The Tight Diaries

Day: 211
Outfit: 208

With the arrival of Autumn comes time for one of my favourite things: Tights!  

I have A LOT of these and sorted them out rather wonderfully during TGWSO. Couldn't bring myself to count  exactly how many pairs I own but somewhere in and around the 40 or 50 mark: patterned, fishnet, multicoloured, and floral - you name it, I've got it.  They used to all be shoved into a couple of massive bags, where I couldn't tell black from navy, opaque from sheer, patterned from plain, or footless from footed. Now, they are beautifully organised according to colour and style and hang in pride of place in my wardrobe:

My beautifully organised collection of tights

These Rosie ones have proven to be favourites for nights out:

Outfit 89: Shoreditch Saturday Night
Pink Sequin Dress - H&M (2010)
Tights - eBay (2013)
Silver Shoes - Steve Madden (2010)

Outfit 161 - Brixton Saturday Night 

- Bumblebird, LBD and Rosie Tights

Yellow Batwing Kimono Jacket - Once belonged to my mum

Tights - eBay (2013)

Shoes - Marks and Spencer (2009)

And, shame on me, I wore them to brunch the next day too:

Outfit 162 - Rolling Out of Bed on Sunday and putting on Saturday Night's Clothes
 Zara Kimono, LBD and Rosie Tights

I really have a thing for tights with an interesting thigh pattern going on: 

Outfit 95 - Friday Night
Tights - eBay

I really love tights for day wear too.  One of my favourite things, pre shopping ban, of course, was to rummage through the hosiery section in Tk Maax - always get gems in there. Like this lovely cosy grey woollen pair:

Outfit No 170 - Peach Leather and Grey Tights
Leather Mini - Topshop (2010)

Studded Denim Shirt - Primark (2013)

Charcoal Grey Tights - TK MAAX (2012)

Pumps - New Look (2008)

Cardigan - New Look (2013) 

Outfit  No 171: Green Velvet  & Grey Tights
Kimono Jacket - Couples (2011)
Grey Batwing Tee - Once belonged to my friend Emma (2013)
Green Velvet Skirt - eBay (2013)
Tights - As above
Boots - Office (2012)

I love these too - another great Tk Maax find:

Outfit 172: Grey Shorts and Nude Florals

Tights - Tk Maax (2012)

Shorts - Primark (2009)

Floral Tee - Tk Maax (2012)

Mint Sweater - Primark (2013)

Boots - Office (2012)

And these:

Outfit  No 194: Red Tights

Grey Tee Dress - Topshop / eBay (2012)

Cream Cardigan - Primark (2011)

Crochet Cream Scarf - Primark (2013)

Red Tights - Tk Maax (2010)

Brogues - Peacocks (2010)

They can also be pretty for casual wear: 

Outfit 198: Rosie Pink Tee and Burgundy Tights

Tee - New Look (2013)

Denim Shorts - Homemade (2009)

Fringed Boots - Miss Selfridge (2013)

Cardie - used to be my Auntie Maureen's (2013)

These checked/tartan numbers are great fun, although admittedly a little 'out there':

Outfit 203 - Checked and Shiny

Dress - Primark (2008)

Tights - Tk Maax (2009)

Sliver Brogues - Steve Madden (2010)

I made the mistake of throwing my tartan coat on over this outfit and got more than a few funny looks - a definite Helena Bonham Carter moment.

Yesterday I wore this great minty green pair, which can also inspire the odd raised eyebrow. Doesn't stop me! I think they are super pretty:

Outfit No 207 - Minty Green & Cowboy Boots

Tee Dress - Topshop (2013)

Tights (Tk Maax)

Cowboy Boots - Vintage - Beyond Retro (2011)

Necklace - Primark (2013) 

Today, I am wearing the same dress but with different tights, shoes and jewellery.  Monday morning makes for little imagination, yet a completely different look:

Outfit No 208 - All Green
Tee Dress - Tophop (2013)
Tights - Peacocks (2009)
Necklace - Dunnes (2009)
Brogues - Steve Madden (2010)

I'll try to keep you informed of my 'tightscapades'.  Fingers crossed I don't get too many holes or ladders! 

Over & Out 

M x

Unloading and Wrapping Up

Day: 210
Outfit: 207

I've done it. I've made it well past the SIX MONTH mark! On the 1st of October I hit the half way point, this Thursday I will hit seven months and I STILL haven't bought anything or killed anyone. Yet.

Also, I've FINALLY started The Great Wardrobe Sort Out (TGWSO).

It hasn't exactly been stress free. 

My lovely friend, Nicola, braved coming round to assist and, even armed with a bottle of wine, I reckon it wasn't long before she was regretting her decision... There were clothes EVERYWHERE. And tensions started to rise when she, entirely reasonably, tried to get me to get rid of a lot more stuff than I was willing to part with. 

She was a super duper help.  I definitely wouldn't even have started to sort out that mess had she not put pressure on me to get stuck in and do it. Thanks for being so patient with me, Snickers! :) 

That night we made some real headway, managing to tuck all my summer stuff out of the way and fill a couple (more) bin liners full of stuff to bring to the charity shop. I was very determined that this time they would actually make it there and not just hangout in The Cupboard of Despair for years..

Over the course of the next week I managed to sort the wardrobe in such a way that I can now see everything! AT LAST!  It's amazing not having dig and rummage to look for stuff. Before I had to empty everything out of my wardrobe to find anything.

So this:

Would often become this:

It's probably a good thing that this is a little blurry...

But not any more!   Now, between the ample storage in my bedroom and the walk in cupboard in our hall (no longer The Cupboard of Despair :)) it is all sorted quite beautifully and I know exactly where to find whatever it is I need, be it one of my fifteen jumpers ( :o/ that's Autumn's sweater trend sorted) or one of the twelve(!) kimono jackets (yeah, I finally counted...) that I love so dearly.

When I did TGWSO I unearthed all my heavy coats and discovered that I have nine that I'd still wear.  Nine!  Who needs nine coats?!  Nobody.  And I REALLY need to sort out some sort of storage solution for them now. Even without them that coat stand looks as if is about to fall down. Already laden with pashminas, hats and scarves, it couldn't take my newly resurrected outerwear too. 

I recently made a vow to my flatmates to sort it out and transform our wasted downstairs space into a pretty storage solution for coats, shoes and handbags. That will be easier said than done, as it has recently become of a dumping ground for excess clothes and a load of stuff I want to put on eBay... Some day soon this will become something pretty:

Watch this space. 

Recently I have been favouring two members of my coat collection. This black tie wasted number, picked up on eBay last year.  It was originally £100 from Topshop but I got it BNWT (that's Brand New With Tags for the eBay novices out there) for a mere £25!

Great with a hat!

Coat - Topshop/eBay (2012)
Vintage Hat - Hope & Gloria (2012)

Wore it last week with this ensemble:

Outfit No 204 
Dress - Primark (2010)
Boots - New Look (2012)
Pashmina - I found this in the flat,
no idea where it came from or who it belongs to. HB?

The other that has been getting a lot of wear is my Coat of Dreams.  Even a full three years into our relationship I am still completely in love.  I first spotted it Anthropologie in New York in October 2010. It was towards the end of my three-week trip and I had barely enough money left to buy dinner, let alone a $600 dollar coat.  I was absolutely heartbroken.  

Apparently finding love and losing it in all of five minutes was so monumentous that my friend Val and I felt the need to capture it; so here I am on that fateful day (the face says all):

Then, about 18 months later, having been tagged in that photo on Facebook, I was inspired to have a little gander on eBay in case, on the off chance, someone was selling it.  And there it was! One lonesome Coat of Dreams. In my size. BNWT. And at a fraction of the original price. I was in eBay heaven.  My love and I were reunited at long last! Our love was meant to be. Here we are hanging out on Sunday last.  We love lazy Sundays:

Outfit No 202 Rainy Sunday
Coat - eBay/Anthropolgie (2012)
Sheer Batwing Tee - eBay (2013)
Scarf - Charity Shop (2005)
Navy Jeggings - Primark (2013)
Red Sneakers - New Look (2013)

Outfit 202 Take 2 - Dressed up a little for work
Boots - Office (2012)
Batwing Cardie - eBay (2013)

Now we are into cooler weather and I can start wearing my Autumn/Winter stuff I feel like I have gained a whole new wardrobe of clothes.  This has not come a moment too soon because the autumnal window displays were killing me a little.  I particularly love warm and wooly wintery layers (hence the aforementioned sweater overkill). Hell, I love clothes! - and in winter I get to wear more of them! How bad can that be?!

It's not really been cool enough for coats everyday so I have been having some fun layering up with these bad boys:

Outfit No 148 - Back to Boots & Autumnal Colours
Smock Top - Primark (2007/8 I think)
Skinny Jeans - Primark (2013)
Boots - Schuh (2013)

Layering Up Outfit No 148
Poncho/Blanket - Never Fully Dressed (2012)

I love this thing - I don't really know what to call it - Poncho? Blanket? Wrap?  But it's super pretty, great for just throwing on to wrap up a bit and also reversible which is a total winner!  I've been wearing it quite a bit:

Outfit No 154 - A lazy Norn Irish Break
Music Tee - Topshop (2012)
Heavy Duty Leggings - Topshop (2013)
Pumps - Office (2013)

Outfit No 160
Head Scarf - Charity Shop (2008)
Tee - Primark (2013)
Denim Shorts - Topshop (2009)
Fringed Boots - Miss Selfridge (2013)

I have another one and like it a lot too but the black and white isn't quite as wearable:

Outfit No 159 - Wrapping Up
Poncho/Blanket - Primark (2011)

TGWSO has also inspired me to start mending the many things I have that need mending. I have another big bag full of stuff that needs fixed, such as a lovely pair of burgundy trousers that I haven't worn for a couple of winters because they need a new button.  A button!  It would take five minutes to fix it!

I'm proud of me. I have started sewing on buttons, dropped overflowing bags to the charity shop (which proved incredibly therapeutic and pretty hilarious, thanks to a hole in a bag and many, many pairs of rolled up fluffy slipper socks...), ordered coat rails and come up with some great DIY storage solutions for that junk space.

I am ON. IT. and so busy I don't even miss shopping...Well, that's what I keep telling myself.

Over & out.

M