Slightly Off-Colour

Just popping in with a quickie peeps as today's going to be an el skorchio and I want to max out on it!!!

And I've maxed out on this dress over the years.

It's a go to in summer as it's so easy to wear, skimming the bumpy lumpies and covering my legs' insaney veinies!

I wore it to a christening this past sunny Sunday.

It's from Madeleine and it was described as a beach dress.  Well I call it a posh tea dress and wouldn't dream of beaching with it, though perhaps the Puerto Banus set might wear a posh frock on the playa ...

Now the thing is, I love the quality of Madeleine's pieces, but they are a bit too pricey for my pensioner's purse to support.  However, on a good day with the wind in the right direction, I can just about afford a splurgette.  

And the magic formula for those splurgette conditions?

How to afford a Madeleine dress on a pension

1.  Their beach dresses look like "real" dresses but are in a much kinder price bracket.

2.  They have AMAZING sales.

Get those two stars sync-ing in the heavens and you've just bagged yourself a classy dress!

Accessorising Prints

Now this surprised me ... I normally team this  dress with bright pink as I've always seen it as the print's dominant colour.  

But on closer inspection, I was drawn this time to the red and coral in the dress, so I wore coral jewellery and slipped over my lovely Woolovers coral bead-embellished cashmere cardi.

And I was sooo excited, the two looked fabulous together.  

But ok, that cardi stayed shoved in my bag the whole day (el skorchio, don't ya know?!) but I knew it was there and I knew it was the perfect playmate for this pretty jersey, er, beachdress.

And yes, although the cardi picked out the coral in the dress, the red peep toe espadrilles married in the print's red.  And hey, the (unworn!) cardi was so far removed from the charity-find shoes that there was no jarring of the eyes when looking at this outfit in its pre- el skorchio state.

Do you agree?

And do I worry a little too much about precise colour matching?!

Well, forget colour matching as a precise science!

Yes, my second tip today is that you can pick out the tones of colour from a print and,  indeed,  generally can get away with the slightly-off mismatch of colour if the accessories individually are kept at some distance.

Now,  enough with the tips, I'm off to the beach for a cool-down dip in the sea.

Enjoy your day!

A la perchoine,

Mary x.