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 

As suggested by...Karren.

Today I thought I might introduce a new feature to my blog which has come about thanks to one of my readers. She classes herself as a "lurker", but felt the need to comment to give me some feedback. Well, I'm delighted to convert you to becoming a commenter Karren, and also to accommodate you with your suggestion. Karren wanted me to pair up my beautiful Micheal Kors boots with my leather jeans and a short jacket. Initially I thought this was a bit too racy for me, but I then realised that if I actually have these items in my wardrobe then I'm surely a bit racy anyway! I've no idea if this is what she had in mind, but I kinda ran with the idea of rock-chick seasoned with a liberal dash of sparkle.

This entire outfit flies in the face of age appropriate dressing which I find totally liberating. Since starting my blog nearly a year ago, I can say that I'm increasingly becoming more myself. What? you may well be asking. Let me explain. In the run up to launching my blog I followed lots of fashion blogs and also did a lot of reading and researching into all sorts of aspects of self development. One very useful book was "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. This contained an abundance of wonderful, empowering advice, but the one phrase that struck a chord with me was her advice to herself to "be more Gretchen". I took that to heart and have used it daily to help me redefine myself if I feel I'm losing my way. I still urge myself to be more *Gretchen at times when I think I may be in danger of becoming a lesser version of myself through emotional or physical neglect, or even by being swayed by outside influences which are not to my benefit. So, what I mean to say is; the freedom to have somewhere to express myself through my outfits has enabled me to explore my heart's desire and be my true self. Clothes and shoes I may have previously looked longingly at, I now pluck off the rack and try them on. You, my readers, and fellow bloggers have played a massive part in my fashion liberation, and for that I thank you. I'm neither a slave to trends, nor am I aspiring to be a trend setter, but I know what I like and I know how I like to look. The joy of the platform that is my blog, is that I may share my whimsical outfits, and racy get-ups with you from behind the relative safety of my laptop.

*Yes, I know I'm probably meant to say "be more Anna", but the power seems to come from what her name reminds me to do, thanks to the book (it's also more comical when I say it out loud). I contacted Gretchen once my blog was up and running, and told her how influential her advice had been. She was indeed happy to have helped and said she would become one of my first background followers - my readership figures seem to reflect a fair few of these amongst you.

I have two more "As suggested by..." posts already lined up where I'm responding to fellow bloggers suggestions. Please do feel free to pop your suggestion in my comments box, whoever you are. Anything you've already seen on my blog can be paired up with anything else (within reason) according to your fancy. I'm interested in having different viewpoints and ideas to work with over the next few months. My other new feature "Ping-Pong Post" is going to become a regular monthly feature and there's no reason why "As suggested by..." can't be too. Please come along and join in. See you all again on Sunday x

Jacket: Micheal Kors. Top: H&M. Trousers: H&M. Boots: Michael Kors. Necklace and rings: old.

Linking with
Cherie at Style Nudge
Jess at Elegantly Dressed and Stylish
Lindsey at The Pleated Poppy