The blog I never thought I'd write

Cropped tops.  Do not all guffaw at once. 

As I said yesterday, I finally have come round to acknowledging that these are the most perfect solution for full skirts.  For high waisted trousers these are one of the only options. 

I'm giving in to the cropped top.  

Now there are some disclaimers.  When I say cropped, I do not mean that there is one iota of flesh on show.  Cropped as in, to the waist.  We're talking cropped for the post 40s. Although to be fair, I wouldn't have worn one of the other versions post 30 and definitely not post 35 (aka baby number 3).  These are, dare I say it, the more mature version of the crop top.  Not the Victoria Secret's version.

Perhaps we should rephrase it as "The vaguely cropped top". 

I would not have entertained these in a million years, had you asked me yesterday.  But thanks to one very canny Sales Assistant at LK Bennett, she gave me one of these to try with the plethora of skirts I took into the changing room.  As seen in the blog from Tuesday.

"Try with a cropped top", she says confidently.  Much to the raised eyebrows of both myself and my friend (ok so the BFF was verging on a Tena moment whilst I tried to hold it together thinking, yeah right).  But this was no ordinary "cropped top".  This was an LK Bennett cropped top which of course was about three times as long as the hideous vision those scary words had conjured up in my mind.  This was decent.  There was no muffin flashing going in this beauty.

Alea Textured Crop top in Black from LK Bennett £145  Which also comes in a cream.

So after extensive research today - there is a fine line between decent and not appropriate I have learnt - I can bring a couple of ideas.  They're not cropped in the teenage sense of the word, which many of you (if not all of you) will be very pleased to hear. 

May I present old lady cropped.

Black Grid Lace Top from Warehouse £50  If you teamed this with the black Coast skirt from yesterday's blog you basically have your own customised version of a Self Portrait dress.  For a third of the price - plus two other pieces which you can wear at other times.  

Boxy style knits are the other option that could also work.  And thank goodness they're in the sale now.  Ok, thank goodness, I found one in the sale now.  This is great neutral shade from Reiss (there is a matching high waisted pencil skirt if you wanted more options - and whilst we're here, a high waisted pencil skirt would work with any of these tops, as well as full skirts and trousers) 

Becca Dark Cloud was £110 now £75

This we did see yesterday and it's absolutely gorgeous - I only wish, hugely selfishly that it was black and white and not navy and white.  Either way, it's stunning (and no I don't need a navy skirt to go with it.  Having said that, I definitely have some high waisted trousers that have been burning a hole in my wardrobe for years and this year I shall be cutting them off for cropped wide legs and flares.  This would be pure perfection with them).  Orrrr, she says thinking aloud... stripe blue and white jumper, black and white spotty LK Bennett skirt and black and blue strappy ancient sandals from Reiss.  Oh hello....

Split hem stripe crop top from Whistles £85

Going slightly off piste now with my fabrics but to dress the skirt down, how about a sweatshirt fabric?  Can you tell these sorts of tops are VERY thin on the ground.  Yes that scraping sound you hear is me and a barrel.

Cotton Sweatshirt in off white from Mango was £19.99 now £9.99

This may actually be better.. (I'm thinking that perhaps the one above is more Miss Selfridge cropped as opposed to LK Bennett cropped.  The difference between the two is, I reckon, about 5 inches.) 

Boucle wool-blend sweatshirt was £34.99 now £19.99 from Mango  This one I Really like.  This is what I need to go with my Stella McCartney high waisted flared jeans that I never wear as - guess what - I don't have a top to go with them... I could be solving so many wardrobe issues with this.

Ok so I'm on a sweatshirt roll now and I love this one.  

Neoprene effect sweatshirt in heather grey from Mango £35.99

Not sure about the fabric of this... I think personally I'd like something slightly more structured.  But it may be worth a try, depending on the fabric of the skirt.  But I do like the high neck and the sleeves.

Monki Cropped top £25

Then of course we have the cropped turtle neck ones from ASOS.  Now.  I can imagine these are short.  Which is handily as I found them in a Tall.  Probably not so handy if you are actually tall and need Tall tall... 

But these have got to be worth a shot for £12, especially I think for high waisted trousers.   I think it's probably too "schlinky" for me to wear with a skirt.  I can see this would encase and highlight every single chocolate that I ate over the holidays that have now taken up full time residence around my midriff.  I can either do a shed load of sit ups (not likely) or resort to a sturdier fabric that isn't as unforgiving.

ASOS Tall Top with long sleeves and turtle neck £12

And I'm out.  Ok so there are possibly a few other places I could look but work was interrupted by a trip to the garage as I "may" have reversed into a wheelie bin and smashed my back light. 

I still also have fine knits to look at which are less boxy than boxy tops.  I am holding out more hope for these.  If I do happen to come across more decent length boxy tops then I will let you know.  Other than that, I think we all need to be hyper vigilant for an LK Bennett discount code...

First thing today and all the glamour not but all the practicality yes for a long dog walk with the shrinking dog.

Charcoal Adele jumper - hush

Coated skinny jeans - New Look

Black coat - Ilse Jacobsen

Back oversized scarf - Mint Velvet

Off white socks - Ilse Jacobsen

Wellies - Ilse Jacobsen

Black sheepskin wristwarmers - Topshop

Grey hat - Black 

And changed for meetings later on.

Charcoal Adele Jumper - hush

Coated skinny jeans - New Look

Camel coat - Zara

Fur scarf - New Look

Brown suede boots - Eileen Fisher

Brown suede bag - Coccinelle 

Tomorrow, we have a super exciting day as a family.  A rearranged Christmas holiday trip that had been due to take place on the day of my mum's funeral which school very kindly let me rebook for this week.  To say we are all ridiculously excited is an understatement.  Expelliarmus!!