Driving down that cost-per-wear

The purchase of this leather jacket in February of this year was a heady extravagance while I was on holiday, but one which I knew I could justify. So here we have the peach coloured beauty lifting a run-of-the-mill dress out of the ordinary.

With the spring weather as unpredictable as ever, I'm pretty sure I'll still be wearing this little jacket for quite a few months to come. The neutral colour makes it so versatile as does the shape. I do have two other posts sitting in my draft box both showing this jacket too, so that makes the cpw currently about £50. Compared with some of my amazing charity shop finds I know this is pretty high, but this jacket is going to be around for many years. 

Talking of shops, at the time of this post going live, I'll still be on the mainland where I'll be attending the British Craft Trade Fair. This is my annual shopping trip for the gallery that I run. Hopefully I'll come back to the island laden with all sorts of wonderful gifts for the business. The BCTF takes place in Harrogate in Yorkshire which is quite a long old train ride from Cornwall; about a nine hour trip in fact. It's worth the effort though as one of the perks is that the ladies of Harrogate are very well heeled and donate some wonderful clothes to their local charity shops. At the time of writing, my suitcase is packed, but only half full in anticipation of my finds. In addition, I've added two soft holdalls in case my loot is extensive. Yes, yes, yes - you don't need to remind me of my resolution to have a mega clearout this year. But my logic is that by introducing some new bargains, I'll be ready to get rid of some of the old, well worn pieces. This kind of logic will be very familiar to other clothesaholics and fashion bloggers. Laugh all you want - it's what makes me happy. I'll be sharing my spoils with you on the blog soon. Watch this space...

Jacket: DSquared at TK Maxx. Dress: M&S (charity shop). Boots: River Island.  Necklace: Phase Eight. Tights: Dorothy Perkins. Watch: Michael Kors. Gold bangle: Kate Spade New York. Rings: charity shop.

April showers

There's nothing we can do about April showers apart from finding the right jacket to fend them off. This silver Parka was my daughter's, but she grew tired of it. Her loss, my gain surely. I think the grey weather influenced my clothes choice but I managed to find a bit of sparkle amongst the monochrome as my tunic had a strand or two of lurex thread sprinkled throughout.

It was the end of the working day when Polly and I were just locking up to go home. I thought one more photo to catch the early evening sunshine wouldn't go amiss. The worst of the rain had cleared through by lunchtime; normal service was resumed.

This was the first (and last) time I wore this tunic/top/dress. I'd found it in a charity shop a few months back, but hadn't managed to find a good partnership for it. Today, however, I had the brainwave to add my faux leather jeans and suddenly there was the start of an outfit. The check blouse virtually jumped off the hanger as I was pondering my next move, and finally these sweet little brogues offered themselves up for inspection. I totally adore the shoes, but they're actually half a size too small. Every so often I get them out and think that they will stretch - this time - but they never do!

It was a good enough ensemble, but not the kind of thing that makes my heart sing. As part of my clearing out regime, I'm starting to get rid of these OK items, and this one is on its way to a fellow blogger who may love it a bit more than I did. I suppose it could have gone onto my "to sell" pile, but I could imagine the recipient wearing this and looking cute as anything. I hope she enjoys it.

Jacket: Primark. Tunic: charity shop. Trousers; H&M. Blouse: charity shop. Shoes: TK Maxx. Necklace: old. Rings: charity shop. Sunglasses: Quay Australia.

Heels or flats?

Mornings seem to be such a rush for me. No matter how early I get up, I'm always rushing when I finally get dressed. I wish I could be one of those very organised people who get their prep done the night before. The idea of laying out my clothes in the evening seems like a great plan, but it doesn't work for me. I really like to wait to see the day before I commit. Once I've come back from swimming I have a better sense of what the day ahead will be like weather wise. Yes, I know that British weather can be so changeable, but at least I can make a better stab at it in the morning. 

And this is where the outfit goes wrong to my mind. Much as I love these shoes and was delighted to get the tartan tights out for their blog debut, it didn't take me long to decide I wasn't happy. By lunchtime I needed to get our of these crazy high heels (so impractical for work) and that's what I did.

My gold boots were instantly an improvement, and dispensing with the patterned tights in favour of the block colour also seemed like the right move. In addition, I could actually get up and down the ladder at work which is pretty important when it comes to moving artwork around! Dressing up for work is great, but sometimes I forget the need to be functional. Thank goodness I live only 200m from work making this quick change at lunchtimes an easy task. In fact I sometimes have to change my entire outfit because the temperature has risen so much by lunchtime. The huge gallery windows offer a great view, but can act as a greenhouse too, meaning a cosy outfit for the early morning start can cause meltdown by midday.

On a fine evening this is my favourite spot to watch the sun go down. 

Jacket: TK Maxx. Skirt: Mounts Bay Trading Co. Shirt: gift. Belt: old. Burgundy shoes: charity shop. Tartan tights: eBay. Gold boots: River Island. Cobalt tights: eBay. Necklace: Charlie Dodge. Pink ring: gift. Blue ring: charity shop.

Rose gold from jewellery to shoes

I'm not usually one to wear minis, but I fell for this dress as it looked so cute on the hanger. The first time I wore it was with my pink brogues rather than these rose gold ones. However, when I look at the dress with the jacket over the top, and then belted up, well we get into an area of mini-ness I'm not so sure about. I'm not really a short skirt or cleavage kinda girl - it's all about your comfort zone isn't it?

Rose gold. These two words put together are music to my ears. I just can't get enough of this golden-pink hue and won't be getting over it any time soon. When I came across this rose gold dress recently I was over the moon. I love the simplicity of it, and even though it's made of a static-inducing synthetic material, I really fell for the cut and shape which was enough to override my reservations. However, once I got home at the end of the day and checked out how these photos looked, I decided it was just too short for me. I know I wore a short tunic recently as seen here, but my long cardigan acted as the ideal cover up. 

All is not lost however, as Polly was more than keen when I offered the dress to her. She is shorter than I am, and therefore the dress is knee length on her. Also, she added a long cardi as I really ought to have done! 

I think she looks so sweet in this pink and burgundy outfit. And I'll still get the pleasure of seeing the dress without that niggling doubt about the length of it, so it's a win-win for both of us.

Dress: TK Maxx. 
Anna -
Jacket: charity shop. Shoes: TK Maxx. Vintage handbag: charity shop. Tights: TK Maxx. Sun glasses: Quay Australia. Pendant: Charlie Dodge. Watch: Michael Kors. Bangle: Kate Spade New York. Rings:old.
Polly -
Cardigan: H&M. Tights: Primark. Boots: H&M.

Linking with
Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb
Patti of Not Dead Yet Style
Lindsey of The Pleated Poppy
Cherie of Style Nudge
Jess of Elegantly Dressed And Stylish