Absolutely Nothing To Wear : Coat vs Husband

What do you do when you have a piece of clothing (in this instance, it’s a coat) which you absolutely love and which you’re pretty sure is both stylish and in-offensive but which your husband absolutely hates. Not just the sort of “I’m not really sure about that” kind of hate or disinterested kind of hate but proper, unrequited hatred. The sort of hatred which actually causes arguments every single time he sees it or even hears it being mentioned.

The coat in question is a beautiful TSE cashmere cocoon coat in a soft mushroom grey. It gives me the most enormous joy every time I wear it. I actually get excited about wearing it and trying it with different outfits. I haven’t felt like this about a piece of clothing in a very long time. I don’t usually really care about what other people think about my style choices and I’ve made some shocking mistakes in the past because of it, but this time I’m absolutely certain that I am right and he is very wrong. This coat is commented on by almost every single lady I meet, they admire it, stroke it and on more than a few occasions the words “ooh, is that Celine” have been uttered. You see, it must be fabulous. But I do, annoyingly, care what my husband thinks. I wouldn’t if it were just a snippy remark now and then but it actually forces him to carry another coat in the back of the car in the hope that I’ll change before going out in public. It’s starting to get to me a little and determined as I am to be myself and wear what I WANT, I’ve started leaving the house in my parka and folding my cashmere cocoon in a very big satchel and changing when out of view. Completely ridiculous.

So, dear husband, please stop going on and on about the coat. The more you go on about it, the more I’ll be determined to wear it, albeit in secret. Maybe use the energy to concentrate on your own wardrobe. Just saying.

Absolutely Nothing To Wear : Very Lovely Patent Brogues (which I should have shared sooner)

I’m not usually very sharing when it comes to fashion finds. And by that I mean the clothing and shoe types of finds. Mainly because I like to think that I’m the only person in the whole wide world who owns that particular item. Even when I’ve bought it from one of the busiest online stores in the whole wide world. So, for that reason, I’ve been keeping these to myself for a couple of weeks but seeing as I am far from unique and in fact probably dress like 99% of the population (over 35) I’ve decided it’s time to share them.

I present to you the Maurice Brogue, courtesy of the one and only ASOS. I saw them in Living Etc, they not only provided a welcome relief from the more of the same interior ideas but they were just kind of snuck in, quietly, when they probably should have had their own entire page. I always most like the objects which don’t really fit in, which have no reason for being there other than that the stylist took a fancy to them and hoped to make them theirs, permanently.

But what really made me take notice was the price, they were £38 which for a patent leather brogue seemed pretty good. And, seeing as the main reason I read these magazines is in the hope of finding a bargain to satisfy my online shopping needs, it was pretty much ideal. But the reason I’m really sharing them is because I did go online and I did buy them and they were in fact reduced to £26 and I now have them and they are simply, perfectly lovely. They shall be my daily Summer brogue (that’s how I’ve sold them to myself) and they are currently positioned in front of my wardrobe where I can see them, which for now, and for the duration of these April showers, will just have to be good enough.

Get them while it’s still raining. No one in their right mind (or of shoe size 5 or 6) would buy a pair of patent brogues in this kind of weather.

Maurice Leather and Patent Brogue from ASOS, £26

Absolutely Nothing To Discover : Lily Of The Valley, by Micki Myers

Lily of the Valley always reminds me of soap — probably because that’s where you tend to encounter it. It seems the most antique of scents, and well-suited for soap because it smells so nice. Drawings of it also look really pretty on soap wrappers, the little white bells delicate and fairy-like.

I was very pleasantly surprised to find the sneaky little bells popping up among the ivy and thistles that line the alleyway leading to my house this morning. I’ve never seen them before, but they’re rhizomes, like irises and ginger, who each year send up new shoots from a woody root. With luck, they’ll decide to stay and welcome in the Spring next year too.

Next time you see Lily of the Valley, and think how lovely and innocent they look, remember that every part of them is extremely poisonous. Make no mistake: eat these instead of sniff them and you will be made dead.

Absolutely Nothing To Be Confused About

For all those who just received a rather peculiar post titled “15th April 2012” I apologise. This was from another blog I write called The New Pickle Diaries. The diaries of a 3 year old.

A small case of blog confusion on a Sunday morning.

It had absolutely nothing to do with Absolutely Nothing To Wear!

Absolutely Nothing To Wear : Howies online SALE

I’ll keep this short….check out Howies’ online store. They have some great things in the sale and I just received my very gorgeous Beatrice Tank, bought last week, and it couldn’t be a more welcome addition on a day like today. Or in fact any day which requires a colourful knitted cardigan which will make you smile from ear to ear. Their packaging is perfect too – our purchases arrived in a giant paper brown flour bag – and all this from Cardigan Bay in Wales. Thank you Howies, you’ve made my Monday.

Beatrice Tank from Howies - £39 (reduced from £79)

Absolutely Nothing To Open : A perfectly acceptable E-Card

I’ve never been a huge fan of the E-Card. They can be a little impersonal and repetitive at times but that was until I discovered MoMA E-Cards which for some reason I approve of entirely. It might be because MoMA is one of my favourite museums in the world in one of my favourite cities in the world, or it might just be because they don’t look like your usual internet greeting and the range is so vastly diverse and wonderful, that I’d happily receive one every day.

Here’s a few favourites. There are hundreds to choose over 10 different categories. Put aside a good hour or so to go through them all. It’s an hour very well spent.

OOF - Edward Ruscha

Butterflies - Odilon Redon

Fruit Dish - Pablo Picasso

Pin Up - Richard Hamilton

Snow Flurry - Alexander Calder

Peny Picture Display - Walker Evans

Breakfast - Juan Gris

The Museum Of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019

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

ANTW Advent Calendar, Day 14 : When Superstars Ruled The World….FREE shipping

I know I’ve written about these dinos before but I’m afraid they’re probably going to pop up quite a bit on here so best get used to them.

A brand new and brilliant collection of WSRTW homeware has been developed with the very clever people at Wild and Wolf and can now be found in stores worldwide. The full W&W range plus sculptures from the LA show, posters and limited edition products are available from the original When Superstars Ruled The World online store and they’re offering FREE shipping on orders received before 12 noon on Friday 16th December.

Here’s just a selection of what’s on offer. Click on the image to take you straight to the store.

Graffiti Dinosaur Poster, £5.95

Tea Rex Mug, Wild and Wolf, £6.95

Tea Rex Apron, Wild and Wolf, £16.95

Tricerachops Mug, Wild and Wolf, £6.95

Tricerchops Tea Towel, Wild and Wolf, £7.95

When Superstars Ruled The World is an artistic concept created by Jay Jay Burridge. The dinosaurs were first released on the world in 2010 in an exhibition of mammoth proportions which took place in an unsuspecting Beverly Hills. You can see more work from the show plus videos of the making and pictures from the space itself on the WSRTW website.