Avid and Wise, up to our eyes in new summer buys!

[blossoming]

Where is everybody???

Further investigation reveals JL are price-matching Carvela with 20% off today so should I get Ooh's shoes in black? To wear with skinnies in various shades of the rainbow.

Mmm, nice redllama. Go for it!

Lurking at the moment...teething and cranky baby means that any spare minute I can steal from jigging her around is spent comatose on the sofa

redllama lovely shoes, go for it!

bloss If it is not in the book it doesn't count . And congrats to your new niece! Your lunch has inspired me to eat some spinach tonight, with roasted cherry tomatoes, goats cheese and pine nuts.

DD is out on a playdate this afternoon. I bought a second pair of Houlis. In grey. They are so soft and lovely and I get definitely more wear from them than from a Missoni dress. So it is a wise buy.

Hello mrscb! Love your outfit and miss your posts too, especially the "lordys" . The WC dress sounds great although I am always a bit nervous about strapless dresses slipping.

nan Hope the teething will pass soon!

red I am not sure about black shoes-bright coloured skinny-combo, but not sure which colour would be best for shoes so not a great help, sorry...

notyummy I am a great fan of prioritising to-do lists. I sometimes even write things on I have just done so I can tick them off immediately. That sounds nuts. Should probably delete that sentence.

Red I can highly recommend them (especially with 20% off - lucky thing).

Very comfy actually; the test of this for me was walking back home slightly worse for wear from Elephant & Castle last week. 5km-ish and not a blister in sight and feet in good nick the day after. Ok, they aren't really built for proper walking but for day to day stuff they are fine. Some of the height comes from a small platform rather than the heel so they don't feel as high as they look.

All good here - when mini wakes up I'm going to pootle to the Post Office to return this FC maxi and this A&W White Co favourite. The print of the maxi (I am so a convert) worked so well with my colouring but the knot at the back doesn't work with my strapless bra. And there was a little shudder back flab on show so I knew it had to go. And tunic was v loose so back that goes too.

On the plus side I am in love with my Anthropologie maxi. So many lovely little details I hadn't noticed before - like the lining is hemmed with an olive green lace trim, there is a little button in the middle of the zip to hold the dress together while you zip it up etc. Lovely lovely lovely.

Red, I think the taupe colour would be better with brights. Very cool shoes, I'd be tempted if my feet were in their normal state!

Fritzi, the houlies are definitely a wise buy. Can't wait to wear mine.

Crumpet are having an archive sale.

Quick question to ny or anyone who remembers. Where did you do your shopping session??

Fritzi or shall we now call you 2Houli's?! (Great you got a second pair - are they pale or dark grey? Am faffing about the DP lookalikes which are charcoal - not sure what I would wear with them). Are you still hankering after a white dress? JL has a special page devoted to them ideas perhaps?
Red I love the shoes but agree with Carciofi about considering the taupe ones? I love how you've dyed your white jeans and are so happy with the results - my washing machine seems hell bent on destroying anything white of mine (keeps churning out weird black greasy specks from underneath the seal which of course only seem to stick to my white clothes leaving the boys stuff untouched. I may well have to look into dying stuff too!)
TANO - pleased your maxi is bringing you so much joy - isn't lovely when something in your wardrobe makes you that happy!

Its soooo cold here today and I froze sitting still behind laptop doing homework- so have finally got around to purchasing the P8 chunky knit cardi in navy as back in stock in their sale section in a 12 and had the extra 20% off too (wise) Morag think you have it too from the Jan sales?

Is Apuski about? Was thinking about your DH and his results. Hope all is well.
Would love an update from Plum and her Italian jaunt too!

Hello ladies!

Congrats Bloss!

Ooh really like your shoes. I bought these very cheap shoes in a kind of similar style last week, very comfortable!

MrsCB I know where you're coming from re: looking too groomed. I met Natasha Kaplinsky once, couldn't believe how young she was (as she looks at least a decade older IMO). I'm sure you just look polished and beautiful rather than 'newsreader' though. No chance I'll ever look too groomed

Bloss have you tried kerastase elixir ultime? It's fab. Asking you specifically as you're the owner of lovely swishy hair

Very busy at work at the moment and counting down the days to the redundancy application verdict!

Have been lurking too, busy weekend as I brought home lots of work to get through. Am now behind on domestic duties and more importantly this thread!

Bloss, congratulations on being an Auntie again.

Red, I have the navy version of the Zara cardigan that petit spoke about. It is lovely, and keeps it's shape very well.

Carciofi, your DD's comment, made me laugh and reminded me of that late in pregnancy stage when you can see arms, legs moving about. Glad to hear that you managed to sort out the child care arrangements though. I understand where you are coming from, can't image what we would do with DS in that situation either!

Fritzi '2houli' greeneyes . Wise buy, agree that houlihans are so easy to wear and lovely and comfortable.

NY, I am a anti lister, which is probably why I am struggling working part time. My myers Briggs type is ESFP, so quite chaotic in my working practice, but I get there in the end! I must be a nightmare to work with though!

My friends and DH told me about the bomb alert today, hope everyone gets reasonable journey home this evening. As I have no access to the outside world at work, I was oblivious to the news, ( my office is also windowless) so the first I heard was when I checked my phone on leaving work.
Lets hope it's a one off.

Roary- it was at House of Fraser.

zembo that sounds really interesting. I could do with a beauty boost. I hate this time of year, I've no idea what to wear. (It's colder in the house than it is in winter as the heating is off.) Outside it's drizzly and I am missing my winter beret. Hair is reverting to wavy.

notyummy, have you heard about your Olympic tickets?

fritzi two houlihans. Jealous, much?!

Not long now carciofi and you'll be in yours.

zembo Fab shoes and what a bargain.

I am still struggling with Houli-compatible footwear. So far have only worn ballet flats .

ollie Thanks for link! Looking forward to browsing white dresses later.

bloss But you are the original JBrand queen!

We've heard nothing Bloss - not sure if that means we have got nothing or not. To be fair, it said on the radio news this morning that money would come out over the next few days, so it is a bit early to start getting down. I think there is a further opportunity to apply for tickets, but I am not sure we will want to see any of the sports that are left!! We will be applying for the para olympics though, as the wheelchair rugby was so awesomely exciting on the TV last time - I would LOVE to see it live.

Evening ladies, I too am a list maker, like Fritzi often including something already done so that I can tick it off!
I wear ankle boots with my Houlis or Hasbeens - the really high nude ones with the ankle strap.
It is absolutely freezing here today,I am wrapped up in winter woolies in front of the wood burner, clothes wise I always find it really difficult to know what to wear at this time of the year. When I get up early if the sun is shining I put on spring like clothes and generally the day changes for the worst, and vice versa, if I put on some thing heavier I end up swelltering(is that a word?!).
Rufus I think that our DDs may have meet at book club yesterday! If so, it really is a small world!

Ok after doing some research I think the white casual dress might be difficult to pull off:
(1) Danger of being see-through
(2) If there is too much detailing, like broderie anglaise and it is not fitted enough, it could easily look like a nightie.
(3) If the cut is too rigid and not soft, it could end up looking like a nurse's uniform (I'm sure that nurses don't wear white anymore but YKWIM)
(4) Must not look remotely bridal
(5) Must be machine washable

I think the only way to find out if it works, is to try on a few in RL.

Loving your research fritzi!

Fritzi - I have a white linen dress from the white co from last year - its fairly fitted - well for the white co at least and works well with denim jacket and hasbeens.

I ahem also now have 2 pairs of houlis - the khaki and the sharkskin - i do love them so and find them more flattering than jeans bizarrely. I also wear with hasbeens.

Oh dear - noticed that DS2 was touching his plaster (above his eye from the cut he received last week) a lot so carefully peeled it off (ouch!) and it looks as if DS is allergic to plasters - the whole area covered by the plaster now looks like he has been branded - v red and weeping but the cut itself looks clean and dry (sorry if TMI).
Will take him to the chemist tomorrow to ask their advice about plasters but just hope the redness goes away. Not sure what else to do. Is there anything I can put on the red skin to help it heal?

Another questions on a totally different subject - those of you with houlis - what length do you wear them? My lookalikes need shortening and I don't know whether to get them done to floor grazing, ankle grazing or slightly cropped. Keep trying them on and rolling them up and down and faffing! Advice please!

Another list maker here - in fact I have a great To Do book that has printed tick boxes - so satisfying!

Re footwear for houli's - didn't someone on here recommend this type of wedge boot with them (Portia perhaps?) here

Oh no, did you just mention sharkskin..?!

(I thought I was under control!)

hi there, trying to speed read the thread and catch up with you all! Miami was generally great fun, Coast Orange bec-a-like went very well, drank far too much "bonding" with my colleagues and am knocked out after overnight flight and straight in to office this morning! Did get some shopping time but barely purchased a thing - I found a huge J Crew and they had some lovely things but somehow I wasn't up for it, and the shoes I liked weren't in stock in my size. Looking fwd to them direct selling in to UK (think I read that somewhere here?!)

Poor DH is exhausted after being in charge of the girls all weekend - baby still wakes up at 5am on the dot, absolutely exhausting. And it's my turn tomorrow !!

Welcome back emo. You must be really tired!