Happy Sunday folks! I hope you're all tucked up somewhere warm – toasting yourself in front of a fire or huddled around a dinner table, enjoying a big fat Sunday roast with your loved ones. I'm home home up North, in Warrington, seeing family for the weekend.

My little sister has just moved into her new house, after living back with my mum for the last 6-months, and so it was all hands on deck yesterday.  We moved in all of their belongings, hoovered new carpets and re-built beds and wardrobes. It was like being in our very own episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition meets 60 Minute Makeover – apart from we had a break at lunch for some meat and potato pies from the local pie shop, Curralls. 

By mid-afternoon, my cold had got the better of me and I retired to the sofa for a lie down. I've had a stinker of a chesty cough and sniffles for a week now and it's absolute pants! If you're reading this and also feeling under-the-weather, I hope you get back to full health again in time for Christmas. I mean, Kleenex Balsam just ain't part of my Christmas day outfit...

So, feeling a bit sorry for myself (read as: proper snotty – TMI?), I decided to revisit a couple of shoots – where I look a little bit more glam – that I'd been meaning to share with you all...

I had it in my head for a while that I wanted to take some photos of me dressed up in a suit. The clash of feminine meets masculine would be sure to make for some cool shots...

James and I had set a day aside to shoot the pics. The plan? To roam around the streets of east London and find interesting backdrops to pose in front of. The problem? The weather... Oh dear! In true British fashion, on the day of the shoot, it was raining! Rain and velvet just don't mix...

So, refusing to be beaten, and wanting to make the most of the time together, James took these shots of me in his gorgeous Dalston flat, that he shares with his boyfriend, David.

I think it's wonderful how an outfit – or even a piece of clothing – can transform your look and boost your confidence. This Topshop Gold Velvet Suit is the ultimate form of power dressing. Upon slipping it on – sans top or bra – I felt strong. Silly? Maybe. But it worked for me.

I guess this gold velvet suit, in many ways, is a form of "Peacocking"  – something that the Urban Dictionary defines as  "dressing for attention. Just like Peacock's use their feathers to get a mate."

I teamed my smart Topshop tailored suit with these statement pony-skin white shoes from Kult Domini's SS14 collection. The textures were a match made in heaven!

The most important thing to remember when trying to shoot outfits as a blogger, is that good lighting is key. An abundance of natural light flooding through a window makes for infinitely better photographs. James took these photos using my Canon 5D MKIII – switching between the 50mm f2.4 lens – for detail shots – and the 24-70mm f2.8 lens – for wider angles.

The resulting images are probably some of the most sexiest we've shot together yet! I hope you like them. I think the sumptuousness of the velvet works really well against bare skin. I didn't want to spoil the lines of the suit or detract from the sheen of the fabric by wearing anything underneath it – hence the cheeky glimpse of breast and sultry Bowie-esq vibes. 

Have you seen any great women's suits recently? Drop me a link to them in the comments below. I'm keen to play dress up in a few more...

Photography ~ James Barley