Stuck in a Navy Groove

So what's been happening with me lately? 

Plantar fasciitis, that's what.  Heel and arch pain.  It hurts. Avoid it.  

I've worked out how I think I could have avoided it.

By not racing up hills during the literary festival here

And by not wearing these flat-foot loafers whilst racing.

But enough post-pain analysis.

On to the OOTD.  After swamping my little head with gingham and stripe, florals and birds, here , this little A-line pocketed affair popped into my Next trolley.  Serviceable, as my mum would have described it.  However, I'm having difficulty finding tops for this navy print skirt.  Worn here with a Next navy jersey top.

Next styles it with white.

I went for safety when choosing the navy print option.

This print is so pretty and with a little more colour option.  But it felt like a wild card.  So I played it safe.

On another day and again I wore the skirt with navy. 

 Turns out going for safety is a bit samey.  

 Navy camisole and linen mix cardi, both from Next last year.

So, Next styles it with white.  I team it with navy.  Repeatedly.

That's the limit of our imaginations.

How would you style I?  Can you see possibilities beyond mine and Next's limited collective imaginations?!

So, stuck in my navy groove, I added my boxy GAP denim jacket and took the outfit down to the beach for a post-prandial evening stroll.

Grandes Rocques and Cobo bays.  Beyond the bays, Cobo village.

It was still light when we arrived.   A few people strolled, stretching their legs like us.  A few families were packing up their beach-bbq paraphernalia.  It had been a glorious day.

The sun soon dipped below the horizon.

The departing sun left its pink glow calling card.

Then it was dusk.

I look at my best at dusk!

A la perchoine.

My Little Pinkie

So, here's the thing, sweet peeps.

I'm going to a wedding in a few days.

What to wear?!!!!!!!!!

My "wedding dress" springs to mind.

I bought this silk Monsoon dress for a wedding in 2003.  I know this as I bought it for a friend's wedding and my nailist (is that the right word?) told me this week that she'd seen me at the wedding and she'd got married that year too.  OK, a long story but it validates the provenance.

As Tight Pout realised she'd spent quite a bit on the dress, shoes and various paraphernalia  (more on that later), she decreed it her "go-to" for future weddings.  And so it has been since, which has been no hardship as it is a lovely dress. 

Are you still recycling your posh frocks, 15 years on?

The last outing was above in Boston, Mass., 2009.  I know this as the post-wedding dry cleaning slip was still pinned to the dress when I got it out for this try-on!  

More provenance.

And before we move on, I should stress that these pics are all try-ons with no attempt at styling whatsoever!

So back in 2009, I wore pinkie with this Artigiano ivory silk jacket.

Since it started its journey in 2003, it has also been worn with the aforementioned paraphernalia.  On the left a woollen shawl with crystal beads (not really visible but just trust me), On the right a silk shawl with contrast embroidered edges; I also have a little bag in the same embroidered fabric as this shawl.  And always the pink heels.

So I see these as fairly formal noughties wedding outfits.

If the dress is to be worn in the teensies, I think it should be styled more casually.

The trend seems to be to bring posh frocks down a notch with a cardi.  

Do you pair cardi with posh?

 I test-drove the cardi idea,  trying on what I already have that might go.

A mid-pink tie cardi from La Redoute.

This darker pink cardi from East was tried just for the sake of it, though I thought the deep colour and the frillage would make it a non-starter.  Weirdly, it was The Photographer's favourite combo, and even weirdlier (sic), it was mine too.  Now, there's a surprise, eh!

I had thought that as well as the downgrading with a cardi, my teensies remodelling of this wedding outfit should also include contrasting accessories.   Yes, back in the noughties I did go for safety with top to toe pink, probably as the pinks and mauves are difficult accessorise. 

My teensies head feels that this hot colour cacophony needs to be toned down.

But with what?  Silver? Ivory? Grey, even?
Or has this dress quite simply had its day?

So I need your help.  Pretty please.  Can you tell me which outfits, if any, work.  How they can be improved.  How they can be teensied.  How could you see this dress styled for 2017?
Or should I bin it?

I'd be really happy if you could let me know.  And the clock is ticking.  The wedding is on Friday.  What, this Friday?! (You have to have been a fan of BBC's 2012 to appreciate that!)

A la perchoine.



Being ... Terri

With apologies to anyone who opened my earlier post which had no narrative.
I now give you narrative, shed-loads of narrative!

Hi dearies, hope you're feeling good today.  I'm more than a little excited.  We had temps in the mid 20s yesterday, which has gotta mean that I can start walking away from those winter gripes, like arthritis and sinusitis and all the side orders you get from those dishes.

My plantar fasciitis has eased - more on that in another post but suffice to say that it's extremely painful.

But enough of the old lady stuff - I've also had my DNA results.  And within 24 hours I'd found myself a 2nd/3rd cousin in Australia, not that I'm short of cousins!
So interesting.  So excited!

 Now, back to the matter in hand.  I'd like to introduce you to Terri of Meadow Tree Style.  I do like her style.  Terri accessorises her stylish outfits with panache, especially when it comes to jewellery, hats and handbags.  She is a lover of fine quality vintage items and she makes a lot of her own clothes, which are amazing.   So when I recently visited The Dolphins here and eyed some vintage dressmaking patterns and handbags, I thought instantly of Terri.

Terri recently posted her Covered Perfectly top here and I was inspired to try the look.

So I set about recreating it, with what I had to hand.

Covered Perfectly tops are very popular with bloggers in the States.  The owner of the brand is British.

I don't have a pretty cut-out sleeve CP top, so I used a basic long sleeved M&S top in black

This may be the first time I'm showing you my old stone linen skirt.

Bought in Zurich in 2003 and reunited with its Pout owner after her recent attic emptying.

 

  

The sandals are Ecco, bought in Copenhagen 3 years ago.  So comfy.

(Zurich, Copenhagen - I sound truly international, but I do find that when you buy things aboard, you do tend to remember where and when they were bought)

I accessorised with a shell-style pendant, in black and beige.

And hats.  Terri does hats. 

I grabbed TP's from the stash we keep for the patio.

And then I grabbed one of my own, Next, last summer or should I say, SS16 (more on that further down!)


And then on to jeans.

 

The same top with M&S jeans and a stripey neck scarf.  I don't look too happy with the look. 

And to be honest, I felt I could do better.  So I revisited Terri's blog and realised I needed to accessorise better.  With pops of colour and different accessories and definitely sexier shoes!

So on another day I started with a Next top.  This was seen on my first ever post here!

(Oh how endearing, I used to write stuff like AW15 because I'd seen it on fashionista blogs!)

I teamed it with my Adesso shoes, guaranteed to turn an outfit (and me!) around.

I gave the other hat another go.

But you know, I preferred the cheeky TP hat look best.

And on yet another day, I gave the skirt look second whirl.

Terri's colour pop was a bright blue, which I don't have any of.  So I went with what I had, red.

The red wood necklace is from East, about 15 years ago.  The shoes were bought at the same time.

I added a spotted scarf.  Just because I had one.

And as I was cribbing off Terri, I added a bag.  I rarely wear bags, but I felt quite the lady. 

And there you have it, Terri's look but with red instead of blue.

  

All of these red accessories were bought at the same time.  I'd bought a white linen shift dress for work from East.  I had a white linen trouser suit from the same place and thought the jacket would look great with a dress.  And it did.  I wanted to accessorise with a bright red contrast.

2003 was The Year of Linen Workwear for this gal.  I indulged myself in black, white and aqua linen, in dress, trouser, jacket, shell top and skirt forms.  I had a perfect mix-and-match summer workwear capsule.  For Slim Me.

Yes, unfortunately I bought them as a celebration for having lost some weight.
Top tip:  When having lost weight and when you have a 50 year history of yo-yo'ing, do not go mad and buy lots of slim-fitting and expensive new clothes.  You rarely get to wear them again. 

But you do get to wear the accessories, so there is some good that comes out from my knee-jerk reaction, for I was able to wear those "slim" accessories to bring a pop of colour to my black and beige.

Black, beige and red.  I do like that colour combo.

 

And here's Terri and her CP look, which I have attempted to recreate over several days.  Doesn't she look great?!

I really hope you visit Terri's site (link above) for you will enjoy looking at her OOTDs.  And her amazing nails! And everything else she writes on. She's a stylish lady with some great OOTD ideas.

So I took my looks to the doctor's, a bar meal with cousins, a mooch around the shops, some errand-running and grocery shopping.  Which shows how versatile these outfits really are.

I took the last look to the bar meal.  I broke with tradition.  Normally when I meet up for a bar meal I wear some form of jeanage.  But I'd been somewhere earlier dressed like this and I thought, nah, I'm not going to change outfits, let's mix things up a bit and see how it feels to do a bar meal, Ladylike-Style.  I have to report that it felt good, I didn't feel out of place amongst all of the jeanage there and I did feel like a stylish mature lady. For, that is what I am.

Question: Do you ever go against your traditional style and try wearing outfits different to your norm when going out?  Like jeans for posh, and skirt and heels for casual?

I'd love to hear how you mix things up a bit.

A la perchoine.

Thoroughly Modern OFDOS

Hi peeps, enjoying your summer so far?

I've been trying to adopt some consistent frequency to my posts, ideally every other day.  But I find writing blogs is a bit like buses and right now I have a load of them queued up at the terminus.  I have more buses than scheduled bus routes.  So I'm going to have to throw in a few "special service" posts to clear the backlog.  Otherwise I will find myself posting about summer dresses in October!

I mentioned last year here that I go to a charity "do" annually in May and I've made it into a bit of a personal tradition.  

I make it my Official First Dress of Summer.

This year I gave an old East dress the honour of being my OFDOS.  It's lined silk, cut on the bias, with a flippy hemline.

I always team it with the Adesso heels which go beautifully with the dress.  Bertie goes beautifully with the dress too!

I've already picked up a few strap marks out in the garden.  Oops!

Then I added grey pearls and a cardi.  Fortunately, the pearls stayed in place (more on that later!).

A few years ago I went through an exercise of matching cardis to dresses and placing the pairs together on hangers.  That valuable exercise has saved me so much dithering as I have a little section of go-to outfits.  (Do you do this too?)

So I always pair this dress with a dusty pink silky cardi from La Redoute.  This year, I'm calling the colour Blush.  Last year it was Rose Quartz.  Basically, it's pink!

The cardi picks up the soft pink in the flowers.

It's part of a twinset.  I like twinsets.  An age thing maybe?

It only has a few buttons at the bottom, so it opens up.

I try to close it up.

But the girls will out!

So I wear it open.  When I wear it closed, Thoroughly Modern Millie's pearls (lift scene) spring to mind.

You really have to have seen the film to appreciate why.

A la perchoine.