M N Vogue vol 3

[shopafrolic]

A continuation of style chat for anyone wanting to talk fashion, new purchases etc.....

Hope you find your way back to us Dona!

To you?

Yes yes yes! I'm going to pretend I'm 35 not 40!!

Shopafrolic .

Shop, I'll be 45 this year!!!

Raising my glass to 40+ Bowie wearers! X

Cheers Shop!
Re: style mashups, remember trainer courts.

Trainer courts must have passed me by.... Sounds as though that might not be such a bad thing though? I googled for pics but no joy......

Will you really pickled? you don't look it at all!!

I am a sworn Bowie wearer, they are fabulous. I am 28, but I think they can look fab at any age. My mum and I have matching high tops and she is 63 (not wedge ones though, she doesn't do heels).

So what are you ladies wearing with your Bowies? Tips please?

Thanks Amber .

Trainer courts??
I can't even conjure up an image, probably just as well.

Wearing mine with TS indigo skinnies and these in 3 different colours (not cropped on me) and possibly with some J Brand cords that Dona eschewed.

Thanks. Glad skinny cords will work too. Am excited now. Two Ash bargains in a week!

Pickled nothing wrong with skinny cords in general, they look fabulous on most people, the ones I tried on were just too short on me and the wrong texture.

Remember all the style analysis talk we had last year? The fantastic thing about finding your personal style is starting to see which items work for you, and which don't. And instead of having a close full of okayish clothes that will do there are more and more perfect things in there. Anything vaguely "Natural" is all wrong on me, and I think the earthiness of corduroy just doesn't work on me. Case in point, I have several nearly unworn corduroy blazers - good fit and great materials, but I never wear them. Velvet is totally different: I wore a velvet jacket to death and replaced it with another, had an evening dress with a velvet bodice that I really loved and a black velvet bag (back in the early 1990s) that I loved until the strap broke.

Thank god for eBay! I don't sew much but sometimes I prefer to do small alterations and repairs myself. My father bought me a sewing machine when I was a teenager (back then H&M wasn't an option). It's been a loyal friend, but in one of our moves recently the really simple plastic pin that holds the thread broke, and sewing properly without it just didn't work - stitches were too loose or too tight. Via eBay, I managed to find the spare part (in Sicily, of all places!). The spare arrived in an envelope, I screwed it on, and it fit perfectly. The machine is now fixed, for the royal expense of 3 euros.

What are you ladies wearing today? I'll go for the red Goat jacket if I manage to sew on the missing button.

Just reporting in that the Goat marigold Lola dress is being swiftly returned. Just didn't look great - bit like a nightie on me. Nice colour though. Think I need to fit to more fitted styles.

Wearing a me&em sale purchase today - tulip dress in navy - got the size down and nearly couldn't get it over my bottom half to put on but now it is on I like it very much!

Thanks Emo. Was there any stretch in the Lola? I've some concerns that if there isn't, getting the fit right can be tricky. (Still thinking about Pandora but more doubtful about it now. Jersey is so much easier.)
Me&Em sounds great!

Dona a bit of stretch, was not uncomfortable to wear. Didn't do anything really for me though especially from behind - think it came up a bit short too on me. Probably just not my style!

emo I got my Me&Em sales order this morning: Cap sleeve dress in navy (have already the grey marl one) and Scoop Neck dress in plum

Forgot to add: They are both keepers. So comfortable and flattering!

Emo, the Goat dresses are so simply cut that the fit has to be perfect, or it will not look good. This is why I am not ordering at the moment - hate returns, they are faffy and expensive from Italy (Yoox being the exception - their warehouse is in Bologna, so returns are free).

Love them Fritzi! What a shame - I completely forgot the Me+Em sale - the Knit Fit jacket (emerald) and Pocket Swing dress (navy) would have been perfect transitional items for me, but sold out. I have enough merino dresses, but would need a good jersey one for late spring when it's too hot for wool but too cool for my sleeveless lightweight shifts.

Am enjoying the superlong J Brands. Love the close-cut straight leg shape, happy I kept them after all.

Sounds like a small thing, but I finally managed to sew on some missing buttons. I haven't worn a favorite jacket for a full year because of pending repairs Is anyone else a clothes repair/maintenance procrastinator?

Dona repairs and clothes maintenance are an absolute pain - I detest sewing on buttons and find I am constantly losing them off my coat - I think they fall off as I tend to wear cross body bags and the strap rubs them off. Have two skirts I can't wear as they need repair and three dresses that need adjustments, way beyond my abilities, and the dressmaker I was going to bring them to has only gone and broken her arm!

The other thing I put off is washing silk and wool items - have a gentle cycle on the machine but find drying a faff - having to lie them flat on towels all over the place and then they take ages to dry while DH steps on them and DD decides they are there for her to try on. Are there any genius solutions to this problem that I have missed?

BTW I have finally ordered that 'You are what you wear book' you recommended ages ago - it arrives on Tuesday so I'm expecting a style miracle to happen in my life

Liberty magic wand and pumpkin!
No, seriously, it can be a painful book to read because it helps you realize some mistakes you may have been repeating (some of them expensive too). But if you do the purges and the self-analysis, it will really help.

What really irritates me is that so many clothes have poorly finished machine-sewn buttons - no knots and weak overlock machine type thread - the stitches unravel immediately. This may be really obvious to everyone else, but the next time you need to sew on buttons, make sure you buy proper button thread. It's thicker, stronger and more hardwearing (mine are 100% polyester and made by Gütermann - buy here), you can make proper knots, and if you use that, you will never need to replace that button again. I didn't know but a kind lady in a specialist shop advised me - my mother just rolled her eyes when I mentioned that she never bothered to tell me.

I hate washing silks too. I have a good washing machine and the perfect program too, but somehow getting started is a problem, plus I hate the drying and ironing part. I'm procrastinating on my silk/cotton Marni coat right now. I've actually outsourced laundry and ironing and repairs on children's clothes to our lovely Nanny and our cleaner, but feel that I should at least have the energy to wash my own woolens. You wish.

Does anyone have one of those handheld clothes steamers? Do they work? I saw a salesperson using one at COS, with miraculous results, but have forgotten to look into that.

I don't have one Dona but I bought a top from Matches that came out of the stock room very creased. They used a hand held on it and hey presto, crease free in about 10 secs!

I had no idea there was such a thing as buttom thread! What a great tip - thank you Dona. I shall check it out. I swear I have sewn the same button back onto my coat at least four times in two months.
DH bought a steam cleaner recently for general household use - I must read the book that came with it and see if it can be used on clothes.