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Thursday 6 December 2018

Sleeper Fashion - A Happy Ending


Hello my lovelies!  
Happy first Thursday in December.   The month is a time of celebration so why not celebrate a random day of the week eh?!  Have you kicked off December celebrating with a lunch or a party, or maybe mince pies with a friend?


But right now, grab yourself a mulled wine, snuggle under a fur throw and hear my Fairy Tale on Thursday ...  with a happy ending, of course.



I kicked off the week with a Christmas party.  My first.  Possibly my only.
I don't go to many now that I'm retired.  When I was working, the balls, dinners, cocktail parties and lunches started mid November and carried on through to sometime in January.  My wardrobe was well-prepared for these occasions and on reflection I don't remember struggling over what to wear. 
  
Now, with invites thin on the ground, I do struggle.  If I needed to put together a ball gown or cocktail party look today, I'd still have no problem as I have thrown none of that previous-life stuff away and my Posh Wardrobe remains intact.  Too good to divest myself of, too pretty, too expensive ...

Lower key dos present a challenge though.  So what to wear for my party?  The younger me would have rushed out and panic-bought something new.  But not today's Pout, thankfully.  Instead I had a good old Girls' World wardrobe try on session ahead of the party.


And I was pleasantly pleased with what I managed to find in the Posh Wardrobe on Monday.


After much trying on (yes and phototaking, Susan H of Over50under20 !!) I chose this little combo.


Loose brown velvet trousers from a set from East (shown HERE in judi-in-disguise-with-glasses).
 Worn with a brown ruffle jumper with glittery gold edging.  A little brown and gold nugget.  And here's the shocker ... I've had this jumper since about 2003-2004 - and I have never.before.worn.it.OUT!!!
It's from Kaliko and I don't know if they're still making clothes after all these years.  Are they?

I'd bought the jumper to go with a long brown velvet evening skirt bought in the Kaliko sale, but that never got off the ground. Then my formal party wear days ran out and I occasionally tried it with other things and thought "naaaah!".  It seemed a bit frumpy, fuddyduddyfiddly with all the gold and ruffles going on.


But on Monday the stars aligned - it was hanging in the same suit bag as the velvet set and I thought (radically for me!) "Let's just give them a go together"


And I thought "bingo!!" (and so did The Photographer With Fashion Views, phew!). 
Suddenly my old fuddyduddyfiddly frilly jumper looked sorta "now".  

Yes, in 2018, ruffle jumper, brown, velvet, loose trouser line ... well they all started to make sense ... after 15 years.


To say I was a happy brown bunny would be the mother of all understatements.  The outfit felt comfortable.  It felt partyish, but not too much so.  And I was wearing it for the first time!


The outfit suited the Christmassy setting.


And rather than tottering around in ridiculously high stilettos, I was able to sneak a chunkier heel under the loose trousers so I could easily manage this spiral staircase to take an artsy Christmas shot for you, without mishap!



So my message here is hopefully clear.  
Open your eyes to things you've kept, which don't perhaps fit the life you have now but which are pretty, too well made or maybe were just too darned expensive to chuck out!

This is so much more than slow fashion.  This is Sleeper Fashion, for I call this jumper a wardrobe sleeper.
On Monday its handsome prince (aka the brown velvet trousers) kissed it gently and awoke it from its slumbers.  
Aaahhhh, don't you just love a happy ending?!

And I tell myself that in some microscopic and superficial way, my sleeper fashion must surely be helping to produce a slightly happier ending to our wondrous planet's tale of woe.  For instead of rushing out to panic-buy myself some fast fashion, I instead shopped my wardrobe.  The posh one.



Do you have any sleepers in your wardrobe?
Have a play around, try them with things you haven't tried before.  
Take photos.  Think radical.   
Maybe you'll find a prince to awaken your sleeper from its slumbers too ... and give it a happy ending!


A la perchoine,
Mary.


16 comments:

  1. I love not just the moral of the tale, but the rather fabulous outfit too my dear. And golly aren't you in danger of fading away at this rate - my how you've shrunk - and I mean that in the nicest possible way! The top is indeed so very now and paired perfectly with those elegant trews - well done!

    PS Fabulous bit of pouting too!

    Anna x

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    1. Aww you're so sweet Anna, thank you. Think you and I must be the only blogger's using "trews", I called a US blogger's tartan trousers trews recently and I think she must have wondered what planet I was on!
      Hoots mon the noo, I'm off to find out where Donald has left his trewsers! x.

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  2. Loving 'sleeper fashion'! You look gorgeous in the outfit, the top is so pretty. Hope you enjoyed the party XXX

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    1. Thanks so much, Linda, we probably all have a bit of sleeper fashion going on in our wardrobes eh? Though knowing you, you will have run sleepers through your sewing machine and reinvented them!I
      Hugs, x.

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  3. Great job, Brown Bunny! You found an awesome outfit without leaving the house. So pretty. I'm sure it was the picture-taking that made the difference. No telling what you would have worn without that. LOL
    Seriously, you look beautiful. :-)

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    1. Thanks, Susan, and you may just be right because when I looked at the try-on pic of it, it confirmed what the mirror had reflected! So I thank you for your guidance.
      Hugs, x.

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  4. Well I do love a good story, especially one with a happy ending and no out of pocket spending! Ha see what I did there with the rhyming? You look just STUNNING my friend. Really, I thought it was a jumpsuit. You look long and lean and that head shot, well, whoa, is that your daughter's face? Because surely that is not the face of a pensioner! You are going to be the talk of the island!
    xo,
    Kellyann

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    1. Haha, so funny, sista, I read your comment out loud to your No 1 fan!!
      Thanks for your sweetest of words, you are a boost to a flagging morale.
      You and me on the happy endings, Kellyann, and I love your take on it being a free outfit. But it's ok, I won't tell Brian that you may have some freebie outfits lurking in YOUR wardrobe!
      Hugs, x.

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  5. Love your story on finding your party outfit. I am in a similar situation having problems knowing what to wear and now I am retired not having the outings I had pre retirement. My problem is that I am now 21lbs lighter !! yippee!!! and still have clothes hung in my closet I will aim to get into and not wanting to buy anything new. For me it looks like I will be investing in a few belts for the Christmas season and NO NEW CLOTHES.
    Have a lovely Christmas - Jill x

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    1. YAY Jill, way to go!!! Well done and yes, losing weight is a great opportunity to revisit old clothes and love them again. And yes, maybe all it takes is a deep belt cinching in your new waist to bring an old outfit up to date and doing the job of showcasing your new physique.
      Hugs, x.

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  6. That's a result Mary, finding something unworn and so perfect for an informal Christmas outing! Your pout is looking very gorg too. Paul McCartney, eat your heart out!

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    1. Thanks so much Gail and you're right, the pieces I had lurking together made this the perfect Christmas party outfit.
      You're to the second commenter to mention the pout, so I'm off to check the photo!
      Hugs, x.

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  7. I like the sound of 'sleeper fashion' maybe it will catch on! The outfit was lovely and looked great on you!

    I only have one Christmas function this year and it's a lunch so not really dressy but I'll do my best. Oh - and I have one sleeper item which I am determined to kiss awake one day soon.

    Have a lovely week.
    xxx

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    1. Aww thanks, Vronni, and yes, I think sleeper fashion sounds quite catchy. And I know it's not already out there because I #'ed it on my Insta post of this outfit and all that was linked to #sleeperfashion were a couple of pics of babies sleeping in babygros!!
      Awaiting excitedly to see your lunch outfit and your kissed-awake sleeper!!!
      Hugs, x.

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  8. I've just had to google Kaliko! Ad yes it's still available! I remember this brand so I had to go see. East however went bust this year, one of my favorite brands as you know. I do keep a lot of older items that I just can't part with Mary but I'm bursting at the rafters! Your outfit looks amazing and the good thing is you know your not going to bump into anyone wearing the same. You are such a stunning lady Mary xx

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    1. Thanks for doing the research on Kaliko, Laurie. I was sorry to see East go too; I could only afford it when I was working but I haven't got rid of one single piece. That says a lot eh? But oh the storage challenges we face eh?.
      You are a charmingly lovely Lady and I thank you for your kind words, despite not deserving them!
      Hugs, x.

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