The Waldorf Astoria
I don’t really have “favourites”.
I mean, I have SOME favourites, obviously. It will come as no surprise to most of you to learn that my favourite colour is green, for instance. And my favourite season is most DEFINITELY summer (I know, it’s amazing I’m even allowed to blog….). But if you asked me to name my favourite book/movie/song/food, say, (And people DO ask these things. Fairly often, actually.) I wouldn’t have a clue what to tell you, and actually, I’d get a little bit panicky, because how on earth could I pick just ONE favourite thing, when there are so many others out there that I love just as much? Can’t do it, won’t even try.
If you were to ask me to name my favourite pair of shoes then (I get this one at least once a week. Sometimes I just name my favourites AT THE TIME, purely because that whole “I don’t really DO favourites” thing tends to make people look at me funny…), I wouldn’t have a clue. If, however, you were to ask me to name my favourite dress, well, I probably wouldn’t have to think too hard before naming this one.
Folks, I LOVE this dress. It’s from ASOS, but if you’d cut out the label and asked me to guess the brand (Which would be weird of you, but whatever), I’d probably have guessed something much more high-end, because the fabric is this wonderful jacquard organza (That floral pattern is almost like tapesty), which feels much more expensive than it actually is. I think of it as my Gone With the Wind dress, because although the shape is (obviously) nothing like it, the print always reminds me of the dress Scarlett wore to the Seven Oaks barbecue. Which definitely wasn’t from ASOS.
As with my green skirt (Well, I did say green was my favourite colour…) I waited a while to debut this dress, only to end up wearing it to the beach. Yes, the ACTUAL beach: not some fancy restaurant called The Beach, or something more appropriate. I didn’t actually plan it that way, needless to say: these photos were taken at the Waldorf Astoria, where we stayed during our trip to Naples, courtesy of my very generous parents. It’s a pretty swanky hotel, and we were going to be eating in a nice restaurant in town, so I grabbed the opportunity to wear The Dress, only for everyone to decide we needed to go to the beach first, to watch the sunset.
I think I can safely say I was the most over-dressed person there (Don’t worry, I removed my shoes before walking on the sand!), but luckily no one batted an eyelid (There were lots of people wandering along the shoreline, glass of wine in hand: it doesn’t really get much better than that, does it?), and we got to see the most beautiful sunset, before heading out to dinner, where I was a little more appropriately dressed.
char
It does rather look like the perfect setting for such an Amber dress.
I always think of you when I see green, pencil dresses, so they must be your favourite if people associate them with you.
(Or perhaps I’m just a bit weird).
Amber
Haha, I’ve had a couple of people say that to me, so I suspect I should probably cut back on them a bit: they’re just irresistible to me, though!
Cliona
Green’s great on redheads, though! As a fellow redhead, I pretty much live in all things green/ blue/ purple!
WhatLouWore365
Lovely sunset picture, lovely dress. I hope you are settling into your new home!
Amber
Thank you! It’s a painfully slow process, but we’re getting there – still loving the house, so it’s all good 🙂
Annette
I am not sure if this dress looks as good on me as it does on you but I already had an eye on it and don’t know why I didn’t order it when it was still available… it is lovely but especially with your hair colour and skin tone it is simply stunning!
Beautiful look, amber.
Annette | Lady of Style
Amber
Thanks, Annette – it was one of those dresses I knew I just HAD to order as soon as I found it: I think those are always the best purchases!
Grit & Glamour™ (@gritandglamour)
You are STUNNNNNNNING! Love this on you. And these photos are just gorgeous.
Kristian
A stunning color and shape on you!
Mallory
That dress is gorgeous on you! Clearly it’s deserving of the favorite top-honor!
daria
you look exquisite! the dress definitely looks “expensive”, and it’s beautiful. I love the side bun too.
Sue @ A Colourful Canvas
Very pretty look Amber!
Also love your new fonts on your blog!
Amber
Thanks! Moving house made me feel like it was time for a blog makeover too!
Cliona
Green is a redhead’s best friend 🙂 With the added bonus of being very patriotic over here 😛
vivalasvegas
Amber, your blog are so well-written, have you ever considered writing fiction?
Amber
I’m useless at fiction, unfortunately!
Shoegal
You look gorgeous, and the dress… I have to words to describe the dress, sooo beautiful!
Mana
Frankly my dear, you looked damn good.
I adore that dress, it’s so pretty.
Mana
Fashion and Happy Things
shona
You look wonderful. Naples is a place we have not been before, must put it on the list
Fran
I can totally see what you mea, about Gone with the Wind! And the shape,really suits you 🙂 (also, I always think that hr who has only o,e favorite book hasn’t read enough :P)
Katie
Thank goodness – someone else who doesn’t do favourites! Honestly, I don’t know how people can manage to pick a favourite anything. It’s as you say: there are simply too many good things to pick just one. I’m not even a fan of narrowing my selection down to a top five.
That being said, this dress is definitely a contender for favourite. It’s seems to be made of pure elegance.
Amber
I think it bothers me because I feel like the “favourite” questions are asked as an attempt to pigeon-hole the person: I always worry that if I say my favourite book is Lord of the Rings, say, the questioner will pigeon-hole me as ONE type of person, without knowing that I’m also the type of person who reads mystery novels, the classics, chick lit and Enid Blyton, and so on and so forth. I don’t like the feeling that my entire personality will be summed up for that person by the fact that I like Chinese food, say, or some other “favourite”. Music is the worst, because I have really eclectic taste in music, and so many people are so unbearably snobbish about it that “what’s your favourite band?” almost always turns into an “I am judging you” kind of conversation: ugh. I definitely think WAY too much about this, though 🙂
Tatyana
Oh my goodness! Your dress is so gorgeous, but not more than you are! You would so suit a fringe! 😉 Stunning! PS loving the new site look! Tatyana x
Amber
Haha, I actually bought a clip-in one last week which is ALMOST the same colour as my hair (I can never find hair extensions to match my colour!) so I’m going to experiment a bit with that: who knows, it might persuade me to take the plunge!
Tatyana
Amazing! Love experimenting! 🙂 x
Allegra
People tend to be a little blab when it comes to favourites. At least I consider favourites a personal thing and don´t like it when I am asked about it by some random person.
By the way, I noticed you refreshed your blog appearance. It really suits you now with all the blue-greenish undertones. Anyway, may I ask what was your previous blog template? I´ve been looking for something like that for some time.
Amber
Hi,
The previous template was called ‘Adele’.
Grace
Ah, I love that dress, but your hair is so gorgeous as well! Could you tell me how you did it, as I’ve often wanted to do something like that for the evening but the closest I get is a frizzy mess over my shoulder that falls out halfway through the night.
And I so agree on the whole favourites thing. My mind has a habit of forgetting all but the most hideous items whenver anyone asks me!
Amber
Oh, thank you! I just pulled it into a ponytail at the base of my neck, then used a hair donut to create the bun, and pin it in place. It was actually a bit of a rush job because we’d been in the pool all afternoon, and my hair was really ratty and horrible even after washing it, so it wasn’t as good a job as it could’ve been, but it’s really easy to do!
Grace
Ah, that sounds easy eough, even for me! Thanks 🙂
Call me M
You look gorgeous in this dress! Loved the whole outfit and the hairstyle. I also don’t have favorites…it’s always hard to answer these questions. The last photo of you and Terry is fantastic! It looks a bit like a beach wedding photo, with the clothes, and the sunset behind you…
Boots Boots Boots
Great post! That dress looks amazing on you! light green goes really well with your hair oolor (and it looks as if you have green eyes, so that is probably why it works so well!) I don’t know if you are one for accessories, but I would have even tried a pair of pearls or a necklace but the look is wonderful without! Definitely a spring-y type of look. The one thing I thought would be interesting would be a yellow handbag and maybe some patent leather shoes? Maybe I am wrong, but it seems to fit in my head! lol Great work though, love your blog!
Corinne
IT’S SOLD OUT!?! My bottom lip is out now. And I have the grump on. I might cry, no I won’t, that’s lame. Actually I probably will. How am I supposed to be a total copy cat when you post this wonderful dresses so long after you buy them?
This dress is stunning! The type of stunning that when you see it, you hold your chest as your heart sinks and let out a little sigh. I like dresses a little too much, maybe. But whatever.
Anyway – as I didn’t get chance to read your previous post properly due to having to head to work – I just wanted to say that I am glad you managed to move in quicker than you thought, with less emotion involved than you anticipated. It all worked out for the best in the end, eh?
I remember the night before I moved house, we went to get the keys off the girls that were living here, we had brought a car load of stuff just to make it easier in the morning.. we had a look around and I felt really sad, and sick, like I didn’t want to do this, no, not like I didn’t want to do this, like I COULD NOT do this. It all seemed like so much work. And this house was so small. And no storage. No spare room. No under stair cupboard. No basement. No hall way. No back yard. It’s a much nicer house, but I didn’t want too move. I wanted to cry while I drove back to the old house. It was raining as we decided to put a second load in and take that to the new house. We got back, I was sick and went to bed but could not sleep for the feeling of ill/sickness/anxiety. I probably got about 4 hours sleep. It kind of felt like the end of the world! I have no idea what happened to me at all.
By the next morning I felt better. Our moving van was due at 3pm, so we did a few more car runs before hand and I liked the house a lot better. It was sad to see the old house empty though! We still had the keys for a week or so before the previous landlord picked them up and we kept nipping by to check post etc. Every time I went into my old room and had a look. Luckily by the time the landlord got the keys, and I knew I could never go back there, I had already fallen in love with this house. So it all ended well in the end.
Do not know why I felt the need to tell you all this. I may sound like a bit of an emotional wreck, or a bit unstable, but I probably am.
Have a nice weekend.
Corinne x
Oh, I like the new layout =)
Amber
Well, if you’re an emotional wreck, I am too, because this is pretty much exactly how I felt about it all: I remember one night, a couple of days before we moved, I woke up in the middle of the night, looked around the room, and just thought, “Nope, can’t do it.” I seriously felt like I would NOT be able to leave it, and I’m 100% certain that if I’d had to go back for one last night, I would’ve totally fallen apart. My last memories are of it a total mess and full of boxes, but at least I didn’t see it empty, or worse, with other people’s stuff in it, which Terry had to do this week when we went back to sort out an issue the new owners were having – I have NO idea how he did that, it was weird enough for me just hearing about it second hand.
Anyway, glad to hear you’re enjoying the new place now, and thanks for your lovely comments about the dress: I know there was at least one in stock a couple of days ago, so it might be worth checking back every now and then – you never know!
Victoria
Hiya
I just wanted to ask what you type in when searching on asos? You seem to always find such beautiful pieces from there and when I go on all I find is festival type fashion, not vintage glamorous styles!
My style is very similar to yours, I love the glamour of eras past and tend to always be ‘dressed up’ I noticed that we share a majority of the same shoes! Especially Melissa’s for Vivienne Westwood! I now have 12 pairs of hers!
Anyway, I think your blog is beautiful and extremely inspiring. So thank you for making it ok to be proud of dressing stylishly just for the hell of it!
Amber
Oh, thanks, I’m glad you like it!
With ASOS I normally just check the “new in” section, unless I’m looking for something specific. Because I write about fashion for a living, I have a long list of retail sites which I visit every day, so I get to see most of the new stock that goes on there: I think with sites like ASOS, which are being updated constantly, it’s really just a case of checking them as often as you can to make sure you don’t iss something good!
Erika
It looks like a great choice for a favorite, the pattern is beautiful! It has been awhile since I have been on ASOS’s site, I probably should make it over there more often, I always love what you end up finding.
msveve
WOW that dress is BEAUTIFUL! I would have never guessed that it’s from Asos.
Agnieszka
Love the dress! Beautiful 50’s style 😉
Emily Jayne
just have to say how completely & utterly gorgeous you look in this dress!
Emma
This dress is so beautiful it makes we want to cry.