The WISE girls AVIDly plotting our Spring wardrobes.

[blossoming]

New thread..

Bunny you are not deluded.. its madness.

My Joseph cardy/jacket arrived and is lovely, think Joseph sizing perfect for me. looks good with jeans too.

Lottas have not arrived yet - have 3 of us really all chosen tan?verity i like the red ones but was playing it safe...

Some very avid buying going on... and nice purchases too...

Think I am going to have yet another namechange maybe back to my original MN name anniemac. I am confusing myself.

Off work today (sort of ) with the delightful & scrumptious DD2 calling me now...

Bunny, I think the thing with London is that it's a place of such extremes. When we lived in good old organic, knit your own mung-beans and send the kids to African drumming, middle class Crouch End, we were barely 2 stops on the bus away from Haringey, home of some of the worst examples of poor living standards in the UK. There is sure to be poverty, overcrowding, child neglect etc etc in K&C. Though I agree that the people who really need help are unlikely to be accessed via toddler groups where there are wall-to-wall Bugaboos and takeout lattes.

ABO glad the day at selfridges was fun. But !!!!! At the cost of some of those dresses. That is why inhale never had a personal shopper. I just know that I will be shown stuff way out of my price range and that I will buy something I cannot afford just so that I don't let the personal shopper down....

bloss great outfit. Enjoy the rugby.

roman thanks for linking to pombear thread. It was one of my all time favourites so lovely to see it again.

So have had Isabella Oliver catalogue through. They have some lovely none maternity stuff for SS. Am vert tempted by this boyfriend Cardigan

www.isabellaoliver.com/womens-clothing/uk/600/new/TP472.html

Some lovely Bretons. Including this lovely dress

www.isabellaoliver.com/womens-clothing/uk/600/dresses/DR470.html

Also got the Kew catalogue through. Am going to get

This top www.kew-online.com/fcp/product/womens-clothing/t-shirts-&-tops/Cotton-Voile-Fan-Top/99902473

They also have some lovely t bar sandals and a grey beaded Cardigan which are not yet on the website but also look lovely.

Oh the pombear incident?! Now that I do remember

antpants there was absolutely no pressure to buy at all. In fact I think the woman would have been if I had bought something! I guess that would have been different if there had been something that fitted my brief, but even then I think it would have been fine to walk away and say I needed time to think. And it has opened my eyes to shapes and styles I wouldn't have looked twice at before. The McQueen for example; I think it looks far too grown up on the model and on the hanger it looked like a dishrag! But I loved it on me. Kew and IO catalogues dropped onto my doorstep this morning too btw!

LOL plum at sending the kids to African druming in Crouch End . I was in Hammersmith and Fulham when I had the first two DSs and that was classic London one-extreme-to-another. But we did find a few groups that were a real mix of people and great places to go. I remember one in particular in a fairly grotty church hall to which Emily Maitlis used to arrive in her Gucci slingbacks and rub shoulders with people from the White City estates...

Zembo ? glad to hear catheter is no more?and no need to worry about styling that gown, with your lovely face you will look beautiful in anything.

HF ? We can compare lampshades . There is still one more house we have to see before we make an offer on this one?and we can?t get in for a while to see it (building works)?.nail biting times.

Geordie?can I lure you over to the Dukan side? You?ll be at the weight you want ? no question?within 16 weeks (probably much much sooner!!).

Feeling sensitive?I like the skirt (but can?t see the top)?what?s your colouring?

Looby ? I can imagine the Brora dress could be very pretty with your colouring?but tricky to tell what the cut is like.

Good haul Marsha ? but you must be teeny tiny?don?t go too far?! There will be nothing left.

ABO ? wow! What fabulous dresses ? and well done for not getting swayed for something that wasn?t quite right.

Bunny ? no not deluded at all ? I love the idea of bookstart but I really feel like there should be more control over it.

General question ? Bretons (dare I ask??!)?which top is the current winner? I need to get one for everyday. I ordered armorlux one but it was no good for me at all. I know it?s worked for some of you but it was sort of shapeless on me.

Oh i love the breton dress. What size do you all get in IO? I'm usually an 8, an xs in eg Zara, but I ordered some size B from IO (said to be UK8) and the things that weren't stretchy were too small (I kept the pencil skirt and a top which were tight but none the worse for it. But then I read people saying their sizing's generous and think maybe I had freak items! What do you think?

I have not ordered from IO so not sure on sizes. But that Breton dress is lovely.

Btw I have a slow cooker - a v.large cuisinart one. I use it very often 1x or 2x per week at least. Some how it makes things taste nice with no effort. For example you put in a packet of mince, bit of olive oil, bottle of tomato passata and 1/2 a stock cube, stir once, leave on 'low' for 6 hrs, and you have lovely ragù. Another staple here is to blitz an onion, some bacon, a carrot and celery stick in the processor, put in slow cooker with packet of green lentil and stock to cover. Leave for 3-4hrs on low. Put a chicken in and put on 'high' for 4 hours and you have a perfect roast chicken without having to clean the oven (and it switches itself off, so you can put it on and go out). You don't have to brown or pre-fry anything, ever. Very handy, I'd definitely recommend.

Apologies for mistaking the bear for Children in Need! Will read the thread later.

Hells Have you ever been here

According to Red they do good Bretons. I bought one a Navy/White one yesterday in Hobbs - with the £25 free gift card from said mag. Haven't tried it on yet but it looks and feels nice.

I know not everyone is in to this sort of stuff but there are some very lovely children's clothes on sale.

I just received a really lovely Maan coat x 2 and other stuff that is good quality / colours etc

Thank you Tracey, some food for thought. Will pm you when/if something gets confirmed.

I guess blanket giving out of books and so on is the only way of ensuring that they are received by all. The playgroups we go to are a fairly good mix - rare for London I think. There is a bit of an enclave near a primary school that is the best in the borough, but that's another issue entirely.

My Lottas arrived and are fab (tan braided here too mac or annie?!). Can quite easily see myself getting another pair, thank you MM.

marsha Love your NAP/Outnet haul! I am a bit fed up with winter clothes and have just packed mostly grey/charcoal/black and navy for skiing. I also threw Janice in the suitcase for dinnertime and to make me feel better.

abo Great dresses. I think it's great that you didn't feel pressured into buying something. Would have expected opposite.

My Mum is staying until we leave tomorrow so I can pack mumsnet in peace. We went for a coffee this morning and she said she liked my Sportmax coat. Can't begin to describe how much her approval means to me. Written down it even sounds more pathetic but we had a nice morning.

Right off to find passports and ipod headphones.

I like that IO dress also, and the blue scarf.

ItsNotUnusual, it is very similar and a much better deal!

I've been pondering over the braided Lottas, not sure whether to plump for the red or the tan. Looks like tan is th general consensus on this thread? Though I could always buy both

Thinking of bloss as the weather in Cardiff is hideous today. Wind strong enough to push you off your feet, and cold wind at that. I'm watching wheelie bins flying past my window......nice .

Poor Bloss! She will need a large to recover.

Daisy I have tan Hasbeens and the colour is so versatile. Am tempted by the Red Lottas though.

Fritzi Have fab holiday. What age do you think is ideal for dc to learn to ski?

Marsha Nice clothes indeed. Rachel Riley has 70% off all baby clothes at the mo too.

ABO, that sounds like my idea of heaven. Lucky girl. I seriously heart the Alexander McQueen it look so luxe.

It is funny that I used to be intimidated by posh frocks and posh shops but now that I have been made avid and wise I would luxuriate in a posh frock trying on session.

Although Matches in Marylebone gives me the willies. Scary layout + snooty assistants = U-turn.

I do love Selfridges though, it's just so accessible and easy to spend a fortune at. I've been there two days in a row and to try on and now to pick up my spiny shorts. While I was there at lunchtime today I tried the bodyscanning for jeans sizing. The process itself is easy peasy but the scan image.... Makes me think sod it I'll have some and lots of .

If I'm feeling brave I might put a photo of my scanned lumps and bumps on my profile...

I fancy red Lottas - I have tan Vagabond clogs from last year and wore them to death. Lovely.

hf I'd say anytime 5-10yo is very good. When they're v.little they can find the cold etc hard to deal with. We used to live in Switz and there were teary 2 and 3yo all over the slopes (inc ds1 ).

One of my friends first skied at 19yo and later became a ski instructor. It's not true that you have to start as a baby to make progress.

Crikey you've got a gorgeous figure, TheAllNewOoooh .

Can we have a better look at your face, please?

Anniemac are you moving?

Bonsoir that's extremely kind . But you might change your mind when you see the scanned version... on profile now! Maybe just for a few minutes...

Roman Thanks for that re the skiing. I learnt when I was very young. DH didn't go until he was in his late 20's - on day 2 he went down a double black diamond [lunatic emoticon]

Good point re the cold.

Is this nice?