Hello my lovelies!
Happy first Thursday in December. The month is a time of celebration so why not celebrate a random day of the week eh?! Have you kicked off December celebrating with a lunch or a party, or maybe mince pies with a friend?
But right now, grab yourself a mulled wine, snuggle under a fur throw and hear my Fairy Tale on Thursday ... with a happy ending, of course.
I kicked off the week with a Christmas party. My first. Possibly my only.
I don't go to many now that I'm retired. When I was working, the balls, dinners, cocktail parties and lunches started mid November and carried on through to sometime in January. My wardrobe was well-prepared for these occasions and on reflection I don't remember struggling over what to wear.
Now, with invites thin on the ground, I do struggle. If I needed to put together a ball gown or cocktail party look today, I'd still have no problem as I have thrown none of that previous-life stuff away and my Posh Wardrobe remains intact. Too good to divest myself of, too pretty, too expensive ...
Lower key dos present a challenge though. So what to wear for my party? The younger me would have rushed out and panic-bought something new. But not today's Pout, thankfully. Instead I had a good old Girls' World wardrobe try on session ahead of the party.
And I was pleasantly pleased with what I managed to find in the Posh Wardrobe on Monday.
After much trying on (yes and phototaking, Susan H of Over50under20 !!) I chose this little combo.
Loose brown velvet trousers from a set from East (shown HERE in judi-in-disguise-with-glasses).
Worn with a brown ruffle jumper with glittery gold edging. A little brown and gold nugget. And here's the shocker ... I've had this jumper since about 2003-2004 - and I have never.before.worn.it.OUT!!!
It's from Kaliko and I don't know if they're still making clothes after all these years. Are they?
I'd bought the jumper to go with a long brown velvet evening skirt bought in the Kaliko sale, but that never got off the ground. Then my formal party wear days ran out and I occasionally tried it with other things and thought "naaaah!". It seemed a bit frumpy, fuddyduddyfiddly with all the gold and ruffles going on.
But on Monday the stars aligned - it was hanging in the same suit bag as the velvet set and I thought (radically for me!) "Let's just give them a go together"
And I thought "bingo!!" (and so did The Photographer With Fashion Views, phew!).
Suddenly my old fuddyduddyfiddly frilly jumper looked sorta "now".
Yes, in 2018, ruffle jumper, brown, velvet, loose trouser line ... well they all started to make sense ... after 15 years.
To say I was a happy brown bunny would be the mother of all understatements. The outfit felt comfortable. It felt partyish, but not too much so. And I was wearing it for the first time!
The outfit suited the Christmassy setting.
And rather than tottering around in ridiculously high stilettos, I was able to sneak a chunkier heel under the loose trousers so I could easily manage this spiral staircase to take an artsy Christmas shot for you, without mishap!
So my message here is hopefully clear.
Open your eyes to things you've kept, which don't perhaps fit the life you have now but which are pretty, too well made or maybe were just too darned expensive to chuck out!
This is so much more than slow fashion. This is Sleeper Fashion, for I call this jumper a wardrobe sleeper.
On Monday its handsome prince (aka the brown velvet trousers) kissed it gently and awoke it from its slumbers.
Aaahhhh, don't you just love a happy ending?!
And I tell myself that in some microscopic and superficial way, my sleeper fashion must surely be helping to produce a slightly happier ending to our wondrous planet's tale of woe. For instead of rushing out to panic-buy myself some fast fashion, I instead shopped my wardrobe. The posh one.
Do you have any sleepers in your wardrobe?
Have a play around, try them with things you haven't tried before.
Take photos. Think radical.
Maybe you'll find a prince to awaken your sleeper from its slumbers too ... and give it a happy ending!
A la perchoine,
Mary.
