Would the good Dr wear it?

And no I don't mean the Dr of the Who variety but my beloved Dr Nikki Alexander from Silent Witness.  I have mentioned more than once that I do have a teensy style crush on her - partly because I think she doesn't try and reinvent the wheel.  She's also nearly the same age - 39, so nearly 40.... (no I didn't believe that and thought she was younger) - and dresses, I think, like a pretty darn cool 40 year old woman.  She's not at the cutting edge of fashion for sure but hell, neither am I. 

The whole point of this blog (the whole thing - not just this blog post) was to find my way through the minefield of yoof fashion and old lady (lack of) style and see if there was such a thing as a fashionable wardrobe for those amongst us who weren't ready to hang up our skinnies and move straight to elasticated trousers (which admittedly I do own more than a couple of pairs of - I'll quit whilst I'm vaguely ahead) 

Anyway, I love the way that Emilia Fox, as the good Dr, dresses.  Some of it is from the High Street, some of it is designer (she is a huge fan of Rebecca Taylor blouses which are gorgeous but nothing at the moment floats my boat - for the cost.  However I shall be exploring her more another day in a different blog) 

To go back to my headline, "Would the good Dr wear it?", well this is a question I feel is pertinent to ask when looking at my new favourite item of clothing - the blouse.  I did in fact get a new one from my mother in law for my birthday (I did get money and I did purchase the blouse.  It was a GIFT which meant it doesn't count towards my three items which are ones I must buy with my own money.  I'm *sure* I made this clear at the beginning of the year... backtracking faster than Jackson moonwalking).  With exceptionally bad forward planning, this is now in the washing bin (I wore it last week on the pics) and so I can't show to you BUT it has Dr Nikki all over it. 

Here she is in her blouse glory. 

So without further ado, let's crack on with my Nikki inspired gems. 

Starting by taking full advantage of the 20% off Boden have off everything (all good things come to those who wait) until Wednesday.  Without further ado let's have a look. 

Soho Blouse from Boden now £55.20 in navy blue tile spot  Love the shape of this top and a spot is the perfect Spring addition. 




Soho Blouse in lemon tile spot  £55.20




Soho Blouse Vanilla Tile Spot  £55.20



Now whilst this isn't a blouse, the good Dr has also been seen to wear blouson style (dear god I'm making her sound geriatric) tops.  She loves a good print and some colour and I think these would work perfectly. 

Ravello Top in Pearl Retro Leaf now £39.20


Ravello Top in Newt Retro Leaf now £39.20



They also do this in a roll top neck which I think I may prefer... more of a 60s vibe to it. 

Roll Collar Ravello £39.20



Another slightly smock shape top which she wears would be like this one in a retro colourway I love.  She's a huge fan of navy (is it any wonder I love her?) so this would be tick tick tick for me. 

Printed Pocket Top now £39.20 These look quite close fitting actually so I'd probably size up to give it a smockier (clearly not a word but it perhaps should be. I shall endeavour to use more often) appearance.  Would work perfectly then over skinny jeans.  One of my favourite silhouettes.  



Joules Sylvie Top in Navy Bloom £49.95  I don't include a lot of Joules on the blog, this is indeed true.  But I saw this when I was having a look online and love the shape, the pattern and the print.  I then saw a lady wearing it today when I was out at breakfast and I can confirm it is totally gorgeous in the flesh.  The girls I was with were stunned when I said it was from Joules (that may have been stunned in sadness/pity at my knowing where the top was from.  This happens a lot) 





Ms Alexander does very much seem to favour the collarless blouse (actually I'm not sure thinking about if all blouses are collarless.... otherwise wouldn't that be a shirt?  And this is what my life has come to) 

Regardless, this is a gorgeous print from NW3 at Hobbs in a lovely easy to wear, floaty fabric.  Although it does have a detailed print to it, the neutrality of the tones would make it versatile to wear with a number of different colours, textures and styles. 

NW3 by Hobbs Tree Print Blouse £79




Love this blush giraffe print from Mint Velvet.  Grazia Print blouse £59





They also do it in this shape which I think is lovely and perfect for the Summer - works really well under biker jackets as opposed to blazers, I would say. 

Grazia Print Blouse £69



Moving onto a blouse shape which works really well with a blazer and skinnies and staying with quirky print, I love this Palm Print Blouse from... yes, you've guessed it.... good old M&S.  Oozes cool retro.

Palm Print Blouse £35 (hmm a blouse with a collar.  And yes, this actually does look more like a shirt to me.  Still love it though)



This paisley style tunic has been in M&S for a while actually and I've been drawn to it a number of times.  Love the shape and the print.  For me, I prefer the navy mix but actually think that the Flame would be more popular with most. 

Kaleidoscope Print Blouse £29.50 in navy mix.



And in the Flame 


This again, I have papped as it looks so so fab in real life.  The colours wouldn't particularly work for me (I don't get on with red.  Or purple.  Not that this is purple - I may be old but I'm not colourblind) but there is something about it that really appeals.  Like I said yesterday with regards to dresses - some prints you are just drawn to. 

Remarkably this has a similar (ish) ring to the actual blouse Nikki is wearing in the top pic.  Spooky (ish)  This would look fab with a cream jacket over it.  Obligatory skinnies. 

Scarf Print Blouse £29.50






Warehouse have some gorgeous blouses at the moment, my favourite of which by a country mile is this yellow one.  Out of all of them on here I think this one is at the top of my wish list. 

Yellow Texture blouse £40 from Warehouse 




Pretty Bird Floral Blouse £42



Love the shades in this one - I have a pale pink blazer that would go remarkably well with it actually.  Would also look fab teamed with all the baby blue there is around at the moment.

Oriental Bird Print Blouse £42



Actually I lied when I said my favourite was the yellow Warehouse one.  I've just flicked back through the pics on my phone and not entirely sure how I could have forgotten this as it is TOP of my wishlist for March, so ignore earlier comments about aforementioned blouse (although it is lovely) and feast your eyes on this one.  

All hail the most gorgeous blouse I've seen in forever.  

Jaeger Geo Camo Tunic Top in Yellow £180   It is eye wateringly expensive but it's silk and it goes in the washing machine.  I reckon I would wear this at least once a week.  With jeans (all colour and styles), blazers, swing jackets, biker jackets, leather jackets - I could go on.... Am doing an excellent job of selling it to myself. 






There are actually loads more I could post - not sure if there have always been loads of these around or that i've just discovered one of my favourite items of clothing. Do you share my love of a print top?  Of the kind that hides a multitude of sins?  Would love to know whether you'll be purchasing/have purchased and how you plan to wear yours.

Oh and is a blouse with a collar a shirt?  Thoughts please, otherwise this will bug me.

Today, still embracing the sunshine and getting more outfit variety out of my new brogues (which are getting comfier by the day) before the rain makes an unwelcome return come the end of the week.