Dressing Out of Your Comfort Zone | Blue Marl Marks & Spencer Tunic Dress

M&S blue tunic dress with suede lace up cuff sandals, colour block tote | Not Dressed As Lamb

I'm having a real Marks & Spencer moment, guys...! After working on a video campaign the other week with the brand up in London (details on the blog next week), I got to see just about everything in their current collection in the Marble Arch store. And for the M&S sceptics out there, I tell you - they really have got some gorgeous, gorgeous pieces.

As part of the day we were kindly gifted some items of our choice from the store, and I chose this blue tunic dress and these suede lace-up sandals (first seen last week with my black maxi).

The thing is, this dress is totally unlike my go-to favourite style dress - the fit-and-flare. As part of the film we were asked what our best style tip was, and although I have a few, I went with "Always take an extra item into the changing room (or add to your online basket) that you like, but wouldn't dream of wearing. You never know - it may look amazing on you and force you out of your style comfort zone".

This dress was exactly that - a piece I loved but thought would look awful on me, so I took it into the changing room anyway. For once I actually took my own advice, and it worked! My thoughts went from hmm not bad to I think I love it...! It's definitely nice to have a more casual dress for the summer (that'll work over long sleeved tops and leggings in the colder months as well); fit-and-flare dresses tend to make you look very dressed up. That's no bad thing at all, but sometimes you want something easy and comfortable to wear that's also a 'throw-it-on-add-shoes-and-you're-ready' addition to your wardrobe.

Top marks, M&S.

How often do you step out of your style comfort zone? Do you often try things that are totally "not you"- but then love them? Do share in the comments!