Llundain Town

Ridiculous time to have to leave

Just time for a quick outfit shot

Local train station - heading to Cardiff

Welcome to the Heart and Soul of Wales

Mmmm, Starbucks - something to perk up the 3 hour bus journey to London

Sarah and I

Rather speaks for itself?

L-R: Me, Liam, Amita and Sarah

L-R: Sheena, Amy (all the way from Canada!) and I

Me and Liam

L-R: Sheena, Amita, Amy, Sarah and I

L-R: Sheena, Me, Sarah and Amita

Amita's silliness is legendary ...

... as is everyone elses I know

I think it safe to say a good time was had by all.

Thanks for stopping by,

Road Trip ... Erm ... Bus/ Train Trip!

I've got the soundtrack to Glee all ready to go. I've booked my bus ticket to and my train ticket from London. I've picked out the book I'm taking with me ... sort of, because there's also this and I haven't even read this yet.

But I haven't a clue what to wear. Help!

This is the first time I've been back to London since my move to Wales in 2006. Well, I've been back a couple of times for meetings at the BBC that went more like, train, tube, meeting, tube, train. But I've not been back for pleasure for damn near 4 years.

The last time I was in London I had bad hair (believe it or not but it's actually better now), I wore baggy clothes (mostly from the menswear department) and no make-up. The people I'm going to see have seen me drunk, asleep, half naked*, wearing Liam's clothes, on the dance floor and in minus degree weather. Erm, not all at the same time.

So of course the order of the day is to look as svelte as possible when one has no waist, beautiful (obviously and nothing to do with the fact that one of the guys I'm having lunch with was a not so secret crush whilst at college), stylish and comfortable. If I'm going to be spending roughly six hours on public transport I want to do so comfortably.

I've narrowed it down to three outfits and this is where you come in. It's almost like one of those choose your own adventure books, except you don't get anything further out of it so maybe it's not at all. But I'd like your opinions on all three to help narrow down which one would be best suited for a day trip to London, lunch, drinks and a bit of shopping (and let's not forget public transport, it's going to be painful enough to warrant several mentions I think!).

Comfy flat boots (that still squeak a little, must dig out more hair conditioner to sort that!). Nora Batty socks, 3/4 jeans, white shirt and peacock blue cardi with brown belt. Comfy is the word. This is an outfit that wouldn't be out of place on me in the company I'm going to be hanging with, it's similar to what they're used to seeing on me just a little more my size.

Outfit Number Two! Latest eBay acquisition in a bluey-purple. I wasn't sure what shoes so I just randomly picked two. The reds are another latest eBay acquisition that arrived this morning (yay!).

Comfy dress and granddad top, Nora Batty socks and fave T-Bar shoes evah.

A note on the pose: this is my 'oh my god, what are you eating ... no, no, nono, not on the bed!
... damnit' look

Bonus Outfit! I threw this together as an after thought. Fave new jeans (yes, I slipped, I bought ready to wear) and an old shirt that's oh so comfy (but a little tight when sitting).

Oh, and hey! Look what I found!

Some shape to my body, who knew?! ;)

* I want to stress that this is not because I prance around half naked at any given opportunity despite what some people might recollect from a night at college involving cookies and a strange green plant. This was in fact down to a theme night and a bedroom filled with boys putting on my make-up far better than I ever could when I stumbled out of the shower in only a towel (as you do when you think your room is empty) and to be completely and utterly honest I don't think a single one of them noticed. Not sure what's more depressing ;)

Thanks for stopping by,

Outfit Round-Up { Tuesday }

I was feeling the French vibe so I bust out my La Redoute Shirt Dress. I'm not particularly comfortable wearing things this short (or this short and baggy) and I get the sense looking at these photos that I maybe look a little like a blur of fabric on sticks but hey ho! I was running out of ideas.

Dress: La Redoute
Socks: eBay
Shoes: Hush Puppy via Amazon

Thanks for stopping by,

Outfit Round-Up { Monday }

I have failed mightily at the SSS challenge, having simply not had anything ready to wear for work. Instead you're getting a peek into my limited work wardrobe and my attempts at spicing up a few pieces.

Today dawned bright and rather warm, unfortunately the office didn't feel like that and my shirt and waistcoat combo (that I really like) didn't work from a warmth perspective.

I did however go on a red lipstick shopping trip into Caerdydd (Cardiff to the non-Welsh) at the weekend to visit the Mac store and choose a red lippy in a shade I felt comfortable in. I tried the Russian Red but felt it a little too overwhelming and settled on Du Bonnet instead. Whaddya think?

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Dawn Skies to Dusk

Dawn's getting later and later. Just last week the sky was light when I got up to take the dog out at just shy of 6am. I took this picture this morning as we headed out the back lanes to the old coal tip for his morning constitutional.

The mountain the sun is rising behind in this photo means that the sun doesn't properly hit my house until about 8am at the moment. It makes photographing my outfits a little difficult!

I'd had a yen to straighten my hair for a while now, just to see exactly how long it actually was without the curl. Other than highlighting just how bad my split ends actually are there doesn't appear to be that big a difference in length, either way it's nearly at my waist, the longest I've ever grown it!

I love this skirt, despite the fact it's too big for me. For some strange reason I felt like a Spanish horse rider from yesteryear in this outfit, possibly due to the combination of an embroidered skirt and a short bolero style cardi. The Nora Batty socks have made a come back (they're just so warm) and I bust out the tan version of my Hush Puppy T-Bars because T-Bars are my favourite style shoe evah. And these ones are just so comfortable!

In comparison, I took this photo when I got home at about 4pm. Totally different light! The entire family's in the photograph, they were hoping I'd give them food and kept following me around!

Dusk up the Old Tip, I love it up there when it's quiet. You can just see the moon peeking out of the cloud. Beautiful.

Skirt: La Redoute
Shirt: Miss Selfridge
Bolero: La Redoute
Sock: No idea!
Shoes: Hush Puppies via Amazon

Thanks for stopping by,

Last of the Summer Wine

For those of you not in the UK or too young to remember, the title is a reference to my baggy socks. Last of the Summer Wine was an old comedy set in Yorkshire about a bunch of blokes in the Autumn of their years.

Compo, a scruffy no good hormone riddled skiver, was completely in lust with tea shop owner, Nora Batty. She of the hair curlers and wrinkled stockings.

I'm really getting behind wearing long socks to work, unfortunately today they turned out to be a bit Nora Batty which garnered some strange looks I have to admit. But so long as I remained toasty and warm I really didn't care. Besides, I was sat behind a desk for most of the day so no one really had to notice.

There's just something so lovely about a long knitted cardi and woollen socksies (although not actual wool as I'm slightly allergic), particularly in an office where the air conditioning comes from the labs downstairs and no amount of fiddling with the thermostat will change the temperature to something a little more ... erm, temperate. 

Once again this is an empire waisted dress, I'm really preferring the style and feel more confident about wearing these types of dresses.

It's a lovely dark blue with a grey diamond pattern, it goes nicely with my large grey cardigan (and green wellies on those days when I'm tramping around with the wolf and it's too nice for jeans) and is made from a wonderfully soft jersey that clings in nice places and swirls prettily in all the others.

Dress: La Redoute
Cardigan: La Redoute
Socks: No idea!
Shoes: Blue T-Bar Hush Puppies

Thanks for stopping by,

Seasons Turning

Despite my best intentions I never seem to talk about life in the village or how living in a village in the mountains of South Wales affects my life.

The seasons here are definitely changing, the trees above the old Pit are turning and the foxgloves glow purple amongst the duller greens and browns. Unfortunately you can't really see them in this photo but I promise, up near the ridge line they're there!

The heather on the other mountain has turned a beautiful burnished copper colour and we've been lucky this year with only one fire on the mountainside that's already grown back over.

With the turning of seasons into Autumn the winds start to pick up in readiness for the October storms that have probably been hitting our shores for centuries. My house stands overlooking a park and a dip in our valley that leads down into Caerphilly's bowl. As a result, come Autumn, I spend most nights drifting off to the sound of driving wind and rain, strangely I find it relaxing.

Despite fabulous weather this weekend (for this time of year anyway) the winds picked up today and I decided to let go of my vintage dreams and just embrace clothes ... erm, okay, that came out a little wrong! You may have noticed I get a little obsessive/ compulsive in some instances, and I will singlemindedly follow an idea until I've trampled it to death. In my quest to obtain a wardrobe that fits, in styles I like rather than full of modern fashions, I've lost touch with the idea that anything I like is okay to wear, vintage styled or not.

Given today's weather I decided to experiment, a rather delightful 20 minutes at around 7.15am this morning. The one part of my body that I can't deny is fabulous are my legs. I have great legs, I just don't like getting them out. Particularly from this time of year onwards because it's generally too cold. Hah! Fixed that problem!

Latest eBay purchase: asphalt grey over the knee ribbed socks. Normally I wouldn't try to wear these so visibly as socks, I might not look it but I feel that at my age I'd be pushing my comfort zone by dressing in a style for someone younger, and I'd wear them with a long skirt or dress so they appear to be tights. But I found a pair of blue and a pair of purple tights I'd bought earlier in the year on an impulse to embrace colour and decided to be a little daring. And I have to admit that I really really liked it.

It's been noted that an empire waistline suits me far better than a fitted dress. I had an old little black dress with an almost Grecian-style crossed bodice that could pass as a pinafore dress when paired with a blue and white striped collarless shirt. A red scarf to add a little vibrancy and I was ready to go ... once the Evil Wolf had had his morning belly rub.

Thanks for stopping by,