Alice Catherine

The new season often brings a lot of new occasions along with it – weddings, christenings, or just any old excuse to throw a get together in the sunshine! I thought I’d do something I don’t do all that often, and show you how I’d dress for a slightly ‘smarter’ event – can you tell I’m rinsing the Spring themed blog posts yet? I’m not great at dressing up – if you’ve been following my outfits for a while, then you know I’m most at home in some high waist jeans, and I’ll never invest in a pair of shoes if they aren’t comfortable (grandma over here). I’m the person who freaks out if they get a wedding invitation (*throws everything out of wardrobe and proceeds to have a meltdown buried amongst casual attire*), however as I’m well on my way to my mid twenties, I feel like this will be more of a regular occurrence, and that one should always be prepared/have a few tricks up their sleeve just in case. I want to explore these kinds of outfits a little more this year, and figure out what works best for me…

You may have already seen this little ruffle number over on my Instagram (and a few other peoples too), I’m sure you can see why it’s so popular. It’s such a gorgeous, romantic piece for Spring. So light and easy to throw on, but instantly makes it appear like some level of effort has been made. I’d been mainly wearing it with denim until I realised that it could actually double up as quite a “fancy occasion” option – teamed with a trusty pair of masculine trousers, I think it completely transforms the look. Obviously everyone has their own different set of rules/ideas about dressing up, but I feel like this is something I’d happily wear to a Spring wedding. Also note to self and a warning to others – ruffles and high wind are not an ideal combo! Especially when you you have the added disadvantage of a fringe – capturing these images was an ordeal to say the least. There are so many ridiculous ones that didn’t quite make the cut (I’ll spare you) where I look like some sort of Pokemon ready to evolve. Fringe blown up in numerous directions, ruffles flying out from every angle, you get the idea…

I really like how the tailored trousers contrast against the feminine ruffles – it’s that juxtaposition that makes for my happy medium when it comes to getting dressed each day. I teamed with some simple black cross over mules to add a bit of height, but I think this look would look great with some ankle strap heels or ballet flats, depending on your personal taste! Although the trousers are quite structured, they are super floaty and loose on the legs which I find to be very flattering – especially with open toe shoes like above! Complete with a messy up do (my usual bun), it’s still got that laid back feel to it that I love so much. I’ve had no regrets snapping this blouse up as soon as I saw it on the Topshop website – I feel like it’s going to be a fail-safe piece over the next coming months, anything floaty covered in polka dots is pretty hard to say no to…

Alice x

Photography by Adriana

Blouse – Topshop | Trousers – Topshop (similar here, here & here) | Shoes – Dorothy Perkins (similar here) | Clutch – Sezane

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