ummmm I urgently need help but fear I am beyond the reach of its grasp

[Mitchy1nge]

. . . or something. So have met a nice chap and we are on date 4 (or could it even be 5?) and I have worn the same dress (a short red jumper thing) three times and a very small tartan skirt with a bright blue leather jacket another time. I never look nice :( I don't know how to, I live in jeans or jodhpurs or worse but I love dresses. But not sparkly scratchy ones or long ones or high heels. Or anything that needs a lot of care. Date said I reminded him of 'that evil woman from Harry Potter', ok so luckily he meant Bellatrix Lestrange not that short fat pink woman with the kittens and he meant it as a compliment but is still not a very polished look for a woman of 42 is it? So this is what I am up against. :(

Need some stuff to wear when we go out, or if it doesn't work out with this one I will probably try some other dates as am enjoying it so far. I bought a reindeer dress from Peacocks but why did I do that? Please help me if you think you can.

yes is date 5 this weekend

Sounds like you looked fab! It's really refreshing to hear that you are not wearing vile "floaty" long cardigans tbh! And good for you that you are going out so often that you run out of outfits!

Could you wear black jeans with a sparkly top and boots?

If you love dresses and horsey-type boots I would get some from White Stuff or Fat face for casual wear. Not always popular on here but I like them.

Slim fit or straight jeans - black or blue-black - and get a couple of nice, bargainous tops? You dont have to be super dressy for every date, do you? That would be a respectable and cheap look that you could keep up by adding a new top every now and then.

You dont say your height/shape etc. - thats important.

I wear dresses mostly, with thick tights and long boots. There are gazillions of styles of dress to choose from these days.

More info, please!

Well first being compared to Helena B-C can only be a massive compliment imo! Sounds like he likes your style…do you wear opaque tights and boots with the dress? Sounds like you just need some slightly more grown-up dresses that still reflect you…how about these:
butterflies
tartan
zip
leather trim
skater

I really don't like sparkly clothes or jeans (wear jeans all the time to do horrible yard work in the dark mud with badly behaved dirty horses) so prefer to wear skirts and dresses when I'm out. Thick tights (not black though please, hate them) and only seem to have some brown boots, Boden a few years ago, (I don't really look after my things very well)

My favourite ever 'dress' (I think it was supposed to be a top it was quite short ) was a striped thing from FatFace so I could look there again.

Am about 5'4 (whatever 1.6 - 1.63m is, depending on whether I have my sunglasses on top of my head or not when I use the height/weight machine) I was a quite hourglassy size 10 before I started marathon training and I think I looked nice then but at the moment a bit thinner, which is ok in clothes but slightly alarming naked. quite muscly though and do have a flat tummy, but torso is disproportionately long so my limbs look sort of short and boxy

argh I could go on like this all day

am really grateful for all and any ideas

I could start with a hairbrush I think!

I love the shape of that butterfly dress (can't cope with actual print on dresses though ) and I definitely like both the turquoise fit and flare and that wrap/zip one, thank you. Especially the zip one. The tartan is also lovely but I feel strangled looking at the neck. I think I like to get my collarbone out

you are amazing in here!

my other great favourite was my purple anglomania jersey dress, that looked nice on me whether I was curvy or not, but not only have I lost it somewhere I probably can't afford to spend that sort of money again :(

do you know of anything similar, anyone?

stripey anglomania £125
there are quite a few on ebay too if you can be arsed

No advice but you sound great fun :) Good luck!

oh you are clever, thank you! is very sold out though and I think their 'small' is actually not that small, from memory so might be wrong, the variation of dress sizes confuses me a lot. Yes I can be arsed, I will roam around ebay a bit :) am actually quite keen on a few of those pied a terre dresses from one of your earlier links

wish it was colourful though, was looking for a coat in JL on Friday and everything (not just the coats) looked so black and grey or drained of colour

colourful and striped and a sort of cowl neck and or an interesting shape that isn't long would be really nice

the outnet, discountnosity wow

have ordered a probably very boring striped dress for everyday life (or some dates maybe?) that looks quite grown up and safe here

thanks, I am a bit overwhelmed by all the nice things on there and the prices, I will probably not thank you for this in the long term but let's hope the returns service is good!

love the dress you got.

green anglomania XS

also some more cheapys…
tartan
purple
red tartan
purple
jumper dresses red/blue

ohhh thank you, I love that green anglomania dress, what a lovely soft colour and shape - am having that! and glamorous swing jersey dress :) (how will I feed my horses, child, cats and dog now?)

I didn't know tk maxx had a website

thank you I didn't know where to start, it's exactly like tidying the house, if they put the tools in my hand and point me gently in the direction of the washing up or the dusty floor I can get started :)

You have so many choices now, and all lovely - there better be plenty more dates!

that TK maxx site is real isn't it? I have ordered one and my friend has ordered one but it still says 2 left (I really really really really really want that Amanda Wakeley purple drape front dress from there but is ridiculous isn't it? will look stupid and need shoes and a handbag and shit, so am resisting. But it's nice isn't it?)

nothing will be here by Saturday of course but we are not Going Out so hopefully won't need clothes

out of interest, is my reindeer dress a terrible disgusting mistake or do you think it is sort of ok for dating purposes? I like the orange bits on it more than the actual reindeer. Are reindeer just for Christmas?

I really like that turquoise Oasis dress in FauxFox's first link.

It also comes in navy & burgundy with long sleeves. And there's a red one with short sleeves too.

When I find something I like I buy it in different colours.

I bought this Uniqlo dress (£19!) in olive, navy & grey - and they are a fantastic buy.

I don't like knitwear that's not 100% wool, however, the mix of wool & alpaca make the dresses very soft & I would never have guessed there's any nylon in it. Nice and warm too. I wear mine with fur gilets & tartan tights.

looking at woolly dresses when cold is like going into the supermarket on an empty stomach

have ordered a navy one of that uniqlo dress, it looks SO COSY

I think your reindeer dress rocks. It would be a great for Christmas.

I am currently coveting this

and being compared to HBC is IMO a terrific compliment apart from the chumminess with CallmeDave.

I do think perhaps a reindeer does not scream 'take me now' except in a slightly dodgy Santa-ish way.

<a class="break-all" href="http://direct.asda.com/george/womens/dresses/D1M1G20C1,default,sc.html#direct.asda.com/george/womens/dresses/D1M1G20C1,default,sc.html?viewAll&priceSliderRangeMin=6.0&priceSliderRangeMax=25.0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Asda has some cracking dresses for the price.

Have you tried the Apricot website? They have lovely dresses which are a bit different but also very reasonable.

am having a look now, they are a bit like modcloth I think

are they related?