Note to Self...

...always bring a cardi to work with you. Air conditioning? It's cold.

Outfit: Tuesday

The week wouldn’t be complete without an airing of the purple dress, would it? This outfit is pinched straight from the Lookbook blog – Christina Ricci’s purple dress outfit. It also made me think of Jane from Work That Wardrobe as she often wears an Obi belt over a dress. It’s the perfect look for what promises to be another hot summer’s day.

Purple dress – Dorothy Perkins (eBay)
Black Obi belt – ASOS
Beige shoes – Faith
Purple bracelet – Esme-Grace (gifted)
Purple bangles – Diamonds & Pearls
Silver bangles – Scope
Whitby Jet cross – gifted
Sunglasses - free with Tatler magazine

Total Est. Cost £39

This Week I Will Be Mostly…

…wearing summer clothes to combat the alledged heatwave
…reading ‘The Cupid Effect’ by Dorothy Koomson. She is one of my favourite authors as all her books are set in Leeds.
…watching the new series of Top Gear on iPlayer – missed it again due to BBQing fun last night
…listening to Michael Jackson. His music is (understandably) everywhere at the moment which has inspired me to dig out the 3 albums I own (Bad, Thriller, No1s) and play them. I had forgotten how great his music is. I was feeling kind of weird on Friday afternoon watching his videos and knowing he was gone, so it seemed like the only thing to do was to turn up ‘Smooth Criminal’ and dance around the house.
…eating things out of the freezer
…shopping for nothing (unless I see a real bargain on eBay)

Outfit: Stripey Monday

According to the weather report, the UK is about to have a heatwave descend upon it for the week. I see no signs of that so far as this morning dawned dull and drizzly – so much so that I debated fake tanning my legs. In the end I decided to go forward in faith, and am currently awaiting the sun putting in an appearance.

Black & cream stripe dress – charity shop
Black cardi – New Look
Turquoise shoes – New Look (charity shop)
Turquoise bangle – Dorothy Perkins
Silver bangles – Scope
Silver belt – Primark

Total Est. Cost £28

Outfit: Sunday & Weekend Recap

Friday night we were going to stay in but the young man’s parents came over and we ended up going for a drink with them to the local cricket club. We were only going to stay for an hour but we got chatting to some other people in there and by the time we left it was midnight. I wore a black top, boyfit jeans and leopard print flats.

Saturday I had a concert with my choir. The afternoon was spent rehearsing (and missing all the lovely sunshine). I wore a purple tank, cuffed dark skinny jeans and the same turquoise peep toes I have on today (Monday). The concert was Saturday night and meant the choir uniform – a shapeless blue blouse and full length black skirt had to be worn. I added black peeptoe shoes to it as it was far too hot for tights.

Yesterday – Sunday – we slept late, then I went to do the Tesco shop. The young man & his mate went off on a bike ride in the afternoon (though I think they did more sitting outside a pub drinking than they did cycling), then they returned home and we had a BBQ. I walked up to the retail park to get a few bits in Boots, then sat in the garden with a book enjoying the sun.

Blue cardi – Ethel Austin
Blue top – Primark
Jeans – New Look
Silver flats – Priceless Shoes
Blue necklace – Dorothy Perkins
Blue beads – gifted
Blue & turquoise bangles – Oxfam
Blue chunky bangle – Diamonds & Pearls

Total Est. Cost £43

Outfit: Turned Up

This outfit went through several incarnations in my head before I settled on what you see here. I was watching fashion videos on the Guardian website and the journalist presenting them was talking about slogan tees and she put a jacket with rolled up sleeves over it. I was initially going to wear a white tee with black printing but decided the outfit needed a bit of colour so switched to pink.

This is a great way of using your suit jacket for a more casual look – especially if the lining is an interesting colour or pattern. My brown suit jacket has a fabulous lilac lining so I’ll have to try out wearing that one with the sleeves turned up at some point.

I laid out two options for jeans, in case the weather turned inclement – the BBC were unable to decide yesterday whether it would be wet here, forecasting drizzle for today before switching to sun this morning. As the sun is now peeking out I’m pleased they were wrong about the drizzle.

After not wearing these shoes very much in the past, I suddenly have a new found love for them this week so expect to see more of them from now on.

I am heading to Dunnes with a friend at dinner time and I will try not to buy any more shoes.

Black jacket – Long Tall Sally
Pink Minnie Mouse t – George at ASDA
Jeans – Gap
Pink shoes – Nine West (Debenhams)
Pink beads – Dorothy Perkins
Pink bangles (both arms) – gifted
Silver bangles – Scope
Sunglasses (there’s optimism for you) – free with Tatler magazine

Total Est. Cost £83

Note to Self...

...start carrying bronzer in your make up bag for fixing instant tan malfunctions.

Outfit: Thursday

More sunshine is forecast for today but again it has started out cloudy so I added a pale denim jacket over this outfit first thing to keep off the chill.

Plaid shirt – Primark
Blue tank – Topshop
Grey city shorts – Dorothy Perkins
Blue patent shoes – New Look
Blue ring & necklace – Dorothy Perkins
Blue chunky bangle – Diamonds & Pearls
Blue & turquoise metal bangles – Oxfam
White sunglasses – ASOS

Total Est. Cost £63

Outfit: Wednesday Evening

It was the local drama group AGM last night. I managed to get myself voted onto the committee. We had a big discussion about whether or not to play the National Anthem at the beginning of the show (it was voted yes in the end) and that was about the highlight of a fairly dull evening.

Earlier in the evening I could be found wearing shorts and lying in the sun in the back garden reading magazines.

Turquoise tank – Topshop
Jeans – Gap
Pink shoes – Nine West (Debenhams)
Pink beads – Dorothy Perkins
Turquoise bangle – Dorothy Perkins
Pink bangles – gifted
Silver bangles – Scope
Sunglasses – free with Tatler magazine

Total Est. Cost £39

Outfit: Hoping for Sun

Today is forecast to be very warm and sunny. However, at present we have fog and cloud so fingers crossed the weather report will prove correct.

Grey dress – Primark (eBay)
Turquoise tank – Topshop
White jeans – Topshop (eBay)
Turquoise shoes – New Look (charity shop)
Red beads – eBay
Red bangles – Primark
Silver bangles – Scope
Turquoise bangle – Dorothy Perkins

Total Est. Cost £52

Outfit: Date Night

I headed into the city last night to meet the young man on his return from London. We went for drinks and then to a Thai restaurant for a meal. It was a lovely warm evening, perfect to be out and about in the city.

I bought these shoes on the way home from work. I wanted something flat and open to wear, but smarter than regular flip flops. I think these fit the bill pretty well and they are leather all over, including the soles.

Blue top – New Look Tall
Jeans – Gap
Silver flip flops – Next
Blue necklace – Dorothy Perkins
Blue & turquoise bangles – Oxfam
Blue bangle – Diamonds & Pearls
Earrings – Dorothy Perkins

Total Est. Cost £49

Fame At Last!

Shudoo have just released their Summer 2009 handbook and I am in it! It was such an honour to be asked to contribute, and now that I see I am alongside such big names as Queen Michelle and Hillary Alexander, I feel even more proud to be included. You can check it out here.

Outfit: Purple & Teal

I think this could be my favourite dress at the moment. It’s so comfortable to wear and very versatile in what it can be paired with. I have used instant tan on my legs so now I need to avoid the heavy showers that are forecast (that weren’t mentioned when I checked today’s forecast yesterday – gah!). The young man is in London today so this evening I am meeting him from the train and we are going out to eat. We don’t often have a date night in the week so it will be a nice treat tonight.

I tried taking a picture from a different angle this morning but I’m not sure it works so well really.

Teal shrug – Ann Taylor Loft (charity shop)
Purple dress – Dorothy Perkins (eBay)
Teal wedges – Matalan
Teal necklace – Scope
Teal bangles – Accessorize
Teal belt – Claire’s
Purple glitter bangles – Diamonds & Pearls
Purple/pink bangles – gifted

Total Est. Cost £34

This Week I Will Be Mostly…

…wearing more summer things if the weather holds out
…reading ‘Shopaholic Ties The Knot’ by Sophie Kinsella – I am re-reading all 5 Shopaholic books
…watching the new series of Top Gear on iPlayer
…listening to my MP3 selection
…eating chicken with a Portugese BBQ marinade
…shopping for nothing

Outfit: New Dress, New Shoes

I got this dress on eBay the other week for all of £3.09. I had the young man’s mum shorten it for me as I wasn’t happy with the length. I was going to put heels with it but after injuring my foot in Tesco yesterday, I thought I’d put my new purple flats with it instead. I got these Thursday lunchtime last week for all of £8. They have little hearts all over them which I think you can just about make out in the terrible detail shot.

Purple shrug – charity shop (cut off from a top by me)
Grey dress – J by Jasper Conran (eBay)
Purple footless tights – Dorothy Perkins
Purple shoes – Matalan
Purple glitter bangles – Diamonds & Pearls
Purple bangles – gifted
Purple necklace – Scope
Purple belt – Ethel Austin

Total Est. Cost £19

Outfit: Sunny Sunday

So I was right to take a scarf and my coat to the BBQ on Saturday night. It was torrential rain all evening and it was cold! Fortunately my friends had rigged up a tarpaulin over the drive between their house and next door so everyone could keep dry, and they was a covered area at the back of the garage where the BBQing was done so that stayed dry too. We had a great time despite the weather and got home around midnight.

Sunday was Fathers’ Day in the UK (and the US too?). I did some washing and the Tesco shop in the morning, then we headed to see the young man’s parents in the afternoon. My parents and sister & brother-in-law came over for a (much drier!) BBQ in the evening. It was warm and sunny and we had a great time in the garden.

Blue cardi – Ethel Austin
White ‘Leggy Bird’ t – New Look Tall
Jeans – River Island
Turquoise flip flops – Primark
Turquoise belt – H&M
Blue & turquoise bangles – Oxfam
Blue chunky bangle – Diamonds & Pearls
Turquoise earrings – gifted
White sunglasses – ASOS

Total Est. Cost £88