MN Vogue Vol 6

[BrandyAlexander]

All are welcome to chat style and beauty on this thread!

Ha

Right ladies - I look like death - no make up, grey Whistles sweatshirt over long black vest, indigo J Brand high rise skinnies and my Jo Whiley boots! Clothes great, me - not great!
So - to make me feel inspired does anyone fancy telling me what they're wearing today?

Ha ha,I won't be inspiring you. I have a very snotty dc so figured I'd end up covered in it so am wearing my comfy fleece (in my defence it's north face and fitted so as stylish as a fleece can be). Not seeing anyone today though otherwise would have made more effort!

OK Shop not sure it will inspire you but you did ask...

Boiler suit, wells, gloves, mask, hard hat and a pop of neon in form of a hi-vis gilet DH and I have been disposing of asbestos from a plot of land we own at our local waste plant, in the pouring rain. Oh the glamour!

Is this the first boiler suit mention on MNV?

About to jump in shower, will report back with new and hopefully more stylish outfit

wellies not wells

I posted this on amber's other thread so copying for you shop...

really old distressed diesel jeans, rolled up a la boyfriend jeans
sheer long sleeved white top (me&em sale bargain)
blush vest (as above)
grey slippers

for school run removed slippers - you'll be relieved to know - and added
clay ash virgins
grey jersey biker jacket (aka my NBF)
charcoal star print scarf
charcoal cashmere wrist warmers
tan studded cross-body bag

this thread has got so interesting over night, dagnamit for being so busy this morning! quickly....

I am 33 and the last three years have undoubtedly been my best/easiest so far. I had a lovely childhood in some ways but it was also extremely hard - severely depressed, verging on alcoholic father who was and still is prone to mood swings. to the extent that I can't/won't let my kids spend too much time with him, which is horrible as in other ways he's a great man. he just has demons that he can't or won't address.

my mum did her absolute best but i do wish she had been strong enough to leave him. she struggles with her weight a lot so her dieting was always part of my consciousness, even if i didn't understand why

perhaps not unsurprisingly i ended up with an eating disorder, depression and low-self-esteem in my late teens/early twenties which was only really addressed once i got married at 28 and suddenly realised enough was enough. luckily for me i married an absolutely amazing man who has supported me through some big changes. equally luckily i went to a yoga class which started me on a path to accepting myself fully for the first ever time

anyway. my children will NEVER know me or their father to diet. we are both very active - he runs and cycles, I get up and do a daily yoga practice before they wake up at 7am. they both love choosing clothes and now we finally have some financial security - DH is in a v v v competitive industry where short term contracts are the norm and was only lucky enough to secure a perm position last year - I am so enjoying rediscovering my love of style and slowly acquiring pieces i adore.

I really want the rest of my 30s to reveal some kind of career for me, as although I work PT i don't feel massively fulfilled or challenged in the way that DH does daily . but i have faith it will happen, my youngest is only just 2.

oof, essay alert! sorry for the waffle. to end, I just want to say thanks for making me feel so welcome here and for the invitation shop and marsha, unfortunately we already have plans on the weekend in question but another time for sure! maybe we could go to the J Crew opening?!

Ooops hadn't seen Amber's thread. Sorry for duplicating. Love the boiler suit!
And not over sharing foxy. Glad life has moved forwards so positively for you. An old school friend of mine had eating disorders when we were young. She is now a very successful food blogger and was featured in the Guardian this weekend so I'm beyond thrilled for her.
Funny how childhood affects us all so much. Too many issues for me to go into and after much counselling etc. I move forward and don't look back but in terms of body image my mum never dieted, was fairly healthy and as a result I don't pay much attention. If the clothes get tighter I eat a bit less, that's about as good as I get!
It was only once I joined this thread that I started to look at my bum in jeans! Must pay more attention!

Foxy I'm so pleased things are good now. Yes to another date further on! So as many as possible can make it. J Crew sounds fab.

I don't weigh myself and make sure the clothes fit thing, can be slow on the uptake sometimes but I want a way to fit into my clothes with the least amount of thought on the issue!

Love the boiler suit Blond.

I am wearing
MiH in storm
J Crew pistachio t
I&I bubble gum pink, love this colour.
Feel like a sweet today.

Oh and career, well I'd love to get back into it more too. Just so much I want to do, I get a bit rabbit in headlights sometimes, but as long as I move forward a bit, even if slowly, then that's ok.

Love the sound of your outfit shop especially the boots! And foxy's too. Not quite so keen on blond's but I'm sure you're rocking it.

Very interesting to hear everyone's stories and their relationship with clothes and body image. I felt under a great deal of scrutiny in my 20's and so too developed an eating disorder. < wave of solidarity to foxy > It was sadly fairly common amongst my cohorts. I wouldn't say I was depressed fortunately. I hid my insecurities my being fairly arrogant though which again was prevalent in my line of work.

I now have a surprisingly healthy relationship with food although it took a while. I hope I have matured into a nicer more approachable person since having DD. To be fair, it wouldn't be hard! I was a bit of a brat.

Weight has crept on lately through sheer gluttony but I'm not distraught much and I'm just trying to up the exercise and reduce the food so that my size 10's actually fit and aren't threatening to explode at the seams. It appears I have put on almost a stone in the last 12-18 months. That takes some doing!

I now try to wear my 'better' clothes more often than in my youth as I always had a habit of keeping more high-end items for 'good'. A 'good' that never really presented itself and things languished at the back of the wardrobe until they went out of fashion.

And another wave of solidarity to Marsha with the broodiness.

Good, I do waffle on.

And I'm a scruff today.....Reiss Ross jeans which have seen better days and a John Smedley navy crew neck. Even writing it makes me want to go and change except it is freezing in my city today.

My uncle lives in your city Wine I love it there.....

It is beautiful shop but cold. You must come and say hello next time you are here. We have fabulous shops!

[waves] Hello everyone. I'm in my late 30s (is that how one describes 38 these days? ), and am lucky to have always had pretty high self esteem (thanks Mum & Dad, you did a great job ). My mum buys clothes all.the.time, and I was brought up wandering around shopping malls, hunting out bargains. Her motto was never buy full price, and she's horrified at the price of some things I own (and I'm not a Chanel kind of girl lol), but I don't have nearly so much stuff as her lol.

When my children were young, I really went through a fashion wilderness of wondering how I was supposed to dress now (this was also complicated by moving to a rural location after 10 years in London), and wore plenty of Boden and the like, although it never really felt like me. It's been the discovery of fashion blogs like DMBL40 and similar that have demonstrated ways of translating fashion into real (family) life that has re-awakened my personal interest. I'm gradually replacing some of the frumpy stuff (although still wear some stuff that's not quite me for work), and have felt much more like I'm back on keel.

Unfortunately (for me) my 7YO daughter doesn't seem to have the slightest interest in fashion, finds clothes boring, and insists on wearing as many clashing stripes/patterns in one outfit that she can, but I guess she'll get there in time, and I'm actually grateful that she's so emotionally immature in this respect - I'd find it much harder dealing with her more precocious classmates who want to wear heels, make-up and have opinions on what their mother is wearing .

What we should have definitely passed onto our children is our skinny genes. DH and I are both of the "eat what you like, but don't put on weight" types. We also have off switches when it comes to food, and a preference for healthy eating. DH also has a physical need for regular exercise (me, not so much, but I do it to stay healthy). Between all these factors, I hope our children shouldn't ever need to worry about how their bodies look (apart from having a flat chest...).

Would love that wine it was the scene of my hen weekend. Lots of fun and great memories.

Wow, it's certainly interesting hearing everyone's stories especially how your parents can affect things. Luckily mine don't seem to have given me any hang ups.

I now feel like a complete scruff bag sitting here in my fleece but will definitely be changing out of it for school pick up as it's now sunny.

My 2 necklaces arrived today. The hobbs one is lovely but made me look like I was paying dress up. The banana republic one I think is a keeper. I did also order this which is so me but I do already own a lot of navy tops so not sure whether to keep or not.

I like that top QC, how would you wear it?

Know what you mean about playing dressing up - I feel like that a lot lol. Sometimes it can be in a good way (I feel v grown up in my Me&Em dress today), other times, not so much.

I've just thought of something. Does anyone else find that there are items of clothes that fit well, suit your colouring and shape, you get loads of complements when you wear it, but it's just not...you? I don't tend to favour particularly feminine clothes (flared skirts, nipped in waists type of things), but if I wear something like that, I tend to get more compliments than normal. Case in point is this dress: Fat Face. I have one v similar, fits brilliantly, lots of people like it, but it's just a bit mumsy to me. Anyone else like that?

carrie with jeans like everything else

I rarely get complimented

That sounded tough, Foxy and Wine, glad you are doing well now.

Carrie, I think my children are destined to be tall, skinny and not well endowed too. I'm not so skinny anymore, now a 12, could do with some yoga sessions to tone up!

QC, that is a lovely top, I am going to order it. Nice for dressing up jeans.

QC

My (male) boss is quite old fashioned, and always compliments me if I'm wearing a couple of my particular dresses (usually the ones that are less "me" as above), and then has a total panic that I may have considered it inappropriate, and of course it wasn't meant in that way, and, oh I hope I didn't offend you. Bless him. He reminds me of my dad.

Dec, my daughter did slightly anxiously ask me if she would have big boobies this weekend [weep], and I had to break it to her that, no, she probably wouldn't.

Oh, she was asking me why I wear a bra, and TBH, it was a tricky one to answer. "Um, for support....?"

QueenC and Decam I love that Gap top too, am tempted to get it too. Are there any discounts at Gap atm?

Carrie I think I could be the same in very girly dresses. Not really me.

Damn you all, I'm going to keep the top aren't I? No discounts at mo, I paid full price for it as I ordered last week with the necklace whilst feeling sorry for myself surrounded by ill kids. There's just been a discount code so not sure there'll be another for a while.

I just put on the banana republic necklace here to dress up for the school run having now banished the fleece but much as I love it I don't love me in it. So I'll send it back and next time I talk about statement necklaces please give me a slap and remind me they are not me!

Unless I win the lottery and then I will buy this statement necklace

Sounds alert - black mini Gracie's available on the Outnet