she's addicted to clothes

I call this look Middle-Aged Lady Works All Morning Then Runs Errands & Goes To The Outlet Village. Because that’s what I did today. Totally phoning it in, and because the weather looked as if it could go either way when I left the house, I played it safe, and made sure I wouldn’t freeze if it all went to hell.

Naturally, it was gorgeous, and I could’ve got away with something more springlike. Ah, well. At least I’m NOT wearing grey or black, right?

Details:

Suede blazer: Lakeland, thrifted, remixed. This is a great weight for this kind of weather, as it is capable of keeping a biting wind at bay, but isn’t too hot in somewhat warmer weather. There’s a reason I have so many leather/suede jackets. (I mean, aside from just loving them.)

Scarf: All Saints, remixed.

Long-sleeved tee: Gap, remixed. This is a waffle-weave Henley.

Belt: Errr, some German company whose name I can’t recall, but they make good belts. Remixed.

Jeans: 7 For All Mankind, remixed. Still very pleased with these.

Shoes: I have no idea, but they’re kind of brogue-like, with a buckle on the side, and kind of cowboy boot-style heels. I bought these so long ago I can’t recall where I got them, and then they languished, because I thought they’d hurt my feet. I was wrong; they’re super comfortable, and I’m only not pissed off at myself for letting them sit so long because now they’re basically still brand new, and not already wearing out! (Will get a better photo of them next time.)

Another Visible Monday rolls around, and here I am. The weather got almost-springlike over the weekend, and the sunshine stuck around today, so I was able to get away with this relatively light suede blazer for my outerwear. I have a lot of coats, and I love them, but wow, it feels good to ditch the heavy wool and not feel as if I’m freezing to death.

I liked this outfit, and felt it suited me, but it did cause me to spend some time contemplating my small handful of fashion personas, none of which I can simply settle on and call my style. This particular look would be leaning towards the ageing prep end of my own personal style spectrum. Also, see “age appropriate, other than the skirt length.” There’s always some killjoy just waiting to tell 40+ women to cover it up, but sod that killjoy anyway. At least I’m wearing opaque tights, right?

Have a good week, everybody, and as always, do check out Patti’s Visible Monday collaboration!

Details:

Faux Hermes scarf: Tie Rack, remixed. This is not any sort of counterfeit, or anything like that; the Hermes influence is just obvious in the equestrian motif print. One of these days, I’m going to splash out on the real thing, assuming I can ever make up my mind which to buy.

Suede blazer: Lakeland, thrifted, remixed. (I think it’s remixed, anyway. I’ve definitely worn it before.) A bit of fancy stitching on the lapels to this one, although it’s not showing up in the photo. A good find, since this is a great colour fit for my wardrobe.

Ribbed black bateau neck jumper: Monsoon, remixed.

Skirt: Next, thrifted. I’ve wanted something like this for a while, and I lucked into it last week. I’m getting much fonder of A-line skirts all the time; for as much as I love a pencil skirt, I do think A-lines are probably more flattering to my narrow hips.

Tights: M&S, remixed.

Boots: Duo, Catalonia, remixed.

Dressed to walk a lot, and get stuff done. My chignon looks a little squirrely in this shot, but it stayed up and looked fine all day. My hair is very fine and somewhat temperamental, and definitely prone to flyaways, so updos on me are always going to be of the somewhat unstructured sort. I’ve always been a big fan of updos, and have been wearing them, on and off, for about 30 years, but in all that time, never have I known them to be as generally popular as they are now. I eschew the sock bun, but it does seem to be conquering the world, or at least my little part of it.

Hope the holiday weekend is passing pleasantly for my friends back in the US!

Details:

Scarf: Zara, remixed. This is very lightweight patchwork fabric, and about the size of a single bedspread. It compresses into something wearable very nicely.

Suede jacket: Thrifted, remixed. When I found this, I thought it would go well with my tan boots, and so it does.

Barely-seen ribbed long-sleeve tee: H&M, remixed. To the reader who asked in the comments the last time I wore one of these, they go for £7.99, and run a little big.

Skinnies: H&M, remixed.

Boots: Duo, Catalonia, remixed, although this is their first appearance here of the season. I’m pulling my long boots out of storage as I go along.

Happy weekend, all!

Happy Visible Monday, everybody! Thanks, as always, to Patti for hosting, and do try to swing over and check everybody else out.

This one was dictated largely by the nasty weather. I might’ve liked to wear somewhat more feminine shoes with it, but I’m still being pretty cautious with my back, and avoiding anything that’s even vaguely unstable, or has slightly slippery soles. With that said, I love these boots, and I’m always happy to toughen up my look a bit, when it comes to boots.

My back feels loads better, incidentally, and I’m sure it was just a minor muscle strain, which has been healing itself nicely, but I have enough friends and relatives with long-term back injuries, and it’s really not the sort of thing to mess with, so I will be taking it easy a while longer.

Details:

Suede jacket: Thrifted. I say this a lot, but I love thrifting suede and leather. Some of my favourite things came to me this way.

Turtleneck: Zara, remixed. Just a nice, thick, plain cotton turtleneck, and another one of those must-have basics for me.

Tweed skirt: Hobbs, vintage, thrifted. That weird-looking hemline is entirely intentional; it’s slightly asymmetrical, and has a ragged, unfinished hem. I like the slightly rustic look and feel of it, and I seem to be terribly keen on warm tweeds this year, so even though this particular silhouette is a bit out of my usual style, I like this a lot. It may be going back, though, since it’s decidedly too big in the waist. It didn’t move around much today, and it fits well enough riding on my hips, so I’ll give it at least one more go before deciding.

Shoulder bag: Modalu, remixed. This one’s very plain, and not much to look at, but it’s a great bag, and a bit of a neutral workhorse, as it matches just about everything. I’m particularly keen on the shoulder strap, as it’s very well-padded, but cylindrical and pretty slim, so it doesn’t look bulky.

Khaki tights: Dorothy Perkins, remixed.

Boots: Deichmann, remixed.

The back feels somewhat better today, although I’m still being very careful of it, and definitely good enough to get back into tights. Pretty sure, at this point, that it’s just some kind of minor muscular strain, so I’m not particularly worried, although I’ll be very pleased when it’s gone.

As for the outfit, I though it looked OK in the mirror, but now, looking at the photos, I’m not so sure all the different shades of brown are working all that harmoniously. Still, outside of the blue part of the scarf, everything is very neutral, so nothing’s too distractingly amiss, even if I was slightly off with the colour mix.

I’ll be joining in with Megan and Keely’s latest challenge next week. We’ll be doing Fall Colour Trends, and I’m very much looking forward to it. I dearly love having themes to work to, when it comes to getting dressed, and Megan and Keely come up with good ones. I think Everybody, Everywear is next week as well, so I may be doing a couple of doubles, between that and Patti’s Visible Monday.

Oh, and one more thing, before the details. If you’re a fairly regular commenter here, and you have your own blog I’ve not visited (or, hell, if I have visited, and could use a reminder) please drop your URL in the comments, and I’ll come by and say hello. I really am coming up for air, now the election’s done, and frankly, I like y’all a lot better than politics anyway, and would like to update my links as well.

Details:

Suede blazer: James Lakeland, thrifted. Very pleased to have found this recently. The fit is pretty good, it’s very well constructed — something I find to be the case with leather goods from this company — and the quality of the hide is superb. Suede clothing holds up to our misty/rainy weather a lot better than suede footwear does, that’s for sure.

Necklace: Thrifted.

Jumper: Gap, remixed. I really like these shrunken crewnecks.

Scarf: Remixed, can’t recall the brand right now!

Corduroy skirt: Crew Clothing Co., thrifted, remixed. I’m on the fence about this one, as it’s quite loose in the waist, but I kind of like that bit of a subdued ruffle hem, and the colour and length are good.

Tights: M&S, remixed.

Boots: Malmo, Duo, remixed.

Return of the Hipster Nun! Somewhat remixed, from the last time I wore this skirt, but definitely still working that vibe. Today’s outfit was dictated by me doing something to my back, and my subsequent desire to wear clothing that was easy to get in and out of, and as non-restrictive as possible. Except for the Spanx I’m wearing under it, chosen exclusively for the lower back support, and let me tell you, miserable as Spanx are (although I size up, because generally, when I’m wearing them, it’s not for restriction, it’s to keep fitted clothing gliding about easily, instead of bunching up) in most cases, they are golden for lower back support when you’ve got some kind of minor injury.

As for the injury, I managed to do that when I was in the bath, and leaned forward to turn the tap off. I felt this unpleasant twinge, and I’ve been dealing with that all day since. I can walk OK, and in fact, I’m most comfortable either walking or sitting/lying down, it’s just that godawful transitional period that causes me misery. I mean, I don’t feel great in motion or sitting, but I do OK. Given that my gut instinct (confirmed by Dr. Google) is to keep in motion when something like this happens, provided it’s possible, and I’m unlikely to do further damage, it’s a decided relief to know that within a minute or two of getting up, I’m going to be moving around with minimal discomfort.

I’ll take sensible precautions and keep an eye on it for a couple of days, and see how things go before going to the doctor. I’m pretty sure this is just minor; I have no reason to think I’ve got a slipped disc or anything serious, especially since I’m in no worse shape at the end of the day than the beginning.

Anyway, I’ll do the Harvey Nicks review soon, I just keep getting up and moving around a lot right now, and I’m not spending more than about ten minutes a go sitting still.

Details:

Scarf: Ted Baker, thrifted. I wanted a light colour up near my face to keep me from looking like a corpse. Since the belt is silver and cream enamel, I thought this worked well with it.

Slashneck tee: Gap, remixed.

Belt: Marks and Spencer, remixed. Usually, I wear this as a necklace, but I really, really wanted to break up all that black.

Suede skirt: East, thrifted, remixed.

Socks: M&S. These are trouser socks, and made of exactly the same stuff as the black tights I usually wear. No way did I want to have to tug at tights, or go into contortions to get them on today.

Chelsea boots: Faith, remixed. This may not have been the best pairing with the skirt, given its length, although I think it looked OK, but low heels were a total necessity today.