Festive outfit planning: The sparkle

Now, LBDs aside, the other festive necessity is SPARKLE!

Glitter, metallics, sequins and beads. I'm perennial sparkle wearer, but at Christmas I take the opportunity to step it up a notch and go a bit overboard with the bling.

Once again, H&M came in to their own with this skirt and top combo. It looks like fairy lights and baubles. Magical! 

 

I'm not "fashion" (or bonkers) enough to wear them both at the same time, so I thought I'd mix it up a bit. I'll wear the skirt with this backless, halter top (you guessed it, from H&M) my go-with-everything shoes and bright red lips for a night out, and with a black cami or jumper, tights and suede knee high boots for less dressy affairs. The top will work nicely with either my black skinny jeans or my leather-look pencil skirt.

 

H&M sequin top and skirt, halter top and Topshop Joni jeans

This sparkly, metallic ASOS dress is a potential New Year's Eve dinner dress. I have it in the black/blue beaded, the white/silver sequin version and the black body con version, so why not the sparkly gold leopard print version too? It's super comfy, super flattering, nice and blingy for a special night out, but leaves enough room for a big meal and a bit of a boogie.

Jovonna dress from ASOS

And whilst we're on the subject of sparkly metallics, this dress by Fearne Cotton for Very is a firm contender for Christmas Day. Black tights and snuggly slipper boots for staying home with the family, or killer heels and a blazer for a night out with the girls.
 

Gold star dress by Fearne Cotton for Very

So I know I said I was thinking about an LBD for my girlie night out tonight, but now I'm wondering if it's time to just pull out the sequins...

Festive outfit planning: LBDs

It's not Christmas without a Little Black Dress, or two, or three is it?

Tomorrow the WAGs are getting together at a local bar and restaurant for dinner, drinks and dancing and so, being Essex, this calls for all kinds of sequins, glitter, glitz and bling, and potentially this little strapless number from H&M! I can glitz it up with my "Outfit Boosters" - the sequin jacket and the "go with everything" shoes - a belt for interest when the jacket comes off and a nice chunky statement necklace. I'll take my white Whistles clutch to stash my hot pink lippie and glitter eyeliner for touch ups!

Next week, I have two Christmas parties, one at The Langham, and one at Kettner's.

For The Langham, a slightly dressier affair, I was thinking about this lace bodycon dress, also from H&M, again with a couple of the "Outfit Boosters" (seeing as it's with a different group who won't have seen them yet), my rose gold Mulberry clutch, a bright red lip and a pair of big blingy earrings in emerald green for that Christmassy touch.

For Kettner's, I'm leaning toward this little embellished number from ASOS. It's a bit more fun than fancy and has a nod to the twenties with all the beading, which works nicely with the venue's history. With all the beading going on, perhaps just my new Miss Selfridge shoes, some dinky, but sparkly, studs and my pink Lulu Guinness lips clutch for a pop of colour. Smokey eyes and pale pinky-gold lips for the win!

The dresses

H&M strapless LBD

H&M lace bodycon dress

ASOS beaded dress

The Extras

Miss Selfridge "Outfit Boosters"

Whistles Rivington Clutch, Mulberry rose gold clutch and Lulu Guinness lips clutch

My go-to party lipsticks: NARS Schiap, Chanel Rouge Allure in Passion, and MAC Pretty Please 

Festive outfit planning: Outfit Boosters

So with all the loungewear sorted, I thought I better get on with the glitz. 

I mentioned having a zillion parties or events to attend and a few weeks ago I had a spare evening so I spent the time wisely – trying on,planning and accessorizing outfits. One of my favourite pastimes!

outfit planning

Before I get in to the actual outfits themselves, let me tell you about a number of items I bought a while ago with the festive season in mind, which will work with all my outfits.

Miss Selfirdge Double sequin jacket

First off, this silver "two way" sequin jacketfrom Miss Selfridge.Remember those sofas from the 80s where you could run your finger along the pile and write your name (or rude words) on the surface and then rub them out again by smoothing the pile back out? Well this jacket does just that. Rough the sequins up one way and it's a sparkly, light-catching disco jacket. Smooth them back in the other direction and it's matte, muted and a bit more understated. I saw a similar jacket in Ted Baker at a MUCH higher price and fell in love with it, so when Miss S had a flash sale on Halloween I snapped this version up.

Miss Selfridge Chelsea block heeled sandal

At the same time I got my hands on a pair of metallic pewter, block-heeled sandals,which really are super comfy (not as comfy as my elf slippers, of course!) and go with everything. Now, I say that line to Mr G all the time, but this time it's true. I've tried them on with every outfit and I haven't yet found one they don't work with. Outfit win!

Miss Selfridge faux fur stole

I also grabbed a powder blue faux fur stole  in the same Halloween flash sale from  Miss Selfridge. Fun, furry and fabulous. And again, it goes with everything!

So those are my "Outfit Boosters" sorted.

Now on to the actual outfits...

Festive outfit planning - staying cosy at home

So, yesterday I listed a run of parties and events I have planned over the course of December. As you can imagine, they all require outfits.

And what's my favourite thing to do?

Plan outfits of course!

Before I get started on my blinged up, going out ("out out"?) outfits, what about the staying home, sofa surfing and movie-watching outfits?

New gingerbread onesie

 
These mainly consist of last year's reindeer PJs, a reindeer onesie and reindeer slipper socks (do you see a theme?) and this year's knitted gingerbread onesie, complemented by a choice of two pairs of comedy elf slippers.

Elf slippers!

Stylish? No.

Fun, cosy and festive? Yes!

Getting festive

It's the 1st December. It's time to get festive!

If I hadn't just spent the weekend in Amsterdam with the family, we'd have spent Sunday morning at the garden centre picking our tree. I'd have then spent the rest of the day putting up our decorations with cheesy Christmas tunes playing, Mr G would have cooked up something hearty in the kitchen for us to eat in front of a festive movie (though we've already ticked off Love Actually, Elf, Home Alone and Home Alone 2 - oops!) while our fairy lights twinkled in the background.

Instead, the decorations are going up here on Saturday and at my Parents' on Sunday. It's going to be a long week, walking past the boxes of baubles piled up in the hallway every day #PoutyFace

In the meantime, I've been sorting out all my events and outfits. My house may not be Christmas-ready, but my diary and my wardrobe is:

It's going to be a busy one... get ready for outfit posts!

 

P.S. I'm on Florence Finds today with gift ideas for your best girls, check it out!

Five photos

When the lovely Gemma tagged me in her "Five photos that make me smile" post, I ran my battery down to zero trying to work out how to select five photos from what must be the thousands I've uploaded over the last eight years. Eight years? How is that possible?

What was easy though, was what I wanted to represent. I know exactly what makes me smile...

Family
Nuclear, extended, blood, those I've acquired through marriage, those I've lost over the years and my god family - they all count. They all matter.
My wonderful, amazing family make me smile.
Even the crazies.
Especially the crazies!

Mr G
I found a goodun. I snared him. I'm keeping him. I'm not smiling because I'm married to him. I'm married to him because he always knows when and how to make me smile.
Always.

My friends
I wrote a long smushy post about this a while ago. Wow, how things have changed. Some of the faces have gone, new ones have arrived (hello WAGs, Dirty Thirties, Pineapple Club, work roomies old and new), but the sentiment still stands... that I am lucky beyond my wildest dreams to have the love, support and companionship of so many lovely people that are here, beside me because they want to be, not because they have to be (through marriage, blood or shared office space!)
My friends make me smile.
I hope I make them smile in return...

Opportunity
The world is my oyster.
I can go where I want. I can be who and what I want. I can believe what I want. I'm so lucky that I have choice, means, direction and support.
This photo represents two things - travel and work (yup, these days, my work makes me smile - check it here).  Traveling broadens horizons, I get to see, feel, experience new things. My job affords me the means to do that, but often presents opportunities (in this photo I was en route to Paris to start my secondment . One of the best things, ever. Ever!). Having a job that challenges me and surrounds me with inspiring people means I also have a reason to get up in the morning and take on the day. Having opportunities make me smile.

A place to call home
Opportunity, travel, the world is my oyster. But I have a place to call "home". I know I will always have somewhere to go. I know where home is. I know where I belong. I know where I'm safe. Somewhere to be still, calm, secure. I know that no matter what. No. Matter. What. I can go "home" and be welcomed, loved, nurtured and healed. It's not a place per se (though my family home and the home I bought and made great with Mr G make me very happy indeed), it's a feeling. A feeling not everyone is lucky enough to have and so I cherish it.
It makes me smile on the inside.

I suppose in the literal sense the effort I've put in to making our actual house full of fun, love, pretty, and parties also makes me smile.

Who was it that said "They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for"?

Don't say "Instagram"...! Whomever it was, I'm minded to agree.

So there we go - five pictures (yes I know I bent interpreted the rules slightly) that make me smile.

Thanks Gemma. YOU make me smile!

As an aside, this post has been a bit like therapy for me. I haven't blogged for a while as I lost a bit of my spark. I lost some people that I thought my spark depended on and I found it hard to articulate those feelings of hurt, loss and bewilderment without reference to that loss.

However, I've always tried to be grateful for what I do have rather than dwelling on what I don't (cough, Chanel handbag, cough), and I've just realised that this situation is no different.

So in writing this status-update-that-grew-in-to-a-blog-post post I managed to get it off my chest and get back in the game.

I've also been bonkers-mad-busy. Double busy.

So, now I'm back in the game* look out for a "catch up" post!

There'll be pictures. Lots. And they'll all make me smile.

Ciao 

*too many Micky Flanagan references? :-)

The closest I'll get - Part I: Chanel prints

So, you remember my obsession with all the Chanel "artwork" dresses?

Rita's and Lupita's?

Well, I was perusing the rails of Matalan, whilst skiving off the gym, and I found something rather similar to Rita's!

Quite frankly, it's the closest I'm going to get to current-season-Chanel... so I'll take it. In every combination you have.

I picked up a pair of floaty shorts and the loose trousers to wear when the sun comes back out.

I'll probably wear both items with a black tee, my River Island neon yellow flats and a denim jacket during the day and with a fitted vest top, a blazer, some statement bling, my trusty black suede Gwendas and my brand spanking new Lulu Guinness Annabelle for dressier affairs!

Yay for high street rips offs!

Obsessions: Flamingo vs Pineapple

Remember Pineapple Club (shhh, don't speak about Pineapple Club)?

Remember my potential breakaway faction, Flamingo Club?

The battle for a preference between the two continues to keep me awake at night.

Art. Clothing. Accessories. Decor. Homewares.

Pink or yellow?

Pineapples or flamingos?

Piningos? Flamapples? Pinegos? Flapples?

Help.

Anyway, back to reality... one of my stylish besties, Laura, sent me a pineapple-obsession collage from MadeByGirl blog which included a picture of  THESE. AMAZING. PINEAPPLE. SHOES.



Pineapple shoes by Aquazzura (check out his logo too!!)

Of course I initiated Emergency Google Search procedures and commenced ShopStyle interrogation.

What appeared?

Well, certainly no immediate, appropriate pineapple footwear leads, at least not within my budget.

An FT Style article from February 2013, however, popped up which not only included the delicious Aquazzura pineapple strappies, but also THESE. EVEN. MORE. AMAZING. FLAMINGO. BOOTIES by my all-time-fave bonkers shoe designer Sophia Webster!

Flamingo shoes by Sophia Webster (my all time fave shoe designer, ever!)

The (mind) battle continues....

Check out these links, seems I'm not alone

• I Love Pineapples and Flamingos pinterest board
• Pineapple and Flamingo tumblr
• George Home going all Ikea with their Pineapple and Flamingo glass set (I have the originals!)
• Hi Sweetheart stamp set
• This super-classy, not-at-all-tacky, hanging ornament

Obsessed: Rita's frock

After Lupita's looked-like-a-nursery-school-cutting-and-sticking-project dress which gave me actual palpitations and saw me waste a fair few hours, and a whole iPad battery, searching through ShopStyle for a high street rip off, Chanel have gone and done it again.

Another art project dress.

Look 80 in fact from their SS14 collection

This one looks more sixth form than reception class though, with all the colour gradients and slashing and such like...

... oh yes, they'll make a fashion critic of me yet, watch out Anna...



picture from here

So, any ideas on a rip off, or better still a quick money making scheme so I can get my hands on one?

Lottery ticket?

Also, can we take a moment for Rita's hair...

Thank you

Resting Bitch Face

I have a friend who used to tell me off all the time for my Resting Bitch Face* She said that I always looked aloof and people were scared to talk to us when we went out. I thought it was more along the lines that they were embarrassed to be seen with us due to our cliché fancy dress and bonkers dance routines we insisted on doing, en masse, on the dancefloor (it likely was the latter!).

I had a boss, back in the day, that said I gave off a constant air of "don't approach me, don't talk to me and certainly don't touch me" when we were out drinking. Not in a bad way, just in the way that when everyone at work was hitting on or hooking up with anything that moved, everyone steered well clear of me. I thought it was because everyone else was way way hotter than me (they actually were/are!).

From the age of about 3 until... well, probably even now, my mum told/tells me, repeatedly, that my standard response to all questions, comments and critique was/is a lip-curl of a sneer. I disagree, I think I'm screwing my face up while ruminating my response to make sure I say the right thing (but, fair enough, in my teenage years, I probably snarled some kind of sarky retort, once cogitated).

One of Mr G's friends also told me that his (now ex) girlfriend thought I was highly unapproachable, because I was always giving her "evils". I thought she was staying away from me because she was just too cool for me (she was!).

I took umbrage at all these suggestions.

I smile at strangers in the street as we walk past each other as I worry that they may think I'm unfriendly. I yell "good morning" to people as I walk to the bus stop each morning, even if they always ignore me, and I worry ALL.THE.TIME. that people might not like me. For some stupid reason my life's mission is to make everyone like me.

Anyway, on a hen weekend recently one of the other hens took a lot of reportage style photography and it was only in looking through her expert pics that I noticed the extent of my Resting Bitch Face. I'd never seen it before.

It's bad.

Check it.

Papped by Manita Khanna

So, I'm sorry. I get it!

But, check this Buzzfeed blog post out, it explains my plight.

Help me!

* at the time we didn't know that's what it was called. She just told me to stop looking like such a sullen bitch!