Life and work have gotten the better of me in the last month or so and so The Rose with New Clothes hasn't had much time to keep you updated. However, The Challenge is still a-go and, despite my silence, I have been continuing to forage through my sizeable closet to (re)discover new (old) pretty things to wear.
If you've been following me on Instagram (maeve_rose) you will know that I am now 110 days and a whopping 120 outfits into The Challenge! That's 120 completely different outfits (I haven't counted any times that I repeated one and I haven't done that much)!
Keeping track of what I've been wearing has been a real eye opener. It's shocking (and more than a little little embarrassing) to think that I have whipped up that many outfits and not even come close to getting through my whole wardrobe. There is still so much stuff that hasn't been worn since The Challenge began. But it really has been fun challenging myself to put together new looks with my old stuff.
There has been the odd near miss on the no shopping side of things, such as the time I absent mindedly picked up a pretty headscarf in Sainsbury's and took it all the way to the till before realising what I was about to do (I was in there to buy groceries so sticking to the rules of The Challenge wasn't at the forefront of my mind... I had totally forgotten)! It really shocked me how little thought I was willing to put in before making a purchase... Old Me really wouldn't have thought twice about buying it, The Challenge Me isn't allowed.
The weather here in London has been crazily hot recently. Last night I went to bed hugging a cold bottle a wine from the fridge and as I type I this I have my feet in a bucket of cold water. Recently I haven't been wearing much at all in the way of clothes... just sticking on a summer dress and a pair of sandals. In the humid London heat you need to wear floaty maxis or midis or else go down the pin baring mini route... It is far far too hot for leggings or tights. Here's how I've been getting on:
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| Outfit No 68 (27th May)- Summer in the City Maxi Dress - Boohoo.com 2013 |
I bought this dress about a year ago. Actually have it champagne colour as well and wore to my friend's wedding last year:
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| Last week I jazzed up outfit No 68 with a statement necklace |
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| Sat 8th June Outfit No 82 Walked to the party with my sandals in my #denimbackpack :) Dress - Primark 2013 Backpack - Primark 2013 Trainers - Reebok 2008 (lol) 
Outfit No 84 Monday Elephants
Elephant Skirt - B Young (I've had this for years)
Grey Tee - Primark
Sandals - Topshop 2013
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| Outfit No 87 Dress - Topshop Peacock Cardie - Pull & Bear Sandals - Topshop |
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| Outfit No 88 - Flouncy Friday Tee - Topshop - 2011 Dress (worn as skirt) - Risky - 2013 (Risky a super cheap 'seconds' shop in Streatham/Brixton) |
I wore this dress again yesterday and it was definitely hot enough to not need the Tee!
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| Outfit No 119 |
I've finally started to get some wear out of the Thai silk maxi skirt that I made last year. I LOVE it:
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| Outfit No 92 - Made By Me Maxi Headband - Accessorize 2012 Tee - Primark 2013 Skirt - Made By ME! 2012 |
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| Outfit No 111 Tube Top - Primark Skirt - Made By ME! |
I've been really enjoying getting to wear some of my maxis:
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| Outfit No 101 - Leopard and Flowers Headband - Peacocks - 2012 Tee - Topshop Skirt - Zara 2011 |
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Summer Sun & Recycling Outfit No 48
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Outfit No 103 Grey Marl & Denim with a twist
Tee - Kookai (years old)
Skirt - Topshop (years old too!)
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I really like this leopard print dress. I can't for the life of me remember where I got it but it was definitely years ago, I think in Liverpool during my uni days. I don't wear it very often because it is a little too big but I was glad of the extra room in this heat! The sandals I got in Bishops, Coleraine a couple of years ago. I got them to replace my favourites which had come to the end of their life (still haven't brought myself to throw them out though). However, these really cut my feet so I don't wear them often.
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Outfit No 103 Sandals on a Sunny Sunday
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| Sunglasses - Osar de la Renta - TK Maax 2011 |
As it's been getting hotter and hotter I have been getting braver and braver with the getting my legs out malarkey... This green dress was given to me by friend Harriet when she was clearer out her wardrobe in 2007!
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| Outfit No 104 - Grecian Green Dress - Oasis Headband - Accessorize Sandals - Topshop |
This cardigan turned out to be the best buy ever!
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| Cardigan - Pull & Bear |
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| Outfit No 107 Headband - Accessorize (2012) Navy Shift Dress - Dunnes (2010 I think) Kimono Jacket - Zara (2013) Pumps - Office (2013) |
This is the perfect hot day dress. I am wearing it right now!
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| Outfit No 108 - Summer is Here! Bandeau Dress - New Look (2012) |
You've seen this dress before, back when I wore it as a skirt in Outfit No 60 but this is its first dressy outing of The Challenge.
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| Outfit 109 Dress - Primark 2011 |
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| Outfit No 110 - Saturday Night Bubbles & Gold Dress - Risky (that cheap seconds shop in Streatham) 2013 Sandals - Topshop Earrings - Goodness knows where or when! |
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| Outfit No 112 Dress - TK MAAX (2009) Headband - Peacocks |
This is my first playsuit offering. I wish I had more of these...
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| Outfit No 113 Playsuit - TK MAAX 2012 |
On this day I wanted break from skirts so opted for a cool pair of pyjama trousers.
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| Outfit No 114 Sheer batwing tee - eBay 2012 Trousers - H&M 2013 Necklace - Primark 2013 |
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| Outfit No 116 Dress - some London boutique in 2008 |
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| Outfit No 117 Top - New Look - 2012 Skirt (just seen) - Topshop - 2010 Headband - New Look - 2012 |
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| Outfit No 118 Top - Primark (tied into a halter) - 2013 Skirt - Primark - 2013 Headband - my friend Emily's.. |
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| Outfit No 120 Dress- Risky (it was £7!) - 2013 Sandals - Bishops-2012 Headband - Charity Shop 2009ish |
Over & out
M x
