Following on from my last post I’m delighted to reveal the dress I received as part of the M&S Valentine’s Challenge and how I wore it while in London at the weekend. The dress that was chosen for me is this wonderful abstract floral print number from M&S’s Limited Collection. If you've seen some of my blog posts from last year, you’ll know already that I’m a HUGE fan of this particular collection, so I was especially delighted that my secret blogger chose this dress for me.

I spent the weekend in London not at Fashion Week, but with my husband, parents and brother and sister-in-law, being tourists and enjoying the sights and sounds of the big city. Saturday night included a trip to the Apollo Victoria to see Wicked and I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to wear my new dress. Thankfully my Mum was willing to get behind the camera and take some outfit photos for me before we left for the theatre. The location of our apartment (on the Thames) made the perfect backdrop for a series of outfit photos. This is the second time we've stayed in an apartment in the St George Wharf building and I’m sure we’ll be back again!

I styled the dress with two Anton Heunis jewellery pieces; my mixed-metals necklace and ring, my suede ankle boots from Oasis and my new Jimmy Choo dusky pink Shadow bag. The dress is really comfortable and flattering, it’s also lined, which means that it’s warmer than it looks. I really love it and I’m sorely tempted to get the similar version with the stripes as well. Huge thank you to whoever chose it for me (I've yet to find out), I’m absolutely delighted.

I can also reveal the blogger I chose a dress for... I got paired with the lovely Hanna, who writes a blog called 'The Wardrobe Challenge'. If you would like to see how Hanna styled the dress I chose for her, then take a look at her blog post here.

Autumn has well and truly arrived and I took advantage of the first sunny October day to take some outfit photos in my parent’s garden. I also took advantage of my Mum’s photography skills – she spent many years processing films in her own dark room. Years later she’s moved on to digital processing, but the results are equally good and she no longer has to worry about the chemicals playing havoc with her hands.

Early autumn is a great time of year, as the season starts to change and the leaves begin to turn brown, I enjoy the opportunity to break out my warmer jackets and boots. I’m channelling quite a preppy look in this outfit, teaming a basic white shirt with my LBD from Marks & Spencer and my Whistles leather biker jacket.

My necklace is from designer Kenneth Jay Lane and something that I’ve had in my jewellery collection for about eighteen months. My blue clutch bag is recent addition to my wardrobe from up and coming designer AILA and my wedge boots are from Oasis.

Leather is set to be a huge trend this season; expect to see leather jackets, skirts and trousers galore. Equally popular amongst the fashion blogging community is wearing a collared shirt under dresses and jumpers. This trend has proved to be popular enough for online boutique Start London to produce a white cotton collar that can be worn underneath an outfit. While I love this idea, I can’t bear to part with £40 for one of these, so instead I bought a basic white shirt from Sainsburys for the bargain price of £4.

Jacket – Marks & Spencer, Scarf – Oasis, Bag – Michael Kors (bought at Bicester Village), Watch – Michael Kors (my-wardrobe.com), Jeans – Dorothy Perkins, Pumps – Blowfish (C/O Surfdome)

I had a delightful time yesterday enjoying afternoon tea at Coworth Park with Lucy (The Luxe Life) and my husband Darren. This was Darren’s first experience of an afternoon tea and we couldn’t have chosen a better location to introduce him to this quaint English tradition.

I wanted a comfortable, yet smart outfit and teaming my M&S blazer with a pair of dark blue skinny jeans was the ideal choice. To give the outfit a hit of colour, I wore my new orange Blowfish pumps that I bought using my press gift voucher from Surfdome. This excursion also provided me with the ideal opportunity to take my new Michael Kors bag for a test run and I was more than happy to oblige!

Coworth Park is a stunning hotel set in the Berkshire countryside near Ascot. The tea was delicious and refreshing and the beautiful interior of the hotel and the landscaped gardens really captured the imagination, a wonderful venue to while away the hours on a sunny Saturday afternoon in September.

Excited to report that all the items featured in my video are now in the Marks & Spencer 50% off sale - http://bit.ly/NhFCSI

Dress number one (http://bit.ly/L9Qtwk) was a birthday present from my wonderful parents, the cardigan is also from M&S (albeit not from their Limited Collection) and the wedge boots are last season from Oasis.

The second dress (http://bit.ly/NnbTdl) was actually my second 'Limited' purchase and I've paired that with some black suede boots, my favourite necklace and a decorative jacket from Sainsburys.

Dress number three (http://bit.ly/N0uPAL) is the most recent addition to my collection and is a replica of the previous black dress in orange. The top I'm wearing over it is from Zara and my necklace is from designer Anton Heunis.

The final dress (http://bit.ly/NmtIsu) was actually bought before any of the others is my favourite printed garb. The cardigan and boots are the same as before and the necklace is from Mimco.

The 'twinkle' jeans (http://bit.ly/N4RrPJ) were also a birthday present from my parents. Both the t-shirt and the cardigan are from Zara.

I’m a fad addict. No, I’m not getting confused with the vernacular alternative for cigarette; I simply mean I go through shopping fads – like many women I imagine. Earlier in the year it was Zara, prior to that it was all about Topshop and during the sales, I’m obsessed with French Connection.

My current fad is slightly different; gone is the needy desire to own an item from every different trend regardless of fit or style, instead I choose pieces that I think suit me and my body shape. This recent epiphany has led me back to one of my childhood shopping haunts, namely, Marks & Spencer.

Never cast aside totally from my shopping sphere (every woman knows to get her knickers from M&S), but never visited regularly, Marks & Spencer seemed forgotten about by my generation of 20-something wannabe yuppies. But how the tides have changed, I no longer deem a shopping trip complete without a trip to my local M&S store. Why all this new found enthusiasm for a store that I once coined ‘Mums & Spencer’ – I simply can’t get enough of their Limited Collection.

Over the past three months I’ve bought no less than four dresses from their Limited Collection – all flattering and all true-to-size. It’s an obsession that has clearly been noted by my friends and family if the amount of M&S gift cards I received on my birthday is anything to go by. And it’s not showing any sign of waning – I’ve already been on their website twice today to check out the latest arrivals.

I don’t wish to bore you to death with an essay discussing my new Limited dress collection, so in true fashion-blogger style here are some outfit photos instead.

• Dress number one was a birthday present from my wonderful parents, the cardigan is also from M&S (albeit not from their Limited Collection) and the wedge boots are last season from Oasis.
• The second dress was actually my second ‘Limited’ purchase and I’ve paired that with some black suede boots, my favourite necklace and a decorative jacket from Sainsburys.
• Dress number three is the most recent addition to my collection and is a replica of the previous black dress in orange. The top I’m wearing over it is from Zara and my necklace is from designer Anton Heunis.
• Last in this line up, but actually bought before any of the others is my favourite printed garb. The cardigan and boots are the same as before and the necklace is from Mimco.

In addition to the dresses above I'm also the proud owner of a pair of ‘twinkle’ jeans. I wanted to keep this post focused on the dresses, but I have filmed a video showcasing all the items I own from the Limited Collection, so keep a look out for that over the next couple of days.

I think this particular fad might be here to stay.