Outfit: Casual Friday

Last day of work before a week off! I am in New York next week so there will be no posts from Tuesday to Sunday. I have a little running around to do at dinnertime – my friend has very kindly offered to lend me her suitcase to save me buying a new one so I need to collect that from her today.

Brown cardi – Luxuriously Tall
White long sleeve t – Tall Girls
Denim skirt – Topshop Tall (refashioned from jeans)
Brown tights - ?
Brown cowboy boots – New Look
Tan Obi belt – ASOS

Total Est. Cost £67

Outfit: Choir Practice

I went to choir practice at church last night. It’s Harvest Festival on Sunday so we were mostly practising/learning hymns for that, but there was still time for a couple of Christmas carols too.

Brown polo neck sweater – Long Tall Sally
Skinny jeans – Topshop Tall
Brown boots – New Look (eBay)

Total Est. Cost £48

Meme

I’ve been tagged by Things A Boutique Owner Sees to do the latest meme that’s doing the rounds. So here goes!

1. Clothes Shop – I think it has to be New Look. Their Tall things are great and affordable, and the shoes are to die for!

2. Furniture Shop – got to be IKEA. It’s cheap, cheerful, and just up the road so I can walk there and not have to worry about the nightmare that is the car park.
3. Sweet – Galaxy chocolate and Maltesers. Depending on whether I’m in the mood for solid chocolate or sweeties.
4. City – Leeds, UK. It’s been my home most of my life, it has all the shops I need and it has some beautiful architecture (being in the North of England it wasn’t really bombed in the war).

5. Drink – I don’t really drink alcohol, my drink of choice is either tea or water. But I’ll have the odd cocktail occasionally.
6. Music – You can’t beat a bit of Abba or Billy Joel.
7. TV Series – Sex & The City, Friends, Ugly Betty, Flying Doctors (Aussie soap from the 1980s).

8. Film – New favourites are Mamma Mia and the SATC movie. Old classic favourites are Dirty Dancing, Grease, Love Story. I’m a sucker for a good chick flick.
9. Workout – Shopping is my cardio! Well, sometimes. The young man & I will often go for a walk on a weekend too.
10. Pastries – I would usually pick a vanilla slice or caramel shortbread.
11. Coffee – I don’t drink coffee at all. I’d like to, it smells delicious, but I just can’t stand the taste. So it’s a cup of tea for me, no milk, no sugar.

Outfit: 1970s Thursday

I love this dress! It’s got a very 70s vibe to it I think. I initially put it over a polo neck sweater which looked fine but I decided to save that look for the depths of winter and go with something a little lighter whilst it is still autumn and fairly warm during the day.

Brown pattern dress – eBay
Brown shrug – Ann Taylor Loft (charity shop)
White t – New Look Tall
Brown tights – Dorothy Perkins
Brown boots – New Look (eBay)

Total Est. Cost £21

eBay Bargain: Brown Print Dress

This cost me just £3.20 and arrived today. It looks much better on as you will see when I wear it tomorrow.

Miranda Dress at Next

Fancy channelling your inner Miranda Hobbes? Well get yourself this dress I spotted in the new Next Directory today and you can! It’s very similar to the one Miranda wore in the Sex And The City Movie in the scene where Carrie tells Charlotte and Miranda about the ‘Heaven of Fifth’ apartment she & Big are moving to. You can buy this dress for £38 at Next.

Outfit: New Dress!

I’m wearing the eBay bargain dress today. I know it looks better without the shrug/cardi but the office is never warm in the mornings. I’ll discard it as soon as I can. I don’t know where the dress is from originally as the label had been removed.

Pink pattern dress – eBay
Black leggings – Long Tall Sally

Silver scarf - Gift
Grey tank (under dress) - Cherokee @ Tesco
Black shrug/cardi – Long Tall Sally (eBay)
Black over the knee boots – Priceless Shoes
Black heart necklace - Scope

Total Est. Cost £51

Charity Shop Bargain: Grey Top

Ethel Austin top, £3.25
It came with a faux leather belt but I think it looks better with my ASOS Obi.
I love the bell shape sleeves and will be wearing it as soon as it has been washed.

eBay Bargain: Pink Dress

Pink pattern dress, £3.20

Outfit: Black & Red

At home we don’t have a spare bedroom, I have a shoe room. Well, technically it is the spare bedroom but there isn’t a permanent be in it and my shoes (and some of my boots) do live there. These red boots are one of the pairs that won’t fit in the bottom of my wardrobe and so they currently reside in the spare room. As such I can see them every time I go in there and decided it was high time they got another wear. What better way to show them off than a black outfit with red accessories?

Black wrap dress – Luxuriously Tall
Red long sleeve t – Long Tall Sally
Black tights – Silkies
Red boots – Goszip (charity shop)
Red bangles – Primark
Red belt – market stall

Total Est. Cost £60

Coloured Tights

If you’re felling the pinch during this credit crunch period, the easiest (and probably cheapest) way to inject some new life and colour into your wardrobe is with coloured tights. They are available in abundance on the high street at the moment, with prices starting from as little as £3 per pair. I bought a selection on Saturday – the blue ones I have on today were in a 2 pack with the teal ones for £5.99 from H&M. The grey & purple pairs are from Accessorize at £8 and £5 respectively. And the other green-y coloured pair were £3 in New Look.

I am excited to wear them all with my various dresses and skirts. If you are not sure about doing the full-on leg colour thing, try wearing boots as I am today. Even a little flash of colour around the knee area is enough to perk up an outfit and give it an extra little something.

Be warned though – men do not understand coloured tights.

Shortened Dress

I took another of my dresses to the alterations lady to be shortened. I had never really managed to make the previous length work and am hoping that this shorter length will make it far easier to wear. It’s a little shorter than I had thought it would be but I think it works OK with thick tights and boots. I had a little fun playing dress up this evening.

Beige/blue/green dress – Long Tall Sally
Blue cami – New Look
Blue cardi – Ethel Austin
Blue tights – H&M
Black faux suede boots – Priceless Shoes
Green suede boots – River Island

Review: Maybelline Forever Strong Professional Nail Varnish

(Couldn't find a picture of the Extreme Blackcurrant)

In the recent Long Tall Sally catalogue Lisa Butcher was wearing a lovely shade of nail varnish. It looked like a dark brown colour but I asked on the LTS blog what shade it was and they were able to come back to me and tell me that it was Maybelline’s Forever Strong Professional Nail Varnish in Extreme Blackcurrant. I went to Boots to purchase some and tried it out last week. I have to say that I am very impressed with it. The bottle claims it will last up to 7 days but let’s face it, nail polish never lasts that long. I painted my nails (and used a top coat) on Thursday evening and it has just this minute chipped so that’s a good 4 days of wear.

Outfit: Monday

Following all the jeans and t shirts of last week, I am determined to have a girly week of dresses and boots this week. So to kick off, one of my favourite dresses paired with blue tights and boots. I got these tights on Saturday, 2 pairs for £5.99 in H&M. They are plenty long enough for me and purport to be 100 denier although they don’t look that thick when they’re on. I am impressed with H&M at the moment as the teal top I had on yesterday is super long in the body and sleeves.

Black & blue dress – Dorothy Perkins Tall
Black polo neck sweater – Long Tall Sally
Blue tights – H&M
Black boots – New Look (eBay)

Total Est. Cost £59

This Week I Will Be Mostly…

…wearing dresses and boots
…reading ‘The Love of Her Life’ by Harriet Evans
…watching Sex & The City: The Movie and associated extras – my DVD finally arrived from Amazon!
…listening to Billy Joel
…eating tortilla wraps
…shopping on eBay

Weekend Recap

Just the one picture from yesterday. I went into the city to meet a friend. We did a little shopping had lunch, and then headed back to my house. In the evening there was a barn dance at my church. It was great fun.

Black sweater dress – New Look Tall (charity shop)
White tank – Dorothy Perkins
Jeans – Gap
Brown Obi belt – ASOS
Brown cowboy boots – New Look

Total Est. Cost £91.50

Today the young man and I have been for a walk. The young man bought himself a new toy yesterday – a hand-held satellite navigation device called a Sat Map. We certainly tested it out well today: we’ve walked 11.9 miles! No picture but I wore:

Teal long sleeve t – H&M
Jeans – Gap
Black trainers – Wrangler (Brantano)
Black & blue check coat – Vila (Great Clothes)

ASOS Accessories

There was a package from ASOS waiting for me when I arrived at work this morning. It contained the brown Obi belt and black elbow length gloves I ordered at the weekend.

I was just thinking this morning that it was possibly time to get out a coat with full length sleeves but these gloves will help me get some more wear out of my ¾ sleeve one.

Outfit: Favourite Dress

Friday at last! And I’m wearing my current favourite dress, with my new boots. I have a black scarf on at the moment too as it is only 4˚C outside this morning. It has just occurred to me that my purple tank sweater would probably work really well layered under this dress for extra warmth. I shall try it out this afternoon.

Green/teal dress – Florence + Fred at Tesco (charity shop)
Black rib tank – Cherokee at Tesco
Purple tights – New Look
Black faux suede boots – Priceless Shoes
Purple necklace – Scope

Total Est. Cost £31

Outfit: Pink

Last day of the course today and assessment time! The whole class passed and we are now all fully qualified First Aiders. It’s back to work tomorrow but at least I can wear a dress and boots.
I have decided that these jeans are not quite the right length so I’m going to let down the hem. I am learning not to be afraid to make alterations to things that are not quite as I want them.

Pink ‘Look Shoes’ t – Zara
Black long sleeve t – Long Tall Sally
Jeans – Dorothy Perkins (charity shop)
Pink leather belt (on jeans) – H&M
Pink patent shoes – Ethel Austin

Total Est. Cost £29

Outfit: Meal Out

Last night a group of 20 from my drama group headed to a local Italian restaurant for a meal. It was 2 for 1 on all pizza and pasta so mucho cheapness! I put on this dress and when I went downstairs the young man didn’t say anything. Usually I would get told I looked frumpy, or that it was a grandma dress, or asked ‘you’re not going out in that?’ so no comment at all is definitely progress.
This is the second of the two dresses that I had shortened last week and the new on-the-knee length is a definite improvement.

Black wrap dress – Luxuriously Tall
Lilac cami – New Look
Black tights – Silkies
Black boots – New Look (eBay)
Black belt – local boutique
Purple necklace – Scope

Total Est. Cost £50

Outfit: Brown Boots

Day three of the course and as it’s now October there was a distinct chill in the air. It was also raining so boots were a must.

Brown cardi – Marks & Spencer (charity shop)
Brown long sleeve t – Tall Girls
Jeans – Dorothy Perkins (charity shop)
Brown cowboy boots – New Look

Total Est. Cost £46