Chanel trousers - what a gift!

These amazing Chanel trousers turned up in the post just the other day and were a gift from my dear friend Bun Matthews. Brand new, in pristine condition and begging to be worn I had a lovely evening trawling through my wardrobe to find the best separates to showcase them. I'm not very tall and the trousers are mega wide so I thought I needed to highlight the high waist and have a fitted top half to offset the voluminous bottom half. My initial thought had been to pair the trousers up with a cropped, frilled blouse which also had brass buttons, but when I put it all together the top was too boxy and I looked swamped. My other thought had been to go all out with the nautical theme and add a Breton striped tee shirt, but again that was just too boxy to be flattering.

So here we have it, fab Chanel pants with a beautiful shoreline backdrop - what a lovely start to the bank holiday weekend. My daughter Sasha is home for the long weekend and we are all heading out for a lazy lunch today. My next challenge is to find something to wear given that it's a half mile walk to the beach bar and it's currently tipping it down with rain. Wellies and wet gear are more de rigeur here than a fashion statement so I will be trying to find something practical but worthy of the occasion. Watch this space...

Trousers: Chanel. Tee shirt: Top shop. Cardigan: TK Maxx. Shoes: Topshop. Handbag: charity shop. Liberty doll pendant: Charlie Dodge. Rose gold bangle: Kate Spade New York. Brass cuff: Rose Cecil. Turquoise ring: old. Yellow stone ring: Martin James.

Bloomin' lovely

I'm don't really see myself as a floriferous type as a rule, but these flowery purchases seem to have made their way into my wardrobe with this explosive result. In fact the supermarkets have come up trumps as the trousers were from Sainsbury last summer and the top was a recent purchase in Tesco. I found the bomber jacket in a charity shop a while back, the brand was Zara which means great styling and fabric, so another winner.

I think my main motivator when getting dressed in the morning is not to look boring, predictable or like an old fogey. I don't mind in the least being middle aged, but it doesn't mean I want to look as if I've lost my fashion mojo. Clothes have been my passion since I was about 13 starting with when I knitted myself an amazing turquoise skirt. The majority of you probably won't remember, but there was a trend at the time for these massive plastic knitting needles where you used 8 strands of wool and the stitches were huge, but meant you were able to knit and finish your project really quickly. I knitted these two rectangles which I then sewed up the side seams of, and then lined with a lovely turquoise silky material (all hand stitched), finishing with a tube of elastic at the top. Et voila, a fabulous mini skirt! I remember the thrill of creating something original. It was a Saturday afternoon when it had it's debut, which at 13 was only a trip along the high street and back again, in the hope that someone would clock this fantastic little gem. Since then I've dabbled with customising clothes and recently have taken a couple of sewing courses and hope to do another. I'm greedy to learn more so that I can do more sewing, but actually you can apply that greed to living generally. I'm nearing 60, but there's so much I want to learn, so much I want to do. There's still a whole lot of living to be done!

Jacket: charity shop. Trousers: Sainsbury. Top: Tesco. Shoes: Office. Yellow stone ring: Martin James. Brown stone ring: East.

Liberty print Vans

Some days it's all about comfort and today was one. For me comfort starts with the shoes and these Liberty print Vans are perfect and so pretty (am currently having a bit of a Liberty print crush). That shopping urge got to me recently when I heard the news of Office having a sale and it was too much temptation. These flats are just what I need when I'm hanging paintings and have to climb up and down a ladder all day. I've teamed them with wide loose trousers and a jeans jacket for a casual look which is functional. The necklace was a gift from my daughter which she brought back from her travels in Thailand earlier on this year and it's neutral colour is great to wear with lots of different outfits.

As far as style goes I'm a bit of a chameleon never wanting to be pigeon-holed as one thing or the other. I'm happy to mix it up from an elegant dressed up look one day to a bright and bouncy, casual look the next. When I was younger I worked in a bank for a couple of years and remember the constraints of the formal dress code. For the majority of working women I know this is the norm, and there's probably room for a bit more flair now seeing as that was about 30 years ago. I'd love to hear from you if you have to wear a uniform to work or just have to be very smart every day. How do you express your own personal style? Is that something you have to keep for outside the workplace? I'm interested to hear about how you cope with the restrictions of working clothes.

Jacket: Benetton. Trousers: H&M. Shoes: Office. T-shirt: charity shop. Handbag: NW3 (charity shop). Necklace: gift. Sunglasses: Quay Australia. Pearl bracelet: old. Green bracelet: Magpie and Butterfly. Blue ring: Primark. Yellow ring: Martin James.

Summer exhibitions: 6 of 6

I can't quite believe that we're at the end of our summer exhibition schedule. It seems to have gone by like a shot, and tonight was tinged with a little sadness that the fun is over for another year. We've hosted 6 shows in 60 days with 7 artists attending their opening night and 18 artists being represented by the gallery in total. It's a terrific challenge to make it all work: for the art to arrive safely, on time and without incident, for the weather to be kind enough for our parties to spill outdoors and most importantly for the customers to come, enjoy and hopefully spend. I would like to declare the whole thing a resounding success and say thank you to the final line up.

My thanks go to Wendy McBride, attending artist for the evening, who charmed her clients and was a pleasure to have in our company. And a huge thank you goes to the support team, back to their original format of Julie McMurray, Polly Edwards and Bethany Inch. They were a dream to work with all summer and I couldn't have held it together without them.

In the flurry of our last night my fashion shoot seemed to be forgotten, but I will briefly mention this beautiful jumpsuit, yes jumpsuit not maxi dress, which hails from the alter of the mighty H&M. Purchased in their sale only last week I'm thrilled with the fit and colour and am hoping to conjure up a reason for it to be worn again soon. The flat sandals are ancient, but so comfortable and ideal at the end of a very long day, and Jessica my new and already much loved pendant is proudly accessorising this sensational outfit which adds a bit of flair to the whole shebang.

And in case you're wondering why the big cover up with the arms tonight? I have to explain that it's the low cut back of the jumpsuit and slight underwear malfuction that required the modesty layer - the arms are good!