The Best Jumper in the World

Happy Monday everyone (says the mardy looking girl).  Would you like to see The Best Jumper in the World?  Of course you would.  Behold!  It is green.  It is super cute.  It was on sale.  That is practically the holy trinity of jumper characteristics as far as I'm concerned!

I had really bad lighting issues today *shakes fist at the stupid weather* so have had to faff around with this. The jumper is now the right shade of green but my hair, unsurprisingly, is not that red.

Anyway, it has HEDGEHOGS on.  I think that automatically gives the wearer extra cool points and a seat at the top table of the #wardrobezoo party, should we ever have one.  If you all buy one of these jumpers, we can officially be classed as a prickle of hedgehogs, which has got to be one of the best collective nouns ever.

Why am I eating my hair? Your guess is as good as mine.  Best of a bad bunch, photo wise...

I'm feeling fairly prickly today.  Mondays aren't usually that irritating but today has been quite high on the annoying scale.  If it could go wrong, it has done, and in quite spectacular style in some cases.  I'm a bit anxious about going swimming tonight in case I accidentally drown myself or something.

  However I am a firm believer that glancing down at yourself and being able to smile at your outfit makes you feel better, even if it's only slightly.  Hence the mad tights and lovely shoes I'm sporting today.  I am such a fan of a wedge heel - perfect for work and slightly better for me than a pair of flats.  Lovely as flats are, sometimes I just need a bit more height!  I say sometimes... I mean all the time.  I am very short after all.

Jumper - ASOS sale
Skirt - H&M
Tights - Birmingham market
Shoes - Office via ebay
Ring & clutch - Dorothy Perkins

Day Six

Hark at me (almost) smiling in a blog photo.  I am happy because I discovered something a) unworn and b) amazing during a bit of a tidying session over the weekend.  House tights!  I do love Henry Holland tights but I'm buggered if I'm paying upwards of £12 for them.  I stalk the River Island sales instead - this pair were £3. Bargain.

I have no idea why they lurked in the depths of my tights suitcase for so long but it may just be that they blended into the background.  There's so much colour going on in there that anything mostly flesh coloured just disappears.  I think that's them in the top right, next to the green pair.  They certainly don't jump out at you in the same way as some of the others.

Anyway, consider them well and truly worn today!

Dress - Closet @ Dorothy Perkins

Shoes & ring - Dorothy Perkins

Tights - H by Henry Holland via River Island sale

Red, White and Ooooh

Do you ever think to yourself "Oh I've got loads of shoes/accessories/cardigans"?  I do it all the time, mostly when struggling to cram things into my annoyingly small wardrobe.  Yet when it comes down to it, it doesn't mean I actually vary my style choices that much.

Perhaps it's because of storage issues or because I'm terrible at doing the ironing but I often stick to the same cardi for several different outfits, or will wear one set of earrings or necklace for about two weeks in a row.  I don't even notice I'm doing it until I actually put two sets of outfit photos together like I have here.  Both outfits were worn over the Jubilee weekend (I know, I know, I am late at posting the pictures.  Don't all hit me with your discarded bunting) and are on the red, white and blue side of things,  so perhaps that's another reason why.  After all, even I don't need more than one pair of red Mary Janes.

What I do need is pretty much every sort of leg and foot related accessory that M&S Limited Collection are producing at the moment.  Check out the socks. 

I know they're not odd but I believe I've already mentioned at some point that knee high socks are the exception to the Odd Sock Law.

Shorts & tshirt - H&M

Cardi - Matalan

Socks - Marks & Spencer Limited Collection

Shoes and necklace (it's actually a headband) - Dorothy Perkins sale

Bangles & ring - Primark

And the tights!  Ooooh, aren't they just amazing?!

 

It's London.  On my legs!

Dress - via New Life

Cardi - Tu

Tights - Marks & Spencer Limited Collection

Shoes & headband (actually worn as a headband) - Dorothy Perkins sale


Too, too tempting.  Perhaps I can make room in my tights suitcase and sock drawer just for a few more... After all, I don't think I've ever said "Oh I've got too many tights."

Storage

Ok, not the most fun concept in the world, I must admit. But I'm one of those weirdos who gets a great sense of satisfaction from putting things away. Probably because I don't do it that often so it's all a bit Mary Poppins-ish to me. My preferred superpower would definitely be the ability to click my fingers and have things snap back into place. Until the wonderful day that happens, I'll just have to do it all by hand.

Yesterday was spent getting the bedroom back into shape. I've been a complete slattern whilst I've been writing so it was in a right state. Amongst the many things that needed sorting out were my suitcases. I love these cases. Pretty and practical.



This is my tights case. Now A Thrifty Mrs, guru of all things organisational and thrifty, has recently written a very good post about organising your drawers but I am not that good. I can organise the heck out of my tights though. No more rummaging through a drawer desperately hunting for the right colour and getting them all tangled together. Not for me.

I roll them, stash them, and this way I can see exactly what colours I've got. Patterned dark tights lie flat on the right hand side because frankly, rolling them is a waste of time. They just look black and you can't see the patterns.

(Most of the coloured tights are from Dorothy Perkins. Their 80 denier tights are wonderful. Loads of different shades and they are practically impossible to ruin. Keep your eyes peeled in the sale too - you can often get them for 50p or £1)

As for the other cases, they hold:


Gloves and woolly hats.


Summer clothes that get packed away so I've actually got space in my wardrobe for all my winter clobber.


And old clothes that I can't bring myself to throw away. That black thing with the blue beaded fringing? I used to go clubbing in that when I was 17. Look at the size of it!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to dust the bookshelves. I may be some time...

I Love Payday

October was a bit of a frugal month due to some unexpected expenses. November won't be much better as I'm going on holiday and have to pay for that but I've done my budget for the month and allowed myself a small amount of spends for fripperies like clothes.

How to stretch that small amount? Firstly, sales shopping:

River Island currently has 50% off all sale prices so for the princely sum of £15.50 I got some House of Holland "House" tights, some green fishnets, a plain longsleeved cream top, a nice slouchy green top with a key & padlock pattern and the best bit - some gorgeous tapestry cord shorts. These are the first pair of shorts I've ever bought. I'm still not sure I'm brave enough to show that much of my thighs but I was too taken by the fabric to leave them behind.

Secondly, charity shopping:

I do love discovering a new charity shop, especially when it's a local one that doesn't dramatically overprice stuff. I think I spent £9 in there and got all of the above stuff. I'd almost given up hope on the white blouse hunt so was chuffed to find this vintage beauty. The patterned thing next to it is a more modern tea dress. And £2 for some vintage, never worn, burgundy leather sandals? Don't mind if I do!

Going home with a bag full of lots of lovely cheap books makes Alex a very happy girl. Elizabeth Goudge is one of my favourite authors and her books aren't always easy to track down, so I did a small jig of joy when I saw a 1956 hardback of Green Dolphin Country, in immaculate condition, for only 50p. The roaring 20's book looks like much fun too.

Thirdly, a little vintage store:

It sold such nice things and they weren't expensive at all. I fell mildly in love with a checked 50's day dress but as I'm nowhere near a size 8, it wasn't meant to be. I got myself a fluted chiffon green and white scarf instead, and this very cheerful white and yellow tank top.

I also discovered a little bazaar type shop with lots of interesting furniture and fur coats in. Tucked away right at the back was a true find but I'm not going to share pics because it's going to be a present for someone else and I don't want to spoil the surprise.

I think I did rather well. Can't have spent more than £30 in total and that wouldn't get me a nice jumper in most High St shops!

Bit of a mish-mash

Ever feel like you've just rolled around in your wardrobe and walked out of the house dressed in whatever happened to stick to you? Yesterday was one of those days. Looking back at the photos though, I actually quite like it.

I'm not sure who I pinched the idea of layering fishnets over coloured tights from - I know it's one of the MSE gang but for the life of me I can't remember who. Thank you though! I love it, especially chocolate brown over purple (aka Cadbury legs)

Coat - Monsoon

Vest - Zara, via a friend

Cardi - Primark

Skirt - from a vintage fair.

Tights - bottom pair Dorothy Perkins, fishnets Evans

Pumps - New Look

ps - The technology situation has not improved. The pc is diabolically slow and took TWELVE MINUTES to go from one photo to another in picture viewer yesterday, at which point I lost my rag and went to bed instead. I think a new laptop is an absolute must. Or perhaps a netbook? Does anyone blog from a netbook? I don't see the point in shelling out for a full laptop when I'm going to be using it mostly for the internet and a bit of writing.

This Week

I have been:

Organising:

My tights. Due to my fairly large sock collection, there is no room in the drawer for any tights. I decided to make my little weekend case earn its keep and shoved them all in there. I seem to go more for colours than patterns...

Watching:

Restrepo. Which I thought was very good. I love war related films and books but as good as some of the fictional ones are, they're never going to convey the same sense of realism as a documentary. This was really powerful stuff, very honest and very moving, especially when it came to the reactions of the soldiers to the things they've seen and done.

Buying:

Nothing! So poor.

Painting:

My nails in Barry M Emerald Green - isn't it pretty?

Making:

Some tweaks to the blog in terms of sidebars, changing my profile pic etc. Still need to get to work on the header though!

Baking:

Chocolate cake in a cup. I just fancied a little something this evening and remembered the post I'd seen about it on A Thrifty Mrs. Yum!

Discovering:

That the makers of artificial sweeteners are BAD PEOPLE. For some unknown reason they almost all put milk in their little round sweetener tablet things. Muggins here didn't know (the powder version is fine, I didn't think they'd be different!) and has been accidentally poisoning herself whilst enjoying coffee.

Deciding:

How big Oscar is. Well you did ask! I would say he's on the large end of the cat scale but he's quite slim, so not one of those massive cats who have bellies that practically drag on the floor.

(shouting at me as I arrived home from work)

Welcoming:

My new followers - hello! I'm thinking that now might be the time for a little "about me" post. I have no idea where to start though. The Girl has just done a very interesting Q&A couple of posts, so I'm going to shamelessly pinch her idea and ask you to ask me a question (or two, should you so wish) each. Is there anything that you're desperate for me to talk about? Anything you really want to know? Ask away...