Outfit: Orange and Blue

This is what I wore on Friday last week. My friend who sits with me at work also turned up in an orange jacket. My friend who sits next to me was in a blue and orange check shirt. And our boss was in a bright blue sweater so we were well co-ordinated. And probably we’ve all worked together too long.

Jacket – c/o TM Lewin
Sweater – Long Tall Sally (sale)
Jeans – Long Tall Sally (sale)
Shoes – Georgia Rose (c/o Sarenza)
Necklace – gifted

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Outfit: Added Stripes

This was Thursday’s outfit. Wednesday evening I checked the forecast and there was a weather warning out for snow on Thursday morning. “Pah!” I scoffed, “it’s not going to snow here.” And to be fair the actual forecast itself was showing rain and a bit of sleet for the early hours. So of course when I woke up Thursday morning the grass was white over, wasn’t it? Deciding it was probably quite cold outside I added an extra layer in the form of the striped sweater. And yeah, I should probably learn to trust the weather forecast.

Jacket – c/o TM Lewin
Sweater – c/o TM Lewin
Jeans – New Look
Shoes – Georgia Rose c/o Sarenza
Belt – River Island
Necklace - eBay

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Outfit of the Day

On the day of my last post I took a tumble and managed to sprain my ankle. Hence the bandage. The swelling is mostly gone now but there’s still some bruising. It was pretty painful at the time though.

Today was lovely and sunny, very spring-like if still a little cold. It’s April next week so perhaps we will finally get some warmer weather?

I’m loving the casual clothes everyday thing at work and have worn jeans non-stop the past fortnight. Today I opted for a little pattern mixing with my leopard print cardi and my ‘it goes with everything’ scarf from H&M.

Cardi – Primark (eBay)
Top – H&M
Jeans – Long Tall Sally (sale)
Shoes – Georgia Rose (c/o Sarenza)
Scarf – H&M
Necklace – Scope
Bangles – Scope and gifted

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How To Smarten Up Distressed Denim

Smartening up distressed denim may sound like a contradiction but personally I love to wear it as part of a smarter overall outfit.

My office went casual full time this week (we had casual Fridays before but weren’t supposed to wear blue denim on the other days) and I am fully embracing it so far. I’ll be back in dresses before you know it though, once the novelty wears off.

When it comes to distressed denim I prefer mine to be ‘rip and repair’ so that there aren’t any actual holes in my jeans. This pair from Long Tall Sally started out with ‘slight distressing’ on the knees but on the first wear the left knee ripped right across and has only got worse over time. That’s all very well in the summer but at this time of year my knees get cold! So I patched up the insides of the legs with some denim pieces cut from an old pair of jeans that I no longer wear. (I just used Wonder Web to iron on the patches – no sewing needed!)

As to how to smarten up distressed denim, I find adding a fitted jacket and heels to be a good place to start. The stripes work well for daytime but a more glamorous top could be substituted to make the outfit work for a night out.

Jacket – Long Tall Sally (eBay)
Polo neck – Long Tall Sally
Stripe top – H&M
Jeans – Long Tall Sally (sale)
Shoes – Magrit (local outlet mall)
Necklace – New Look (sale)

Outfit of the Day

This is an outfit from one day last week that I didn't get round to posting. I paired red with burgundy and really liked it.

Jacket - Long Tall Sally (sale)
Top - Kew 159 (John Lewis)
Jeans - Dorothy Perkins Tall
Boots - c/o Sarenza
Rings - Primark and Evans
Necklace - Primark

Outfit of the Day

A very blue outfit from Monday this week. It's getting more spring-like each day but it can still be chilly so I was glad of the very large, very cosy scarf.

Sweater - Long Tall Sally (sale)
Trousers - Forever 21
Shoes - Matalan
Scarf - TK Maxx
Earrings - gifted

This Week...

This week I have started watching Neighbours again. You know, the Australian soap opera hat turns thirty this month. Feeling old now? Yeah, me too. I have watched Neighbours on and off since about 1988 (it started in the UK in 1986 I think but my sister and I weren't allowed to watch it then because my dad deemed it rubbish. This think he was just mad that the BBC had replaced Masterteam that was hosted by Angela Rippon. He's always had a thing for Angela Rippon) and I go long periods without watching but always get sucked back in at some point. Usually when they bring back a character from the  past and this week it was the turn of Harold Bishop. Again. Ian Smith who plays Harold officially retired several years ago but he's back for the show's 30th anniversary celebrations and for what I think will be his last visit. We are promised returns from many more past characters over the next month or so (including Madge Bishop who died in 2001 so it will be interesting to see how they pull that one off) and I will be watching excitedly.

Outfit of the Day

March 2nd and we had snow this morning! So I bundled up in a cosy knit dress, fleecy lined tights and boots.

Dress - Kew 159 (John Lewis)
Polo neck - Long Tall Sally
Tights - Primark
Boots - c/o Sarenza
Scarf - River Island (sale)
Belt - local boutique

Review: Straight’n’Go

Last week I was sent a new product to try out: a Straight’n’Go. It’s basically a ceramic coated, double sided hair brush that you use in conjunction with a hairdryer to pull your hair straight as you dry it.

The Straight’n’Go comes with a little travel pouch and instructions on how to use it.

As you can see, it’s kind of the same shape as a flat iron but it has brush bristles. You pull it though your hair as you would a flat iron (as I’m kind of demoing below) but at the same time you direct your hair dryer at the vents in the brush (which I’m not demoing below as I had my phone in one hand to take the photo!).

It works pretty well and I think you could definitely pack it for a weekend away and use it with the hotel’s hairdryer to save packing your own heated tools.

The Straight’n’Go comes in black or hot pink, and costs just £9.99. You can buy it here.

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It's Official...

... I'm too old to shop at River Island.

Outfit of the Day

This orange blazer is even brighter in person than it looks here. All day people were saying to me how bright it was and how cheerful. I think it helped to distract people from the fact that I was wearing jeans on a Thursday. Such a rebel.

Jacket – c/o TM Lewin
Sweater – c/o TM Lewin
Jeans – Long Tall Sally (eBay)
Scarf – H&M
Shoes – George at ASDA
Earrings – gifted
Belt – c/o Spartoo
Cuff - M&S (free on 3 for 2)

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This Week...

When it’s cold outside it’s nice to be holed up on evenings and weekend with a cup of tea and a warm snack. One of my favourite things is toasted teacakes. Now I don’t know about you, but for me the teeny excuse for a teacake that they sell in the supermarkets these days just don’t cut it. So every now and then I treat myself to what I call ‘proper size’ teacakes from the farm shop near work. And they are delicious, lightly toasted and served up hot with melting Flora Light (my spread of choice). Yum.

Shoes of the Day

Velvety faux suede boots were today's footwear choice. It was just an ordinary Wednesday at the office, followed by my usual Wednesday evening trip to the supermarket.

The boots are from Priceless Shoes and I think I paid £10 for them in the sale.

Outfit of the Day

Just a simple outfit for a quiet Sunday. I was probably risking frostbite with my bare feet but as I was only going house ti car to house when we went out it was ok and I just really wanted to wear flats instead of boots for once.

Sweater - New Look Tall
Jeans - Armani (David Jones, Sydney) (sale)
Shoes - George at Asda
Necklace - New Look (sale)
Belt - gifted
Earrings - gifted

Outfit of the Day

My friend commented today that these were the first work pants she'd seen me in (they weren't). They were, however, the first work pants I bought for my current job, nine and a half years ago. I think they've stood up pretty well. They are 50% wool and were from Dorothy Perkins, back in the day when you could buy the Tall range in the shops. And back in the day when you could get 50% wool trousers for around £30 on the high street.

Black sweater - Bench (eBay)
Black polo neck - Long Tall Sally
Grey trousers - Dorothy Perkins Tall
Red boots - Nine West (Century 21)
Red beads - eBay

Shoes of the Day

I don't think the temperature got above freezing today. It certainly didn't feel like it did. These faux fur trimmed booties from Deichmann always make me feel cosy, even when it's chilly outside. We walked 11 miles yesterday so my legs were a bit achy today and I don't think the lovely high heels helped much, but never mind!

Outfit of the Day

So as you can see, the snow that came on Wednesday has stuck around. Thursday turned out to be a snow day too.

We got a little more snow on Wednesday evening but not enough to deter me from setting off for work on Thursday morning. The other side of the city was a different story though. I got about halfway before getting stuck in...traffic. There wasn't actually much snow around but the traffic was mental. With Radio Leeds telling me that both my possible routes were a disaster I gave up. I didn't fancy sitting in the traffic to try to get home, but handily my aunt lives about 5 minutes away from where I was stuck so I headed to her house, hoping she was up as it was only just past 7.30am at that point.

I ended up working from my aunt's house for three hours (watching several heavy snow showers out of the window) and then set off home once the snow and the traffic had abated.

Saturday's outfit:
Sweater - Primark (gifted)
Polo neck & jeans - Long Tall Sally
Necklace - New Look (sale)
Slippers - George at Asda
Boots - Ukala by Emu Australia (c/o Sarenza)

Outfit of the Day

It snowed this afternoon so boots with heels weren't really the best choice I could have made for today. But you live and learn and I got home in one piece so it was all good. The thick sweater and the scarf were the best choice though as it was cold, so cold in the wind.

Striped pants - F21
Sweater - Bench (eBay)
Scarf - Long Tall Sally (sale)
Boots - c/o Sarenza

Shoes of the Day

This week i have bee selling some items on eBay and I feel like everything that didn't sell is kind of like a gift put back in my wardrobe. These boots are one of those items. They are only Primark ones but I love them. I bought them on eBay a couple of years ago.

Shoes of the Day

These are the boots I wore on Friday.  They are by Nine West and I bought them many years ago in the sale when Allders in Leeds was closing down.  They are a gorgeous dark brown leather and are pretty comfortable to wear.

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