2017 – A Year in Frocks

This post was supposed to go live 2 days ago, while the New Year still felt fresh and shiny. But sadly I failed to finish preparing it over Christmas, and then I was too busy vomiting.

So instead it is arriving on the 4th January, when we’re all totally sick of New Year round-ups and nobody cares.

Still, I couldn’t bring myself to miss it, as it would mess up my streak as I’ve been writing these since 2013.

If you want to peek back at other years then feel free!
2013 / 2014 / 2015 / 2016 / 2017

As ever, as my style and my life has evolved, a year in frocks has become more and more of a misnomer, but we’ll stick with it for consistency, and crack on and look at the year that was.

January – March

The year started with an old favourite Boden Leopard Print dress, and the opportunity to show off some fabulous new laser cut handbags Mr LLL had been working on in his shop. Otherwise as far as I can work out the most exciting thing to happen in January was I ate a Cream Egg.

In February it was, of course, Valentines Day. So the cardigan of kisses got an outing and became one of #2017bestnine on Instagram. I seem to have spent most of February feeling a bit poorly, and it was also the month I got my first, but not last, concussion of the year.

March’s “not a frock” outfit was taken in Basel, Switzerland, as March was the month that one of the most exciting things to happen this year took place and I travelled to Switzerland with some other bloggers to visit the Fasnacht. It was an amazing few days of noise and confetti and I had an awesome time. Definitely on my “do again” list!

April – June

April’s outfit is a pretty dull everyday sort of outfit worn during an unseasonal April heatwave. Otherwise April’s highlight was that time I ordered too many bananas.

May was a bit more exciting as May is BIRTHDAY MONTH. May’s outfit photo was taken in Canary Wharf where my second exciting trip of the year took place in the swanky Novotel. (those Heyday Beach Pyjamas are also currently in the sale). Also in May an insane cat broke into my house. There are still scratches on the walls.

June was mostly about getting my pins out in playsuits, but right at the end of the month it was also the month I finally said goodbye to Retro Chick and moved my blog over to Lipstick, Lettuce & Lycra to have everything in one place. I feel like I’m still finding my way with it and how to balance my content, but 2018 is totally my year….

July – September

July’s outfit was more about how I saw myself than the actual outfit. The way I saw myself in these photos and the way my husband and everyone else saw me was very different, and a sobering reminder not to judge yourself harshly. In July I also went hunting for UFOs in Rendlesham Forest, which since I have discovered the campsite is dog-friendly, might be an experience I will repeat this year.

The outfit I picked for August was a special one because I wore it out to celebrate making it through a full year with both me and Mr LLL self-employed. It was challenging at times, but it’s been a great decision for us both. August was also the month that saw the Norfolk Brawds finish second in Tier 3 East in the British Roller Derby Championships. So a pretty awesome month all round really.

In September I featured an outfit that I lived in for most of the Autumn, which is reminding me that I need to wash that hand wash only jumper so I can live in it for most of early spring as well. In September the Norfolk Brawds also went to playoffs and came second in Tier 3 of the British Championships across the whole country. This means we’re heading into Tier 2 this year with our first game in February!

October – December

As the year started to draw to a close, the last 3 months started to get really busy and hectic.

October, was, as you can see from my outfit, Halloween. It was also Cocktail Week, which was busy and stressful. It’s lovely to see people enjoying the week, and business gaining new customers, but it’s very hard work to organise! It was also the month that we officially adopted Peppa & Waldo, the 2 gorgeous hell beasts that now live with us.

In November I did my first ever outfit post in some fit kit from Boudavida. Something I plan to do more of this year, I already have one lined up if it stops raining long enough to take photos! November was our 12 year wedding anniversary, which was lovely, but also the month that our car catastrophically failed it’s MOT a year after we bought it and had to be scrapped. We are currently still carless.

And finally December. This outfit was my favourite of my 12 Days of Christmas Outfits. December was stressful in a way that in retrospect is good. Mr LLL shop was far busier than we had anticipated, and keeping up with orders was a nightmare that involved both of us staying up into the small hours wrapping and packing parcels. Now it is over we can, of course, be pleased about the success and make plans for next year, but it meant a LOT of things suffered in December, including the fact that none of our families got Christmas presents. A fact I plan to remedy very soon!

And that was my year, as told by very few frocks at all actually. In fact, I can see only 2 frocks out of 12!

I hope your 2017 was awesome, but I hope your 2018 is even better.