Aligning a Linen Safari Suit

Hello my lovelies!

It was absolutely sweltering here last week and summer was back on.  This week we’re back to early spring.
Last week I cooled in crumpled linen.  This week I’m cosying up in jeans and a cardi.
That’s a typical British summer for you!

But this is one of those rare summers when the two pieces of this old linen safari suit are aligned; I usually find the jacket or the trousers when I unpack summer, rarely both. 

And with its wide legged trousers this suit is bang on trend again, is it not?

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So it was bad timing that I chose to wear the two pieces together on the hottest day of the year to go to the bank, as the jacket stayed in the car and the suit pieces were separated yet again.  

Plus ca change eh.

I’m trying to get used to this wide legged trend.  It’s definitely comfortable but on short legged persons like me it tends to produce a two stumps look.  The benefit for older ladies though is that this type of trouser doesn’t come anywhere close to touching the chunky thighs and calves or the lumpy bumpy widening  knees.  OK, I’m talking about ME personally now!
Conversely, skinnies cling tightly to every deformed part of my, errr let’s call them legs for want of a better word.  So I’m seeing that wide legs could skim sweetly over my own wide legs and all this nasty stuff.

But looking at these pics I can see that a quick fix here would be to wear them with heels, maybe an espadrille wedge.  And it just so happens that a few days after wearing my recently united linen safari suit, I also had a relieved reunion with my espadrille wedges that I had been hunting high and low for since I did my season switch over.  Such a relief as after weeks of fruitless searching I’d finally resigned myself to the possibility that I may have implausibly lost them and had put an identical pair in my online shopping basket, ready to press “buy”.


So this past week has been a happy aligning of all things good in my world as on the day I wore this reunited safari suit I succeeded in closing a bank account that I’d been struggling to do all through lockdown.
Oh happy day!

Right ladies, wide legged trousers - where do YOU stand?
Are you wearing them?
And if you are a short and chunky legged lady like me, do you have any tips for making legs look longer and leaner?

A la perchoine,

Mary x.

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#retirementdressing #retirementfashion #agelessstyle #over70style #over70fashion #over60style #artigianofashion #artigiano #linen #linensafarisuit #linensafarijacket #brownlinen 

#brownandwhite #safarijacket #safarisuit

My Little Pinkie

So, here's the thing, sweet peeps.

I'm going to a wedding in a few days.

What to wear?!!!!!!!!!

My "wedding dress" springs to mind.

I bought this silk Monsoon dress for a wedding in 2003.  I know this as I bought it for a friend's wedding and my nailist (is that the right word?) told me this week that she'd seen me at the wedding and she'd got married that year too.  OK, a long story but it validates the provenance.

As Tight Pout realised she'd spent quite a bit on the dress, shoes and various paraphernalia  (more on that later), she decreed it her "go-to" for future weddings.  And so it has been since, which has been no hardship as it is a lovely dress. 

Are you still recycling your posh frocks, 15 years on?

The last outing was above in Boston, Mass., 2009.  I know this as the post-wedding dry cleaning slip was still pinned to the dress when I got it out for this try-on!  

More provenance.

And before we move on, I should stress that these pics are all try-ons with no attempt at styling whatsoever!

So back in 2009, I wore pinkie with this Artigiano ivory silk jacket.

Since it started its journey in 2003, it has also been worn with the aforementioned paraphernalia.  On the left a woollen shawl with crystal beads (not really visible but just trust me), On the right a silk shawl with contrast embroidered edges; I also have a little bag in the same embroidered fabric as this shawl.  And always the pink heels.

So I see these as fairly formal noughties wedding outfits.

If the dress is to be worn in the teensies, I think it should be styled more casually.

The trend seems to be to bring posh frocks down a notch with a cardi.  

Do you pair cardi with posh?

 I test-drove the cardi idea,  trying on what I already have that might go.

A mid-pink tie cardi from La Redoute.

This darker pink cardi from East was tried just for the sake of it, though I thought the deep colour and the frillage would make it a non-starter.  Weirdly, it was The Photographer's favourite combo, and even weirdlier (sic), it was mine too.  Now, there's a surprise, eh!

I had thought that as well as the downgrading with a cardi, my teensies remodelling of this wedding outfit should also include contrasting accessories.   Yes, back in the noughties I did go for safety with top to toe pink, probably as the pinks and mauves are difficult accessorise. 

My teensies head feels that this hot colour cacophony needs to be toned down.

But with what?  Silver? Ivory? Grey, even?
Or has this dress quite simply had its day?

So I need your help.  Pretty please.  Can you tell me which outfits, if any, work.  How they can be improved.  How they can be teensied.  How could you see this dress styled for 2017?
Or should I bin it?

I'd be really happy if you could let me know.  And the clock is ticking.  The wedding is on Friday.  What, this Friday?! (You have to have been a fan of BBC's 2012 to appreciate that!)

A la perchoine.