Ducking and diving

First of all, a lovely Christmas treat for you all. I’ve got you a special offer of 20% off everything at Bombay Duck! I love their stuff – quirky, kitschy, twinkly and sparkly. You’ll easily be able to find presents for sisters, sisters-in-laws, friends, teachers, neighbours and all the rest. Admittedly, it’s not the first place I’d look for something for the man in your life, but heck, even I can’t sort everything out for you! All you need to do is pop this little code in when buying your Christmas cache of goodies: BDRFT20. Happy Shopping!

And now, a confession. Marks and Spencer asked me to try one of their clever new Secret Support party dresses. A genius idea, I hear you cry – and it absolutely is. Unfortunately, I wasn’t completely in love with any of the styles, partly because I never wear black and most of them are, very sensibly for the party season, LBDs. There was one gold jaquard number but I was a bit worried about looking like a jumbo Quality Street in it, though I’m sure it would suit the other 99% of the population perfectly.

Anyway, I was thrilled to be asked to do something with Marks and Spencer – my first time – as I am a huge M&S shopper and love their stuff. It’s well-designed, reliable and affordable. What’s not to adore? So I said yes very enthusiastically to the dress and wore it a couple of days later.

I’m going to be completely honest with you – dear reader, I always am – and say that, while I think the concept is faultless and could save many lives this Christmas, this particular dress wasn’t really me. It was black, as aforementioned, and it was also a lot shorter than I’d normally go. Plus I think I got a size too big, so the whole thing kept riding up. ‘It keeps riding up,’ I said to TL as we enjoyed a lovely evening with friends at the Hideaway, an immensely cool jazz club in Streatham. ‘Hmm,’ said TL, ‘it’s not riding up nearly enough.’ I think he was enjoying the view! Stupidly (or perhaps wisely) I completely forgot to get any pictures, so I’ll just use the M&S website one.

 

We had a great time and I did quite enjoy revealing a lot of leg for the first time in ages. If you’re a wearer of black, this dress will suit you right down to the ground – or a few inches above the knee, anyway. Thank you, Marks and Spencer, and I hope I haven’t blown it and still get another try with something else!