Days of summer

Odd, my feelings about summer. I suppose I look on it rather like one of those not-so-successful relationships - unpleasant to be endured but to be reminisced on with aspects of fondness.

Now that summer is dying, I look back through a kind of rose-tinted haze and think 'it wasn't so bad' and 'what a shame' and 'how nice it will be when summer is here again'. (Remind me of that come next July when I am perspiring madly and longing for autumn!)

I do love autumn though. It is my absolute favourite time of year. In my eyes you get all the pros of summer - bright, balmy, sunny days (we hope!) without any of the cons (sweaty, stuffy, humid, silly).

And added to that lot, it's the best time of years clothes wise. You can (a) pile on the layers - more clothes - what's not to like - AND (b) crack open the accessories. Bring on snoods, boots, capes.... I'm practically salivating with the possibilities.

First on my wish-list, continuing my love affair (or maybe obsession?) with stripes, is this top from Mint Velvet. Spied during my recent London visit with small child in tow. Hence sadly only fondled, not tried on. It is lovely and I think the ruching at the sides and on the sleeves would be very flattering and comfortable:

Mint velvet top - midnight and grey stripes. I love the gathers. £39

And how fantastic is this sleeveless knitted tunic which I also saw in the shop - it would look great styled over any of my growing collection of bretons to take them through into autumn / winter.  They describe it as a 'Lurex Tabard' - (urgh - how to turn anyone off with one easy description?) It didn't appear to have any lurex when I saw it:

Mint Velvet 'Ink Lurex Tabard' - £69

Anyway, to reign myself in a bit, here I am still working my 10 15 or so item wardrobe, in a 'last day of summer' outfit. If you can actually make out  what I am wearing, that is. I have a strange light effect in this spot - maybe the house is haunted?!  There is always a weird glow/ aura emanating from the glass over the door, and it's not a camera flash, I didn't use one...

Skirt - Whistles Jersey Tube Skirt

Top - short sleeved breton H&M

Shirt - Toast

Shoes - Russell & Bromley tan loafers (similar in black)

A hole in my wardrobe

I mean - how CAN it have happened?

After all my purchasing and browsing and fiddling over the years, it took a radical wardrobe 'declutter' to discover that one of my absolute essentials is a black skirt. Not just any black skirt mind you: I have some too short, some too long, some too large (although none too small, oddly?!), some too buttoned, some too bunchy...I won't bore you, the list goes on.

No - what I needed was something really minimal, simple, stretchy and 'flat'.  I have plenty going on around the waistline already thank you very much - I don't need bulging zips and sticky outy button tabs adding to my woes.

Now I may have said it many times before - but I'll say it again - this blog is a learning curve for me. Don't come here expecting any answers - or, if you do, be prepared to wait a long time while I muddle through stuff and the penny eventually drops!

However....if you also have come to the conclusion that a simple black skirt is what you need to fill your wardrobe hole (a kind of 'skirt shaped alternative to black trousers' I guess) then you may have come to the right place. I give you this:

Whistles Jersey skirt - £45 (John Lewis)
More sizes available here - Whistles online

It's a jersey skirt from Whistles - called the 'tube skirt'. It simply slips on, no zips or buttons. It is just above knee length on me - although they do a longer version, which the jury is still out on... (for me, but could be practical come the colder weather) - see below:

Longer version of Whistles skirt (£55) at John Lewis

or Whistles online

The short version (which I bought) is £45, which naturally equals a saving of £80 rather than any actual expenditure as such - as by buying this I avoided the pleated offering from Jigsaw (post the other day) which rang in at £125. Simples :-)

Here I am yesterday in London at the top of the 'View from the Shard'. Our school is not back yet so we had a final 'day out' day. Boy - what a day it was. I do not intend to repeat rush hour tube travel and small child combo anytime soon.  (By the way, note how even at the top of the Shard my photos - or rather the helpful assistant's photos - are still dismal. It is clearly a case of blaming the tools and my phone is not up to the job.)

Jacket - navy jersey 'biker' style from The White Company

Top - short sleeved breton - H&M

Skirt - navy pencil skirt - Tesco (similar here)

Shoes - tan TODS-a-likes from Russell & Bromley (old)

Bag - Longchamp - available from Selfridges

Necklace - SchoolGateStyle shop

The torture of having to pass by the majority of shops just begging me to go in! The shoes - oh the shoes - that had to be ignored.  And the lego that had to be played with. Oh yes: Selfridges have a very nice little lego play station. Which, oddly enough, I somehow wasn't aware of until yesterday. If it came with fully paid up and vetted Norland nannies I may have been sorely tempted to leave in situ... but it didn't and I am not THAT bad a mother.... (I think! But the temptation was strong.)

The Shard was amazing - and I would highly recommend it. It was so well run and (shock horror...I am so cynical and old with low expectations) had such friendly and efficient staff.  

Loved the 'open-ness' - wow!

Simply amazing views.... and so peaceful - the noises are so far away.

Short story

Or Shorts Story actually, that was the name.

Mentally filed away for later use.

If (like many a time I suspect) you wonder what on earth this woman is wittering on about - it's this:

OPI Shorts Story - available here from John Lewis 

(click on the 5th colour swatch, 2nd row!)

Pink - yes.
Sickly - possibly.
On my wish list - (for some unfathomable reason) - yes.

Pink suits me, I do believe. In the light of 2 x pink lipsticks and a Bobbi Brown 'pale pink' blusher, I'm hoping so anyway!


Other items on my wish list:

Jigsaw pleated skirt

Jigsaw red pom pom scarf

Whistles 'ovoid spot' scarf

Pure collection V neck boyfriend sweater 

I also have in my sights:

• Pink tweed Jigsaw skirt (there I was I hoping Jigsaw were 'finding their way' again... but no picture on website!)
• Orla Kiely pink(see the worrying trend?) and blue scarf - no picture anywhere - but it's in John  Lewis. Helpful (not).

The White Company autumn catalogue had arrived; nothing immediately grabbed me. There was nothing offensive, but just a rehash of last winter (most of which already seem to have bought!)

Having said that, I may make an exception for this maxi skirt:

White Company Jersey Maxi Skirt

A couple of recent outfit pictures below. Excuse the general carnage which surrounds me. I've momentarily lost the wherewithal and time to do anything about it.

Still surviving on a 10 (ok maybe 15) item wardrobe. (Not including accessories!)

Breton shrt sleeved top - H&M

Black capri trousers - Sainsbury's

White jersey 'biker' style cardigan - Florence & Fred (Tesco) <-- thanks to Sue at Susie So So for that tip :-)

Bag - Mulberry Bayswater

Shoes - Russell and Bromley (old)

Shirt - Musto (don't ask) (How did it survive the cull..? Double don't ask!)

Jumper - Joules (similar here)

Trousers - Sainsbury's as above

Bag & Shoes - Mulberry & Russell & Bromley as above

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.

A shadow of my former self

Due to various matters outside the happy world of fashion, style and blogging, I am feeling rather under the weather. Let's just say tears have been shed over matters of the heart, and this is not the first Christmas I will remember with sadness. And I was feeling so positive and happy a few weeks ago.  Such is life, I am a big girl and will keep plodding on.

As to matters bloggy, today I wore a Helmut Lang beige / taupe (that old favourite, with me in good times and bad!) dress, with a black Gap t shirt underneath, my long White Company pendant and Aquitalia ankle boots from Russell and Bromley.

When I went out I added a Mulberry peplum jacket and a White Company tassell scarf.

Accessorised today (together with puffy eyes) with the Sainsbury's Zara-esque tote bag.

I hope everyone else is happy and well.

I wonder sometimes why my life has to be lived at such intensities of joy and sadness. Maybe it would be boring any other way....??!!

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!

Back to 'normality'

No knives today, I'm pleased to report. A mundane, but necessary day, spent ferrying elderly parents to / from hospital appointments and breaking up arguments between same. Sheesh - toddlers have nothing on 80 year olds for squabbling!

I wore:

• Jigsaw grey a-line shape lambswool jumper
• Primark white vest
• White Company silver pendant
• Boden denim mini skirt (not so mini on me as I am a 'short arse' with even shorter legs)
• Russell & Bromley 'Chester' black patent loafers

Sorry for brevity of post. Need to repaint my nails - which have become distressingly slattern-like - before I fall into an imminent exhausted stupor.

See you tomorrow hopefully :-)

Save or splurge: hair protection sprays. (With a pheasant jumper thrown in.)

I thought I'd write an occasional post giving you the benefit of my wisdom on the subject of 'save or splurge'.  I've accumulated quite a few years' worth of experience in this area, trying various products (a) because Vogue or similar announced they were brilliant ('splurge' category usually) or (b) because I was having a few cash-flow 'ishoos' ('save' category clearly).

This time, I'm reviewing two heat protection hair products.

I have dry hair which is naturally wavy (even frizzy - aarrghhh!) so some kind of heat spray is an absolute necessity for me, given the arsenal of styling implements which my hair has to deal with.

When I got my first pair of hair straighteners many years ago, it was a dream come true for me to have smooth hair. The straightness was not so much a goal for me, I just longed to have hair which laid flat and smooth, instead of fuzzy, flyaway and wiry.  When GHDs came onto the market, I was hooked. (GHDs can also give hair curl / wave as well as straightening / smoothing... )

Since then I have also discovered the Babylis Big Hair rotating styling brush - which is excellent at giving a salon style blow dry with lots of lift and smoothness - and wave, if your hair is inclined to wave.

But before I assault my hair with a hairdryer or any heated styling tool, I always use a heat protection spray.

The 'splurge' item today is GHD Thermal Protection Spray £9.95 from lookfantastic.com (Has changed the packaging again since I bought it!)  Admitedly not major splurge zone - but still - £10 for a hair product in these times of austerity is not a small amount!


The 'save' item is John Frieda Full Repair £5.99 from Boots. (But Boots often - always...? -  have John Frieda products on a 'buy two for £7.00 offer, which is when I stock up!)

In this instance it's a winner for.......................................................................

'SAVE' - Yay!  

The cheaper product I find works best for me. I like the lighter texture, and the smell (!) more than the GHD product.  It's not that the GHD product is no good - but the John Frieda one works best (for me) and at £3.50 (as part of the 'two items for £7.00' offer) - works out much cheaper too.

The thing I also like about the John Frieda spray is that is has an element of 'styling' to it as well, so gives a bit of hold / shape to the finished look - but as far as I can tell the GHD spray is just a heat protection spray. You have to buy another product (hmmmmm...that would be £20 then, ker-ching for GHD) to 'style' your hair.

The other thing I will point out about John Frieda products is that they use them in their salons - yes really! Many moons ago, when I was single and rich had more money than now, I used to have my hair done at John Frieda on Aldford Street in London. Ahhhh... the memories. What a luxury that was.... 

I was very surprised on my first visit to see however, that behind the till, visible through the host of Prada clad customers (not me) at the cash desk, there were ranks and ranks of exactly the same products as you would pick up in Boots. So if you felt inclined to buy a shampoo or styling product which had been used during your visit, that would be '£3.99 please Madam'. Slightly incongruous when a coffee probably set me back £5 - but good all the same! 

Now, as I've never written one of these posts on a specific product before, I have no idea if I'm supposed to write some kind of disclaimer such as 'there are other products available....'?!

I must also say that I am in no way affiliated to John Frieda (or GHD!) and these are merely my own findings / thoughts as a humble consumer. :-)  

By the way, today's outfit was as below. Don't blame me for the 'pheasant' jumper. Blame Kat at 'doesmybumlook40' blog. Emboldened by Kat's post the other day about animal jumpers, I was inspired to dig out my Joules pheasant jumper which had been lurking in a drawer since last year. 

I liked it in the catalogue. It looked good on the rosy cheeked size zero model. It looked fun. 

I saw, I tried, I banished doubts, I bought!

I got home and the image (I feared) didn't quite translate, but I kept it anyway. 

Worn with Jigsaw skirt, New Look denim shirt, Russell & Bromley patent loafers

It will always come in handy for the boxing day walk... It's that kind of item, it would work really well in classic 'Joules backdrop land' with wellies, mud and frosty fields.... none of which featured in my day today - but never mind.

If anyone is interested in similar offerings, Joules have further developed their range this year - choose from deer, foxes, ducks...and maybe more - see their range here.

The follies of impatience

Turns out the Primark wedges are not quite as expected once tried on...what disappointment :-(

The problem is mainly that the sole seems very thick / obtrusive / clumpy - especially on the tan version for some reason, which may be an optical illusion. 

The sole, being a lighter colour than the shoe was always a concern I had, as I prefer a matching sole, and on the black version the soles are black. 

The tan pair will I think have to be returned as for some reason they don't seem to work at all on me, though they look better off than on. The burgundy pair could work but, unexpectedly, they seem to work better with opaques and a skirt, rather than with jeans. I think maybe these wedges are at odds with a skinny style trouser, at least, as they are quite a heavy shoe.

Have not mentioned these thoughts yet to poor OH who did me such a favour to get them yesterday on his day off!  Will have to sneak them back on Monday. Why oh why didn't I wait until Monday?  (I am so impatient!)  However, as with so many things you never really know until you get something home and try with different items.

Pictures below:

Burgundy wedges (sorry for appalling dark picture, they ARE burgundy!) - better with a skirt

Tan pair. Wrong somehow... :-(

Burgundy version, slightly better, or is it my imagination?

And what I actually wore before the wedge trying episode:

Made in Heaven Vienna jeans

Jigsaw mole coloured t shirt

Jigsaw roll neck poncho

Aquitalia ankle boots

Brown Mulberry Bayswater

By the way, I saw a nice jacket and jumper in Tesco earlier today, neither bought or even tried on as wasn't in the mood and didn't have time or 'head-space' - but I will be returning to investigate:

Jacket - £28 - on Tesco website here

Burgundy jumper £14...to match the wedges maybe?  Website link here

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!

Autumn wear and a harvest chandelier.

I think I need to start this post with a disclaimer. The outfits I am posting at the moment are not necessarily:
(a) exciting
(b) to be recommended
(c) anything anyone else would be interested in..!

Just wanted to clear that up. But I need to plod on, through high point and low point - and clearly we are in a low point at present :-D  Once I bounce back from my focus on the house I'm hoping things will get more interesting. I am planning a Boden order next week with the proceeds of some Ebay selling - so watch this space!

This is from Friday, back to work after two days off sewing.  It felt autumnal enough to crack open the opaque tights and give the loafers a dusting off - hooray!  On reflection though - how gloomy, I could have added a scarf - ho-hum.  Maybe I subconsciously dressed to reflect my lack of  'pzazz' at the moment?!

• Charcoal linen knit cardigan from Zara - long at the back, shorter at the front (absolute treasure until those extra pounds go...)
• Grey camisole from Primark
• Black velvet / moleskin skirt from Jigsaw
• Black patent 'Chester' loafers from Russell & Bromley.
• Purple bead necklace (old) from Accessorize.

Continuing the home decoration theme, I am pleased to finally have my new (old) chandelier up and working. I love it. I have a dangerous antique lighting obsession and must stop now, otherwise I will have run out of rooms to hang them in!  I have banned myself from driving past my favourite shop which always has a dazzling selection on display. 

I do love this one though - the ears of corn and the gold colour are so beautiful - and so appropriate for the time of year :-)

I can have it all (sometimes)!

Inspired by the super stylish blogs I've been following recently, I was lured to Primark today.  Now, I had on occasion wandered inside a Primark store before today to see what all the fuss was about, so it was not entirely a new experience for me, but I had always wandered out again fairly sharply upon seeing what seemed to be a sea of mismatched polyester - (polyester tartan as I seem to recall last time - on Oxford Street? - but I digress).

Integrating my new Primark buys

In the picture above I am wearing:

• Primark jeggings in dark indigo (£7)
• Primark sheer cream henley style top (£5)
• Zara beige linen cardigan (on their website here)
• Russell and Bromley 'Tod's' style loafers 
• Navy Longchamp tote bag

So - in short, previous forays into Primark had not been fruitful. This time however, I had a more specific idea of what I was looking for. Maybe they just have good stuff in there at the moment, maybe I was more focussed and better informed, but there were some very nice basics.  And the prices - well, normally I wander around a shop thinking ooh that's nice, wander wander, ooh so's that - and so's that! etc - until I have about 9 items when I get to the fitting room or till and (a) credit card then takes a bashing and so does husband's blood pressure; (b) I weed out certain items, invariably choosing the wrong ones and usually having to return and perform complex exchanges; or (c) dissolve into a fit of indecision and end up with nothing. (Disclaimer: I am an indecisive person!)

Today, I did a quick mental tally while in the humungous post office style till queue (cashier no 33 please..) and worked out that each item was averaging about £6, incredible - especially for the trousers.

I bought the skinny leopard jeans (£11); some black capri pants (in middle of pic below - £9); some soft skinny jeans in navy (£11); some indigo 'jeggings' (worn above - £7); a handful of basic vests in navy, grey, white and nude (£2 each);  a pale cream sheer short sleeved 'henley' style tee shirt (worn above - £5), and a tan / navy striped very lightweight knit sheer-ish t-shirt / top (on the right in pic below - £5).

Some of today's buys: Zara star print top (15.99), black Primark capris (£9), navy / beige lightweight Primark top (£5)

I then went to Zara and got a lovely star print linen t-shirt (in pic above - £15.99 on website here) and a pale pink / blush coloured sleeveless top with a shirred waistline (pic below - £25 - on website here) which is very elegant on (I hope) and flattering on a mum tum.

Zara top

Oh, and I also bought a gold tone necklace in Primark for good measure (£4) which I think is very pretty. So all in all a good day and I'm very happy with my new purchases :-)

Primark necklace - £4

PS....... End of day reflective mental ramblings:
There was a pleather studded tote in Primark - (£12 I think) - which I am already thinking I need - er I mean want. I can hardly need another bag as my husband would point out - and I would have to accept his reasoning on this point - but still, maybe something cheaper would be good for our hols... something which I needn't be precious about, which I could get sand in and so on...? And studs - hmm - would they not add a soupçon of 'currentness' and 'edginess' (whatever that might mean, I fear I could just look ridiculous!) - but I don't know. I'll sleep on it.
(I told you I was indecisive.)