One That Got Away - The Pleated Skirt

Here’s one trend I’ve been resisting for yonks - the pleated skirt.

I wore a beige one when I was about 12-13 and I’ve felt that replicating an early teens look was one mutton step too far!

Add to that dilemma my observation my thought that I’d feel a bit WI in it and you will understand why I’ve sat on the fence through this trend. 

Until now!

For the cause I gave the skirt a go.  Well several gos really as I tried on four.  Three were just too unflattering around the waistline*, and this one was almost Goldilocks.  I say almost as although the waistline area is ok, it is rather long. And I didn’t feel frumpy because the fabric has a soft sheen to it.  

Yes,  it was almost a keeper because it hung well and the berry colour would fit sooo well into my wardrobe. 

But I struggle to wear the skirts I already have right now - retirement is so casual that I’m mostly in variations of jeans most days.  

Yes, skirts CAN be worn in retirement, but one tends to get involved in ad hoc messy work in the house and garden at any point through the day and one has to be work-ready at all times eh?!

So this is one that got away ... but I AM toying with the idea of reordering it 😉 because, just look ...

... it goes perfectly with my boots!!!

A la perchoine,

Mary x. 

* Laurie has a good tip - size up with pleated skirts, and after my try on I can see this makes so much sense. 

You can find this clever lady on vanityandmestyle HERE

One That Got Away - The Boho Dress

Hi Peeps, are you jingling all the way to December?!

Are you ahead of the Christmas game or are you happy to let things happen at their own speed?

I try so hard to be the former and so I can report that my cards are ordered, the Christmas decs are down from the loft and I picked up the tree today.  Not doing badly so far, I guess.

But trying to get on top of things makes life busy eh?  I’m struggling to read all the blogs I’d like to read and to find time to leave comments.  And I’m sure time is an issue for you too.  Soooo, I thought I’d have a go at doing something I thought of yonks  ago but didn’t quite get round to doing.  But if not now, when life is busy then when eh?

Because ... Taadaaaah!! I’m going to have a bash at attempting short but more frequent posts!!  Shorter posts are perhaps easier to scan through and leave a quick comment on, as they don’t go off in all directions, as my posts mostly do!!

Please let me know what you think of this new format 

First off, I’ve created a little series called One That Got Away.   It’s about giving trends a go and finding  that just aren’t for me, whether that be because they don’t suit my shape, I think they’ll be short lived and I don’t want to waste pensioner pennies on them, or maybe I just don’t like them!

Here’s my first try on - the Boho.  Seems that if you want a new dress right now, it better be boho or you’re going home empty handed cos that all there is in the shops and online !

This truth hit me when I was looking for a dress for my big birthday recently. 

Verdict on the boho dress?  It’s sooo not for me! 

Dresses have to suit your body shape because there is nowhere to hide with a dress.  No layers to add. no side tucks to distract.  It’s just you and the dress. 

This shape created, well, a zero shape on me.   Maybe a belt could have saved this one.  But it didn’t.  So I had to let this one go. 

This dress style would look good on someone taller and more willowy than me. 

Are you wearing boho dresses?

A la perchoine,

Mary x 

Florence

As we move on through my Cruise Series, we now find ourselves in Florence, a city brimming over with amazingly beautiful architecture and art.

First, my little video  - it comes in under 3 minutes and captures the essence of the city.  

The cathedral was so beautiful and absolutely huge.  There’s also footage of our deluge experience, so well worth a look. 

And with no particular order to my photos due to my iPhone download limitations, I share with you now my pictorial memories of Florence.

Our tour bus took us up to the perfect vantage point to capture a panoramic of the city.

Our tour bus stopped off at a perfect vantage point outside the city to capture some fabulous panoramics.

The bustling square cleared in a nano second when a thunderclap overhead emptied its heavy load upon the city.

The hailstones were the size of hazelnuts, and hurt - it felt like we were under fire as we raced the few yards from coffee shop to cathedral.  The video at the beginning of this post includes some footage of the deluge. 

Just before the deluge.

I'm an untidy tourist.

Ponte Veccio, with a hint of finger!

A la perchoine,

Mary x.

My Partner Dresses Me!

Well, what fun I've had this week, my lovelies!

I've befriended two super ladies on Instagram, Matilda and Belinda, who run an account called My Style Journey.    You can to find them by clicking the following link: https://www.instagram.com/my_stylejourney/.

They put out a challenge to have our partners dress us for five days, and to share the results on Insta.   

Well, I managed to convince The Photographer that this was a good idea, and as the week chosen was the week leading up to my 70th burthday, it sounded like a good wheeze to participate.

So last Sunday afternoon found me introducing TP to the system I had going on in my wardrobe.  He was rather surprised I had one.  

Then I scribbled up my activities for the week and left him to come up with outfits suitable for the five days ahead.

The added bonus was that my blogger bestie Annemarie and her hubs were visiting on four of the five days and they were up for the challenge too!

So let's see what TP conjured up!

I had a fear of being dressed in a leather skirt and kinky boots all week.  Men, eh?!

But that happened just once, when we went out for dinner with our visitors.  Annemarie's hubs had dressed her in classy black and leoprint.

TP softened the edginess of my leather skirt with a soft black chunky jumper trimmed with pearls and sequins and I think this was his best look of the challenge.

Other looks were more casual and suited for the day's activities and weather, like a chunky jumper over a lumberjack shirt, grey jeans and knee boots.

We didn't share walking hear or outerwear on Insta - this is how that looked IRL !

He got this one pitched perfectly darn perfectly too.

I found myself picking up our guests from the airport wearing berry coated jeans and a cream cashmere mix v neck over a berry cami.  The stilettoed berry knee boots were switched for safer flat furry black boots for driving though!

We went out for a pub meal with our visitors that evening and he'd laid out an easy switch of clothes for me.  The cosy jumper was swapped out with a pretty print blouse and long berry cardi.

He was remarkably mindful of the weather and my day's activities.

On this day I had a whole myriad of errands including taking an aging and ailing Bertie to the vet, and his chosen outfit of black coated jeans with lumberjack and jumper was just the job.

This one has started its life in Sunday afternoon as black coated jeans, red and blue lumberjack and brown knee boots.  Yeah,  I had not been looking forward to Wednesday.  

But by the time I came out of the shower on the day, he'd seen the error of his choices and rapid switches had been made.  Phew, because it turned out that I really liked Wednesday after all!

And this cold day was filled with domestics like grocery shopping, cleaning ... and stopping for lots of coffee breaks!

For my birthday's day activities he chose a beige suede skirt.  He'd laid out a soft orange twinset so i  gave TP a quick intro to the challenges of legwear.  I explained that my tights collection was limited to black, grey, berry and chocolate.  No orange.  Funny, that!

He got the message and switched to a grey cashmere polo neck and suede boots to go with the wool tights he'd swiftly 

chosen.  I added some jewellery and played around with my two birthday pressie shawls which just coincidentally were complimentary to that day's outfit, my "birthday suit" if you'd like to call it that!!!

So let's recap on how he did.    

We had jeans, lumberjack shirts and cosy jumpers.

Leather and suede skirts and pretty tops.

And lots of boots.

Each day's outfit was without fashion faux pas,  pitched for the activities ... and for me too, as he got my style just right. 

He reacted to the weather, making switches when needed, like adding cosy jumpers to his chosen outfits.

I think he did brilliantly.  Do you too?

And would you dare to leave your partner in charge of dressing you for a week?  Or even for just one day?

Oh go on, try it - it's fun!

It's an opportunity to discover what your partner prefers you dressed in. 

For TP, it seems that skirts must be leather, boots must be knee, and jeans must definitely be tight!

You find yourself discussing his choices, the whys and the why nots of an outfit.

And the thing I enjoyed most was how easy dressing was with one's own personal stylist - in fact I'm thinking of giving him the job permanently!

Get showered and return to bedroom to an outfit laid on the bed for me - there's a bit of the Downton Abbey about that,  a bit lady's maid, a bit Lady Pout.

And with no choices to make, no outfit hassle, that is the big bonus to having my partner dress me!

A la perchoine,

Mary x.

Oh and I'll be posting on my fun few days with Annemarie of muttonstyle HERE very soon; meantime, checkout her hubs' outfits!