Coral Bridesmaid dress idea for a low budget wedding

Mary needed a dress for her bridesmaid. She was on a tight budget as it was a spontaneous wedding, planned over 10 years with no set date till last week. 
Her wedding colours are coral and cream. Her preference was a coral full- length dress on a £50 budget.
Her bridesmaid was a size 10 and had a fantastic figure. Mary was the decision maker so the bridesmaid didn’t have much say. She needed to feel comfortable in the dress but that was as far as her opinion went. The girl was happy to wear whatever Mary chose so long as "she didn’t look like a bin liner".
Typical to most shoppers, the dresses that caught her eye were way above budget. We always encourage people to try on dresses that they’ve fallen in love with even if they are over budget. There’s always something that you can cut in the wedding budget to make room for a beautiful dress.
After trying on different styles, which all looked lovely, she settled on one. In a soft fluid jersey fabric, this dress drapes beautifully. This dress is like a blank canvas. You can customise it for the desired look using accessories.

The empire waistline gives the illusion of a tiny waist and also accentuates the bust. She liked the idea of sleeves as it’s a winter wedding and saved her shopping for a bolero.

We agreed that to give the dress the bridal finish, we needed to glam it up and the accessories search started.

She wanted a choker but this wasn’t suitable as the dress is a plunging v-neckline. We needed something that will drop to match the shape of the neckline. We agreed on this silver statement necklace.

For the shoes, we settled on a midi heel. It was a practical and comfortable choice. A killer heel would have looked better on photos but killed her in the process. She was going to be wearing them all day and she was planning to dance all evening. The diamante’ detail on the heels matches the necklace so that was perfect.

For the clutch bag, we kept it simple with this style. Big enough to hold her phone, some lippy and pocket tissue.

Dress by Ahadi Fashion £39.99

Necklace By Ahadi Fashion £18

Clutch Bag by Ahadi Fashion £19.99

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Please don't judge her she pleads

Let's call her Amy. She is in a dilemma and we thought if we put it out there you would help her.
I've known Amy for about 3 years. She is married and has two beautiful girls aged 5 and 3. She was pregnant when she got married and so she hasn't been married for long.

Her husband Alex, works long hours and quite far so the commute is not easy. By the time he gets home, he is so exhausted, he just wants to have his dinner and go to bed. Weekends are always so hectic with kids activities which haven't been of interest to him lately. It's so bad that a few weeks ago she caught him sleeping while on a supermarket queue. This has been going on for about 3 years now and Amy has been feeling lonely. They hardly chat, let alone have a date night.

One morning after the school run she bumped into an old friend who had recently moved into the area. It was such a pleasant surprise and it felt so good to have someone that she can have an adult conversation with. He was on his way to the gym and they agreed they would meet up for coffee.

They eventually had a coffee date (i wanted to call it meeting because date sounds dodgy). They talked about mutual friends, the weather, latest movies and boring stuff that adults talk about. It was so refreshing. He invited her to join the gym so they could do some training together but she is not into such stuff so she was non-committal.

A few weeks ago she realised that she was developing feelings for the guy. Not because anything happened between them but because he actually took time to compliment her and listen. She loves her husband, or so she says, but she is finding herself thinking more and more of the guy.
She feels that she is on a slippery slope but can't help herself. She was thinking of discussing it with her husband.

One of us thinks that's the worst thing that she can do and that she should grow up and stop crushing on single men. This will only destroy her family. Having such a conversation would break her husbands trust and she may never regain it.

Another lady thinks that if she discusses it with her husband, he will be glad she was honest and work with her towards dealing with the root cause.

The only thing we all agreed on was that it wasn't wise to continue conveniently bumping into this guy. And no more coffee dates.

What do you think?

#SALE #Party Some more end of line at only £9.99

The cold is creeping in and winter jackets are out. It's time to get out those boots and cardis to layer up. 

These end of season light chiffon dress can be worn with fleece tights, a pair of boots and a cardigan for the autumn.

 

 

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Wedding guest dress for a beach wedding

Olivia received an invite to a wedding that she didn't want to go to but had no choice. I didn't want to ask for the details but it did seem like a it was an awkward situation.

She wanted to wear a green dress and had a budget of £20.  Not that she couldn't spend more but rather she didn't want to.

So we had to go through the #SALE and end of line racks to look for something suitable and in her size.

We finally agreed on this lovely dipped hem dress with a plunging neckline. It fit her perfectly and she even agreed to spend a further £38 on accessories.

With a pair of strappy sandals this dress is ideal for a beach wedding,not too short and not long.

 

 

 

#2018prom #ukprom2018 #Bridal #Dartford #Kent #kentdressshops

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Not about dresses but still about women #justarant

I have been on a social experiment for the past one month. My lovely friend Angela and I had a discussion about friends and seasons. She was frustrated at the fact that people, especially women were opinionated on stuff that they shouldn't be. According to her, women could be very annoying and had a tendency to impose their personal opinions without considering someone’s personal circumstances.

She gave me numerous examples of conversations she had with her friends and they were cringeworthy. After my chat with Angela, I decided to change tact in my general conversations with acquaintances and friends. I started to throw random statements in my conversations and I would then watch out for reactions from the people I was talking to.

On the first day, I told a friend whom I was talking to that I was thinking of quitting my job. Now a typical response that I would normally expect from a person who cared about me would be along lines such as  " why? Don't you like your job anymore? Have you found something better? ". However my friend responded by saying "No! You can't just quit your job....." and  then she proceeded to have a ten minute monologue with herself on why it was the wrong decision for me to take. As you can imagine, I was left stunned at her abrupt and firm opinion on an issue that had nothing to do with her.

Two days later I met another friend to whom I casually said that I would be moving houses from her neighborhood to an out of town location.  She was not pleased at all. She immediately began telling me why it did not make any financial sense to relocate to another town. She explained that I would then have to start commuting from my new location to my workplace in town. She wondered why I wanted to incur additional costs and spend more time in such a commute. I admit that she did sound like she had a valid argument. However, am I not an adult entitled to my own decisions and choices in life? Furthermore did she not think that I had thought through different options? You would imagine that she would cut me some slack.

I noticed the issue on moving houses was quite emotive, so when I speaking to another friend on phone I brought up the topic with her. I mentioned to her that we would be moving houses to a different location. She immediately remarked, "…you have finally decided to get on the property ladder." “Mmhh …no, we are renting.” I responded.  She then went on to say that she did not understand why we were still renting. She told me how it didn't make any sense at all, and she went on and on about property equity …bla bla bla. She never asked if that was what we wanted. She even didn't ask if we were downgrading or upgrading houses. All that she had were just opinions, opinions, and opinions.

Finally on Monday this week, I met a friend whom I told that I didn't think everyone was called to have children!! This seemed to strike a raw nerve in her and she came close to telling me that I was a very wicked person. She was angry beyond words and reminded me that the first commandment God gave to man was to be fruitful and to multiply. She emphatically said that every married couple should expect, pray and trust to have children within the first nine months of their marriage. Wow!

After my encounters, I concluded that Angela was right after all. We often walk around with deeply rooted opinions on how best to run other people’s lives. What puzzles me is how everyone seems to know how other people ought to run their lives but not their own.

Note to self this week, Make it my ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind my business and to work with my hands.

#2018prom #ukprom2018 #Bridal #Dartford #Kent #kentdressshops

Designing for the future:Trends we need to consider now

If there were ever to be a ranking of industries where bounds of creativity are stretched beyond what is considered normal, the fashion industry would be top of the pack. To any causal observer of a major runway show, be it the New York Fashion week, London, Milan or even the Paris fashion week, there is always a fascination at the lively imaginations that grace those catwalks.

A lot of people smile, wonder, quip and chat away at what designers had in mind coming up with some of the avant-garde concepts all in the name of fashion creativity. Over the years, there have been designs from the runaways which average Joe’s and plain Jane’s have described as being out of this world and not wearable in any shape or form.

Beyond the runaways and back to the real world, a shift to simplicity has slowly but steadily been emerging and taking shape. A gravitation towards simpler looks seem to have had in it’s grip a whole lot more people across different class divides than was the case a few years ago. I spend most of my time at a special occasions boutique styling people for varied occasions. Just recently, a client walked into the Boutique and said to me that she was so busy with work, kids, and running her house that she wished she could have a work uniform for each one of her unique roles in life! One for the kids, one for the menial work, one for her corporate engagements and another one just for those special evenings and weekends! 

It seems to me that there have been few notable personalities who appear to have actualised this dear lady’s desire in life. Think of the late Nelson Mandela, and almost immediately you will bring to recollection his love for the “Madiba shirt”. Mandela was presidential in his colorful shirts regardless of the occasion. He dined at the White House, the Buckingham Palace and graced the global stage for numerous events in his signature “Madiba Shirt” style. We all envied his effortless, smart and definitive style that remained synonymous with the man who was larger than life itself. You’d be mistaken to think he wore the exact same shirt each time if you didn’t notice the change in prints each time he stepped out.

Move across to the techie world, and we have fond memories of the iconic Steve Jobs and his love relationship with black turtle necks and blue jeans. The late Jobs remained endeared to his signature style so much that whether he was unveiling a new iPhone or he was delivering a speech to a bunch of undergraduates, he kept true to his style. His taste for comfortable simplistic wear found it’s way down to the corporate culture so much so that, the entire Apple stores’ global crew have adopted this combination as their formal work wear and only changed black for blue.

This trend has been expanding further as observed with; Mark Zuckerberg in his recognisable signature grey shirt and blue jeans; Former president Obama’s love for only grey and blue formal suits and on rare occasions black suits; and the power trouser suits that have been associated with both Angela Merkel and Hillary Clinton.

As I have been thinking about the direction that fashion design seems to find itself moving to, I can’t help but wonder if the move towards uniform attire is slowly taking shape. Suppose that a majority of us would have one style of wear that was comfortable, practical for our jobs and required the least effort. A type of dress designed to perfectly fit our body shapes, hiding what’s to be hidden and accentuating what we are proud of all the time.

If you finally got that perfect dress for all round wear, would you buy it in the same colour for daily wear? What if the dress also came in different colours and shades, would you get it?  That sounds to me like an ideal.

You see, every woman thinks of what to wear each morning. Some make the effort to plan a few days in advance the British weather permitting. Each morning she has to think of the style to wear that day, colour of the apparel, shoes to complement the outfit and what bag to match. And all this is before taking account of choices required on make-up, hair, and breakfast. Suppose we reduced significantly the time we spend on those decisions and we saved ourselves some 20 – 60 minutes in our morning routines.

One might argue to the contrary that such a life would be in a very boring place devoid of any diversity and peculiarities that human life offers. That would be true! However life will always naturally churn out glitteratis! A people that are avid, on-trend, style-conscious shoppers who see more value in their appearance than the time it takes to attain those appearances.

A number of creative geniuses in the fashion industry can take what is typified as a simple dress and transform it into a magical showstopper. It could be that they simply added on some ruffles, some glittering diamantes or carefully stitched on embellishments. Whatever they do, the end result is always a lust-have piece, thanks to their magical touch. These are people who don't conform to the norm, who will wear something different from the rest of us. However they bring colour to life around us and arouse a fashion consciousness in the rest of us that we didn’t have. Sooner or later they whet our appetites and desire for wearing something new.

As we look at making life simpler, and embracing minimalist designs all around us, probably the concept of having an A-Line style dress designed at varied lengths, in different colours and with different fabrics will make our styles flexible both for work and after-work social engagements.

What do you think?

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 “This blog post was a part of Design Blogger Competition 

#Bridal Another dress idea for a registry wedding on a £100 budget.

I love spontaneous people, nothing seems to stress them . When Anika called me, i couldn't believe that she said that her wedding was in 2 days. Yes! Two days.
It was a simple registry wedding but still 2 days is cutting it close. Apparently her partner had booked the wedding and kept it secret until now. The whole idea was to get married in the presence of 4 close friends and then jet off for honeymoon.

She wanted a long nude or rose pink dress at a budget of £100. Thankfully we had one in store and not only did it fit, but she loved it. What a relief!

The skirt is made of soft chiffon and the bodice is luxurious lace with satin detail. This dress drapes beautifully and looks elegant.

Price £89.99

Colours: Red, nude, rose pink, black, navy, royal blue,wine red and white.

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#Bridal Short pink bridesmaids dresses

Last week we were on a hunt for short pink bridesmaids dresses. The bridesmaids who are twins were very particular on what they wanted. The mum had given up shopping with them . We didn't have the benefit of time as the wedding is in 6 weeks. Their mum had given them a budget of £150 for the dresses and accessories.

After trying on what seemed like hundreds of dresses, we ended up with this gorgeous style. The dress is in soft luxurious chiffon with a delicate lace embellished bodice. The rose corsage detail gives it a playful look as they are only 16.

Another win!

 

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#Bridal Bridesmaids dresses for a civil wedding ceremony

Larry and Jay are planning on having a civil wedding ceremony. They came to see me regarding dresses for their 4 bridesmaids. Both their wedding ceremony and reception are not themed. They called it "freestyle wedding". 
Initially when we met, they weren't sure whether they wanted the girls in short or long dresses. They looked stunning in both long and short. After a short discussion, we agreed that the shorter dresses were more appropriate. The reception is being held in a magnificent manor house. They reckon there will be more dancing and playing moments than posh sit down moments.
They wanted all the girls in different colours. Once we decided on the style of dress, we set on picking the right colour for the girls' skin tone and hair.  These are the colours we decided on. The dresses are made of soft chiffon with a rose corsage detail. Retailing at £55, they were really pleased with them.Now awaiting the official wedding photographs.

#2017prom #ukprom2017 #Bridal #Dartford #Kent #kentdressshops

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#weddings #bridal Dress idea for a registry wedding themed rose pink

Violet came in to see me and brought with her a young couple. Initially i thought they were teenagers as they were incredibly shy. Both of them looked very young and were soft spoken.

I came to learn that Mat is 21 while Janet is 20. They are planning a low key registry wedding, followed by a friends and family meal at a local greek restaurant.

Janet wanted a simple rose pink or nude full length dress. She wasn't keen on any sparkle detail on the dress and their budget was set at £150.

After trying on two very plain dresses, Janet decided she didn't mind some detail on the dress. I could tell she wasn't a diamante' or crystal embellishment kind of girl so i kept it simple.

The first time she tried on this dress she liked it but as she walked around in it, she fell in love with it.
It's one of those styles that "grow on you". The more you look at it, the more you like it.

In a stunning rose colour, this chiffon dress has delicate embroidery bodice detail. It has a sweetheart mesh neckline and mesh cap sleeves.

At a price point of £99 it was bang on budget.

#2017prom #ukprom2017 #Bridal #Dartford #Kent #kentdressshops

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