The final countdown

Today is going to be bedlam in our house, therefore I've put this post together sooner rather than later as I think my bedroom may end up looking like the remnants of a jumble sale. At the end of the post I've finally got a few frocks to show you after all those promises, but I must admit that some would have benefited from an iron. 

Maybe the expression on my face says - "Not long 'til I'm being whisked off on my hols!"

Does this happen to you? The minute you've made the appointment to have your hair cut it suddenly looks the best it's been in ages.

Let's talk about the coat first, shall we? I bought this from a charity shop in September and whisked it straight off to the dry cleaners for specialist cleaning. It took about a month to be posted back to me and ever since then I've been trying to show it off to it's best. It's got a lovely veined effect which shows up better in a close up later on, and has a distressed look that has probably just come about through the passage of time. I changed the belt as the other was too big. 

And let's not forget the boots. New, and having their debut with these wonderful tights which my sister Sandra sent me. I fancy they're called Argyle check rather than tartan. I know these boots will obviously look amazing with jeans, but wanted to try something a little bit different initially.

The beautiful woollen shorts came from ASOS via a charity shop in Penzance a couple of years ago. I like the feature of the side zips which conceal the pockets - very nifty.

I'm a regular in most of the charity shops in Penzance, so it was a lovely surprise to find that one of them had upgraded an area of the shop into a vintage section. Not unusual elsewhere, but pretty cutting edge for us out on this far peninsula of Cornwall. In one corner an old fashioned wardrobe was decked out in all sort of finery and hanging inside I came across this gorgeous suede coat which hails from Cypress. I slipped it gently off its hanger and slid it over my shoulders. I was soon the happy owner of this exquisite piece. A bit of neglect was apparent, but nothing that couldn't be sorted by some specialist cleaning. The coat is in the running as the holiday coat, but I have others to consider.

So, on to the frock situation. These are a few that might make the final cut, but at the moment it's as clear as mud.

Two beautiful beaded numbers. The peach chiffon one is new, but marred slightly by the fact that someone said it was a bit Bollywood, hmmmm. Can I let that put me off?

I have fellow fashion blogger Suzanne Carillo to thank for leading me to discover this stunning skirt by Anthropologie. It was in the sale, (sold out now)  which did reduce the sting somewhat.

This is the green beaded dress I wore to my 40th birthday bash - truly vintage now methinks.

I wore this gold maxi dress on our last cruise. Does that mean it ought to stay at home this time?

And this maxi dress hasn't had an outing since I bought in on eBay last summer. I can imagine Melanie from Bag and a Beret wearing this to an exotic soiree, with elbow length gloves, whilst brandishing a cigarette in a very long cigarette holder. 

The gold knee length dress is lovely with the gold beaded crochet top, but again has already been cruising. And the dark green 50's frock has never been worn, but looks amazing with my black net underskirt underneath. To be honest, it seems like I've got a whole lot of trying on to do to help with the decision making. Wish me luck!

I'm scheduling my posts to continue to go live on Wednesdays and Sundays for the duration of my holiday and so dear readers it would be great to know you'll still pop by to see some new outfits. Some are from last summer which I thought might be a bit cheering during the last weeks of the winter. I hope to also post some new shots from our holiday on Instagram which is under the same name as my blog - it would be great to hear from you there too. I'll be checking my comments on both and provided I have network will respond, so do keep in touch x

Coat: charity shop. Boots: Office shoes (sold out but these are similar) Shorts: charity shop. Top: eBay. Tights: gift. Belt: Zara. Bag: charity shop. Rings: charity shop.

All of the dresses shown are old, vintage or from eBay. The striped skirt is now sold out.

My birthday jacket

Yes, this was me on my birthday, sporting the new jacket that my daughter chose and my husband financed, which is pretty much the perfect arrangement I'd say. Sasha has a great eye and knows my style, as you can see. I love the unique nature of the jacket - the colours, the patchwork and the tiny studs, all of which say class act to me. Arriving just on the cusp of our departure for our holidays, this soft suede bomber jacket will be ideal for warmer weather when I need to step out in style in Rome, Malta and Barcelona. Thank you Sasha for finding a such a perfect gift.

A week ago one of my favourite fashion bloggers, Suzanne Carillo posted an article which asked her readers to chose our style statement for 2016 (see here). Suzanne then went on to state her own, as "Artistic, unique, relevant, fun and strong". If you have time, please take a moment to visit her blog and you will soon understand how well she has summarised herself. I admire Suzanne's bold sense of dressing that isn't about following trends. As a savvy shopper she finds bargains in the sales, loves to charity shop and has some great tips on dressing as seen here. Her strong sense of self is what I admire so much and is something I recognise in myself too. 

I considered her question as to my own style statement and came up with "I aspire to inspire". Apologies if this comes across as very grand and self inflated, it's not meant to at all. The older I get, the more I feel I know myself and what suits my body shape. I've found that if I wear the right combination of colours and shapes it greatly increases my confidence. This often results in women of my age talking to me about my clothes and where I bought them, and can also create the opportunity for them to talk about why they wear what they do or why they think they couldn't wear what I do.

As we mature we all need to cultivate the older version of ourselves and maintain the individuality that we had in our younger days. It's so easy to let fashion, trends or an interest in clothes pass us by as we age, believing that it's no longer important. I disagree, hence my motto of "Let's bin the beige and have fun with colour". I like to think that my boldness may inspire one or two to step out of their comfort zone. Whether it's just to try out a new shade of lipstick, or some coloured tights or even revisit a trend they loved when they were younger. I'd like to think my blog may liberate, inspire, inject some fun or at the very least give food for thought. "Could I wear something like that?" you may ask. Well you won't know unless you try. A trial within the privacy of your bedroom is the best way to see how you feel, see if you have the right shoes, belt, jewellery to complete the look. Taking time to do this is essential. I hate the rush of changing rooms, where you feel obliged to scurry in and out so quickly, too quickly to weigh up the look at all. Take an hour at home, in the daytime, when you have good light to see the true colours and see what you can find in your wardrobe to match or compliment the piece in question. Go on, you may surprise yourself!

Before I go, I feel I must mention these boots which have lain dormant in my wardrobe for over 20 years now. I bought them in a swish boutique on Gandi Street in Exeter and they pretty much drained all of my reserves in one fell swoop. It was love at first sight. The price tag became insignificant. I knew I had to have them. I'm sure this is common to other shopaholics - the fight is over before it has begun. Give in. You know you're gonna have to buy 'em, so just get on with it. Hot sweats, racing heart, panic, all of the ensuing signals to try to stop this train wreck will amount to nothing. And so it was. And here they still are, as sensational as ever. They are by DKNY and everything about them is fantastic. From the exquisite scrolling pattern, to the staggering heel shape and the opulent purple leather lining, they are outrageously beautiful. Whimper, pine and drool over them from a distance as they won't be up for sale on my (forthcoming) eBay page anytime soon.

Jacket: KattyKitt Vintage. Dress: charity shop. Polo neck: charity shop. Boots: DKNY. Tights: Dorothy Perkins. Blue rings: charity shop.

Linking with
Cherie at Style Nudge 
Allison at Sydney Fashion Hunter 

What d'ya think?

Right, here's the rub - in less than three weeks time I'll be on board our cruise ship and the panic is just setting in. We leave home on the 1st Feb and apart from some crazy shoe shopping, I haven't done anything constructive to bring my capsule wardrobe together yet. Well that's not exactly true. I've found the most fabulous dress to wear to the Captain's party - do you want a sneak preview? Well scoot on down to the bottom of the page and I'll show you...

OK how many of you did that? The only reason I decided to show you was in case I suddenly changed my mind and it didn't get an airing til next NYE. What d'ya think? I bought this from eBay for £16.99! It's a one-off designer piece, lined, boned and beautifully made. Stunning isn't it?

But back to the main event. I thought I'd try out some maybes to see what they look like and decide if they ought to be packed for the cruise. The fake fur might be really useful if the weather is still cool. February is a funny month for weather in Europe. Steve and I went to Venice in February one year and instead of going to what everyone said would be warm or at least mild weather, we encountered the coldest temperatures that they'd had in Venice for 100 years! It was minus 10 degrees (cold enough for the Grand Canal to start freezing over) and we had to make a last minute dash to buy full sets of thermals before we left the UK. So with that in mind, the fur seems like a contender, and also I kinda like the whole romantic notion of drinks on our balcony with a fur draped around me.

The snazzy trousers and rose gold shoes might be useful too. Well I said that about the paisley trousers with the gold thread though, didn't I? You see this is my problem; I'm hedging my bets, lining up might be usefuls, but what I really ought to be doing is some straight forward trying on of frocks. Seven nights of pre-dinner drinks, dinner, cabaret and maybe a little dancing all adds up to seven frocks befitting of the occasion. What on earth am I doing? I know I won't be doing dressing down in the evenings, and trousers - with no matter how much glitter and sparkle - won't really be what I want to wear when the moment comes. But wait a minute - we are forgetting something. Before we sail off, Steve and I have a week spent between Cornwall and London where we will be going out to dinner with friends and on our own, so these dressing down trousery affairs may be just right! What a relief, cos I really like them and so wanted to justify packing them. So that's sorted. All I have to do now is spend all day on Saturday trying on dresses. And with a bit of luck you may get another sneak preview of one on Sunday...

Coat: Phase Eight. Trousers: H&M. Polo neck: charity shop. Shoes: New Look. Socks: Primark. Necklace: Dorothy Perkins. Rings: charity shop. Handbag: boutique in Gran Canaria. Sunglasses: Quay Autralia.

Linking with
Style Nudge 
Elegantly Dressed and Stylish 

More of my favourites - tweed, paisley, fairisle and florals.

As I write I'm in a state of flux as I have, and still am receiving all of the shopping which I used as self medication whilst I was laid low with the flu over Christmas and New Year. The distraction, nay sheer escapism, of seizing lots of lovely sale bargains was indeed a balm, but reality bites as I now have choices to make. I had this great plan that I would photograph it all for you my dear readers and then document what I was keeping and why. But, as we know life rarely goes to plan. I've already returned the first consignment, the contents of which did have me asking myself "what on earth were you thinking?" and the second and third deliveries are awaiting their fate. I will however, share the details of the latest spoils - two pairs of over-the-knee boots (ahem, no sniggering at the back there!), three pairs of ankle boots, one pair of Mary Jane shoes in snakeskin - stunning, but a tad high, one pair of gold high heel sandals - very good price and useful for forthcoming cruise, two sequin dresses (well only one really, but in two sizes), one patterned sequin skirt, gold slim fit trousers, gold polo neck jumper, glitter tights, gold tights and even tights with bows on. If you can see a theme running through the clothing, I suspect it's because I seemed to be working along the lines of if I can't party then at least I can be ready for the next festive party season. So, wish me luck as the evening draws in and I begin to tackle this shopping binge. 

Anyway, with regards to today's offering I can say hand on heart that nothing here is new or even new-to-me. I'm shopping my closet as fashion bloggers say, with great success and a fair bit of delight as long forgotten pieces are rediscovered. Take this wonderful tweed jacket from the now defunct Racing Green. When my children were toddlers I used to get the RG brochure drop onto the doormat every so often. It set me dreaming of a time where I would have the money to buy such exquisite clothes. Well in a round about way I have to thank my children for providing me with the money. My husband captured our little lovelies on film doing a bit of impromptu slapstick where one good hit deserves another and long story short we received a cheque for £250 from the TV show "You've been framed". My wonderful and generous husband insisted that I should use the money for a treat and hey presto I bought my Racing Green jacket. 

The rest of my outfit is from various charity shops apart from the beautiful olive leather and suede boots which were a purchase from Russell and Bromley a few years ago. I'd drooled over them for some time, but held out until the January sale when I happened to be in Exeter and finally had a chance to try them on. At a £100 off in the sale they were still £199 but I knew I would love them forever, and I do. 

Jacket: Racing Green. Jeans: All Saints (charity shop). Fairisle vest: Ralph Lauren (TK Maxx). Blouse: New Look (charity shop). Boots: Russell and Bromley. Green pearls: Almost Perfect. Handbag: Accessorize. Perspex ring: gift. Brown ring: East.

Linking with
Not Dressed as Lamb 
Not Dead Yet Style 
Kremb de la Kremb