Wardrobe Woes

Apologies for my absence. If you follow me on Twitter (@TorsGrantham) you will have heard me whinge expound at great length behind the reasons. You can't tell reading this, but this post took me several days to write. Okay, so that's a bit of an over-exaggeration but I'm stabbing at the keyboard typing right-handed due to an accident involving the wolf, two cats, the lead and my dominant hand that resulted in a spiral fracture in one finger. I'm beginning to think the wolf doesn't like me anymore, particularly as he also ate my last bag of peanut butter M&M's and you can't even buy them in this country.

Consequently, I'm going out of my gourd (fair warning) as I'd planned a lovely weekend of sewing and now can't. I tried. I really did. You've no idea how hard it is to pin a pattern to fabric with the wrong hand. Or how hard it is to pin a pattern to fabric with the right hand (or left in my case) that has two fingers taped together and are rigid. Unless you've done the same thing, of course.

What did I try? Well, it wasn't Simplicity 1683 despite gaining the missing pieces. It wasn't the cut but nowhere near stitched Butterick 2198. No, that would be too easy, finishing something I'd already started. No, I had to start an entirely new project: Style 3894. With a re-drafted collar. Blame Ali, she's the one that suggested 1970's as a potential source of flattering patterns. I even decided, given my limitations and the constant sizing issues with everything I make, that starting with a muslin might be the way to go. I didn't get very far, I admit, but at least it does look like it might fit. Hopefully. I'd say fingers crossed but really that makes me want to cry right now.

What the accident has also meant is that I finally had the inclination opportunity to clean out my wardrobe and focus on a direction with my sewing plans. I have to admit it's been helped in part by Sarah and Ali, their recent posts have been exactly what I was trying to figure out without knowing exactly what I was trying to figure out. I can't tell if the exercise has made more of a mess in my room as I attempted tidying with one hand, it was in a fair old state before I even did myself any damage, but it has helped clarify some things for me.

Namely, I want two interchangeable wardrobes broken down into seasonal pieces; work and play with spring/summer and autumn/winter pieces. My current workplace requires business casual clothing and I've been getting away with a lot more casual than I would like purely because they know I can't afford new clothes. Ideally I'd like some more formal pieces suitable as business-wear that can be dressed down and added to my casual wardrobe if needed.

Perhaps controversially I've decided to stick with colours that match my favourite shoes (read: all of them). This seemed sensible as I'm anal about matching my shoes to my outfit in some way. I still have so much to learn. I haven't gotten down to the nitty gritty yet and with a full week ahead involving Harry Potter, gourmet burgers, a sleep-over at my Mum's and a small operation on my little broken bones I don't think I'll be getting around to it until at least the weekend. I can't wait though, it's certainly going to be an interesting exercise.

Now, if you'll excuse me I'm off to watch Kirstie's Homemade Home whilst attempting to stuff a handmade teddy with one hand. Wish me luck!

Thanks for stopping by,

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

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Restylin' For A New Job

Yes, I totally failed at sewing this weekend. I decided that perhaps it might be a little more prudent to make clothes requiring fit with my tutor Mother this coming weekend as she'd already said she was free and would come help me. As I have a limited stash of fabric suitable for these projects and currently no funds to buy any more, it seemed wiser to wait until I was sure I'd get something usable from the effort rather than a bunch of wadders and no more fabric. I didn't mention this before now because ... well, because I was a little ashamed at how rubbish I've been over the sewing ;)

Instead, I thought I'd tell you about my new job. Or rather the clothes I'm wearing for my new job. I started with the NHS on Monday and decided on Sunday evening that I would start as I meant to go on, i.e. I would dress and wear the make-up that I've always wanted to wear to work, regardless of what everyone else around me is wearing, from day one so everyone expected it to continue, rather than doing my usual of wearing whatever and no make-up and hoping for the best whilst being frustrated and feeling like I couldn't suddenly start dressing up because it went against the style I'd already 'declared' to everyone (and my goodness that's a rather long run on sentence, I do apologise!).

To that end I painted my nails red, pulled out the red lippy, stuck a compact in my handbag for touch ups and pulled out the heels.

You may remember my cursed Interview Outfit that got me no jobs. Having already scored the job, this is what I wore on Day One but with blue T-Bar heels and my 'natural coloured' (read: too tan for my skin colour) seamed stockings. Lipstick in place, hair down and natural, I trotted off to work and as I got out of my car in the car park I promptly ripped my stockings with my handbag. Fortunately, no one noticed a thing all day so I kept them on. I also had a 3/4 length sleeved blue cardi over the top and I have to say, partially done up it made me look like I had a waist, I was totally loving the effect!

Day Two: A grey corduroy skirt with attached plaid cotton petticoat, grey shirt and grey boots. Throw in a cream short sleeved cardi and a brown elasticated belt and I was good to go. Unfortunately, whilst I ran out the door thinking I looked okay I ultimately decided I looked like something out of the 80's and hated the skirt with the boots. Big Mistake. Ballet pumps would have worked better ... had I actually owned any. Note to self: see if eBay have any ballet pumps for sale.

Day Three: Grey high waisted trousers and a blue and white pin stripe shirt, all from La Redoute (as was Day Two). Red braces (suspenders to all you Yanks, but to us Brits that's what holds up our stockings) from eBay, blue T-Bar heels and a short sleeved blue cardi, again from eBay. This was much more me and kinda came off 70's (the trousers are quite flared and wide legged ... just in case that isn't completely obvious from the photo). I felt comfortable and relaxed, didn't care if anyone thought anything of my clothes because I was happy. Much better day than yesterday, but then I wasn't sat in a meeting with 50 people around a big table today which may have helped.

It's been hard wearing the red lippy. It's bright, it's unmissable and it gives a very definite statement about the type of woman I am/ want to be (i.e. one that cares about her appearance). I've spent a lot of years not really caring about my appearance in terms of work due to the nature of the job, the work ethic involved (not to mention the stress, the to-ing and fro-ing between offices, departments and buildings and don't even get me started on night shoots out on location in a disused railway shed) and my very strong desire to blend in.

This new style (or this attempt at a new style) is me very much not blending in and I'm still a little uncomfortable with that. I'm not sure why but I'm more uncomfortable about the lipstick than I am about the clothes (well, apart from yesterday's outfit). I don't feel comfortable reapplying in front of people and I don't feel comfortable checking in my compact after eating/ drinking but I also then spend the time worrying I've got lipstick all over my chin or half rubbed off. A big part of me wants to stop with the lipstick to make myself feel better and that could be okay. Except I like red lipstick and I think what I'm more uncomfortable about is the shade of lipstick I've been using. Ideally I'd like to use a shade like Marianne but my skin tone is completely different, my lips are a lot smaller and I don't look anything like as fresh faced half way into my day (or even half an hour into my day!) so I'm not too sure how to proceed. I'm not even sure that if I find the shade I'll still be comfortable because it's still very eye catching. The shade of red I feel more comfortable wearing is a darker berry red, but I think this is predominantly because my natural lip shade is quite dark and when the lipstick fades it's almost unnoticeable. I've been blotting the brighter shades mostly off but even then I still feel over exposed. Any advice please girlies?

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My First Outfit Post

Wow, my first outfit post. I'm not sure this is necessarily something I'll do often, I hate how I look in photographs, particularly self-taken photos on my phone. But today I'm wearing something that feels very much my style and I wanted to show it off. Having two one hour walks a day with the wolf usually ensures I'm in jeans for the day, particularly as the giant puppy loves nothing more than jumping up at me whenever he gets really excited regardless of what's all over his paws. However, today I made an effort and this is the result:

Me and my vintage Aga (circa 1943 ... the Aga, not me). The skirt is a denim straight skirt I bought in New Zealand when I lived there 9 years ago. When I bought it it was a good size or two too big, I've put on enough weight around the middle in the intervening years that it now fits without needing a belt. I love it most because of the frayed hem and the stretch of the denim, there's no kick pleat or vent built in to this skirt ... walking can be a trial for someone used to walking quickly but the wiggle it adds to the walk is much appreciated!

My top is another item that's too big for me, I bought it on a shopping trip with my brother's girlfriend and loved the mechanic style of it and decided I didn't care that it didn't fit. It's faded in the wash as I've had it about 7 years now I think and I rarely wear it because of its size but I do still love it.

My shoes came from Peacocks, I blogged about them here, as you can see I managed to get inner soles that worked and they are now, once again, wearable - no thanks to the wolf!

Shirt: Matalans
Skirt: Portmans New Zealand
Shoes: Peacocks

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Schuh Fetish

Oh dear, Houston we have a problem! I have a shoe fetish, I lurves shoes. And I've just discovered that the major brands have outlet stores on eBay to get rid of ex-show stock and the like.

{ Source: eBay }

There are some fabulous shoes on there, not just retro ones but all sorts. I hate it when I have no money!

{ Source: eBay }

So if you have money, visit http://outlet.ebay.co.uk/fashion for shoes, clothes, bags and accessories from all the major brands but at outlet prices!

Erm ... I should probably mention they're not paying me to tell you about this, I just get a little excited over shoes.

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Slack Tart Roundup Post

I've have been terribly slack and not blogged in aaaaages so this will be a nice (hopefully not too) long post to catch up.

Vintage/ Retro Shopping

I recently bought some canvas summer shoes as I have only wellies and heels courtesy of the wolf and his habit of chewing anything I touch. I've never shopped in Peacock's before but my friend, Joanne, told me that (given my budget) they would surely have something for me. She then proceeded to talk me (admittedly with very little arm twisting) into buying two pairs of shoes.

As you can see the wolf has already managed to cover them in hair and I've only worn them around the house! They're redder than they look in the photo and surprisingly comfortable. I'd always heard that wedges are easier on the feet than heels, now I can totally agree!

The second pair are black in the same style but flat. I'd photograph them but the wolf got his jaws on them a couple of days ago and tore out the inside sole. Fixable with an inner sole but not exactly photogenic.

Vintage Books

On a seperate shopping trip to Ebbw Vale, again with Joanne, I picked up a reprint of a book from Wartime Britain called Sew and Save. I've heard of this book from vintage bloggers and it's chock full of information about rationing and sewing. I picked it up for only a couple of quid from The Works but it's also available on Amazon and I highly recommend it, it's a fascinating read.

Vintage Fashion Fair

Blind Lemon are once again running the Vintage Fashion Fair in Cardiff, this time it's in Cardiff Bay instead of the Town Hall in the centre of town. It's running on Sunday 9th May from 10am at the historic Coal Exchange, Mount Stuart Square. You might recognise areas of the square from Torchwood and Doctor Who, and the Coal Exchange was the location of the first ever recorded million pound business deal. It's quite an austere and impressive looking building, sumptuously decorated inside (if I remember correctly it doubled as the Titanic in Doctor Who's Christmas Special with Kylie Minogue), there's paired Corinthian columns and wood paneling galore inside and I'm very excited to be going there. AnnaP from over the road is coming with me, tickets are booked, outfit's all picked out and I'm raring to go! If anyone's in the area and wants to come along then tickets are available on the door and there's a £100 prize draw at noon that everyone's entered into with their ticket purchase.

Vintage Festival

I'm not a fan of festivals as I have a teeny tiny fear of crowds, but the Twinwood Festival looks just too good to pass up. Luckily, my best friend, Jemma, lives 25 miles away from RAF Twinwood and is free on August Bank Holiday. We're both very excited to be going to this event (although tickets have yet to be bought) and I'm already planning outfits and shoes. Has anyone been before? I want to wear homemade outfits but I'm unsure what to make. I was thinking some trousers such as Simplicity 4044 and a short sleeved shirt but I also have a Sense & Sensibility pattern coming for a 1940's Swing Dress that I love. I was thinking of trousers and shirt for the day and then for the evening dance changing into the dress, that's not overkill right? Right?

Thanks for stopping by,