Green; eyeliner; bedding. In no particular order...

Today I wore a new green Jigsaw sale top, reduced to £22, very fine weight basic crew neck top, I find them useful for layering and this one looked very nice with my new scarf which my Dad got me for Christmas. (He went all the way to the Mulberry outlet - bless! - which is unfamiliar territory for him, to say the least.)

So that's the green then.

The eyeliner is another find of the splurge or save variety - save being the optimum word here.  I have, since time immemorial, used Lancome Artliner as an eyeliner. Nothing else came close. I can't abide those fiddly liquid ones, and the gel versions where you need both pot and brush have been tried and found wanting.

The Lancome was a nice felt tipped pen version which bridged the gap between crayon and liquid very well.  I was wandering along the aisles in Superdrug in a desultory way the other day - and out of bordeom really - I didn't actively need a new eyeliner, started eyeing them (sorry no pun intended!)

The L'Oreal superliner in black vinyl is £6.49 - at least half the price of the Lancome liner - and I am hooked. It is making my tired, hungover face look a whole lot better, and I hope this is not just a trick of the light or wishful thinking!  I really like it. Get thee to Superdrug or Boots.

Finally, the bedding.

Now this is a lesson (of the Ash variety, so be patient) in how to save yourself £49!

Da da da da -DAH -

I was in Debenhams today looking for some new square pillowcases (65 x 65cm, increasingly hard to come by, I find) and found some nice beige John Rocha ones on the 50% off shelf - £17 - for a PAIR! So far so good. They were always coming home with me.

I happened to see that there were duvet covers and normal rectangular pillowcases on the same shelf, same reduction. Quickly scooped up one of each (£34 and £15 respectively). While queuing at the till - combination of annoyingly slow and inept assistant and doddery old lady (me in about 20 years, probably) trying to use a voucher - I realised that I did not in fact need a new duvet cover or more rectangular pillowcases, and in between warning small child off high bar stools which were incongruously on sale in the bedding area, had a change of mind and - risking my place in the painfully slow till queue - returned said items to shelf. (Luckily there was no-one behind me or they would have been irresponsibly abandoned on a bar stool. The bedding items, that is, though I don't know - dumping fellow customers also has its appeal..!)

The net result is - in my book - that I have saved £49 rather than spending £17.  The £17 was covered by the hopeless Topshop shoes which had been returned 20 mins earlier anyway.

I have worked out how to email myself pictures again. I still don't understand why my iphone is declaring my password invalid when I have changed it to the correct one umpteen times. I lost patience and added another account - which miraculously worked. So here I am in my new green Jigsaw top, M&S woman cord skirt and new Mulberry scarf from Dad. Tights are M&S Autograph velvet opaques, shoes my good old Russell and Bromley 'Chester' loafers.

The prettiest things

Oh, I am a sucker for pretty things at the moment!

Continuing my quest for all things Christmassy led me to Poundland (the tackier the better where baubles are concerned I say! Although they were surprisingly nice).  While there I found some oh-so-cute little fairly lights to adorn my screen, pictures, desk, kitchen.... you name it, they would be perfect anywhere. And at £1 a pop?!!  (Last year I almost bought some on Amazon for about £9 and I thought THAT was good!)  I am planning to stock up - and at that price will be having 10 times as many as planned last year  - for same outlay :-)

Here they are (with apologies for the crumpled quilt cover in the 2nd photo....oh dear,  ironing is strictly on a 'needs must' basis nowadays....)

I also must share some fab earrings I found in M&S the other day.

They are (again, blush!) M&S Woman and silver plated.  £6.50. Look really good I think. I don't normally wear hoops but I do like these, and they look better in real life!  (My photography skills - or lack of! again.)

I saw a lady wearing some like it (may have been the same model) on the bus from the park and ride the other day (unlikely source of inspiration I know...) and admired them.  Lo and behold M&S came up trumps again.

Finally a tutorial for the 'long' snood - which admittedly requires a bit more fiddling than comes naturally to one such as me, so there are are a few more steps (only a few) than the the 3-step 'bung on head' approach I employed before. For your amusement here goes:

Snood in question is the reversible stripe snood from the White Company (tres toasty). Worn with White Company navy 'diamond insert' jersey dress (tres flattering).  Have a bit of a thing going on with White Company at moment. So much so that I've just received a £10 gift voucher!  (Then again, probably so has everyone else on their mailing list - times are hard!!)

Sparkle. (I declare it's time for Christmas.)

I am usually rather a humbug when it comes to Christmas, too much expense, too much stress, too much tat. But this year, something's different, something's in the air... and I am feeling exceedingly Christmassy!  This only happens about once every 20 years, and I last enjoyed Christmas circa 1984 so I am going to make the most of it.

As to general festivities, decorations and sparkle, I can normally take it or leave it - but this year I am going to 'deck the halls'.

I heard Wham!'s 'Last Christmas' while at the shops yesterday and that's nailed it: I am now officially in full Christmas mode!  (Sad I know, but that's me.)

To enter into the spirit of it, I found some great sparkly things while wandering around the shops yesterday. This may suggest that I am going to 'deck' my person as well - but fear not; honestly they don't look that bad or OTT in real life (I hope!)...  They just appealed :-)

H&M Sparkly scarf - £7.99

H&M Sparkly tights - £6.99
I think they are navy. But my eyesight has come out in sympathy with my photography and I'm not so sure.... 

Today's outfit below:

Another purchase from H&M - cream jumper - £14.99, and tear drop pendant from the White Company.  With navy cord M&S Woman (it pains me to type that) skirt. Primark wedge ankle boots.

Right.... now I'm off to find my Wham! CD.....

Notes from a shopping excursion (with snood 'tutorial')

I ended up in the city today, the plan was to have a coffee, a croissant and buy candles.

The reality was have a coffee (way hey!), a cheese scone, but no candles......

.......er but instead buy several scarves, a jacket, 3 jumpers and a necklace.  Must try harder.  In my defence I won't keep everything, I like to try it on at home before finally deciding.

Although on that note, I have a treat for you.....drum roll - decent photos!! (Well, decent-ish for me, i.e. you can just about make out the colours of the garments!)

I decided to have a little experimenting with changing room photography, the results as you'll see below, are variable. Some (changing rooms) are so dimly lit and garishly decorated you could be forgiven for thinking you were in a house of ill repute.

Whilst in one, and disrobed from the snood, it seemed a good opportunity to do the snood 'tutorial'. It's not really a tutorial. I lack finesse in many areas, and bunging a snood over my head is sadly one of them.  If it ends up looking half decent this is due either to the ingenuity of the designer or some stroke of fortune not associated with my dressing skills.

So - what do you want first - the decent photos or the snood tutorial?

Let's go with the snood - to give everyone a good laugh.

Step 1 - put snood on top of head

Step 2 - pull down over head and face - (excuse shaky photo - literally taken blind!)

Step 3 - pull down to neck and hope it looks half decent - yep that'll do. Fiddling never improves matters (in my experience). 

In no particular order a selection of photos from the day - some items were bought, some not...

New Look biker style gilet - (not bought)

White Company flutter sleeve sweater - bought but will be going back - (what was I thinking?!)

Per Una coat - not bought but liked the look of it

New Look crystal scarf - bought but then hastily returned - the crystals turned out to be skulls (which I hate!!)

M&S Limited Collection trousers - looked OK on the hanger NOT BOUGHT - good grief!!

New Look sweater with crystal decoration - looked OK on the hanger. On? Er... I think not - looks like someone's sneezed over me

River Island Molly Coated Jeggings - not bought - refuse to pay £40 for one season wonder

H&M jacket - like - bought

New Look leopard print sweater - not bought, but hmmmm, may re-visit.

So - what do you think... did I make the right choices?!

Remember, remember

...the 5th (or 3rd) of November...

This is a quick post before I head out to work, no Saturday night fireworks for me this year :-(

However, there is a pizza and a large glass of red (or two) with my name on them for when I get back at 1am-ish.  In truth there is more than one pizza. But I don't intend to eat both, they were on a 'buy one get one free' offer...

I've decided to return the White Company blue pin-tuck dress from yesterday - it's just too low necked for me to wear everyday and it's really not smart enough to be a 'going out' dress.

Today I wore another H&M bargain - a longline toffee coloured v neck sweater which is very baggy and yet is only a medium - I don't know what's happening with H&M sizing lately.

Also worn - 

• White Company jeans
• black / bronze shimmer scarf bought locally
• KG black suede wedge shoes.  

I guess the shoes are my version of the divisive 'wedge trainer'. I like them, they are probably not 'allowed' by some style rule of which I'm unaware, to be worn with jeans... but I doubt anyone will be inspecting me closely!!

Yesterday's outfit below:

 

• New Look denim shirt
• Old Monsoon skinny colour-stripe scarf
• White Primark vest
• M&S Woman (heaven help me!!) navy cord skirt
• Russell & Bromley / Aquitalia suede ankle boots

I'd been on the look out for a navy cord skirt for a while, call me sad but I like them.. 

This little number fits the bill perfectly and was only £22.50. It's described as velvet on the M&S website (dodgy descriptions now, as well as photos?) but is definitely a fine needle cord.

Hope everyone has fun tonight if you're off out to watch firework displays!

Shopping my (bargain) closet...

Why is it that the allure of the new is so great?  (If I knew the answer to this question no doubt I could save myself a LOT of money.)

Today, however,  I was determined to re-visit and re-love some old favourites.

May I present....

• Mulberry Roxanne Bag in dark brown (£....er we won't go there - OH might be reading - but it *was* from the outlet!)
• M&S snake print scarf in blush and khaki (£5 in sale)
• White Company cashmere jumper in pale green - or 'pistachio' if you were speaking fashion speak darling - £7 (or so I recall, it was super cheap anyway for 100% cashmere) from Ebay last year. I've never seen this shade in the White Company, so I wonder if someone had attempted a dye job which they didn't like?!  I'm very happy with it - and it's so snug and soft.  

So there you have it - a selection of goodies chez 'Boutique Ash'.

And here I am wearing them...

A touch of pink

I decided to wear a fairly old Joules pink top today.

An odd decision in some respects, as it's as clingy as you like and only serves to underline my current need for radishes (then again, that's no bad thing!) - but peeking out from underneath the navy it brightened everything up a bit.

Scarf - Primark
Cardigan - Zara
T shirt - Joules
Navy cords - Tesco
Black patent flats - Autograph M&S

In other news, I have decided some wedge shoe -boots would be a useful addition. I was considering these from Boden.

However, following Kat's post the other day on 'Does my bum look 40 in this?' - I'm now planning to try the Primark version (Good old Primark!) - at least £100 cheaper, can't go wrong really. Well - I say that - but there is a potential sting in the tail.... I am working tomorrow (boo), husband is not (double boo). Hence he has been assigned the task to go to a Primark and buy them. A curious mixture of danger and comedy I feel!

Watch this space for a report back on what he actually comes home with :-D

Ankle boots - a year early!

There's no escaping the fact that ankle boots are the footwear 'of the moment' this season.

Luckily, I had some languishing in my wardrobe from last year meaning one less shopping trip (with the associated angst and decisions) is required. And even luckily-er,  I found out about all these wonderful bloggers who assure me that these great boots are still so 'on-trend'!

I do buy things I love and don't mind too much if they are 'in fashion', mind you, but it's always nice when your preferences and current trends collide - am sure I will get lots of extra wear this autumn/ winter.

The boots are black suede Aquitalia from Russell and Bromley.  I will be wearing them with opaques and skirts/dresses as well as skinnies. They give me much needed height with a decent heel and a small platform, and are so comfortable to wear.  I would imagine R&B will stock them again this year as most of the popular styles seem to be repeated.

So what was I wearing today?

• Jigsaw velvet skirt (Trusty, trusty staple. 1p cost per wear maximum - and counting!)
• Zara beige linen knit drapey cardi (Looks like this is also going down the same mega low cpw route!)
• New M&S snakeprint scarf (has been blogged about endlessly, so didn't think a close up required as I'm sure you all know what it looks like!)
• Autograph M&S flat patent leather pumps. So comfortable. So simple. So smart. So bargainous thanks to a footwear discount voucher I happened to have.  (Grrr - so why are they not then repeated this season??)

Because I am very lazy, the bag was the Orla Kiely stem print which has featured the last couple of days. However, were I not so lazy and had I been inclined to streamline bag contents - then the bag would have been Mulberry Antony. And perhaps will be tomorrow, unless a colourful bag seems to be in order again.

I bought my Anthony in a Mulberry outlet store - so the style is slightly different from the full price versions (which have the extra slip pocket on the front) - but who's noticing?  It's still the genuine article and at vast discount, I'm certainly not complaining.

While on the subject of Mulberry - I'm totally craving the Bayswater tote bag. 

I have (ahem... too many) classic Bayswater bags - but I love the tote version as well. Have steeled myself not even to look/enquire in the outlet - as there would be severe lack of willpower and very real danger of definite buying, which really would not be a good idea!  

Perhaps, if Johnnie sends a good discount code (Boden PR people - are you reading this?) I might consider buying the Boden 'Chelsea' bag which has the same feel about it.

Finally, one more footwear item to talk about. These cute leopard print flats from Zara have so far not been worn - but I'm planning to rectify that very soon.  I bought them back in mid August - and they were a snip at £19.99. Maybe a bit of print clashing with the snake print scarf, maybe not. But they'll look good with some black skinnies and the ever present beige slouchy knits!

You may remember my ongoing battle with the leopard print Primark skinny jeans. No such dilemma here. I present the acceptable face of leopard print for the 40 year old woman!

Coral bird print dress

Today I was allowed out for good behaviour - a visit to Ikea followed by a mooch around John Lewis. Husband was in attendance (he was needed for the Ikea part as general labourer/carrier etc) - but was something of a hindrance on the John Lewis leg of the outing it must be said!

First day back to school today so this outfit also doubled as a school run starter for 10 - must remember to email it to Avril for the SchoolGateStyle blog school run competition.

My bird print Tesco dress from Wick has its first outing today. I toyed with taking my orange Longchamp bag but in the end took the Orla Kiely again. (On reflection - and viewing of the photos - the orange Longchamp looks better though I think. The O/K is too much of a print clash... You live and learn!)

I paired the dress, as planned, with a black cropped Brora cashmere cardigan, black opaques, and black suede wedge KG shoes.

If anyone is interested, I have a feeling that the dress is still around in Tesco and is now marked down - it was on a rail the other day which had that look about it. I didn't investigate too closely as it would ruin things for me to see it going for a song!

Ooh, ooh - by the way - the M&S snake print scarf in neutral / blush, khaki - I picked it up today in M&S for £5  - and I would have been happy to pay full price (£19.50) for it. I thought it was full price - the label didn't indicate any reduction - what a fantastic bargain. Love it when you get to the till and that happens :-)

Autumn - happy days!

Morning routines (and the skirt)

An early post! I've been doing some gardening so will spare you those photos, but now to 'make myself presentable'. My favourite beauty / make-up / products with today's perfume (inspired by my garden roses - see below!):

Left - right: Jo Malone Red Roses; Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner; Benefit Benetint; Bobbi Brown eyeliner brush; Body Shop Carrot Moisture Cream (recently discontinued - wail!); Bobbi Brown flint eye-shadow; No 7 Protect & Perfect Intense; Chanel Rouge Coco in Mademoiselle; Lancome Extencils Mascara; Garnier BB Cream.

Still pondering what to wear today. Planning ahead yesterday (get me!) I considered my White Company white jeans (below) but it's a bit gloomy today and I feel like something darker... will ponder more and report back.

Here are some flowers I 'pruned' from the garden. Boy do my roses have vicious thorns - ouch! - but they are beautiful. I love pink and orange as a colour combination in flowers :-)

My roses with industrial strength thorns.

So, more outfit considerations for today. I think I have settled on my well loved M&S Autograph bootcut jeans, with my new Primark tan and black striped top. Thought it was tan and navy originally, (but it's still lovely...)  together with my Mulberry tote bag.

I earlier considered my striped breton t shirt from Zara with a Hobbs denim skirt, and a yellow White Stuff belt and bag, but (a) my legs are too white (note to self, crack open the self tanner); (b) it doesn't feel quite right for today and (c) I'm matchy-matchy again....

Maybe plain is best...

It's interesting how many of us seem to wear fewer skirts nowadays. I wonder if it is because of issues like leg 'maintenance' (and in my case laziness therewith?!)

I love skirts but they can seem too formal for day to day life. (With the exception of denim I guess.) I find they just take more effort to wear. What are other people's thoughts?

I have this Zara Guipure lace skirt in my online basket - and as much as I love it, I would probably not have much occasion to wear it. It's so pretty though, and only £15.99...