Mainly Monochromes

I didn't manage to to do my outfit roundup (or bag post) last week due to various work things, namely working late and a Christmas work do - the latter being the more enjoyable one of the two. Anyway, so here is the week before last, which was all about monochrome and a couple of pics from last week.

So let's start with the monochromes:

The challenge for this week? Monochrome! Maybe that explains the grumpy face - I'm starting to miss my colourful patterns! (Don't judge me if i break at some point during the week!)

Dress: Zara

Necklace: Stella & Dot

Boots: something Italian that I bought in Germany...

What is she doing?! I dunno, but I'm gonna stand just like her! Monochrome look number 2, with and without jacket. And I snuck a pattern mix in!

Blouse: Miss Selfridge

Skirt: Reiss

Jacket: Warehouse

Boots: Zara

Awkward pose alert! Monochrome week continues with separates - and another print. :)

Top, skirt & boots: Zara

Jacket: Warehouse

And now on to last week's "randoms"...

 The skirt is the fashionably raggedy star in this. A reference to a Dickensian street scene was made, and I then thought of the bit in Pygmalion, where she sells flowers. "Wouldn't it be loverley..."

Top & skirt: Zara

Jacket: Warehouse

Boots: Office

No outfit challenge planned but we're continuing the Victoriana theme (though one of my colleagues referenced Adam Ant yesterday). The locket is actually genuinely Victorian. It was a present from Mr G and holds a picture of little M. :) 

Blouse and jacket: Warehouse 

Skirt: Topshop 

Boots: no idea... 

Locket: proper old

No Prints Allowed

Apologies for the rather dark pics I improved on my video quality but I'm still on my iPhone 6, which isn't great in low light. It is winter, after all.

Anyway, this week's challenge was to still abstain from print separates, so no trusty Boden pencil skirts or Zara tops. Instead it's all about block colours - ok, including black, so uni coloured separates.

New week, new challenge. Last week was all about the print dress, so I thought I'd try a week without (!) any prints at all. Yikes! 

Top: Primark 

Skirt and boots: Zara

I'm continuing my "separates without print" challenge by adding texture again: crushed velvet in the skirt and a shiny mock-croc belt. Probably slightly over-coordinated for me with matching(ish) bag, shoes and belt! (The belt is probably over a decade old and from Jesire.)

Top: Karen Millen

Skirt: Zara

Jacket: Warehouse

Belt: Jesire

Boots: Office

Bag: VVA

Separates without print - the challenge continues! Textures help massively though and pairing pleather with this woven fabric gives a bit of interest. :)

Top: Mango

Skirt: Warehouse

Boots: Zara

Necklace: Accessorize

Another day of "no print separates". The fact that I was running late meant no time to find a necklace. I actually liked this outfit but it does look awfully plain and dark here...

Jumper and boots: Zara

Skirt: Mango

Yesterday's casual Friday outfit. Still no print separates but I added some texture again, this time with this Zara jacket.

Top: Warehouse

Jeans: Paige

Jacket: Zara

Boots: Hallhuber

4 Print Dresses

As I've been relying so heavily on the 'printed skirt and a top combo', I decided to set a few challenges and theme my weeks. 

Last week was 'printed dress week'. 

The first two I reached for are firm favourites but I hadn't worn dress number one for quite a while.

Dress number three has never been worn, though I've had it in my wardrobe for a couple of months.

And dress four was *that* close to being chucked/donated but has now clawed its way back into my list of go-tos!

Oh, and I just noticed: all items from Boden, Zara and Topshop. Time to branch out?

Not worn this dress in aaages! Alas, I had forgotten it was the "team away day", which included bowling. Thanks to its stretchiness the dress played ball - though I was utterly useless. I might have even ended up with the lowest score in the team. Will be tallying up later! 

Dress: Boden 

Boots: Zara

PS: I had the second lowest score. Saved by somebody with a distinctly Disney-themed name.

Old dress, new boots! 

Dress: Boden 

Boots: Zara

New pinstripes! This dress has some seriously flattering rouching going on that magically gives me the hint of a waist! 

Dress & boots: Zara

Last of my week of printed dresses - this was actually intentionally to get me think about what I have in my wardrobe! I was almost going to chuck this one, as it's a bit snuck and wrinkles easily but had 4 people compliment on it. Can't be that bad. :) 

Dress: Topshop 

Necklace & boots:Zara

Next week's post: No prints - at all! Eeek!

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

Old Jacket, New Favourite

Outfit roundup a on Tuesday?! Due to a couple of busy weeks and then having been on holiday, I'm totally behind. My week in Germany involved a lot of lounging around and little sartorial action, so below the outfits from a couple of weeks ago. If I can find the time tomorrow, I'll get us up to date.

A couple of future faves: My old, yet newly discovered tweed jacket is finally being worn - and I really love it. (Do you do that? Discover items in your wardrobe that you almost discarded and fall in love with them?) Oh, and something actually new: that cosy Tesco jumper is going to get some repeat wears this winter!

I thought this outfit might be a pattern too far but I think it actually worked - and I really enjoyed wearing it! The jacket must be about 15 years old and almost every year I've held it up and thought "need to get rid of this, I never wear it" - and then hung it straight back into my wardrobe. It's a tricky one, as it's quite warm but not warm enough for proper outer wear (plus, it has elbow length sleeves and is cropped). But I thought I'd start wearing it kind of like a cardigan or blazer and voilà, it's now officially a keeper! 
Blouse & boots: Zara 
Skirt: Boden 
Jacket: River Island

I normally don't do outerwear shots. 
1. I do my ootd pic when I get home in the evening, after I dropped bag and coat downstairs and before I get changed into something that doesn't mind if I crawl around the floor building lego. 
2. I usually wear the same coat all season: a warm one in winter, a thinner one when it's warmer. Both hooded and waterproof, as I commute by train and walk bits in between. I also can't be bothered carrying an umbrella. (God knows why I have a wardrobe full of coats...) This was a day though when it was cold with no chance of rain so I dug out my classic grey coat - and I thought I'd share this. :) 
Jumper: Tesco 
Jeans: Next 
Trainers & coat: Zara 
Scarf: C&A

This is what happens when I take my 'outfit of the day' photo after coming home (no way would I have time to do this in the morning!). Little M will insist in being in a couple of pics and then we have to pose so that he "wears" my clothes. I have reams of those pics. 
Rubbish quality - but I can't quite get myself to delete them. 
Jumper: Zara 
Skirt: Mango 
Trainers: Kurt Geiger

At the weekend you'll usually find me in jeans, mainly because I will either be cleaning/tidying/pottering or climbing around hills/playgrounds/rocks. On Saturday I dragged Mr G and little M to Cheshire Oaks and (also due to the wet weather: nothing worse than jeans soaking up rain water) ended up in a dress. :) 

By the way: check out here what Mulberry had in stock! 

Dress & cardigan: Boden 

Boots: Hallhuber 

Necklace: Topshop

Confidence Booster Outfit

Do you have any go-to outfits for when you need to feel confident? My favourite outfit last the week was definitely my black stripy dress with that Zara jacket. The whole combo felt so easy to wear, fuss free and cool and looks like I hadn't tried to hard. Perfect for when you have to present!

In other news: It was only a matter of time until I would wear the same print twice in a week. I hadn't even realised until I posted my second pic on Instagram! Sigh.

"Mama, stand in a silly way!" Ok... I know I wore this recently but I had to speak in front of about 100 people yesterday and even though it was just for about 5 minutes, I was pretty nervous about it. I'm neither a practiced nor confident speaker, so my outfit had to be comfy, look cool but not like I tried too hard and have nothing too silly on it that could be remembered for the wrong reasons... 

Dress: Next 

Jacket: Zara 

Boots: Office

Necklace: Accessorize

"Mama, I want to be in the picture!" (Can I just say: this is is his "I just get in my sweats after taking off my school uniform" outfit. He doesn't dress like that for the whole day!) 

Mama's Shirt: Laredoute

Skirt: Boden 

Trainers: Converse 

Little M's outfit: Mango, Next, Matalan 

How to achieve such a spectacularly underwhelming picture: 

1. Drop food at taste session on floor in the massive atrium in front of EVERYONE in the building. 

2. Realise 2 hours later that half of the tomato sauce ended up on your dress and now doesn't budge. 

3. Think that for your ootd pic you can disguise the stain by showing off the bag you just switched into. 

4. Be ridiculously ungraceful posing with said bag and make dress appear to be only half of an outfit. (I can hear Julie say: "did you forget your pants?") 

5. Think "it's either that or nothing because I really can't be arsed trying for half an hour until I get a decent shot. 

 That (amongst other reasons) is why I'm not a professional blogger. 

Dress: Boden 

Trainers: Converse 

Bag: Mulberry

Do you have any items in your wardrobe that have the same print as others?

New Zara Favourites

I currently keep finding new Zara stuff I love (so I am also trying not too keep browsing them too often!) but I did take the plunge on the three below:

* an oversized shirt (dress?!)

* a pair of feathered trainers (!)   and

* an embellished sweatshirt with bishop sleeves.

Two of them definitely out of my comfort zone, and you know what? I loved wearing them!

Not something I've worn before, that shirt (dress?!) is huge on me, but I totally fell in love with it! (Mr G actually joked whether I was off painting - and I don't think he's far off.) This kind of blush pink is turning into my favourite hue this season. 

Shirt, shoes & necklace: Zara 

Jeans: Next

I was wondering whether the stripes AND the pattern AND the multi coloured jacket AND the necklace were a bit much but I do like it. :) 

Top & skirt: Boden 

Jacket: Zara 

Trainers: Converse 

Necklace: Aarikka

  I absolutely love my new (and current) Zara jumper! It's comfy and cosy, which is perfect for the colder months to come, 

but has enough detail to make my outfit. :) 

Jumper: Zara 

Skirt: BCBG MAXAZRIA 

Trainers: Kurt Geiger 

Fluffy jumper and summer skirt. And that necklace. I love the mix of zesty and pastel colours. 

Jumper: Primark 

Skirt: Miss Selfridge 

Trainers: Converse 

Necklace: Oliver Bonas

Goodbye Summer

The weather is changing and I am moving away from 'summer' and into 'transitional': more layers, more knit. Soon enough I will have to try and remember what I wore last year - especially when the sheer tights go away!

Fluffy jumper weather is here! Blues and greens always work and this necklace kind of does the work for me. 

It was a bit too wet for converse, otherwise I'd have thrown in my blue hi-tops for an additional blue hue.

Jumper: Primark 

Skirt: Warehouse 

Trainers: Kurt Geiger 

Necklace: Stella & Dot

Can you call it a clash even if it kind of goes? Because I think that describes these patterns out together... (Because I was a complete numpty and went over on my ankle again, I wanted to wear something to hide my bandage, thus a bit casual for a weekday.) 

Jumper & jeans: Zara 

Trainers: Converse

A couple of days behind as I was off and then working from home for little M's start into school life. 😂 If I was drinking, I'd say "hand me the wine." Anyway... Summer seems to be on it's way out and every outfit in sheer tights may well be the last one before the opaques have to come out. I thought we were promised an Indian summer??? 

Dress: Zara

Boots: Marks and Spencer 

Necklace: Stella & Dot

Feeling pretty meh about this outfit as it's just too autumnal. I'm not ready for summer to be over! 

Top, skirt & necklace: 

Topshop 

Cardigan: Boden 

Boots: Marks and Spencer

Outfit Full Of Texture

So last week was little M's first day at school. That meant working from home on some days (which basically means slobbing it in jeans and sweatshirt) and thus not really enough content for a very satisfying outfit roundup. BUT, I happened to wear an outfit, which had so much going on, I thought I'd just do what lots of bloggers do and show you that one in detail!

So, without much further ado...

There are so many favourites in this outfit: The dress (new, from next), the boots, the jacket, the necklace - oh, and the bag - the bag!  

Dress: Next (current) 

Jacket: Zara 

Boots: Office 

Necklace: Accessorize 

Bag: VVA

Fancy a closeup of the details?

 This Zara jacket has a lovely vintage feel to it and is embroidered and embellished all over.

 I've had this Accessories necklace for years. It's so delicate, I always fret over breaking it. Fingers crossed - so far it's been fine!

The bag comes to the office with me frequently - it handily even holds my laptop!

Totally unintentionally I matched my boots to the bag - I normally never match footwear and handbag - do you?

Dressing with Opposites

It feels like the last days of a summer that has barely been. With the sky grey and drizzly at times, I am sticking to boots or Converse. Incidentally: I think they work rather well with pencil skirts that would otherwise sometimes look a bit twee and plain. What do you think?

Back to outfits after the long weekend... did you have a good one? I think I've worn this skirt through all seasons now and it remains a firm favourite. Are you sick of seeing it yet? 

T-shirt: Warehouse 

Skirt & cardigan: Boden 

Trainers: Converse

Channeling something akin to Maid Marian: green, floaty... buckles...?

Dress: Mango

Boots: Marks and Spencer

Necklace: Accessorize

For some reason I completely forgot what I usually wear with this skirt right after I put it on. Usually I check back at my instagram but I don't have time so I spotted something grey and something pink for the top an threw it on...

Top: Topshop

Cardigan: Mango

Skirt: Boden

Trainers: Converse

A bit too casual for a non-Friday but I sprained my ankle and needed something to hide the bandage. These jeans were a steal at the Harvey Nicks sale - though I'm not sure if ever pay the RRP for them...

Top: Boden

Jacket: Zara

Jeans: Paige

Trainers: Converse

Something Old and Something Blue

Pathetically this is a couple of week's worth as I am behind. Pretty much as summery as we got in the past few months. I expect it's downhill from here - at least temperature wise...

Continuing the blue outfit theme. Looking at the calendar we ought to get ready to say goodbye to summer but I feel like it's not even been here. Let's make the most of it! 

Top: From an independent store (label says Golden Linen)

Skirt & cardigan: Boden 

Trainers: Converse

I was only off for one week and yet on Monday I stood in front of my wardrobe having no clue what to wear... 

T-shirt: Warehouse 

Cardigan: Boden 

Skirt: Miss Selfridge 

Trainers: Converse

Necklace: Stella & Dot

Natural tones on a warm-ish day...

Top: Zara 

Skirt: Boden 

Trainers: Converse

One to catch up on from my holiday week, hence the lack of decent mirror. It was my goddaughter's first day at school and in Germany that means church, then presentation at the school and then a family lunch. A warm and sunny day - with a heavy thunderstorm after lunch. 

Top: Golden Linen

Skirt and shoes: Boden

Another one from my holiday. Catching up with a casual outfit... these Converse "Chucks" are probably about 26 years old. They've been worn to death but I love them! I think the quality was way better back then, new ones seem to fall apart much quicker... 

Top: Topshop 

Jeans: Next 

Trainers: Converse