Time For Tea!

Hello lovely ladies, I hope you have been enjoying the glorious sunshine and have had a wonderful week.

Now, I may seem a little downbeat this week as I just spent the last hour and half writing this week's blog, then deleted it all by accident - to say I could have cried is an understatement - and this is why I don't trust computers!

Anyway, onto this week's brief...I've used the title above 'Time For Tea', and what does tea mean to Lucille Von Frock? TEA DRESSES! Now, I love tea dresses, they offer an air of sophistication and make me feel like a grown up!

The tea dress I'm showing is my absolute favourite, as soon as I saw it I fell in love with it. It's vibrant colours and silk fabric make it so elegant and easy to wear. So here it is, I hope you like it...

Here is a close up of the blouse section, showing better the fabric covered buttons and pleat detailing on the bust...



The dress is from one of my favourites shops, Betsey Johnson, you'll notice I mention her on here quite a lot. I find her designs cute and colourful, with an air of fun and frivolity, Betsey Johnson doesn't do understated!

With a dress so colourful it makes accessorising very easy, there are a number of colours in the fabric to choose from, so I've given you a few variations...

First up are my red leather patent River Island shoes with raffia platform and heel detail, coupled with my ASOS red patent 'crocodile skin' vanity case. Both offering a 1940's vintage feel, here's a closer look...



I think this is a perfect daytime look, perhaps a walk in the park, or even a picnic at the Chap Oympiad (http://www.thechapolympiad.com/)!!

Next up I'm opting for a look a little less casual...



Handbag-wise I think a little more Betsey Johnson can't go amiss! Here's a closer look...

This is such a cute bag, especially with the bow detail and the cream goes perfectly with the cream accents in the dress. However, I would like to add, that when I use this bag I like to wear cream satin day gloves, not only does this add to the vintage styling but also keeps the handles from becoming grubby - little tip for you there ladies! To up the vintage look even more, I've even been known to carry my cream parasol to keep the sun off me on extremely sunny days!

So, we've got the bag, how about the shoes...

The shoes I've chosen to complete this outfit are from ASOS, and you're probably aware that I don't own these, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time as they're adorable! I've chosen them to accentuate the minimal yellow colour in the flowers on the dress, as mentioned, this dress gives so many options of what colours to wear with it - I think every girl should have one!

Now, onto my next look for this dress...



This raspberry coloured Lulu Guinness (http://www.luluguinness.com/) clutch is iconic and I believe will be timeless. I love the cheekyness of the lips design, it's so cute, here's a better look...



 I think the different textures from the silk of the dress to the snakeskin effect of the leather on the handbag work really well together and with the suede shoes I've chosen below, the look is complete...

Again, I don't own these shoes, they're from ASOS and I'm sure I can feel an online shopping extravaganza about to take over me!! I've opted for turquoise as again, there is a slight turqoise colour in the pattern of the fabric on the dress, I always like to opt for contrasting colours, rather than try and match them, as most times you can't get the exact match and it looks terrible.

In the jewellery department I think all of the above scream out for ladylike pearls, so I'd opt for the Vivienne Westwood pearl necklace from my 'Busy Busy Busy' blog update along with the pearl earrings.

I'd like to add, that if you prefer not to indulge in vintage look for a tea dress then there are ways to make it look more modern; one of these ways is to get rid of the matching fabric belt to the dress and add a tan leather belt and tan leather sandals...

The shoes are from ASOS and the belt is from House of Fraser, simply adding these gives the dress a completely different, more edgy look, especially if put together with a slouchy leather bag.

So, another week, another look which I hope you love. Please let me know what you think, I'd love to read your comments below.

Don't forget, you can follow me on Twitter (LucilleVonFrock) & Facebook. If you need to get in touch email me at helen@lucille-von-frock.co.uk and call me on 07547 635870 - don't be a stranger, get in touch! xx



And now for something a bit different...

Hello lovely ladies of blogsville! I hope you have had a wonderful week and an even better weekend enjoying the sunshine!

Now, all this talk of sunshine has made me think of holidays, and the dress I've chosen today put's me in the holiday mood, it's lightweight jersey fabric is so cool and comfortable - just how holiday clothes should be!

So here it is, in all it's glory...

As you'll see it's a quite eye catching halter neck backless dress with Andy Warhol style Marilyn Monroe print. This particular dress is from Betsey Johnson (http://www.betseyjohnson.com/) and is current season.



As the dress only skim's the ankle, there's no danger of getting it caught up in your shoes and tripping over...

HOWEVER, you'll see I've teamed them with Office (http://www.office.co.uk/) red platform peep toe stiletto's with an eye watering 6 inch heel - so no over-indulging on the champagne when wearing these babies!!  I've gone for red to bring out the red colour of Marilyn's lips, and my own, obviously! To match the shoes I've added the red clutch as shown previously...

With the dress and shoes being so in your face I'd opt for simple jewellery, such as a pair of silver hoop earrings and perhaps a silver charm bracelet, but definitely nothing around the neck, this will just mess up the look of the halter and be too fussy.

As mentioned, this dress is uber comfortable so you may also want to dress it down for daytime, I've added a picture below to show another way to wear it, I'm picturing myself heading for lunch somewhere in LA...



Hopefully, you'll see that although a dress may be of a certain fabric or style which is usually deemed appropriate for either day or night, don't be afraid to try different accessories to either dress up or dress down. Simply adding black flip flops and a slouchy leather bag makes the whole look a lot more casual.

So, another week, another look which I hope you love. Please let me know what you think, I'd love to read your comments below.

Don't forget, you can follow me on Twitter (LucilleVonFrock) & Facebook. If you need to get in touch email me at helen@lucille-von-frock.co.uk and call me on 07547 635870 - don't be a stranger, get in touch! xx

Something for the daytime...

Hello my lovely blogettes, I hope you have had a wonderful week!  Now this week has been a week of questions, mainly of which were "will the sun shine today?" or "is it going to rain today?". However, it appears mostly the sun won the battle, so this week it's time for a nice little daytime outfit, ready for when the summer properly arrives!

As you'll see, it's a cute little floral summer dress which I've teamed with leopard print slingback wedges and an adorable yellow straw over the shoulder bag, specifically chosen to pull out the yellow shades on the dress.

The dress is lovely lightweight cotton with pleated detail on the top half, very 1950's, especially with the wide shoulder straps. The straw bag is also a favourite style from that period.

I've chosen the leopard print wedges to clash against the floral pattern of the dress to give it a more modern edge, this is something I like to do quite often, in fact I love to mix a bit of leopard print with most things!

So, you've enjoyed a lovely glass of Pimms on a beautiful summer's day, but as dusk approaches the air is starting to chill...what is a girl to do? Throw a cute cardigan over your shoulders of course and what better than a leopard print cardigan???

Now, the leopard prints on the cardigan and the shoes may not match, but I don't think it really matters, the key is to try and NOT match them, as quite frankly that looks like you're trying to hard...

Well dolls, there we have it, a basic staple of how to work the cute summer dress look with a kitsch 50's edge.  Other accessories I would add to this are maybe a cute locket around the neck, button earrings and most important of all a pony tail with a ribbon in!

So, another week, another look which I hope you love. Please let me know what you think, I'd love to read your comments below.

Don't forget, you can follow me on Twitter (LucilleVonFrock) & Facebook. If you need to get in touch email me at helen@lucille-von-frock.co.uk and call me on 07547 635870 - don't be a stranger, get in touch! xx