Outfit Envy

So in most of the rest of the world, it's autumn. I'll admit it I'm jealous. Autumn is my favourite time of year. The colour of the leaves, the fresh cool air, the jumpers, the log fires and brisk chilly walks in the fresh air. I love it, I love knitting in autumn, I love being outside in autumn, I love being inside in autumn and I especially love the autumn clothes. Chunky jumpers, jeans, boots etc etc, the list goes on. Sadly, here in my part of the world, autumn does not exist. I miss it every year and to be honest this is the hardest time of year for me being an expat. I always feel homesick between now and Christmas - I want to be in the lovely chilly weather, wearing lovely woolly jumpers and boots, sooooooooo much. Unfortunately it's not to be. Many is the year I have tried to persuade James that it would be a good idea for me to go back to the UK on my own for a week, he has yet to agree to the wonderfullness of this idea - I can't imagine why !!!

So anyway, browsing around some lovely blogs and seeing peoples fab autumn outfits I came upon Une Femme d'un Certain Age - I read this blog fairly regularly and love looking at the wonderful outfits she puts together. However there is one outfit that stands out for me, head and shoulders above everything else. Here it is



If I were living in a cooler climate this is sooooo what I would be wearing. I love the idea of the long sleeved top under a short sleeved jumper and those shoes - ooooooh to die for.

I am finding it increasingly difficult to look stylish in the hot weather and honestly hot weather clothes are not that forgiving on the figure. When I was in England on my summer holiday and the weather was cool I felt much better about the way I looked because I could layer to my heart's content. However here - it's still above 30 degrees most days and it's difficult to look chic and stylish when one is hot and sweaty - I want to be wearing scarves and jumpers and jackets and boots and skirts and tights, but I can't and I feel deprived.

If you live in a hot climate - how do you keep looking cool and stylish whilst managing all the school runs, after school activities, shopping in at least three supermarkets and cooking everything from scratch - all the time ? I'm just not sure how to do it - I want to wear heels and look chic - however I fear this will not come to pass any time soon. Perhaps I need to investigate the possibility of doing a stint in Iceland - there has got to be some great knitted goods there. Mmmmmm food for thought !

What I Wore Wednesday - Week Three

This week - I didn't do so well on taking the photos. My week was has been a bit mad. Both boys are now back at school, which is great, however, Oscar (my three year old) is only going to school from 7.30am until 10.30am (his big brother finishes at 2.10pm with lots of afternoon activities). So anyway - most shops here don't open until 10am - so really I'm very limited as to what I can achieve in the day at the moment, especially if I want Oscar to have a nap, it takes a while to get him to go to sleep, even when he is madly tired. Anyway - all that is to say, the week has been rather crazy and I missed taking photos on two days - sorry !



This is Thursday - once again a day of breakfast with James, food shopping, chores and then out to dinner with the boys.

The top is from Tesco - a big supermarket in the UK
The jeans are from Fat Face
The scarf is from Zara - I love this scarf I wear it a lot - it covers the shoulders nicely when needed.
The shoes are Crocs



This is Friday, we took the dog for a walk on the beach first thing - it was wonderful, no-one around and we all had a lovely swim in the beauitful blue sea - Biscuit - the dog - loves swimming so much and so do the boys, so it works well. We then went up to the pool for the rest of the day - so all very relaxing really.

The dress is from The White Company
The swimsuit is from Joules
The shoes are Havianas - I love these shoes, but sadly not long after this picture was taken the dog chewed the end of one of them - beastly animal !!! James says he can make it good with a touch of judicious shaving, but I'm yet to be convinced !



Saturday is back to school. After I picked Oscar up from school we had a farewell brunch to go to so I'm a little smarter than usual here ! It's so sad that this year so many of our friends have left Oman - it's a sad fact of Expat life I'm afraid and it does make you somewhat reluctant to make new friends I have to say - many times I have made friends with someone only to see them move on fairly quickly and honestly it's heartbreaking every time.

Anyway the clothes are as follows:

Trousers from Fat Face, still not really sure about these but they are super comfortable for sure !
The vest top is from Zara
The waistcoat is knitted by me - many many years ago, when I could do it up and wear it with nothing underneath - I can't believe that was ever possible but honestly it was - I think I'd just had dystentary and just returned from a long cycle trip in Vietnam, but all the same - life takes its toll I guess.
Shoes were made for me in Bali
Necklace is one of my all time favourites - fabulously large ceramic beads on a satin ribbon, it was a Birthday gift from a good friend and is honestly one of the best gifts I have ever received.



Sunday was exercise and school stuff mainly with rugby for Jacob in the afternoon.

The top is from a boutique here called Nick and Friends they are having a fab sale just now and I bought a few lovely colourful linen tops from there - I love them
The Waistcoat is from a differnt boutique called Totem
The Jeans are from Anthro
The shoes are Crocs - again !
The big long necklace is from a shop here that I can't remember the name of
The small necklace was made and given to me by the friend that just left :( it's lovely x
You can see it a bit better here



Monday and Tuesday were my super busy crazy days and I didn't manage any photos I'm afraid, so here is Wednesday instead !



Today has been a day of school, and meetings about Beavers (it's like Scouts but for little boys) I am trying to set up a new colony here and I've never done anything like it before - I hope it all goes well.

Vest is from New Look
Waistcoat is from New Look
Jeans from Anthro
Shoes Crocs
Necklace is a collection of bits that I have found and bought over the years and then put together into a necklace this is another one of my favourites and you can see it a bit better here.



So that is my week in clothes this week. I'll try to get the full week next week. I am finding that doing this is making me think a little more about what I'm wearing everyday - this a good and bad thing as I have very little time to get ready in the morning and I don't think the husband appreciates the extra time it takes me to get dressed in the morning - still - he'll survive !!

In other news - Oscar had his first play date this week - he had four little friends with their Mum's over and he had a fabulous time - I'm so glad I did it even if my Disney Trivial Pursuit board did get ripped in half !!!

I also picked up the new cushions for my sofa and I love, love, love them - they are pink and turquoise and lime green on my red sofa and wicker chair - would you like to see ? Oh go on then !





What do you think ? gorgeous or gorgeous - yes I know - gorgeous - I agree !!!

Also, Jacob went to a climbing wall party this week - he's never done anything like this before and he did abseiling and everything - he loved it - here he is - all harnessed up. I was wondering if one of these for Oscar might be a good idea - I could string him from the ceiling and he could just swing around the house - worth considering I think !!!



I shall try to post a little more this week, but I'm not making any promises - life is mad and there is no denying it !

What I Wore Wednesday

So here we go for the first What I Wore Wednesday.



So Thursday is our Saturday. On Thursday my hubbie and I always go out for breakfast usually only at Starbucks but it's our children free time and we enjoy it. So this little ensemble was purchased as follows;

Skirt - ProMod
Vest - Jigsaw
Waistcoat - Boutique in Oman
Necklace - a Boutique in Bali
Shoes - crocs - again !

I thought you might like a close up of the necklace - I do love it so, but I have to say it is a pain in the bottom, the chain breaks all the time, so I'm always taking it to the little man who makes jewellery here called Mr Siddiqi to get it repaired - I have actually decided to replace the chain because it's too much of a pain - anyway, here it is in all it's loveliness.



So - Thursday evening we went out to dinner with some friends and a change of outfit was required.



Sorry for the quality of the photo - I had to take it in the bathroom of the restaurant that we were at and of course the light was not that fab so:

Vest - New Look
Over Vest - Anthroplogie (I love this top so much, it's fab)
Jeans - Zara
Shoes - Nine West - years and years ago - literally 6 years ago, they are so comfy
Necklace - Top Shop



This is Friday - Friday being Sunday really it's pretty much a relax and take it easy day. Since we are just about to start back to school after a week of holiday we decided to have a very relaxed day indeed, so appropriate attire was required.

Top - H & M
Trousers - The White Company
Socks - knitted by me !
Necklace - from a little shop in Brighton - I can't remember the name
Bangles - from all over the place including, Oman, Bali and the UK

Thursday and Friday being Saturday and Sunday in the real world, that makes Saturday, Monday, if you know what I mean !!!! So Saturday is the first day of the week and it was back to school for us, after a week of holiday - booo hooooooooo.



This little lot was from :

Top - The White Company
Skirt - Joules
Flip Flops - Primark
Necklace - the lovely Mr Siddiqi

I had this necklace made and it's beautiful so I just had to share a close up picture of it



Lovely isn't it ?

Well - it's all very well showing you these photos of how I look - usually in the morning, when things are going good ! by the end of the day the situation is somewhat different - I spend A LOT of time in my apron - I seem to cook pretty much non-stop, so fluffy slippers and an apron are required items and here, is what I look like most evenings !!!!




So then on to Sunday. Sunday was a day of cooking at school with my son's K1 class - it went remarkably well actually, they all happily took turns and really enjoyed themselves and the results of our labours, shortbread biscuits - yum yum !

So Sunday looked a little bit like this



The vest is from Gap, the top is from H & M, the jeans are from Fat Face and the shoes are Crocs. The necklace is another one that I bought in Bali from a fabulous place called Ku De Ta - if you ever get the chance to go to Bali - go to Ku De Ta, it's wonderful - all relaxed chicness !!!

Here is a close up of the lovely necklace - I wear this one all the time - it's beautiful and goes with masses of stuff.



Monday wasn't a great day - I had a meeting at school and it went on a bit, by which time it was time to pick Oscar up from school and that means no more free time for me ! oh well - I didn't get round to taking a picture for that day - sorry.

Finally Tuesday.



This is the first time I have worn this top. I love it - it's from Forever 21and the bit around the neck is lots of little circles of fabric, it hangs beautifully and it is really cool and comfortable. The skirt is from Pro Mod and the shoes are from Monsoon - also loving these shoes so much - orange - I mean you can't go wrong - I am wearing a ring to go with the shoes as well, but you can't really see it. I shall definately wear this outfit again - it was comfy and nice.

So that is my week. It's been much harder than I thought it would be to take photos of my outfits this week. That doesn't mean that I won't keep it up it's been enjoyable too - kept me thinking about what I'm wearing all week, which has got to be a good thing. I shall certainly be giving it a go again next week. Thank you for looking if you have and I hope it wasn't all to boring.

x

This is an experiment !

So, I am planning on joining in the What I Wore Wednesday thinging that is being run over at The Pleated Poppy, which I found via Lisa Leonard - fabulous jewellery by the way - am definately hoping to get a couple of her necklaces for Christmas - some serious hints are going to have to be dropped and that is for sure - I love this one and this one especially. Aren't they fabulous. I found that blog via a fab blog that I read all the time called Whatever, Meg is inspiring in the way she lives her life and I wish I could me more like her - her family are just lovely. Anyway back to the point ! I have been thinking for somewhile now about making some kind of document of the clothes that I wear - vain I know, but I think quite a lot about clothes and I always feel that the outfits I put together in my head, never actually make it on to my body - so I thought this might be a good way to get me to experiment a little more - I am sure I wear the same things all the time and don't even notice it - so I plan to mix it up a little and try to wear some of the clothes that I actually own.

The other thing I have noticed is that the majority of people who do this sort of thing are thin. I am definately not thin and it might be nice to have someone contributing who is normal size do you think ? Anyway - I'm going to give it a go, however given my track record at sticking with things I'm not holding my breath !!! We'll see. So I took a photo of today's outfit and I wanted to post it just to see how it looked on line, I have never taken photos of me in my full length mirror before and I realise that is in quite a dark position, still I shall make the best of it and you shall just have to forive me for rubbish photos - I hope you can do that !




So, the top is from Jigsaw, the waistcoat is from Forever 21, the Jeans are from Anthropolgie (a splurge purchase on my summer holidays and so comfortable), the shoes are Crocs (you'll see those a lot, I have feet issues !), the necklaces are from Monsoon. I think that just about covers it all.

Lets see if I can keep it up - I'll try, but who knows !