So you want to dress like Rachel Berry?

Really, you wouldn't prefer to dress like Emma? Well, ok, maybe just give the knee socks a miss. No? Never mind I want to help anyway :)

So what are the essentials for a Rachel Berry wardrobe?

A plaid skirt is a really good place to start. Matalan seems like the shop du jour to find Rachel Berry-esque minis.

Rachel Berry-esque plaid skirts by shinyprettythings featuring a check skirt

If you want a bargain Matalan provides several excellent choices as do Primark (of course) but I do love the River Island skirt with toggle detail because I really think that captures the essence of Rachel Berry.

And you're going to need an animal sweater.

Luckily there are many fine animal sweaters around this season. I think Rachel Berry is having a fashion moment!

Rachel Berry worthy animal knitwear by shinyprettythings featuring long sleeve tops

My faves are marked with gold stars. I love the bright pink rabbit sweater from Next for the pop of colour, the blue horse print cardigan is pure Rachel Berry as is the horse emblazoned sweater and the dinky horse print jumper from New Look is quirky but very wearable and at £20 less expensive. And I adore penguins so I'd be tempted to choose that one myself. The bird sweater from French Connection is perfect for Rachel too and I love the buttons down the back but like the bird print cardi from Hobbs is a much pricier option.

I couldn't resist adding the adorable bear hats, scarf and hooded top although they may well be a little too on trend for Rachel. And that bunny hat just couldn't be any cuter! Plus they add the perfect touch of toddler chic ;)

Then you're going to need to add some more plaid because Rachel loves her plaid so much, she wears plaid blouses, dresses and capes too. I think she'd wear almost anything plaid and there's a lot to choose from, so here are some more options.

More Rachel Berry plaid perfection by shinyprettythings featuring monsoon tops

And here are some capes (another serendipitous Rachel/fashionista overlap this season!)

Rachel can also often been seen in knitwear with a cute print - be it hearts, florals or polka dots - so here are some sweaters to fill that gap.

More Rachel Berry knitwear by shinyprettythings featuring kenneth jay lane jewelry

The best Rachel match is probably the black heart print cardi from MaxC but my absolute favourite is the blue crew neck bow patterned cardigan from MaxC. It's one of those cardigans that could easily be worn by Emma too and I think that makes it great value for £20. The short sleeved pale pink cardi from New Look is very Rachel and I think she'd enjoy wearing the coral sweater covered in lucky horseshoes.

This is a great sweater for Rachel too - it has polka dots, puff sleeves, scalloped edging and bow detail front and back. It's £25 from Asos.

A memorable Rachel piece for me is her sailboat sweater and this balloon intarsia knit would be a great alternative.

Rachel also loves her bow adorned sweaters so here are a few to choose from. I think these have great crossover potential for Pillsbury styling too!

Rachel Berry bow-adorned sweaters by shinyprettythings featuring blue tops

La Berry likes her cable knits and Fairisle sweaters too.

 Yet again Rachel seems to be in vogue this season so there's lots of lovely knitwear to choose from.

More knitwear for Rachel Berry by shinyprettythings featuring fingerless gloves

I kind of wanted to give all of these gold stars - I love the reindeer sweaters as would Rachel, clearly. I'm sure Rachel's worn a short sleeved red fairisle jumper at one point (but of course I can't find the picture when I need it) so I think the snowflake jumper from New Look would appeal to her. But I do love the heart fairisle cardi from Dorothy Perkins and I think Rachel would too.

And then there's Rachel's dresses - florals, stripes or twofers are all good. And yes they are quite short but that's how she wears them. I think this china blue floral patterned ruffle-skirted dress from Warehouse is a perfect substitute for Rachel's Marc Jacob's one pictured and at £10 (reduced from £45) it's a real bargain.

And here's an affordable alternative, from New Look, to Rachel's lilac floral dress. Just remember to wear a short sleeved tee under it for the full Rachel Berry effect.

Here are some more Berry-esque dress suggestions

Dress like Rachel Berry by shinyprettythings featuring a party dress

Rachel's been spotted several times recently wearing polka dot dresses and I particularly like the Matalan dress with flutter sleeves. But I also love all the nautical inspired dresses - the New Look one with the giant bow especially.

So yes, you'll need some cute t-shirts for wearing under dresses, sweater vests and with minis - look for puff sleeves and bow or ruffle details or stripes.

Rachel Berry t-shirts by shinyprettythings featuring rugby tops

Now I haven't forgotten Rachel's love of argyle but while it never really goes away I'm not coming across a lot to but in stores right now in the UK. There is this very Berry-esque cardi from Dorothy Perkins (£25) but otherwise I suggest visiting your local charity shop or raiding the wardrobe of any diminutive golfers you know. H&M have some perfect argyle knee socks with performance worthy gold thread - Rachel wannabes go buy them asap. If you're not in love with the whole argyle thing anyway, I'd just like to say I think polka dots might be the new argyle.

I'm leaving the whole sweater vest thing though I know Rachel loves them. And she also wears pussy bow and ruffled blouses and cardigans worthy of Emma but the essential difference is in the styling - with a mini skirt and loafers rather than a pencil skirt and mary janes. So yes you're going to need more mini skirts - pleated, florals, bow-lka dotted, denim and ultra minis. Yes, I do think that Rachel's mantra when shopping is the shorter the better but you should use your own discretion. And you'll need gold star jewellery or some other form of self-aggrandising adornment.

So you want to dress like Rachel Berry? by shinyprettythings featuring topshop skirts

The bow-lka dotted button through cord skirt from Topshop (£32) is oh so Rachel I want to give it beacoup de gold stars. This denim skirt gets extra points for the addition of ruffles and the umbrella - well it's another nod to toddler chic. The scottie dog belt seems like a super cute and more affordable version of the marc jacobs dove belt Rachel wore. I think she'd gotta love those earrings too ... almost as much as she loves herself :D

Add knee socks, ankle socks or coloured tights to taste.*subliminal message* choose tights. don't go with socks. choose tights.

Ok and I saved this for last because it might be my favourite piece - it's the result of some Rachel Berry clothing arithmetic.

 The owl print twofer dress is £20 from Matalan

 Big gold stars for anyone who's read all the way through this post! ;)

Notes on this post:
So why this epic Rachel post anyway I thought this blog was meant to be about Emma?
Yeah, um, ok fair point but I kind of have a soft spot for Rachel and her whole look. Maybe it's the mini kilts - I have a deep affection for them which I attribute to my celtic blood and/or my love of Clueless. Either way they'll always have a place in my heart if not in my wardrobe. Also mini skirts - I admit I wear them. But in my defense so does Jayma.