I am the kind of girl who mostly likes to wear trousers to work as they are comfortable, quick to put on and take no major fuss and, if paired with a nice top, smart for a formal office environment. I do have a few plain black pencil skirts I like to wear to work too – my favourite one is from Marks & Spencer and it has a thick brass colour zip that runs all the way along the back. It used to be fun when it would just suddenly decide to unzip itself, making long strides a thing to be avoided, so in the end I fixed it with the safety pin to make it behave 🙂In the last few months, though, I have also acquired a couple of smart but pretty looking dresses as I needed to add some variety to my work wardrobe. As my upper arms are not the prettiest things to be exposed to the world, I always struggled to find simple and smart dresses with long or 3/4 length sleeves. I am quite choosy when it comes to the clothing, shoe or handbag style. I lean towards the simple and plain design, and also tend to go for darker colours and non patterned fabrics. Weird, boring, perhaps to some people, but that’s just me. So I was particularly excited to have found a gorgeous dress made by the two British designers based in Northampton – I am quite passionate about buying British whenever it is possible.

Having pinned the picture of that gorgeous dress to my Pinterest  I kept looking at it, virtually drooling over it, so in the end I just bought it despite its steep price tag – £150 is by no means cheap.  There was always a risk that my boobs would not fit into it (I am quite gifted in that department), but I could always return it if it was not suitable.

Well, it has arrived today! I was so excited and had my fingers crossed that it would be a good fit for me. I usually wear size 16, but mince pies, alcohol and multiple roasts over Christmas holidays have done their damage. There is currently more of me than there was before December the 20th, that’s for sure. I do not even weigh myself as I do not want to see the hard facts, I can feel them. So I am now back to my fast diet (5:2) which I absolutely love.

Cecily Josephine dress

Anyway, the dress came in a pretty wrapping paper, gorgeous mauve/mulberry colour that matches the colour of the lining. This dress is fully lined, which makes it warm and hugs the figure perfectly. It has a nice bow detail and cute buttons on the cuffs. I love the name of this dress – Josephine – it reminds me of my good friend Josie 🙂 The stitching is perfect, and it just screams quality. I think this dress will serve me well for a long time – I just have to stay away from biscuits.

I borrowed this image from Pinstripeandpearls.com

Simon took a picture of me (and himself) when I tried the dress on

Apologies for the poor lighting in the photographs… I will try to take some in the daylight sometime over the weekend. I will also post pictures of my other dresses sometime soon so please keep your eyes out for that one 😉

And I will sure be back for more at Cecily as they have other most gorgeous designs.