In Search of Smart Casual

It's been 6 long months and 6 days

Since I started writing this blog.

So, with a nod to Sinead, I'm going through a bit of a reflective period.  I'm revisiting my key objectives for this blog and the big one was to essentially smarten up my casual look in retirement, as Smart Casual has always been a bit of a mystery to me.  I need to 'get' Smart Casual.  More on that in another post.

A core element of my PP mission statement is to get away from my default scruffy jeans and scruffy t-shirt (the only casual I really know) and into something casual.  But smart.

And the idea with the blog is that taking OOTD photos is the shock therapy treatment I need to get me out of Default Scruff. Because retirement IS essentially smart casual.

Looking over my posts of late, I've been a bit too relaxed about taking regular OOTD shots. I need to get back on track.  With photos.

So today I'm giving you an outfit.  With a bit of a story, bien sur, there always is with me, eh?

My very special friend, seen here and on other posts, celebrated her XXth birthday yesterday.  I popped round with some flowers.
She was one of my inspirations to go on the quest for the elusive smart casual.  She does it so well.  She rocks it.  Anyway, she was wearing

 

this summerweight jumper from Woolovers.  The colour IRL is a soft duck egg blue.  It's a cashmere and cotton blend and is in the sale for £15, a snip, and without VAT even snippier!

As we drank a morning coffee, I told her how much the colour suited her.  I then rambled on about having a cardi in the same colour, which I tend not to wear because the colour is difficult to match.  "But you could wear it with so much, like the outfit you're wearing today".  Well, duh!  I was wearing grey jeans, a top and a grey cardi.  And of course if I switched the cardis it would look OK.  Oh duh, oh duh.  Why don't I have that vision?

So I've switched the grey cardi for the duck-egg blue, jazzed it up a bit with a necklace and that's the simple OOTD you see on this post today.

I bought this beautifully soft cashmere cardi by Jones of New York in Arizona 8 years ago.  Now I've bought a few pieces from that brand over the years when visiting the States.  Great for business wear. Lovely suits, silk shirts, classy knitwear, well-cut trousers.  But this cardi unstitches along the front rib trim.  I haven't bought any more from them so I don't know if it's just a one-off Friday afternoon cardi.  

To my American readers, a question.  Is the quality of the brand still OK? 

So peeps, smart casual.  It really is not rocket science, is it?!

Do you get it?  Or have you struggled like me?

A la perchoine.



... And The First Dress Of Summer!

I told you in my previous post here of my First Date Night of Summer.  Worth putting some effort into dressing for it then, huh?

So I've set myself a little tradition.  It is when the summer dress gets its first outing!

The first few times I was unsure of the dress code for this AGM "date", so kept my options open, like in this demo here.  I now know the dress code is that old chestnut, smart casual, but it's with a twist.  My twist.  I must wear a dress!

These have all been First Dress in previous years.

 

 

East dress with La Redoute slinky cardi. 

The Photographer likes this combo so it gets worn a lot.  By me, I hasten to clarify!

 

 These dresses featured here have been previous FDoS title holders and the old go-to on the right was the lucky title holder this year.

 

Are you spotting a bit of a trend coming through?  Flowers?

Last year I wore a black linen shift with an ivory silk/linen jacket - didn't feel right.  No flowers. Turns out, they're what marks the occasion for me.
First Summer Dress = 1. A dress, bien sur! 2. Flowers.
So this year, flowery returned.

You see, because it's the first summer dress outing, I tend to remember what I wore previously. And I analyse.  Pretty sad really, considering First Date is a rather serious AGM affair.  But that's me!

 

And here's the truly sad thing. Because it's my first summer "date" I tend to go all "Girls' World". 

Girls' World?  I try a mountain of dress/cardi combos. 
I stand in front of a mirror taking bad photos.

 

 

 I try on a crazy amount of jackets ... that, on reflection, look pretty much the same eh?! 
Welcome to My World!

But it truly isn't a waste of time and effort.  In my eyes at least.  Because during the GW process I identify little outfits - which cardi goes with which dress for semi-casual and which jacket with the dress for smarter casual.  That sort of thing.  I hang the combo together on a hanger.  Sometimes I spot a perfect necklace or scarf and that goes on the hanger too.  Then, when I'm getting dressed in a rush - occasionally (read always) - I just grab the hanger and there is no deliberation.  Simples.
A little while spent in Girl's World saves me a huge amount of time (and angst!) going forward, sometimes for years ahead if the combo is a keeper.

So that's my tip for you today, dear reader.  Before a special event, or at the beginning of the season, spare some time to put together a few go-to outfit hangers.  Speedy, fret-free dressing ... and maybe even time for a sophisticated sip of Sancerre (nice alliteration, Pout!) whilst your nails dry!

Is there an event that marks the start of summer for you?

Have you set up any personal dressing tradition for it?

Do you enjoy a Girls' World session in the lead-up to an event or a new season?
 

A la perchoine.

 

The Week's Challenge - Jacket with Jeans

I've always looked on suit jackets as being inextricably linked to skirts and proper trousers.   Seems that's very old-school as over the years, this type of jacket worn with jeans has become quite the thing.  But it was something I didn't feel comfortable with so I didn't try it. 
I was way behind the game with the ladies' trouser suit thing (I bought my first in the late 90s!) and I see jeans and jackets as being part of the Smart Casual concept which I have never been able to quite "get" (more on that another time!).
Smart jacket goes with a skirt or trousers, anorak/quilted jacket with jeans.  End of.  Slut af.  Fin de.  And that has been where my little head has remained.

Now, I have lots of suit jackets gathering dust since retiring so this past week I have been challenging myself to enter the world of jeans and jackets to see how it feels. 

I pulled a few suit jackets from the archive and this is what I experimented with.  Pretty normal stuff for most but a BIG step for me, I can tell you.

Here's what I came up with (you will have seen some outfits during the week).

M&S navy wool jacket (part of skirt suit), Woolovers navy longline V-neck,  jersey print scarf.

Marina Rinaldi fur cuff jacket (part of skirt suit), Next leopard print tunic, Per Una ("PU") black jeggings.

and worn with Woolovers brown cashmere/merino long-line cardi

M&S grey mix wool jacket (part of skirt & trouser suit), grey jeggings and Next print blouse

and worn with a Woolovers cashmere/merino grey frill cardi.

Artigiano brown virgin wool mix jacket (part of trouser suit),  Next print tunic & PU black jeggings

Peacock fake leather waterfall jacket, Next pink print blouse & PU jeggings, pink pash

and with Woolovers grey cashmere/merino cardi

Of course, the best made plans of mice and men and all that meant that this lady's plans went somewhat awry when at the weekend her cold kicked in and well, it was goodbye to the jackets - all she wanted was to be cocooned in something very warm!

 

Oh-so-cosy Windsmoor neutral lambswool cardi, with Artigiano satin-trim modal top and PU black jeggings.  Essential accessories not quite in this photo are the box of tissues and the lemsip box!

And now for this week's numbers.  Looks like my compilation was made up of 5 jackets (lots, but jackets were the focus), 4 cardis (1 unplanned as the cocoon was added when the cold kicked in), 5 tops (again 1 unplanned as before), 3 bottoms and 3 scarves.  Rather a lot, peut mieux faire, but it was jacket week and that just eats into the numbers.

How did it feel?  Well, I had thought I would feel quite manly dressed this way but I didn't.  I actually felt comfortable, quite feminine and, well, it felt quite liberating.  The added bonus was that with jacket pockets I didn't have to carry a handbag, an accesory I have mostly ditched over these retirement years. 

The men got it so right when they came up with the jacket as their go-to "uniform" - I just need to start sewing inside pockets into these jackets and Bob er din onkel!

Does this mean I am cracking the Smart Casual code?  I leave that one to you.

You know, I am learning quite a lot from taking these photos, most of it not good, but putting myself pictorially out there means that I can no longer hide from myself! 

Knowing that I will be taking a photographic record makes me think about what I'm going to wear.

And spending 5-10 minutes putting together my capsule for the week saves so much daily brainwork.  The net result has got to mean that I have more time for Sudoku, cross code and crossword puzzles so it's a win-win!

A bientot.