LCS - In Search of the Ruffle

LCS.  The acronym for Last Chance Salon.  Yes, I loved Jean's play on words so much that I tweaked my title for this November series.  Thank you, Jean.

I was going out on a lunch date and being brave and fearless as I am, I wore another of my wardrobe "challenges". 

A white ruffle blouse which I've had for about 15 years and I can't think of a time I've ever worn it. See, yet another example of how I defiantly pooh-pooh the "if you haven't worn it for (insert any period from 6 months to 2 years but definitely not 15 years!) then chuck it out"  approach.

I think I've taken it out periodically over the years, washed it, intended to give it another try ...  and it never happened.

With my ruffles I wore a chunky cardi.  I think it was my first ever Woolovers order so that dates it about 5 years +.

As well as hoarding clothes, I hoard inspos.  This one came from the first ever blogger I found, Lady of Style.  The lovely Annette posted something similar very early on and I kept a photo of it but it's on my old laptop, so sorry I can't share.  Just take my word for it, this outfit is in the spirit of Annette's.

When I first saw the idea and tried it out a few years ago, The Photographer With Fashion Views declared it "messy" and pooh-poohed it (this household seems to have a propensity to pooh!).

When I sported pretty much the same outfit again here, no pooh-poohing occurred.  I think his views have softened.  Or maybe ennui has set in ...

Moving on, I took this outfit out to lunch and the extra layer of the shawl was just right for the temperature, which is cooling :-(.  We met a friend at La Grande Mare.  I do have yummy photos but I'll refrain from posting them as some of you virtuous ladies may be on a pre-Christmas diet.  But suffice to say, 3 fabulous courses, £12.50.  One cannot possibly argue with that, eh?  We are towards the end of this year's Tennerfest and a shout out to my Guernsey readers, the LGM's is absolutely the best Tennerfest meal, as always.

I got home and thought "Hey, don't waste an outfit by wearing it just the one way, leverage it!"

So I tried out a look I'd been hoarding for a few weeks, found on Pinterest.

I searched around for ruffles to achieve the Pinterest look and found these items at M&S.  But as often happens, before I clicked "buy" my searching revealed that I have similar in my stash, so I ear-marked them for the look.

I didn't have the fancy belt but this was a start, I felt.

The jacket is from M&S, ca. 1995, so it's getting some 2nd lovin'.

It's a tux and I used to slip it over evening dresses for a light outerwear layer.

I have never before worn it with anything other than evening dresses.

It sort of felt funky this way.  Edgy.  Lady Leoprint.

Masculine tailoring meets frilly feminine.

So the day was a day of mega achievements

I tried out looks I've been hoarding for weeks and even years.

I wore my 1995 tux, 2017-style.  A15 year old blouse I don't think I've ever worn before has been put on the LCS programme and it has achieved 2 out 3 of the 3-ways-to-wear discipline I'm applying to new and old items in my wardrobe.

What can I say?  This was a good day.

You know, I'm quite excited about trying the tux and ruffles look in the real world. I feel just a little edgy in this outfit.  Is this a look you fancy trying?  Or perhaps have already tried?

And have you been giving anything from your wardrobe a Last Chance?

Oh, and just before you go - I'm a bit stumped on a third way to style my ruffles.  Can you help?  Can you come up with any ideas?  I'd be so grateful if you can so please pop in your ideas in the comments box below.

(And Vronni, hope you like my work with the photo sizes!)

A la perchoine.



My Reunion with La Reunion

Hi dear reader.  Yesterday I kept my post brief as I knew that today I would be bombarding you with big visuals!

Today I give you my last dinner of Pout Tennerfest Fortnight.

I wore a black Alexon jersey dress.  It is cleverly cut and hangs well.  Discrete little curved shoulder pads.  A sash at the front.  That detail is important, as I read recently that front sashes are big for AW16.  This dress hasn't had an airing for years (it should have been covered in cobwebs!) but I spotted the sash during my recent season switch and thought, wow, so this season! 

And I double wow-ed when I realised that is 20+ years old!  It used to be my go-to for winter business dinners.  It should have been covered in cobwebs!

I bunged it in the washing machine, hung it out to dry and it didn't need even a whiff of the iron.  How good is that?!



I just had to include this selfie!  Because look behind me.  Do you see a pile of cast-aside clothes.  No, you do not.  Because I looked no further when I slipped this baby on. 

Another golden oldie, my recently rediscovered velvet jacket.

And I returned to La Reunion, wearing a 20+ year old dress!

I didn't take many pics the other day here so I snapped all that I wanted to share with you this time round, dear reader.

The restaurant had stylishly fested up for Halloween.

Our Table With A View.

Dusk was falling so we didn't take our aperos out on the terrace.  And no one else did.

And look - again, they knew that I was coming!

For photos done, I began testing out their Pout Wine Cellar.

My date, The Photographer, found the single malt selection to be pretty spiffo too!

Our server for the evening was a charming young gentleman who was knowledgeable, professional and such a pleasure to chat to. And I wish I'd thought to ask his name because he does really deserve a very special mention.  Naughty Pout.

Our nice sea view, even in late October - just imagine this on a beautiful sunny summer's evening ... the sun setting ...

But night quickly began to fall.

And peeps, I have exercised restraint with my food shots this fortnight, so please allow me one grand finale food photo fest on this, my final night of two weeks of gluttony.



Flavoursome chicken and ham terrine.

My handsome dining companion's gin-cured salmon.  I love pickled cucumber and I tasted one of the delicate little curls that garnished his dish.  Devine.

Open Guernsey Chancre (crab) lasagne.

Soft lasagne strips served with a fragrant crab mix and a light tomato concasse.  I was I Pout Heaven.

The selection of cheese was beautifully acidic.  The biscuits were wisps of thin wheaty-nuttiness.  The sweet grapes and soft juicy ribbons of celery were the perfect foil for all this tangy cheese.

Superb food.  Superb service.  Superb décor.  Superb location.  

Off the Richter Scale superb.

A fitting finale to Pout Tennerfest Fortnight!

And now a message to my Guernsey readers or anyone visiting our lovely island.  If you want a very special meal, tennerfest or not, please go there.

My feasting over, it's back to simple food for me now!

A la perchoine.









La Reunion

This post should have been entitled "The Gluttony Continues", for here comes ...
Another day, another meal!

I'm "posh dining" for this second week of "The Pout's Tennerfest Fortnight".

I am a traditional dresser.  I think posh and immediately think black. 

Is black your go-to posh wear too?  Or do you have a modern-day equivalent?

This black M&S skirt has often been a life-saver when I need to go lady-like or posh.  It's an ex-work skirt which has slid so nicely into my winter retirement wardrobe.  Using this skirt as the base for my outfits this week has made dressing easy (well, maybe we should leave it as "easier").  There has been a pile of tops only heaped on the bed when I have left the house!

To meet up with girlfriends during the week, I added a Next jersey asymmetric cowl top and a large pearl drop pendant and earrings.

Topped with my ubiquitous Peacock pleather waterfall jacket and Clarks croc print chunky heels.

This little jacket has turned out to be another little lifesaver, but in so many more contexts.  It goes "posh" to ground an outfit and equally it works to zap up a more casual jeans outfit.  It looks great with dresses too.  I am so pleased I grabbed it when I saw it in the shop.  They disappeared quickly.

I've worn it sooo much so PPW will be plummeting again now that we are in the cover-up season.

I took this little outfit here.  I don't think I've taken you to La Reunion before.  It's a little bit more pricey but the place is very chic and in warmer seasons it is so lovely to enjoy pre-dinner drinks out on the balcony overlooking the bay, where the sun sets so beautifully.  But 6.30pm, October - neither of those things was going to happen during this visit unfortunately.

I meet up with some ex-colleagues on a regular basis.  We bring each other back little souvenirs from trips abroad.  Today was a bit of a bonanza, a bit of a build-up of goodies so I just had to take a shot of all my pressies on display before me

Caramels from France, a make-up bag from Egypt, a soap and little plate from Cyprus, a coaster from Paris, a little silk purse from China (that friend had just returned from a week's business trip there so it was truly "fresh") and a cow bell keyring from Austria which my cheeky French friend secretly hooked to my handbag so that for the rest of the evening there was no mistaking where I was!

And continuing  to exercise due food-shot restraint during this difficult-for-dieters Tennerfest period, I give you just one.  A cheeky little fig and pear crumble ... yummy!

My tummy is now truly feeling the strain of my gluttony, internally and externally.  I stoked up on healthy clean salads yesterday.  That continued during today (the exception being tonight, of course).  It will continue tomorrow and hopefully keep going as far as I possibly can - would Christmas be too much to ask for?  Oh yes it will.  We have our birthdays coming up soon.  It would be rude not to enjoy some nice food and wine as I celebrate another year of still hanging on in there despite my less than decorous living!

I just don't know if I'll be able to fit into any of my clothes by then ...

But back to the now maties.  Tonight I am returning to the same restaurant. And I will also be returning to black but a dress for a change. It's work-in-progress so that invariably means I will be leaving behind a pile of discarded outfits on the bed when the taxi arrives!
And then from tomorrow, it's outings rather than eatings for this yer porky Pout!

A la perchoine.









Tennerfest - Treat or Trick?

Now, a little back-story for you today, dear reader.  I have to give you this back-story in order to defend my corner.  For I've been doing a fair bit of dining out of late and there will be times when I have to drop my recently-adopted lily-livered approach to food shots on this blog and give you pictorial evidence of what I been up to.  For I have been eating.  Rather a lot.

You see, during the month of October, we have something over here called the Tennerfest.  The idea is for restaurants to produce 3 course meals for £10 and sort of compete with each other for the locals' trade.  This creates a buzz on the island and boosts restaurant trade in the relatively quiet period between summer and Christmas. 

That's how it started about 20 years ago.  Needless to say, whilst a few restaurants still honour the £10/3 courses, most have over time either increased prices so that a meal is no longer a tenner, and/or have reduced the number of courses for a tenner.  But a restaurant near us, here, is one of the few that does an amazingly good 3 courses for £10 ...

... and that is where I headed happily when I wore this.

(3 courses? £10?  I have told you I am tight, eh?!). 

(For my Sibs - my Little Boy Blue pose!)

Woolovers heather long-line jumper, Peacocks grey jeans. M&S snake print flatties.

And an embroidered mauve shawl, last seen here.

Nicely togged for a short evening stroll down to the nearby restaurant. But that's not what happened.

For the heaven's opened and the rain belted down.  So instead of a nice leisurely 10 minute stroll we had a 2 minute dash in the car.  I couldn't take shots of the pretty walk to the restaurant.  I didn't even get any pre-prandial exercise to justify my gluttony! 

That's autumn for you, eh, unpredictable.  Even BBC weather can get it wrong this time of year.  Err, Michael Fish and his infamous no-storm forecast hours before The Great Storm of October 87, under whose eye our island nested?

And now, with due restraint, I post you food pics but also with an added bonus, a recipe.

After fish bon bons, I had Beercan burger with gorgeous spicy chips.  I just had to try this from the menu as I'd first seen this burger on a Swedish blogger's site some months ago and had made the dish myself.  So I wanted to taste a Pro's efforts.

I'm justifying this food pic primarily because I want to share my recipe with you.

Here's what you do.  You roll your minced beef mix (mince with added onions, seasoning, herbs etc) into a ball then press down a can in the centre to make a well.  You fill the cavity with whatever gorgeous stuff you fancy and top with cheese.  I filled mine with red onions, cherry toms. mozzarella and lots of herbs. The restaurant's version was a mix which included mushrooms.  Oh joy! :-(.

Anyway. stuffing chosen, you then wrap the sides of the burger in streaky bacon and bake for about 20-25 mins, or less if you like it pinker.  

It really is rather yummy.  Fancy giving it a go?

But back to the pictorials of my gluttony, I'm also fessing up to pecan tart slice.

Very nice food, very nice servers.  Three courses. £10.  Thank you very much. 

And there you have it, dear reader.  My name is The Pout and I ate out thricely last week and I will be eating out three times again this week.  I am supporting local businesses during a quiet period by my over-eating, that's my altruistic starting point.  And I'm catching up with lots of friends.  All good.  

But now into my second week of gluttony, I am starting to feel decidedly uncomfortable, yet the meals keep coming with frightening regularity.  And I really don't know if I can take my 

altruistic task to term.  I don't know whether I can truly face my last few meals of the bunch, coming up scarily soon.  

I guess this is my own personal self-induced Halloween scare - eating out is now feeling more of a trick than a treat!

A la perchoine.