What A Pout Wants

The Backstory

Year 2000.  The film What Women Want is released.  The Pout watches it.  Falls for Helen Hunt's wardrobe, especially her beige suede skirt.  The Pout searches one out.  The Pout gets what she wants.  She's loves it, wears it to death then tires of it, packs it away like the loved teddybear of a fickle owner.  

And so the skirt sleeps.  And sleeps.

Year 2018.  The Pout stumbles upon her old skirt.  Puts it in the washing machine.  And awakens her sleeping beauty.

Channelling Helen Hunt

Yes, I've done my forensics and worked out why I bought the skirt and how I got to fall in love with it all over again.

So here's what I've been doing with my laundered suede.

Wearing head to toe soft-tone neutrals.

A simple soft cashmere jumper.  The simple soft suede skirt.

And early one morning and wearing my washed suede skirt in an osteopath's waiting room I realised I was channelling Helen Hunt.  But in an old lady, pensioner way.  I wore a scarf.  Don't think Helen did scarves but older ladies do that, add scarves to everything. 

So having had that HH moment, I did my research and discovered that the film's release date fitted in with when I bought the skirt.

 I googled some images and up popped the gorgeous Helen.

Wearing cashmere and suede, both hugging her super gorgeously toned body.

Elegant simplicity.

I googled some more.  She mostly wore Celine in the film.   Michael Kors was designing there back then.  That's just an aside.

My forensics showed that my HH passion ran deep. 

 Around that time I also bought a black dress very similar to the goddess's.  It's Marina Rinaldi and worn recently here, styled with berry boots.  That's all this classic dress needs.  

And this look doesn't date either.

I'm still wearing  HH's cream cardi/white cami/updo look.

But not the stinkin' high heels.  The other Helen goddess (Miren) calls these her stripper heels, her heels of preference for the red carpet.  That's just an aside too.

HH in pale blue Celine.  

The Pout in aqua East.

Yes, around the same time I bought this linen dress and jacket.

This sleeping beauty was awoken too last year.

As well as noting the huge subliminal influence HH must have had on my style back then, what's also getting through to me from this little exercise is that if you get the right classics, they do not date.  

I recalled that as well as HH's amazing wardrobe, the film had been an enjoyable watch too - no surprise as it was a Nancy Myers film.  I think many many MANY of my all time favourite films are hers.  But I searched my DVD stash and found a gap in my library.  

No WWW in there.  A quick visit to Amazon remedied that p.d.q. And yes, it's still as good today as it was BITD.  A film classic.

Here's a snippet for you.

HH's Influence Lives On

Since  I found and washed this little skirt, I've  worn it in many guises.  I've experienced my Suede Skirt Spring, but in autumn/winter.  So I leave you with a few of the outfits the skirt has sprung up in through the season.

So that was my Suede Skirt journey.  

I got what I wanted and have found the love for it again.  

And I've discovered that Ms Hunt has been so much more than just a skirt to me.

Has any film character influenced you like this?  Perhaps without you realising it? That's something for you to reflect on this cold and wet January!

A la perchoine, 

Mary x.

What I've Been Wearing Lately

Hello, my lovelies. 

Are you busy decking your halls with boughs of holly?

Is December busy enough for you?

It's a little too busy for me, that's for sure.  I'm pretty much there with pressies and cards, the tree's a work in progress and the busyness is down to me decking the Pout halls, reorganizing stuff and painting bits and bobs around the house.  

How are your Christmas plans going?  I hope you're not as silly as me, taking on painting jobs in December, who needs that on top of everything else?!

Amazingly (for me) I've still managed to get out of those dreaded leggings and scruffy T in recent weeks, so here's a round-up of what I've been wearing lately.

But before I start up today, a question.  Do you get notification of my replies to your comments or am I just replying to big void that is the ether?!  I'd love to hear from you in this, cos I spend a lot of time chatting away to you when you comment!!!

Cashmere cardi (Madeleine), long sleeved modal T (The White Company), skinnies (M&S), heeled boots (Gabor).

Coatigan (Zara).

Denim jacket (Gap), plaid shirt (Primark), coated jeans (Next), heeled boots (Jones).

Top and shawl (Next), jeans (Primark), flat boots (Pikolinos).

Cashmere merino cardi (Woolovers), silk scarf (The Rack), long sleeved T (The White Company), skinnies (M&S), suede boots (Debenhams).

Cashmere mix jumper (Next), silk scarf (charitied), coated jeans (Next), knee boots (Gabor).

Larger size (that looked like a potato sack) returned.  Size down a couple of sizing if going for this jumper.

Cardi (Peacocks), floral dress (East), knee boots (M&S).

Nice to wear a dress for once.

Zara chunky cardi, v. old.

I'm looking for ideas on how to wear this, any suggestions?

Ruffles jumper (Kaliko), velvet loose trousers (East).

The jumper has been sleeping in my wardrobe for 15+ years yet this was the first time I've worn it.  Suddenly the ruffles and the sparkly trim seemed "now".  I'm calling this approach SLEEPER FASHION, (find out more about it HERE).

Raincoat, hat, skinnie, twinset (M&S), scarf (Zara), heeled boots (Gabor).

🎵 I beg your pardon ... there's got to be a little rain sometimes 🎶

Cashmere mix jumper and hat (Next), scarf (shop in Lyndhurst), skinnies (M&S), heeled boots(Gabor).

I wore this to bring the potted tree in from the garden and drape it with a few fairy lights.  Then I took a break from tree decoration to go out for a turkey dinner.

Then returned to drape tree with a strand of pearls. They're just real, of course *!

Clearer pic of funnel neckline of jumper.

And clearer pic of work in progress potted tree, now on its third Christmas.  Thinking this may be it's last indoors as it seems to bleach with the sun, guess it really belongs in a dark forest.

V-back version of Next cashmere mix (size down just one size with this style).   

Oatmeal seems to be THE must-wear colour for decorating the tree this year.

Tree, still a work in progress as discovered I'm short of a box of glass baubles which we must have missed on our recent loft trip.

So, I stopped work and went out for a turkey dinner.  

Are you spotting a trend here?  Who knew that decorating a Christmas tree could be so fattening?!

So that's what I've been wearing (and eating!) lately.   

I expect you've been rigged up in smarter attire as you enjoy the round of December parties, dinners and all things Christmassy.  Am I right?

From what I see here today, this pensioner's life isn't the mad social whirl that you're probably experiencing right now.

Perhaps I just need to put on a few cocktail dresses and tell you I'm looking tired because of my wall to wall Xmas partying, when the truth is this month I'm just painting walls!

  

* String of Pearls, they're just real, of course.

A la perchoine, 

Mary.

Finding my Sleeves

Well, even the sprinkling of snow forecast for the weekend has been downgraded by the BBC to a spasmodic flake or two.  So looks like there's no more snow play for me this year.

This coat comes out when it's really cold (shown here with wind-blown scarfage).  

It's my Big Coat.  So warm.

This was taken the day after the last snow fell a couple of weeks ago.  We went to see a film (movie).

It was still extremely cold.  This wasn't a good shot (again, messy scarf) but there was no chance of a second pic as The Photographer was muttering between chattering teeth "Can we PLEASE go inside and see the flippin' film!".  So we did.

Still wearing the coat as it was bloomin' cold a few days later,  I got another shot out of him during school pick-up.

This was not a good shot either (scarf overload) and again, TP was less than enthusiastic to make this a photoshoot.

At this point I gave up.

I took shots without me in it.  Is this a "hangie"?  Whatever, this seems to work.  My Reluctant Photographer Workaround!

I'm showing you the coat as an example of how to fix something when it isn't quite working for you.

(Does anyone know how to fix a photographer who isn't quite working for me?)

I liked this coat in the M&S sale, about 5 years ago.  Wool, stand-up collar.  All good stuff.

So, a really warm coat and what does M&S do?  It gives it 3/4 length sleeves.  We're talking chocolate teapot, folks.

. But I liked the colour, the cosy design ... and the heavily discounted price and thought I could grow to like the sleeves too.

I couldn't.  Those silly sleeves required me to wear a long sleeved top that matched my bottoms, otherwise it just looked, err, silly.  Or to wear elbow length gloves, which I have.  Black.  Somewhere.

After one silly wear too many, it dawned on me that perhaps this silly sleeve thing was the reason the coat was in the sale?  No one in their right minds wanted wind whistling up their armpits.

But, caveat emptor, our silly Pout had bought it and a workaround was needed.  Eureka!   I hunted down some wool (yippee, soft cashmere).  I knitted myself some deep cuffs, which can be folded back up under the coat if a 3/4 sleeve is wanted ... like I would!

I'd bought enough wool to knit a scarf and used the spare button to create a button fastening.

The scarf can be worn without the button too.

A little tie mechanism holds the scarf in place inside when not worn - remember BITD when children's gloves were sewn on to elastic and threaded through the coat sleeves?  Genius!

Another genius innovation is that I have a little loop mechanism in the cuffs so that in a flash they become mitts.  Cool, huh?

The flashy silky lining had drawn me to the coat.

So, the lesson is that if you truly like something, new or old, but it's not quite right then think about what it would take to make it "right".  Sometimes all it takes is a simple tweaking.  Why didn't the silly M&S bods work this out?

Now, random question time. 

How many times did I use "silly"  in this post? Dunno, but it's a PB.

Can you think of something in your wardrobe that could do with a bit of tweak?

Which film did I see?  Oh I know this one!  Finding Your Feet!!

Was the film good?  Yes.

Did it have lots of gorgeous house décor like in Something's Gotta Give or It's Complicated*?  No.

Did I enjoy it despite the paucity of stylish interiors?  Yes.

* Oh the times I have watched these films just to get a fix of the lovely house décor alone!!!

Is that something you do? 

And did you know that there are whole websites and forums devoted to these film sets?!

A la perchoine.