At Year 3 non-uniform day I remember being the only one in a dress and sometimes that's exactly how I feel today! I know I'm not alone in my love of dresses, but within my peer group and town I am unusual. I was the last person I knew to get jeans and I still avoid them like the plague; it's a rare day when you'll see me in trousers. I also recall the day the entire school marched round the the playground chanting "We want trousers!", or in the case of a few boys "We want skirts!" Yet I remained resolutely sat on a bench with around four others- I simply felt no desire to wear trousers. Looking back at childhood photos I really like the things my mum chose for me and as I grew up I always wanted to dress for my own enjoyment rather than to fit in with my peers and in that way I think I'm still the same.

I've always loved a gingham print and really liked my summer school dress. In Marks & Spencers, however, I would always pine after the pale pink version and ask my mum to buy me that one for me to wear out of school. Yet she saw what I did not, that it would be a little odd to be wearing a uniform from another establishment! On a recent shopping trip to Manchester I came across some really cute vintage gingham dresses and remarked about my old love, but my friend decided it was still too school uniform like for her taste. It was a dark blue and white print and I thought that maybe a pale blue one would look less so school-y. None of the local schools in my area had used that colour but as soon as I found one in a lovely shade of pastel blue my friend said it was the exact shade she had worn as a child! In the end I decided to leave the dresses there and move on.

Then we got to T K Maxx which I knew had had an influx of Luella's ss09 collection, which I proudly proclaim to be my favourite fashion collection ever, and here was a gingham dress I can really work with: