A bit of a do!

My work Christmas 'do' is fast approaching and when a say a bit of a do I really mean it!! Nothing fancy....no frills just a meal straight from work (no turkey even, I'm having fish & chips!!). This presents me with the usual problems.....what the hell to wear?!! There won't be time to get really dolled up and in my place of work.....well it's all pretty casual!! I do want to make a bit of an effort as there really aren't to that many reasons for me to do so these days!! Luckily the staples that I tend to wear to work are some black skinny trousers from Gap, worn with black suede dicker boots which I think you will agree is a pretty good foundation to start off with!! Now, I don't like to be cold so I've started by looking at sweaters. The great thing is with a sweater even if it's a bit glitzy you can still get away with it during the day!! You can bling it up with some fab statement earrings for an evening out but really tone it down with boyfriends jeans and trainers for day to get maximum usage out of it!! Well that's my plan should I go down this road! And the thought behind this....obviously came from Pinterest although the boyfriends are sadly paired with these lovely heels that really have no place in my life at the moment!

As it's Black Friday whilst I type this, there are some amazing discount deals to be had so here I am starting with a few budget busting items (thank goodness there is only another month of my challenge to go!!).

First up a gorgeous Ted Baker Bronte Sparkle Collared number

Feeling a lot of love for this Boutique by Jaeger jumper too!

As House of Fraser have such great deals over the next couple of days I have also had my head turned by this lovely little Therapy sequin knit jumper.

Moving on....this Warehouse sweater features a titchy bit of colour in the way of some orange sparkles!

Next came up trumps with a couple of Lipsy treasures, All Over Gem Jumper 

Or there is always the Lipsy Chiffon Back Sequin Jumper just gorgeous!

Rather taken with this lovely cropped lace sleeved ASOS number 

Staying with ASOS, although tis a River Island sweater 

H&M have totally come up with tons of my wardrobe staples this season, this addition would be no exception! 

Lastly......just throwing a total spanner in the works! I have had a hankering for a fur gilet which I was thinking I could wear over an existing black Gap crew neck sweater with a statement necklace, obviously something I could style loads of other different ways....not just for a Christmas do! If I can hunt down this beast in New Look over the next few days....well it will do nicely!

The Pin that lead along this line of thinking.....

There has to be a Christmas 'do' outfit in there somewhere.....what shall I do ladies? Thoughts please :0)

To finish off, here are my outfits for the past week....eek! Must apologise for my lack of posts lately! I blame some extreme lethargy.....or maybe it's been down to a marathon of Breaking Bad seasons 1-4, downing at least 2 episodes per evening!! Anyone else addicted to this show?? Gosh, it's so bad it's good right??!

First outfit was from Saturday and 'twas the usual shirt and sweater combo....my favourite as it happens!!

And with a coat thrown over

Gap sweater

Aquascutum shirt (gifted)

Gap Outlet skinny's

Ash Genials 

Zara Coat

Primark scarf

Next was a Sunday going out 'outfit'....roast dinner at 'The Fox @ Broughton Gifford

Next Blazer

Clements Ribeirio top (T K Maxx)

Topshop Leigh jeans

Rag & Bone boots

River Island (ASOS) pea coat

Monday's outfit consisted of a laid back school run look

H&M sweatshirt

Zara Tartan shirt

Gap Outlet Skinny's

Converse brown leather Hi-top's

H&M Parka

Primark bobble hat, great for 3 quid if you are prone to losing these things like me!

Another school run outfit from me for Tuesday

H&M cable sweater

Gap shirt

H&M jeggings

Steve Madden boots

River Island pea coat

Primmark bobble hat

Wednesday's offerings, I was really not doing that much!

All Saint's sweater (bought in a clothes sale a couple of years ago for a fiver!)

H&M top

Gap Outlet super skinny's

Ash Genials

So there we have it! What say you??!! Do you have a big Chritmas 'do' to go to or is yours rather more subdued like mine? Would love to hear what you will be up to and most importantly what you will be wearing!

Until next time, Michelle x

Fancy a bit of Urban fleecewear?!

Sounds pretty cool huh! Fleece always makes me think of little old ladies in heather coloured offerings from the classic collection at M&S but this range from Uniqlo has well and truly won me over! The temperatures are really set to drop this week and so thankfully I mayl have found the perfect solution just in the nick of time!! I have to say I'm sorely tempted by a lot of it......which could be really bad news for my budget challenge!

I'm diving headlong into the best bits of the range.....no point in beating about the bush!! This fluffy fleece crew-neck T-shirt is fab.....would look great layered over one of their long sleeved Heat tech tops and is a brilliant price at £14.90. This looks so cuddly....not to mention warm!

These micro fleece track pant style trousers look fantastic too.....love the sporty luxe look about them!

Presenting the heat-tech fleece hoody 

Here's the heat-tech crew neck long sleeve t-shirt, there is also a short sleeve version if you prefer!

There are some great pieces of outerwear too, starting with this fleece vest

If you want sleeves there is always the fleece blouson

Next up is this lovely coat.....looks like a cross between a duffle and a parka......and oh-so snug! 

By far my favourite of this lovely collection is this Woolly Fleece Coat which is on special offer at £29.90!! Race to to the checkout for this one!! Love it!

The range only seems comes in black (with the exception of the fleece coat above which comes in cream too).....guess that's where the catchy 'Urban fleecewear' title (Uniqlo's term not mine) came from! It certainly does look quite edgy and 'street' being all black. For me this is the perfect alternative to the loungewear out there at the moment, as a lot of the stuff I've seen seems a little bit too glam for me to sit around in (oh-so practical I am!) and of course you wouldn't look like you were popping out in your pyjamas......if the need arose to dash to the shops for a pint of milk! 

Can you see yourself being won over by this trendy range of fleece? Will you be taking the plunge and going for any of Uniqlo's offerings?? Have you purchased any loungewear yet? If not, what kind of loungewear do you see yourself going for? Would love to hear your thoughts!

And so onto the outfits I have been wearing these past few days

Starting with a school run outfit from last week

Zara coat

Gap long sleeve top

Primark white vest

H&M tie-dye jeans

Ashe Genial wedges

Primark scarf

Next up is a slobby Saturday look for a day on the sofa nursing a fuggy head and trying to fight off the lurgy!

Warehouse Cardigan

Uniqlo long-line sweatshirt

Topshop Leigh jeans

Zara Hi-tops

Primark scarf

You may have noticed I don't dress up much.......but here's the proof I do now and again! We had a christening on Sunday which did require me to be a bit smarter than usual! Got myself in a real tiz about what to wear and was a bit wary of going all black but after reading this lovely little saying, my fears were relieved a tad!

So a big thank you to a certain very stylish @Mrs W over on Avenue 57......this made me feel a whole lot better about going dark......after all who am I to argue with Christian Dior!

Here's the outfit!

Zara jacket (last year)

Vintage LBD

River Island shoes

H&M pearls

Finishing with today's outfit

H&M sweater

Uniqlo shirt

H&M jeggings

Steve Madden boots

Time to share a few new purchases. The first purchase was a little bit of new bling to liven up the christening outfit! I have been after a pearl statement necklace for a while, I knew this would be a good way to liven up a smart outfit and they were several looks on my pin board featuring pearls being worn with a shirt and sweater combo so you see.....I had a plan. As funds are pretty low this month budget wise I have been particularly resourceful in trying to secure all my fashion yearnings (all my scrimping and saving may well have gone out the window now thanks to Uniqlo!!). I managed to scrounge one of the £5 off £20 spend H&M vouchers (thanks mum! She copied my H&M boucle coat!) to purchase the necklace........and another wishlist item which was the cable knit sweater in the above pic! Here's a close up of the necklace, as you can hardly see it in the outfit photo!

You may have also noticed the addition of a couple of new Primarni scarves in the shots above! I was simply unable to resist getting the red tartan one and then I saw the cream one and well no point in tormenting myself into trying to decide between the two......so I just got both! That now leaves me with £16 in the budget to last until 1st December! I still have a wishlist as long as my arm and now Uniqlo have thrown a spanner in the works.......what's a girl to do??

Until next time!

Michelle x

A tiny tweak to the current uniform!

I may have borrowed the idea for this look

......from here

Not an exact copy but it gave me the inspiration to try something similar! Which leads me nicely into my first November purchase......keeping that budget challenge firmly in mind! I finally took the plunge after much cogitating and went for the Zara tartan shirt which I may have seen on the WIT blog first! Just call me No.1 fan......major style stalker!

It's turned out to be a great buy! It would never have occurred to me to put a long sleeved shirt underneath a short sleeved sweater but I am pleased as punch with this outfit! You may remember this Ferragamo jumper from a couple of posts back. It's surely now classed as vintage as I bought it over 25 years ago when I worked in a boutique called Kimberly in Bath (my first job after leaving school). So glad this is back in my possession again after a lengthy loan spell with my mum! I think the button detail around the neck is very reminiscent of the statement necklace styley! The shirt works especially well under the jumper too as it's a Peter Pan collar and so smaller than a normal shirt collar thus really showing off the neckline feature. Of course I would have loved to have teamed it with some devilish heels like the lovely Laura but it may be a tad over the top for a school run in the suburbs!

I topped the look off with my River Island pea coat for braving the outdoors. The jeans are Zara and the boots from Oasis (eBay purchase).

What do you think......have I pulled this look off? Is this a look you might try? Would love to know your thoughts!

And so onto the round up of what I have been wearing these past few days.

Firstly.......again although with a slightly different angle with a sweatshirt instead of sweater and shirt combo

Zara sweatshirt

Gap shirt

Dorothy Perkins coated jeggings

Office Boots

A different take on the layered look with a denim jacket under a coat

Zara coat

Vintage Levi jacket

Gap long sleeve top

Gap Outlet super skinny's

Nine West biker boots

Slouchy Sunday outfit

Uniqlo sweater

H&M long sleeve top underneath and Primark vest

Gap real straight jeans

Converse

Ending with a black outfit for a bleak Monday weather-wise.

Jaeger jumper

Gap legging jeans

Office boots

New Look tusk pendant

Apologies for continuing along with my current love affair of the shirt and sweater ensemble, it shows no sign of waning either as with my lifestyle (basically I'm pretty boring with it revolving around school or work!) this look has been a perfect way of up-dating my wardrobe this season so I'm sticking with it! Sorry if I'm boring the pants off you but next time I promise there will be something a bit different as I'm off to a christening at the weekend which will require something a tad more dressy than my usual offerings! Although I can't promise there won't be more on the shirt and sweater front! I'll be back soon with another purchase or 2! 

Michelle x

A leopard print themed Christmas wish list!

We are into November now so I feel it's safe to start talking Christmas! Marks and Sparks isn't somewhere I normally shop but after a recent peruse around their Bath store I realised that they pretty much have Christmas wrapped up for me! The idea for my leopard print themed wishlist came from my lovely friend Jane from My Midlife Fashion. Her love of all things leopard print is well documented! In fact she wears any animal print so well that she has inspired me to get a bit more of it in my life as I am seriously lacking in it bar a few scarves! I've recently mastered mixing the check & stripe look.....so now I totally want to nail the animal print action! I admit to not being as confident with bold patterns as I'd like to be so I'm starting small.....but I am endeavouring to do my bit for Bet!

A girl can never have too many accessories so first up is this lovely watch!

Or how's about these glorious gloves?

They have more than a few lovely leopard print scarfs....they literally catering for everyone's style and pocket! But since it's Christmas I've plumped for the luxe Pure Collection cashmere because I'm worth it!

They have really exceeded themselves on the animal print front with this lovely selection of bags! I won't be happy if I don't find one of these in my stocking!

This is my favourite as it could be an oversize clutch or crossbody bag, it's so versatile.......that's why it's top of the wish list!

But I'd be well happy with this fab bucket style bag

The shopper would probably be the most practical for me as I still seem to carry everything but the kitchen sink!

M&S have surpassed themselves in the style stakes with these amazing wedge boots....how gorgeous are these! I have it on good authority that there is 20% off M&S footwear until Sunday 3rd......so race you to the checkout!!

And then there are these......how wonderful are these courts?! These would be a great height for me! Also love the muted tones on this print. There are a couple of other styles on offer as well.....again something to suit every one in heel height and budget-wise!

You will no doubt remember my fondness of a blazer....this one ticks all the boxes! Such a great length and shape!

And I couldn't leave you without adding a stunning Limited Edition coat! It's purr-fect!

Good old M&S have come up with some corking gift ideas! Of course now all I need to do is make sure the DH catches sight of my wish list......I've made it easy for him this year as he need only visit the one shop! If you read this Mr Lee......I would be happy with any or all of the above!

Onto what I've been wearing these past few days.

First day of the school holiday.....spent enduring 3 hours of softplay!

H&M coat

Uniqlo crossover sweater

Primark white vest

Gap Outlet skinny's

Ash Genial wedges

An outfit for a trip to the M-Shed museum in Bristol

River Island pea coat via ASOS

M&S Autograph sweater (outlet purchase)

Topshop Baxter jeans

Oasis boots (ebay)

Episode bag (House of Fraser ebay outlet)

A trip to the park

There was a need to wrap up so I dug out last years parka

Whistles parka (via ebay)

Whistles sweater (outlet purchase)

Topshop Leigh jeans

Zara Boots

Warehouse scarf

Anything here floating your boat?! Have you started compiling your Christmas wish list yet? What is likely to be top of your list? Love to hear your thoughts!

Michelle x