On the Run - Where do you go when you need to buy a new bag? BagServant of course!

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Michãela Deasy-Smith, the Online Fashion Editor for BagServant, which is The premiere handbag site for lovers of luxury & style.

Somewhat flatteringly, Michaela liked Style Guile enough to ask whether BagServant may write a guest post.

Essentially, BagServant brings together in one place, all your favourite brands (to include Mango, Mulberry, Radley, Anya Hindmarch, Cath Kidston, Michael Kors plus many more) from trusted retailers, to include John Lewis, House of Fraser, Selfridges and Harrods.

The site is easy to navigate and it is possible to search for a handbag by style, shape, colour, brand, price - you name it, it's possible.  So, if you wanted a yellow sherbet Mulberry Bayswater but didn't know where to go to get it, BagServant would have the answer.  Which is John Lewis, by the way (and it's in the sale)!

It's such a simple, great concept and an easy and convenient way to shop - perfect for those who are short of time. And let's face it, who isn't?

Additionally, BagServant offers us the opportunity to find out which one of twelve "Handbag Personalities" we are.  I found that little bits (for want of a better phrase!) of me fell into more than one but the Personality into which I fitted most closely, was Miss Practical.

Now, the lovely girls at BagServant have written some very complimentary words about why I fall into that category - but we all know that the truth of it is that I fit the description of having a bag full of shopping lists and food wrappers and that all good intentions to keep my bag tidy have fallen by the wayside by Tuesday morning.

Anyway, we thought that it would be nice for BagServant to tell you all a little bit about some of the different handbag personalities, so here goes....let's have some fun on a Friday!

For some of us, fashion can be a complicated affair. Stepping out of the carefully tailored wardrobe chosen by your parents and into your own can be a liberating and terrifying experience. There are clothes in bright colours, clothes with flowers on them or spots or stripes, clothes made out of denim, leather and satin, clothes for the super rich and clothes that are just plain ugly. While some individuals get lost in the jungle of fashion trends and sparkly lip gloss, some of us are quite content with a minimalist pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

We spend a great deal of time thinking about what we should be wearing and how to keep up with the trends until the whole business can seem like a massive bore. Eventually, all you end up doing is looking at how other people look in magazines, becoming more and more disillusioned with how you look. This is not a productive use of your time.

But you know what? Once you’ve realised an important truth that is so obvious, you’ll wonder how you didn’t see it before.

Underneath all your clothes, accessories and makeup, there is a little thing called your PERSONALITY. To quote Monty Python’s Life of Brian: ‘we are all individuals!’  

Should this be the only thing that dictates your style? When we really get the core to what kind of people we are, your mind becomes like a sieve and sorts through your wardrobe. You could pick up items you have had for years and say ‘ugh, what was I thinking?!’ Soon it becomes about what you want to wear, not what you think you should be wearing. Then finally, when all we have is what makes us happy, we ooze confidence and give off vibes of self-belief. Surely these two things never go out of fashion? 

At BagServant, we have embraced this idea and have been helping women and men find the right hand bag for them. Enter our 12 specially designed bag personalities, we call them our flirty dozen, each one as unique as all of us.  

 And we would like you to meet a few of them.

Sugar Delight

She’s the sweetest thing in our office and it would break your heart to see her with a frown. She’s the woman that has a smile on a rainy day and a spring in her step on her way to work. Her sweet sentiment comes through in her style with her endless amount of pastel pinks and yellows from designers like Miu Miu and Riki Rosetta. If you’re not adverse to pretty bows and sprinkles of diamantes, then you and Sugar Delight should probably get together for some tea and bright coloured macaroons.   

Little Miss Label

Now we might have sounded like we were against the fashion magazines and trend culture of chasing after celebrities and catwalks. But we know that some women love indulging in designer fashion and the latest styles, none more so than our lovely Little Miss Label. She’s the kind of girl who will drag you through Bond Street with her credit card as her weapon of choice. Jimmy Choo, Victoria Beckham, Alexander McQueen and Givenchy are just some of the labels this girl goes gaga for, but we love her for it. Although, we do wonder where she finds the money to fund this passion of hers...

Confident Classique

She is the well dressed elegant bag lover. The girl about town minimalist who will wear the Parisian style Breton striped top and classic trench, she even wears simple knits with effortless ease. She loves structured shapes in basic colours which she knows will work effortlessly for her, whether she's wearing a suit or a little black dress. She prefers to shun trends for timeless pieces, and is always therefore fashion desirable. She is calm and confident and loves nothing more than a good giggle with her friends.

Miss Practical

One of our most popular personalities. She knows what she wants in a bag and in her style and doesn’t usually indulge in anything too elaborate. We’ve been told that the lovely Beth Goodrham thinks she is one of our Miss Practical's which we thought was brilliant as this girl is as elegant as she is well-dressed.

Sometimes her friends look at the way she casually throws together an outfit and think ‘how does she do it?’ The truth is, she just knows what works for her, similarly to the reason why Audrey Hepburn adorned ballet flats as her staple item, it just worked for her. Although her casual ways cause a bit of clutter in her handbag, she always makes time for a weekly cleanup. She even has her own Twitter account, why not drop her a line?

We have many more to discover on our website. Find out which one you are to help you give your look some personality!  

On the Run - A day at the races with a little fashion show courtsey of Harvey Nichols

Today I was at an event where I got the best bits of being at the races but without the worst bits - and it was fab!

It was a real treat to be offered champagne at 11.30am (I say offered because I was driving so was on the soft stuff), to watch a fashion show by Harvey Nichols and to have a lovely sit down meal at the new Marco Pierre White restaurant in Birmingham.

This was one of the models who was showing the new A/W '12 collection from Harvey Nichols.  There's a strong equestrian trend coming through, as reflected in the Alexander McQueen jacket.

Although not an obvious pairing, I really liked the leopard print Louboutins with the jacket...

...because there is that danger that, in wearing a jacket like this with boots of pretty much any description, you might look as if you were about to leap on your horse -so shoes were a much better option.  I am sure that we can rely on Zara to do lots of interpretations of this style of jacket.

This too was a great combination and not an obvious one.  White jeans, amazing heeled ankle boots in purple and a Proenza Schouler bag, also in purple, and which cost £1100 - or thereabouts. Wow!

The model in this shot was wearing some amazing Michael Kors snake print trousers which looked great on her. Perhaps hard for the rest of us to wear, but great on her. They weren't a skinny fit so it's possible that they may be slightly easier to get away with for those of us on the, let's say, more mature side. If you get my drift.

 The top is a great colour and totally lifts the neutral colours in the trousers.

What can I say about this dress? It looks great on the model but it's one that would be difficult to translate for the rest of us. I suppose a bit of length would help! You seriously wouldn't want to bend over in it would you?

I loved this dress - despite it being a pale colour, which can be hard for some to wear, the sparkles make it less tricky. The overlay is a really lovely feature and stops it from being "just another short dress".  The addition of an overlay all of the way round would make this dress accessible to even more shapes and sizes.

So pretty isn't it?

In comparison to the looks above, I look a bit bright! The dress code dictated that we be race appropriate - or something similar.

I hadn't contemplated that women would go the whole hog and wear fascinators etc. To coin a phrase from a lady who left a message on the blog the other day, I personally would have felt a "bugaloo" had I been wearing a fascinator, or hat, sitting in a restaurant in Birmingham on a Thursday afternoon - but good on others for embracing the event head on (excuse the pun).

By the time these were taken, I had been drenched twice. It was soooo wet today. At one point our youngest had asked me to retrieve her hat from inside my handbag to stop her from getting wet. The trouble was that my handbag was stuffed under my coat so that it didn't get wet - so she too had to suffer for the sake of fashion.  I reckon it's a good lesson to learn whilst young. (For those concerned, she didn't get that wet).

And as for the betting - I won! I actually won! I decided to bet on a horse called "Reckless Abandon" - because it's so not me! I am the sensible one - not drinking because I am driving, swapping my heels for the school run, dashing via Tesco to get snacks for the children after school. So to be £20 better off for being square - I'm not complaining.

I had a great day out and would like to thank the lovely people who invited me and also the lovely people that I met.  I even spoke to Bob Champion who won the Grand National in 1981. When I explained to my friend's son what I had been doing today he looked at me in amazement and said: "Wow, have you been riding horses in races today. And winning? That's so cool." I didn't like to disabuse him of the notion!

What I wore: Reiss dress from Bicester, reduced to £77 from £179, LK Bennett Sledge

On the Run - Oh yes, the sun is out and I will wear that new dress!

And so it finally arrived. A day when it was actually warm enough to wear a dress.

I bought this dress a while ago now from GAP, knowing that it would be a good every day kind of dress and I finally got the chance to wear it today.

It's a good length for me and the addition of a leopard print belt in place of the navy tie belt with which it came made it a little more up to date. There's enough fabric in the skirt not to limit my movement but I had to watch that the wind didn't take hold of it and reveal a little more of myself to the world than would have been good for anyone.

Whilst working on some articles at home this morning, I got a call from the BBC asking if I would mind going on air to talk about a feature they were doing on keeping diaries - blogging being the new form of diary and all that. 

Having spoken to two other guests at length (!) about the contents of their diaries, the presenter then came to me, allowed me about 30 seconds to speak before telling me that a blog wasn't really a diary at all and then cut me off.

I thought that it was an interesting idea to invite me on the show to give a different perspective and then tell me that I was talking rubbish.  I just find those kind of things so funny as it happens to me all the time - which probably says more about me than anyone else! However as my daughter so rightly observed: "That's why it's called a blog and not a diary. It's different."

So anyway, I am off to a very swish event tomorrow for Ladies' day at Ascot. The event is being held at Marco Pierre White's new restaurant in Birmingha. There is a fashion show from Harvey Nichols and the races are being shown on the screens.  Remember the My Fair Lady "Move your bloomin' arse" comment? That has my name written all over it! However I shall try to put thoughts such as those out of my mind and act with grace and decorum befitting of the occasion...

On the Run - Having fun in the Reiss sale

Late last week I received advanced notification from Reiss that they would be going into sale today. I was asked not to advertise the fact and so left it until this morning to tweet about it.  I then spent a pleasant few minutes checking to see what the reductions were like.

I was really grateful for the fact that it was sports day this afternoon as it meant that I had an hour or so this morning to go and have a whizz around the sales.

I started off at Reiss, the brand know for providing clothes of designer quality and style at (top end) high street prices.  Together with Whistles, it's a firm favourite with fashionistas.  Any items that I have bought from Reiss have always been bought in the sales, which is when their prices become slightly more accessible.

When it came to the sale, there was a slightly interesting arrangement in the Birmingham store. It was on, although not advertised as such, and the clothes weren't marked accordingly. The benefit of this was that there wasn't a mad rush on. The disadvantage was that one of the assistants who works there (and who is fab) had the fun task of checking a print-out to establish whether the items I liked were in the sale, or not.

These are just a few basic pieces that I liked but there's so much more - pale blue tapered trousers,

pale blue shorts, leather jackets, blazers and silk shirts. The images on the Reiss site aren't that great, which is why, in most cases, I have included a link to the product - just so that you can get a clearer look.

 

Working around the images in a clocwise direction from the dress, here are details of the pieces I have chosen:



1. I love the vibrant colour of this Karina dress. It has a great length and is stylish but comfortable. The back is slightly unusual so it might be worth checking it out. They are showing only UK size 4's on line but the B'ham store has 14's too and I am sure that there will be more to be had. It's reduced from £169 to £118;

2. I really like this Fell textured jumper.  It's a love it or hate it kind of jumper and it won't suit all shapes but I love it. It's reduced from £89 to £63;

3. I brought this mini Bleecker bag to you a while ago when I went to Leeds. A great colour and perfect size, it's now reduced from £195 to £136;

4. This striped Nellie dusty rose top is perfect as an alternative to a classic breton top and is reduced from £59 to £42;

5. Another rose coloured top, this is the Chloe cotton pointelle jumper reduced to from £110 to £77. It comes in stripes and rib knits too;

6. There's always space in my wardrobe for some smart navy trousers and these Dilly tapered trousers would fill that gap nicely.

  

Remember, this is only round one of the sale and there will probably be better reductions further down the line - although availability becomes more of an issue.  Bicester also has some great pieces but it's just best to go with an open mind.

Have a browse of the site and see what you fancy - and then while away the time plotting how to make it yours!

On the Run - A blue and white outfit consisting of Zara, Gap, Converse and Orla Kiely

You know how there are only a couple of months each year when there isn't a school holiday of some sort or another (usually November and possibly March, depending when Easter falls or June, depening on when spring half term falls)?

Well there are also a couple of months in the year when I make a conscious effort, as opposed to a half hearted attempt, not to shop. One of those months is July and the other is around February or March time.

I figure that by this time in the season, I will probably have filled most of the gaps in my summer wardrobe and I then start thinking about what my winter wardrobe may be lacking. So, as you might to expect, that's where I add a caveat to my "no shopping" policy.

The summer sales can be a good place to pick up winter coats and winter boots - which are usually the biggest items of expediture in your wardrobe. Unless you are after the latest "must have" styles for coats or boots, then great savings can be made, hopefully leaving more funds available for next seasons' every day items - where you may want to tap into the trends a little more.

I often find that it is also a good time to pick up accessories and I sometimes get a belt or an evening bag from Reiss when their sale starts [keep your eyes on this space for news of the Reiss sale].

With LK Bennett, Hobbs, Jaeger, Ted Baker, House of Fraser, Harvey Nichols and many others currently in sale, now is definitely a good time to look out for those staple items. I often look at brands that would normally be too pricey on an every day basis but which, with the benefit of a hefty discount, become more accessible.

Anyway, on to the outfit.  By the time it came around to getting the children from school it was relatively warm, so I decided to wear my white Zara cotton blazer, which hasn't seen the light of day since this time last year.

I'm not generally a t-shirt kind of girl but I like this one that I bought from French Connection a few years ago now.  The blue is quite strong, which is good for a pale girl like me!

Sticking with the blue and white theme - again because having run I only had about 10 minutes to shower and change - I wore my blue converse and grabbed my Orla Kiely bag, which a couple of weeks ago I had filled with all of the remnants from my other handbags when I sorted them out.

So, I now have a large pile of receipts, tickets, half opened packets of oat cakes, pens and all other manner of detritus which lurks at the bottom of my handbags, to sort out. I liked the bag with the outfit though so I'm cool about it. (In as much as I could ever use the word "cool" to describe anything about myself!)

On the Run - At a "summer" BBQ in a thick jumper, jeans, scarf - essentially a winter outfit really!

I find the varying approaches that people take to clothes really interesting.

In addition to going to the Pet shop today (weed for the fish) and looking around several garages (husband's choice of activity for Father's Day) we were invited to a friend's BBQ and fundraising event. [Re the photo below, the four year old was directing and demanded that I crouch down.]

Being cold makes me miserable so I decided to dig out one of my heaviest jumpers, wear my jeans and just not worry whether I was up to the mark or not.

When we arrived I was greeted by a friend who was wearing a couple of vest tops layered together.  She was working on the principle that, come rain or shine, she was going to pretend that it was warm.  Whereas I - being arguably more negative than her - just couldn't face being cold any more.

Two friends, both female, same event, similar outlooks on life, similar size - two utterly and completely different approaches to getting dressed.

I could just about face baring my ankles but it was my only concession to the fact that it was June. Otherwise it was winter all the way with a Warehouse cable knit jumper, Gap real straight jeans, Jigaw striped top, Lola Rose scarf and Jones flats.

There were some lovely outfits at the BBQ - blazers, skirts, bare legs, nice jewellery - none of which I was sporting but I wasn't cold, I didn't totter off any heels and I didn't mind when the four year old launched herself at me covered in chocolate.

In my view when it comes to daily dressing, styling yourself for comfort and to suit your lifestyle definitely has to rank up there as two of the most important criteria.

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 - 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

On the Run - A mixture of Topshop "Vintage" and Topshop "current" (ish)

Given that our youngest was having a meltdown when we left her friend's house, I am amazed that I secured her co-operation in taking photos 5 minutes later when we arrived on the drive.  Some are a bit "headless" and some are a bit "shoeless" and most are a bit fuzzy - but I think that you can get the idea.

To say that the photos were hurried is an understatement.  It would have been good to have had a couple more seconds to adjust the outfit out a little but nevermind - that's life in the fast lane for you!

I felt that these Topshop trousers would be the right weight for today's weather and started with those as the basis for my outfit, putting them with my Gap white shirt.

I also whipped the pale pink belt from my blue Next chinos and wore that too.  Ordinarily I discard belts that come with trousers as I think that often they are quite cheap looking - but I reckon that a pale pink patent belt could look cheap however much it cost! It's a bit like Dolly Parton saying how it costs her a lot of money to look as cheap as she does.

I then dug out these Topshop shoes which I bought prior to child number 2, I think it was - so over 10 years ago now at least - but which I had only worn once. Thinking that they were really high, I had been put off from wearing them but in fact they weren't that high at all - although the slim heel would have made it difficult to run in them.

I had a chance to have a quick whizz around the Selfridges sale before finishing for the day. As with the Marni for H&M debacle, the grabbing and throwing around of the bags, in particular, made feel quite sad. 

There were Mulberry bags reduced from £800 to £400 which, whilst not damaged, had clearly been man-handled.  I'm all for using nice pieces, rather than keeping them in the Wardrobe [rant warning!]but there's no forgiving the way that some people treat things which aren't even theirs and which others may want to buy. 

The clothes were in a much better state with Vivienne Westwood dresses half price.  At £450 they still weren't cheap but such a discount would definitely make them affordable for some. Ted Baker and Coast had great offers too as did LK Bennett, Jimmy Choo and Prada. As for the High Street - ladies, if you want to shop, now is the time to do it. There are sales galore!

On the Run - An outfit of Zara, Clarks and Ted Baker for a day in the shops

With the eldest two away for a few days, it was left to our 4 year old to take today's photo. If she had refused, I had it in mind to train those daft fish to do something useful but luckily she complied.

It has been a really busy week so far as I did a Wardrobe on Monday and a full day shop today. I have  a further half day shop tomorrow and a full day shop on Friday.  All the ladies I work with are really lovely though and all have interesting and varied life experiences so we always have a great, if tiring, time. To anyone who is waiting to hear from me - I will get to you I promise, just as soon as I can.

Today I wore the Zara trousers that I featured here. I always find that lighter trousers are a little more difficult to wear and require some styling, which is why I put them with a longer Zara cardi (for a little bottom coverage) and heels (for a touch of leg lengthening).  The top I wore was the Ted Baker one which I also wore here. 

As with an outfit that I wore the other day, it was a slightly different colour palette for me than usual but it was nice for a change and the sun came out so really, what more could a girl want? (Other than shoes which don't blister, as mine did, which would be a start!)

On the Run - A tale of two (or three) fishes with some Hobbs for good measure

A few weeks ago I told you how my husband had been out and bought some fish for the children. The three goldfish, Fudge, Cola Cube and Chubbie, cost less than £5 in total.  Last night we worked out that said fish, however, have cost us over £50 - not what Sir Alan would consider a good return on his investment. In fact, it's not a return at all.  

Not one to do things by halves (which is lovely trait of my husband's) he has ensured that these fish are living in 5 star accommodation.  They have already had three different filters, two new buckets for the water changing procedure, coloured gravel, some bizarre plant, things for them to swim through and get this, this weekend he is planning on going to buy them a lighthouse. Our evenings are spent fighting over the iPad - with us both wanting to look at various "nets" my choice being net-a-porter, his choice being fish-net.com. With all the pumps and bizarre looking equipment everywhere, the kitchen looks as though Heston Blumenthal is about to come and conduct some weird experiment.

What any of this has to do with clothes I have no idea - other than the fact that I am sure that I could find an equally meaningful way of spending £50!

I wore this outfit yesterday as I was styling a lady at home with the result that I didn't have to walk too far, so could wear heels.

I like the shape of this look - (not just here but in general, if it suits the body shape). It's quite long and lean and also forgiving, with the wider jeans balancing out hips and the swing cardi disguising a less than lean upper body.

The combination on top isn't that clear but I am wearing a cream sequinned top from Topshop with a Hobbs swing cardi over the top.

As part of my steadfast refusal to wear boots or socks, I am wearing the closed in Hobbs slingbacks which I bought from Bicester a few months ago, which are great for when the weather isn't too warm (such as when I bought them in APRIL!) 

I also decided to use my pink Mulberry, which too was from Bicester. I quite like a bit of a pink and purple mix as long as there isn't too much and there are enough neutrals to break it up.

And now on to the winner of the scarf envy Union Jack scarf - the winner, Pat, caught my eye with this entry:

I deserve to win the scarf as I'm
 

Just   Utterly   British,    Incredibly  Loyal,   Extraordinarily  Eccentric

PS I love your blog, which I discovered through W & H.  In my 60s, I'm hopeless with fashion & style, it's a real help!

Apparently the acronym came to Pat after attending a Jubilee concert at the Albert Hall - so it was all very apt.

I loved Pat's breezy, fun and carefree attitude. Whilst the compliment was lovely, I chose Pat as the winner because I can imagine that she will really enjoy wearing the scarf and that it will make her smile.

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

On the Run - Nearly, but I just couldn't quite bring myself to do it...

It nearly happened but I bottled it at the last minute.  The plan was to wear a dress or skirt for our street party this afternoon but as the day went on and the sun retreated behind the clouds I, once again, wimped out and wore trousers. 

The plan was to wear red, white and blue but as I don't have any red trousers, I opted for my White Stuff pink ones (note to self: don't have photos in pink clothes taken in front of pink front door), Hobbs NW3 shirt and as a nod to the "golden" part of the celebrations, I wore gold wedges. As you can see, it was all accessorised with a Union Jack.

This was our son's contribution to the street party - a chocolate cake which he always makes all by himself, although I am always under strict instructions to get the exact ingredients that he wants for the topping. This time it was Maltesers. I must admit responsibility for the awesomely awful Union Jack!

So, on to the Union Jack scarf competiton winner! Pat Shergold is the lucky winner and once I have received confirmation from her that she is happy for me to share her entry with you, I will do so. Thank you so much to everyone who entered - it's so lovely to hear from you all and I am only sorry that you couldn't all win.

So, on to some exciting news about Style It Light, a new fashion blog that has been set up with Look Magazine, Marie Claire and InStyle. Along with the guest bloggers from Marie Claire, Look and InStyle, I have been asked to contribute some articles each week.  Apparently I was shortlisted by the Marie Claire team from the blogger awards and invited to get involved.  It's both an exciting and slightly nerve wracking opportunity and I wanted to  thank everyone who voted for me in the Marie Claire fashion blog of the year awards earlier this year, as without you this opportunity wouldn't have come my way. To be honest I am not sure exactly what it entails but I will be sure to keep you posted!

So, now that the jubilee celebrations are well and truly over it's life back to normal. I think we all need to make plans for some further celebrations - I don't know what the reasons for them may be but as far as I am concerned, any excuse will do nicely!

On the Run - Three disasterous outfits in one day - impressive huh?!

You know how the saying goes when it comes to love - "it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."  Well when it comes to clothes I reckon that it's "better to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all."

Having had enough of jeans/trousers/chinos and with it not being warm enough for skirts or dresses with bare legs, coupled with a refusal on my part to wear thick tights with anything, I thought that I would style my pleated palazzos with a denim shirt for a day time look. I have tried this successfully in the past with a lacy navy skirt from Mango but with the palazzos....

Both my son and I decided that it was a bad move - but here's the photo anyway.  Don't say I don't keep it real!

Having abandoned the palazzos in favour of trousers after all, I decided to add my huge lemon scarf from Zara.  There was a method to my madness believe me! I bought my scarf whilst shopping with a friend in Leeds one particularly cold weekend in May, on the basis that if we bought something wintery, the sun might come out.  So with that in mind I wore it today.  I am also fed up with wearing jackets and coats so thought that it would add some warmth - which it did but again it didn't really work for me as it was just a bit too bulky - outfit number 2 disaster!

For outfit number three I just took the scarf off and this too didn't work but the outfit illustrates a really good point, which is this...lighter patches on clothes act as highlighters and draw the eye in. In this case, the lighter patch is over my stomach with the result, I think, that it looks more rounded (unless I am just kidding myself, which is perfectly possible!) 

The same is true of the lighter patches on jeans, which are normally strategically placed over one's thighs or one's bottom. Now, if you are lucky to have very skinny thighs or a bottom to which you are happy to draw attention, that's fine. If not, jeans with lighter patches probably aren't for you so it's better to look for an all over, even, dark wash.

My last outfit of the day was probably my most successful but unfortunately I don't have a photo of it.  Shortly afterwards the sun came out (see, the lemon scarf did serve its purpose) and I threw on my old tracksuit bottoms, some green wellies and spent a few pleasant hours in the garden cutting down brambles, pulling up weeds and generally hoiking stuff out of the ground that shouldn't be there.  Very satisfying indeed!

Tomorrow I have some exciting news about a new project I will be working on with Marie Claire, Look and InStyle Magazine (unless they see this post and decide that it's not such a good idea after all) - and I will finally get around to announcing the winner of my Union Jack scarf competition.

Enjoy the sun - if you have some!