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We shop therefore we are.. Wise & Avid

999 replies

blossoming · 23/05/2010 17:59

Thanks to ltec for the new title.

OP posts:
notyummy · 28/05/2010 20:42

Can't find the running thread cake?

LetThemEatCake · 28/05/2010 21:03

here notyummy

roary · 28/05/2010 21:23

Love the stripey dresses!

Hoping you can all assist in dressing me. On tues I am giving a lecture to a hundred or so army majors (as you do with a 7 wk old - they were desperate as I do this for them quite often and they pay me so
more shopping budget!). They are all in uniform - yes , great eye candy - and I need to be smart. But all
my work clothes (suits etc)are for my much smaller non bf boobs. What to wear? I do like to look glam because they listen better!!

I have an old boden wrap dress that might work. Or a skirt and cashmere jumper with heels? We will
draw a veil over the visit where I forgot my heels to change into and ended up in the faded
flats I wear in the garden. The military always notice your shoes!!

roary · 28/05/2010 21:28

Also great ny times article about how fashion forward the maxi is. Can't link as on iPhone but is in their fab style section which I thoroughly recommend as a good read....

Romanarama · 28/05/2010 21:29

roary not as bad as last time I gave a talk to a room of soldiers. I had split my trousers! . I think it's just possible that no one noticed.

Romanarama · 28/05/2010 21:31

the ny times link here

roary · 28/05/2010 21:34

roma that is fantastic. Poor you!
The first one I gave was to senior NCOs and I was told they would be a tough crowd. I thought it had gone vv well and they all seemed to be attentive etc. Their commanding officer told me he'd heard it was a hit because they were all discussing my legs afterwards. Bit like being whistled at by builders: both offensive and complimentary.

VerityBrulee · 28/05/2010 22:07

Hi

I have spent my last 2 evening in A&E with dh who needed 3 stitches in hiss finger after unsuccessfully trying to prise too-frozen ice-cream out of it's carton with a knife , and ds2 who fell in the playground and thought he'd broken an ankle but it was just sprained

Families, eh. I haven't spoken to my father in about 17 years. My parents spilt up when I was 4, and he was not exactly father of the year. His fuckwittedness hugely contributed to the eating disorder I suffered all through my teens and early 20s, but then when I had therapy I felt really empowered to say 'Enough'. I could find him in 2 phone calls, but I have no desire to. He had his chance to be a good father and he blew it. It sounds very harsh written down in balck and white but that's how I feel. I know if he was in my life he would cause me stress and anxiety, so he's not. I did spend a lot of time grieving for the father I wanted to have, and I am envious of friends with lovely dads, but that's life. It would be lovely for the dc to have a nice grandad, but my mum is a fab granny so they are happy with that. Dhs parents are shockingly dysfunctional as parents and grand-parents also, but I think that's one reason we work hard at being the best parents we can be to our dc - because we don't want them to turn out like us

I know I have missed loads on the thread, but Whelk I feel so, so sad for your friends dss, I hope they get lots of professional help to come to terms with what has happened. It is hard enough for an adult to understand, let alone for a child.

Bunjies I totally understand you, my ds is 12 and has one more year in primary before making the move to a school 5 times the size of the one he is in now, it's a scarey time. Do what you can to nurture the friendships with the football boys, once he has time to get used to the idea of the move i'm sure he'll be ok.

Hells no ideas on what to wear for a night out, must work on my social life. Dcs on the other hand live in a social whirl of parties, trips and playdates - I am rather

blossoming · 28/05/2010 22:20

verity, sorry to hear of your troubles.
Be sure to look out for eye candy no.9 Mike Phillips tomorrow.

OP posts:
VerityBrulee · 28/05/2010 22:24

when I first started to watch rugby with dh I just didn't 'get'it, the only way to get through a game was to pick the best looking palyer on the team and follow him through the match. Added bonus to have one on the opposition too!

AWellHungParliament · 28/05/2010 22:57

I wish I could tell you about Manchester but having lived in this area for the last 7 years, I could count on one hand the number of times I have been 'out' there.
One particularly fabulous evening was spent here.

I suppose Manchester could have a reputation for being a little wagtastic but I think there is a huge variety of 'types' and you could probably wear whatever you fancy without raising any eyebrows.

One thing I will say is that its not very warm right now!

notyummy · 28/05/2010 22:59

LTEC - thanks for the link. I have commented - better late than never and all that...

reallygrumpy · 28/05/2010 23:12

Verity - sorry to hear that your father is such a nightmare. Mine also contributed to my disastrous relationship with food by constantly telling me I was fat as a teenager (I was a size 12 which is hardly obese!). I do feel better now that he's not in my life and am trying to concentrate on the positives - wonderful DH, gorgeous DD, lovely new house, great friends and amazing PIL, rather than the negatives - my dysfuncational family and not being pregnant.

I had to read a research paper recently for work which looked at children's well-being and found that one of the factors most strongly associated with well-being amongst teenagers was relationships with family. And another paper which found tha girls who had good relationships with their fathers tended to do better academically and form more stable relationships as adults.

On a far shallower note, I'm still trying to work out how to style my new harems (they're black jersey) - am thinking vest, statement necklace, poss denim jacket and glads. I'm also trying to figure out what to wear with a black maxi skirt I bought recently, probably similar to the harems, I'm not very adventurous and would appreciate help!

Oh, and on a father-related note, I have to see my dad at my brother's wedding in two months so I need to find a fabulous frock, maybe a dressy maxi. Any ideas? I have to look amazing!

Apologies for any spelling or gramatical errors, I've shared a chinese takeaway and bottle of red with my utterly fabulous PIL this eve.

MissWooWoo · 28/05/2010 23:23

kind words LTEC kind words indeed. am not quite ready to stomp anywhere just yet though but rest assured when I am I shall high kick in waving my pom poms

notyummy · 29/05/2010 09:58

Morning all!

Off to lunch with some friends and their DCs today. Very casual so have plumped for UO combats (again!) with stripey kimono top here and new sandals here.

Weather not looking great here.

Roary - Are you going to Shrivenham? In terms of clothes I would say skirt and cashmere top and heels. Sounds both professional and sexy - plus slightly less fear of bf boobs escaping from wrap dress! I now have a vision of you like Kelly McGillis in Top Gun, presenting like a goddess to all these drooling military officers Although obviously as army officers they are in no way as cool or sexy as RAF aircrew {biased for her DH emoticon...]

rufus101 · 29/05/2010 10:56

Am amused reading the NY time link Roman because when you hear my story from last night you will think twice about wearing one again!
Was getting ready to go out (a friend had gotten engaged) and was rushing around, and was wearing this maxi. I ran into bathroom looking for my make up, floor was wet (DH had made a complete mess after a bath), turned quickly and fell, got tangled up in the maxi, couldn't protect myself and smashed the whole left side of my body and jaw into the tiled floor. Massive haematoma on my left hip, another on my left knee. Had to get 6 sutures by the plastic surgeon,just under my chin for a burst laceration this morning. Am very shaken by the whole thing, and was told I was so lucky, as I fell so awkardly I could have broken my hip, and they can't understand how I didn't break my jaw. Missed my friends engagement dinner obviously. So here I am in bed, with an ice pack on my haematoma. (I think I will need to get a pair of harems to accomodate it! The Baxters certainly cannot be worn!) Needless to say, the maxi is going in the bin. Have to say I noticed last week, that when I wore one to a friend's house for dinner, that it was a little tricky going upstairs etc. Caution was required. So be warned.
So sad that there are so many bad family relationships. I often wonder if DH and I are deluding ourselves, when we think we will be different. But I keep reminding myself that we as a generation are much more aware of the importance of validating relationships, and have more respect for the needs of children. We don't feel that children should be seen and not heard, we listen to them more, and place equal value on their emotional needs as well as their security needs. I am sure I have misspelt loads and used incorrect grammar as always, but can't be bothered to look over.

AWellHungParliament · 29/05/2010 11:06

Bloody Hell Rufus! What an awful thing to happen and frightening that it could have been so much worse.
I hope you are not too shakey today and are being looked after well.

Starting to wonder if getting a maxi is such a good idea for a short and clumsy person like me!

hellsbelles · 29/05/2010 11:31

rufus ...you poor poor thing. How absolutely horrible

mrsjuan · 29/05/2010 11:33

Oh no Rufus - how horrible. Glad it wasn't as bad as it could have been and hope you feel better soon. You're not really putting it in the bin though are you? It's a lovely dress - perhaps you could have it taken up to knee length or something?

Verity - hope both patients are on the mend now.

Sorry to hear of so many bad relationships between parents. I have always had a pretty good, but not especially close relationship with my dad; he was often either at work or out when I was growing up. I have very fond memories of holidays though. My mum is absolutely fantastic in every way.

Pedantry - DH is a real stickler for apostrophe use. He refuses to buy anything from establishments which don't use them properly. I am a bit slapdash and have never worked out how to use commas correctly . Bad spelling grates on me more (apologies to anyone with dyslexia - I know it's a real problem and I am a cow

Shredding is going quite well. I'm on level 2 now and have enlisted a friend for a bit of competition moral support.

vinauchocolat · 29/05/2010 12:59

Oh rufus, OUCH!!! I winced reading that, you poor thing! Scary. I consider myself thoroughly warned. I did find the same problem with stairs recently myself.

As a hardened pedant I can honestly say that nothing on this thread has ever made my pedantry (or should that be pedantic?)button twitch with irritation rest assured everyone here exhibits fine grammar spelling and punctuation Actually I don't mind spelling, it's the apostrophes that get me all wound up especially on official letters from large companies! Agh

Well I had a bad start to the day on the all saints website (top, leather jacket I resisted before, and Verity's Layla dress!) well, they were all reduced...so I've saved money, right?

hellsbelles · 29/05/2010 13:04

thanks all for the inside info on Manchester. I shall gather together links of potential outfits and beg you for votes

Rufus - I'm still wincing at your injury...and also very impressed with the way the link of the dress was included in the tale...as exhibit A (so to speak).

roary · 29/05/2010 13:47

Rufus, you are the first a&w style casualty (dare we say fashion victim?). Poor you!

I was going to rec this to grumpy as I drooled over it in the window but given rufus' exp be warned!!!

notyummy yes it's at shrivenham. I do try to channel Kelly mcgillis while there. Did your dh do a course there? It was my first job while finishing PhD.

roary · 29/05/2010 13:51

Also notyummy love that kimono top. Can't recall what size/shape you are, trying to figure out if it would work for me...

roary · 29/05/2010 13:56

Oooh not grumpy but whoever wanted a maxi for a wedding?? Hard to keep up. But grumpy you may like anyway!!

Actually tis a slower sat than usual. I'm betting those with older kids off on half term hols?

notyummy · 29/05/2010 17:00

Roary- I am 10/12 ,quite tall. Pear shaped so fairly small waist and boobs. It is v flattering on me IMHO.

I have been to shriv when I was in the military,andDH has also been. He is about to start advanced staff course there in a couple of months.

Rufus-Sorry to hear about your accident. Sounds v sore. Hope you feel better soon.

Grammar - Not too good now I am doing so much on the iPhone. Seem to struggle with always putting spaces between words, so apologies to all!