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February 2017
Black. Obviously it's black.
Before I go any further, I just wanted to see how we are all doing on our Spring "looks". As rubbish and as disappeared up my own jacksie as that sounds, it is a thing. Does calling it a "uniform" sound any better? I'm not sure it does. But...bothered, as if you can get this sussed, your wardrobe will be a much more loveable thing.
The joy of being able every morning, to cherry pick items that instantly go together with zero thought, is a thing of pure enjoyment. Not to mention the extra 10 minutes in bed it will give you.
My advice would be first of all, to put together your staples. Those things that you wear season in, season out, which work from day to night, from casual to smart. You can invest, you can buy cheaper, wear often and replace.
I'm going to go through my staples over the next couple of weeks but I'm starting with one of my all time favourites. These have definitely earned their place in my hall of fame. I can't say I am obsessed with them as I don't have lots of pairs. I have three. Three which I wear again and again and again. And none of mine are remotely expensive.
But that's not to say it's not worth considering investing in a pair, especially when there are some bargains still to be had in the absolute dregs of the sale.
My wardrobe staple number one is a pair of black coated skinnies (or three. And by the way, the only reason I have three is that one pair is a waxed version and the other two are faux leather look. The reason there are two of the latter is because I was too worried about wearing one out so quickly. Plus they cost £22 each).
Before we delve in though, how do I wear mine? For a start they are the ultimate all year round staples with oversized jumpers. Fact. And yes, I wear them for rugby and football training and dog walking. They're wipe down. Which I find a bigger asset than the coated was probably intended for.
For during the day with tees and blazers in the Spring. Until it gets warmer, how about with a deconstructed shirt (I favour plain silk) and a blazer or oversized coat. In the evening, if you're not into dresses or skirts, or just want a change, these make the perfect alternative with flats, ankle boots or heels (sandals or courts). A statement blouse or a plain silk shirt (or print or what about a frill?) and sequin blazer (this I love with a logo tee - mixing it all up) and you're good to go.
There are some great ones out there - one thing I will say is I prefer and recommend high waisted. Bar none. Muffin schmuffin. So over it. Tuck that bugger in.
Current/Elliott The High Waisted was £206 now £144 at My Theresa where there is currently free shipping. Which makes it all the bit sweeter.
Now I know I said black... but this is called Dust. Which I guess is a charcoal grey and actually, is the most perfect alternative to black, especially in the Spring. Alas, they're not cheap but I don't have to wang on about cost per wear again, do I?
Alana High Waisted Skinny Jeans by JBrand from My Theresa £225 (free delivery and returns so ideal for *trying*).
Replay Joi Waxed High Waisted Skinny Jeans were £220 now £110 in short and regular.
Reiss Helvin High Waisted Coated Black Jeans £110 - these look more waxed than a faux leather look which I know some people will prefer. Personally I have both and wear them equally as often. Will definitely be looking into trying these.
Abercrombie & Fitch High Waisted Super Skinny Coated Jeans £70
Lee Scarlett Coated High Rise Skinny Jeans £90
But fear not - there are some true bargains to be had out there. My favourites are Boden and New Look. Neither of which have any at the moment. Mine were both sub £50 (the Boden Mayfairs with a code) and I have searched and found some great other options for you.
The Coated Skinny Cut from Warehouse £45
V by Very Addison High Waisted Super Skinny Jean in Black £30
V by Very Coated Utility Biker Jeans £35
Monki Oki Coated Skinny High Waisted Jeans £30
Black Coated Molly Jeggings from River Island £42
And here I am in mine today. Drum roll... good old New Look. Proving (I hope) that it's not always how much you spend. It's how many you try on to find that perfect pair that doesn't always come down to price (and different people will suit different styles and makes).
One thing I will say that I have found about cheaper coated pairs, is that unlike more cost effective jeans, they don't tend to overstretch during the day. They can be super stretchy but they seem to stretch back. I'm assuming it's the coating? I don't know why I said that actually, as I have no idea whatsoever why they don't overstretch like cheaper denim can. Any ideas, throw them below please.
Breton tunic - H&M
Coated skinnies - New Look
Leopard fur coat - M&S
Red loafers - Gucci
Black Tools Bag - Balenciaga
So tomorrow, I may be back with something a bit bling although I fear I am having a jazz hands come down and so it may well be something more classic. Thanks for all your requests yesterday, keep them coming and I hope that these have given those who were looking for out out options, some food for thought.
Oh and err who turned off Spring? HOW cold was it this afternoon?!
So if you thought statement skirts were slightly out there, take a deep breath and get a glass of wine for this one.
Today we're going for the full on, "mum, please tell me you're not going out in that" number.
Normal service with copious amounts of black and no embellishment will obviously return in very short order but I'm having a small hiatus to explore the bonkers.
I'm not advocating full on head to toe riotous prints, slogans and smiley faces (although knock yourself out if it floats your boat) but just a little "pick me up" to your outfit.
This could definitely be a knee jerk reaction to having to still wear coats (even though I've solved that issue by buying a new one BUT I want to wear it with tees and not last season's jumpers. Yup, that would be me wanting to have my cake and eat it) when I have skirts that are screaming "please wear me" whilst the weather is saying "err, nope, you can do one".
Which is basically me saying it could be a massive erroneous purchase. But on the other hand, it could be the item I turn to again and again all season.
The jazz hands bag.
It's a bag that should essentially be used by a 12yr old. Although my 12yr old would probably disagree with that and give me that withering stare (tinged with pity) that only a 12yr old can give and say "don't you mean a 6yr old?".
Well maybe I do. But if I had a 6yr old and bought them one of these, I would be nicking it on a regular basis.
I'm going straight in with the madness. This is the one that caught my eye on an email and made me think. Love it. What's not to love - with a plain tee (or even live dangerously and go a breton), jeans and a blazer. A staple uniform that will get you through the Spring with you just adding to it, to transform you into whoever you want to be that day. Skinny scarf, brooch, statement earrings or.. random purple furry bag. TA DAH!
Shoplifter Furtastic Handbag from & Other Stories £35
Staying with the truly "out there".
Pretty Parfum Bottle Cross Body Bag from Accessorize £32
Whilst we're on the topic of bottles, I'm just going to leave this one here... (and perhaps not one for the 6yr old or the 12yr old...).
Tatty Devine Gin Water Bottle & Cross Body Bag £24.99 Apparently this is a bottle (for water... yeah right) and a bag. Not entirely sure how but who am I to argue when it looks like this. At the very least I should buy this for treats and poo bags for when I'm dog walking my Gin, shouldn't I? Oi family - that's Mother's Day sorted, right there.
Print now and as much I loathe purple, the shades of lilac and red in this bag would work amazingly well with blush and green shades. Not to mention khaki.
Cara Crazy Cross Body Bag from Accessorize £19
A more subtle Japanese style print in pastel shades from Accessorize again.
Kyoto Printed Large Cross Body Bag £29
Floral is definitely a recurring theme this Spring - in what I call Bucks Fizz colours. I can't see red, blue, green or yellow without wanting to "make my mind up" (and yes of course I know all the words).
Floral Buckle Mini Bag from & Other Stories £89 (leather)
Similar (but not leather) at River Island.
Pink Floral Print Mini Satchel Bag £22
Slightly larger also at River Island.
Red Floral Print Satchel Bag £32
A flatter, more simple shape at & Other Stories in leather.
D-Ring Crossbody bag from & Other Stories £65
Ocean Floral Crossbody bag from Topshop £35 With pearl additions.
Floral at River Island.
Grey Floral Embroidery Lock Front Satchel Bag £26
Embroidered again at Topshop and this time in denim (a topic I have a bone to pick with but I'll save that for another day...).
Denim City Embroidered Cross Bag from Skinny Dip at Topshop £32
And then we have the nod to the bonkers.
Daisy Mini Suede Bag from & Other Stories £89
So come on - what do you think? Has my inner Helena Bonham Carter broken free and shoved all my other inners to the back of the room? Too much??
I fear I may be suffering from sleep deprivation. Or could they be a quirky cute addition to your wardrobe?
Today up at the crack of dawn for an incredibly glamorous outing to somewhere in South East London for a glorious rugby festival. An 8.30am departure. With a return six hours later. This afternoon has not been the most productive of afternoons, I won't lie. Supervising homework (painting of a welly - god give me strength) and enough washing to keep a launderette busy for a week. Followed by Dominos which is the biggest treat ever for mine.
Parka - Jane & Tash
Coated skinny jeans - New Look
Wellies and socks - Ilse Jacobsen
Tools bag - Balenciaga
Grey hat and grey fingerless gloves - Black
And where did the weekend go? Lots of work to get on with this week, some really exciting things coming up and fingers crossed - oh please please - that the weather will be slightly warmer (I know - I've just looked and it's wall to wall rain by all accounts. *weeps*). In that case - expect a trench blog this week (although to be fair, that's not the worst idea I've ever had!). I feel I need to look at trainers again, my gripe with denim and other things to clad our legs with. Any requests? To go with our jazz hands bag?!
Well it's not exactly off piste but it's not what I was planning on doing. But yet again, those little emails that materialise in my in box with their offers have meant another PLOT TWIST and I've been sucked in...
Oh go on then.. I'll have a look. As there is something I have on my mind that I've been wanting to look at for a while and, since there's 20% off today at Anthropologie, it seems like the perfect excuse to look at statement skirts today. (I say Anthro, as they have the most stunning skirt I've been wanting to show you).
We're talking long skirts today. We're talking flowy, we're talking full. These are the perfect addition to your wardrobe to make the most of your old favourites and transform them into Spring wear.
A little bit of bare leg isn't going to kill anyone (even the more nesh amongst you) once the temperature hits the dizzy heights of double figures. These work so well now with fitted jumpers (you all know I love a close fitting knit), boxy tees (bretons are especially good - fear not, they will be rearing their gorgeous heads shortly), or slouchy tees, half tucked in. Trusty biker in suede or leather or even a blazer (I have plans for this, I will be giving it a go). Shoe wise - ankle or knee boot, sneaker, loafer, ballet flat.
Length wise, I like a longer length. And for me - definitely below the knee. Especially as this time of year - unless you want to team with opaques and personally tights do not scream Spring to me.
Starting with the skirt that I've been eyeing up. Pure skirt porn. And as I mentioned, there is 20% off today (Saturday) if you sign up to be a *member* (ie just sign up for their email).
Natalia Floral Maxi Skirt from Anthropologie £198
Although I also love this one.
Avenir Pleated Maxi Skirt £218
Nope - actually, it's the green one. Love. Love love love.
Gracie Printed Maxi Skirt in green £198
If you're not looking for a maxi and prefer a midi, fear not.
More green. (and hold that thought as I have all things green coming up).
Boheme Printed Midi Skirt in green £98
This one from Anthro again is simply gorgeous.
Laurene Printed Midi Skirt £118
Robyn Printed Midi Skirt from Anthro £108 and also works really well with flat shoes.
And there also happens to be 20% off at LK Bennett who make simply the most gorgeous midi skirts which will work with trainers and a tee for the supermarket and a neat little knit and heels for a wedding. My favourite sort of hardworking piece. Code is WE20.
Marlin Print Skirt £225
Tippi Green Silk Cotton Skirt £250
And then throwing one in that's in the sale (better than the 20% off).
Eva Black Viscose Silk Skirt from LK Bennett was £350 now £140
And a couple more that I've found. This one I did actually buy and loved it when I tried it on instore. I bought the matching top but it wasn't *quite* long enough for me - I am ludicrously tall and prefer a maxi midi as opposed to a just below knee length midi, if that makes sense? However I still love the black border - makes it so much less full on Summery and super easy to team with black.
Garden Posy Pleated Skirt from Warehouse £49
More midi love at M&S.
Embroidered A Line Skirt £49.50
Leopard print A Line also at M&S £35
Full length Polka Dot at Mango £35.99 So completely wearable. Classic with a white tee, stans and a denim jacket. Black slides, white tee and black longline blazer for Parisian chic.
And finally, in the sale at Mango was £49.99 now £29.99
So hopefully that's some food for thought. I will be exploring these in more detail when the sun does come out for more than five milliseconds at a time.
In the meantime, I'm still mad about a dress. And last night, for drinks with friends and then dinner with the husband, I pulled out a blush H&M one from last year. I have bought (which I was going to wear to LFW but then wore the Rixo one instead) the blush and tan ruffle See by Chloe dress that I had tried on. But I'm going to send it back. For a start, I can't really justify keeping two such expensive dresses. I'm also having some other much more reasonably priced dresses that I bought (H&M & M&S) altered to work better for my ludicrous height. And lastly, I have this blush one and how many blush dresses does one need? Dare I say that the H&M one is also better quality than the Chloe one? Am I allowed to say that outloud? It was £79.99 which is exorbitant for H&M but the detailing is amazing (and I bet I can chuck it in the machine too). However I was very inspired by the addition of tan which the Chloe dress had - they go together so surprisingly well. My new fave colour combo.
Blush embroidered maxi dress - H&M
Leopard boots - Tabitha Simmons
Tan De Manta clutch - Alexander McQueen
I'm not going to lie - I have been hanging all day. Up and at 'em early doors for football training with the boys and then home via the Sainsburys Local to pick up bags of donuts. Of which I may have consumed more than my fair share. Let It Shine final tonight, followed by Saturday Night Take Away and a homemade greek lamb traybake (only as we've overdosed on takeaways recently.. and I bribed the 12yr old to do all the veg chopping..)
Tomorrow, off to a rugby tournament. Whilst the husband goes to Twickenham. The trains are up the spout apparently, so they're having to leave at 9.45am. Kick off is at 3pm. One can only assume that they're walking there?
So it's that time of the season - preview discount time. I say preview, but to all intents and purposes, it's actually just the beginning of the season.
A small enticer to encourage you to get into your Spring groove. It's that time of year when we have the Grazia 25% off and we all wait for it. Except I don't think they're doing it this year. SHOCK. Apparently this is the only discount of the season. It's 20% off which is better than nothing I guess.
Every season, I interrupt the usual programme of events (because I do *have* a programme of events.....
Oh of course I don't. Wing it, wing it and then wing it a bit more, that's me. You get whatever takes my fancy. Sorry. It's a stream of fashion unconsciousness) for my pick of what I would buy at Whistles.
So without further ado, what would I pick? First up - now this is interesting. Is it a cardigan, is it a jacket, who cares? It's pretty darn fabulous, it's unusual, it's timeless, it's very French looking (Sandro, Maje - oh hello) and it's black. I absolutely love this and the more I'm typing, the more I can think of ways to wear it.
I haven't seen anything else like this around this season - I'm definitely going to try it. I have a slight fear of looking like a black version of that massive blue eagle (I have googled and he was called Sam) from the Muppets...but it's worth a try. I'm thinking over a maxi dress...
Fringe Detail Knit Cardigan from Whistles in black was £155 now £124
Reverting to type now. Lusharama. The biker jacket has been reinvented in suede for Spring. Softer, easier to wear, just stay away from the children.
Suede Agnes Biker Jacket in khaki was £295 now £236
Combining the black and khaki theme, this isn't going to win any awards for exciting but it's so super useful. I would wear this a lot. An awful lot. Perfect fitted top to wear with full or A line skirts, cargo pants, boyfriend jeans - anything loose on the bottom where a more fitted silhouette on the top is needed.
Colour Block Cuff Knit in black and khaki was £95 now £76
And then of course there are the dresses. The great thing about Whistles is that stock comes in, flies out and isn't replaced. So if you see a print that you love, buy now, keep until your occasion in June/July/August (or wear in the mean time - I shall be giving another lecture shortly about not keeping things for best, which I need to take note of personally).
Bird Print Silk Tiered Dress Limited Edition was £349 now £279.20
Polka dots are definitely one print to watch out for this Spring. So easy to wear in this classic colourway.
Imie Amena Print Tiered Dress was £195 now £156
And this one. Which I love and keep coming back to - partly because I have THE perfect boots to go with it for wearing now... but also because I think it's so versatile. It works on so many different levels - for super casual with sandals for every day, with heeled espadrilles for BBQs, with strappy heels for nights out. I love the fact it's got sleeves. So much easier to wear when you have the top of your arms covered (less fake tan to apply - never let it be said that I am not practical. Aka lazy).
Penelope Printed Dress was £195 now £156
20% also off at Me+Em for the next couple of days and I am on the hunt for basics. So this morning I cleared out my wardrobe. Well. I sort of cleared out my wardrobe. I basically threw everything I didn't want into the corner of the bedroom on the floor, where it will sit for the next couple of days (for days I obviously mean weeks) until I garner the energy to sort it into a sell/bin/charity set of piles. Anyway, the reason for that useless nugget of information was that I can now see where the holes are in my wardrobe. Not with regards to full on Spring and Summer requirements - I will say the jury is still out as to which trends I shall be adopting (if any - highly likely I will just be tweaking last year's looks, but that's for another day).
The main thing which I have ejected and need to replace are basics. Good quality tees. Which are like the proverbial rocking horse poo. The problem is also that everyone likes something different. Some like a more stretchy, fitted, thicker cotton fabric. For me - I like slouch. I like slightly lived in looking with a soft flowy feel to it. In black, white, navy and khaki.
I haven't tried these, but they look pretty perfect. Money wise, it's an interesting one. I did try on an Isabel Marant linen tee in Liberty's last week (all in the interests of research) thinking - who would spend £135 (OUCH) on a tee? Oh my lord this was like the Taj Mahal of tees. I didn't buy it because - well, who would spend £135 on a tee (ha!) - and the style was too long for what I was looking for. But it did make me think - actually, if you wore that a couple of times a week from now until September, cost per wear, that's not bad.
Whilst I go and hunt for coins down the back of the sofa to pay for it, in the meantime, these are a much better option. And shorter which is really what I am after and not super oversized length.
Relaxed V Neck Tee from Me+E £39 pre 20% off. Code is FEB20
In the black £39
Or the navy
And the other wardrobe staple that you can never have too many of - the perfect crew neck fitted jumper. As I mentioned above with the Whistles coloured cuff one - perfect for all those bottoms that are slightly voluminous to create the perfect silhouette. Not cheap but again, cost per wear, these will take you into Summer and be your best friends come the Autumn. Layer with a layering shirt or my beloved thermal polos for super chilly days.
Perfect Button Crew in Soft Pebble £75 pre discount (blush to you and me)
Or the timeless black version.
If you're in tonight, may I suggest a small glass of something fizzy or red and have fun perusing the sites with your discounts which will probably be the only ones around this season. I always say, order, try on and then you can at least send back. Better to scratch that itch than spending the rest of the season thinking - can't believe I didn't buy it (when it wouldn't have fitted you anyway).
That will be me on Sunday afternoon when I've returned from taking son number one to a rugby tournament as the husband is off to Twickenham. I know....
In the meantime though, we are off out for dinner this evening but earlier today, I was wearing some old favourites with the new M&S coat which I am still loving.
Red 1970 jumper - Bella Freud
Black faux leather joggers - Topshop
Double breasted coat - M&S
Superstar sneakers - Golden Goose
Black Tools Bag - Balenciaga
I am warning you now. Over the next two days, I am sightly losing the plot. I am taking a brief hiatus from all things grown up and sensible and reverting to my inner 23 year old. Whether or not I act on it or not, I don't know yet, maybe writing about it will be good enough to scratch the itch.
Going in with a weird biggie tomorrow... any guesses? And don't forget to tell me what I haven't picked from Whistles and Me+Em, so I can add to my list of maybes for Sunday afternoon. Have a great Friday night everyone.
