The Vintage Sweetheart Dress Review

Having four girls I guess it comes as no surprise that they are really into clothes. Each of them has their own unique style, already choosing their outfits by themselves and having an opinion on what they think looks good. What's good is that even though they seem typically girly, they don't conform to the girls must wear pink, mixing it up with different colours and patterns. When The Vintage Sweetheart got in touch asking if I'd like to review one of their handmade dresses, it was tough deciding who would receive it. In the end I decided my seven year old should get to choose a dress, she does end up with a lot of second hand clothes so it was nice for her to get something of her own, something that you won't find on the high street. 

Before I review the stunning piece we were sent let me tell you a little bit about the company. Run by the lovely Emily, The Vintage Sweetheart create wonderful handmade dresses for babies and girls ranging from 0-3 months up to age 13-14. Each dress produced by The Vintage Sweetheart is made with absolute love and care in the UK using the highest quality cotton and each one is named after some very important people in Emily's life. With every item sold they donate £3 to Mango Tree, a children's charity in India and they are suitable for whatever occasion you are looking to wear them to.

The Wedding Dress Test

So a lot of people when trying to lose weight judge their figures against certain items of clothing, perhaps a favourite pair of jeans they'd like to fit back into. I know that I have lost weight, there's no doubt there. Infact I weight less now than when I was 18 years old. But weight and size don't always go hand in hand so I decided to take the wedding dress test to see just how much my figure has changed since I got married seven years ago.

Losing Weight Means New Clothes Needed

Since January I have lost almost a stone in weight, go me!! The issue with losing weight is that new clothes are needed, the old clothes don't fit anymore, they either fall down or are so baggy that they make me look bigger than what I am.

Now every girl loves an excuse to buy new outfits right? However this of course comes at a price. This means I am always on the look out for a bargain.

I tend to do a mix of online and high street shopping.

When on the laptop my first port of call is eBay, I have no issue with wearing second hand clothes and lets be honest you can end up with some fab items for a quarter of their normal price. I'm one of those people that waits for the last few seconds and manages to get a steal. It's about the only time that I get crowned a winner!!

One of my latest purchases was this amazing jumper, it's from Forever 21 but it cost me a small £4.20 including postage. #winning

Modelling Outfits From LamaLoLi

My children are typical girls, they love clothes.

So when we were asked if we would like to review a couple of items of clothing from the range over on LamaLoLi, I just couldn't say no.

LamaLoLi is an online shop which sells branded clothing that sport a whole range of stars and heroes from popular kids and adults programmes and films.

There are so many things to choose from for both children and grown ups including things like skirts and dresses, tops and trousers, pyjamas and underwear.

I let the girls looks through the site with me and we opted for a skirt and top set and a t-shirt, both with Monster High characters on.

Elise opted for a t-shirt which is currently on offer for £4.95

Baby Clothing, How Big?

My cousin and I were having a discussion the other day about baby clothing and just how silly the sizings are, just a bad as the adult clothes really. 0-3 months clothes can sometimes be virtually the same size as some 3-6 month clothes, no wonder it takes our little ones so long to move on to the next size up!!

This doesn't just apply to shop bought baby clothing though. Oh no, I have quite a few knitted items made by my lovely Nannie that are definitely bigger than what the patterns say they should be.

I was looking back through some of Layla's baby photos and had a little chuckle when I kept noticing the same little pink knitted cardigan, you wouldn't know that it was one of my favourite items of baby clothing ;)

Here are two photos. The first one below is of Layla when she wass around 9 months old wearing the ever so lovely pink cardigan.

The second photo is of a not so little Layla from last weekend when she was just shy of 16 months old, still wearing that pink cardigan. The difference now is that she no longer needs to have the sleeves rolled up and it is the right length for her body.

I really love the fact that we have mananged to get so much wear out of this cardigan because I feel a lot of time I spend a lot of money on baby clothing for it to be grown out of in next to no time, I know I have had items in the past that still have the tags on because my girls grown before they have had the chance to wear it!!

 Are there items of baby clothing that your children have managed to wear for a substantial amount of time?

xxxx

NappyKind Baby Boutique - Leggings Review

NappyKind Baby Boutique was set up by university students Sabrina and Junior. Based in Leeds they originally specialized in leg warmers for babies and preschool children.

Only launching this year, this company is growing fast and as well as stocking a wide range of baby legwarmers, they now stock a range of baby leggings, hats, bandana bibs, cloth nappies and leather shoes are now.

I was sent a pair of their baby leggings to test out my youngest daughter Layla. With leggings to suit both boys and girls, I struggled to choose just one pair. In the end I went for the ones with a Reindeer and snowflake design on them, well it is only around 70 days until Christmas.

The leggings cost £3.99 per pair and can be bought in sizes 6-12 months, 12-24months and 24-36months. Even though Layla is almost 15 months, I went for the 6-12 month sizing as Layla still wears 9-12 month clothing.

I love them. Made from a stretchy cotton, almost like tights material, they can be worn as leggings with a top, underneath a dress or even as pyjama bottoms. The bottom area of the leggings is larger than normal, this makes them suitable even for cloth nappy users, it makes them fit properly rather than being too tight, a big plus!!!

I tried my hardest to get some pictures of Layla wearing them but it proved a difficult task with the little monkey constantly on the move. She obviously found them more than comfy to toddle about in.

I absolutely love these and will hopefully get some more if Daddy Hazelden says yes. A great comfy alternative to normal leggings and trousers and because of the stretchy material, they will probably last longer than most leggings too. A great addition to your little ones Winter wardrobe.

xxxx

Disclaimer : I was sent these leggings at a discounted price for the purpose of this review however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

What Size Do I Buy??

When I buy clothes I don't tend to have the time or hands free to be able to go into the changing rooms to try each item of clothing on.

Most of the time when I am clothes shopping, I have the kids with me and they do not have the patience to stand around and wait for mummy to do a little fashion show for them. I've tried before and it turns into a battle of keeping little hands of clothes and hunting for other children inbetween the rails of clothing.

For this reason, I like to be able to go into a shop, pick what I want off the rails, pay and then leave again.

However I have been steadily losing weight and getting back into shape over the past few months, my size 12's were getting bug so I needed new clothes and I wasn't sure what size I would need.

First shop I ventured into was Peacocks, browsing through the sale items, I came across a pair of purple trousers, being my favourite colour I had to have them, being the classy lady I am, I tried them on underneath my skirt out on the shop floor, in my defense I couldn't squeeze all four children into the changing cubicle. To my surprise a size 8 fit, over the moon doesn't cover it, I haven't been this size since I was 13 years old!!!

Next shop I went to was Primark, well who doesn't love a bit of primarni. I picked up a pair of jeggings  but thought I best try them on as they were slightly different material, well in primark it turns out 10 was the winning number, with this in mind, I continued to pick up another couple of pairs of jeggings in a size 10, assuming because they are from the same shop that the sizing would be the same......

When I got home I thought I would compare the trousers, I was intrigued as to how I could be a size 8 in one shop and a size 10 in another.

Just take a look at the picture on the left.


Can any of you explain to me how the size 8 trousers from Peacocks and the size 10 trousers from Primark mange to be almost the same size??


No wonder they both seemed to fit me, the measurements are practically the same.






This wasn't the worst bit though.....

I decided to try on the other pair of jeggings I got from Primark, to see what the colour looked like etc

Boy did I have to breathe in, to be able to wear these, I wouldn't be able to eat a smidgen of food during the day.

The picture on the right shows both pairs together and as you can see, there is a significant difference in size.

I would say the darker pair are nearer to a size 6 than they are a size 10.



What I would love to know is how do shops get away with selling clothes that differ so much in size?? When you look at size guides online, they all seem to use the same universal sizing and measurements for waist, hips and bust, this would lead you to believe that all the clothes would in turn be of the same size, obviously not the case.

I now have to make a return journey to Primark to get the bigger size jeggings because I really would like to be able to eat and breathe whilst I wear them!!!

So my lovely readers, what shops have you had trouble with when it comes to finding the right size of clothing for you, do you tend to stick with the same shops so that you know what you are getting, do you really know what size you need to buy??

xxxx

Crawlerz Giveaway

People will always tell you when you have a baby that the time will fly, they won't be babies for long. Having had four children, I can definitely confirm that this is certainly true.

One thing that this means is that before long your little ones won't be sitting still, staying in one place, oh no they will be on the move, this is when you need eyes in the back of your head.

Crawlerz is a great company that provides safety rompers for your babies. These are unique because they have a patented anti-slip safety grip design down the legs and feet of the rompers, great for those little ones who are constantly on the go as they not only provide comfort, they provide protection too.

I am pleased to tell you that Crawlerz are allowing me to giveaway a set of 7 crawlerz in either boy or girl designs, so that is one romper for every day of the week!!!

To have a chance of winning, just fill out the rafflecopter form below, this giveaway is open to UK residents only and last day for entries is the 7th of July.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck everyone

xxxx

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