Something witchy this way comes

My lovely friend Anya arranged for us to do an room escape/locked room mystery challenge for her birthday, and although I was really tired from work I wanted to dress up for seeing my friends and having fun.

The weather has been really rubbish for the time of year, cold and kind of rainy, and so I wanted something with layers so I wouldn't have to wear a coat - because that's just sucks in August. I already wear my winter coat for at least 8 months of the year. In the end I based my entire outfit around a jersey dress, which I got a couple of years back in H&M pretty cheap - it's a hi-low hem which is tricky for me because the front is a fair bit shorter than skirts I usually wear. I'm not sure if it's shrunk since I brought it, or I've just gotten even less comfortable with my legs! A few times I've put another skirt underneath, but this time I put a skirt over instead. I don't like the waistband on that skirt so I added a belt, then threw together things which seemed to match - I didn't have a lot of time to get ready. I think the overall look is kind of witchy and fun - I guess all the dark mori and strega looks I've been seeing on my tumblr dash lately have been swirling around in my brain. I'm a sucker for adding a bit of magic to the mundane world!

Sorry for the photo quality - it's taken with my phone in the mirror at Wagamama where we had dinner after failing to escape (by about 4 minutes - we were kicking ourselves sooooo badly when we worked it out)! Yuuummmmyyy! I'm kind of glad it's not better quality though because I looked so tired and washed out!

Outfit rundown:
Dress: H&M £9.99

Lace skirt: I don't know the brand because I cut the lining out after I found it in a charity shop pretty cheap.
Crop waistcoat: h&M £2.99 in the sale about 10 years ago. It's falling apart and I can't button it up over my boobs anymore, but it's too cute to give up on. I'll patch it up at some point.... I think it works open for extra detail to outfits anyway.
Belt: My primark one that I use for everything
Wristcuffs: Atelier Pierrot £20 at Enchanted. Extra lace is always good right?
Jewellery: I wore two necklaces - the lace choker was a present from my friend Felicity and I also wore a pocketwatch on a long chain from my friend Meera, who also gave me the dangly Cthulhu earrings on a different occasion. I also wore stud earrings that my lovely boyfriend Ash gave me.
Bag: Primark satchel, £10 ish. This is the second one I've brought because the clasp broke on the first one after a year or so- but I'm going to reuse the strap for a DIY project. The style of clasp on the new one seems more durable. There's a scarf covering most of the bag in this photo, which I brought in case it got EVEN colder - it's a lovely light infinity scarf with a lace panel - was a present from Natalie a few years back.
Hair: I quickly twisted some of my hair back on one side and plaited some on the other, then added some roses and a bow to keep them in place. The bow was from Claire's, the roses were from a local high street discount shop I think. These kind of hairstyles always remind me of my hippie youth, and also of elves for some reason.
Shoes: These are work shoes I got last summer and they used to be super comfy, but they have gone a bit funny as they've started to wear out. I really need a new pair, but shoes that fit are so hard to find. I wanted flats for comfort yesterday, but I forgot that the lace skirt would catch on the buckle bit which was annnoying. At least I don't have to worry too much about it ripping though because really strong it's pretty much full of holes anyway so the extra ones don't show (it had a few holes already when I brought it). I loved this outfit, it was so comfortable and striking. I'll probably wear something similar again soon, but maybe try to incorporate another colour too to vary things more.

Has anyone else done a locked room mystery/escape challenge before? We tried this one. I thought it was really fun - but the decor was very basic and it was confusingly arranged (we wasted almost half our time trying to solve the second lock, because a clue for it was given straight away but not everything we needed to solve it, whereas the clue for the first lock was much much more subtle). There's a few other similar attractions in the city which have opened recently though, so we might try one of the others soon! I'd like to try Dr Wilson's Office, my taxi driver on the way home recommended that location - but he'd done the Room 13 one which sounded waayyy too gorey for me!