A stylish (and supportive!) swimsuit from Cocobay - plus a 15% discount

Seafolly Castaway Stripe Bandeau Maillot Swimsuit (£118)

For some people, floating about in a swimming pool with cool cans of coke being brought to them by an inflatable flamingo is a regular occurrence. For me, less so. But for this post I can at least pretend can't I? 

Can I also pretend that I wear a sunhat and sunglasses in the pool too? Because of course it's not likely that some little (or large) monkey is going to come along and tip me off now is it?

But enough of that. What I really need to talk to you about is this fabulous swimsuit that I referred to in an earlier post. Without a shadow of a doubt some women would rather wear a swimsuit, preferring the coverage and support that it offers over the tummy area.   

There are a number of reasons that I love this swimsuit. First, I love the look of it and that's the most important thing because if it doesn't look great, it's not going to get any further with me. It makes an impact but in a subtle way. The stripes are cleverly designed in such a way that they flatter and narrow the torso, cutting into it, rather than widening it as full width horizontal stripes tend to do. This indigo - or navy - colour is also one of my favourite colours that there is. So that goes in its favour too.  

Secondly, the fabric is really supportive so everything feels well contained and you don't feel in the least exposed. It does take a little bit of a wriggle to get it on but that's testament to how supportive it is once on. Once in place, it doesn't move an inch - and neither does anything that's inside it. I loved wearing this swimsuit. I'm generally more of a bikini girl but this sort of felt like an "outfit" and if I was staying at a resort where there were lots of people, or if I was away with a group of friends, I would definitely feel more "dressed" even though I was in swimwear.  

In terms of detailing, the cups have a hidden underwire and they are moulded, plus they have gripper tape so that everything stays firmly in place.  The swimming costume also comes with a detachable halter neck strap. To me it also felt a little bit like a glamourous swimsuit from the 1950s that had been brought up to date. 

There's also a clasp across the strap at the back of the swimming costume too. 

At £118 this is definitely an investment piece but Seafolly are not just about a tag. This swimsuit really does have something to offer, namely longevity, style and a great fit. I've worked as a stylist for many years now and there are some things, that for some women, it is worth them investing more in - whether it's because of the fit, or because it does a particularly good job, or because of the way that it makes them feel. I am definitely a high street girl at heart but having been lucky enough to wear bikinis and swimsuits from Cocobay for three years now, I absolutely understand what they are about. My advice would be that if you think that this may be the holy grail of swimsuits - the one that you've been searching for and which so far has eluded you - try it just to see how you get on. 

The Seafolly swimsuit from Cocobay also comes in a white/black combination for those who prefer a different look.

The lovely people at Cocobay have set up a 15% discount code which is valid until the of September, just enter BETH1517 at the checkout. Happy shopping! 

Toasty whilst running in the snow, thanks to Cocobay

We awoke on Saturday morning to a sprinkling of snow, which I really love running in. It was so pretty out, although it didn't last long and by the time that we got home, the snow had nearly disappeared.

I was so toasty and comfortable in what I was wearing, thanks in part to these bodyglove leggings from Cocobay which are totally brilliant in this weather. They are made from moisture wicking fabric and one of the great things about them is that they kept me at a constant (warm) temperature for the entire run - and have done so on previous long runs too.

Somehow these leggings look so more exotic in the sun!

One of the other things that I love about them, is the waistband. When I first tried them I wondered whether they were a bit snug around the waist but in fact they're not. After a minute or two I'm totally unaware of the waistband, which is wide and fitted and it doesn't shift, not even a millimetre, on a really long run. So whereas before I was stopping and hoiking (I'm not sure if that's a proper word - but you know what I mean) my leggings up every few miles, there's no shifting with these whatsoever. And I know that they must be good because now when a long run is suggested, these pop into my mind as being the leggings that must be washed and ready for action.

I'm also wearing the Seafolly Flower Festival Windbreaker hoodie, also from Cocobay. I really love the print and styling of this jacket and the hood offered perfect protection from the elements without making my head over heat, which hats can do. There are toggles on the hood so that it can be pulled tight enough so that it doesn't fall off. It really is a most attractive look from the front!!! When the warmer weather comes I will be able to lose my heavier jacket but for now at least, I like to layer them up together.

I shall be interested to see how the leggings feel in the warmer months and whether they adjust to the heat. They will definitely be coming skiing with me next week as I think that they will be great under salopettes....that is if I get as far as the slopes. But if not, they will be great for running in (if the conditions permit) or for HIIT training (am I allowed to say whilst watching Joe Wicks without his top on - which is actually quite a pleasant sight)?!

Oh and don't forget that you can get 15% off Cocobay's new range of Activewear with the code BETHACTIVE

44 and off to V-Festival - Oh help, what to wear?

 

Going to a festival in the middle of August should be hot right? Wrong! It was absolutely freezing yesterday and as you can imagine, I wasn't exactly without my layers.  In fact I had four in total but still I was cold.

I really hadn't given much thought about what I was going to wear (clearly, it's hardly ground-breaking) apart from my coat, but more about that later. However what I did know was that I didn't want to look like I was trying to be a teenager again (I've got one of those for real).  So any notion of cut-offs was abandoned (as I think it is fair to say - without being mean - it should have been by many others. Or at least they should have worn slightly longer ones. Too much bottom cheek on show is never a good look, whatever your age) in favour of jeans. I have had the Joules wellies for ages and given that the coat was so bright, I stuck to more denim and white. Neon accessories were my only nod to anything vaguely festival like really and many thanks to Emma from Marianna Boutique who very kindly (but very naughtily) sent this lovely ChloBo necklace to me after I wrote about Marianna a few days ago.

This just made me laugh (through chattering teeth). What a great name for a food stall.

Now I don't often post pictures of food but this is exactly what was needed to warm me up. The most enormous tub of porridge with banana, nutella and granola - not my normal porridge toppings but they worked!

These were who we had really come to see. I have spent so many hours running to the Killers' music that I actually know the words - as in properly know the words - which is rarity for me as usually I just make them up. Other than when it comes to 1D of course as I know their words too - but maybe that's something I should keep to myself.

The one thing that I had given some thought to was the coat that I was going to wear. I've been after an excuse for a bright yellow jacket for a while now and V Festival seemed to give me the perfect opportunity. Not only that but we do spend most of our holidays in either Guernsey or Wales, both of which seem to have their own particular kind of horizontal rain which soaks you in seconds.

This was one contender, the Sea Folly jacket from Seasalt (£79.95)

...but I decided that the colour wasn't quite bright enough and it also looked slightly short for me.

So there really was only one other option...

...the "iconic Women's Raincoat" (that's what they called it, not me!) from Petit Bateau (£132). Our son had one of these when he was 3 and it was always so sunny and bright that I loved it then, as I do now. For info, the website states that they take 6 days to arrive but I rang the London store who posted it to me from the post office next door and it arrived the very next day. Fab service!

Holiday packing - the why's, how's and why on earth?

Tomorrow we go away to Guernsey, for our final break of the summer. It's a while since I have done a post on packing but I always like taking a look to see what other people pack for their holidays and adopting (or adapting) their tips and tricks to make things easier.

 

For the beach/pool (I could be being ambitious here) I have a boy leg swimsuit from Seafolly. For similar, take a look here.  I also have Crew sunglasses and my bargain Asda hat, which is similar to one that I saw in Liberty a while back now. A bit of tactical ruching on a swimming costume, combined with a lower leg can make for an easier piece to wear on the beach than some I can think of.

 

I have a selection of tops which include two printed, one lace, one long sleeved, one striped, one sequinned and one neon. I like a wide variety of tops, largely to counteract the limited selection of bottoms that I take with me.

Experience has taught me that if I'm warm, I'm comfy and that if I'm comfy, I'm not grumpy. Well, that's the theory at least. So I have packed four jumpers - plus a cardi for travelling. Even I shouldn't be cold then.

From top left to right I have a coral H&M sweatshirt, mint cashmere jumper from All Saints, new Boden striped cashmere jumper and a black jumper from Zara which is a chunky cotton knit, slightly A-line with a zip up the back and pleats around the neckline.

As I mentioned, I have a simple selection of bottoms - 2x Gap jeans, 1x Joules skirt and also a pair of cut-offs. That's all that I will need for trips to the beach and to neighbouring islands.

 

We have one fancy pants event, which is my Dad's 70th birthday. It's being held at a Manor house on the island and is an evening event - but a fairly informal one. As part of it will be held outside, a flimsy little number won't do for me so I've opted for Jigsaw trousers (down to £79 from £139 in the sale) a Whistles sparkly jumper and Mango shoes.

 

 

This photo gives a better idea of the print on the trousers. I'm also going to wear a new bangle/cuff that I bought in the Karen Millen sale at the weekend. I felt that the bright yellow and diamonds would add a nice splash of colour to the outfit.

 

Are four bags excessive? Perhaps, especially when I'm only taking four pairs of jeans/skirts/shorts but here's how it works. The snake print bag holds the travel documents, which go in the Cath Kidston boat print bag, which I use as a handbag. To get around the limit of one piece of hand luggage, the Cath Kidston handbag goes into the larger Cath Kidston  bag which also holds my laptop and that counts as my hand luggage for the aeroplane. The striped bag is a beach bag into which the snake print bag goes with purse/keys/phone in it when I go on the beach. See, it all makes perfect sense!

As well as a good selection of tops and bags, I like a good selection of cuffs, so in addition to the Karen Millen one I also have the ones below, from left to right top row - Cochinelle, Cath Kidston, Tory Burch, Cath Kidston, Tokyo Jane and La La Rocks. To save on the weight restrictions I could well be wearing them all at once. Which gets me thinking, between us we have 10 wrists. Time to go and get some more to add to the collection.

I always find it really interesting to see what people use for skincare, hair care, make-up and nails.  I'm not sure but I think that I probably travel pretty light in that regard. Here's what I have:

Skincare - Boots face wipes, Estee Lauder advanced night cream (which I use in the daytime at the moment too) and Estee Lauder advanced night repair eye cream.

Hair care - VO5 styling wax.

Make-up

Bobbi Brown pot rouge for lips and cheeks in pale pink
Bobbi Brown lipstick in Wild Rose (more for the evening)
Clinique Chubby stick in curvy candy (daytime)
Maybelline "the falsies" volume express (fantastic mascara, I love it!)
Maybelline master smoky eye pencil in navy.

Boots nail polish remover pads and stay perfect nail colour in Me! Me! Me!

And here's one thing that I will NOT be taking with me. I saw it in H&M the other day in the maternity section. Imagine sporting that on your bump. Brilliant!

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!