Packing Light...and dark

A fortnight ago I nipped home to Ireland for the weekend.  It was only a quick Friday to Monday flit for an old (and very dear) friend's baby shower.  

It was the first time I have had to pack a cabin sized bag since The Challenge began.   As we discovered back in April, I am not great at packing (not economically anyway), mostly because I don't like to plan what I am going to wear.  

I rarely plan my outfits (or much else for that matter) in advance.  I always put them together in the morning, when I have a clear idea of how I feel AND how I want my clothes to MAKE me feel.

“When a woman says, ‘I have nothing to wear!’, what she really means is, ‘There’s nothing here for who I’m supposed to be today.” ― Caitlin Moran, How to Be a Woman

Caitlin hit the nail on the head.  There is little that throws me off guard as much as wearing something I don't feel comfortable or like 'me' in, something that doesn't represent the me I WANT to BE that particular day.

So, I knew I needed to be organised and pick a selection of items that would give me options to suit every mood and potential unplanned rendezvous.

I opted for:

A couple of pairs of Primark Ultra Soft Skinny Jeans (I have lots of pairs of these and you can now buy them online(!) on ASOS)
- as I was on my holidays, I wanted to be very comfortable (a day or two off work is a rarity for me!) and I knew they could work as a base for any outfit, be it casual or dressy

A couple of pairs of Office ballerina bumps (1 nude and 1 black) 

One great pair of heels 

A series of dresses/smocks that could be worn over the jeans.  


          I found myself choosing from 2 very different palettes one of pale pastels and the other blackest black, that way I had both girlie and formidable moods covered. 

Here's how I got on: 

Fri 31st May - Outfit No 72 - The Minty Traveller
Mint Sweater - Primark
Mint Oversized Vest Dress - Dorothy Perkins
Blazer - Northern Quarter, Manchester
Brooch  & Necklace - Vintage (Charity Shop Finds)

Saturday 1st June - Baby Shower
Dress - H&M
Bag - La Lola, Portstewart

Outfit No 74 - Saturday Night Cocktails - Accessories Love Snakeskin 
Black Lace Smock Top/Dress - Never Fully Dressed 
Snakeskin Slingbacks - Sacha 
Snakeskin Clutch - Fiorelli
(Outfit blogged about here)

Outfit No 75 - Sunday 2nd JuneSmock Dress - Kate Moss for Topshop (eBay) 

Outfit No 76 - Monday 3rd June - Back to London
Dress - Picked up for a fiver in a thrift store...

I don't think I did too badly at all!?  Although I'd be lying if I said it was straight forward.  It took me ages to decide what to bring with me and the packing process itself was quite very stressful (I got about 3 hours sleep as a result of leaving it to the last minute.  Of course, the fact that I have yet to properly sort out the wardrobe had something to do with that... lots of staring blankly into the fabric abyss went on that night...). 

But it did feel pretty great to have such a light load (and a relief to get a break from the bursting-at-the-seams wardrobe situation) and surprisingly it did still feel like I had an element of choice.  In fact, I HAD packed another lace black dress which I ended up not wearing but, had I been feeling differently one day, I might have appreciated it.  

However, those wonderful wardrobe-detox-y feelings were rather short lived, thanks to my mum pointing out the LITERAL cracks creeping across the ceiling of her bedroom, and blaming the bags, upon boxes, upon piles of my stuff that is living in their attic...  

My father drove me to the airport on the Monday morning and gave me a big hug goodbye.  

His parting words were, 'Sort out that wardrobe, Maeve..."

I will, dad. I will... 

Over & out

M x

Expresssssssss Yourself

Fashion
fash·ion
/ˈfaSHən/
A popular trend, esp. in styles of dress, ornament, or behaviour.

Style
/stīl/
Noun
A way of speaking, writing, expressing oneself

As I'm sure you've gathered by now I am not a dedicated follower of fashion (but I am of The Kinks *total tune*).  I prefer to do my own thing. If it is on trend; wonderful. If not; f**k it. I like it. I feel comfortable in it.  I'll wear it! After all, clothes are a reflection of your personality, and why on earth would I want to let on I have the same personality as every Dawn, Nik and Carrie out there? 

If anything, I find it annoying when I find a look that I like, get comfortable and used to wearing, and allow to feel very 'me', only for it to become all 'trendy', and start popping up in all the shops and on everyone's  back. The kimono jacket obsession is a case in point  (FYI, I still haven't managed a final tally but we are currently sitting on  about 10 and still counting...).    

I feel like walking around with a wee sign on my head saying "I'VE ACTUALLY HAD THIS FOR YEARS!  THIS IS MY STYLE.  I AM NOT JUST FOLLOWING THAT TREND." But that would be petty. And embarrassing. (And not very trendy.)

I love the fashion industry and obviously I am influenced by it. How could I not be? It completely impacts what is out there and available to buy.  I just don't want to be a slave to it and certainly don't blindly follow trends. 

I think personal style is about finding a way for your clothes to express your personality; finding a look that suits you, your figure and your mood. 

I have always loved flicking through fashion magazines (had plenty of piles of Vogue and Elle serve as bedside tables over the years), and more recently, Pinterest and fashion and personal style blogs for inspiration.  

What I REALLY love about fashion magazines nowadays is that, although they are of course, still trend orientated, they seems to be much more influenced by 'street style', and by that I don't mean trainers and combat trousers (although, the way things are trending at the moment, I probably could) but rather the individual personal style of the of real women on the street. 

I always rush to those street style features.  You know the ones?  Those pages that are full of people who were photographed whilst out and about, going about their daily business and wearing whatever they chose to don that morning, when they hadn't slightest notion that they were going to end up on the pages of some glossy?

I am a total style creep on the tube too. It's just so interesting to see what people choose to put together and how.  That's where I get most of my inspiration.  There have been so many times recently when I have wanted to take a sneaky picture (I have never actually done this...that's full on creepy) or accost some poor unsuspecting commuter to ask her where she got her socks (they were really cute). Call me nosey (I am) but these ladies are far more exciting than some airbrushed model wearing shoes you KNOW she can't walk in.  

Anyway, trend bashing aside, as I guess this is a bit of a trend orientated post!  Last Saturday night I sort of accidentally rocked one of springs hottest trends:  Snakeskin.    

Outfit No 74 - Saturday Night Cocktails
Accessories Love Snakeskin
Black Lace Smock Top/Dress - Never Fully Dressed
Skinny Jeans - Primark
Snakeskin Slingbacks - Sacha 
Snakeskin Clutch - Fiorelli

It is the year of the snake, don't you know? And snakeskin is EVERYWHERE at the moment.

All over the catwalks: 

Collage from cocosteaparty.com
I think Valentino and Gucci do it best.

  

Valentino

Valentino

Valentino

Gucci

Kerry Washington Rocking a Gucci Dress.  I LOVE this!

Reed Krakoff

And in the magazines:

Loving the nails!

Accessories are LOVING it: 

Alejandro Inglemo

Christian Louboutin

Valentino

Even Toms! I'd so buy these if I could...

Look at how my ladies of the street (how you chose to interpret that says more about you than it does about me..) are wearing their snakeskin/print accessories:

amazing!

Good old Kate has to been thrown in there for good measure

And Stella because her bag is so lovely

Great shoes!

I LOVE it.  It brings a real sexy attitude to an outfit, I think.  Thankfully, despite not being able to buy any of the lovely things that are out there at the moment, I have enough of it (in my accessory arsenal, at least) to embrace the trend if I want to.  

The Sacha sling backs above are old faithfuls.  I've had them for 4 or 5 years.  I picked them up for next to nothing in TK Maax and made a saving of over £100 (yeeeeeoow)!  They are super comfortable, despite a 4 and 1/2 inch heel and thanks to a delicate platform and the fact that they are very well made. I used to wear them around the library back in my pencil skirt wearing librarian days.  Last Sat was the first time I had worn them in years.  I sort of got out of the way of wearing heels when I moved to London, which is a shame but I have more than my fair share of them. I really want to start wearing them again. Very pleased to have rediscovered the love for these babies!

The Fiorelli clutch I got at Christmas time.  I just couldn't resist it.  Really enjoyed clashing the prints here.

These aren't my wardrobe's only snakeskin offerings.  I also have these Miss Selfridge Stolen Mid Heel Courts which I insisted on buying before starting The Challenge and have yet to wear... I really like them so must make an effort to give them an outing soon!

Miss Selfridge Stolen Mid Heel Courts

Also found these bad boys lurking around: 

A very old TK Maax purchase.  Couldnt tell you the brand.

My purse is also snakeskin, and this time it's the real deal...

Real Snakeskin Purse
(Similar here)

  

I've had it for years. It's vintage.  I bought it at Bullet in Liverpool (great little shop) when I was at uni there.  Unfortunately the purse I had been using when The Challenge began broke just 3 days in (probably due to being over loaded by last minute panic buy receipts ..) so I resurrected this one.  You can see that everyday wear and tear is taking its toll on the delicate snakeskin so I may have to switch to another soon...

As you can see  I'm pretty much sorted for snakeskin accessories (I also have a lovely pair of boots but I'll wait until winter to show you those) but what about all that lovely snake print fabric that is all the rage at the moment and taunting me from all the window displays? A lot of it really is rather covetable:

Only £30 from Rare London!

Shirt, £24.99, H&M
(Pic fabulousmag.co.uk)

 skirt, £12, Boohoo
(Pic fabulousmag.co.uk)

 trousers, £34.99, Mango
 trainers, £80, Supra
(Pic fabulousmag.co.uk)

Shirt, £49, Never Fully Dressed
(Pic fabulousmag.co.uk)

Dress, £100, Georgia Hardinge at River Island
(Pic fabulousmag.co.uk)

 skirt, £95, ASOS
(Pic fabulousmag.co.uk)

Real ladies wearing snakeprint: 

Courtney Cox's dress is beautiful!

Isn't  all the snake print fabric...fab?! 

Having stumbled upon this pic of Vanessa Hudgens' fab  clashing snake print ensemble, I went to bed on Thursday night lamenting the fact that I didn't have any snake print clothing at all!

Vanessa Clashing Snake Prints

Then I suddenly remembered that I do(!) and hopped out of bed to find this skirt:  

Outfit No 81 - Neon Snakeskin
Sheer Bat Wing Tee (knotted) - eBay
Skirt - Villa (about 12 years ago!)
'Happy Sandals' - Topshop

And its neon - look at me managing to hit 2 trends at the same time and entirely unintentionally!  I bought this skirt about 12 years ago! It's one of those things that keeps working its way out of bags destined for charity shops. Something always stops me from getting rid of it.  I'm not even sure if I like it? Anyway, I give it a go yesterday. What do you think? 

Whether I like this skirt or not, it is not doing anything to stifle my desire to get my hands on a dress and kimono jacket like Vanessa's. I've found myself googling snake print fabric.  I am allowed to make stuff remember...

Over & out

M x

A Century of Style to Inspire a Year of TRYING to Style

On Saturday my friend Tom and I stumbled upon a gorgeous exhibition at The National Theatre: Norman Parkinson's Century of Style. 

It was this photograph that caught our attention initially:

Isn't it wonderful? Look at those hats!

As we are about to embark on a project set in 1960s NYC together (more on that another time) we were drawn to the image. Even though it is clearly 40s/50s, we just had to see what else there was to see! And we weren't disappointed:

Deemed by many to be the father of modern fashion photography, Norman Parkinson is famed for changing the way fashion was photographed and for bringing a sense of humour and creativity to his work, as is evidenced in the self portrait below:

Tired of restrictive studios he prided himself in photographing his models in unusual settings and circumstances and sometimes with the odd prop (or animal)!  

His images definitely have an air of theatricality about them and manage to really bring the clothes to life, I think.  

Somehow he makes them seem wearable, even the crazy stuff, don't you think? 

He was also a damned good portrait photographer to boot.  Check out Dame Maggie!

This exhibition marks the Centenary of his birth on the 21st of April 1913 and, thus, his Century of Style.  It is worth a look (just been extended to the 27th of May) and certainly helped to inspire and bolster me for my own year (not quite a century, but hey!) of 'shopping-less' style. 

This next one, entitled The Art of Travel, from Vogue in 1951, made me have a quiet little chuckle to myself...

Look how teeny weeny her suitcase is! She certainly has got travel packing down to a fine art.  I would be extremely frazzled, lugging a ridiculously heavy oversized suitcase (like the one discussed in this post) and look a little more like this:

I LOVE this skirt.

(All photos Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive) 

This is what I wore:

Outfit No 40 Saturday on the Southbank
Crochet Collared Sheer White Blouse - Primark
Velvet Green Skirt - Ebay
Leggings - Topshop
Pumps - Office
Ring - 99p Store(!) 

Over and Out

M x