My Summer Edit - & Other Stories Summer Dress

Happy Wednesday lovelies! 

Hope you all enjoyed last weeks' beauty recommendations to kick start my Summer Edit blog series!

Today's post is a fashion post! & as Miranda said in 'The Devil Wears Prada' "florals.....for Spring/Summer........"groundbreaking!"" 😛 This dress is a floral summer dress, maybe not "groundbreaking" 😆 but I personally consider florals a must for any summer wardrobe, even the Fashion Guru that is Miranda Priestly needs to accept that! Fashion trends are repetitive as if something works why change it! So florals are here to stay for the S/S essentials! 

After seeing the fabulous Pippa O' Connor wearing this beautiful & Other Stories summer dress, I was in love! I had a look at their website & the week I happened to be browsing there was an early summer sale on & this beauty was included in the sale, so happy days! I just had to order it! 😏

Pic from @pipsy_pie instagram

 It was originally €89 & I got it reduced to €54 #summersteal! 

Before ordering I saw that a friend of mine had ordered it & it looked amazing on her too - I asked her advice on sizing & she had said size down. As this is a wrap dress, I find that they have the potential to run on the bigger side so I went with the advice & went for a size down. I am normally a size 10 in most things but I ordered this wrap dress in a size 8 (& guys I am not a size 8!!) & there is honestly plenty of room in it. So if you are ordering probably go down one size just to get that nice fit. The dress has a light tie detail around the waist which you can tie to the front or the back depending on how you like it! The waist tie is also great if you feel the dress is a little big as it helps to cinch the waist in! 

Also to note as it's a wrap it can sweep into a low cut V on top (at the chest) so I added a pin in mine so that I wouldn't show off anything I didn't want to LOL. You can wear it low, add a pin or use some double sided tape to hold into place! So lots of options for that - again depending how you want to wear yours! You could also add a little strappy top underneath either!

I absolutely adore the summer florals & the bright colour palette just screams summer sun! It has long sleeves with elasticated wrist cuffs but as the fabric is so beautiful & light it is still airy & breathable. It is midi length which is so flattering on any height - as I am 5' 4' I find the length really nice with flats or heels. I know, I know, I said flats & anyone who knows me well knows that I don't wear flats too often. However, my summer wardrobe contains a lot more flats with sandals etc. than my A/W wardrobe. Im just ok with summer footwear - its a 'me' thing!! 😆

I wanted to show you a couple of ways to style this one. I have worn this lots since I bought it - the price per wear is literally zero at this point! The ruffle wrap dress is so versatile it really can be dressed up or down. I wore mine with flip flops for a casual day time look & it looked bright & bold but still relaxed & summery. I was going to a hen lunch last weekend & I was intending to put a wedge with it just to give my legs a little more length for a more dressy occasion. However, the weather did not play ball & to be honest it was worse than just cool & breezy - we had the dreaded rain! So I went with an open toe shoe boot which I wore in a biscuit shade still maintaining a neutral colour around my feet as there are lots of colours in the dress.

Wait for it - it was actually cold too - in July!! (#Irishsummer is back!).So I had to add a jacket so I themed the dress with a black leather jacket - this one is from Penneys years ago - one of those 'gold' Penneys purchases!! As the jacket is light I added a dress scarf to give me warmth & to add texture - imagine I needed the scarf in the summer - hence my facial expression here!! 😏😎

Anyway I think I got away with it! It really showed me how easy it was to dress it down. So if you are wondering where you will wear it - the places are endless! 

Now to also show you styling it up, it is even more simple - add a nude or basic heel & you are ready for a meal out with himself or the girlies! It's that easy. I have styled mine here with the Valentino inspired nude patent heels from Penneys. I bought mine last year but they are constantly restocking these sell out beauties! So check out Penneys stores nationwide.

Just to finish I wanted to add that the key to styling this one is to keep everything else simple & basic. The only accessorises I wore last week were these gorgeous tortoise shell earrings from Penneys - Im in love - can you believe these are Penneys?! These are in their A/W collection & are in stores now. 

Now to finish finish ......I hope you liked today's post & for anyone wanting to add this beauty to your wardrobe you can now pick it up for .....................drum roll............. 27 EURO IN THE SALE - link here https://www.stories.com/en_eur/sale/all-sale/product.ruffled-wrap-dress-yellow.0574735003.html.

I don't usually say this but you would be mad not to get it! - at this price they are basically giving it away. If you sign up as a new customer you can also get an extra 10% off so that essentially covers your postage if you are in Ireland! 

This would be perfect in the early Autumn wardrobe too as it does have some raspberry & deep green leafy colours in there - add your leather jacket & a scarf with ankle boots before it's too chilly & you have a winner! 

Happy shopping everyone! If you do purchase & get this ultimate summer bargain tag me in your pictures on Instagram & use #thestyleflamingos so I will see all of your lovely snaps!

Love 

Arlene 

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