she's addicted to clothes

I have this little problem...

  • 20th August
    2012
  • 20
A day in the sunshine wearing one of my recent favourite combinations: the pullover and printed skirt. Not exactly edgy or challenging, of course, but as part of the recent style rethink, I often find myself reaching for simple silhouettes and relatively minimal accessories. It was warm enough today that a jacket wasn’t necessary, but the light merino jumper kept the chill off when the sun occasionally disappeared behind the clouds. As I generally do when I post on Monday, I am linking up with Patti’s Visible Monday round-up, and encourage you to go check everybody out. I love Visible Monday; it’s a great start to the week, and I never regret putting in the effort to stand out a little bit. This multiple-shades-of-blue and floral ensemble actually did garner some attention, so I’d call it a success. Hope everybody has a great week! Details: Necklace: Fossil, remixed. I’m pretty sure I got this at the outlet, since the price of Fossil’s (gorgeous!) jewelery kind of makes me choke at full retail. I mean, it’s quality stuff, but it’s still costume jewelery, you know? £40-50 is about the price point where I start wanting at least silver and/or semi-precious stones for my money. Jumper: Deane & White via TK Maxx. This isn’t teal the way I remember it from the 80s; I think it’s a bit more toned-down and subtle and leaning heavily to the blue end of teal, which to me is an improvement. Skirt: Tag says Xe, whatever/whoever that is. Thrifted and recently rescued from the wardrobe orphanage. Glad I didn’t just throw this one back; it’s a keeper. Bangle: H&M, remixed. Bag: Oasis, remixed. This bag, and my desire not to switch out of it, is what inspired today’s ensemble. I do that far more often than I’d like to admit! Sandals: Hotter, remixed, but I also may have worn them on day when I didn’t take a photograph, so this may be their first appearance here. Or not. I don’t know!

A day in the sunshine wearing one of my recent favourite combinations: the pullover and printed skirt. Not exactly edgy or challenging, of course, but as part of the recent style rethink, I often find myself reaching for simple silhouettes and relatively minimal accessories. It was warm enough today that a jacket wasn’t necessary, but the light merino jumper kept the chill off when the sun occasionally disappeared behind the clouds.

As I generally do when I post on Monday, I am linking up with Patti’s Visible Monday round-up, and encourage you to go check everybody out. I love Visible Monday; it’s a great start to the week, and I never regret putting in the effort to stand out a little bit. This multiple-shades-of-blue and floral ensemble actually did garner some attention, so I’d call it a success.

Hope everybody has a great week!

Details:

Necklace: Fossil, remixed. I’m pretty sure I got this at the outlet, since the price of Fossil’s (gorgeous!) jewelery kind of makes me choke at full retail. I mean, it’s quality stuff, but it’s still costume jewelery, you know? £40-50 is about the price point where I start wanting at least silver and/or semi-precious stones for my money.

Jumper: Deane & White via TK Maxx. This isn’t teal the way I remember it from the 80s; I think it’s a bit more toned-down and subtle and leaning heavily to the blue end of teal, which to me is an improvement.

Skirt: Tag says Xe, whatever/whoever that is. Thrifted and recently rescued from the wardrobe orphanage. Glad I didn’t just throw this one back; it’s a keeper.

Bangle: H&M, remixed.

Bag: Oasis, remixed. This bag, and my desire not to switch out of it, is what inspired today’s ensemble. I do that far more often than I’d like to admit!

Sandals: Hotter, remixed, but I also may have worn them on day when I didn’t take a photograph, so this may be their first appearance here. Or not. I don’t know!

  • 14th May
    2012
  • 14
Visible Monday, again! Thanks to Patti at Not Dead Yet Style, as always. I really love this suede jacket. I’ve only had it for a few weeks, but it’s rocketed to the top tier of my all-time thrift scores already. I almost rejected it for being a bit too big, but then decided to go for it anyway, because I’m sure a time will come when I’ll be happy to wear it over a heavier jumper, and I haven’t regretted it. I had a pretty good weekend. We got another 3 cubic metres of mulch spread in the garden, and on Saturday afternoon I went to a vintage fair in Liverpool. Lots of ’80s vintage stuff — you could hardly move for gigantic shoulder pads and butt-ruffles — which isn’t my style, and anyway, I’ve definitely already been there and done that. (The 80s were my high school and college years.) I did pick up a pair of men’s vintage 501 cut-offs, and the fit confirms my suspicion that if I want really snug-fitting thighs in my next pair of shrink-to-fit 501s, men’s are probably the way to go. Details: Suede jacket: Thrifted, remixed. Scarf: Long since detagged. I think I got this at H&M. Skirt: Vintage, no tags. The vintage fair I went to on Saturday is a regularly-occurring one (it takes place at The Bluecoat in Liverpool, if any locals are passing through), and I bought this at the previous one. I really love the print and the colours and the ribbon panels. Tights: Dorothy Perkins, remixed. I didn’t quite have the right kind of hot pink to match the ribbons in the skirt, so I went with olive instead. Bag: Fossil, remixed. Boots: Malmo, Duo, remixed. Do go check out the others at Visible Monday; it’s always well-worth the click.

Visible Monday, again! Thanks to Patti at Not Dead Yet Style, as always.

I really love this suede jacket. I’ve only had it for a few weeks, but it’s rocketed to the top tier of my all-time thrift scores already. I almost rejected it for being a bit too big, but then decided to go for it anyway, because I’m sure a time will come when I’ll be happy to wear it over a heavier jumper, and I haven’t regretted it.

I had a pretty good weekend. We got another 3 cubic metres of mulch spread in the garden, and on Saturday afternoon I went to a vintage fair in Liverpool. Lots of ’80s vintage stuff — you could hardly move for gigantic shoulder pads and butt-ruffles — which isn’t my style, and anyway, I’ve definitely already been there and done that. (The 80s were my high school and college years.) I did pick up a pair of men’s vintage 501 cut-offs, and the fit confirms my suspicion that if I want really snug-fitting thighs in my next pair of shrink-to-fit 501s, men’s are probably the way to go.

Details:

Suede jacket: Thrifted, remixed.

Scarf: Long since detagged. I think I got this at H&M.

Skirt: Vintage, no tags. The vintage fair I went to on Saturday is a regularly-occurring one (it takes place at The Bluecoat in Liverpool, if any locals are passing through), and I bought this at the previous one. I really love the print and the colours and the ribbon panels.

Tights: Dorothy Perkins, remixed. I didn’t quite have the right kind of hot pink to match the ribbons in the skirt, so I went with olive instead.

Bag: Fossil, remixed.

Boots: Malmo, Duo, remixed.

Do go check out the others at Visible Monday; it’s always well-worth the click.

  • 15th February
    2012
  • 15
Back into my usual skirt/dress-heavy routine, and glad to be there. I’m feeling increasingly OK with pants, but still, I’m likely to continue preferring skirts and dresses for the foreseeable future. Also, I’m hitting the Desigual crack again, as you may have gathered. Incidentally, my hair totally relaxed into looser curls over the course of about an hour. I think it might have been still slightly damp when I put the hot rollers in, and when that happens, I get (briefly) much tighter curls. Details: Necklace: Nic & Ollie, remixed. Butterflies were the theme of the day, I guess! Top: Desigual. Skirt: Primark. Another of those awesome jersey pencil skirts. I like them, even though I’m not normally a fan of elastic waistbands, because they do give me a pretty smooth line under thinner tops, like this one. Tights: M&S, remixed. These are only 40 denier, I think, and I’d much rather they were more opaque, so I’ll be looking to replace these. Shoes: Deichmann, remixed.

Back into my usual skirt/dress-heavy routine, and glad to be there. I’m feeling increasingly OK with pants, but still, I’m likely to continue preferring skirts and dresses for the foreseeable future. Also, I’m hitting the Desigual crack again, as you may have gathered.

Incidentally, my hair totally relaxed into looser curls over the course of about an hour. I think it might have been still slightly damp when I put the hot rollers in, and when that happens, I get (briefly) much tighter curls.

Details:

Necklace: Nic & Ollie, remixed. Butterflies were the theme of the day, I guess!

Top: Desigual.

Skirt: Primark. Another of those awesome jersey pencil skirts. I like them, even though I’m not normally a fan of elastic waistbands, because they do give me a pretty smooth line under thinner tops, like this one.

Tights: M&S, remixed. These are only 40 denier, I think, and I’d much rather they were more opaque, so I’ll be looking to replace these.

Shoes: Deichmann, remixed.

  • 25th July
    2011
  • 25

I have a lot of skirts, most thrifted. I have a real weakness for them. As a general, but by no means hard-and-fast rule, I prefer separates over dresses, and this is due mainly to sizing issues. I’m tall, but instead of carrying most of my height in my legs, I’m pretty evenly proportioned between upper and lower body, which often gives me bodice-fit issues with dresses. Not that I don’t love a good dress, but skirts seldom give me a problem with fit; at worst, they’re shorter than intended, but as I prefer my skirts on the shorter side anyway, I don’t consider that a drawback, unless we’re talking about a skirt so short I don’t dare bend in it.

Skirts, with few exceptions, tend to be among the cheapest things to thrift, so my willingness to buy almost any skirt I fancy, whether or not I have anything that will go with it, isn’t anything I feel particularly guilty about. Eventually, I always find a way to style them. This particular skirt has been hanging in my wardrobe for the better part of a year, and today I pulled it out on a whim, because I’d enjoyed wearing yellow so much for the July EBEW. I liked it today, as well. I think it’s now safe to say I am unlikely to reject an item of clothing purely based upon it being yellow, which hasn’t always been the case.

Yellow, I apologise. You’re a great colour, and I think I can wear you, after all.

Details:

Scarf: Primark. So the other day, I forgot (forgot!) to bring a scarf out with me. It was a pretty grey day, so I didn’t worry too much about the sun. And then the sun came out, and I could feel my un-sunscreened chest starting to sizzle, so I nipped guiltily into Primark, intending to buy the cheapest scarf possible, just to get my rapidly-pinkening chest covered. This one was on a clearance table for a quid, and I was kind of shocked by how much I like it. So instead of hitting the donation pile straightaway, it got put into rotation.

Denim Jacket: Gap, thrifted, remixed.

Tank: Gap, remixed.

Belt: Gap, remixed.

Skirt: Cherokee, thrifted. I love me some paisley. And some pockets, as well.

Bangles: Oasis, remixed.

Shoes: Ancient, remixed.