My Travel Wardrobe – A Trip to Bangkok and Sydney

I have a love/hate relationship with this particular trip. It’s a weeklong adventure which takes me to Bangkok for a day, followed by three days in Sydney and another day in Bangkok on the way back to Dubai.

I love the destinations.

I hate packing for two different continents and trying to leave enough room for potential shopping ;)

So here’s what happens when you try to pack for two different climates, two different continents and two different plans, without overloading my poor, beaten Samsonite. Did someone say capsule wardrobe?

Day 1 – Bangkok

Sightseeing… a trip to the floating market at Damnoensaduak demands flats (Havaianas), easy tee (H&M) + wear-anywhere jeans (H&M). And a camera, duh.

Day 2 – Sydney

For me, a casual maxi dress (Topshop) together with gladiator sandals (Old Navy) is perfect for a wee spot of shopping along George Street in Sydney, working 'laid-back chic' or, in other words, I couldn’t be assed thinking of a whole outfit so I threw a maxi dress in the suitcase :)

1 Top: 7 Ways >>> PART 3

Today sees the last of my seven looks created with just one top! I hope you've enjoyed this mini-series... sometimes it's fun to see what you can create from your own wardrobe, knowing there's no post-retail guilt trip to come. It's all very well throwing money around with designers and buying up every new collection from Zara and H&M but it's nice to know how to 'recycle' a piece without looking like you only need one coathanger for your entire closet.

You can take a look at Part 1 (looks 1 & 2) here, and if you want to see what else I did with my LBT (Lovely Black Top), you can click here for Part 2.

And finally, here are looks 6 and 7 - let me know if you like them! :)

LOOK 6

Goodie two-shoes

Cardi, Primark | Jeans, Salsa
Jewellery, Barcelona street stall / talented Spanish man :)

[Wear it for... a family do | lunch with the 'rents | shisha date]
[Style it: neckline under your arms creating the illusion of a strapless top - and then you can decide whether you'd like to tie the sleeves in a bow in the middle of your back, or tuck them inside the neckline. If you're not wearing a cardi, I think the bow would look better. Just a thought.] 

LOOK 7

Slimline

I personally love this look with black jeans, as I think it would look too complicated with another colour -
but leather-effect leggings (and very big hair) could also look very rock n roll :)

I like the look of these skinny jeans tucked into the shoes.
It's a little bit edgier and shows off the bright orange suede.

[Wear it for... a date | work (with a coloured blazer) | dinner somewhere posh (how about a sequinned blazer this time?)]

[Style it: one arm in, one arm out. The unused sleeve is then brought around your back and under your bust to create a sort of belt and the end is neatly tucked away under the exposed arm.]

And that's that - 1 top, 7 ways!
Let me know which little ensemble you liked best - I'm tied between Look 3 and Look 7... what do you think?

Love from orange-suede-obsessed Dolly x

1 Top: 7 Ways >>> PART 2

Welcome to the second part of my little one-top-trilogy, using just one ingeniously versatile black top from Salsa Jeans and a limited wardrobe selection... click here to view Part 1 if you want all the details!
I hope you like my ideas, pretty much slapdashedly put-together one sunny afternoon when I was feeling a wee bit creative...
I think my personal favourite is LOOK 3 - which one do you like best?

LOOK 3

Attention to detail

Top, Salsa Jeans | Jeans, Salsa Jeans | Shoes, Zara

I'm having a moment with these a.ma.zing Zara shoes -
bought in Madrid for 29 euros, I love shopping Mango and Zara in Spain!

[Wear it for... a first date | rooftop cocktails | posh bbq]
[Style it: Simply place the elasticated neckline under your arms to start with, and then drape the sleeves from the either side at the front to the back of your neck, where you can secure them with a pin, or with a simple knot. I kept accessories to a minimum, and just brought out my big earrings (always a winner).]

LOOK 4

1 Top: 7 Ways >>> PART 1

I discovered Salsa Jeans in Dubai.
The Portuguese brand is one I'd never heard of whilst living in Scotland and although we have the likes of Bershka, Mango and other delightful European imports, I must have somehow missed the Salsa boat. It's possibly a stroke of luck that I was oblivious for so long, from the point of view of my poor, abused credit card... but I am now officially a BIG fan.

This however, is not a post on how much I adore their famous insta-figurefixing jeans (that's to come later).
It is instead the first of three posts about one very versatile top from Salsa which slunk off the hanger and into my wardrobe after I discovered how inspired its design is. 

The top has been made to produce 5 different looks (according to the tag), and I have put together the following 7 looks... using different styling so that each one is different to the other. 
One top providing an outfit for each day of the week - can't be bad!
I've also limited myself to only a few accessories, one jacket and two pairs of shoes, plus basic bottoms (blue/black jeans & leggings), to show how simply changing the top can totally change the outfit!

Enlisting the help of Mum (clearly a natural with the camera!), we shot this in Scotland and I do hope you like my little floral backgrounds in line with the latest trend floating around this season...

These outfits are entirely my own style so I apologise in advance for the great expanse of black that you'll see . I do love black... But I thought a wee splish-splash of orange shoes and blue denim would be enough to brighten it all up!

If you're interested in trying this idea, you might not find the top as I bought it a couple of months ago, however, any loose-fit, stretch top with a wide neck will work.
Enjoy - here's PART 1!

LOOK 1

Dolly in black

I road-tested this outfit coming from Dubai to Glasgow -
full flight, sitting next to fidgeting mother with 6 month-er, 
and it passed the comfort test with flying colours...
And this bag was a lovely £12 from Primark.
Yes. That is my smug, just-got-a-bargain face... How did you guess?

Leggings, Topshop | Boots, (very last last laaaast season) Zara | Jacket, Zara

[Wear it: work | casual business lunch | air travel]
[Style it: this look uses the top, as is, with both sleeves, and the elasticated lower part extended over the leggings slightly. No-one wants to see anyone else's butt in leggings, sorry!]

LOOK 2

City safari

Jeans, Salsa | Earrings, Aldo | Scarf, Mum's



Note - for all those with no waist (like moi), invent one with this double trick...
Tie a skinny scarf at the narrowest point of the jacket (where it nips in at the waist),
not the narrowest point of your torso.



I love leopard and peacock together - it's my safari in the city :)

[Wear it: lunch with the girls | date night | coffee with a client]
[Style it: for this, i pushed the sleeves inside the elasticated neckline and then pulled the neckline up under my arms so it holds the top as a strapless number. 

I added a scarf to break up all that black but if you're short, this won't work so well with flat boots, so I'd suggest (nude) heels instead.]

Hope you've enjoyed the picture-fest that is Part 1, more to come tomorrow!

Let me know what you think of these different looks :)

Love from dressing up Dolly x

Travel Wardrobe - Frankfurt, Germany

Returning home from my too-short trip to Spain, I realised I'd had a little post-Madrid wardrobe inspiration. As I packed for another destination, I got a little more excited than usual as I pulled out a few of my favourite high street items forgotten at the back of my wardrobe.

As an air hostess, each new stopover requires route-specific outfit packing, sometimes for weather completely opposite from the previous. With new ideas influenced wholly by the mixed looks of Madrid’s street style señoritas (you can see the post HERE) I packed my 'Travel Wardrobe' for Frankfurt, Germany. I hope you like it!

Leopard print scarf, H&M

Skinny jeans, Salsa

Ankle boots, Primark

Sunglasses, H&M

Right now, Dubai is way too hot for the scarf and the ankle boots - so I enjoy the novelty of wearing them on my trips to Europe which is still cool and rainy. When I'm back in the desert, I might subsitute the boots for simple sandals and a lighter scarf as a cute headband (read: no idea what to do with my hair in this humidity).

Hope you like my choices... what did you wear today? Send me a link to your blog/twitter/instagram/pinterest :)

Love from travelling Dolly x