair bit of that lately though, haha. This maxi dress looks really beautiful on you and I adore the dreamy setting where you’ve shot the look.

    Gabrielle | A Glass Of Ice x

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    1. Haha – I know exactly what you mean there, it’s a bit dangerous when you take it board too enthusiastically isnt it! Thanks so much lovely – the location was nowhere near as dreamy as it looks on camera! Got lucky with the light I think xxx

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