MN Vogue - the 20th anniversary edition

[shopafrolic]

All welcome for lighthearted chat about fashion and beauty - but bring your links!
Continuing on from Vol 19 here

The blue one is on the secret pin board too now

Hello All

Oh, it's so deathly at work at the moment, hope some more stuff comes in soon. I've changed my hours starting next week though, so I'll go from 9-3 M-Th (able to do school drop offs and pick ups) to 9-3 T, 9-5 W-Th, giving me Mondays and Fridays off. Can't wait! Lots of projects planned...

QueenC that dress looks amazing. Don't think I'm on the secret Pin board, though so can't see it on. Am sure you look fabulous!

Sleep I really like the darker hair, and perfect for autumn :)

School gate clothes: I live quite rurally, so mornings tends to be a mix of dog-walking fleeces, running gear, and quite a lot of practical casual (fleeces, 3/4 baggy trousers etc). The occasional Mulberry (it's local to us), but most Mums definitely put more thought into their kids' wardrobes than their own - speaking to them most seem to think it a great extravagance to think about themselves at all, which I always find a bit of a shame.

After hanging around here, I've definitely upped my game, and by the end of last term was getting compliments most days, with a few people asking me how I choose what to wear, and a friend asking me to help with her style . It's really lovely, but I'm still learning myself, and am nowhere anywhere near stylish every day. I also find that I often get the most compliments when wearing stuff that I now think is a bit too girly for my style, or too matchy-matchy, so it's left me a little confused .

Last day of the nice weather here, so still got my head stuck in the sand about autumn clothes, but think I may pop into town on my new day off on Monday...

I'm out shopping, will add Carrie, think I missed Santa and Grumpy too.

Mom are you on Pin?

Thanks Anni x

What you up to tomorrow Mom? A marathon?

Lovely dress queen. Looks very versatile as well.

Mom yes the colour looks funny on that link. It's brighter and less mossy in the flesh. It's a colour I wear quite a lot though - I have some tops and trousers in it as I think it suits me. I am dark: dark brown hair (long, usually up) with very dark (nearly black) eyes but very 'English' skin (i.e. pink and I blush easily!). I have one mixed race (English/Indian) grandparent but that only really shows in my eyes and my general build. I wear a lot of black/navy/grey for work but that obviously won't do for a wedding.

I actually haven't worn that dress much as it was bought for me by an ex-boyfriend for my birthday in 2009 shortly before we broke up. I'm pretty short of options though and I think it's probably the best bet.

sleep I think I must live very close to you!

QueenC I'm possibly not going to be helpful here........ but hope that being honest is okay? I think the colour of the blue dress 'lifts' you much more than wearing black. It's hard to see the exact shape of the VW dress in the photo as it's a bit blurry but I also prefer the way your shoulders are exposed with the blue dress. I take your point about the creasing across the tummy but at the moment I still prefer the blue to the black. I may be alone in this and you do look great in both - I'm just being very picky!
You still have some time don't you? Are there other options out there in blue? It really suits you..........

queenc have just seen and commented on pin. i LOVE it, you look seriously hot.

was happy with my outfit today until i went out and almost fainted from heat exhaustion. wore ripped diesel straight legs, rolled up, with cream slubby wang vest and leopard pointy flats. man it's hot! am now in same vest with denim shorts.

we had another kitchen reno meeting this morning. I am SO excited and almost there with deciding what we want. tomorrow we are range cooker shopping, have narrowed it down to two.

also need to choose flooring asap - what do you all have, and do you like it? i did want flagstones but DH says no, too harsh appaz and he doesn't want to pay for underfloor heating on top of other (escalating) costs . so am considering engineered wood now. I want something v dark, though, a walnut type colour with some richness.

I've just looked at all the comments on Pin and everyone loves the black (I do too) - I just think you can really carry off a strong colour.......

Foxy we have 250+ year old yellow and red brick flooring with lots of dips and holes in it.........v pretty but a major toddler trip hazard

to you all. I really appreciate all your comments. shop I'm totally with you on the blue dress. The colour and shape at the top is perfect for me but the creasing is a huge problem. If it looks like that after 5 mins imagine after a night of dancing . I adore the Westwood but the colour is stopping me get too excited. If it was the same blue it would be beyond perfect. I think it's a keeper though. I will try it on again once I have someone at home to help me (the corset bit is too hard to do up alone).

Thnkyou again for all your patience with the dress hunt x

foxy we have oiled oak and I love it, really hard wearing. When dd spilt a bottle of balsamic on the floor I nearly cried but it didn't soak in at all. The only trouble is the grooves and when kids vomit on it!

carrie I think that's what depresses me too is that so many mums seem to spend more effort and money into their dc appearance than their own.

Ooh, Foxy exciting, I wondered if something was up with all the kitchen pinning going on!

We've got engineered wood (throughout most of downstairs), and I wouldn't have it in a kitchen, TBH. In places it has got water damaged, so gone a bit bloated, and a couple of the panels have had the top bit lifted off exposing the bottom of the engineered wood (which is like chipboard). It was put in by the developers 10 years ago, and it's the first thing we'd change about the kitchen, but we're waiting for everything else to become unbearable .

I'd like flagstones too for my mythical next kitchen, but am slightly put off by all the tales of how awful it is to have - to keep clean, to break things, being cold etc etc etc. I've not yet formulated an alternative yet though...

I have hideous lino at the minute Foxy.

On the list for when we do ours are...
Flagstones
Polished concrete
Slate
Big old reclaimed floorboards
And the concrete from last nights grand designs... They grind the surface before polishing it... Looks fab, with the stones showing.

I have had a white tiled kitchen floor, which looked amazing when freshly mopped but was a bugger for things breaking when dropped, including the tiles.

I'll add people to the pin group after school.
I can't do it on my phone.

QueenC and Carrie can't see your pin boards.

Foxy hmm flooring for kitchen. I'm on it now. I have a very bouncy floor. Had ceramic tiles ages ago,despite over boarding the grout cracked and tiles eventually cracked too...it was a mess. Dreamt of limestone but had to put Kardndene " limestone" down which has been great, love the light colour, not too plasticky and it's bloody tough....but it's not a natural product. Now we're knocking through the dining /kitchen I'm wanting to carry the oak flooring from the dining into the kitchen. I think it will look fab but do worry about water and spillages as pointed out by "QueenC"

I have a Falcon range......it's 14 years old and I love it. The thing I wanted were solid doors and a hob that was moulded in one piece....no screws or joins in which dirt could collect. I'm fussy aren't I ? Looked at Lacanche (?) too....fab too.

Hot...had to get changed when I got home today.

Ooh Kali, how exciting - PM me if you want to confirm precise locations !

We have oiled solid oak floors in the dining room, living room, stairs and upstairs hall and landing - love it. Porcelain tiled kitchen and family room and all bathrooms and carpeted bedrooms. Really pleased with the tiles in the kitchen although one did get broken when a bottle of champagne exploded out of the caterer's hand as she was opening it at my 40th birthday . Poor woman was mortified but by the sound of it there was nothing she could have done. We have had it replaced since, without a problem. We have electric underfloor heating beneath all of the tiled floors.

I've invited Carrie, Grumpy and Santa I think.

It confuses me, with people using real names on Pin.
Who else?

Me Anni

I bought a navy merino v neck cardigan from Gap, but it's rather boring, so I'm not doing a link and will return it.
I bought Ds2 two pairs of nee naw firemen pj's... think I just wanted to buy something.

Also going to return the Becksondergaard navy heart scarf, it's nice but not me at all.

Queen - just looked at the pics - I have to say I'm with Shop on the blue, fabulous colour and you look so svelte...

Marsha how did your day go?

I'm sure I invited you the other day Dry, I'll check now.

i have invited you Dry, you need to accept the invitation.

Anni may have missed it....technically challenged at times!

Foxy we have similar tastes in kitchens! Mine is cream painted, cream walls, duck egg roman blinds....an thinking either a duck egg feature wall or a hand painted duck egg blue sideboard . Black granite and appliances.

I may have hot water and a working washing machine tonight....yey .... Imagine my teens this morning " what NO HOT WATER?"

have had to cancel my drum lessons for at least the next three months if not longer have to have an operation on my bad shoulder next week so don't be surprised if I turn up to the MU rocking a scarf as a sling Doctors have finally worked out why my shoulder keeps dislocating, it's something to do with the bone around my shoulder blade having 'grown and deformed' and pushing the arm joint out of the socket where it's meant to sit so I have to have the actual socket all filed down and reshaped so the joint sits in the socket properly which sounds very grim

I recently had some extra bone growth in my hand filed down one - it was actually better pain-wise than I expected, though frustrating that I couldn't move it. Hope it all goes well.