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February's "shop more wisely {but no less avidly)" thread

997 replies

LetThemEatCake · 01/02/2010 12:04

Ladies, welcome to Spring

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LetThemEatCake · 10/02/2010 13:47

this so needs to be mine

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DolceeBanana · 10/02/2010 14:10

Gawwwd...! Having shit day. Brother had car accident this morning: he's fine now thank God, but very shaken...and had about 50 tiny dark moles zapped from my neckline!!!Lovely...! Plus baby sitter let me down so I had to take 2 DCs to Docs for the mole zapping appointment, and then cleaner did a shite obvious rush job so I had to point this out (diplomatically)and she had to redo bits!!!!! (Anyone else get this problem!!!_she's only been doing it for a month FFS!!!)Anyway, any ideas on outfits for wedding...I have no brain and cannot think.....

traceybath · 10/02/2010 14:15

LTEC that is gorgeous.

Dolce - nightmare day. Have forgotten are they formal/posh weddings? Have you tried Harvey Nicks in Bristol or LK Bennett/Reiss/Comptoir? Forgotten what size/height/colouring you are . . .

Just tried on white baxters - they look good with wedge heels - is that right??

DolceeBanana · 10/02/2010 14:29

Hi traceybath - Its going to be full of 'young' (aherm...relatively speaking), cool, 30/40 somethings...Forgot about H Nicks, great idea!!! Am 5'4, size 10...dark blonde, medium skin tone....need some good advice. Its a smart do, but don't want to look stuffy.....Haven't been to a wedding in years...what do you stylish ladies think? I also want something I can wear again, so can be dressed up/down...

Haven't been to try Baxters yet - are white ones nice?Mind you, white with my gang would last all of 5 mins...

roary · 10/02/2010 14:35

Sweet bejeesus, I go away from my computer for a few days and there are 729 messages!!

Just to let all ladies interested in the travel wrap know: LTEC, you are right, they are introducing two new colours at the end of the month: a deep purple and a midnight blue. Dark red not coming till end of Nov, sadly (would have gone for it had there been one in dark red now!). Plan at the moment is to wait and see what the colours look like and then choose. I like the charcoal and it does look soooo cozy.

Also, was walking past Karen Millen and saw this jacket. What say you, ladies? I could get it now and wear around my increasingly enormous bump without closing it. I just find that whenever I look for jackets there are never any there so feel like I should strike while the iron is hot. Would give the slightly vacant sales assistants in that shop a shock by trying on clothes anyway!

LTEC, are you really moving back to Oz? DH is from Perth and is constantly at me to move back (we lived there for a couple of years and I was not a big fan). But how, oh how, will you online shop? Australian online shopping seems about 10 years behind the times! There of course many compensations, like SUN and yummy breakfasts at beachside cafes...

mrsjuan · 10/02/2010 14:37

Fleecy - I like that top. I got this in the sale which looks better and smarter in real life and I quite like the idea of having a cream one too. I am petite (well, short) so might go for the one from the ts website.

Love the dress LTEC. Not for me but you'd look great in it.

Dolce - what a nightmare day (and it's only just past lunchtime). Hope your brother feels better soon.

mm - chef's table - how exciting. Let us know how it goes. Are these your leather leggings?

The only time I've used a cleaner (a few months after DD was born and I'd got so snowed under it was ridiculous) she spent ages fiddling around and didn't (IMO) do a very thorough clean (I am a bit precious about skirting boards etc.) so it's put me off a bit. I think I'd rather have someone come and play with DD for an hour or so so that I could do it myself.

Illnesses seem to have left the Juan household thank goodness as DH is off to New York tomorrow.

DolceeBanana · 10/02/2010 14:45

mrsj thanks..

..Yes, Re cleaners... I'm quite picky and get irritated by having to point things out that they are supposed to have done...I have said quite emphatically, I think, that I want it immaculate !!!! and even asked if she had enough time to do it all...3.5 hours really as she always goes over...

Glad all better in you house mrsj and excited to hear about the treat(s) mrJ will be bringing back from NY !!!!

DolceeBanana · 10/02/2010 14:48

Like the stripey top mrsj!!! I am a big fan of stripes and spots...the kids wear them too and I even try to kit DH out in all manner of stripes, although he often is

hanaflower · 10/02/2010 14:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LetThemEatCake · 10/02/2010 14:53

DB - what a crapola day Glad your brother is okay.

I have not had a bad day but my dh is ever so annoying I got up at 7, got the dcs dressed and sorted, baby fed, and then headed off for a run at 8am with the idea of being back at 8.45 so that he could take dd to nursery on his way to his office.

I return at 8.45, kids are still having breakfast (and not very well at that) - they should have been brushed, teeth done, shoes on ready to go. DH is still in PJs!!

DH finally leaves at 9.20 (nursery starts at 9.15 and is a 15 min drive away) with the instruction to leave the carseat there so that I can pick dd up at 12.15. I spend a pleasant morning with my boys.

Go to get dd as planned, of course there is a fund raising bake & jumble sale on that dh was given a flier about yesterday but neglected to tell me about so of course i look like the rubbish, non-baking, non-involved mum. I try to compensate by buying loads of jumble and then look for the carseat. The minute my back is turned, ds1 is on the cake stall like a ravenous beast. I am trying to contain him while simultaneously holding wriggling baby and looking for car seat which of course, it transpires, he drove off with. So then I am stuck there for another 30 mins waiting for him to come back with it, by which time I have bought untold amounts of jumble and the dcs have eaten ridiculous amounts of cake!! And I've had to make small talk with the Fleece Brigade.

roary - yes, moving back end of year but Sydney vastly different from Perth Yes online shopping well behind but I intend to change all of that plus fewer people + bigger shops + mum on hand to babysit = nicer shopping experience and fewer trips to post office for those dreaded returns!!!

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LetThemEatCake · 10/02/2010 14:58

oh yes, my cleaner is v.annoying. She folds the clothes in my dirty clothes basket, yet leaves dustballs under the sofa .. she also does up all the buckles on the baby's seat etc, zips up his sleeping bag, for the purpose of aesthetics ... never mind that I then have to undo them one-handed when I need them

I'm with hana though - complete slattern so, whatever. Just so long as she scrubs the loo

god I don't half witter on do I?

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DolceeBanana · 10/02/2010 15:04

Mmmm - yummy cake LTEC, thanks...!

Your morning sounds rather like my usual one - DS starts nursery at 9.15, and its a 15 min ride away! so yes it is quite a feat to get there on time but we do manage it (mostly)....!Thankfully DH is long gone to work by then so its manageable, heaven knows how we'd get there otherwise...I mean, they mean well, don't they but as you say, they are EVER so annoying on occasions!

I bet you could have screamed when you came back to the late breakfast scene!!! Men eh!?

Lol about 'fleece brigade'!!!

Anyway, have decided on this whaddya think?

MarshaBrady · 10/02/2010 15:04

Clocking in before school run. Much better mood, realised it doesn't matter that ds didn't sing in the French Assembly for parents. Silly saucisson.

Very excited to be going shopping tomorrow (and re-buying the boots, what a numpty!). I hope they have Antik Batik cos this caught my eye and they've sold out. One to try on I think, could look pg or as dh said like I'm going to a Greek wedding...

DolceeBanana · 10/02/2010 15:13

Frigging link ...its the somerset in oak!!!

Oh Marsha - I totally get the french assembly thing. DS was a sheep again in his nativity play at nursery last xmas, whilst the same boys who look 4 going on 50 got the juicy roles!!! I am so not a competitive parent! But it really irked me that he never even got to be a bloody shepherd ! I was a bit crestfallen because he'd learned all the special songs and words, and it was his 'last' nursery nativity before starting school this year ...although I did tell myself that in the end it didn't matter! And it really doesn't....But I totally know what you mean!!

MarshaBrady · 10/02/2010 15:15

Even worse Dolce, they were all meant to sing together and do the same stuff - he just didn't! Still one other cried so I suppose it was better than that.

DolceeBanana · 10/02/2010 15:16

Re dress Marsha - on me nah! Good on a Laura Bailey or SJP look alikey...close? V Pretty though....

LetThemEatCake · 10/02/2010 15:25

DB - can you wear halternecks?

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DolceeBanana · 10/02/2010 15:25

Oh I see...well, he obviously knows his own mind then !...which, is a GOOD thing!

Yes, and at least he didn't totally humiliate you by wetting himself on stage! That could have given reason to clout admonish him !!!

I apparently humiliated my Mother on two occasions whilst on stage - one where I laughed out loud throughout an entire play - it was a serious case of the giggles (and I was 15!), you know where you actually get frightened cos you can't stop; and once where I wet myself (I was about 5, hoenstly))and my Mother who is very Hyacinth Bucket concerned about how others view her was traumatised by the embarrassment I vowed NEVER to be like this ...although a poo on stage might be the straw to break the proverbial!

DolceeBanana · 10/02/2010 15:27

LTEC - yes, actually I can ... they tend to suit me...ooh, why?

DolceeBanana · 10/02/2010 15:29

Just feeding DC3, back in a minute...

dexter73 · 10/02/2010 15:32

LTEC - Barrats also have these in an 8 for only £40.

Fleecy · 10/02/2010 15:40

dolce I have the Somerset in Oak - it was a 30th birthday present from DH (we don't really do presents so a lovely treat!) and I've used it so much. I love it! And it's such a classic you'd get years out of it. Well, that's my plan anyway!

Works nicely with a winter coat but also with bright summer colours, like orange and hot pink.

MarshaBrady · 10/02/2010 15:51

lol Dolcee, but harsh cheese about your mother. So yes it's good he didn't do a pee! Got to remember at 4.5 it would be quite intense having all these big adult faces staring at you.

Glad it's a nah re the dress I can't get dress and boots, and I still want those boots so don't want to be distracted.

LetThemEatCake · 10/02/2010 16:00

Marsha I am absurdly pleased that you are getting those boots Are you keeping the other ones as well. Your dh makes me laugh ... Greek wedding indeed. My dh constantly disses my clothes (the sparklier things, like those Antik sandals) by saying that I look like I'm in an amateur production of Jesus Christ Superstar

dexter yes saw those but not leather

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dexter73 · 10/02/2010 16:06

LTEC - Sorry didn't realise they weren't leather. I'll let you borrow my boots for your holiday! They are lovely even though they spend most of the time covered in mud!
Btw love the orange dress - very Margo!