Absolutely Nothing To Wear : Could this be a mid life fashion crisis?

I’m not sure if I’ve quite reached “mid life crisis” age yet, well not in years that is but I’ve started to notice some worrying signs when it comes to my fashion choices. That or I’m fighting so very hard not to become another Breton striped, Converse wearing mum in the school playground, that I’ve subconsciously taken it to the other extreme.

It started in the first week of 2012. Having travelled to London to recover from a horrid bout of flu and chest infection, I ventured (alone) to High Street Kensington. First stop was COS, obviously, which is perfectly safe and where I tried on a really rather nice pair of lace up black ankle boots. They were in the sale, nice and classic, just what I was looking for really, but something about the shape of the toe bothered me. It was just a little bit too square, and so I left them. I strolled hazily along the street popping in to various shoe shops, not really sure what I was looking for, until I reached Urban Outfitters. Straight upstairs I went to where it is always quiet and the best collections reside. And there they were, a pair of bright red Winklepicker boots by Underground. The very boots I’d been alerted too on this here blog through a brilliant Q&A with the super stylish photographer Kate Davis, and which I had been secretly coveting ever since.

They were half price, in my size and the last pair in the shop. So I bought them. They reminded me of a person I used to be – or think I used to be – the person who never wore black shoes, never ever ever wore trainers, would rather die than wear Uggs and strived to look as individual as possible….even if it meant being uncomfortable. Today and two children and a life in the countryside later, most of the shoes I own are black, I succumbed to a pair of “snow” Uggs whilst pregnant, and I wear trainers more than any other shoe. Converse still don’t feel quite right on me, but I do own a pair.

So now I have my bright red, very pointy Winklepickers and I have absolutely no idea how or where or when to wear them. They sit in my cupboard making me feel very old and boring indeed. I keep telling myself that as soon as I have the courage to wear them once, I’ll be in them all the time….I’m just not sure whether that first outing is actually going to happen.

So that was the first mid life crisis fashion purchase. The second was from COS. A pair of black ribbed leg warmers. LEG WARMERS??? I’m wearing them now, over leggings, with slippers whilst my 3 year old watches the video for Flashdance’s “What a Feeling” on my iPhone shouting excitedly, “look look it’s Mummy dancing!” and I’m not correcting him. This can only get worse. Bring on the 90s revival, I might get a shell suit.

Winklepickers from Underground