Posh Cream, Aperol and Scenery by The Pout

Our subject matter this week is how to wear rather 'posh' cream to drink the last Aperol spritz of the season, accessorised with late summer's evening scenery.

That was the remit set by my blogger bestie Anna of muttonyearsstyleandi.
Essentially, posh cream accessorised with scenery and Aperol put in a sartorial context.

It came about when I excitedly told Anna that I'd just had my first APEROL.  Ever. 

AT LONG LAST! 

You see, Anna's a bit of a fan of this herby liquor and it has been featured more than once on her IG.   Aperol tastes a bit like Campari, I decided, which I hadn't tasted since the early 70s, in a disco club when I was trying to look with it cool!

I stepped over the threshold into Aperollia at a friend's house on Friday evening.  She offered an aperitif choice of prosecco or Aperol.  I spied the bottle and recognising it from Anna's IG, I replied rather excitedly "Both please".  I was charged with the mixology and first tasted my Aperol neat before loading our flutes with prosecco*.  It made a  most intoxicating refreshing drink.

*OK, Anna's subject matter included "spritz" - I found my spritz in prosecco, not soda water (insert slightly inebriated emoji ... hick!), so let's call that an Aperol Fizz.

So that's the Aperol done.  Tick.  

What about the evening scenery bit of Anna's themed post?

Well, this is it.  My hostess is most skilful in the homemaking department.  A pergola leads from the dining area and the conservatory.  She had canopied it.  Lately I've been lusting after researching some of these canopied and draped pergolas on Pinterest, but hadn't seen one in the flesh.  Not until last night.  Now I want my pergola canopied too.  Deffo.  Isn't it an attractive sitting spot?  It looks out onto the summer's evening scenery, so I can put a big fat tick next to that element of the subject matter.

Yes,  last night I drank my first ever Aperol and saw my first ever canopied pergola.

Small steps for blogkind ... big steps for this blogger.

OK, let's move on to the 'rather posh cream' bit.

I wore my Zara pearled sweater.  It's posh 'cos it's dripping with pearls.  It's cream.  So that's posh cream.  Tick.

And it's new!  Zara lured me in to her Southampton store  recently - has Zara been luring you lately?

I felt it was the ideal thing to wear for a cosy supper with old girlfriends, the old being that I have known them for 35 years and one of them for 62 years.  R at I met in infants school and went all the way through our school years together, then we all worked together in the 80s.

Go figure, there was much chat around the cosy dining table!

May I just say here that I am loving Zara's work.  I love the way this sweater is designed and made.  The sweater fibre is extremely soft and the pearls are sewn on beautifully.

This is the kind of sweater I have been wanting for ages.  

Posh casual.

It's the kind of sweater you just throw on and walk straight out the door.  No accessories required. 

It's a sweater so it's uncomplicated to wear, yet you feel posh. 

It looks like you've made some effort when in fact all you've done is slip it over your head!

This sweater needs no more that black jeans, black wedged courts by Clarks, and a solitary pearl and "diamond" bracelet.

Aperol Fizz, posh cream and accessorising with scenery.

What more does a gal need to feel good when suppering with old girl friends, eh?

Well, maybe a pleather biker jacket.

Shades, for mystery.

And a smile.

Smile in the comments box if you like this post!

So, that's what I wore for my first Aperol of summer, of EVER!

Now, please do pop along to see how Anna dressed for her last Aperol of summer.

A la perchoine.

Plaid and Pearls. Done.

 

Hello, sweet people of Blogland.  Today I show you my journey.  My journey to Sussex and along the way, I complete an Anna challenge. 

 

 

My friend Anna of muttonyearsstyleandi recently posted a "plaid and pearls" combo.  She showed a tartan shirt and pearls.  Interesting. Don't know if it's quite me as I have one tartan shirt which I bought for a barn dance 4 years ago, and haven't worn it since.  But it's worth experimenting, so I slavishly pulled mine out but didn't have time to try it out with pearls as I was busily preparing the house ready for the catsitters. 

But it was her other combo with pearls that I really fell for.  Her plaid scarf and necklace.  Classy and lady-like.  So I stored that image in my Pout cells as a definite to recreate some time soon.

 

That "soon" came pretty soon after I read her piece.  Because I discovered that the pieces were all falling into place as I dressed for my unexpected trip over to Sussex (more on that in another post).

 

 

Here's how my journey to plaid and pearls started.  Here, on a very wet November morning and with Bertie the cat spying me suspiciously in the background ("Is my mummy leaving me again?"). For travelling I chose M&S black jeans and modal vest, with a Woolovers light stone cashmere/merino cardi.  Gabor heeled nubuck ankle boots.

 

 

By the way, I apologise for the phone selfies - I would not dare to ask The Photographer to take shots of my OOTD when Bro is just minutes away from picking us up for the drive to the airport.  I think he may just raise his voice if I did.  I know him well enough by now to know that this morning was a time for selfies only.

 

Because of the reason for this trip, I added chunky pearls and earrings (from Barbados airport) to perk up the black dress I have packed in my little carry-on.

 



 

My glaring eyes checked out the look and liked it, so the pearls stayed.

 

Then I wrapped a warm scarf around my neck.   A plaid scarf. And as the plane was delayed by fog and I experienced departure lounge time-to-kill, I started selfying.  Because along the way I realised that I had completed the Anna plaid and pearls challenge, just a little sooner than expected.

 

Classy.  Lady-like.  Plaid and pearls.  Done.

 Now, if you like this look too, why not give it a go and let Anna and me know how it worked out.

 

 

Wishing you a fab weekend, dear readers.

A la perchoine.