Mn Vogue vol. 2

[MarshaBrady]

For anyone who likes to talk about style, nice stuff that they've bought and so on.

thanks Shopafrolic! I will bookmark and consider. It certainly fits the bill!

I have the print version notyummy and it's lovely.

Wish I knew more about the fashion industry so I could play guess the supermodel too!

Will need to stop pushing style books but read one last night that might be worth your time (many of them are not) - Wear This Now (some of you may know it already).
YAWYW helps you to understand why you dress a certain way and then helps you change. The 100 is a list of classics. WTN helps you to pinpoint exactly what key pieces are missing from your wardrobe and then construct outfits for different seasons and occasions. The suggestions are quite up-do-date (among others, they recommend over-the-knee boots, PS1, chambray shirts and Revolveclothing.com).

Summer is the easiest season for me, fall by far the most difficult. WTN has cool-weather dressing covered. The writers are New York based, so the book reflects Manhattan working woman style (and snowy winters). I found their outfit ideas very inspiring and they match my lifestyle - here is a list of ideas if you want to experiment and fine-tune them. I made the list for myself (to use clothes that I already have), so did not include the super-casual options. But yes, warmly recommended, particularly if you feel you are stuck in a rut.

Don't stop the style book recommendations Dona - I am now lusting after camel wide legged trousers!
Today I am wearing:
pinterest.com/pin/118219558939616884/
(in my head)

Dona I'd be interested to hear which style books you don't recommend after reading them - save me from the same mistakes please!

Am also feeling the need for wide legged trousers this a/w

shopafrolic - I just charity shopped that exact same dress......

Hopefully : certainly anything by Gok Wan(ker)

Most style books are no good.
I had a few from the local library during summer - the After pics looked worse than the Before pics. And unless you are dressing for Halloween or are way ahead the rest of us, mid-80s, late 1990s and early 2000s styles look good on no one

Current Amazon offerings that I cannot recommend
(have browsed 1st chapters on Kindle)
The two other Nina Garcia books were not too impressive. No substance: nothing new.
Frumpy to Fabulous - I have a sneaky feeling the writer is Born Again Christian and will reveal some interesting underwear choices later in the book. Way too American for me
Rich Girls Don't Wear Polyester - d'oh. Would you take style tips from someone called Krystal Sweetwater?
Savvy chic - chatty **it
one of the Stylish at 40 books - too granny chic for me (am 39)
The Gospel According to Coco Chanel - can't get past the title.

Ujjayi

Dona you are good at committing to reading. I drift in and out too much. Read a couple with all the sunbathing in summer but has tailed off again.

Meant to be out tonight, but cancelled babysitter. Feel I have been indulging a bit too much. Dh out, nice and peaceful.

I like this Vince sweater. (Although a bit much for a sweater.)

Survived at work! Wore Gerard Darel black military shirt and slim leg trousers, with pink CLs and my new Alex Monroe rose gold shrimp necklace, which DH gave me this AM for our anniversary.

When I went to collect the DCs they were sitting on the nursery sofa together, eating biscuits. Am now on the sofa with DH and a glass of fizz, lovely!

Congrats Amber - I bet you felt fabulous and what a lovely gift! Enjoy the champagne!

Lovely knit Marsha!
During intensive periods at work, I can only read very light stuff. Sept is as intensive as it gets. A senior colleague reads Nora Roberts to wind down.
Have not bought any supermarket romances - yet. Impulse bought Italian Vogue today (because other Vogue editions I really wanted were about 12? each). But it's too dense and cerebral for my current state of mind and weighs about a kilo. Last time I bought It Vogue half of the pictures were in 3D - with very stylish glasses attached (DC still wear them).

Oh and congratulations Amber, well done!

Amber - Happy anniversary for yesterday :) Yesterday's outfit sounds fab too.

A few book recommendations from me:

Vintage Fashion by Emma Baxter Wright
100 Years of Fashion Illustration by Cally Blackman
The Golden Age of Couture - V&A publications
and this beauty to satiate your inner vintage goddess. I saw the exhibition at the V&A and spent 3 hours sketching and drooling.

Today's outfit is: Top Shop Martha's turned up at the ankle, grey slouchy linen tee with sequin motif (local boutique), Top Shop navy linen Chanel-esque jacket (via charity shop - £3 and fully lined giving it gorgeous structure), red ballet flats (New Look), silver & lapis cocktail ring (greek island buy), Monica Vinader Fiji bracelet, silver bracelet watch (Tiffany).

Am fortified with a huge pot of Assam and diving headlong into the day. More research and writing up this morning followed by an afternoon of "playing" ie creating some designs :) Have some lovely ideas with beading and hand painting which I can't wait to create.

Have a good day!!

Quick one from me: Tried this boot on in the prune, think you might like it Marsha. Unfortunately my ankles are too fat for it to work on me with a skirt. It is very lovely though.

A more cowboy-ey alternative is this like the Jalouse but with a zip one in the same lovely prune colour.

Have great days y'all .

Thanks Pickled they look great l. And comfortable. I'd really like to try on in shop. Will track them down.

Ujjayi enjoy sounds fabulous!

Late morning all...
Ujj your outfit sounds stunning. Love Assam too... (would gladly swap your day for mine). And the books sound lovely!

Just wanted to check in quickly to tell that I ordered another boxful of boring basics, this time from Yoox.com. I've found some of my all-time best bargains from them, perhaps because their website used to be a nightmare to surf, but they've revamped it! It still looks grim (and info on sizing still lacking) but browsing is very easy now. I only looked at my list of missing basics, and some classic things from the SS collections (knee-length skirts in neutrals, wide-legged and ciggy trousers in camel and black) were massively reduced. So my basket includes Moschino C&C, Helmut Lang and Dolce&Gabbana at Zara prices: all natural materials for 50 GBP or less per item! If you need classic work pieces, might be worth a look - overall everything much cheaper than my order from Outnet. Really looking forward to their winter sale...

The risky/ fun part: ordered two black leather pencil skirts (one from MMM!). Fingers crossed... (Hope I'm not repeating Hopefully's leather legging saga). Will only keep items that fit perfectly.

Good work Dona! Am doing that soon for sure. Need loads of stuff but not a/w prices for everything.

No, not AW prices! The leather skirt may be an exception for me. I can imagine so many outfits around it, to be worn right now. After searching high and low the MMM seems reasonable and has exactly the look I like. I also found an inexpensive alternative (which may or may not be too small). And as a last resort, there is always the Per Una leather pencil skirt . But am also holding back with the rest of my wishlist (long-sleeved dresses etc). Really looking forward to Matches and Yoox winter sales

Streets of Rome full of wide-legged and cigarette trousers (black and camel), worn with sandals. Am a bit tired of jeans, want to be part of it...

Outfit of the day: watermelon ramie tunic, indigo skinny jeans, low-cut black ballerinas (sloppy yes, but I took the early school run). Will go out at night if I get my work done, no idea what I will wear yet .

Me too Dona. Me too re the sales. They are so early in the actual season it's easy to match getting the things you need with the cold weather.

Love the skirts. You'll have to report back on the pencil + chambray + pearls combo.

Hi ladies - can I ask? Is there anywhere else online you can buy COS dresses? I HATE the COS website............

I don't know but my last COS dress came from eBay
Let's keep complaining about the COS website. I've complained about Yoox and look, they improved it! (Yoox and all other web retailers, please include the measurements of actual items - Outnet and NAP get it right, most others don't.)

COS inventory is really variable qualitywise. My first and only Internet order resulted in 3 items in the nastiest nylon and polyester imaginable (went back) - plus one really nice silk top (keeper and bargain).

Recently went to brick&mortar COS with a fashion insider friend - we rifled through racks and racks and found lots of tat and a few true treasures (hers obviously much edgier than mine: laser cut rubber etc). They were out on some sizes so I had to source them from eBay instead.

NaP and theoutnet leave the others in the water don't they. Oh and Matches is good.

Online shopping sites are much better than shops with websites. Yoox was the first one I ever encountered about 9 years ago now, I'll have to check out the improved version.

Have ordered this pale blue acne sweater. This and some new ankle boots should mean I can reinvigorate outfits until end of September/October when I'll look properly.

Will try with a crisp white shirt and ecru Sandro skirt. And new ankle boots yet to find (possibly Pickled's)