On the Run - At last, the White Jeans get an outing!

I spent most of the day inside today, working away listening to the thunderstorms and the rain.  We had to go out this evening though to look at prospective secondary schools for number 2 so I thought that I had better swap my skinnies and converse for something else.

The thing is, that when it gets to that time of day, unless I am showering and starting from scratch for a proper night out, I don't really feel like putting a dress or skirt on. I feel a bit like I am wearing fancy dress.  In any event, the white jeans haven't had an outing yet this summer and I do like wearing them because there's always a Liz Hurley joke in there somewhere. Seriously, that lady must own every pair of white jeans known to man.

Speaking of Liz Hurley, that whole Shane Warne thing is getting way out of hand.  He looks more like a waxwork of himself than a waxwork would, with that shiny complexion and those overplucked brows.

The jeans are from H&M, the shirt Gerard Darel and the gold T-bars, Carvela.  Given their capacity to shorten and widen, I prefer to wear white jeans long, flared and with heels. Having said that I do have some skinny Gap ones which I wear with flats but their days are numbered because when I bend down, they slide down - and that is so not a good look!

On the Run - With 10 minutes to shower, wash hair, dress and do make-up before dashing out of the door again!

I got myself into one of those slightly sticky situations this morning. As our youngest had been up since 7.15am watching TV, and would have stayed there quite happily for the entire day, I decided that we needed to do an activity.

The problem was that I also wanted to squidge in a run before we went. Given that the run took longer than I thought, which was not as a result of going further than I thought but rather being a bit of a lazy whatsit because I didn't have my friends to keep me amused, I had precisely 10 minutes on returning home to shower, get dressed and do my hair and make-up. 

 

I can say with certainty when I left the house that I was clean but the hair and make-up didn't feature at all. It was not until I got to the gym class that I dealt with the make-up, where I sat in the gallery and applied it. I probably looked a bit chavtastic in the process but it was better than not wearing any at all.

It was then on to the school fete where I was serving on the Pimms stall. Result!

Clearly the outfit was incredibly hurried and would have benefited from a bit of ruching of the jumper, but frankly I was just pleased to have pulled something even half decent together.  It would also have been better if the school hall didn't have a teracotta floor as it clashed a bit - but there we go.

As a result of speed and having not having been able to wear jeans for a while due to working, I opted for Cos grey jeans, a Jigsaw coral jumper, Mango scarf, Oasis leather jacket and Carvela wedges.

As I say, a bit of ruching of the jumper would have been good but given that I hadn't taken a look at any of it in the mirror, I was happy enough.

I hope that you are enjoying your weekend and no, I didn't have any of the Pimms.  The 11.30am to 1pm slot was a bit early for me but you will be pleased to know that I have made up for it this evening with my husband's fab cocktails. Hic.

On the Run - Interpreting Burberry the Style Guile way (with some success). There was room for improvement but Coronation Street called!

So how is that yesterday I was in the garden, merrily planting up my pots, sun shining, feeling rather hot at times - and here I am today, heating on, needing a bath to warm up and pinching my hubby's cashmere jumper to keep warm? I just don't get it.

Mind you, one piece of good news - I've had a real coup when it comes to helping out at the school fete on Saturday.  I've been asked to help out in the Pimms tent. Result.  I have been asked to get there at 11.30am but it doesn't start until 12pm so I can't imagine what "prep" I will do in that first half hour.

As I was reading the Sunday Times Style section yesterday I thought that I might have a go at interpreting one of the outfits that they showed. Successful or not, it has to beat wearing jeans.  The skirt that they used was a leather one but I don't think that it matters that mine was a cotton job from Zara.

My usual photographer has gone on a school trip so I had to draft in a replacement - and you know how hard it is to get up off the settee when you are 13.

True, I am by no means as young, or as long, or as leggy as the model and the whole sitting down angle isn't great but I reckon that with a few tweaks I would give it a whirl (but Coronation Street was beckoning so I didn't have time to faff.)

Cinching the belt on the coat would give me more of a peplum effect but then I might not be able to breathe - so I am not sure that would be a good idea. The jacket could also do with being a bit shorter as it finishes at my widest part but I would be happy to wear it out - but to be honest I would be happy to wear anything other than jeans at the moment, within reason (see below). 

I also took it to be a good sign that our neighbour didn't laugh when he saw me but then again I think that he was more interested in the Amazon package that I was delivering to him at the time.

I also spotted this outfit in the Sunday Times Style section.  Irrespective of how good or bad you think the above outfit is, I promise not to interpret this outfit for you in any way, shape, or form - pregnant or otherwise.

I'm not knocking Tory Spelling for wearing this - on the contrary, she's one brave lady. Whether pregnant or otherwise I would not be revealing myself in a number like this.  But to any lady who gets pregnant with her fourth child,  only five months after giving birth to her third child - well, she deserves respect.

Today's outfit: Zara skirt, Kew jacket, Jigsaw jumper, Carvela shoes

Mum on the Run - Anchors Away!

Firstly I would like to thank anyone who has dropped by Style Guile as a result of reading the article in Woman & Home Magazine. Thank you for taking the time to come and say "hello". I hope that you like what you find.

Today I am tapping into the whole printed jeans trend which is so big this season.  If bright flowers perhaps aren't for you, these more subtle jeans may do the trick of being something slightly different but not too different. From Oasis, I bought them on a whim not sure how the anchors would translate onto a leg - would they become stretched, distorted - who knew.  In actual fact they were fine.  Phew!

I put them with navy patent Carvela slingbacks which I find are a good height and comfortable.  I also wore a Topshop knit which I bought in a sale just after Christmas and a Boden blazer, which was also a sale purchase.

I love the spotty lining on the blazer, which you can also see on the cuffs below.  I felt quite patriotic in my red blue and white outfit - just like I did in 1977 for the Queen's silver jubilee.

As well as the practical, there's also a little room on Style Guile for dreaming and this is top of my wish list at the moment - the Lily bag from Mulberry which is part of the "cookie cutter" collection, so called because the items in the range look as if they have been cut out with a cookie cutter. 

I have no doubt that the Lily bag will remain a wish, rather than become a reality but that's fine with me.  Part of the fun in life is dreaming about the things that I would like to own!  Instead I spotted these shoes in New Look.  The same colour with the same pretty detail, they would fill that gap in my wardrobe for a nude accessory with a pretty edge. OK, so they are a pair of shoes and not a bag but that too is fine.

I tried them on and actually despite the heel height, they are really quite comfortable - and at £24.99 easier on the purse too!

Today I am wearing: Oasis jeans, Topshop jumper, Carvela shoes, Mango scarf, Boden blazer

Mum on the Run - The first day of our holidays!

We had an early start today down to Southampton airport - gosh I love that place!  it is staffed by really friendly local people who make travelling such a pleasure.  We were met by an elderly gentleman with a big grey beard who showed us where to park and the lady at the check in let me check in all the bags and sort out the boarding passes even though strictly she shouldn't have as my husband was busy parking the car.  I can't imagine either of those things happening in Gatwick.  I have been flying out of Southampton for years - even when it was nothing but a hut.  It has gone a bit swish now but you will still find the odd bird flying around in there.

Anyway, a holiday demands the odd new item of clothing and I picked these jeans up when I was in River Island on Friday.  I had written off red and pink as being too bright but these, I can handle. In all honesty I was probably partly seduced by the fact that I could get into a size 8 Super Skinny jean in there, whereas in Topshop the other week, I couldn't even get a size 10 past my calves.  However, I also liked the colour and decided that they weren't too green that I was going to be called frog legs by our children.  

Given the colour of the jeans, I concluded that they needed a neutral colour - either black, navy or white so I went for navy - but will try white next time.  Oh and just in case you wondered, they are really comfortable.  When I am at home I will style them differently but for this week, practicality is the order of the day.

On arrival at our destination we headed to one of our favourite cafes for crab sandwiches and have just had crab linguine for dinner - so you will be pleased to know that the crab consumption is high.  Oh and we have done our first session of body boarding and it was fab.  Cold, but fab!

Mum on the Run - White jeans

It was slightly warmer today so it was time to bring the white jeans back into action. Whilst I saw some women in strapless maxi dresses I didn't feel that it was quite warm enough for me to reveal any more.  Also, whilst the trends dictate that head to toe white is the way forward it would have to be a really hot day for me to embrace that one full on! I put the jeans with a navy Cos top which I love but which is a bit too thin for the colder months together with silver Carvela sandals and a statement necklace. 

It all worked fine for our picnic but later I substituted the sandals for converse when I again took two of our three "scootering".  Blimey the three year old can't half shift it on that scooter of hers.  The training that I did with the Royal Marines this morning wasn't a patch on what she threw my way!

Jeans Gap, Top Cos, Shoes Carvela, Necklace Next.

Mum on the Run - A casual cream theme

My husband and I had a pass out this evening so we nipped  up to our local.  I decided to stick to a cream theme and put my cream leather jacket and cream lace top together with jeans and some silver sandals, which were comfortable enough to walk in.  Being the ravers that we are, we were home by 9.30pm having been via the local Sainsbury's on the way back to stock up on essentials for tomorrow.  Boy, do we know how to party!
Jeans Gap, Sandals Carvela, Top Monsoon Fusion, Jacket Oasis, Pendant Jigsaw

Mum on the Run - Pleated palazzos

 

In the end, I decided that the pleated palazzos didn't make me look too much of a plonky head so I wore them for our night out - which was brilliant fun.  Lots of dancing and too much wine.  I included the second photo, despite my eyes being shut, as it shows how the palazzos look when walking.  I had to put leggings underneath them as they are so sheer.  The real trendy way to wear them is with big knickers underneath (see below) but being over 40 and having had had three children I am not convinced that it is a look that I should be embracing - maybe if I was Madonna it would be a different matter!

Mum on the Run - Planning an outfit

I have a friend's 40th birthday party to go to on Friday night and there is a picture in my head of how my outfit will look.  No doubt the reality will be somewhat different!  This is the top half of it and is made up of some items from my summer capsule wardrobe - silk vest, white blazer, sparkly necklace and stacked heeled shoes.  There is a mixture of gold and silver going on but it doesn't matter.  I can imagine that I will use this combination with varying different "bottoms" during the spring and summer from skinny to flared jeans and peg, to wide smarter trousers.

On Friday I am considering wearing the above with some pleated black palazzo pants that I have just bought from Topshop.  It all depends on whether or not I think that I look like a plonky head [a term invented by our eldest when she was about three, and used on a regular basis, to describe looking silly or like an idiot, or behaving in a similar way] - and if I do, the palazzos will be returned from where they came!

Outfit: Jacket Zara, Silk vest Coast, Glass beaded necklace Wallis, Shoes Carvela.