Mum on the Run - A capsule wardrobe or a good excuse to go shopping?!

I know, I'm sorry, I've been a lazy blogger this week. It's not as though I've been sitting watching daytime TV all day and eating Doritos - although that doesn't sound like being lazy but more like having fun - it's just that somehow it hasn't quite come together.

 

I'm not sure when you will receive this but to set the scene, it's 7.05am, I'm up with the youngest of five children, in Wales and it's SUNNY! I can't believe it. Time to head off for the beach soon I think. We've realised that with Welsh weather you make the most of it whenever it may be. Which is why at 11pm we were outside around a campfire grilling halloumi and flat breads and which is why I now feel slightly nauseous as a result of too much food, too late and my cardi stinking of smoke (as does a new top that I was wearing to come over in and which I kept on all evening. Duh!)

 

So, just a couple of outfits as obviously due to my TV watching and Dorito eating I only got dressed twice this week and once it was in pretty much the same as I wore last time I posted (that's the beauty of bedroom chairs).

 

On the first hot and sunny day of the week I wore a white Mango dress and red Topshop shoes. It would seem that I only own one pair of shoes this summer! Sorry for the pretty dodgy photos - the 5 year old was in charge but at least I have a head on this one. Or perhaps that's not a good thing.

 

Here I have the blue GAP trousers which I showed not too long ago, Hobbs top, H&M necklace and Hobbs jacket, plus Topshop shoes. See, told you I had only one pair of shoes - and one jacket too. Some call it a capsule wardrobe - I call it a very good reason to go shopping.

Today it will be the turn of something different. A lovely new dress sent to me by Allium B which in some ways is far too nice to wear for crabbing and a day on the beach but on a day like today, you just have to go for it and live life dangerously. You never know, I might even go for a paddle.

Mum on the Run - Skirting around the issue. Skirt styles to tempt you into summer.

I'm sure that I have said this before but skirts can be tricky. Tricky to find in the first place, tricky to find the right tops to go with them and tricky because unlike a dress which is an outfit in it's own right, they require more thought in terms of shoes and accessories.

 

Separates are always billed as being the way forward but finding a good, everyday, skirt is no mean feat. Whilst pencil skirts are having a moment, they're not for everyone.

 

The skirt that I am wearing below was from Jigsaw last summer. It's their trench skirt and I liked it for it's length, its volume which allows me to move around easily, and for the fact that I can put lots of things with it - except tops with buttons as it then looks like there's a bit of a button fest going on.

 

 

 

For a skirt along similar lines, there's this Hobbs skirt (£69). It's an easy fabric in the sense that it's not too far a departure from jeans - it's just jeans in the guise of a skirt really - which can be a good starting point. With it's slight fullness, it is flattering over curvier hips and the wider hem has the effect of making legs look slimmer.

I like to be able to wear my skirts with lots of different shoes, from heels, to brogues, to converse or flat sandals (not asking much am I?!) and for me the Hobbs Millie Derby (£139) would be the perfect complement to this skirt. However for those not so fond of brogues, there are lots of other options that would work equally well. It goes back to this being the skirt version of jeans really.

 

 

This French Connection skirt (£65) has a great print on it. It too is fuller in the skirt and therefore requires a fitted top to counteract that, so as to keep the silhouette neat. Depending on your height, it's designed to be knee length, as opposed to mid thigh or midi. Again, one to be worn with heels or brogues, it could take you from a sunny day out with flats and a strappy vest, to a night out with heels and a silky top.

The challenges that tall ladies face in finding a skirt with enough length to it are just as great as those faced by petite ladies who find lots of skirts too long.

This Pixel python skirt (£95) from French Connection is more of the midi variety - depending on your height - and arguably requires slightly more styling to keep it out of frumpy territory. However, that can be done with the usual suspects which I use to "rescue" outfits from going down the wrong route. These might include a denim shirt, some neon jewellery, a biker style jacket, a silky fitted top and shoes in the shape/style of the season. We all know how the "right" shoes can make all the difference to an outfit.

The Crochet pencil skirt (£87) also from French Connection comes in dark blue as well as this pretty cream/ivory colour. When thinking about what types of skirts to include in this post, it reminded me of a navy Mango pencil skirt that I find really useful in both summer and winter. It's great in the winter with thick tights and a short fitted jumper and in the summer with lighter weight shoes and a denim shirt, breton style top or a pink vest top. There's also a cheaper one in Next - just go to the webite and search for skirts/blue and it should come up on that page.

I love this Zara pencil skirt (£29.99) for its print. It's so pretty and there are lots of colours which could be picked up in a top to go with it. The Zara blazer which I wrote about yesterday comes in a fantastic blue colour which goes with this skirt perfectly, for anyone needing a smarter outfit. It too has a decent length to it but don't be put off if at first instance it appears an inch or so too long. If heels don't take it to the perfect length for you, having it turned up even slightly makes it look completely different. For me, the length that it is shown at below is about right but sadly not all of us are as tall as the model!

This skirt is a great style and the polka dots keep it really young and fresh. The Next flippy skirt (£28) is a good price. It is shorter in length and the fabric and shape make it a really flattering style for ladies with curvier hips.

For those ladies who prefer to keep largely covered up but don't mind flashing a little leg through a side split, the Hush maxi tube skirt (£40) could be perfect. Some maxi style skirts and dresses have way too much fabric in them adding pounds and drowning out smaller frames. However the neater lines of this skirt avoid that and are good for those ladies who perhaps aren't quite so fond of their knees/lack of tan/blemishes/veins - and I include myself within this category - but who don't want to wear trousers all year round either.

 

Hopefully that may have given you some ideas as to where to head now that the warmer weather has, hopefully, arrived and because skirts are now, hopefully, going to be an option (as was mine until the sun went in and the jeans went back on)!

Mum on the Run - These two lovely pieces would make my Wardrobe complete.....

When I say that these two pieces would make my wardrobe complete we all know that what I mean is that they would make it complete until the next time that I went to the shops or opened a magazine.

However for now - for this evening only - these are what I would like to own - aside from a Sophie Hulme cross body-bag of course but we're talking the real (ish) world here. Well, with a fair wind, a good discount and an even better excuse.

These shoes from Zara were also featured in the Sunday Times Style Magazine yesterday. When I spotted them last week I thought to myself that they would look good on here. I kept going back to them, strangely drawn to them without knowing whether I really liked them or not but I do. I can just imagine how they could give all sorts of clothes that I already own a real kick up the whatsit, giving them a new lease of life, dragging them kicking and screaming into a modern look. With pink, blue, black and yellow on them they would work with all sorts of things. I say "work" rather than "go" because part of the fun of fashion is having a little bit of clashing going on.

I can see them with black trousers, a black jacket and a simple top for a night out, with boyfriend jeans and a biker jacket, giving some edge to a pretty white dress, or worn with coloured jeans and a blazer or an oversized T.  Frankly if you were wearing these it wouldn't matter what else you were wearing, great or otherwise, because no-one would notice. All eyes would be on these babies!

Zara lace up shoes

And then, and I do have the Sunday Time Style Magazine to thank for this, I love this  Hobbs NW3 Lawrence top (£99) which is leather. I've had my eyes open for a leather top for a while but the Whistles ones that I have seen have been either really dark or very much down the sports luxe trend and a couple of hundred pounds too. Others just haven't cut the mustard either. No, this is far more me and luckily we have just received an invitation to a wedding reception. Remember that excuse I was looking for? Well maybe I have just found it.

Mum on the Run - Not sure how to wear yellow? See if any of these pieces inspire you to give it a whirl....

For many years yellow was the much under-rated poorer cousin of all things blue or pink and to a lesser extent, green.  However the last couple of seasons have seen yellow appearing in abundance in the shops - and indeed in the new kitchen of a friend of mine in her yellow toaster, kettle, bin, coasters and so on. Fashion and interiors really do mimic one another.

 

I was looking around and about today at all things yellow and apart from the obvious things such as lemons, the sun, daffodils, creamy yellowy custard and Selfridges bags (!) it's also found on the side of the bags from EAT, grit boxes, signs to new housing developments and some high vis jackets. It's amazing what you find when you're looking for it!

 

  

These are the pieces that I bought for last week's event in support of Ladies Fighting Breast Cancer. There's only one piece that I haven't photographed on its own and that's the yellow cotton shirt (from H&M). Having sat in a bag over the weekend it wasn't looking at it's best - and we all know how it feels to be photographed looking a bit crumpled and not as we should be.

 

Again, working from the top left in a clockwise direction we have:

 

Zara coat - probably the best Louis Vuitton copy you will see on the High Street. Checks to perfection! Fantastic with ankle length jeans and some block heeled shoes for a nod to that 60's feel. Yellow and white make a great combination - just think of the inside of a Cadbury's creme egg;

 

H&M jeans - These are lovely and soft. I keep meaning to try them on but I'm not sure that yellow jeans and I would be a match made in heaven. However they would look fab with a navy or black top (there's a great linen one with three quarter sleeves in Whistles) which has got me thinking. Maybe I should give them a try....

 

Boden cashmere jumper - in my favourite combination of grey and yellow. Lovely with white jeans on a warmer day, or grey or dark denim on a chillier one;

 

NW3 top - With just a hint of yellow for those who don't want to do the full on canary look;

 

Zara bag - Again, great for anyone who wants to dip their toe into the yellow water without wearing it as an item of clothing. Wearing a colour some distance from your body is always a more gentle introduction to it then embracing it head on;

 

Whistles - grey and yellow/green sequinned jumper. This is a subtle way to wear sequins in that they are matt and the style of the jumper is very relaxed.

Tomorrow it's the turn of neutrals!

Mum on the Run - A Friday wish: Please, when will it be warm enough for me to wear this without freezing to death?

I just want to say a big hello and a big thank you to everyone who came along to the event last night in aid of Ladies Fighting Breast Cancer. It was a great evening with lots of chatting and laughter. I would imagine that there were probably one or two sore heads this morning, which is always a sign of a good night out.  

 

Crikey, it was cold today. These photos were taken just after we had arrived home from school, having run all the way back to get warm. We were due to go straight out again but not before the youngest nipped up to her bedroom to get her fleecy hat and gloves, which she needed as it promptly began to hail.

 

The sun lulled me in to a false sense of security before I went out for this afternoon's school run. Thinking that it would be fairly warm outside I wore a mac but that didn't cut the mustard at all and it will be relegated to the "not quite warm enough to wear yet" pile when I am packing for our weekend away in Brighton (which is what I should be doing now so I will quit wittering soon and get on)!

 

As to the rest of the outfit - having had two late nights in a row (I know, rad or what?) I felt that a walk to school would be good so really it went from the trainers northwards, to Hobbs jeans, a couple of lighterweight (ie not warm enough) jumpers, All Saints mac, Gap scarf, Kausar bag.

I think that the late nights were reflected in my pallor - either that or the new make-up that I have bought is too pale for me, which is a near impossibility, so I felt the need for colour, hence the scarf/bag/trainer combo.

Right, I had better go and get on with that packing now. Cheerio and I hope that you all have a lovely weekend.

Mum on the Run - Layering a dress over trousers and wearing a couple of Bicester purchases...

With the impending trip to One Direction (sorry, I can't bring myself to write the whole 1D thing) I don't think that there will be time for a post tomorrow night, so here's a quick one until I return, probably with ringing ears.

 

There's a closer shot of this All Saints dress below, which I bought at Bicester in March, along with the Hobbs shoes that I am wearing. I hadn't appreciated the height of the "scoop" at the side of the dress but let's just say that whilst it hangs in my wardrobe, it will only be worn over trousers. Yeah, says she of the "I don't like wedge trainers" statement.

 

Not being sure how over exposed the outside shots would be, we headed indoors to take a couple more over exposed shots but nevermind.

The leather jacket added warmth, the coral necklace some colour and I was good for the day - until I returned home having seen a friend's freshly painted kitchen and decided that our paintwork needed sprucing up. The outfit of too short, too wide, 9 year old Topshop boyfriend jeans elicited the comment of "nice outfit" from the eldest. Nice outfit indeed. I think that she might find me wearing it tomorrow night when we go and see Harry and the boys.

All Saints dress (above) which also comes in a top and Hobbs NW3 shoes (below)

Mum on the Run - Two days of outfits and planning our trip to One Direction!

See, not a wedge trainers in sight, although the boyfriend jeans seem to be getting a bit of a battering. I fear it's because they are a relaxed fit, which translates to roomy, which translates to comfortable, which translates to me being to eat more toblerone. Fantastic!

 

Spring has finally sprung here. Yesterday when we went out of the front door it was just like stepping off a plane in Benidorm, or somewhere equally exotic. It was a little windy and it rained for the rest of the day but hey, it was definitely warmer. Yipppee. It was the same today too. Two days in a row must mean that spring is here to stay.

 

It was so warm, I wore a short sleeved top yesterday - probably the first time since last September. This is a plain top from Hobbs NW3, which I bought in the sale last summer. It's slightly larger than I would normally have but I didn't want it to be too fitted. As with most simple pieces, it's really versatile in that I can wear it with jeans, under a smart blazer, with a pencil skirt, with a long sleeved striped top layered underneath or worn over a maxi dress. Here I wore it with Gap boyfriend jeans, All Saints shoes and H&M coral necklace, to brighten it up.

 

 

This is a closer shot of my "rocker" belt from Topshop. I had my eye on a Jigsaw one at the time but it was nearly £100 so I went to Topshop for a less expensive alternative. In truth it probably wasn't quite as nice as the Jigsaw one but it's such a long time ago now that I can't remember what the Jigsaw one was like, which I guess is one benefit of the passage of time!

Being a lazy whatsit, I wore the same jeans and shoes today but layered a couple of lighterweight jumpers under this cape, which I bought in the Zara sale at the end of last summer for £10. It hasn't been warm enough to wear until now but (as I keep on saying) today it was. What a great disguiser it is of all things that need disguising! I'm a bit of a fan of a polo neck and it has separate sleeves, which I like.

 

Later on in the day I swapped the shoes for eye wateringly bright trainers when I took the youngest out on her bike - minus stabilisers but which she can't yet ride on her own. Not that my back kills me or anything now.

The trainers were then swapped for wellies when we went in the garden to plant flowers. We now have about 500 000 poppies growing in 1 square cm of soil and when they were watered, they needed mouth to mouth and a life raft.

Along with two of her friends, I am taking the eldest to see One Direction on Wednesday. I've decided that the least cool thing ever is to sing along only to the cover versions they do, in this case "One way or another" and "Teenage kicks" because all that does is show your age.

 

No, the only thing to do is to either sing along to nothing, or everything. This means either a) listening to One Direction songs non-stop for the next two days, because it will take me that long to learn their deep and meaningful lyrics or b) standing there mutely.

 

I have a c) up my sleeve, which is to go and chuck my biggest Bridget Jones knickers at them instead. 

Mum on the Run - Swooning over (no, not George Clooney) but LK Bennett shoes and wearing a little Hobbs, Gap, Dune and French Connection

I keep seeing the lovely LK Bennett Aroa sandal wherever I look, so I thought that they deserved a little collage of their own. I'm a sucker for anything broderie anglaise and the fact that they are such pretty colours and a lovely design means that I am smitten. They're like French Fondant Fancies for feet!

Keeping it brief, the weather still hasn't been up to much of late. It was raining all day yesterday which meant that we stayed inside so with that in mind (and the fact that there were six children here) I decided to give my Dune brogues from last summer a trial run. With boyfriend jeans, a French Connection striped jumper and Gap bird print scarf I was good for the day and I only managed to get my scarf caught in the dishwasher about 350 times.

This morning we managed a shot outside. Hopefully you will all be good enough to notice the new door mat and freshly planted pots in preparation for outside shots, as opposed to the bag containing the children's too small school shoes which need to be re-cylced, and the rest of the re-cycling. It would be unfair to blame a five year old for including them.

I promised not to include the wedge trainers for a while but there's a reason for wearing them which goes like this. Yesterday I was asked whether I would like to interview a couple of celebs on Monday. Having agreed, I looked at the state of my eyebrows and decided that they needed some serious attention, hence an emergency 8.45am trip to the beautician at the end of the road.  As I keep telling everyone, the wedges are so comfortable that they were perfect for the fact that, predictably, I left slightly later than I should have done. Actually, I'm secretely quite pleased that the cost per wear of them has now gone down to, oh I don't know, at least £25.

We then went off to see my Mum for the day and so it was that a Monsoon lace top came to be worn together with the Hobbs blazer that I wore the other day - because now that the temperature is right I really want to get some wear out of it and it also goes better with creams and lighter blues than with darker winter colours - and a Lola Rose scarf. Fortunately Mum doesn't have a dishwasher so there were no near strangling incidents but I did manage to dangle it in the washing up bowl a few times.

Right, I will now go and join the rest of the family and watch Britain's Got Talent (unless I can find some washing/ironing that needs to be done instead). Hope that everyone is having a lovely weekend!

Mum on the Run - All "tucked in" in Hobbs, Gap, All Saints and H&M

This is probably going to be the shortest post in the history of the blog but if I don't finish up here soon I'll have suitcases under my eyes tomorrow, rather than just bags.

 

I look a bit "buttoned up" and a bit "tucked in" in this outfit but as I was once described on Mumsnet as being too "tucked in" it would seem quite apt. That phrase made me laugh, largely because it's absolutely true. As a child I would spend hours tucking my vest into my pants and if it wasn't right, back to square one I went until it was all smooth and as it should be. 

 

I'm wearing a Hobbs jacket, Gap jeans, All Saints boots, Cos collar, H&M jumper and Orla Kiely bag.

Out of interest, is anyone else a fan of being all tucked in or is it just me?

Mum on the Run - One mac two different ways....

I know that it looks like it but when this photograph was taken yesterday morning, I wasn't really looking to the skies, thanking the Lord that the day had come for the children to go back to school. Honestly!

I don't know about anyone else but by lunchtime (not before you note!) I really missed them. I even detoured on the way home from Homebase via our eldest's school to see if I could catch a glimpse of her.

Anyway, given it was the first day of the new term, I thought that I would give my new trench coat an outing.  I had been on the look out for a new one for ages as my Zara one was a bit shabby and I always felt a little self-conscious in it. I had looked at one in the sale in Aubin and Wills earlier in the summer, checked out the Burberry ones at Bicester and also the new season Hobbs and LK Bennett ones but nothing really grabbed me.

I then went into All Saints and found this one in the sale, reduced from £295 to £147.50. What I liked about it was the finish on it. The colour is described as Oyster and it has a slight metallic finish/sheen to it, which is better against my skin tone than a flat finish - especially a biscuit flat finish which makes me look either anaemic or slightly jaundiced. Lovely.

For this first outfit, I was wearing it with a Jigsaw skirt, Hobbs top and necklace, Topshop leopard belt, Zara shoes and Orla Kiely bag.

Number 3 (she who told our neighbours that I was out at the weekend getting drunk and that I had left her in the car on her own whilst I went to Wagamamas for lunch) was in charge of the camera today and refused to take a photo until I said "sausages" - hence the ridiculous grin.

Today I wore it with GAP cords in blue (these are the same style as the berry ones I had on on Saturday. With 30% off at the moment they come in at less than £30), Dune brogues, Ted Baker floral top, same bag!

Here you can get a better idea of the finish on the coat.

and also here too.

I can't find the trench on-line but should anyone be interested in the details, here they are on the tag. Just so that you know, they do come up quite big.

I also had a quick look in Mango today whilst in town and the suede jacket which I showed yesterday is lovely. Very heavy and nicely finished. Next didn't have the heeled loafers in and the best alternative I could find to the Russell & Bromely ones were these Andover high heeled penny loafers in Dune, which cost £75. They still aren't quite there for me but are probably the closest to be had for now.

Hope that you have all had a good day. Do let me know if you find any new season fab pieces!

A round-up of holiday outfits to include Jigaw, Hobbs, Zara, H&M, Gap, Next, Warehouse, Reiss, French Connection, Pied a Terre, Carvela and Sea Folly (plus others)!

Wow! It's so good to be back!

I didn't get any time to blog whilst on holiday and, after returning home, I made a pact with myself that I wouldn't blog until I had finished certain (really interesting) jobs - such as filing, sorting - you know, the usual domestic chores that get left until they reach the stage where they have to be addressed or else everyone disappears under a pile of magazines, rather like something on a poor quality TV show when the front door can't be opened because of piles of old newspapers.  Except in my case they are piles of Grazia, Red and Easy Living magazines, plus endless receipts!

We had a fantastic time away.  We stayed at the Watergate Bay Hotel in Cornwall which I can thoroughly recommend for families. The views of the bay were fantastic, as was the food, the rooms and the relaxed atmosphere. For the first time ever, since since we have had children, we took advantage of the childcare that was on offer and the youngest loved going to "night-time nursery" for a couple of hours.  The hotel thought nothing of people walking around in wet-suits, dripping wet having just left the pool - or anything else really, which was great.

This was the view from the pool - amazing! It was closed to children until 9am which meant a lovely peaceful swim every morning. Other than the day when there were six maintenace men cleaning the pool one morning - and only me swimming in it!

                                           

 

Anyway, having spent more time in the water than at any other point in my life, it left little time for photos, which was probably quite good on the whole as I was wrinkly most of the time with slightly red looking eyes from the saltwater/swimming pool.

We did manage shots of a few outfits, so here they are:

Dinner first night

H&M shirt, Gap trousers, Pied a Terre shoes, Reiss and Coccinelle cuffs, H&M ring (I thought that I blended in quite well with the surroundings!)

 

Lunchtime day 2 - Fifteen Cornwall

Next trousers, Warehouse knit and bag, Carvela shoes, Jigsaw necklace;

            

        
My husband was impressed that I managed to continue my birthday celebrations even a week later! Impressive huh?! This lemon polenta cake was lovely.

                                                  


Body boarding days 1, 2 & 3

Wetsuit (borrowed from a friend as I had leant mine to our daughter) and thermal vest! The waves on the last day were like nothing I've been in before. They were huge! The lifeguards were out with their loudspeakers, on their jet skis and generally doing an amazing job, and it was brilliant.

Dinner day 2

Jigsaw trousers (current and in the sale) NW3 top (sale) plus new season NW3 necklace and pied a terre shoes;

 

This is a closer look at the Hobbs NW3 beaded collar £29 (post to follow shortly on beaded collars, which we are going to see a lot of next season).

 

My first hero piece

French Connection maxi dress which was great for layering over my swimming costume on my way to the pool and then going to breakfast in afterwards.  I also layered a French Connection knit over the top and a studded belt so that I could wear it in the day time, with converse.

And the middle of these three costumes was my second hero piece.  A while ago, I wrote a post about how my swimming costume had seen better days. In fact, it was almost at the point of being indecent. Anyway, amongst others, Seafolly sent me this middle swimming costume below, to try out.

I thought long and hard about how to include it, without looking like an exhibitionist - or an idiot! Anyway, when it came to it, it more than earned its place in my Wardrobe, so it therefore definitely warranted a mention.

I wore it every day to swim before breakfast, again under my wet suit and then again in the pool later on in the day with the children. For once I loved wearing a swimsuit - not in a "hey look at me" kind of way (I still made our son get out of the pool to retrieve the ball with which we were playing) but I felt covered, held in, and respectable - more as if I was wearing clothes rather than underwear - if that makes sense. So, whilst Seafolly are more expensive than some brands, and I would never previously have spent that much on a swimming costume, I think that they are worth the investment and would do so now.

So, in the spirit of seeing what it looks like on a "real" person, here's a shot that we took in the garden before going away. 

What you lose in leg length by having the 1950's cut on the leg, you gain in decency and comfort!

Today I wore some other pieces that I took away, but which I didn't get a chance to wear:

Jigsaw khaki skirt, French Connection pale blue striped knit (same as the navy one above) Topshop blue belt, Warehouse bag, Zara shoes (excuse the bucket - the fish were having their Saturday morning water change!)

Later on in the day I swapped the blue belt for a Topshop leopard print one, and brogues for our walk in the park.

So, that's my round-up of the last week or so.  Keeping to a simple colour scheme really worked for me but being on the go so much, I pretty much stuck to the same few pieces without much time to think about what I was going to wear.

I am now looking foward to our next trip, which is a few days on a narrow boat with some friends. Altough not the narrow boat we had booked, as I have just been informed by our friend that it has sunk. It doesn't bode well! Better get that cozzie back on!