Hot on the Highstreet Week 53

Work clothes are hard enough to get right in winter... finding a suitably smart and cool outfit for summer is even tougher. However I have done a bit of market research and have found the perfect, comfortable, summery, office-friendly skirt from Zara.

Zara has really excelled this season, bringing us a wide variety of fashion forward, affordable clothes. Walking into the shop, it is like a rainbow, bright garments pop out at you from every corner. Brilliant neon tailored jackets, vivid patterned silk dresses and colourful blouses and shirts, all ideal for summer days in the office.

This mini skirt comes in four fun colours: lemon yellow, green, fushia pink and orange. It has convenient pockets on either side, and is made from 48% cotton and 52% nylon, which gives the skirt a comfortable stretch. The shape and design is quite plain, with a slight flare that gives the piece a real 60s vibe. Zara’s clothes come in a simple size system, XS (6-8), S(8-10), M(10-12), L(12-14); I have found from experience that the sizes come up quite small. Smart clothes can be expensive, but at £29.99 this skirt doesn’t break the bank.

The worst thing about work clothes is the necessity to dry clean, which adds endless cost onto an item of clothing you wear a lot. I find that I try to avoid wearing delicate dry clean only clothes because I can’t afford the cleaning bills! This Zara skirt is suitable for machine wash at 30 degrees, so shouldn’t cause any problems being washed normally.

I bought the pink and wore it so much, I went back to get it in green too. I love both and feel so relieved to have a comfortable skirt that I actually like the look and feel of for work. It works particularly well with a plain white shirt, or silk top and can be worn with or without tights. I also sometimes wear my pink one with a bright orange cropped jacket for the ultimate colour clash outfit.

Visit Zara website here.

Hot on the Highstreet Week 31

Let’s be honest buying clothes in the winter is never quite as satisfying as in the summer season. Every item you buy is likely to get rained on and will have to be worn with hundreds of layers that will, inevitably hide the real beauty of shape, style or fit. Dresses are a particular victim of this – even at work indoors, I am unable to wear a dress without at least a thin jumper over the top.

So in order to fight the winter blues we must arm ourselves with thicker, stronger, warmer materials, and that’s where Zara’s dresses come in. Zara has never been my favourite highstreet shop, but this December I can’t deny that they have really upped the ante. Earlier this month while passing, I was stunned by their window display with at least four dresses I would happily own. Needless to say, I went in to browse properly.

There in the corner was my dress. Very simple but perfectly designed, with an elegant classic feel. I glanced quickly at the price tag before allowing myself to fall in love... £39.99! The dress has a flared skirt and little sleeves that will keep you warm while adding a stylish touch to the look. With three colour options there is a choice for every occasion; I bought the beige (shown above) but it also comes in black and red. Made from thick cotton, it has kept me warm through many cold snowy days, without needing to put anything but a coat over it. There is nothing not to love about this dress!

It was only when I started this blog post that I found Zara’s website... which I never knew existed. So now you can order all those pretty dresses online rather than trekking through London's icy streets to find them.