I've come over all Plain Jane

Now I'm not sure if anyone has noticed or not (to be honest, there is absolutely no reason at all why you should do as it's something that I've realised purely by chance) but I've come over all plain. 

Ok not when I say plain I don't mean proper "normcore" (which I think is THE most ridiculous saying ever.  Coined by Vogue as "anti style" and according to Wiki:-  "Normcore is a unisex fashion trend characterized by unpretentious, average-looking clothing. The term is a portmanteau of the words "normal" and "hardcore", and was coined by K-Hole, a trend forecasting group."  Total pile of pretentious claptrap if you ask me.  I can think of a letter that could replace the K in their company name.....)

But anyway, I don't mean plain plain - I love a bit of bling and couldn't live without print every now and again so certainly there will be no "normcore" happening here.

No, what I mean when I say plain is basically a new version of a basic.  My Winter staple this year is going to be the plain jumper.  It really is the perfect essential for throwing on on a daily basis. 

So I currently have two that I bought at the beginning of the season and honestly, I think I could wear them every single day.  They can be worn with every shape of jean, they will work perfectly with my pleather trousers (when, not if, I manage to find a perfect pair...), ideal for over a leather skirt of any shape or length, like I say, I could wear them every day.  

With or without a shirt or collar, with or without a scarf. 

The two I have that I can't rave highly enough about, are the men's versions from Uniqlo.

Extra fine Merino Crew neck jumpers in black £24.90

I also have the navy version but next on my list of must haves is definitely the pale grey version.  





Now I wear the men's version in a Small as I am 5ft 10 and the dimensions work better on me. 

But if you're of a more typical female size then definitely look at the women's ones which are £5 less! 

Women Extra Fine Merino Crew Neck. £19.90   Absolutely love it in the pale blue shade.  My staple wardrobe colours for A/W are definitely black, navy and grey and this would be simply gorgeous with any of them.  (DAMN them not having the blue in the men's section.  I may be on a mission.....) 



They also do them in a V Neck version.  Have to say I'm quite taken with this charcoal version. 

Women Extra Fine Merino V Neck jumper £19.90


However my favourite V Neck jumper has to be the one I wear a lot from Hush.  I team this with a white longsleeved top, dark indigo jeans and a camel coat and it is honestly one of my favourite looks this Season.  

Fine Knit V Jumper in Damson £49.50  The beauty of this is in the tiny detail.  The exposed seams on the shoulders, the cut (it's not too loose and not too tight) and the colour - the ideal shade of berry.  Definitely one for layering, you can't wear this on its own.






The other jumper that's on my radar that I think would be fantastic with my grey/navy/black combo, would be this yellow one from Hush.  I adore this shade, absolutely love it.  Haven't found a similar one in the same shade anywhere. 

Classic V Jumper from Hush in canary £65






To prove that I'm not doing totally plain I have snuck in a total impulse purchase from Autograph at M&S the other day.  I had seen this before and thought hmm that's quite nice and would be super useful but at £40, it wasn't a great impulse snag. 

But at £25, oh hello.  And you know when something's a good buy when you want to wear it immediately and I wore it today - absolutely perfect with my camel coats.  Whilst we're here on the camel coat topic, I am thinking about sending the teddy bear coat that I bought from Warehouse back.  I like it, I really like it, but I honestly don't know how often I'm going to wear it.  (who is this sensible person talking?)  For example, I *could* have worn it today but actually it was my fourth choice after my Zara longline blazer, the Zara dressing gown coat and my trench coat.  Hence I need to send it back.  CHECK ME OUT!

Striped Jumper with Wool from Autograph at M&S now £25 (oh and I bought the size 18....it says on the reviews that it's oversized and people have found it large.  Hmmm I'd disagree!  It's the perfect Jaeger style slouch in a bigger size.  I honestly think it looks a TON better on the large side than it does in the pics on the M&S site) 




Whilst we're on a camel roll, this is my Must Have camel jumper which I am about to order.  I order the roll neck ribbed chunky one from Mango as well as the pale grey hooded jumper from there.  Both have been sitting in my wardrobe in their bag untouched for a fortnight now.  If I haven't worn them yet, I'm not going to wear them.  They're going back and I'm sticking with my plain theme and getting this one in the camel vigore. 

These for me are the ultimate every day wear jumper shape (exceptionally similar to the first crew neck ones above but slightly more on the fitted side).  They're my Winter equivalent of a white linen tee.  An every day essential and the perfect plain foil for adding a necklace, scarf or more interesting something on your legs.  Ditto a coat (still not keeping the teddy bear coat though - I am on a roll with the returns) 

Openwork Detail Sweater £24.99 from Mango - this is pre the 30% off if you order one thing and 40% off if you order two - 6DISCOUNT is the code)  I think I may get the black as well as my obsession with recreating the Milk Tray Man look on a daily basis is alive and kicking.  By the way, these do come up on the small side - I ordered a Large (Euro M)


And in the black 



So here is the outfit I finally went with yesterday.  The whole day is a rather fabulous blur - lunch at Hush, left at 8pm to go to Mahiki (how early?) and on the lightweight express home at 11.15 armed with a Burger King.  All the class eh?

I was going to go for the black dress and camel combo but I wasn't in a dress mood yesterday - I had my Autism course in the morning and well, this is what I wore in the end and I felt super relaxed in it.