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

Footwear by Primark...

...as facilitated by a surprisingly competent other half!

As you can see - he made it!  

Primark wedge shoe / boots purchased in tan and burgundy, as well as the Primark 'velveteen' (another of my Mum's favourite words!) slipper shoes.  Sadly the black wedges were out of stock otherwise I would no doubt be the proud owner of those as well. I may well try to hunt these down elsewhere, as they really are a such a snip, and I love a good wedge. :-) 

I think, secretly, husband is just delighted (though somewhat bewildered) to have found a store where such plentiful quantities of footwear can be purchased for such modest sums.  And more to the point, that I am happy with them...

The wedge boots are £15 a piece, and the shoes £6.

All three have a velvety feel, including the wedge boots which I thought might feel more like your common or garden 'faux suede' - or again to coin my Mum, 'suedette'.  

<Incidentally, Mum also talks of 'leatherette' - which phrase I shall reprise when I turn my attention to the 'pleather' offerings awaiting consideration. Has a certain retro ring about it which appeals to me.> 

The boots feel comfortable and 'stable' (i.e. not wobbly and inclined to fall over.... come now, I must factor such considerations, I am over 40 after all!)  I really like them - they have a good shape.

I have concluded I will have to send OH shopping more often. If you are planning to put your OH to this useful purpose, be sure to provide exact descriptions and even then, be prepared to take puzzled calls of the 'There's so much!' and 'They all look the same' and 'No they don't have laces, but they're similar' variety. 

I'm hoping to visit myself next week, as I have my eye on one or two jackets, including the parka with pleather leatherette sleeves as featured by Avril at SchoolGateStyle the other day.

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

Wardrobe edit options: 1. The Emotional Cut

No photos today as I look ghastly in everything. Something. Must. Be. Done.
(Con: I am greedy. Pro: Luckily I generally lose weight fairly easily once I stop consuming cake.)

Anyway, putting aside the fact that if I did a wardrobe edit in my current mood and physical state, my wardrobe would be empty as almost nothing fits me, I am ploughing ahead with some thoughts on how to conduct a good sort out.

I'm sure we've all seen the articles and tips on this. Most are of the 'lay everything out and bin anything you haven't worn in a year' variety.  Well maybe there is sense in that.  However, being the emotional, moon-ruled creature that I am, the clear cut approach has never sat entirely right with me.

Whenever I have a sort out, I find myself almost sub-consciously categorising my clothes without being sure of the rationale I am using.

It's difficult to explain, but you know what you really really love.  This is what you should have in your wardrobe. Anything else (while not necessarily bin-fodder) is in the wrong place.

For example, if husband (he whose mission in life is trying to be helpful and invariably failing) comes into the room at a strategic point with a bin bag and attempts to gather up the 'wrong' pile, the fact that a ballistic reaction is generated tells you that these items are definitely 'keepers'.  If you let him gather, they're 'goners'. If you think hmm wrong pile, but are not screaming blue murder, then they are probably also 'goners', but less obviously so.

1. Stuff you love and currently wear or know you will do when weather is appropriate;  (Message to husband 'No No No - LEAVE ALONE!')

2. Stuff you no longer wear and may no longer love, but the logical part of you is saying 'that cost a lot' or ' that's a good quality item / investment'; (Message to Husband: 'Hmmm, no.')

3. Stuff that is past its sell by date, damaged, worn out, stained etc. (Message to husband: 'Thank you dear, how helpful, gather away.')

That may well be it. However, just in case there are any more people like me (worrying thought!)  we probably need a sub-category:

3(a).   Stuff you won't wear again but need to keep. Maybe there are happy memories attached, like when you got your first job, met your spouse etc. Limit the items you keep in this category to an absolute minimum - no larger than a medium size plastic storage tub, wrap everything in tissue, seal and label. A potential 'time capsule' to be discovered by future generations. 

I suppose the tricky bit is working out how to deal with category "2".

Ebay is one option.  Or can/ should you examine the rest of your clothes / accessories and see if you can generate more looks and break the mould a bit to get the deserved use out if it...?

The 80 / 20 rule

You know the saying that we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time?
'The Pareto principle (also known as the 80–20 rule, the law of the vital few, and the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.

(Incidentally - in the case of my wardrobe, I think I have honed it even further. At the moment, I reckon I am wearing about 10% around 90% of the time! )

My question is, how much do we need the 80% of our clothes that we only wear 20% of the time?

I think I need to put some thought a future post dealing with conducting a good wardrobe edit. 

I thought I'd done a pretty good de-clutter a few months ago - but still I have things just hanging there which I currently have no inclination to wear - none whatsoever, and yet even within the lifespan of this blog I was rather fond of them!

Am I such an extreme creature of moods?  

Is my style personality a bit 'Jekyll and Hyde'?   

Does this just signal the end of the road for those particular items?

Dare I get rid of such clothes, or will I have regrets?  

I've been there before, you know - when you have a ruthless clear out and then find yourself a few months down the line thinking:  'ooh I know what I fancy wearing today - that nice green sweater/ brown dress / grey top etc etc' - cue a mad head first dive into the wardrobe, only to emerge red faced, dishevelled, empty handed and bewildered, before it dawns on you that you in fact no longer have that item - you took it to the charity shop back along.

If anyone has the answers, or even if this resonates with you - please do comment and help me retain my marbles!

PS Having decided to wear skirts, of course I am now in jeans. 

'Distressed' Zara jeans, navy Zara cardigan, white Primark vest, pale blue pashmina scarf from John Lewis. 

Exciting? No. 

In the 20 (or in my case 10)%?  Definitely!

I think I need a midi skirt.

A couple of weeks ago I made a vague mental effort to wear skirts more. Possibly this was due to having bought what felt like the entire sale stock of Zara's skinny jean collection in various colours!  I think I was worried I would wear nothing else so have avoided wearing them - how silly is that?!

Anyway, my mission to wear 'more skirts' has in fact translated to me wearing one skirt practically the whole week (the trusty Jigsaw mini). Clearly this situation needs to change.  I can't even claim to be doing any kind of capsule wardrobe challenge, as demonstrated on the fab smallfabricofmylife blog!

I think a midi skirt could be called for.  I like this one from Boden.

I wonder if anyone has seen it in real life?  It seems to be getting reasonable reviews. I would go for the black I think - yawn  - but it would have to work for work - and denim (blue denim, at any rate) is not allowed.

Boden 'modern midi' skirt

Right, I'm off to sort through my skinny collection and try to find inspiration for tomorrow's look!

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!