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Sunday 6 August 2017

What To Wear For A Special Birthday


What do you do in preparation for a special occasion?
I was invited to a special birthday lunch for a very special friend.  My friend of 50 years.  You met her here, remember?
Before I could even think about what to wear, I needed to get a bit of grooming sorted out.  Fringe was trimmed and nails were gelled a couple of days before the big event.
Then I was busy thinking about the old proverbial, the what-to-wear dilemma.



Here's what I came up with.


The starting point just has to be a flowery dress when invited to a special birthday lunch in August.
Here my East silk number, which has become a default special meal dress in recent years.


Add a glass bead necklace.


Bracelet (Wink) and earrings (Claudia Bradby).


Grey Adesso shoes and pink Tula bag - see not matchy matchy today!
And then The Pout was good-to-go.



But she needed a cardi for British Summer 2017.
I usually pick out the pink flowers when choosing a cardi for this dress, so I've been wearing a little sludgy pink number for years.  This time I tried it with my recently purchased cropped cardi.  I liked its shape with the dress but, truth be told, as I look at these pics I think I over-egged the grey a bit.  
Agreed?  Do you sometimes tilt too far in the direction of colour safety?
 However, as I'd worn the very same dress for my friend's hubby's special birthday four years ago but with the sludgy pink, I think I may just have got away with a repeat wearing with my cunning cardi switch ... 😏!



Now let's take this little outfit La Fregate Restaurant







And I have to apologise as from hereonin the sun sort of takes over in these pics.


I love a good encaustic-tiled hallway.


And a comfy chair.


And I love my dear friend who was celebrating a special birthday.  In a very sunny conservatory restaurant but you can still see her looking as gorgeous as she has always has done since the very first day I met her.

And you may have spotted her shoes in the pic.


Well, I did too.  I just loved them.  A bargain in a recent posh shoe shop sale.  Aren't they gorgeous?!
My friend had paid great attention to nail colour, choosing a light grey/silver to go perfectly with those beautiful shoes.  I love that attention to detail.


The Birthday Girl.


And a birthday girl just has to have a lacy birthday cake.  mmnnn.

This lovely lady was the reason I recently posted some retro pics here, which I found when I was hunting down a photo to make up her special Moonpig card.  I used this photo of my friend who was looking gorgeous all those years ago too.



Cheers, special friend!


A la perchoine.




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11 comments:

  1. Love the grey. You and your friend both look beautiful. You might want to steal her shoes.

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    1. Thanks so much, Susan. Now there's an idea, a shoe steal! The fly in the ointment? She's of daintier design and her shoes are two sizes smaller :-(.

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  2. Mary, I really love your outfit and even though you wonder about too much grey, it really does suit you. Any colour picked out of that dress would be lovely but the soft tones of grey work well too. Looks like you both had a wonderful birthday party. Hope you saved me some cake!

    Anna x

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    1. Aw thanks Anna, thats that's reassuring, especially coming from the Queen of Colour herself! I saw grey shoes, dress, cardi, jewellery ... and then hair, and did worry about my poor over-egged pudd! I'll make sure you get a share in some cake!

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  3. You look fabulous in this outfit Mary - it really does suit you. I don't think you're wearing too much grey -it's working well for you. Adorable shoes, and wow to a 50 year friendship. Isn't it lovely to have such a lifelong special friend, I'm as fortunate as you too. x Jacqui
    www.mummabstylish.com

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Thanks for your nice words Jacqui, thank goodness for a tan otherwise the skin would have been grey too! Yes, aren't we lucky to have friends who've shared so much of our lives, though you must have met yours in your pram as you look like a spring chicken!

      (Had to delete my previous reply, as it was messily typed, don't think I've woken up yet!!)

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  4. Isn't it lovely when girls get together? We must do it soon Mary! Love the dress and I'm interested in the bracelet. A brand unknown to me, so I'm going to check it out. Your friends shoes are gorgeous too.
    I know East can be on the expensive side, but boy I bet you have got your money's worth out of it. xx
    www.vanityandmestyle.com

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    1. yes, we had a super time. So, are you coming over to Guernsey?!! Have to say my building work has kept me on the island this summer.
      I bought the dress in 2002 for a wedding though didn't wear it (I could afford to do that BITD!), but it's been a default special occasion dress over the years since then. It's a perfect slide-over-head-and-party dress! xx.

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  5. You both look lovely and no I don't think you overegged the grey given our weather recently. Yes the shoes are gorgeous on your friend. Very pretty.

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    1. Thanks, AM, yes it's been a weird summer but the sun shone on her birthday. Now, talking of steals, I think my friends shoe size is the same as yours ... :-)!! xx.

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