Getting Autumn Ready with Simply Be

The leaves are orange, the air is crisp.
Nights are drawing in, the heating is on ‘all day’.
Starbucks have bought out the red cups and the smell of bonfire is in the air…I hope it’s bonfires. 

It’s autumn!

Although my heart firmly lies with summer, I am a big fan of autumn.
I love seeing people wrapped up in their big jumpers,  scarves with big coats and boots for kicking through the leaves.

Unfortunately, I can’t partake in this autumn snugness. Since falling pregnant with Aoife, my internal thermostat has been broken and my autumn attire is simply my summer outfits with a cardigan on.
I sometimes only wear a coat so I don’t look like a weirdo in the frost.

Well, that is until now!

Simply Be asked me to choose some items from their Autumn/Winter collection so I decided I would try and be more seasonal!

Simply Be-rilliant!

See what I did there?

A few months ago I wrote about wanting to feel better about myself – more confident and less like one of Mr Maker’s shapes.
To the surprise of everyone (me) it’s actually working so I was looking forward to choosing something that maybe I’d have avoided before.

I’ve actually shopped with Simply Be for a long while as I think they offer really good value for money and their sizing is pretty consistent, for a *ahem* ‘curvy’ lass like me, that makes shopping less of a chore.
As such, I often have a wish list on the go and so ended up choosing quite a few items – jeans, leggings, two tops and a dress.
It’s not quite a capsule wardrobe but three outfits for under £100?
BARGAIN.

As you can see, my choices followed a bit of a theme – black and animal print.
Both scream autumn to me.

As a woman with exceptional taste, everything I ordered was wonderful.

However, the blue animal print shirt dress was the biggest risk for me.
Although I love print and bold colour, I tend to sway toward black and ‘safe’.
This isn’t exactly a dress to ‘blend in’ in but at just £29 I decided to risk it for a biscuit.

Simply Be-autiful

I’ve worn this dress to death already, I absolutely adore it.
Despite being a shirt dress, it has a flattering cut and didn’t gape at the bust/stomach/hips area which is always a concern.

It’s ideal for daytime (if you want everyone to ask why you’re wearing a dress – ‘JUST BECAUSE’ BARBARA, IS THAT OK???) and evening (when apparently it’s OK to wear a dress without question).
Not only is the dress comfortable and flattering – a win by all accounts – but it has one extra special feature.

It has pockets.
Who doesn’t love a dress with pockets?

Although Simply Be did send me lots of lovely clothes, they didn’t send me a model, photographer or fancy back drop to take lots of top quality pictures so instead it was down to us, as a family, to get the pictures.

Unfortunately I don’t do whimsy or natural beauty – I do, however, do “I’ve got a dress with pockets and a free bar”; “Yay we’re buying Christmas stuff in October” and “NO! DON’T SWITCH IT TO NEGATIVE”.

I’m sure one of these looks will take off soon.

I like my jeans to be ankle length so I ordered the petite skinny fit jeans to wear with either the black strappy back tunic or the animal print top. Both are slightly shorter than I used to choose but work nicely with jeans and can be worn with a skirt too.

We tried our best but I’d recommend checking out the items online to see how the professionals do it!

I was sent these items by Simply Be in return for sharing my honest opinion which this absolutely is.
I bloody love that dress.