You're not going to believe this...

I bought nothing. 

Sorry, whilst you're all picking your jaws up from the floor, yes I'm back! 

I had intended to do a blog or two whilst I was away but basically I was either eating, sleeping, drinking or shopping.   Well, when I say shopping, I do mean of the window variety. 

As yes, like I said, I.  Bought.  Nothing.  Zilch, nada, zip.  Don't get me wrong, it wasn't for want of trying.  I will admit that as much as I worship the ground he walks on (within reason...), The Husband is not a great shopper.  He hovers.  Slightly like a petulant dalek.  You can almost see the unease and boredom oozing out of every pore.  Which is fair enough, I feel very much the same when forced to watch Rugby.  At least with the latter, I can watch tv or read at the same time.  But the poor Husband wasn't able to do this as I sort of made him go into one (or ten) shops, each time assuring him it would be the last one. 

Problem was that I'd lost two days of shopping with my girlfriend and there was shopping to be done. 

To be fair though, I can't remotely put the lack of purchasing entirely on his shoulders. 

I could also try and blame the weather.  It was cold.  When I arrived on Thursday it was cold.  It wasn't cold cold though.  We had dinner at Nobu which was a ten minute walk from my hotel and I was meeting the gang there but I was happy to stroll there on my own (in heels with no hat...)  And walk back in a snow storm later.   Yes it was chilly but it wasn't full on cold. 

Oh but then it was.  MINUS ELEVEN not including the wind chill factor and frankly, it was that windy, if you'd chucked up a wind farm or two, you could have kept the city in electricity for the weekend.  I can only ever recall being that cold when skiing in a blizzard in Vermont a million years ago.  And what are the shops full of?  Oh yes, Spring clothes.  Hmmm.  The thought of even starting to strip off (and I was togged out Nanook of the North stylee) to try something on wasn't happening.

But you would be proud of me - boy did I give it a good go.  I came up with some really interesting conclusions as well which I'll go through over the next couple of days.  Suffice to say, we have it good here in the UK & Europe.  We have it really really good.  

And so I spent not a penny and instead we had the most amazing time ever drinking and eating.  Because that, they do really really well in New York.  Nobu, a local seafood restaurant which was incredibly unglam but with the most amazing food ever, super chic hotel bars, a Jazz night with cocktails and a fabulous Dim Sum experience in Chinatown.  Not to mention finding some great local coffee shops in Soho (there were lots and lots of coffee shop stops) and a plethora of Bloody Marys, champagne and Espresso Martinis. 

I got home yesterday and had planned to blog but the small one with Asperger's was very very unsettled (not helped by a mother who sucks her teeth every time he raises his voice and thinks that apparently being having Autism isn't an excuse for rudeness.  The irony of that makes me want to cry.  Or drink.  Which I did last night.  If your own family can't comprehend his difference despite having them explained, how can we expect the rest of the society to?  It is exceptionally kind of her to look after them for a few days but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to do it again.)  BUT this is me getting maudlin and this blog is my happy place so let's move swiftly on. 

Despite me doing no shopping, what I have come back with (apart from a font of ridiculous theories on US v Euro shopping which I will save for another day) is a great big Wish List. 

Plus news on the big trends that are a) out there for S/S15 and b) ones that I shall be adopting.  

Starting with all things 70's and yes, we're back at the baby boot cut, dare I say full boot cut and skinny flares.  Which I can yell HOUSE at.  I have my Stella McCartney jeans from last year, from Bicester and they were the best buy ever.  

But surely it pays to buy jeans in the US?  Well yes, it does.  If they fit. 

These are the ones from Saks that were the only pair (apart from Stella McCartney ones which are silly money over there) vaguely long enough for me.

Paige Manhattan Bootcut Jeans $179  And £195 at House of Fraser for the same shade (Armstrong) 

Now don't get me wrong I loved the fit of these at the top and on the thighs. 




But here I am - doing my best impression of an M&S model.  They are simply Too. Short.  And this is my issue with boot cut.  They do need a heel - ok they don't necessarily need a heel but in my humble opinion they do look a lot better with them.

And yet with heels.... bad look if they're not long enough.  



Now whilst I love the look, I do fear that you are so limited to really wearing certain heels of a certain height.  Otherwise they don't work.  Which isn't a massive issue but I certainly don't want to spend £150plus on jeans that I am limited as to where I can wear them (due to shoe issues)

But before I went away, I had a quick look in our shops here and I was very pleasantly surprised by those I found in Marks'. 

High Waisted Flare Jeans Limited Edition jeans from M&S £35 They do these in all lengths which is forward thinking seeing as we're all different heights.  Go hunt out your heels and get trying on.  Just make sure they're all the same height....



They also do a paler wash which has Farrah written all over it.  (who didn't want to be La Fawcett when they were younger?  Sun In has lot to answer for)  At least M&S have remained consistent with their refusal to allow to let their models to wear the correct length jeans but can I please assure you that these are so so much better in the flesh than they look in their online pics.   A friend of mine who is usually addicted to AG jeans, bought a pair of these and they looked fab on.

Slim Bootleg Denim Jeans from M&S £25




My favourite boyfriend jeans, after having tried on literally ( and I do mean literally) every brand out there at the time, were from ASOS.  Amazing fit, great quality denim and again different lengths (although my Saxby boyf jeans are just regular length as they're rolled up so the odd inch here or there doesn't matter) 

But when we're talking boot cut or flare, I cannot stress enough, length matters.  Unless the M&S styling look is what you're going for...... 

ASOS Fairleigh Jeans in Tall £35



Here's a pic below to prove me wrong as actually I don't hate this at all.  In fact I really quite like them but I will say I prefer the flat look with a wider leg all the way through - I think there's a fine line between cool skinny boot cut modern look and "old saggy boot cut with trainers and all you need to do is add a fleece for practical clothing" look.  Great for a younger model but  I think more difficult to pull off when you get to vintage status.   I do like the washed black look though... unusual.. Not yet in the Tall Section.  Gah. 

Jamie Flared Jeans £40 from Topshop (ok the more I look at this, the more I do like it... note to self..... watch this space.  Fickle?  Moi?  Mais oui.  Even quicker turn around - within two paragraphs)



More in a vintage wash at ASOS (again not tall).  These are probably my favourite of the bunch.  Love this wash - love the whole look (although I'm not tempted to get the tattoo, I'll just add)

ASOS Lennox Kick Flare jeans in mid wash blue £35



Although having said that, these look very similar and in a tall.....£35 (LOVE these and for the price - honestly if they fit well, why would you buy anything else?)



Whilst we're talking fave shades of blue and not thinking it's worth spending oodles on jeans, if they had a) had these in the US and b) they had fitted, I would have bought them in a heartbeat.  And then would have spent the GDP of Belgium on the perfect height shoes to go with them... but the great things about these that even if they were a tad long with some 
shoes, they're already frayed on the hem, so no biggie.   Be still my Charlie's Angels' heart. 

Current Elliott Flip Flop Frayed jean with distressing £250




The other big trend which I am still a fan of and will do the High Street research here for in the coming weeks, are skinnies.  I yet again though have realised that high waisted are the only way to go.  Certainly certainly not low waisted.  Otherwise this happens. 



These are actually the correct size - clearly they are totally the wrong cut.  To be fair, they weren't too bad on the bum and through the thigh at all but it's less of a muffin than a full on birthday cake that is trying to escape over the top of these jeans.  JBrand moto skinnies or something.  I was ridiculously hungover and changing rooms in NY are hotter than a Turkish sauna so I couldn't even be bothered to check who had made these hideous beings. 

It does seem there there pretty much isn't a style of jean that won't work this season.  Lots and lots of choice with regards to wash and fit.  I shall be on a jeans mission in the next couple of weeks as whilst I do love the baby boot cut and kick flare jeans and of course will be wearing them - I think there are other styles out there that are more useful on a day to day basis.  (me having rediscovered my love of all shoes flat)

So finally finishing with a hint of my wardrobe escapades from my weekend away.  One photo of what I wore out in the evening.  Only one, I apologise.  This is clearly afterwards - it's the equivalent of about 5am in the morning for me with the time difference and I had been up since 6am.  Yes, I am holding on and yes, I blame the carpet.  The blurriness I'm blaming on The Husband.  (for which I am actually grateful....) 

The other nights there are no photos - the following night, reason being, is that after our long lunch and shopping, I thought it would be an idea to have a "power nap".  And woke up at midnight.  It did mean that we were up super early the next day for a full on day of exploring Downtown.  And the last night out we where there, just sort of forgot!