Jingle Jangle

I've also found some bits and pieces to go with all these looks: adding jewellery to your outfit really makes a big difference.

Coco always used to say that you should take off the last thing that you put on, (just make sure that's not your underwear). I'm not big on earrings, I have a pair of diamond studs which I always wear but to be honest that's because I find that earrings really irritate and after a while I can't do anything but pull at my earlobes until I've taken them off. I used to love watching the 80's soaps when the women wore those great big clip on nuggets and were forever reaching under their mass of iron hard bouffant to pull the earrings off to answer the phone. There also seemed to be a great fashion for scratching your ever so itching head with the end of a pen due to the fact that, a) you didn't want to mess your 'do' up and b) the fact that there was so much lacquer in there that you couldn't actually get your finger to your scalp in the first place.

Anyway, I digress - the jewellery: pretty little things, from the Miss Selfridge web site, all for under a tenner. I've teamed them up with some outfits I thought would be nice, considering the sun's coming out, albeit temporarily.

Really love this, it's just so classic. Either wear it as a cuff around your wrist or, if you can find a bigger one, around the top of your arm for that Hellenic look. It would look lovely with a mediterraen inspired dress for summer hols and a pair of Grecian strappy flat sandals.

What a fabulous ring, again great colour against the gold and would even better with tanned skin. If you wear something which makes as much of a statement as this I wouldn't tend to wear much more jewellery.

I saw this fab little beaded jacket and thought how much fun it would be to wear it with jeans and...

...this really gorgeous skull ring. The colours go well together and I like the way that the top is so girly that the ring would give it a good edge. 

In fact there was so much great stuff I found it hard to not to pick everything to show you. My favourite had to be this ring though. Just the colour of it was enough to sway me, let alone the shape.

And for no other reason than they were such a huge part of my formative years here's the girls from Charlies Angels, I just wanted to show you how fantastic and bang up to date Farah Fawcett looks in the cream suit, I'm definitely going to be incorporating this into my wardrobe this summer.

Ooh, with the big gold rimmed avaitor shades, perfect!!!

My Secret Obsession

I've become so obsessed with Breton tops that I now have to have someone physically restrain me from buying anymore. I think it's the whole Brigitte Bardort look (yeah, I wish) but I just find them so classic in that very ooh la la! French way. French women will save for one very expensive piece of clothing which they will wear and wear. Whatever anyone tells you, there is a difference in the quality of clothes the more you pay. If you can only buy one nice piece a year, get it, and justify the price by teaming it up other things in your wardrobe and wear it forever. As far as I'm concerned that's the difference between style and fashion.

This is Jean Seberg, she was an American actress from the 60's who went to France and found her fame there. More than any other woman she epitomised the stripey top and capri pant look. I absolutely love this, it's so easy, so casual and yet so glamorous, little flat ballerina pumps and you're done.

Of course, yet again this is Audrey Tatou playing Coco, in the classic Breton. More than anything I love the way that such quintessentially masculine clothing can be made to look so beautiful in such an understated way.

The pinnacle is of course Chanel's Breton top here with the paperbag waist trousers and a beret, maybe a bit much for the local supermarket but if this was in my wardrobe then I'd be wearing it to put the bins out. I don't know how much this costs and to be honest I don't really want to depress myself by finding out but I've just seen some really great ones in H&M, including a really cute one with a lace bib on the front. They were only £12.99 and as well as the black and the navy blue there's a great red striped one to add a bit of colour.

I'm not that keen on the skirt here, I think that a pair of wide legs navy trousers or even if you're feeling particularly brave a pair of tailored shorts but I love the red against the white, it looks so clean and fresh. I also saw some really nice slightly cropped off white trousers with a cuffed hem in Miss Selfridge for £35 which would look fantastic with this top, I thought that some little red flatties and a big red flower corsage would be a nice summer look. Just don't go all Captain Birdseye and try and team up with too many nautical accessories.

Just to show that it's not only for the girls, here's Picasso showing not only could he chuck some paint but that he was also a bit of a stylish old fella. I think he may need some anti-biotics for those fingers though, they look like they're a bit swollen.

I also wanted to show you that in even on the football field the French just can't get away from being ever so stylish. They've just come up with a new away strip, no-one else could ever get away with this.

C'est magnifique.

Crisp White Shirt

So I was thinking  about the clothes that I always come back to (often after a trip off into some ridiculous notion that maybe I can get away with a ra ra skirt the second time around when to be honest I looked pretty awful when I first wore one in the 80's), and I immediately thought of the white shirt.

I have around 5 or 6 white shirts dotted around the bedroom in various sizes and various fits. I can remember shopping in a second hand store in Norwich around 10 years ago and finding two very handsome mens dinner shirts, one with frills down the front and the other with a pin tuck panel. They're large with double cuff and even after all these years I still pull them out of the wardrobe and wear them with my jeans.

If you're feeling really brave the're big enough to wear alone just with black tights and maybe a large black patent belt and some other accessories, bit Liza with a 'z', very sexy but not for everyone, I know: just don't take it too far!

I think these photos really show how much a white shirt can do, from the very demure 50's model in the swinging coffee shop, through Audrey, crazy Liza, Marilyn, Uma Thurman and Audrey Tatou as Coco Chanel in the shirt and tie look which may seem masculine but is actually incredibly feminine. 

It is of course the Carolina Herrera who epitomises the class and sophisication of a plain white shirt and shows how, at any age, style will shine through. I don't think I'd dare order the spaghetti though, I'm quite a splodger!!!

It Doesn't Have To Be This Way

I've never understood the attraction of having something written across your bum, especially not in stick of rock font on white lycra. Keep digging, lady!

First Things First: Dark Circles

I'm going to put pictures and web sites on that you may find interesting, bits and pieces that I've seen and I hope that you'll do the same, tell me about where you've been and what you've been spending your hard earned money on, just thinking or dreaming about buying. Maybe we can come up with some good alteratives to those out of the stratosphere designer labels that we're never going to get.

Number one on my list are the pesky dark circles under my eyes. I tried and tried to find something that wouldn't look as though I'd clogged a load of make up on and which only made them more noticeable until I found Clarins Eclat Minute. It's an Instant Light Perfector which you can brush on  from the tube and really does lighten your under eyes, I also put it on my cheeks to stave away some of the redness that's been appearing lately.It's good on blemishes and you only need a little to make a big difference. It is £24 which I know is a bit steep but after you've spent loads on trying to find a cheaper alternative this doesn't seem that bad.

They also make a really good skin primer called Lisse Minute which you can wear either under make up or on it's own. This makes your skin really soft and has a slight lightening effect, L'Oreal also make a decent one called Studio Effect which is about £12. Even if you can't be bothered to put all your make up on or if you don't wear a lot this can make a big difference, a little of this and a touch of bronzer will make you feel more capable of facing the world in the morning.

What's Going On?

Morning all!!!!

This is the first post from my new blog, very exciting! It's about things that make you feel good, simple as that. Never go out looking as though you've got dressed in front of a wooden mirror!

As the comedian John Bishop says, 'Why buy your clothes in the same place as you buy your brussel sprouts?'. Sometimes it's because the supermarket is the only place that we ever go to shop: it's cheap, handy and really boring.

I've always been really interested in fashion and how it makes you feel as a woman, the confidence and the sheer desperation that goes with it, the misery of shopping and the few great times when you buy something that puts you on top of the world. It won't be about dieting or starving yourself into getting into that size 8 dress and it will never be about wishing that you could be slimmer, richer or have a flatter stomach (I know I'm there!) But it can be about taking control of your image now, working with your assets and looking good for yourself. You'd be surprised, others will notice, the compliments come rolling in and it won't take long before before your self esteem grows and grows.

I work in a big organisation with lots of women, and we talk about what we've bought and great stuff we've seen in magazines and on other people. I do have a bit of a knack for putting stuff together and often get called on  for advice and shopping expeditions so I thought that I'd put some of the best stuff I see on my travels on  this blog for us to share. I don't live in a big city or have loads of money but I have a keen eye for what looks great and what can suit your body shape.

We all get bogged down in the mundane day to day of life I thought that it would be good to share some of the pretty, stylish and just down right silly things that I come across and I hope you'll enjoy this and let me know what you come across too.

It Doesn't Have To Be This Way

Your underwear is NOT the problem...