Marianne & Caroline

I don’t usually go for buying things in sales, except the occasional piece of underwear, and that’s mostly because I want to find what I can in my size at a cheaper price – although I don’t agree with buying all my underwear at clearance prices because it then appears to the designer that there isn’t enough demand for it when clearly there is, plus a lot of lingerie has huge amounts of work going into it, especially in a size that’s less in demand. Anyway, that was a tangent I wasn’t planning to go down…let’s start again!

I don’t tend to buy many things in sales, mostly because I buy things when I want/need them, and that’s not usually during sale time (typically!). But this year, I managed to remember about the post-Christmas sales and to look at them for once. I only ended up purchasing a few things, some of which has gone back (okay, yes, that was underwear, but I ain’t paying no full prices for Agent Provocateur in the wrong size!). Collectif was one place I decided I’d take the plunge and put in an order from. I already own the Penny Dress from them which, although I’ve worn for an evening out, I haven’t featured on the blog yet, but hopefully will soon. I bought three things from Collectif – this skirt and jacket which are seemingly a matching set but have different names (Marianne and Caroline) as well as this top just because I’m always lacking in pretty tops. I’m actually secretly wearing it here, but you obviously can’t see it under the jacket!
The matching jacket and skirt themselves are awesome – they look to me as if they’re a modern take on a very vintage look. We’ve been watching Father Brown recently – it’s a BBC series set in the early 50s featuring a Catholic priest (played by Mark Williams) who solves murders and crimes, and yes, it is as strange and crazy as it sounds! My point is though that I spend half my time trying to figure out who’s done what and keeping up with the jokes, the other half watching what the ladies of the 50s were wearing, and this outfit feels like it’s something Lady Felicia might wear!

I was a bit worried about the sizing when I ordered these – the Penny dress I have is a size 8 and is only just fitted enough for me on the waist, so I assume it must run a bit big. With this skirt and jacket though, the material is wool and very non-stretch (with a gorgeous floral lining). Being somewhat larger on the top, I decided to go for that in a size 10 and the skirt in a size 8 to ensure that it was fitted on the waist. Strangely though, I could do with the outfit sizes being the other way round! The jacket is a little roomy and the skirt is certainly on the tight side – it takes more than a little wiggling to get into the skirt, but once it’s on, it’s okay…at least until I try to move anywhere fast – it doesn’t have much give on walking!
Also, have you noticed how my hair has already grown?! It’s been less than a month since I had it cut, but I think it’s already got at least another inch back on it – I’m thinking next time I’ll get it done slightly shorter (eep, I know!) so that I won’t need it doing again so soon!