The average temperature

I smugly planned my summer wardrobe based on hearing that temperatures would be ‘higher than average’ this year. Oh good I though assuming that a knee length skirt, t and flip flop type sandals would cover me for the gloriously sunny days that were clearly ahead.

Then I had a look at the Met Office website. It occurred to me, you see, that my idea of average temperature and theirs may differ a little. And I was right. Alas the average summer temperature in the UK is 14.1C. Check it out for yourself on the Met Office summer forecast page

So time to re-jig my thinking a bit. I don’t fancy cold legs all summer long. Definitely don’t want to be in tights even if they are flesh/black/brightly coloured. I’m not certain about the leggings under a dress look. Partly because I’m not certain about the sort of shoes that go and partly because I’m just not sure about the look generally.

So jeans are back in worn under summer dresses. Shrug type cardigans are my new favourite thing for topping the dresses. I’ll have a handy big bag with me and if it get warm the jeans can come off.

Shoe wise I have decided that I no longer want wear shoes that carve my feet up and make them sore. So I’m putting shoes that hurt in the charity shop bag or shoe bin. I’ve bought a pair of wedge from Oxfam. These are not only comfortable but keep the hems of my jeans high enough off the ground that they don’t drag in puddles.

I like the idea of summer as much as anyone but one must be realistic about these things. Which makes me think – why are all the glossy magazines selling the fantasy of summer when they could be explaining how to wear skimpy summer wear when it’s 14C?

Time for a shoe shuffle

These are my shoes. They are not even all of my shoes. These are my summer shoes. It has become quite clear that they need taking in hand. I've no idea why I have two pairs of trainers given that I only use them for walks. I have several pairs of very high heels that I am out of practice walking in. I've got flip flops that are worn and so thin that you may as well walk bare foot.

Hence I am going to sort my shoes out. I will find out where I can recycle shoes that are beyond wearing - I do not mean out of style but worn out. My favourite shoes do take a pounding and I am often reluctant to part with them. No more over the next few weeks I intend to get my shoe collection in order.

The ten outfit solution

Much as I love rediscovering all my summer clothes I find myself unable to make my mind up what to wear. I stand by the wardrobe filled with indecision. Should I wear this? Should I pair it with that? Should I save it for later in the week when the weather might be chillier? This is not good on weekdays when I (a) on a tight schedule with no time to day dream/experiment and (b) I’m not that great first thing in the morning so it’s easy to pick an outfit that just doesn’t work.

My solution is a list of ten outfits. I used to have a job with a very long commute and a fairly formal dress code. I had a set of five outfits that I rotated because it meant that I didn’t have to think in the morning. I just checked what day it was and pulled on the designated clothing. I’ve upped this to five outfits for a number of reasons.

Firstly my work is much more variable these days and I want enough different options to be able to accommodate various levels of meeting, contact with the public and days doing desk work. Secondly I don’t want to be worrying if I get behind on the washing. Ten outfits allows me two weeks of rotations including a few warming outfits should the Great British Summer turn out to be less warm than one might hope for. Finally I want some variety. I have some excellent clothes and I want to enjoy wearing them. I love the concept of a summer uniform but I’ve spent years doing that with linen skirts and fitted white t shirts.

Weekends I’m assuming that I’ll either have time to experiment with new combinations or I’ll fall on a default outfit of shorts and vest top.

Let’s see how the organisation of summer wardrobe works out and if it leads to a more organised and merrier me! Maybe I can get organised enought to photograph said outfits over the course of a few weeks.

the big wardrobe change

I had this afternoon blocked out to put my winter clothes away & get my summer stuff out. As always I was delighted to rediscover so many lovely items of clothing. I also believe that there clothes that have to be put away for a few years and others that you suddenly see potential that they just didn't have before.

I am truly horrified by how much stuff I have. I had this plan about trying tho be on and purchasing stuff to fill any gaps but there just cannot be gaps - I have too much.

Hence I will be wearing outfits I love to death this summer. In the hopes that I might wear some stuff out. Also I will be using long dresses and skirts as my cold weather/legs need defuzzing/can't be bothered default
. I'm fed up with trousers that wear out too fast.

Here's to a lovely summer and I finally figured out how to do text posts from my phone! More spontaneous posting lays ahead!

A photographic hitch

I'd planned to start posting occasional pictures of my good and lovely self up here. Mainly so that when I waffling on about a certain outfit or sewing project you have the faintest idea of what I am referring to. My plan was to use both my phone and the only full length mirror in the house to do the deed.

The full length mirror because it is the only one long enough to have any hope of capturing enough of me. I want to use my phones to take the pictures because then I can email then straight to my blog rather than having to switch on the laptop, wait an age for it to boot up, fiddle around trying to get the camera to download the pictures, connect to Internet and then post.

I then realised that the full length mirror isn't that great because it's at the end of the hall. There is a flight of stairs going down to the basement so I can't move back far enough to get my entire body in the picture. Also our mirror has its frame decorated with pictures of friends and family. This makes the pictures take on the look of some bizarre photo collage.

I guess I'll have to make an effort to display outfits on my dress form and go back to the drawing board for live shots!

For my next trick I will change a pair of trousers into a dress

Stomp, stomp, think, think
One of the advantages of the training I am currently doing in preparation for the Moonwalk marathon in May is plenty of time to think. Saturday morning’s ten miles was spent thinking mainly about my new sewing projects. Hence on my return I was all ready to get started.

I had three pairs of grey trousers that had worn away in various places. My usual thoughts would be to turn these into long skirts but I was in the mood for something different. Two of the pairs were a light summer fabric and I’ve gotten a little tired of my usual summer uniform of long linen skirt, t shirt and cardigan or light jacket. Instead I plan to turn all three pairs into dresses.

The first pair are a heavy flannel fabric that I made myself. The great thing about these is that they had no real waist band; the top had just been turned over and hemmed. I ripped the inner leg seams, took out the side zip and ripped a similar gap in the other side seam. Then on my mannequin I pinned the sides of waist band together on each shoulder and pinned the inner leg seams back together. A quick stitch across the shoulders and down the back and front and I was pretty much done. The only other thing was to create a v shaped neck by ripping out part of the seam running down the front and folding it back on either side. I ran up a simple tie belt with some spare fabric to give the thing some shape. Next time I really must take some photographs to illustrate my efforts.

I’m now working on a pair of dark grey linen/cotton trousers with an unusual weave. I paid a pittance for these on New Look some years back not realising a0 the waist is strangely high and b) the fabric is very delicate. They have a really wide waist band. I removed this and am thinking of simply hemming the bottom of it and using it as a belt. The remaining fabric will probably get a similar treatment to the first pair of trousers.

This might have to go on hold for while though as I need to make a costume for a Mods and Rockers party in a few weeks. I’m a bit uncertain about what to wear. I think that as I tend towards a casual (OK scruffy) look that rocker would be better, but my Internet research seems to suggest that female rockers simply didn’t exist! I do have an old black cotton mini dress (I’m assuming it was intended as a dress although I tend to wear it as a top) that I could extend to make it slightly decent, but I’m not sure about shoes…

Any suggestions are very, very welcome.

What I wore 25th – 31st October 2008

Saturday:
·Exercise clothes
·Mens jeans, grey pillowcase top, grey shrug, brown boots, spider necklace, black velvet jacket

Sunday
·Allotment clothes
·Blue cardigan, Black dress with mushroom print, black tights, black Mary Jane shoes, spider necklace.

Monday
·Skinny jeans, short sleeved white linen shirt, black sleeveless dress, green bead bracelet, brown boots.

Tuesday
·Emerald green cardigan, black v neck tshirt, black and white flower print skirt, brown boots.

Wednesday
·Old jeans, grey v neck rib jumper
·Emerald green cardigan, vintage black cotton mini dress/tunic, Mens jeans, brown boots, green and black necklace.

Thursday
·Emerald green cardigan, vintage black cotton mini dress/tunic, Mens jeans, brown boots, green and black necklace.

Friday
·Allotment clothes
·Grey v neck rib jumper, mens jeans, brown boots, black velvet jacket, green and yellow scarf.

Dear Heart and I stayed with his sister on Wednesday night so I wore the same clothes both days. Expecting a lot of changes to what I’ll wear next week as I put my summer clothes away last night and got out my winter stuff.

What I wore 18 – 24th October 2008

Saturday
Exercise clothes
Mens jeans, grey pillowcase top, grey shrug, brown boots, spider necklace, black velvet jacket

Sunday
Allotment clothes
Old jeans, ancient red jumper

Monday
Mens jeans, turquoise vest, grey wrap jumper, black DM boots.

Tuesday
Chunky green cardigan, black flowery slip dress, floaty black skirt, brown boots.

Wednesday
Emerald green cardigan, vintage black cotton mini dress/tunic, Mens jeans, brown boots, green and black necklace.

Thursday
Emerald green cardigan, black v neck tshirt, black and green necklace, black and white flower print skirt, brown boots.

Friday
Emerald green cardigan, green and white wrap dress, mens jeans, brown boots.

Realise that I am going to have to start finding different names for each of my three pairs of brown boots.

What I wore 11 - 17 October 2008

Saturday:

• exercise clothes (long black trousers, random old white t shirt, green fleece, trainers inherited from my mother).


• old jeans, grey ribbed v neck jumper, brown boots, black velvet jacket, yellow and green scarf.

Sunday:

• allotment clothes (old jogging trousers, old holey t shirt, purple fleece jumper and Wellington boots)


• Old jeans, grey v neck tshirt.

Monday:

• skinny jeans, white short sleeved linen shirt, sleeveless black wool dress, black Mary Jane shoes.

Tuesday:

• Flouncy black cotton skirt, flowery slip dress, brown boots, chunky green cardigan, green and yellow scarf.

Wednesday:

• Skinny jeans, grey pillow case top, grey shrug, black velvet jacket, black Mary Jane shoes, green beaded bracelet.

Thursday:

• Men’s jeans, green cardigan, long green and white wrap top, brown boots.

Friday:

black Mary Jane shoes, thick black tights, black mushroom patterned dress, blue cardigan, spider necklace..

Lacking in a certain department

So I went home last night and looked at my wardrobe with all the thoughts about capsule wardrobes buzzing around my head. It became clear quite quickly that I have a lot of clothes that go with one think and nothing else. I was initially puzzled by this as it’s something I’ve always tried to avoid. When Dear Heart and I used to spend Saturdays roaming the shops together our conversation would go something like this:

Dear Heart: You should get that outfit over there. It would look really good on you.
Me (thrilled that he thinks something would look good on me and craving approval in an unhealthy manner): It’s really cool. I’m going to try it on.

I exit to changing rooms and reappear some minutes later.

Dear Heart: How did you get on?
Me: It looked great but none of it will go with anything else.
Dear Heart (gazing in direction of local hostelry): So? Just buy it.
Me: good idea. I’ll go to the till now. Hey I think I'll get these random items from the sale rail too. Look how cheap they are.

Additionally I have a lot of things that are vintage or homemade. If I’m making it myself, particularly from fabric I already have I am far less fussy over what goes with it. I seem to have lots of tops and far fewer bottoms. My clothes are mainly green and black with a few splashes of white, blue and red.

So rather than doing what any self respecting wardrobe would suggest (which would be to look for wear the gaps and acquire new items to fill them) I intend to use this lack to force me to explore further into my wardrobe and discover new (daring?) combinations.

Today, for example, I am wearing a long floaty black cotton skirt, long black boots, fishnet tights (largely hidden by boots and skirt), a black slip dress with tiny flowers printed on it and a green cardigan.

I would never normally of considered teaming these. I’ve had the slip dress for ages and used to live in it in my early 20s. It’s probably too short for me to get away with now, even with thick tights but it looks very slim as a long top.

I do rather like the thought of wearing out everything in my wardrobe and then moving to a palette of black, green and white (Nubby Twiglet has been inspiring me - I want to pack like her but think green not red).

Capsule wardrobe

This raises it head and winks at me every so often and I feel a need to pay some attention to the concept.

I’ve been googling the term ‘capsule wardrobe’ for about 5 years now (if not more) and I love the way new stuff appears in the search, but old stuff (some of the articles are like old friends now) crop up again and again.

I’ve found 2 lovely new blog to add to my daily reading. Workthatwardrobe is documenting a year in the life of woman who has sworn off buying clothes for a year and puts up a photograah of her outfit. WhatIwore2day is pretty much a daily outfit blogb but it looks like there are some exciting extra articles to explore and be inspired by.

The thing that has really filled me with enthusiasm is a list of items for a capsule wardrobe:
3 bottoms
6 tops
1 dress
1 pair flat shoes
2 pairs heels
1 pair boots
1 jacket
1 cardigan
1 coat
1 wrap

(This is a slight adaptation of a list I found at 43 things)

I figure that if I can come up with a week’s worth of wearable work outfits from that I can just wear them until I get bored and then put together a new capsule. I like the idea of colour themed capsules. It might also mean that when I can change my clothes over at the end of summer (what summer??) I may well leave some of them in the suitcase if they don’t form part of the capsule. I suppose that I could have photos of all possible combinations on my phone which would help with planning (e.g. making sure stuff is washed and ironed). Then it would just be down to accessories.

Also inspired by thinking about the 10 items that I would buy if I lost all my clothes. I think it would differ for summer and winter. I’m going to have a good think about this and come up with a list which I will post here. This will also feed into my capsule and help me prioritise.

What to wear this week

I’m still getting into my stride as regards summer clothing. I really like to plan in advance what I am going to wear so that I don’t have to waste time in the morning. Last week I had a few days where I was very uncertain so I am going to lay it out here. I’ve checked the weather for the week and it doesn’t look very good. I may however utilise a tip I read somewhere about wearing a summer dress but carrying tights and a cardigan in your bag.

Monday – Black and white floral skirt, green top, linen jacket and green shoes

Tuesday – Jeans with red dress and white sandals

Wednesday – Black linen skirt and red sleeveless t shirt and thongs

Thursday – Jeans with white blouse (this is one of my home made, pattern free efforts) and black velvet jacket in case the temperature plummets

Friday – I will be at an exhibition so I will wear a linen skirt and jacket with a scarf. My DM sandals broke last week (I have had them for years) so if I haven’t managed some kind of repair I’ll need to think of something else to wear.

Saturday – Usually I wouldn’t worry about what to wear on a Saturday but I will be at work doing a summer reading promotion. This will require me to dress like a holiday rep/travel agent. I think I need some extra research for this

I‘m intrigued that I mentioned red several times here and that I am wearing red today (my red ‘in cahoots with the sun’ dress – Yeah I made it myself by Eithne Farry). What does a craving to wear red, when green is my colour of choice mean? I think I need to browse a few colour therapy websites

I do hope the week turns out warmer than predicted. I really crave a few lunch times in the park and dinner consumed ‘al fresco’.

Summer must be here

How do I know that summer must be here? Because last night I put my winter clothes away and got out my summer ones. I'm really thrilled (as usual) to discover that I own so many lovely things. however, I am slightly surprised at the vast quantities of shoes that I have unpacked.

Quite frankly the weather has been so changeable Iwas begining to think that I would just be in my winter clothes right through to October with the odd day here and there taken care of with a few pieces I have made. I am slightly nervous about the chilly temperature predicted for the end of the week but who knows wth weather. It's all chaos theory anyway and sometimes you just have to take a chance.

I am thinking that while delighting in my summer clothes I may plan in advance a few combinations for chillier days.

I'm also going to try and look after myself this week. I seem to have had a few very busy weeks with work and other things. I feel exhausted, am fretting over small things and just don't feel right. My puff pastry wouldn't puff. My eating habits are all over the place (either nothing or too much). I've missed a number of exercise opportunities. A friend suggested that I check my biorhythms and rather amusingly they do seem to be on a downward spiral at present.

Last week I purchased some delicious looking spinach at the market. Then on Saturday when I popped to the deli to do our grocery shopping I discovered raspberry cider vinegar and lemon infused olive oil. So I am planning lots of delicious salads. I simply can't decide which dressing to enjoy first.

So here's to a week with lots of salad, exercise and early nights followed up (hopefully) by lashings of blogging, creativity and cupboard clearouts.

I'm so looking forward to sharing my adventures with henna, updates on allotment and share the joy that having a study slowly emptying of clutter bring.

Advance planning

In previous years I've spent a bit of time every week wandering around the shops looking at clothes. I'd see what was new in, try on an item or two and plot what I might buy.

This year I'm trying to only buy things I really need and that I cannot make myself. I've been wearing the clothes I already own. As a result I've haven't been planing what I might wear because I know it's going to be something from my current wardrobe.

Tonight is the work meal and rather than planning what to wear well in advance I only started to give it any real thought last weekend. I think on reflection this has been a mistake. Apart from anything else my body shape has changed slightly as a result of more exercise and better diet. Alas this means I'm not as curvy as I used to be and so some of my slinkiest party wear doesn't look quite so hot.

I had a panic at lunch time and ran around the shops trying things on. However, I couldn't help but think that I could have replicated many of the effects I admired. What I need to do in future is have a look around a month before an event that I want to dress up. This will give me time to make alterations and additions.

I'm wearing a little black dress that I bought when I was 16. I hope it works out OK. I need to wear it with attitude! I'm considering adding a floor length net skirt for future years. I'm also very keen now on the idea of making some slim satin trousers in dark grey. I've heard satin can be difficult to sew with though.

Next week I will post pictures of my latest present bags. I'll also try and get my head straight and embrace the festive season!

P.s. This is post 100!

Have you been on holiday?

I haven't been away (accept for the briefest of visits to Dear Heart's lovely family), but I've had a lovely week and a bit at home. It's ages since I had more than I couple of days off in a row so I've been looking forward to time at home.


I finished work on the Thursday and Dear Heart and I went for dinner at the Italian near our house. We sometimes go out for a bottle of wine on a Thursday and then have a takeaway but we thought it would be good to try and have a meal with wine rather than a takeaway from time to time. I had the Caponata salad as usual but they make it so well.


Friday morning, I attempted to dye my hair green with Kool Aid while I sorted out my wardrobe. I seem to far fewer winter clothes than summer clothes. It was so nice to have the time to sort through and pull things out that needed washing or repairing. The dye didn't take which actually turned out to be a good thing when we went to watch the rugby the following night. I had no idea that South Africa played in green! I felt wonderfully domestic and autumnal pinning my clothes onto the line with scrunchy leaves at my feet and the sky a bright cold blue.


Wardrobes also featured on Saturday when I cleared two and a dressing table out of a storage unit. They came from my grandparents house and are Victorian/Edwardian. A lovely lady who I found through staff adverts at work was going to take them home and use them.


Sunday was brunch club and it was a truly lovely day. I so enjoyed spending such quality time with my friends. The food was lovely with much cider to be drunk (the hardship!). While everyone watched the motor racing I read through The gentle art of domesticity. If you haven't read the blog by the author, Jane Brocket, do have a at Yarnstorm. with so many family changes this year (relatives moving house and moving on), I really do appreciate my friends and what an important part of my family they are. We've got a few more things planned for the coming weeks which I am anticipating with delight.


I always feel that when I'm not at work I should be doing all kinds of useful things and worry that I'm not be effective enough. However when I look back on what I achieved in between a few lovely pub lunches I've actually done loads (ordered composter for my allotment, dug part of allotment, repaired clothes, made sourdough bread, vegan brownies, chestnut soup, shelled and roasted hazelnuts, made a curtain for the utility room , ordered 90% of Christmas presents, ordered seeds for allotment, found new second hand jeans, dyed hair purple to cover grey, cooked a new courgette/carrot casserole recipe, sorted out more boxes from my parent's house to list on Ebay). I do really do want to clear all of the boxes cluttering my study though.


The end of the week was great as Dear Heart and I went to the Midlands to visit his Dad, Stepmum, brother and sister. It's been an age since I've seen them and it was such a nice visit. I really feel like one of the family and time just flew by as we chatted, ate and drank. Lovely stepmum also sorted my hair out for me. I just didn't feel entirely happy with my last cut - it was sooo nice and I don't want my hair to be nice, I want it to be funky. It's now the shortest it's ever been and I love it. She also told me the right way to apply Henna so watch this space for further adventures with dye.

And now it's back to usual routines for a month or so before seasonal festivities begin to interrupt. I've pulled wads of fabric out of the cupboard to begin making bags for Christmas presents to go in. I've made weekly and monthly job lists using the planner at Brocantehome. November here I come.

Where did it go?

It's just really hit me that summer is gone. This isn't a couple of days of rain in August. I can't assume that normal summer service will be resumed soon. It's October. It's Autumn proper. It's serious.

Things that have made me realise this:

• I'm wearing my new winter boots and thick tights.
• I've been cooking cold weather dinners for a few weeks.
• I've planned 90% of my Yule shopping.
• Manure day at the allotment is a month away

I've also looked at my entries for last October and realise that I changed my wardrobe over on 10th October last year.

Time to accept it's not going to get any warmer for a least 5 months and start taking action to take advantage of this.

September

Isn't September a totally amazing month? You get the new start buzz of January but without the grey skies, depleted bank balance and general sense of gloom. There's enough of a nip in the air to make PJs, baked potatoes and hot tea an option. Yet it's still warm enough to venture for a walk without a jacket. The last of the summer fruit is still available but the first of the autumn stuff is coming in too.

The summer after I graduated I ran a B&B in a tiny isolated village in France. I had a marvellous time. However, I began to long for Autumn and particularly autumn in England. There were a stack of old glossies magazines and I lingered over recipes for stew and autumn fashions from a decade earlier. I also discovered an old paperback copy of September by Rosamund Pilcher.

So I'm happily cooking potatoes from my allotment, making soup and sorting out slightly warmer clothes to wear (not that this summer allowed for much skimpiness!). I'm happily snuggling on the sofa of an evening reading It's vintage, Darling! by Christa Weil and looking forward to my new boots arriving from Bourgeois Boheme. I'm considering the possibility of taking a days leave in October just to sort out my winter clothes. I can't decide it's a terribly sensible idea or totally friv. Would I be better spending a day making soup?

The curse of the roller disco

I fully intended to post an entry about celebrating my sister’s 30th birthday the day after. However, we spent the evening at a roller disco. Roller skates and alcohol are a dangerous combination (particularly when you have no natural sense of balance). I came off better than my Brother-in-law (looking forward to signing the plaster cast on his wrist).

My sprained elbow is improving. However, I find myself reaching further than it will allow me at times. Over the last couple of days I’ve replaced a book on a head height shelf, found I couldn’t raise me arm high enough to get the book on, but neither could I bring my arm down. Solution? Use my head to head butt the volume into place.

My behind is also rather bruised and clearly needs to have more fat on it (hello vegan cupcakes).

What else have I been up to?

• I’m up to book 12 of the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. A big thank you to the lovely friend who made me read them when I wasn’t sure.
• I’ve discovered Facebook.
• I wore the dress I made my Mum’s old skirt. I’ll post a picture here soon.
• I changed my summer clothes over on Saturday, slightly earlier than last year. It was just as well I did as I certainly couldn’t lift a suitcase off a wardrobe at present. Alas when I tried to dress for work this morning I discovered that all linen trousers needed ironing (never a talent of mine even without a sprained elbow). Having located a pair of trousers with a patterned weave (excellent for hiding creases) I then discovered they are enormous around the waist. Clearly I need dessert more often.

I think I’m in something of an energy slump so I’m going to go with the flow for the next week or so and assume that high levels of energy will return as my bruises fade…