Wardrobe Waffle

Hello again ..remember me?
Well that was a whole big heap of gloom and doom now wasn't it?
Thank-you SO very much for all your lovely messages and emails about losing my much missed kitty Maude (she had quite sudden kidney failure) and waving goodbye to Florence too.They were really lovely and more appreciated than you'll ever know. x
(Lovely Lisa in Oregon..don't worry Basil and his buddies are doing just fine, as you can see from these photos they have been having lots of cat conferences putting the feline world to rights)

mind you, all hell broke loose after Ethel dared to stretch out a kindly paw to her mother!

 It all became a bit too much to bear to be honest so I spent some time in my spotty wellies wading in self pity and lots of tears..there were lots and lots of those...I was a little bit broken hearted I can tell you. I also had to leave my job in the little shop for various reasons which I wont go into, so Pete and I went away for a while to Devon for some blustery blue sky days to blow away the stresses and clear my head before I end up getting carted away by the men in white coats.

Well 'Old Flo' has gone to her new home, not far from here up in the hills. The chap was really pleased with her and will tow her behind his 1958 Landrover. He promised to email me photos of her renovation, so if he does, I'll let you see. He was thinking of painting the lower half of her in a pale 1960's turquoise-teal blue which funnily is the colour I was thinking of too. Great minds think alike hey?

(this was the curtaining I had bought for her..Hen I think you have some of this fabric too?)
I must admit I had a lump in my throat when she trundled off up the lane giving me a crafty wink with her half hearted brake lights.
The nice little bit of profit helped take away a bit of the pain though, pity £300 quid of it had to pay towards for the pointless damage done to my little car but hey ho,I suppose that's life (well, my often pants life anyway!)

Last month,as Florence's farewell treat to us, Pete and I went to Shakespeare country, namely Stratford-upon-Avon, for a drive out and a mooch about the shops and a properly British, award winning cream tea.The best cup of tea ever actually, they had a six page menu just for the different types!

I managed to find myself some pretty clothes to buy whilst we were there.Normally I struggle with clothes shopping as I can never find things I like, they always seem to show the bits I want to hide or I'm worried about looking like some old piece of mutton dressed up like a spring lamb.
Years ago the stinky boys wrote to Trinny and Susannah to try and cheer me up with a new wardrobe of girlie stuff..( I'd got a bit lost in the wardrobe stakes having put on quite a bit of weight and suddenly not fitting in my vintage clothes and favourite Levis) Whilst clearing out yet another stash of 'stuff' I came across it again:

  I found the letter and there was no way on this earth I would stand in that 360 degree mirrored cupboard in my bestest big knickers for all the world to see... or have Trinny poking my tits (or 'giblets' for that matter)...nope, nooooooo way so even though it was very sweet of them, it never got posted. How sad is this bit.."she buys party shoes but never goes to parties"
cheeky buggers!!
I was quite impressed with George's handwriting though!

Anyway..this pretty top I found at Stratford, has little birdies and fish on it, it looks lovely with that blue and green swallows necklace Pete bought me back in April. And a first for me, a couple of woolly berets to match my bargain found-in-the-sale Spring coat.(even though its now Autumn!)I confess to feeling a bit of a berk in a hat, like I'm wandering around with a large sign on my head saying 'lookey here folks at the size of my enormous bonce' but I'm sure I'll get used to wearing them.

I can't understand why I haven't been in White Stuff before last year.. I've never walked into a clothing shop and loved so many things, nearly all the styles are right for (hiding) my shape but also, most unfortunately, very wrong for my budget.
One thing I have discovered a love of again recently is leggings.
I wore them in the very early 80's with tulip-shaped wiggle dresses or ra-ra skirts and big turban-like bows in my hair and a strange fashion of black plimsolls with 'fall-down socks'..(remember those? they were like white surgical stockings without elastic at the top) Later I went on to the black phase much to my parents horror..loving The Cure, black hair,black clothes, black lipstick and studded punk belts before trundling off to Art college in another style..my old-man mac, stripey tights and Doctor Martin's with my trademark bright red lipstick. Art college is where I found a new best buddy and the next wardrobe phase..the 1950s..an era I still adore but my 26 inch waist has had quite a few more inches added and everything is heading south lately..it doesn't quite cut the mustard when you're 41 and a half, I'm more Hattie Jacques than Diana Dors these days!

lovely curvy Hattie

Luckily for me I have a husband who prefers the 'extra padding', it's just me and the rest of society who doesn't! Well,anyway,I know the rule of wearing things a second time round, but I braved leggings on the approval of both the stinky boys' rather gorgeous girlfriends and have fallen in love with them all over again, this time though with biker boots and tunic dresses. Dresses and skirts are something I haven't worn in donkeys years, probably since my wedding in fact.I didn't possess either...
I love this eclectic look for the Autumn; (not sure what the tea cup is all about though) I was a little bit indulgent and that lovely leafy tunic and some fairisle wrist warmers came home too.

There is nothing like a bit of retail therapy to cheer you up is there?
You do get to that point of wondering whether you're too old for some clothes though, it takes me ages to deliberate over things.. but I'm not ready for my blue rinse just yet so I think I might like to grow old just a little disgracefully..

Clothing is such a personal thing but I do love peeking at what's in other people's wardrobes...It must be the long past dream of being a wardrobe mistress in me.

Is there anything you've indulged in or discovered a love of again lately, I'd love to know?