A Sunday Jaunt

"What? No brick wall?" I hear you cry.

That's right.  I actually took photos in public for once.  Hark at me.

I don't know how the rest of you do it.  The shame!  This was a nice quiet road but I was still mortified when someone appeared out of his front door a few houses down.  Well, it's his own fault for living in such a lovely house.

Dress - Closet @ Dorothy Perkins

Jacket - c/o French Connection

Shoes - ASOS

Rings - Matalan sale (black) & Dorothy Perkins sale (silver)

Clutch - H&M

When I grew too mortified to have my photo taken any more, I wrestled back control of the camera and we went a-wandering around the Georgian Quarter.  It's by far my favourite part of Liverpool city centre.  Let's face it, all of it is pretty fantastic - Liverpool One has all the big shops and restaurants, Bold Street has all the interesting shops and restaurants, the waterfront is rather spectacular and everywhere and everything else you discover has something to recommend it.

I adore Georgian buildings though and we have an awful lot of them.  Not as many as we had 30 or 40 years ago due to some extremely dodgy planning decisions, but enough to mean that the streets feature quite often in films and tv programmes.  Definitely worth taking a detour through when on the way to Sunday lunch!

And it was a damn good lunch.  We went to Host, which I've walked past about a million times but have never been to before.  I was super impressed - they've actually taken the effort to create gluten and dairy free menus which made life a lot easier for us!  Eating out for me is usually accompanied by involved and lengthy discussions with waiters about ingredients and substitutions and frankly, it's a pain in the arse.  This wasn't.  And it tasted amazing: the biggest and best onion bhajis I've ever had, followed by duck and lychee red curry.

So yes, come and visit Liverpool.  It's ace.  Full of beautiful buildings and fun things to do.  Although often quite windy...

God, I'm such a nerd. You'd never find the cool bloggers hitting publish on a post that included a daft photo like that one.

Here, having a soothing, arty shot of one of Liverpool's two cathedrals instead. Biggest Anglican cathedral in the world don't you know?

Black and Gold

Yup, I wore gold sequins to work this week.  No-one batted an eyelid.  Whether that means they're just used to me by now or that dress codes don't mean much in our place or probably both, I'm happy with it.  I couldn't cope with having to have a whole separate wardrobe full of clothes for work.  I begrudge spending money on sensible things as it is - having to fork out for boring workwear would be a step too far.  And what would it to do to my lovely colleague who likes to start her day off by having a look at what ridiculous thing I've got on if I sat at my desk in black polyester and plain heels all the time?  She'd find it as deeply dull as I did.

I don't like dull.  I like impractically decorated shoes and monster tshirts.

Jacket - c/o French Connection
Tshirt - Hero and Cape
Skirt - H&M sale
Boots & gold flecked tights - Marks & Spencer
Ring - Dorothy Perkins sale

I'm so pleased with the tshirt.  As soon as I saw the monster peeking out from behind green tissue paper, I knew it would be good.  I had some slight issues with the previous tshirt I ordered from Hero and Cape - nothing to do with the quality, I just have too short a neck for a high round-neck collar! - and had to alter it a bit to suit my funny shape, but this one is great.  They've expanded the product range and the new fabric and cut options are perfect.  And the beauty of it being a small company is that the personal touch is there and they're happy to swap designs and tshirt styles if you ask them.  Not that I needed it with this one, but it's always useful to have the option available.

Chloe and I were tshirt twins way back when and when I spotted the new moustachioed monster design, she was the first person I had to go "Have you seen it?!" to.  She is a woman of excellent taste after all.  Naturally we ended up expanding our twinny collection and both bought it.  Doesn't she look lovely in it?  Ah, to be that slim...

Two Nights in Liverpool

I've been doing some post-work gallivanting this week. It's a joy to live so close to such a vibrant, amazing city. Ten minutes on the train and I'm here:

Wednesday evening saw me rendezvous with my brother as we had an invitation to visit La Tasca and check out their cocktail and mini tapas offer. 

Princess Leia buns and Mojitos are a good combination, yes?

It got top marks from me.  We ate like kings - the staff were lovely and brought over all sorts of different little nibbles for us to try.  I've established I still can't bear olives (does this come with age? If so, I'm running out of time!) but everything else was utterly delicious.  Plus it's always a good sign when cocktails taste like they contain alcohol rather than just fruit juice!  I can report that the mojitos and strawberry daiquiris get my seal of approval.

Then last night I went on a ship!  Well, Liverpool is a maritime city.  It wasn't completely out of the blue - I didn't get chatted up by a sailor or anything. I'm a member of Fact Fifty and we get invited to exhibition previews and other cultural type events throughout the year.  This was a private evening tour of the Kathleen and May.  I know next to nothing about ships but even I can tell that she's been beautifully restored.  I'm the nosy type so I went exploring round the cabin and galley: everything is so neat! I couldn't live on a ship.  They'd make me walk the plank for being so unbearably messy.

When on board a ship, one must naturally pretend to steer it:

Captain (aka Papa) Odd Socks

Or, you know, stick your head in a funnel:

Dress & cat ring - River Island sale

Belt - Primark

Cardi - Matalan

Jacket - c/o French Connection

Shoes - Dorothy Perkins

Bag - John Rocha

I love Liverpool

Note: I wasn't paid for the review but La Tasca did pick up the bill

Turning August Into Autumn

In the autumn, a fashion blogger's fancy turns to thoughts of layers*.  And tights.  And knits.  And scarves, hats, boots and all the other deliciously cosy things that have been neatly packed away in vintage suitcases since April.

We class autumn as September-November, don't we?  It may technically still be summer now but I've already given up on it.  It's been warm enough for bare legs about three times all year and I'm officially pronouncing it time to start donning tights and jackets again.  I don't care if it still says August on the calendar.

Now I'm not one of those people who dives headlong into look books at this time of year and starts fantasising about the squillions of pounds they're going to spend on new knitwear.  Mainly because I don't have squillions of pounds.  Partly because I don't have that big a wardrobe/house either.  I mostly have to make do with what I've already got, with the addition of a few nice new bits and bobs.

I've been saying this for months now, I know, but I really am trying to buy better.  That means tracking down things I actually need and filling gaps in my wardrobe rather than adding to my enormous collection of grey jumpers.  Instead of indulging my love for Irregular Choice and buying these, I was practical and bought these .  Actual sensible, waterproof footwear.  Go me.

The one obvious gap in my wardrobe was leather jacket shaped, so when French Connection emailed me and asked if I'd like to review something from their A/W range I knew exactly what to go for. 

I absolutely love it.  Why have I never owned one before?  I did this with shorts: was absolutely convinced they were not for me, tried them, loved them.  Perhaps I need to expand my clothing horizons a bit more.  Anyway, back to the jacket.  I trust you know I wouldn't be saying this if I didn't truly think it (my opinion is not for sale) but it's beautiful.  Feels fantastic, looks wonderful, makes me feel considerably cooler than usual.  What's not to love?

Jacket - c/o French Connection

Dress - People Tree sale

Boots -  Aldo via ASOS sale

Ring - Primark

Necklace - belonged to my Grandma

*apologies for mangling Tennyson