Merry Chr-Issa-mas everyone!

Christmas day and I was up at 5.40. But I certainly wasn't planning my outfit or calming down over-excited children (my gorgeous DDs at the grand old ages of 14 and 15 stumbled down in their onesies at 9am), oh no, I was up before the larks partly because my mouth was parched from a little too much celebrating the night before and partly because I was having my usual stress about whether my Aga would stay hot all day, or whether it would decide to cool down and leave me with a bloody turkey and soggy roasties.

So after a couple of hours shuffling the bird between roasting and simmering ovens, making giblet stock and poking pressies under the Christmas tree I decided to pull on a selection of presents from Christmases past. My Issa dress (much beloved by the Middleton gels) was from my parents last year. It's the perfect shape for Christmas day, sooooo comfy and with cunning twisty draping around the midriff to hide any post prandial...ahem...bulge. With it I wore my classic midi-heel (no painful bunions in the kitchen for me) Louboutin boots, a gift from DH many years ago and later on I was lucky enough to be able to accessorise it with a gorgeous Gill Clements necklace from my lovely brother and his wife, a fab sparkly Anya Hindmarch clutch from DH and of course a glass of bubbly. Merry Christmas everyone!!!

No I didn't have my lips pumped up for Xmas...just a dodgy photo and some rather smudged lippy!

Dress; Issa
Boots: Louboutin
Necklace: Gill Clements
Bag: Anya Hindmarch

Same style Issa dress on the sale at Flannels

Similar sparkly clutch from Anya Hindmarch now on the sale here

Anglomaniac

I have a hankering for a Vivienne Westwood black jersey dress. The sort with complicated bits of ruching, draping and asymmetry. I've been obsessively stalking a few online and waiting for the sales to start but they never seem to be reduced, or if they are, they're only available in two sizes...ginormous and miniscule.

While I was impatiently waiting for the perfect Westwood LBD to turn up, I managed to absent-mindedly buy a bargainous one on Ebay, it was late at night and I just clicked without really thinking. When it arrived it seemed quite a lot smaller and significantly shorter than I'd imagined (one of the few times I've been rather grateful for my little legs.)  I suspect it will probably find its eventual home in DD's wardrobe but for a pre-Xmas night out I thought I'd give it a try.

Dress: Anglomania from E-Bay
Shoes: Kurt Geiger from Shoeaholics
Blue and gold bracelets: New Look

Promotional picture that shows the draping better than in my dodgy photo.

I added my faux fur from Ark to keep off the chill

Dahlia dress from My-Wardrobe.com and Selfridges 

Force dress in metallic midnight.

I think I'll keep on stalking the others though!

Red wine and a red dress

Ahhhhhhhhhh :)

The family have all gone home after a wonderful Christmas full of absurd amounts of food, wine and laughter. Time to upload all my pictures and catch up on blogging to hit the 50 outfit target I set myself back in November (the cleaning can definitely wait a while).

Surprisingly I did manage to stagger to Christmas without having to repeat or resort to dressing up my pyjamas with a few fabulous accessories. Unsurprisingly, rather a lot of the photos are a little blurry and a bit the worse for wear, rather like their subject!

So, firstly, the red dress. Is there anything more Christmassy? I had seen a wonderful photo of Dita Von Teese looking fabulous (as ever) in a red jersey dress and I tried to emulate her with touches of animal print, red lips and dark glasses- but it didn't seem right for the stormy Yorkshire weather and I felt like I was off to a fancy-dress party. Black tights and boots made it more wearable and the red lips and black fur scarf added just a little dash of Dita-ish vintage glamour!

Above: Dita looking gorgeous
Below: Me looking rather ridiculous!

Dress: Diane Von Furstenburg (old)
Glasses: Chanel
Bag: Louis Vuitton (Very old hand me down from Lovely MIL)
Shoes: Barratt from EBay
Tights: Seamed glossies from Pretty Polly

Dress: DVF
Ankle boots- Kurt Geiger from Shoeaholics

Scarf: Topshop (this season)

Christmas and colours

A quick look at my pictures and I realised that I look a bit more alive in red, is it my imagination or could it possibly be that the colour analyst all those years ago was right? I pulled out my dusty book of swatches and on the cover it said that scarlet and forest green are two of my best colours. I was duly inspired to find something in green for Christmas and found a jersey dress with leather detailing by Patrizia Pepe from Flannels (20% off when I got it, now down to £95.) Now,  it's rather tight and unforgiving but I've been working bloomin' hard to get into shape on the fantastic Mumsnet low carb bootcamp, so with some serious shape-wear underneath (thanks to M&S) it was perfect for dinner out before the serious Christmas eating has started! In the New Year I think I may dress it down with chunky boots, scarf and leather jacket

Dress: Flannels
Boots: Kurt Geiger from Shoeaholics
Necklace: E Bay

Going dotty!

Confession time. The title may well refer to my spotty stockings but when it comes to fashion, at the moment I am genuinely losing it. The relentless, constant and unremitting rain means that the only appropriate outfit is a kagoule, waterproof trews and wellies. No, strike that,  I really need to become Mrs Noah and build a bloomin' ark!

So, with the biblical weather and the Christmas frenzy, I've fallen just a teensy bit behind on my pictures. With five days to go I have to dig out at least five more outfits to fulfil my challenge. Fortunately I have just bought my absolutely final pressie, so the pressure is off (apart from the supermarket shop, wrapping and cooking of course!) It's time to stop stressing and start celebrating.

Today, my outfit was as dark as the clouds- out came a black polo and jeans but I added some spotty tights and midi heels to introduce a little interest a la crazystylelove. And over the top... a mac of course!

Tights: Primark
Shoes: Gucci ( very old)

Polo: H&M (this season)
Jeans: Gok at Sainsbury
Tights: Primark
Shoes: Gucci (old)

Trench: Whistles

Spotty ankles

Inspiration courtesy of Crazystylelove.com

Faux fur and jewels

I was checking out 'My Daily Style' on stylelovely.com, which is full of fabulously leggy young things looking unutterably gorgeous in everything. So, it can be inspiring but also profoundly depressing for women of a certain age! One of this week's posts featured faux furs, dressed down to look effortlessly casual but stylish with jeans. Now effortlessly casual is not something that comes easily to me, fortunately big DD was there to boss me around  guide me (and of course to lend me her Topshop speckled T-shirt, a fair swap for a loan of my Anglomania jersey dress over Christmas!)

So I wore my Zara jeans with a slouchy T-shirt and my Faux fur from Ark (24% off today with the code 24DAY) and channeling another picture from Emma Wornout's Pinterest board, I added some bling with a necklace from Accessorize. A very different look for me...but I kind of like it!

Style inspiration from stylelovely.com

Jeans: Zara
Boots: Kurt Geiger from Shoeaholics
Coat: Ark
Tshirt: Topshop (old)
Necklace: Accessorize (this season)

Black and white and red all over

It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas. Our tree's up and the decorations have been scattered around the house with gay abandon, we even had a DIY German Christmas market experience at home tonight (it was too cold, wet and miserable to face the real one) with Bratwurst and Gluhwein in front of the fire.

With all the festive spirit, it just didn't seem right to dress in dull monochrome so I added some splashes of red. I think you've all seen more than enough of my scarlet coat, so instead I rediscovered an Anthropologie number from a few years ago. It has great mismatched buttons in red and white and I added a red necklace, bag and nails...a bit matchy, matchy but hey...It's Christmas!

Coat: Anthropologie (old)
Bag: Lulu Guiness
Boots: Moda in Pelle
White shirt: Zara
Black cashmere jumper (I said it was cold, I needed layers!): Uniqlo
Black jeans: Gok at Sainsbury

Necklace (is this a statement necklace or is it too small?): Ebay

Burgundy and blue

Bloggers from Schoolgatestyle to Avenue 57 have been looking fab in burgundy jeans this season. I've been hankering after a pair but with my colour phobia it's taken a little while to catch up with the trend.

While Christmas shopping I fell upon a pair of the Primark plum skinnies which I've been hunting for for weeks, in my size and at £9 I just stuffed them in my basket without even thinking. Mistake. if you're skinny hunting at Primark (and if you're not...you really should, lots of them are better than jeans several times the price) TRY THEM ON. Mine fit well but have an unbelievably irritating twisted seam so that it twines around my calf like some rampant ivy.

I wore mine with navy (what, no black?) Topshop pinstripe jacket, Tesco cashmere jumper and one of my favourite scarves, a tasselled All Saints number splodged with red, green, wine and blue. A darker look than some of my favourite bloggers...but then nothing new there!

Jeans: Primark
Wedges: Aldo
Navy jumper: Tesco
Jacket: Topshop (old)

Jacket:Topshop (old)

All Saints Scarf (old)

And the winner is...

No, not Sports Personality of the Year, although we did seem to be voting for ALL of the shortlisted candidates at Sickofmystylerut towers last night . I'm talking about the results of the really important contest of the last week: 'Do my legs look short in this?'

Finally the results are in...hold your breath for loud fanfare... and the winner is...dadadadaaaaaa...the straight-legged Replay jeans. Cue wild applause.

I'm just so very proud but this prize isn't just for me, I couldn't have done it without the help of a huge team Blah...blah...blah.

The absolute loser with precisely no votes, was the Gok skinnies worn with lace-up ankle boots that seemed to reduce my pins to stocky little stumps. But don't blame the jeans, oh no, it was the boots what done it guv! The Gok skinnies actually came in a close second place when coupled with my magic, leg lengthening YSL platform shoe-boots.

I think I learnt a few things through this experiment. Firstly that it's worth trying all cuts of trousers but if you're petite it's important to think about the footwear you choose. Also, it doesn't really matter if my legs look a bit stumpy sometimes. I mean, they are short. One of my favourite pics was of the red coat and cigarette pants and my legs look tiny in that. So what!

My Westwood jacket (seen here) worn exactly the same way and photographed from the same angle but with the skinnies and the straights. Do my legs look short in this?

A little military...or a lot

I saw this picture of Jessica Alba rocking the military look from head to toe. She was out Christmas shopping at Hamley's so I can only assume she needed her gun belt and brolly to fight her way through the festive frenzy. I am woefully unprepared for Christmas and had to head to York today to hit the shops. So I decided to channel Jessica's military vibe to battle the buskers, tourists and people generally mooching around and getting in my way. Bah Humbug!

I first tried the whole shebang: Hat, cross-body-bag, belt and flat riding boots but I looked like a reject from Cheryl Cole's 'Fight for our love' video! So, I whipped off nearly all of the accessories  and parted the crowds with a steely expression and a firmly held umbrella!

Swamped by accessories!
Boots: Aldo (this season, see here)
Aubergine Snood: Topshop
Hat: Ebay (the sane here)
Belt: River Island
Military Coat: Anglomania (old)
Bag: Mulberry
Jeggings with pleather side stripes: Topshop (similar with wider side panels  here

I'm gonna fight, fight, fight for this love!

Greek Fisherman's Hat: From our dressing up box and very very small on my fat head,
but great if you get one that fits from /www.hatsandcaps.co.uk

A little less military and a little more me!
High boots: Moda in Pelle (this season)

Take one jersey dress...

Nestling among my old and unloved clothes there's an aubergine dress, bought after a late night googling frenzy right at the start of this challenge. It's from Boohoo and at full price is only £15, I had a voucher code too so it was completely bargainous. It's this season's colour, it's made of jersey, cut in a simple style which all the fashion gurus say is very versatile- you get the gist, can be dressed down, dressed up, add a few fabulous accessories and you have a whole new look, yadayadayada...

Dress: Boohoo

Why then was it still hanging there its tags still on five weeks later?
I don't know. Maybe it's a bit skimpy and small, maybe it's just not really me. 

Anyway I had a few things to go to over the last couple of days (don't get excited, it wasn't the Les Mis premiere, just the usual pre-Christmas Mumsy stuff: Carol concert, Xmas shopping, Mum's lunch) so I thought I'd see how far my little dress could take me. And I made sure I layered it over other tops so you'll be glad to know there were no stinky hygiene issues!

Boots: Moda in Pelle (this season)
Scarf: Miss Selfridge (this season)
Jacket: River Island (this season)

Boots: Kurt Geiger from Shoeaholics
Necklace: EBay
Skinny patent belt: Free with something years ago

Coat: Ark (this season)

Coatigan: Monsoon (old)
Scarf: Monsoon (old)
Belt: Old

Fifty shades of grey

There are two weeks left of my style challenge and my wardrobe is sagging under the strain. Left unworn are: an assortment of jumpers that have been munched by moths, old work suits with scary power shoulders, a smattering of evening-wear and a selection of dresses which seem too formal for a normal day and just too damn grown-up for a night on the town. They're perfect for a power lunch or maybe a christening...but to be honest, those are a little thin on the ground at the moment.

But maybe that's what this experiment's all about, wearing stuff that's been languishing on the shelves for years. So today, lacking the stomach to trail around Tesco in a sequinned maxi, I wore an Anglomania dress that I found in the sale a few years ago but have barely ever worn. I do like it, it just never seems quite right for the weather, or the occasion, or more often than not for my body (the bits between the buttons can bulge in a very disconcerting way.)

Armed with my industrial Spanx and some fab new charcoal tights from Marks and Spencer I was dressed in not-quite-fifty-shades-of-grey (courtesy of Vivienne Westwood) with my Kurt Geiger blue shoes (last seen here) for a little pop of colour ( hark at me with the fashionista talk!!!).

Multi-tasking!

Grey coat: Anglomania (old)
Blue shoes : Kurt Geiger from Shoeaholics 
Charcoal tights: Marks and Spencer
Dress: Anglomania (old)
Grey leopard print scarf: old Mumsnet scarf ( similar on Amazon )

Kurt Geiger shoes...surprisingly comfy!

Red leopard day

My fabulous new wine and leopard scarf eventually arrived from China, after its leisurely five week journey (I think it may have actually walked here) and, of course, it was the wrong scarf. In the place of the muted beiges and dark wine there was a traditional leopard print with scarlet edges . Grrrrrrr.
Now this challenge could be over by the time they exchange it (frankly, my life could be over by the time they exchange it) and it cost under a fiver so I decided to just go with it.

So, what to wear with a leopard and red scarf? Time to get the old Whistles red coat out again! All I really need (yes, need) are a pair of pointy leopard stilettos to complete my outfit, off to google them now!

Leopard Scarf: Ebay mistake
Red jumper: Uniqlo (old)
Jeans: Zara (this season)
Tan tote: Zara (still available)
Shoes: Ancient

My scarf

The scarf I thought I ordered

Am seriously in love with these shoes from Matches. Suddenly having rediscovered pointy stilletos everything else seems a little old-fashioned..weird!

These are a cheaper option from New Look