Classic Dressing - Beachwear

Hello my lovelies!

I hope you’ve managed to keep cool this summer.

I have, by spending many hours swimming in our island’s invigorating and clean sea. 

I sling on a pair of shorts or this dress from Next 

and head for the beach, here with my Dutch friend La Duchesse. 

This is my favoured beach, Grandes Rocques.

It’s just down the road from my house so is convenient for a quick dip. 

On this day it was covered with long strands of sea weed, both on shore and in the sea, which made for pretty messy swimming.   I’m glad to say it’s not usually like this. 

So I spend a lot of time of the beach in summer - but what do I wear?

Swimwear, obvs. 

See some posts I’ve written previous on swimwear HERE

HERE

and HERE

Do check the posts out - in one you get to see The Photographer doing his Daniel Craig on video!

You’ll see that the swimsuits I wear these days all provide good coverage.

No so much coverage in my younger days though, 

here’s what I wore in slimmer times. 

A bikini in a brown cotton with white pinprick spots. 

A black and white striped jersey bikini. 

Both of these bikinis would still work today, but just not on me.  

These days it’s not bikinis for me, obvs.  

You’ve seen my body covered, and that’s bad enough!

Trust me on this one. 

 I like  need a good cover up. 

Because this swimsuit (from Marks & Spencer) covers nicely around the bust area, I can just sling shorts or skirt on which makes for a fairly decent combo for walking to, from and on the beach. 

I also bought the same style in a different fabric.  

I wear these two on repeat all summer long. 

I have to say that because my time on the beach is either swimming or sitting in a granny chair wearing a beach dress cover up, these two practical swimsuits are my go tos for dipping. 

My view is that an abundance of cleavage isn’t a good look on a mature lady.  I felt uncomfortable wearing some of my older swimwear.  It was like I woke up one day and suddenly became aware that all my swimsuits were practically cut to the navel!  And although my bust still looks ok, I realized that an older woman displaying her wares wasn’t something I felt comfortable with.  

So I searched out a swimsuit with good cover and support around the bust.  

This style is perfect for a lady of a certain age.

But I will say that this style of swimsuit took an awful lot of googling so persevere if that’s the route you want to take.  I had to resort to a slightly unusual choice, as you will see in one of the links above.  But it works. 

Over the years my go-to online shop has been Bravissimo.  They do an excellent range of larger cup sizes in bras and swimwear, which drew me to the site. 

Find the BRAVISSIMO swimsuit range HERE

So I’ve been wearing my cover up swimsuits only these past few years.  My others don’t get a look in these days.  Like this one, sadly. 

This is a very pretty tankini from Bravissimo and it always reminds me of the Cote D’Azur.  I think it looks fresh and French; I can imagine a latter day Brigitte Bardot wearing something like this. 

And I did wear this on the Cote in 2016 so there is that too - a swimsuit with happy memories!

Our beaches are reminiscent of the Côte d’Azur, as the sea is a sparkly blue/jade and the sand is soft and white too. 

But back to my pretty tankini set shown above - it is a bit cleavagey and it also has underwiring. I no longer think underwiring is healthy for that sensitive area of my body, so I haven’t been wearing it, though one day I may remove the wire and see if the halter neck alone provides sufficient support. 

But there’s still the cleavage issue .,,

so maybe it’s time for it to go. 

Are you sensitive to cleavage display as you age?

And what’s your view on underwiring?

So, me and swimsuits have moved on light years. 

This is the closest you’ll get to seeing me in swimwear these days, mostly submerged in the sea. 

Or a head and shoulders

No full body shots!

The swimming has been simply wonderful this year. 

We’ve made good use of the beach.  

We’ve been careful to protect ourselves from the harmful rays of the sun of course. 

Chips of the beach is a once during the summer treat!

Yup.  Life really has been a beach this summer. 

 

Fortunately our beaches don’t get over crowded; these shot comparisons were taken on the same day during our first heatwave.   

I think the UK beach is Southend. 

In a UK heatwave, many living near the coast head for the sea to cool off, though I was surprised that more weren’t cooling themselves off in the sea.  That beach must have been hot!

Wishing my UK readers a very pleasant and sunny 

Bank Holiday Monday. 

A la perchoine,

Mary xxx. 

 

The Accidental Monsoon Haul

 Hello my lovelies!

Now let’s get this one out of the way, first and foremost. 

I really don’t like the use of the word “haul” in relation to shopping.  Especially clothes shopping.

It goes against all I believe in terms of the environment, fair labour and the imbalance of world economies. 

So what have I done?

I’ve got myself a haul.  A Monsoon Haul. 

It started when I was hunting for a July wedding dress.  The Photographer reminded me that every single thing I’ve ever bought from Monsoon I’ve worn ad infinitum over the years.  

So of course I bought a dress from Monsoon.  Job done.  

You can see the dress by clicking

summer-wedding-outfit-HERE

and

HERE on from-wedding-outfit-to-beach-dress

Right, dress for wedding, done ✅. 

But then it gets messy.

Let’s see what transpired. 

I gave the whole Monsoon thing much thought.

Oh TP was so good right about Monsoon pieces, I do wear them on repeat and through the years.  

So he planted that seed in my mind, and that seed unfortunately germinated during a very dangerously time - their summer sale.  

And even more unfortunately Monsoon runs occasional seemingly random 70% off periods during the sales. 

And even worse news still, I’m on their mailing list and they tell me when these rock bottom prices are available, so I know when to pounce.

Yup, a perfect storm.

YIKES!!! 

So let’s check out the damage. 

I bought this shirt.  Loved the pattern and soft colour mix. 

I apologize now for all the bare face, unkempt hair, lack of styling and the messy background you are about to see. 

Loose. 

Side tuck. 

This bedroom try on it with buttoned white denim skirt. 

The shirt is a nice length and I can see this as having many possibilities through the seasons. 

(And it doesn’t crease!)

But as if to throw fuel on the fire, it came with a matching skirt. 

So of course I couldn’t separate these twinnies, thus I got the skirt too. 

Nice drape and length. 

The twinnies can also be used as a co-ord, so on-trend right now.  I can see this in winter with a deep leather belt around my, err, waist”, to separate and break up the patterned pieces, and rounded off with some nice boots. 

For AW23 the skirt can be worn with a jumper, the shirt with black coated jeans, e.g.  There are many permutations, eh ladies. 

These two Monsoon pieces are going to be wardrobe workhorses, and that’s a fact. 

Right, that’s a skirt and shirt under my belt. 

Did I stop at that?  Did I rest on my laurels?  Nah!!!

An olive mustard linen tunic top popped in my basket too. 

I love the colour with my grey hair. 

It’s loose and very cool, so has been an ideal wear during our several heatwaves., despite linen’s propensity to crease. 

Here’s my “haul”.  

Did I stop there?

Oh no, I did not. 

I attempted to buy this jumper to go with it, but Monsoon doesn’t ship this item to the Channel Islands.  

Narrow escape! 

And TBH I really don’t know what all the rush was to snap up some 70% bargains …

… for this is what I’ve been wearing most days through July and August. 

Not a lot!

So ladies, this is my accidental Monsoon haul.   And all because TP reminded me (many weeks ago) how well my previous buys from that brand have fared. 

And thus I am exonerated.  This sales spend has absolutelyNOTHING to do with me.  I didn’t intend to shop. TP subliminally planted the shopping seed, did he not?  

Did he not light the touch paper and then retreat out of harms way whilst I exploded on to the sales scene and did all that shopping damage?

Help me out here guys!

Have you accidentally shopped the summer sales?

And do you have a favoured or site for your sales shops?

Do you shop from Monsoon?

A la perchoine, 

Mary xxx. 

P.s.  Oh dear, it doesn’t end there  -  THIS accidentally happened too … 

More on that accidental pleasure in another post. 

Classic Dressing - Dresses

Hello my lovelies!

Well!  We’re just coming out of our second heatwave of summer and the temperature has smashed through the ceiling of previous high temperatures.

So it’s got me thinking of dresses.

Dresses are perfect for summer as they tend to be loose shapes and allow for a flow of much welcomed air around the body. 

They are a go-to choice for me in summer and looking back, I seem to have always been a fan.

Here’s a round up of summer dresses of yore and similar dresses I’m wearing now in this millennium. 

The summer of 1967

This was a lovely zippered orange A line dress in a thickish cotton.  I remember falling in love with it when I saw it in a shop window. 

This black linen shirt dress has same shape and is delightfully cool in hot summers.  

The A line is a good shape for heatwaves and it allows for good air flow, and there is no waistband to rub against a sweltering middle.  It’s a timeless classic. 

And this below knee length is more suitable for the more mature knees!  

You don’t want to see mine show-cased. No you really don’t.

You’re welcome!

1976

A denim pinafore dress which I wore solidly whilst pregnant.  I wore it without a top underneath when the weather got really hot and I remember this being a very hot day.  Worn with flip flops, such a stylish look 😉.

I love the shape and concept of a pinafore dress and had several in the 60s and 70s, one of which I sewed myself.  

I don’t have one in my wardrobe now; perhaps that needs to be addressed, maybe I need to get the sewing machine out again … watch this space!

 

1976

 I also owned a denim shirt dress which I wore for many years in the 70s and unbelievably the only pic I have of it is here, worn as a duster coat as I couldn’t button it up over my swelling tum!

I bought a denim shirt dress last year.

Perhaps I was inspired by the very lovely Andrea from @livingoncloudnine9.   

I will NEVER look like this in mine, not even in a month of a Sundays. 

Instead I will look something like this in my similar dress.  Crumpled. 

This dress came straight out of the bag in this try-on session and is looking crumpled, like it’s owner.

After those bombshell photos, let’s move on very quickly!

1966

This was a madras cotton shirtdress.  That fabric was all the rage that year, so I was so excited to find this one on the island as it was just like the ones I was seeing in my Honey fashion magazine. 

Any UK readers remember Honey?

I loved this magazine in the swinging 60s.

These days it’s gingham check rather than big madras check for me, it seems. 

I’ve been wearing this dress a few times during our recent heatwave as it’s loose and cool and light as a feather. 

1969

A petrol blue jersey tunic top with black jersey trousers, and I think I have a scarf tied around the neck too. 

This look would pass in today’s world of fashion, don’t you think?

Fast dial to this millennium and I do again own a pair of loose legged black jersey trousers . 

However, these days I seem to wear them with shorter blouses. 

And shorter jumpers.

I could try wearing this tunic style dress with the trousers this autumn.  Or maybe one less fitted.  

Fancy challenging me?

And here is a collection dresses that don’t seem to appear in my current wardrobe.  I wonder why?

1967

A short soft pink jersey dress. 

This would look good over those black jersey trousers today. 

1968

A black jersey zippered leg revealing dress. 

Again, I could see this today worn with those black jersey trousers. 

1966

A black spotted chiffon dress.

The style would work today for me, though on second thoughts all that arm and leg display on a fat 72 year old body?  Nahhhh!

1967

Maroon spotted crepe dress.  

I liked my spots back then eh?

This style would be passable today … with the addition of a 12 inch tier at the bottom!

Now this last mini collection isn’t of summer dresses but I just had to include them as dresses I will NEVER wear again. 

2004

Doing my red carpet pose in a dark pink/claret fish tail taffeta ankle length skirt and a matching bustier top. 

Still in my wardrobe but not worn for obvious reasons. 

And my ball days are well and truly over anyway.

When was the last time you went to a black tie event?

Maybe they weren’t your thing. 

I think my last was in 2007. 

They’re so it my thing now. 

And I save this one for absolute last. 

1988

A dress of two halves, a black velvet sweetheart neck top half and a tiered taffeta skirt with a massive bow.

I pulled this out for every black tie over a number of years.  I’d liked to say “what was I thinking?”, but the truth is I would have been thinking eighties.

Nuff said eh ladies?

Have you got any 80s dress moments you’d like to share in the comments below?

I hope you’ve enjoyed my memory lane summer dress collection.

Apart from the two humdingers at the end I don’t think any would go amiss in today’s world of fashion.

What do you think?

A la perchoine,

Mary xxx.