Monochrome Magic - Khaki

.Yesrerday I introduced you to the challenge I’m participating in this week.

Day 2 of the #monochromemagicme challenge saw me sporting khaki. .

I was determined to use this challenge to bring a few things out of the wardrobe that seldom see the light of day in retirement.  So today I gave some corporate wear an airing, which is good.

I pulled a khaki suit apart, using the skirt for the challenge and the rest of the three piece will be seen when I return to polychrome life.  I wore the suit loads BITD, but it still looks like new, which is also good. .

Adding a fine knit jumper and thick cardi casualed up the skirt, to make it wearable for today’s task, nipping to the post office for Christmas 🎄 card stamps #excitedforchristmas .

My all-khaki outfit:

Long new wool skirt, M&S, ca 2000

Jumper, H&M, same vintage 

Tyrolean-style cardi, Per Una, ca 2010

Thick rubbed scarf, Primark, 2017

I sneaked in brown boots and  necklace, I’m not sure if that will disqualify me from the challenge 😞 😢 

Boots, ca 2003, Gabor

Wooden necklace, gifted by my dear Dutch friend .

Now why don’t you hop on over to Instagram to see our efforts on #monochromemagicme 

A la perchoine,

Mary x. 

Barnstorming

No, this is not me descending the tourelle staircase at Chez Pout.

The outside of the tourelle staircase can be seen behind me in the pic below.

I've been taking in a bit of history.

A medieval barn adjacent to an old farmhouse has been painstakingly renovated by our Guernsey National Trust.

It's taken some years.  I popped in to check the work.  

Please join me on my barnstorming walk-through.

A cider press.

A hay fork.

Cider bottles.  I had a few of these beauties at home.  I call them empties.

Now here's a challenge. This is a fisherman's basket, carried on the back, BITD.   I remember as a child my dad bringing his back home, filled with mackerel or crabs if we were lucky. He wasn't a fisherman but he enjoyed fishing and was good at it.

The challenge is the name.  I can't remember quite how to spell it but it's something like pannier'cou, which translates as derriere basket, for that is where it rests on the "lower back"!

,

These carts would have been laden with apples for pressing.

The refreshment tables groaned under the weight of sandwiches and cakes.

I like a groaning table.

 A cider barrel by the fireplace.

Paraphernalia.

The barn has been beautifully restored inside and out 

Specialist thatchers were brought in to re-roof the building.  We have very few thatched properties on the island.

It's such a pretty barn.  Granite of course 😆.  I had to rely on website pictures at this stage, as my phone ran out of battery just as I was approaching the attractive front facade.  And I have the audacity to call myself a blogger!

My barnstorming outfit of choice: a Marks khaki linen shirt and Peacocks t shirt over white Marks jeans, picked  up for just £8 in the January sale.  Bargain!  

I find white jeans lose their whiteness when washed so much through the sumner months.  I look out for sales bargains in winter and stock up so that I can wear starkly white jeans each  summer.

Other ways I've worn the khaki linen shirt

I thought I'd check out how I've worn this shirt during my two blogging years, just to see if my style has evolved.

Do you ever do this?

Back in 2016 I teamed it with shorts to create an urban guerrilla look ... Che Guevara meets Wolfie Smith!

In a more feminine mood in 2017 teamed with a fave charity buy, my pretty  flowery skirt. Channelling Kellyann, I wore it knotted, followed the colour through to the shoes to top and tail the outfit.  Then I channelled Chanel and Kellyann both in one big glammy zing with a chunky pearl strand.  I like this mix, a lot. 

This look from last year was similar to today's, here with a white cami and cropped jeans. 

From these pics, I see a smidgen of evolution has taken place, my dressing mood seems a tad lighter, more playful maybe?

Back to the shirt.

This is a cool shirt (linen, go figure).  It's useful as a layer on a hot day, protecting my arms from the sun when sightseeing ... or as a sneaky way of hiding my derriere - it's my chemise'cou !

Worn Kellyann-style, this shirt moves into a whole new stratosphere.

But I'm not too good at moving out of my stratosphere.  I'm not very imaginative when it comes to shirts especially, probably because I rarely wear them.

So it's over to you, my dear reader.

I hope you enjoyed barnstorming with me today.  But are you ready for some brainstorming now, my friends?

Are there any ways you can think of to get this shirt looking less jungle warfare?  

Is there another stratosphere of femininity I can enter with it?  

And to all Guernsey people out there 

Happy Liberation Day !!

A la perchoine.

A Busy Day in Khaki

Hi dear readers, I hope your day has been glorious.  Mine has been so pleasant.  And busy.

It kicked off early with an osteopath appointment.  Mine really is wonderful, so inspiring. 

If anyone in Guernsey is looking for a good osteopath, I would recommend mine in a heartbeat.

(And I stress heartbeat as he is rather easy on the eye too :-) )

And just in case you were wondering, I wore white cropped jeans and a navy/white stripey top, with Birkies - yes, my first Birkies day of summer!

Then I moved on to the garden centre, which keeps a stock of good greetings cards.   I stocked up for the next few months.  I am at peace when I have a well-stocked card drawer.  So card stocking, done.

Next, lunch with a girlfriend whose birthday is today.  An ultra quick turnaround was needed.

Stripey top whipped off.  Khaki linen shirt with white cami whipped on, over same crops. 

Birkies swapped for snakeprint flatties.

(This was freshly ironed but already creases lurked - will someone please invent a non-iron linen!)

Now, I apologise.  The photos were hurried as The Photographer was dashing off to the golf course.  I was lucky that he took any pics at all and I definitely knew my time was limited to less than 30 seconds before he blew a gasket. 

I was feeling the pressure!

So only after he'd scooted off did I add the finishing stuff - a dark green beaded necklace, a Skagen steel bracelet and I unbuttoned the shirt - it looked so much better as a shacket. 

And I have plans for this outfit.  This outfit can do better things. I want to wear it with ankle grazing white jeans and high taupe heels.  But I decided to save that look for another day as I only wear those heels when TP is with me so that I can hang on to his arm when I feel a totter coming on. 

Tell me, dear reader, are you brave enough to wear ridiculously high heels on your own, without a supporting arm?  Do you totter?  No?  It's probably just me.

Quick outfit tweaking done,  I then had to scoot myself off carrying my final accessory, a pressie for the birthday girl tucked into a nice green bag with white spots - well Green is the Pantone colour for 2017, in case you have been hanging out in Outer Mongolia these past couple of months and hadn't picked that one up yet!

So, green (khaki) shirt, green beads and green pressie bag - bang on trend colour, done!

Lunch at La Grande Mare

 Guernsey crab, avocado and beetroot.  If you've been reading this blog a while, you will now know that Guernsey crab ... is simply the best, better than all the rest (as Tina T shouted out to the world!)

Fish and chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce.  Note the vinegar in a dinky bottle!

Of course, I left half the fish and chips, but the fish came home in a Catty Bag for Bertie.

And although neither of us had much appetite for puds, we shared a key lime pie.  The Birthday Girl had to finish on a high sugar note, eh?

A delicious lunch and a lovely catch up with a super lady.

But my day was not yet complete.  Next up, a constitutional stroll to my hairdresser, passing ...

... bluebells bursting through, swathes of wild garlic lining the lanes.

Uplifting walk, done.  Then I popped myself in my hairdresser's chair and she gave me with trim I probably desperately needed.  Tidy up, done.

And now I'm sitting here telling you all about my lovely day.  How lovely is that?

You know, my Danish girlfriends asked how a pensioner can be as busy as I often profess to be - well just look at what I've been up to today - a perfect example of a pensioner's busy day, right?!



A la perchoine.



Khaki and Navy, Honestly Created

Anna's challenge was Wear Khaki and Navy. 

She's cast out a few challenges recently.  Like wearing shorts - that one took me way out of my comfort zone.  And, you know what. I discovered that I loved them and stayed in them for the rest of the summer.  They had to be prised off me come September!   

And sometimes due to time constraints. I've had to use my creativity (I've cheated!) with other challenges, as I did for her white-t-shirt-and-jeans where I posted a 35 year old photo of me wearing the ensemble.

But his time round, dear reader, I have put together an honest and legitimate offering for Anna's Khaki and Navy challenge.  OK, I had to shop a visiting wardrobe, but I got there.

Allow me to set the scene.  I was meeting up with a cousin and her hubby for lunch in the town.  I decided that I would wear black jeans with an ivory drape top and a grey edge to edge cardi.  But first I'll just try on the Khaki and Navy, do a quick photo shoot, tick the challenge box and then change into my chosen lunch outfit spread out on the bed.

So I give you a khaki Primani wrap top with Next navy (ish) jeans and M&S snake print flatties.

Now this feels OK.  Where can I take this?

Why not sling on a navy Primani slouch cardi.   Yup, that works.

OK, now we're cooking.  How about switching the jeans for some Primani navy chinos and switch the cardi for a neater navy one courtesy of M&S; gives me a slightly more smart look.  Nude heels from Debenhams.  Yup, that looks rather OK.  Rather smart casual.

Oh and I'm walking to lunch, along the sea front, so let's try on a scarf picking out the colours. 

How about a stone-coloured wool jacket from Cotton Traders, and switch back to some flatties as walking is on the agenda.

Look who's got a grump on!

Hmmnn.  Not sure if I want a jacket, I feel a bit frumpy.  Ditch that idea.  It's a lovely day.  Don't need a jacket anyway, just that little M&S cardi which I can sling off in the restaurant (and I did, the day was sooo hot).

So you can see what happened.  Along the way I decided that I actually liked the outfit I was playing around with.  It was perfect for a lunch with family. 

I ditched my planned outfit and left the house in Khaki and Navy.

I had a new outfit that I hadn't thought to put together before.  So thank you, Anna.

And Anna's challenges are all about that.  Participating gets you to think about new combos that you can put together from your wardrobe.  Clothes that you have, worn in a different way.  Clothes that you have maybe never worn come out to play.  Clothes that you were maybe thinking of consigning to the charity shop suddenly get a new lease of life.

Now at this point, it's only fair to fess up.  When I heard of the challenge and struggled to find something khaki, I did at some early point think naughty. "How can I cheat?".  Bad Pout. 

You see, this outfit sprang to mind from my post here.

The shirt and top are khaki.  Perfect.  The shorts, well, they are denim, but they are blue.

But you know, I'm really very pleased that I took the honest route because the little exercise gave me a perfect little lunch outfit. 

Maybe you'd like to try a challenge.  How about this one?  It's not stretching things too far, eh?

Just stretching your imagination a tad.

We do sometimes get drawn into our own rigid boxes of dressing, our own idea of what we should wear and once it becomes habit it sometimes stays that way.  And hey presto, you find yourself wearing your own "uniform".  But to open your eyes to new ideas, new combos, gives you so much more mileage, more leverage from your wardrobe.  And it is a great perk-up.  Because I think you can see from my face that I was (mostly) having a lot of fun during the process.

A la perchoine.





(White) Jeans On - Deux

Yesterday was beautiful so it was officially the first day of MY summer,
as I put on my not-so-white jeans and I felt alrrrrright!

M&S cropped jeggings SS14, with M&S khaki knitted jacket and a khaki top from Hennes and Mauritz.  Yes, you read right.  This stretchy top is so "vintage" that its label reads "Hennes" rather than H&M!  Hennes means "hers" in Swedish - just sayin'.

Worn with v. comfy M&S Insolia snakeskin flatties from last summer.

You may recall I was on a quest to find some sparkly white replacements jeans here.  I've tested a few pairs of white jeans and true to my word, I'm reporting in with my findings.

These were miniscule at the ankle and looked silly with shoes and bare ankles.  I wasn't keen on the thickness of the material either, so pretty much a no-go all round. 

I tried the M&S pink jeggings too - pretty colour but again the ankle didn't work for me for summer.

Per Una Roma-rise-slim-leg-5-pocket-jeans

These were a lovely fit, especially around the ankles so looked great with summer shoes, but I don't think I can live with the shallow zipper.  They are a bit too hipster-ish - they give me a fabulous display of muffin belly!  But they are lovely so I'd recommend trying them.

Next Slim Jeans 

But, a Cinderella moment, these are just right!

Peacocks basic-jegging

The crops are the same price.  Such good value and the ankle isn't uber narrow like PUs.

  I've worn Peacock's grey version for two years now and they are still looking and feeling good, so I am familiar with their work. 

Who would have thought ... me and Peacocks, bit of a jegg-mance going on there!

So, I Have White Jeans, I Will Put Them On, I Will Feel Alright!

A la perchoine.