I must apologize for the picspam, but I’m very terribly much in love with this dress! I tend to shy away from colours and cuts I know to be ‘flattering’ because I’m contrary like that, but when House of Fraser offered to gift me an evening dress from their Viviana range, I thought that maybe I could wear something age appropriate for a change. (Also I don’t really own ANY evening dresses which is a bit of an oversight mibby)

Anyway, I’m very glad I did because this is beautiful and amazing and I will love this dress forever. The Viviana range goes up to a UK24 and has lots of very Christmas appropriate dresses, even though this one in particular – the Adeke Dress – has my ❤❤❤

With regard to sizing, I feel this fits pretty true to size as the 14 fit me perfectly. However, if you’re used to a more relaxed fit, you could try sizing up! I did have to engage in a bout of acrobatics to get the zip all the way up – this is very much a dress you’ll want another person to zip you in if possible (the mesh around the shoulders is rather delicate.)

My rose gold bangle is also a gift, this time from Uncommon Goods – who have a wonderful section on handmade jewellery – and has an incredible history behind it. It’s also really special to me because of my own strange history with, or rather, around the periphery of jewellery. Jewellery is a huge deal in India, especially if you’re a woman. Most parents start hoarding gold jewellery the moment they know they’re having a daughter they can’t get rid of, even though dowries are illegal (because nothing really is illegal in India.)

A lot of the time these days though, that hoard of gold acts as a financial safety net that you can fall back on in hard times. My parents never hoarded any gold for me, mostly because they had all the financial sense of a dented teaspoon, but also because they never really cared. And it’s always been a sore point – not because I harbour a fervent and secret desire to be traded like goods, but because I’ve lived through some very bad times with nothing saved away to make those times bearable. And so I tend to stay from jewellery of any kind, because it’s a reminder of how little my parents cared about me.

This Uncommon Goods bangle isn’t precious by traditional Indian standards, but this alongwith the brooch my landlady gave me seems to mark the beginning of something new. Growing up maybe, shrugging off the burden of my parents’ apathy, reclaiming myself from them, and hopefully doing better when it’s my turn.