Author: girlintheprettydress

TBT: Venice

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Lately, every time I open Instagram, someone I follow is posting pictures from Venice. It’s easy to understand why, as Venice is full of hidden treasures and quirks. I’m exceptionally jealous of anyone visiting for the first time. (I’ve been lucky enough to visit on 2 occasions and I wouldn’t say no to a third trip there!)

The best time to see Venice is early morning – if I could give you one recommendation it’s to get up just after the sun does and go a-wandering.

I’d also tell you to travel via water wherever possible and to make the short trip to the nearby island of Burano – where you will find some of the most beautiful hand-crafted lace you ever laid eyes on.

These insta-adventures have got me reminiscing so I thought I’d share a few pictures from my travels…

Something for the Weekend: Manchester Art Gallery

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Last weekend I visited Manchester Art Gallery – one of my favourite places in Manchester. It’s not particularly big or prominent (as art galleries go) but it’s well worth a visit.

The ‘Vogue 100’ exhibition recently transferred here from the National Portrait Gallery and I wanted to take a look. Vogue is synonymous with fashion but I didn’t realise the scale of artistic influence in it’s pages until I saw this exhibition. It was fascinating to wander back through the decades and see the work of some of the greatest artists and photographers lifted from it’s pages.

Sadly photographs were prohibited within the exhibition – so you’ll just have to visit it for yourself to see what I mean. (Entry is free.) If you’re not in the area, don’t worry… you can see much of Vogue’s centenary celebrations online. Including it’s back catalogue of covers here.

I hadn’t planned on seeing much else while I was there – but I was directed out of the Vogue exhibiton and found myself in the most beautiful space – full of a separate exhibition on Modern Japanese Design. It was strangely beautiful and also well worth a look if you are in town.

The Art Gallery is also showcasing an exhibition called ‘Fashion and Freedom’ – sadly I ran out of time on my visit this time around to find out more about this but you can be sure I’ll be back in the future!

Something for the Weekend: Yanks Weekend

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I grew up in a part of England that’s constantly coming alive with quirky traditions. Yanks Weekend is one such tradition. I’m not sure it can be explained all that succinctly but I’ll try…

In 1979 Richard Gere made a movie called ‘Yanks’. It was about a group of American soldiers stationed in Britain and was set in the English countryside. The little villages (where I grew up) played a starring role in the film and for the last 16 years this fact has been marked with a 2-day celebration. For one weekend a year we step back in time to the 1940s. There are fairs, aerial displays and parades through the streets. A lot of people get into the spirit of things by dressing up vintage style – and there’s an awful lot of swing dancing.

Last year was one of the best and busiest yet – and the first time I’ve been able to experience it for quite a while so I thought I’d give you all a little taste. You can find out more about this brilliant and bizarre event here and if you’re interested in seeing it for yourself it’ll be taking place on 6th and 7th August in Saddleworth.

TallGirls.co.uk Pop-Up Shop

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*Update: A/W ’16 Pop Up Shop dates for your diary can now be found here.

Summer’s arrived… how did that happen so quickly?! Time seems to be flying by. I’ve been very aware lately that my poor blog has been a bit neglected this year (I blame the small fluffy one!) but I’m hoping to turn that around a bit now.

Several (oops) weeks ago I went to the TallGirls.co.uk pop up shop in Warrington. I wasn’t sure what to expect, I’d heard a bit about the brand but I’d never yet seen the clothes on my favourite tall blogs and no one I know had ever purchased from the site. So it was a bit of a shopping adventure into the unknown…

I’d also never attended a pop up shop before and wasn’t sure what to expect from the experience. While not everything was my personal style, the selection was huge and catered to so many different tastes.

I spent hours trekking to and from the changing rooms trying on different things. In the end though I behaved myself and came away with just a few items. (You can see one of them in this post)

I have to give a special mention to the jeans and jeggings – I’ve lamented before about the struggles of having a size 10 waist and size 12 hips – but Tall Girls provided so many different styles and fits that I now own 2 extra pairs.

I don’t have the usual shoe-woes of a tall girl but every now again I spot a style in a tall store that makes me wish I did (or that the store offered it in small sizes too.)

I am a bit behind the times with this post but many of the items below are still available online.
Happy Shopping! x

Something for the Weekend: Quarry Bank Mill

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Quarry Bank Mill has fascinated me for a while. It’s the most beautiful setting, but sadly it has a very dark past. It’s story was recently told across two series of a Channel 4 drama called ‘The Mill’ – and it didn’t always make for pleasant viewing. Filming of the drama took place at the mill itself – making it all the more realistic.

On a Summer’s day it’s hard to imagine how tough life must have been for the occupants. The grounds have been transformed by the National Trust into stunning gardens which were a riot of colour during our visit. The nearby woodland and village of Styal are equally charming. Cali and I spent many happy hours exploring it all…

Something for the Weekend: Harewood House Food Festival

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Yesterday, Cali and I ventured to Harewood House to sample the delights of their food festival.

Cali had such a great time and we’ve both decided we’d like to move in – she has expensive taste! (Having Cali is somewhat like I imagine having a child would be – she’s into everything and very sociable. I’ve started walking her on a harness so I don’t lose her!)

I’m not going to waffle on with this post because Cali and I are heading out for our next big adventure today and we can’t wait to make the most of the bank holiday sunshine!

Details of the food festival here. It runs today and tomorrow. Entry is £10 (seems a little steep but you do get access to the gardens and grounds included in that.)

Dress: Tallgirls.co.uk (bought from their pop-up shop and seemingly not available online)
Shoes: Primark
Sunglasses: F&F

10 of the Best Checks

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The by-line for this blog has always been ‘Country Chick, City Chic’ – I came up with this because half of the time I can never decide what I like best.

Recently it’s a dilemma that’s affected more than just my wardrobe – but more on that later.

This post is most definitely for the the country bumpkins out there. I’ve rounded up 10 of my favourite checked pieces.

It’s a trend that I adore. It’s cute without being too young and has a fresh, clean summery feel to it. I always associate this style of fabric with summer picnics.

Sadly the weather in the UK is nowhere near warm enough for any of these items – but a girl can daydream right?

1st Row

Dress: Whistles / Dress: ASOS / Top: Warehouse

2nd Row

Dress: ChicWish / Crop Top & Skirt Set: ChicWish / Shirt Dress: Oasis

3rd Row

Dress: ASOS Tall / Shirt: Lee / Shorts: Mango / Dress: ASOS

3 British Jewellery Brands I’m Obsessed With

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Truth be told, I’m not the richest of girls, and those of us who know what it’s like to count the pennies know that sometimes the real deal isn’t necessary – imitation will do just fine.

For that reason I own very little in the way of precious metals or stones. Almost all of my jewellery is costume jewellery. There are 3 brands I absolutely adore for their unique items and I thought I’d share them with you today.

The first is Orelia – a brand I discovered in Topshop stores, but which is also stocked by ASOS. (I’m a bit obesessed with it as you can probably tell from the many photos below.) Their pieces tend to be dainty and delicate, there’s something very lady-like about them.

The second is Handmade by Emma. I met Emma at the Castlefield Market last Summer and she made me the silver diamond-shaped necklace below in the space of about 5 minutes. What I love about her designs is that they are all designed to work as single pieces or can be combined in layers. In addition she offers the option to have certain pieces personalised with a name or monogram.

And lastly, a brand I discovered just before Christmas: Mala London. She sources the most striking statement pieces, like the rose-gold-coloured necklace below.

Easter Nests with a Twist

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It’s finally here. The weekend chocaholics dream off all year… Well, since Christmas anyway!

I’m talking of course about Easter. Ever since I was little I’ve made Easter nests. They’re one of the first things you learn how to make in school, and a super fun activity for kids (my favourite bit was licking the bowl!)

For those who haven’t made them before, simply melt chocolate, stir in cornflakes, put into paper cases and leave to set in the fridge. Yum.

But now that I’m a “grown up” I’ve started experimenting a bit… and today I’m sharing some twists on an Easter classic.

Change up your Chocolate
Easter nests are traditionally a milk chocolate affair, but as we all know Dark Chocolate is healthier so why not change it up a bit? Or melt two batches and go half and half – the best of both worlds!

Get Fruity
I love Chocolate Raisins – they’re my snack of choice on road trips. Try mizing them in with your cornflakes, the mixture of textures is great too.

Another combination I like is Chocolate and Orange. After you’ve melted the chocolate, grate in some orange zest and stir in before coating the cornflakes. You could even try grating ginger in for a bit of spice.

Go Nuts
I always finished the nests off with Cadbury’s Mini Eggs but chocolate and yoghurt coated nuts would make a great addition.

Two Sale Steals from LTS

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I am a self confessed bargain-hunter. I like nothing better than shopping the sales – so when Long Tall Sally took an extra 20% off their sale stock a couple of weeks ago, I was helpless to resist!

It may well have been the first day of Spring recently, but Winter hasn’t shaken it’s grip on my part of the world just yet. I have a feeling I’ll be getting a lot of wear out of these pieces over the next few weeks.

The wool wrap jacket is exceptionally cosy with the perfect sleeve length. The fairisle print jumper may look a little out of season elsewhere in the world but with this lovely English weather behaving the way it is, it didn’t feel it. The black jeggings are an old faithful pair (if a little faded now) also from Long Tall Sally – in fact I think they were my first ever purchase from the original LTS Manchester store (you can read my review of the new store here).

The boots are another sale bargain – from F&F. Sadly these exact ones are no longer in stock (although I’m not surprised as they really were a great buy!) but they have something similar here.