On the Run - A plain outfit of Cos, Hobbs and LK Bennett with a statement silk scarf.

You know sometimes you just have those days when you wake up and think "Oh hec, what I am I going to wear today?" Well, I had one of those this morning.

As I knew that I would be in the shops styling all day, flat comfy shoes were a must.  The rain ruled out dresses and skirts, which only really left trousers.

Having worn my spotty trousers yesterday, my Zara textured (for want of a better word) ones the day before and ruling out chinos and jeans on the basis that they weren't smart enough, I headed for my faithful (and now nearly on their last leg) Cos trousers. I swear that they are getting tighter by the day - they must be losing their elasticity. Or something.  

 

Oh flip, so what to put with the trousers. There are several sayings I have in life. The first is: "If in doubt do nothing." It's an absolute gem when it comes to making difficult decisions but doesn't really apply when needing to get dressed in a hurry in the morning.  So, I reverted to another favourite saying of mine: "Keep it simple." Yep, I liked that for today. So it was head to toe navy, including the bag, with the addition of one statement piece, which was a Hobbs silk handpainted scarf.

Impressively, the photos were taken by the munchkin before school. I had to laugh - she holds the phone so near to her eyes when taking a photo that she goes cross-eyed. It's very funny to see.

As for silk scarves, I only have this Hobbs one and the Hermes one that I bought from the Buy My Wardrobe event, but it was really nice to wear for a change.

Our son has returned from his trip to Wales with school, utterly and totally exhaused.  We had one of those special moments when he arrived back. His sister threw her arms around him and said "I love you Fred. Come and see how much my snow [sun]flowers have grown." And she led him by the hand into the conservatory to take a look.

Today's outfit: Cos trousers and top, Hobbs shoes and scarf, LK Bennett bag

Mum on the Run - Saturday Bliss at Bicester

For the first time, in a very long time, I had a few hours at Bicester Village today and it was bliss! 

The double whammy came from the possibility of being able to buy a couple of pieces from brands which l love but which are a bit pricey for every day - such as Reiss etc and also taking a look at other brands which aren't stocked (or are stocked but only in a small way) in Birmingham - such as Tory Burch, Michael Kors, Rupert Sanderson, Marni - the list goes on.

I figured that it might be drizzling so wore my Zara trench, wide leg jeans from Mango and because they require a heel, red patent KG shoes.  For accessories I wore a statement necklace, LK Bennett bag and Hobbs belt (oh and I appear to be accessorsing with an antennae too).  Here's a closer pic of my necklace, which was from Jigsaw.

And here are the KG shoes - still as shiny as the day I bought them!

Here are a few images of things that I liked at Bicester:

a spotty sheep;

Hobbs NW3 shoes in yellow - which you may have guessed is my current favourite colour;

a pale blue Vivienne Westwood bag which I was told off for photographing (the ridiculousness of fashion never ceases to amaze me!)

a pretty going out shirt from Jigsaw, floaty and flattering.

I didn't buy any of these pieces but I just liked them - and anyway we couldn't have fitted the sheep in the car.

As a result of my shopping techinque our eldest daughter, who was with me, christened me "Ninja Shopper." I don't think that it had anything to do with fighting with other shoppers but I could be wrong.

I think that the sheep deserves it's own picture, so here it is....

Today's outfit - Zara trench, KG shoes, Hobbs belt, Jigsaw necklace, LK Bennett bag.

Hope that you are all having a lovely Easter weekend.

Mum on the Run - Day 2 Spring work wear: cropped trousers and a silk shirt

Today I have gone for a silk ruffled shirt, slim cotton cropped trousers and patent high heels.  Being natural fibres, silk and cotton work well when it is warmer. I have added the coral belt to break up the "black and greyness" of it all.  A black blazer would be a nice addition to make the outfit smarter.  Alternatively the trousers could be dressed down with ballet flats, a plain white shirt and a piece of knitwear.

If slim fitting trousers don't suit your shape, you could swap them for a pair of wide black leg trousers - it's probably best to avoid the classic court shoe with a wide trouser but rather go for a stacked heel or a wedge instead.

Trousers Ted Baker, Shirt and shoes LK Bennett, Belt Joules, Bag Mulberry

Mum on the Run - Cadbury's Purple

Today was a bit of a mish mash day - visit to the dentist, trip into Birmingham, bit of work from home, ferrying the children around and so on.  I didn't need to be too smart but given that I was in the shops I didn't want to be too much of a scruff either.  So I resorted to my trusty Cos trousers and then worked in a bit of colour and texture with stripes, a wool jumper (almost the shade of Cadbury's purple - well, we are in Birmingham) and a scarf.   I had a navy coat on for most of the day and the shoes definitely worked better when I had the coat on than when I didn't but carrying two pairs of shoes with me just so that I could change when I took my coat off wasn't going to happen. Ever!

For once I was actually warm - not convinced that I am ready to lose too many layers yet though.  Unlike many, I haven't quite mastered the art of stripping off to strappy tops as soon as the sun shines.

Outfit: Trousers Cos, striped top Gap, jumper Hobbs NW3, shoes Clarks, bag LK Bennett

Mum on the Run - Sequins again!

As it was such a sunny day I decided to wear my new sequin T from Topshop again.  I was invited to be the guest speaker at a fund-raising lunch for St Mary's hospice and I wore the sequin T with my navy peg trousers and red patent shoes. As there was no one around to photo me (well apart from a room full of women having lunch that is) I took this photograph myself to show how I accessorised the top with a pendant and leopard print belt.  Thanks to the lovely ladies who came along and thank you for the bouquet of flowers.

Outfit: All from Topshop apart from the necklace which was from Jigsaw

Later on in the day I decided to walk the three mile round trip to get our eldest from school.  I swapped the trousers for jeans, the red patent shoes for converse and left the necklace at home.  I didn't have time to change my navy patent LK Bennett bag though so that had to come along for the walk.

Outfit: Converse Jones, Jeans Gap, T Topshop, Bag LK Bennett

Mum on the Run day 32 - Lace and sequins

 Last night saw me doing another style party, which was great fun but late!  I mixed my fabrics (lace) with embellishment (sequins) but stuck to the same colour palette (navy) and kept the rest of the outfit plain so as to avoid too much going on.

Outfit: Lace skirt Mango, Sequin jumper Warehouse, Patent shoes LK Bennett, Bag Miu Miu

Mum on the Run day 26 - A High Street dress for a night out

This is the tale of the dress that nearly wasn't! Having bought it yesterday morning when I was in town with our eldest, she offered to carry it for me - which was really sweet of her except that on arriving home, we didn't have it with us.  I blame myself - I should have known better really.  After all this is the girl who,only the day before, locked my keys in the house (with the rest of us outside) and who is currently unable to find either her phone or her ipod.  Anyway after going back into town and retracing our steps the dress was found in M&S.  I was pleased on many levels but mainly because I would have had to carry through the threat to return her new converse to the store - and that would have been hard on her - and on me as they are pink and very nice (and we are also now the same shoe size so I plan on pinching them occasionally when she is at school.)

Anyway, I was out last night at a charity event and this is what I wore - a simple column dress which I had spotted in Zara earlier in the week.  I liked the fact that it was so simple and not black.  It came with a really pretty belt and as it had a high neckline didn't require a necklace.  I was short on time in getting ready so the fact that it didn't need much accessorising was a good thing!   Having now worn it for a night out, I think that I will have it shortened to wear on those long hot summer days (dream on) with some flat sandals.

Outfit  - Dress Zara, Shoes LK Bennett, Bag Reiss, Watch Storm.

Mum on the Run day 24 - Party party!

This evening saw me doing the first of three Style Parties that I have coming up.  I love doing the parties as people really seem to enjoy trying on things that they wouldn't necessarily choose for themselves.  However in one sense the Style Parties are the least glamourous of everything that I do because they require so much lifting bags of clothes, rails etc in and out of the car and up and down flights of stairs.  So, with that in mind I went for my practical Gap utility trousers but smartened the outfit up a little with my LK Bennett grey shoes, a new printed silk shirt from Warehouse, my Gap blazer and a silver belt from Boden. I like the juxtaposition of something fairly basic, like the trousers, with a much more glamorous silk shirt and patent shoes.  It worked for me!

Outfit: Trousers Gap, Shoes LK Bennett, Shirt Warehouse, Blazer GAP

Mum on the Run Day 21 - Pleats please

Today I was talking at the "Women Who" lunch for the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce. I did a presentation on the15 essential items for the work capsule wardrobe.  Everyone was lovely, as were the cakes, yum!

It was nice for me to have a chance to dress up as pretty much every day since I started "Mum on the Run" I have either been off with the children or shopping on my own - neither of which require the same sort of outfit as when I am with clients or doing events.

Today I decided to go with a bit of a nod towards the ballet look (I thought that the full on look might be a tad ridiculous) which is so big at the moment, thanks to Black Swan, and went for a chiffon pleated skirt from TopShop.  I put it with  a black silk blouse, a fitted cardigan, a skinny leopard print belt and court shoes.  It was lovely to have a chance to dress up and to wear a pleated skirt - something that I haven't worn in years.  It felt quite elegant (for once)!  To stop the outfit from looking too twee, I added my chunky Storm digital watch. 

We also did a bit of a Marilyn Monroe look but we were laughing so much that I look a bit weird - I said there would be bad!

Outfit: Skirt and belt Top Shop, Blouse New Look, Cardigan Hobbs, Shoes LK Bennett