Judi in Disguise - With Glasses?

Judi in disguise ... with glasses!

 John Fred and his Playboys sang it so well BITD, but when I posted my pic in judi-in-brown-velvet, I guess I did "forget" my glasses - I was attempting "glamour"!

Anyway let's revisit Back In The Day, Brown Velvet and everything in between.

It started with this.  I wore this Kaliko brown velvet dress BITD - and I think from the hair, face and body you can tell that this BITD was some years ago - 2004!

I then bought a long brown velvet skirt from the same company.

I don't have a pic of me in the skirt.  Mainly because I never wore it.  So you get a rather sultry pose in the same dress, same night.

But I did have a passion for brown velvet at the time, so I bought the East brown velvet coat and trousers that I showed you a few posts ago.  I wore that outfit quite a lot.  It was far more practical than an evening dress.  Or that glamorous long skirt.  

Even BITD when I used to get invites to parties and black tie events, there was always a place in my world for my Judi outfit (at a time when Judi didn't yet have her signature outfit).

So I tried out the old brown velvet ensemble with a view to wearing it on Monday night.  With refreshingly new Pout discipline I planned well in advance what to wear to my one "party" event in December.

Who would have thought that I'd be basing my proposed  Christmas "party" outfit on the iconic Judi's cast-in-stone red carpet look!  But I'm a pensioner.  So I did. 

Though I should add that young Judi is not yet a pensioner, she's still a Working Girl at 82.

Anyway, back to the plot.  I managed to find a long-sleeved alternative to wear under my long brown velvet coat.

This M&S ivory blouse, now no longer on their website but this if-nothing-but-thorough Pout saved a photo on Kindle when doing her even thorougher research. (Sorry spellecheck "thorougher" should be a word - get a life!)

Look, I'd even found an alternative to my alternative.  I love pink and brown, ever since I fell in love with a jumper worn by a very young Hayley Mills which I then knitted for myself from the pic - when I was 13! 

I was a creative knitter who saw no boundaries, just huge amounts of opportunities. 

 What happened to that young girl?

OK, so back to the plot yet again.  Monday came.  The day of my "do".  What happened?  Winter happened.  I woke up with a stonkin' cold.  Feeling wretched, I snoozed in the afternoon.  When I awoke, I knew there was no way I wanted to try out anything "fancy" (read "different from my current norm"). 

I announced that I would not be wearing my Judi-brown-velvet-outfit-hanging-up-next-to-the-bathroom-with-a-choice-of-three-(yes-three)- tops.  Oh no siree, I felt yucky and I just wanted to wear something familiar, easy and comfortable.

So I wore this.

Black silk jersey wrap dress from Artigiano.
Solid.  Reliable.  A go-to.  Something I went to an hour before I left the house.  Abandoning my new-found planning discipline.  Old Pout is still there when needed!

Some Clarks croc-effect chunky hells.

A fringed silky Peacocks scarf for the thing going on in the throat area ... the "thing" being my sore throat, not my turkey neck!

Tadaah!  I topped it with my recently resurrected Black velvet jacket from Wallis.

A mere nod at velvet, not my planned full-on homage to this winter's on-trend fabric.

I stuffed tissues and a lip balm in my vintage handbag shown in man-i-feel-like-lady and I was good to go.  Yes, peeps, the best made plans of Mice (scream!) and Men ... 

I went for comfort and a last-minute wardrobe change.  Again.  On the one day of the year that I could have dragged out a really posh Judi combo.  Plans ruined by a fluey cold.

So where have we been on today's journey?  We've come from a brown velvet posh-frock worn in December 2005, to a going-for-safety black wrap dress, December 2016.

Along the way we found this.  A song written by someone who was inspired by a misconception that The Beatles' Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds was Lucy In Disguise ... With  Diamonds.

And as I haven't yet mastered anything more techy than a simple link, I give you John Fred and his iconic Playboys here.  

Enjoy!

Update in 2018 - I can do the music links now!!!

A la perchoine.

Judi in Brown Velvet

Hellooo!  Hope you are enjoying a cosy December so far.

We lit our fire in the front lounge - first time this winter.  I'm just about to go in there to enjoy a G&T and Strictly, but thought I should just check in with you first.

I'm off to a Christmas dinner on Monday.  Back in the day, my diary was chocka with various dinners, dances and parties during December.  Since retirement, my diary has one event each year.  Yes, just the one. How times have changed?!!

My single December "party" is a voluntary organisation dinner.  Usually I grab something to wear about an hour before leaving the house.  This year I'm making plans.  Maybe it's this blog that is discipling me - I hope so.

Queue Judi Dench ...

Just joking - it's me!  But I call this my Judi Dench outfit.  Couldn't you just imagine her wearing this?!  Hey, she might read this and will be plucking up courage to ask if she can borrow it for some grand red carpet affair, thinking "Hey, The Pout does me better than I do myself!" 

Keep checking out the comments, readers, just in case she does!

Back to the real world, Pout.  For a few years I've fancied resurrecting this combo.  It's 12-13 years old. It's a long round-necked jacket and trousers from East.  And it's velvet, which I understand is "in" this winter so it fits in with my "if you keep clothes for long enough they will come back in fashion".

I stopped wearing this outfit because 1. I don't get invited to posh dos any more, and 2. I have always had a devil of a job finding a top to suit.  I see now that my mistake has been to try to follow it through with brown under the jacket.  But I had a eureka! moment this week and thought I'd try it with something neutral.  I tried it with this Next top.  I think it really perks up the brown and makes it stand out.  What do you think?

I then had second thoughts as the top is sleeveless and I may want to take off the jacket.  And my arms can't hide behind a tan in winter.  So I found a waterfall frill front long-sleeved blouse at M&S which I'm going to try out tomorrow.  Sorry I can't post a pic of it, it seems to have sold out on the website but if it works, you can betcha I'll be posting a pic for you!  A pic of The Pout doing her Judi Dench look. But without the short crop!

I hope you can see what's going on here.  I'm giving myself time in advance of My Big Do to test-drive what works with what.  I like this new me.  The one who plans outfits in advance.  I like this discipline which this blog has gifted me.

I like being The Pout!

Do you still go to posh dos? 

Do you plan outfits in advance? With trial runs before an event?

Do you sometimes find that you've been barking up the wrong tree when attempt to accessorise an outfit? 

Like I did until I tried this with cream.  Duh!!!  It really wasn't rocket science, was it?

A la perchoine.