Dress for Success - Interview Outfits for the Cold

Hi guys! Apologies that it has been a little while since my last post but I am back!

So, today I had an interview for an internship with a fantastic music organisation and really wanted to make a good impression. I was totally thrown however when I check the weather and much to my horror, the 'feels like' temperature was showing 1°! I roughly knew what I wanted to wear as a while ago I purchased a bunch of peplum tops in different colours from New Look specifically for this type of occasion, but definitely found that I had to weather-proof for the hour journey there and back.

Weather proofing strategies...
The stretchiness of the top and the fact I was wearing a blazer on top meant that I was able to conceal an ultra-warm black long sleeve top underneath. To eliminate the draft from my 3/4 length sleeves under my coat, my trusty arm warmers came into play. Finally to avoid looking like I was wearing leggings with my super cosy Primark tights, I went for the weather technology ones which are slightly lighter but still very warm (sadly these got caught on my boot zip on the way home and laddered!!! :-( ).   I was particular undecided about footwear as it had originally planned to wear low-heeled black pumps.  But a combination of not being bothered to carry flats and wanting to keep my feet warm led to me trying out my new ankle boots from Dorothy Perkins. They worked a treat and definitely didn't detract from the professional look I was going for.

Results...
The final result was definitely a winner! A professional outfit which kept me super warm and GOT ME THE INTERNSHIP!!! Although I did feel very overdressed compared to the other candidates, it does show that it pays to dress for success. See what I wore below, a few items are old but some still available to buy...

Bag - Ollie and Nic (old) | Earrings - JCPenny (old) | Peplum top - New Look - £8.99 | Belt - Forever 21 -£2.40 (mine actually came off an old dress) | Skirt - New Look - £15 (I got mine from Forever 21 for £2.99 in the summer sales!) | Blazer - H&M - £15 (I bought mine a few years ago) | Boots - Dorothy Perkins - £32. 

Speaking of dressing for success, Dress For Success is a great charity which helps women who are not as fortunately as many of us to be able to dress for job success. They accept donations of "high quality work-appropriate clothes in all sizes," so do spare a thought for them next time you do a wardrobe clear out :-)

Have you had a job interview recently? What did you wear? Let me know!!!

Ciao for now ;-) HMLDN xx

Soaked and windswept - How NOT to prepare for freak weather

Today was another one of those days where I have failed to follow my own fashion weather advice and have heavily paid the price! But let this be a lesson to myself for ignoring rule no.1 of dressing for the weather: Always check the weather forecast before going out.

In all fairness, since finishing studying I barely venture out unless it is truly necessary. So today's venture, which I underestimated as being quite straight-forward, was somewhat of an aversion to the recent enjoyment of watching bad weather from the comfort of my room which I have been getting used to of late. Let me tell you, getting soaked by heavy showers TWICE before getting lost when your phone decides it doesn't want to give you any internet signal (i.e. no google maps) and battling high winds with your umbrella in one hand, soggy (non-responsive) smart phone in the other is just not cool!  20 minutes late and looking like you've been hit by a giant wave, I've have definitely learned my lesson and WILL NOT be leaving the house in future clueless to the impending the weather conditions.

Let this be warning to you all of the fashion dangers of not preparing for the weather! Here's what not to wear on a day like this...

Everything but the coat, cardigan, scarf and earrings are exactly what I had on today. They are all pretty old stuff (so no longer available online) but here are the retailers (and links where available) of where I got my stuff from anyway:

Scarf: DKNY                Earrings: Primark              Bag: Accessorize, 

Collar: New Look       Top: New Look                 Cardigan: Primark

Skirt: H&M                  Tights: Primark                 Coat: New Look 

Shoes: Dorothy Perkins

How did you fair in the weather today? Did it rain where you are? Let me know!!!

Ciao for now ;-) HMLDN xx