With a long anticipated silver wedding anniversary trip to Cyprus planned I wanted to refresh my tired summer wardrobe with some stylish new pieces to wear while celebrating in the sun.
I am almost 48 but feel 18 in my (delusional) mind and it's often hard to find clothes that are well made, on trend but appropriate for my age and size, and suit my personal sense of style. Throw in the need to find outfits for different occasions - work, daytime, going out, casual, smart and buying clothes can be less than fun or easy.
One thing all my clothes have to have in common nowadays is they have to be comfortable but I'm not quite ready to sacrifice style entirely for comfort. I'll admit to wearing my pyjamas probably more than most out of the bedroom but I still like to look nice most of the time.
Browsing the JD Williams website was such a pleasure! I knew the brand from decades ago when my mum shopped with them but hadn't realise quite what a success story the brand has been.
The company was founded in 1875 by James David Williams, who in 1882, was the first to make use of the UK's parcel post service, to send his company's products direct to his customers.
The formula of providing quality, fashionable, value for money clothing direct to customers proved increasingly popular towards the latter end of the 20th Century and J D Williams enjoyed significant growth.
This continuing growth has ensured J D Williams is the most successful direct home shopping company in the UK today, with over 6 million customers and 3,500 employees.
Anyway, onto my shopping experience. I spent a very happy evening browsing the site with mypersonal shopper daughter and quickly realised there were so many items I loved, choosing just a few was going to be the problem.
It's cotton lined for comfort and modesty and at 122cm/48ins long is long enough to be elegant but not so long I trip up! (I am almost 5ft 3ins.)
The dress is machine washable and I love it. I had one hiccup in that the tiny plastic ring holding the adjustable strap to the back of the dress snapped. My husband fixed it and it could be reattached permanently using a replacement ring or by simply sewing the strap to the dress- that's what I'm going to do.
However I was delighted to learn that if customers have any problems with any purchase- if there's a fault, it doesn't fit or they just aren't happy with it- there are a variety of simple ways to return items including by courier, the Post Office or at a number of drop off points.
(As an aside, I found all the items I ordered to be true to size.)
The strap issue really didn't spoil my love of the dress and I loved wearing it on my holiday.
A gal has to have new shoes of course for a special occasion and after browsing for hours almost the site's hundreds of beautiful shoes and sandals I chose a gorgeous pair of flat leather double strap mule-style sandals with metallic rose gold and tan bands (they also come in leopard.)
Teaming these beauties with my lovely cotton dress I felt very "Mamma Mia!"
While we were away it was our silver wedding anniversary and we arranged to meet a group of friends at our favourite place in the world, the Klimataria Taverna in Mandria, near Paphos.
It can get cooler in the evening in Cyprus in May and there's often a breeze. I usually wear something like linen trousers with a t-shirt when we go out in the evening and take a cardigan along for when the temperature drops
For our anniversary meal however I wanted something more elegant - dressy without being overdressed. For a change I thought I'd look at skirts and see if I could team something with JD William's range of tops. There was a lot of choice including every length and style of skirt along with tunics, blouses, shirts and T-shirts.
I chose a gorgeous printed jersey stretch maxi skirt (£22) and teamed it with a navy Joe Browns camisole with matching crochet tunic (£45).
The sandals I bought look lovely with this and would be perfect if you wear it as day time outfit or to dress it down for a BBQ but since this was a special occasion I wore towering platform sandals (with a comfy footbed style!) to bring me up to kissable height for my husband who's quite a bit taller than me.
I bought these platforms in Cyprus last year and chuckled when I spotted them labelled as orthopaedic shoes!
Back to JD Williams. I was so delighted to find a company offering such a wide range of clothes fitting my demanding expectations I have been singing the praises of the brand to everyone who has admired my lovely outfits.
There are a number of ways to shop with the company, via their website or you can order a catalogue and call them. You can choose to click and collect if you spend over £40 or delivery costs £3.50 for standard service or £6.50 for next day delivery (when possible.)
Clothes range in size from 12-32 and you will find some of your favourite brands along with a lovely range from their ambassador Lorraine Kelly.
JD Williams are a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative so you can shop secure in the knowledge they are doing their utmost to ensure the items you buy are made in safe working conditions and the people making them are paid a fair wage and are treated fairly.
I am so glad I have rediscovered this brand. I will definitely be back to explore the site further.
Disclaimer: I was gifted £100 worth of clothes for the purpose of this honest review.
I am almost 48 but feel 18 in my (delusional) mind and it's often hard to find clothes that are well made, on trend but appropriate for my age and size, and suit my personal sense of style. Throw in the need to find outfits for different occasions - work, daytime, going out, casual, smart and buying clothes can be less than fun or easy.
One thing all my clothes have to have in common nowadays is they have to be comfortable but I'm not quite ready to sacrifice style entirely for comfort. I'll admit to wearing my pyjamas probably more than most out of the bedroom but I still like to look nice most of the time.
Browsing the JD Williams website was such a pleasure! I knew the brand from decades ago when my mum shopped with them but hadn't realise quite what a success story the brand has been.
The company was founded in 1875 by James David Williams, who in 1882, was the first to make use of the UK's parcel post service, to send his company's products direct to his customers.
The formula of providing quality, fashionable, value for money clothing direct to customers proved increasingly popular towards the latter end of the 20th Century and J D Williams enjoyed significant growth.
This continuing growth has ensured J D Williams is the most successful direct home shopping company in the UK today, with over 6 million customers and 3,500 employees.
Anyway, onto my shopping experience. I spent a very happy evening browsing the site with my
I decided a dress might be nice - I looked at the summer maxi dress selection and was instantly attracted to a beautiful white cotton broderie maxi dress, priced at just £13.75 in the sale!
It's cotton lined for comfort and modesty and at 122cm/48ins long is long enough to be elegant but not so long I trip up! (I am almost 5ft 3ins.)
The dress is machine washable and I love it. I had one hiccup in that the tiny plastic ring holding the adjustable strap to the back of the dress snapped. My husband fixed it and it could be reattached permanently using a replacement ring or by simply sewing the strap to the dress- that's what I'm going to do.
However I was delighted to learn that if customers have any problems with any purchase- if there's a fault, it doesn't fit or they just aren't happy with it- there are a variety of simple ways to return items including by courier, the Post Office or at a number of drop off points.
(As an aside, I found all the items I ordered to be true to size.)
The strap issue really didn't spoil my love of the dress and I loved wearing it on my holiday.
A gal has to have new shoes of course for a special occasion and after browsing for hours almost the site's hundreds of beautiful shoes and sandals I chose a gorgeous pair of flat leather double strap mule-style sandals with metallic rose gold and tan bands (they also come in leopard.)
Teaming these beauties with my lovely cotton dress I felt very "Mamma Mia!"
While we were away it was our silver wedding anniversary and we arranged to meet a group of friends at our favourite place in the world, the Klimataria Taverna in Mandria, near Paphos.
It can get cooler in the evening in Cyprus in May and there's often a breeze. I usually wear something like linen trousers with a t-shirt when we go out in the evening and take a cardigan along for when the temperature drops
For our anniversary meal however I wanted something more elegant - dressy without being overdressed. For a change I thought I'd look at skirts and see if I could team something with JD William's range of tops. There was a lot of choice including every length and style of skirt along with tunics, blouses, shirts and T-shirts.
I chose a gorgeous printed jersey stretch maxi skirt (£22) and teamed it with a navy Joe Browns camisole with matching crochet tunic (£45).
The sandals I bought look lovely with this and would be perfect if you wear it as day time outfit or to dress it down for a BBQ but since this was a special occasion I wore towering platform sandals (with a comfy footbed style!) to bring me up to kissable height for my husband who's quite a bit taller than me.
I bought these platforms in Cyprus last year and chuckled when I spotted them labelled as orthopaedic shoes!
Back to JD Williams. I was so delighted to find a company offering such a wide range of clothes fitting my demanding expectations I have been singing the praises of the brand to everyone who has admired my lovely outfits.
There are a number of ways to shop with the company, via their website or you can order a catalogue and call them. You can choose to click and collect if you spend over £40 or delivery costs £3.50 for standard service or £6.50 for next day delivery (when possible.)
Clothes range in size from 12-32 and you will find some of your favourite brands along with a lovely range from their ambassador Lorraine Kelly.
JD Williams are a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative so you can shop secure in the knowledge they are doing their utmost to ensure the items you buy are made in safe working conditions and the people making them are paid a fair wage and are treated fairly.
I am so glad I have rediscovered this brand. I will definitely be back to explore the site further.
Disclaimer: I was gifted £100 worth of clothes for the purpose of this honest review.