Shoeper Shoe Challenge # 9: As If

What: Matalan pewter court shoes
When: Thursday, April 7th, 2011
Where: By the river
With:Β  River Island dress; sunglasses, eBay

It’s Spring!

OK, it’s not really. If I’m completely honest, it was just a little too cold for this outfit today (luckily I did have a trench coat with me for when the wind got too much), but you know what? Screw it. It’s officially Spring, so from this point on, I’m just going to dress as if the weather is keeping pace with the calendar, even although the weather itself seems to have missed the memo. Well, it’s the only way I’m going to get any use at all out of my vast summer wardrobe, after all!

These shoes are from Matalan, and the last time you saw them, they had a Mary Jane strap across the front. I’d never really liked that strap, and when I was sorting out my shoes ahead of the start of the Challenge this year, I’d originally consigned these to the “donate” pile because of it. They’re such a versatile colour, though, that I took pity on them, pulled them out, and snipped off the strap. As you can see, it doesn’t look great close up, but it has allowed me to wear them more often, and that’s the name of the Shoe Challenge game, so it’s all good. (Er, it’s not the actual name of the game, obviously. It’s just called “The Shoeper Shoe Challenge”. Because I’m imaginative like that.) I was pleased I’d kept them when I got this dress, too, because they’re the perfect colour for it!

About the dress: can you believe this is from River Island? I know a lot of people look down on RI and it has a bit of a reputation as a clubber’s paradise, but it’s been my guilty little not-so-secret for a while now, and as well as loving their shoes, the current collection is full of gorgeous little 50s-inspired dresses. I may have bought a couple. OK, three. And some swimwear. And a hat. Moving on…

It was a little bit windy:

But at least another pair of shoes was saved. Can I make it a perfect 10 by the end of the weekend? Er, probably not, to be honest, but I will at least try!

REMIXED:

25 Comments

  • Ooh you look so beautiful, that dress really looks great on you! I was thinking of buying it too, I love 50s inspired dresses πŸ™‚

    Gorgeous!

  • The dress looks amazing on you! But on me it would be mid-thigh length, hence River Island’s reputation…
    I do like their jeans though and their stripy tops…of which I might own 4 now.
    x

    • Thanks, Fi πŸ™‚ And yes, they don’t really have a lot of choice for taller people, although I coveted your stripy midi dress from there for ages, and when I finally found it in-store it was literally down to my ankles! I actually almost bought a dress from the Topshop Tall range this week for that very reason: it’s kind of mid-thigh, or a bit longer, on the mannequin, which would make it the perfect midi-length on me! That said, I know we’ve talked about this before, but most dresses now are just far too short, even on someone my height – I’m trying to snap up as many of the midis as I can while they’re still around!

  • Oh my God, that dress is amazing! And the shoes as well! The whole combination looks lovely and I’m glad you got sun there, after so much snow!
    But… where’s the fringe? Well, it’s now versatile, you can wear both ways, with and without fringe – you look gorgeous anyway!

    • It’s always been a sideways fringe rather than a blunt one – the wind was making it impossible to keep any of my hair in place today, I have some really hilarious outakes from this bunch where it totally looks like my hair is attacking my face πŸ™‚

  • You’re so flawless! I’m a little jealous πŸ™‚

    I love the 50’s vibe of that whole outfit (says she who just painted her nails red). Gorgeous.

    It’s been quite warm over here, actually. I’m still in disbelief. I declared “sandal season” open last week. Granted, it’s still too cold for them on most days but…

    • I wore peep toes for the first time this weekend – I was so happy I was almost skipping in them, despite the 5″ heels! Thank you for the lovely compliment – I love red nails, too, I just wish I could keep polish on my fingernails for more than a couple of hours without it chipping!

  • River Island is a shop I never think of going into, even though we have quite a big one in Leamington. It’s partly because the clothes on the mannequins in the window are so ridiculously far from what I would wear myself – but maybe I’ll go in and have a browse because I love the shape and length of the skirt, and the print is so pretty!

    • It’s worth a look, although you do have to be prepared to rummage and get past all of the “blingy” tops – I have more luck with the website, though, because most of the stuff I like never seems to turn up in the store. They do have some lovely dresses at the moment, though, and all about the same length as this one, which made me very happy πŸ™‚

  • I simply love the shape of this dress, especially the neckline. If it were a different colour, it would be mine immediately.
    You look gorgeous in it, as always! πŸ™‚

    • The neckline is one of my favourite things about it too – I have a weirdly shaped torso, so I always end up at risk of flashing people if I try anything even remotely low!

  • Wow! You look amazing, the dress, the shoes, everything! Looking at this dress, I wish we had River Island here….Good idea to cut off the straps on the shoes, too, I think they look nicer this way.

    • Thanks! Yeah, I always like the look of Mary Janes, but somehow on my feet, not so much – I’ve been itching to give these the snip for ages, so I figured I might as well try it!

  • You look so pretty, and I’m glad to see that this dress looks so nice on, as I ordered it a few days ago from Asos myself! I bought another River Island dress in a similar style recently (cream with flowers), and it was so nice that I wanted another one. I really like 50s style dresses, especially ones that are a decent length, as I often find them too short these days (and I’m not even particularly tall).

  • I know this is a shoe post but the dress totally stole the show for me:) It is just lovely!! I love River Island – too bad we don’t have a store here:// Do you order online? Is there shipping reliable? I’m always a bit worried with online shopping..

    • I mostly buy online, yes – they never have my size in store, or most of the stuff I’m after! (I find this with most places, actually – I’ll see something great online, but never be able to find it in store). I’ve never had a problem with them: quick delivery and returns so far πŸ™‚

  • What a beautiful beautiful dress. I quite guiltily do love RI. I know I shouldn’t, but I think it’s their costume jewellery and handbags that draw me in and then I find other stuff I like. Dotty P’s are also rocking a great selection of frocks this season I realised lastnight on an impromptu visit. Anyway, I digress… you look fabulous.

    x

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