It seems like I am going to have to go out...

[BikeRunSki]

Not just out of the house, I can dress for that. 3 months post partum, with a 3 yo and 3 month old, I live in jeans/cords and long sleeved Ts which all seem to be purple or blue. In the next few weeks, I have a few "dos" coming up and would like to dress up a bit:

Very good friend's birthday, local village restaurant
Girl's night out, large group of girls, most of whom I don't know
Housewarming party, much more stylish/girly friend than I will ever be

I am 41, size 14/16. 5'8", fair hair/blue eyes, curvy

I need an outfit, probably shoes too as anything suitable is unlikely to go with FitFlop sneakers or DM boots. One outfit that would do all those events (with different accesspories?) would be fab, I like White Stuff, but fear that's a bit mumsy and drab for going out; stuff like Coast too girly for me. Monsoon used to be my "go-to" place, but I havn't really liked anything from there for years.
Woudl prefer a dress to trousers, and fear anything to skin tight or short. No black please!

Have you a budget in mind? And when you say no black are you looking for block colours or print? If you like White Stuff or Monsoon are you a teeny bit of a hippy? The tail end of sales is very good - if you move quickly, you can get some great prices on line. If I were you I would wear this with a very large necklace and boots. But if you are a but of a hippy you will hate that. but you might like Biba

This is a great dress. I wear it with navy tights and navy shoes and wide tan belt.

It looks glam and understated and there's a split down the sleeve which you can't see from the photos. The waist is elasticated and the draping skims over wobbly bits problem areas. I get lots of compliments on it

LOL at Forward - Yes, I am a bit of a hippy, but one that seems to have a wardrobe full of Boden and Next! Yes, I'd like a print, block colours seems a bit "serious". And you're also right about the Mary Portas dress, I hate it, but the Biba stuff looks like it is worth an explore. DH calls me a weekend hippy, cos I can do suited and booted pretty well for work - mat leave at the moment.

Budget - Up to £100 I guess.

MissBeehiving - I am sure it's a lovely dress, but I can't ever get Wallis or Dotty P websites to open on my laptop.

I have last years version of this which I wear in winter with grey wooly tights and a little cardi, going out you can wear with heels, and also in summer I wear it with leggings and gladiator sandals for casual. Im a tall size 16 and it is v v flattering (the print is a godsend, keeps the eye moving : ) )

There are 20 % off codes going around too to save you some money

There's a 10 week wait Gilly!

What????? Its brand new stock too! FFS

LOADS of nice dresses on their clearance page...here