Old Skirt, New Outfit

Part 2 of my catchup. And another item that has been hanging in my wardrobe, pretty much unloved and close to being popped into the charity bag: this black pleather skirt has received a new lease of life by being teamed with this monochrome top and (another 'old' find) necklace duo.

Old stuff - new combo. I almost got rid of the skirt and the necklaces must be about 18 years old! Just goes to show that I shouldn't get rid of anything. Maybe I'll KonMari in my next life. *sigh* 

Top & skirt: Zara 

Necklaces: (I think) Accessorize

Boots: Office

Beetlejuice pants! I think so far I had only worn them with sweatshirts, so this feels reasonably 'dressed up'.

Shirt: La Redoute

Jeans & necklace: Zara

Jacket: Warehouse

Trainers: Converse

Bit of a leftover from a few days ago but I didn't feel very well the last couple of days and pretty much just hid under my duvet...

Dress: Boden

Cardigan: H&M

Boots: Hallhuber

Necklace: Stella & Dot

Still felt under the weather yesterday - can you tell? I felt like a right numpty with my jeans that are a tad too short. At least you can't see my pink socks in the pic. Just to show that I have off days too!

Jumper: Topshop

Jeans: Next

Trainers: Boden

Boden Wins Again

Honestly two of my favourite outfits; both with the same Boden skirt - but in different prints. The animal print skirt paired with the knotty hem top does that 'fitted waist + wide top = magic a waist' thing so well. The navy & white print skirt just goes so nicely with the navy & white Breton top. And I'm lucky enough to have some necklaces in my wardrobe that just work.

Feels like... autumn?! Dark tights and long sleeves. Sigh. Well, we had a maximum of 16 degrees C yesterday. 

I do love this to though, with its knotty hem...

Top: Mango

Skirt: Boden

Boots: Zara

Necklace: Warehouse

I love my new top from Boden: the navy perfectly matches the hue in this skirt (also Boden) and the sleeves add a bit of pizzazz. 

Top & skirt: Boden 

Trainers: Converse 

Necklace: Zara

You know that I kinda like hydrangeas, right? ;) Still in love with this print, which is why I have it twice. Struggling to put a necklace with it. I don't do bracelets (annoy me when typing) and usually forget about earrings but maybe I should try harder when wearing this dress? What would you add? 

Dress: Boden

Boots: Zara

You know what I'm like with statement necklaces, right? Well, I'm talking to a colleague about an incident management exercise (admittedly, not one of the most exciting subjects) and she suddenly blurts out "does this necklace not get in the way?" I guess it kind of does. Especially when you're wearing a fitted coat. But obviously very handy as a distractor. Note to self: wear when having to present something I have no clue about!

Dress & top worn underneath: H&M

Necklace: Marni for H&M

Shoes: Zara

August Favourites

Ok, so you're only getting a couple of outfits in this week's roundup - but it's quality over quantity this time! (Not saying that I am usually showing you the dreggs... I'm digging myself a hole, here right?!)

Anyway... One of them is one of my current favourites: that green midi skirt is still a tricky length (of course it is, not like I've grown...) but the colour will forever cheer me up and matched with this embroidered top I am feeling distinctly spring-summer-ish and bouncy!

The other one seems plain but I am showing off a new Boden top - that's current enough for me to provide a link below!

A repeat outfit - but with different shoes! 

I'm laughing because little M is propping up (=wobbling) the mirror and singing "Mama, look: my finger is a wiggly worm!" 

Top: Zara 

Top worn underneath: H and M 

Skirt: Warehouse 

Trainers: Converse

New stripy top with ruffles from Boden. A bit casual for a Tuesday but I got bitten to bits by something during the night and didn't want to have my legs out. I actually wore a blazer over this at work. 

Top: Boden 

Jeans: Next 

Boots: Marks and Spencer

Clash or Match?

Print, print and more print this week: two outfits of uni-coloured tops with print skirts and two where I'm matching different prints on top and bottom. I always think the uni t-shirt is a bit of a cop out and love it when clashing prints works - but it doesn't always...

Looking at the weather today, yesterday may well have been the last day of summer... I'm glad I wore something light and bright! 

T-shirt: H & M 

Skirt and cardigan: Boden 

Shoes: Zara

  Give me summer... on a skirt! You can't gimmick better than hydrangeas - I just love them! T-shirt: Warehouse 

Cardigan and skirt: Boden 

Trainers: Converse 

Necklace: Stella & Dot

Yep, I still post outfits every now and then... (You're forgiven if you thought I'd moved onto flowers.) one of my favourite Boden prints! 

T-shirt: Warehouse 

Skirt and cardigan: Boden 

Necklace: Topshop 

Shoes: Dune Shoes 

Not sure about this one - maybe I just crave pretty colour too much at the moment to compensate for the lack of summer... The short must have been in my wardrobe for at least a decade, probably more like 15 years - and I've never worn it. I decided it now either works or has to go. It's still not off the hook - either way. Lol. 

Shirt: Miss Sixty 

Skirt: Rumour London at Wolf & Badger 

Trainers: Converse

Is Winter Over Yet?

Looking back at last week, my outfits still feel distinctly 'winter': monochrome, knits, woolly textures... It may well have been the last week of 'proper' winter outfits - we shall see how this week pans out.

Worth mentioning: I really don't like the last outfit. Top doesn't work with skirt. And actually, I find the skirt too blah. And too similar to other skirts who do that look better. Will see if I give it one more go or give it the chop alongside some other items I've sent off to eBay or Depop.

Can't wait for spring - but it will mean no more black tights, so I will have to remember what to wear with nude ones... 

I love this dress and don't think it will work without the black tights, so this might be its last outing...

Dress & boots: Zara

Necklace: Stella & Dot

I know: I keep showing you things that I pulled out of the back of my wardrobe but this skirt is actually new! 

The picture doesn't do it justice, it's much more swishy. :) 

Top: H&M 

Cardigan: Boden 

Skirt: Rumour London at Wolf & Badger 

Necklace: Topshop

One day (when I think I won't lose my cool if Me G takes my pic) I will show you the back of this dress. Only by then I might have built it up to be something so wondrous that you'll be disappointed by the two tie-like appendices. "That's what she was on about?!" We shall see... 

Dress: Jesire

And then there are the outfits that just don't really work... nothing terribly wrong but the skirt is blah, the textures grate on each other and there's no real detail of interest. Admittedly rushed in the morning (well, I always am) but back to the drawing board with this one... 

Top: H&M 

Skirt: Hallhuber

Something Old and Something Blue

Nope, nothing to do with a wedding. At all. Just something old (a skirt that had been hiding in my wardrobe) and something blue (my trusty denim shirt). Do you have pieces hiding in your wardrobe? What do you do with them when you find them? Wear, chuck, put away to hide for another couple of years? I am trying to be ruthless: wear or chuck! Or wear, then decide...

"Denim shirt that goes with everything..." she hums... Actually really glad I wore this skirt with it and not my little tartan one, as somebody else wore that one yesterday - and she looked amazing in it!

Shirt: Laredoute

Skirt: Topshop

Necklace: ZARA

Another magic trick out of the "create the illusion of a waist" box: slim fitting dress with loose, cropped top. This dress does it all for me! :)

Dress & necklace: ZARA

Here's a skirt you haven't seen before. But you guessed it: been in my wardrobe for years! Keep or not to keep? 

(Note: have the same one in a different green fabric...)

Top: H&M

Skirt: River Island

Jacket: Warehouse

Necklace: Stella & Dot

There is that "I can hide in the garden" print again. And a slightly more severe haircut... 

Top: H&M Skirt: Boden

Slouchy Boot Week

Bit of a bumper week, with five (!) outfits posted. And I managed to hit my weekly objective of using an item that hasn't been worn for ages: the overknee boots. So five outfits and four pairs of boots - makes a change...

I've had these boots in my wardrobe for years and I rather like them. I think suede and slouchy is the way to go if you want to do thigh high boots in a classy way. Only problem is that one of them keeps slouching down - and the other one doesn't. Ah well, can't have everything... 
Top: Hallhuber 
Skirt: AllSaints
Jacket: Warehouse
Boots: somewhere in the back of my wardrobe... no idea where I bought them originally...

This dark green plain dress with pleather trim and pockets (I love pockets in a dress, don't you just love pockets?!) makes this necklace really stand out. There actually used to be a chain strand on the necklace, which i had to chop off as it got hopelessly tangled up. 
Dress: Mexx 
Necklace: ZARA

Love this slouchy Whistles dress. It's only thin t-shirt material so I always layer over opaques and black long sleeve top. The Vivienne Westwood inspired boots work really well with it, I think.
Dress: Whistles
Cardigan: H&M
Boots: Marks and Spencer
Necklace: ZARA

I'm so totally behind posting these! Normally not a fan of pleather (bit of a leather snob) but this one feels lovely - and it's animal cruelty free. Thought it might be a bit too much with the necklace but I must have had the most compliments that day I ever had on any outfit - and all from girls (which are the best kind of compliments if you like clothes). 
Dress: ZARA 
Top worn underneath: Next 
Boots: Zara 
Necklace: Stella & Dot

A few things about this dress:
1. It's at least 6 years old.
2. It's from Jesire, a high street label that went bust in around 2011. Kate Middleton was seen wearing a few of their pieces soon after and there were speculations that it could be saved but it then just disappeared.
3. The print totally makes it. They had a simple grey one as well and when I tried that on it looked so "bla".
4. One of its nicest features is hidden: two long "scarves"/ kind of tie shaped thingies hanging down the back. I tried to capture them a few times but just can't.
5. I think this was the first dress/skirt with pockets I ever bought - and I was hooked.
So there, 5 things before 9 you really didn't need to know...
Dress: Jesire
Necklace: ZARA

Pattern Party

Another week with patterns... A newish favourite, an older one - and a first timer!

Oh, and little M, who is trying to distract me...

"Mama... Come on and play!" I usually take my pics at the end of the day when I get in, just before I get changed. 

I usually only have a minute or so to do them...

Dress: Boden

Jacket: Warehouse

Boots: Zara

This skirt must be the best "cost per wear" item in my wardrobe! And the shirt isn't doing too bad either... Yep, and the necklace.

Denim Shirt: LaRedoute

Skirt: Boden

Necklace: Marni for H&M

 

Just a few random posts last week but no ootd - yes, I was on holiday. Getting back into the groove now with this new dress. Think it works well with the jacket worn over but I wanted to show that it's sleeveless.

Dress: Oliver Bonas

Top worn underneath: H&M

Jacket: Warehouse

Necklace: Stella & Dot

Accidental Trans-Seasonal Dressing

I just realised that last week was a bit of a "how to wear spring/summer items when it turns cold" week. The Boden skirt was from SS16 and it's a light material with light coloured lining - I was just about to pack it away with the rest of my spring/summer wardrobe. The Versace dress is also a SS item: a very fine knit, probably more designed for milder days and bare legs. And the black dress is actually a sleeveless piece, also SS16.

I have a seemingly endless supply of black long-sleeve tops and opaque tights, so it's really just a matter of layering them with whatever I fancy in the morning. What do you think: yay or nay?

I thought this skirt would have to go into hibernation as I wasn't sure it would go with black tights and winter jumpers, but I think it kinda works...

Top: LaRedoute

Skirt: Boden

Boots: Zara

Necklace: Marni for H&M

Remember how I said that I still have clothes on my wardrobe I don't ever wear? Well, I'm trying to force myself to either wear them or let them go and this dress is one of those items. I think I've had it since 2011 (so pre- little M) and only ever wore it once. Bit booby for the office, even with another top underneath but just about OK. Might be able to justify keeping it.

Dress: Versace

Not sure whether this dress doesn't need any accessories but I was running late and couldn't figure out what to put with it in a rush.

Dress: &OtherStories

Autumn Gold

Autumn is well and truly here and I am digging into my wardrobe, finding some items I had forgotten throughout the summer months. Last weekend I moved my 'purely summer' items into a wardrobe in little M's room. Do you move your seasonal items around or do you have an 'all year round' wardrobe?

I like it when this happens: you pull out an item of clothing and try to find something that works with it - and come across another item that really makes the colour "shine": the rich blue of the skirt (sorry for the poor pic) picks out the floral print and harmonises nicely with the gold on the top. (Spot the wonky door frame next to me - that's what happens if you rush your outfit pic.)
Top: Florence & Fred at Tesco
Longsleeve top worn underneath: &OtherStories
Skirt: Boden
Boots: Zara

I'm sure you've seen this one before - am I running out of ideas..?
Well, the skirt is one of those items I pull out of my wardrobe, when I'm in a rush and I need to feel happy with what I'm wearing that day. How could you not smile with that print?!
Top: H&M
Skirt: Boden
Boots: Zara

Office Girl or Hippie

If you follow me on Facebook you might have noticed that I was on holiday last week. Sometimes that means I have more time to blog. Sometimes that means I forget that I have a blog - apart from posting random holiday snaps via Instagram. So the below is the whole all of the outfit shots I did over the past two weeks. And there is even one that shows a truly 'holiday' outfit!

Never would have thought about putting these two prints together - until I saw that the mustardy yellow is pretty much the same shade in both. Not sure about the shoes though...
Top: H&M
Skirt: Boden
Shoes: Zara

I wasn't sure about this one when I put it on in the morning. That below-the-knee length is so tricky if you're wearing flats. But I had about three people comment on it - favourably - so it must look ok. :)

Top: Warehouse

Skirt: Zara

Shoes: Kurt Geiger

Necklace: Aarikka

Do you buy clothes when you're on holiday? I don't mean, pop into a H&M and buy an extra t-shirt. Or find a local shop that stocks your favourite designer.
I mean the kind of stuff that you pick up when on a summer holiday: t-shirts with weird prints, tops that scream hippie - and trousers like these ones.
I bought them quite a few years ago in Piran/Slovenia because it was so hot and they looked like fun. Since then I've not worn them though because they just were a bit too... weird? "Sod it!" I thought last week when I was in Germany and it was hot. And they did make me smile! :)
Top: H&M
Trousers: little hippie shop in Piran

We All Have Angles

My outfits posts on Facebook or Instagram are usually just a quick picture with a random sentence and a reference to where I bought what - if I can remember and/or haven't cut out any labels. Sometimes I say what I specifically like or dislike about an outfit but it's not often that I go off on some sort of monologue. Well, last week was a bit different.

Whilst the first couple of outfits were... standard posts...

Dress: Primark

Cardigan: Boden

Shoes: Zara

Top: Warehouse

Skirt: Zara

Trainers: Converse

And then I kind of went off on one with this one:

"I don't edit my pictures, mainly because I don't have the time and can't be bothered.
But I do take a few (usually around 5-8) and then pick the one I like best. It's quite frustrating when you delete all the ones that are a definite "no" and you're left with - more nos. (That's what I usually mean by "best out of a bad bunch".)
What's my point?
I don't like this picture. I think my legs look craggy and skinny and pale, my skin blotchy and my midriff dumpy.
And then I thought "how bloody stupid!": If I look like this on a picture then I'm bound to look like this for some of the day. I walk around all day looking like this and I can't chose the angle that people see me at.
And if I didn't say anything here, people might not even notice those flaws. Or they might see others where I didn't even perceive any.
It doesn't matter. It's fine.
And if you read this far and you know what I mean, then just let me tell you this: you are fine! You look great! We all have our angles!
Xx"

By the way:

Top: H&M

Skirt: Warehouse

Shoes: Kurt Geiger

Necklace: Dorothy Perkins

And then followed it up with this one:

"Ok, after yesterday's rant over bad angles and all that I took about 8 pics. Not the worst ever lot but most of them like the one on the left: I look like I need the loo, my haircut looks stupid, my resting face grumpy...
And then there's one where I happen to look out the window because I heard something and that accidental one is the best out of the bunch.
>>> be less self conscious, try less hard and it'll probably work out for the better! #weallhaveangles"

Top: Topshop

Jeans: Next

Trainers: Converse

Do you share outfit posts? If so, what do you do? Do you ever find chucking an entire post out because you don't like any pictures? Would love to hear from you! 

Thanks to Independent Fashion Bloggers to select my Post for their Links à la Mode on September 8th! 
Please do check out the other brilliant blog posts below.

• Attire Club: A Quick Guide to Men’s Jumpsuits
• Cat Eyes & Skinny Jeans: {What’s in My} August 2016 Sun Kissed Glossy Box
• Cover Mum: White Summer in Sicily
• Christie Moeller: Scrunchie Resurrection
• Five Foot Nothing Shopping: How to Wear Your Summer and Spring Clothes in Fall
• Grazielle Camilleri: Travel Look
• Happy.Pretty.Sweet.: This is 30
• Love, Amber Victoria: Casual Luxe
• Mox and Socks: 12 Piece Fall Capsule Wardrobe for Petites
• One Awesome Momma: 5 Ways to Wear Office Outfit and Not Look Boring
• Outfit Zest: End of Summer Mix Tape
• Proceed with Style: Styling with Jack Rogers
• Quaintrelle Georgiana: The Journey of the Stockings Through the History of Fashion
• Sassy Ethnic Bohemian: In Which We Investigate the Corset
• Splash of Teal: Getting Used to Oversized Accessories | Three Tiers of Duster Earrings
• Style Pith: Splurging is Not a Crime, But Only for These Beauty Products
• Style with Nihan: Try this Summer Trend | Bold Prints and Mini Overalls
• Tales of Two: Are Tights Making a Comeback in 2016?
• Trendee Toad: Fall in Love with Fall | 3 Ways to Style Your Fall Wardrobe
• Wish and Wear: We All Have Angles

SPONSOR: Amazon's Shopbop Calvin Klein Underwear, Rebecca Minkoff Bags, R13 Jeans, Dear Frances, OAD, Fashion Forms, Statement Earrings, Bomber Jackets, Loafers, Men's Lemaire

Three Prints For August

Three outfits from last week and I just realised that I did a print on a different item of clothing each day: on a t-shirt, skirt and sweatshirt. Maybe I should do a block colour dress challenge one week?

Top: H&M

Cardigan: Boden

Skirt: Warehouse

Shoes: Zara

Top: Topshop

Cardigan: Boden

Skirt: Boden

Shoes: Dune

Top: Boden

Skirt: Warehouse

Trainers: Converse