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

BBQ Linen

Hello my lovelies!

It’s cold and it’s rainy here today.
It’s hard to believe that this is June when I look down at the jeans and jumper I’m wearing as I type.  I was wearing less in April!

Let’s look back to a warmer day, to proper summer weather when a cool linen dress is just the thing for a family bbq, they’ve been a lovely weekend tradition since our bubble buddying began. 

So here I am heading off to a bbq on a much drier and warmer day. 

It’s easy to keep cool in this coffee coloured linen dress ... with pockets!
Gotta love a dress with pockets, especially in retirement when I’m reliant on pockets, as my handbag engagement is rare.   And if it’s not cross-body or over the shoulder then it doesn’t happen.  Ever.

At first I used to fret over what to do with my hands without a handbag crutch.  Hands felt like me back in my single days at a function, flitting around the room searching for some kind soul to engage with.
But it’s surprising how quickly you regain your no-handbag “balance “ and find you CAN walk without the crutch.  What is essential is to get in the zone and walk with a sense of purpose and confidence.  Pretty much the same technique I used to walk alone into a room of mingling strangers.
Ditching handbags definitely requires some mental training!

Of course, when you’re working there is lot of daytime stuff to carry around and a bag is necessary.
But many of you working girls have had a taste of retirement life recently eh? In Lockdown, as pretty much in retirement, one doesn’t go out-out and so handbags are totally superfluous as there’s no need for one to carry bits and bobs anywhere.  So handbags are a double whammy no-no for me during this time.

Yes, pockets are the way forward for this retired gal, and the deeper the better.
Phone in one, tissue and lip balm in ‘tother.  Simples.

I packed a printed linen shirt layer for when the sun drops.   But I didn’t need it; even as the sun slipped behind the neighboring house the temperature was still comfortably warm.
Definitely not like today.  I want my summer back!

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My accessories are a sunhat, sunnies and yes, a chunky necklace - I’m wearing jewellery!
Jewellery has come out rarely during Lockdown but this day felt special enough to push the boat out. 

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My “handbag” essential was my mum’s old basket which I used to carry my hostess gifts: freshly baked bread and banana cake, and Prosecco of course.  There’s a limit to what those two pockets can handle!

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Where do you stand on handbags?
Do you love them?
Or do you find them rather superfluous and irritating these days?

A la perchoine, 

Mary x. 

#retirementdressing #over70style 

#over70fashion 

#over60style 

#agelessstyle #whatiwore #linendress #alexonshirt #linen shirt

Red Isn't Just For Christmas

Hi peeps, it's getting hot over here, but not in a Nelly way!

I'm talking red hot shoes.

I've been drawn to vibrant red of late and I've observed how shoes drive an outfit.  Red shoes have been driving my OOTDs this month.

But first, let's just deal with the elephant here.  Red shoes.  Do we all know what they are supposed to signal?

Some friends of mine got together over a pair of red shoes.  She was wearing them.  His chat up line was to ask her if it was true what they say about red shoes.  She is French and hadn't heard of  the old myth before.   So, embarressed and uncomfortable, he had to spell it out and now they're married with a lovely little family (See what I wore to the wedding HERE)

So that's got that one out the way.  I'm wearing red shoes, to heck with what they say!

Leather flatties, M&S 

These flatties casualise my posh red linen sheath dress (2002, from Alexon).  Worn with a sun hat and red straw bag kept the vibe easy.

This is my attempt at a sightseeing-in-Rome look, which I shall soon be doing, hence the try-ons marathon I'm putting myself through for the next few weeks.  I'm in a what-to-pack panic!

Switch to wedge espadrilles (charity find).

The heeled shoes immediately push the dress into take-me-out-to-dinner territory.  My Il Ristorante look!

But shoes aren't the only thing at play with a red linen sheath.

A spotted scarf can take the dress to another place.  The 60s!

Headscarves are a big thing this summer and this one took me straight back to the early '60s.  Ladies were smarter back then, eh?

A little cream cardi with red embroidered daisies is a perfect slip on for the evening chills.  Which just isn't going to be happening any time soon - are we loving these hot summer nights, ladies?!!

Yes, things are kinda hot around here right now and it's not all down to the abundance of red in my outfits.  It's stinkin' hot!

So shorts have been high on my agenda.  Not the four inch inner leg shorts, no no, for I accept my legs' limitations.

Knee length shorts work for a lady nearing 70, at least I hope they do!

I've recently ditched two pairs of HUGE  knee shorts.  They'd gone way past 90s grunge, they had become so big on me that they were positively clown-like!!

So it was a relief to find myself with some slim fitting replacements that look a trillion times smarter than my circus shorts.  They have become an overnight go-to.

And because I've ditched the baggies, my world has been opened up to new possibilities for shorts, with styling so far removed from when those baggies drove me towards a grungier look with every single wearing.

And thus my current red shoe bonanza pushed me to posh up my Peacocks denim knee shorts.  I love this OOTD, inspired by my red flatties.  I took my cue from the dark wash to team the shorts with a navy linen shell top (Next), added red and navy necklace ... and a red neckerchief used as a headband!  Am I bang on trend or what, ladies?!!!

So red, there's a lot of it about right now and it's not just restricted to my feet.  I'm quite literally top to toeing my red right now.  I may be turning into a tomato ...

Red isn't just for Christmas.  Do YOU like wearing red in summer?

(Oh and in case it's just a British thing, the myth is "red shoes, no knickers"!)

And on that bombshell, 

A la perchoine,

Mary x.

The Perfect Spring Jacket #2, The Posh End Found!

  

When doing my research for a spring jacket recently, see here, I kinda fell for a jacket but it seemed to have been sold out in my size.  It seemed perfect for my smarter end of spring jackets, so I was a little disappointed.  A little sad.
Then when I optimistically popped back on the site later, voila, 2 were in stock!



So I pressed the button and

Taadaahhhh

Posh Spring Jacket

The quality is super and the linen colour is softly neutral.  It's described as "soft white".  M&S are doing some Ozone jeans in the same soft white.  Together they would make an interesting casual "suit".  Trouble is, the zip area is too short = muffin top.  Shame.

The sleeves need to be shortened a tad but I did a quick reccie and that's looking do-able.

It reminds me of my jackets and looks of yore.  It feels "me".  The Younger Me.  

In a good, un-muttonish/lamby way.  In my view.  

I have to say I feel pretty good in it!  Do I look happy?

Now these pics do not present it in its best light.  It could look a lot better.  I just threw it over nothing in particular, yet I can already see that it going to be good with all colours of jeans, and it will take dresses and skirts up a notch. 

You may notice I'm saying "will" rather than "would".  

That's because I think this one's a keeper!

Do you have a go-to spring jacket?

Or are you hunting for a spring jacket too?  Struck gold yet?

And do you sometimes wear/find something that transports you back to an Earlier You?

A la perchoine.