The crazed woman who dislikes summer

That would be me.  Well, perhaps 'dislike' is too strong a word. I enjoy a pleasant 'warm' (not hot) day as much as the next person. But I am definitely more comfortable and at ease in cooler weather. The reasons are manifold, but to summarise:

I am a hot blooded person who feels far more uncomfortable being hot than cold. Besides colder weather = more layers = more clothing = more shopping = more fun = can only be a good thing, no?

I am not confident about showing too much flesh and at a certain age, other people don't want to see it. With the best will in the world, gravity takes its toll on us all.

My skin is very very pale. And when it does tan it does so in a very irregular manner. I kid you not - I have strange little squares all over my legs where that bit tanned, that other bit didn't. There's no rhyme or reason to it, no obstacles or suncreams involved - it just happened!

This leads onto the fact that I am rather lazy, or should I say I prefer a lie in to a full self tanning session first thing in the morning. And we all know you can't self-tan at night as it makes the pristine white sheets look like they are in dire need of a wash.

This further leads onto forcing me into wearing trousers / leggings even when it's hot. Which makes me too hot.  And deprives me of the chance to look more feminine from time to time and wear a garment shape which works for me (tea dress).

I am counting down the days to autumn already.  Give me cashmere, give me layers. Give me a damp autumn day in Paris in a roll neck, and trench-coat. (OK the Paris bit does make it slightly more appealing!)  It's memory driven too. Some of my happiest memories and most successful dressing have been set against autumnal Paris. Big sigh. I need to go to Paris again soon SO badly.  Blogging from Paris - just think of the opportunities. Will have to wait until after August though.

Are you season driven in your style inspiration?

The need to see it all

Regular readers of this blog-ette (it can't be a full blown blog; it's too strange and irregular) will know that I have an ongoing quest to marshal and organise my possessions into something approaching efficiency.

1. I tried chucking everything out. That failed. I regularly dispose of things I later want to find and wear - I still obviously needed them.  
2. I tried packing everything away neatly.  In a wardrobe and cupboards (shock!) That too, strangely, failed. The cupboards and rails groaned under the weight of the full volume of my possessions. I went out and bought things I already had because if I can't SEE them I don't know I have them. I have the memory of a goldfish too, clearly.  (It's not just clothing that causes a problem here. I once tried to file my work - a strange alien concept that had never occurred to me before, but I saw someone else do it and thought I'd give it a shot. MAJOR disaster.) No - I am a very visual person. I need to see stuff in order to make it work for me. Weird huh?
3. I tried leaving things casually strewn around. Obviously that failed. It all just ended up in a terrible heap. And although I am often chaotic in my thought processes, I don't like tangible clutter, and I like to look after things properly, firstly because  a lot of them are 'investment' items which I will keep for a long time; and secondly, we (I) derive more pleasure from things which are presented in a pleasing / attractive way. There's a whole separate topic there - the science of marketing and window dressing....!
4. Finally, I tried hanging things 'artily' around the bedroom as once depicted in Vogue - a la 'my home is really my showcase of perfectly crafted items'. That not only failed , it looked plain weird. 

I'm still searching for the perfect solution and don't expect to find a miracle cure anytime soon.

A few pearls from my experience (frustrations) to date however:

• Folding stuff is a nightmare. It all collapses unless you have ultra shallow shelves. Ultra shallow shelves are also a nightmare. Someone design me some shelves at the optimum height PLEASE!
• Shoes are an ongoing problem. Pack them away in their boxes and you forget they exist - see '2' above. Leave them out - see '3' above. (And really - does anyone honestly believe that stuff about sticking a picture of the shoe on the box?  Or buy clear plastic Muji containers? Any anyway - if I've got a posh shoe box I want to keep it united with the shoe.  I know that's the OCD / anal part of me showing through.)

How do you store your things, fellow bloggers?

Back to black with a side order of pink

Well, actually the colour was (is) navy - but you know the state of my photos. I try I really do. I even discovered if I tapped my iPhone screen it lightens the picture - but even with this still it's not much better. But I digress. Hopefully you'll somehow get the idea.

Monsoon navy  (honest!) 'Willow' tunic, Toast sandals, nondescript black botton half.

It's this navy linen tunic from Monsoon. (It looks better in real life than on the website,  and indeed on my photo, I think!)

Now I haven't been into Monsoon for ages, the last few times I did venture inside there was nothing I liked, and I just stopped looking.  However, wander past again I did and this tunic is a good buy. It comes in coral, pale blue chambray and pale blue ticking / shirting type fabric as well. I also think that Monsoon have revised their pricing (downwards) as I'm sure a few years ago they would have been asking more like £65 for a linen top - their prices had got ridiculous for what was on offer in my view. However, at £45 for a natural fabric and a really versatile top - I'm in!

I may even go back to buy another in a different colour - if this buying strategy was good enough for Jackie O then it's good enough for me. OK granted, her multiples were probably from Dior / Chanel  but one day....!  Comes up large though. I would size down for future colours.

I also have more shoes to report.

 I've had my eye on these Jigsaw 'Panama' espadrille wedges for a while, again at £79 didn't seem unreasonable (for Jigsaw) - their shoes have always lasted well and I think these were a good investment buy as I know I'll get loads of wear from them. They are really comfortable to wear too.  

These pink ones from LK Bennett outlet - with an extra 20% off when I visited they rang in at £40 which was too good to miss. Flats are always useful and nice to have a pretty summery colour while this weather lasts.

Think I'm definitely all 'shoed' out now....

Me (and a little philosophy)

I haven't posted for err... ages. Sorry to anyone who may have noticed or cared!

It doesn't mean I haven't been busy, on occasion, scouting out lovely things. More of that below.

However, call me pretentious (or maybe just I'm just in one of those odd phases I go through now and again), but much as I love clothes etc... I do on occasion feel like getting off the merry-go-round. I mean, I have enough. Waste and excess depresses me. And it feels unsustainable and unethical to keep buy-buy-buying. That said, it's never stopped me before :-0   But I have had a touch of 'shopping fatigue' of late and I suppose have been a bit more judicious with selecting the stuff I have bought.

Having said ALL of that, I do have new purchases to report. And a couple of outfit posts. These are not noteworthy, but I need to get back in the blogging groove, so have just posted a couple of (fairly mundane) recent outfits.

Sainsbury's dress. Primark sandals - bought in March (!) - before I had this off fatigue clearly, and rediscovered today...

Toast trousers, H&M blouse (both old), Primark sandals as above.

Kilver Court outlet bargain 

Toast archive sale bargain

Think that's me all set for summer footwear now :-)

White stilettos (am I mad?) and LK Bennett

I saw a picture of Alexandra Shulman (UK Vogue Editor) wearing some today and they looked quite 'fresh' and nice.

I guess this means they are the shoe-trend du jour. I am unsure how long this fad might linger, so have no immediate plans to purchase any - but one to ponder I think.

In other buying, I have a bit of a 'thing' going on at LK Bennett recently. Mainly because the staff at my local branch are so genuinely nice and helpful.

I bought a trench coloured trench coat, and some navy blue wedge sandals (both reduced in 'spring reductions').  I've already worn the trench coat several times and I suspect it will continue to be a frequently worn item, as the prevailing weather around me is 'damp'.

Seriously though, aside from the weather, I really like this coat. It has a nice feel to the fabric, is quite substantial, so is warm/ practical as well as looking good. The shape is also good for me (5 ft 5 hourglass) which is great as I can struggle with coats in the waist area - with the waist not sitting at quite the right place. So if you are a mid height curvy girl I urge you to try it. I think it's a good investment purchase.


The sandals probably won't get so much wear as (a) my legs and toes need to be brought out of winter hibernation and (b) it still IS winter in these parts.  A purchase of hope over experience I feel!  However, like the coat I really liked them and the trip to purchase was a return visit, having pondered for a while. I like the wedge height - high but not ridiculously so, and the fact that they don't have that weird platform sole you often see nowadays (which is a not a personal favourite of mine!)

Photos of me wearing stuff to follow - but my house is full of ground up plaster / brick and general building grime at the moment - it's a challenge to find a decent environment for a photo - let alone a non dust covered mirror!

Half an hour in Covent Garden.

And just time for a quick scout in M&S and Zara.

This green lace skirt caught my eye, which in theory (mine at least) shouldn't work, but I liked it. (Excuse me trying over jeans, short of time, hot and bothered and I figured if it looked good that way it should look ok normally.)

Also spotted in Zara - a fine knit (linen) slouchy top layer (hesitate to call it a pullover) - more of a cobwebby outer layer. I often feel under dressed in vest tops and the like - so it would be useful for me, but the boring practical side of me won on this occasion and as the item on the rail was already snagged, I fear it would look trashed within a few hours of wearing. Cute though.

The M&S Autograph collection looked interesting as well - some nice straight leg jeans, a denim pencil shaped skirt, a printed dress and linen shirt would all slot well into my wardrobe and will hopefully be investigated in more detail on the coming days!

Well, hello...!

Short and sweet this will be. I will attempt to make up for lost time properly some other time.

It occurred to me the other week that I was becoming a tad scruffy. There is a fine line between casual / comfortable and scruffy, and as my house is currnetly full of dust from building work, the gavel fell on the side of scruffy.

In mitigation, I felt I needed a pencil skirt.

I bought this from LK Bennett (Cissy skirt - in sale)

I also bought a belt which will work with the skirt and also over the beloved jeggings for scruffy comfortable days. Link to belt - but I bought red not blue and mine was in sale so cost less.

Hope you are all well. I will look forward to catching up with others' posts later.