Coat of dreams *heart eyes emoji*

It's reached that really funny time of year when it becomes almost impossible to know what to wear. Sometimes it's still super chilly and I need the scarf and the big winter coat, but on other days it's mild and sunny and the winter coat is too big and heavy and by the time I get to where I'm going I just want to tear it off my back and fling it on the floor! Drama queen moment aside, changing weather is tricky. 

So I've been looking for the perfect coat/jacket/outer layer. Not too hot, not too cold, just like Goldilock's porridge - just right. I fleetingly decided that I would have a go at French chic and try a mac. Yep, nice try Claire. I basically ended up looking like some kind of detective parody in the much too formal black mac. Return to sender. 

I also tried a shorter, mac-like jacket/swing coat hybrid. Even though I liked the idea of it on the hanger it just felt really frumpy when I tried it on. It was a weird length and it deffo looked like I was trying too hard. Return to hanger. 

Today, I found the coat of dreams! Well, I call it a coat, it's probably another one of these hybrid thingies that I think is called a duster coat. It's light yet long. It's really lovely fabric and looks like it should be a big thick coat but in actual fact it's just the right side of perfect for these milder days. YES! And, it makes me feel all kinds of swishy. And it's grey. Which is kind of a no-brainer to be honest as I seem to have developed a real thing for grey over the last year or so. It's smart enough for work but cool enough to dress down with some shredded jeans at the weekend. I love it!

Check out those giant pockets too - I love pockets! 

Now, if only I could find those elusive trousers...

Style wishes

I know it's not even the end of February yet but I am dreaming about Spring! That slight hint of warmth in the sunshine, blue skies, longer days, flowers popping up out of the ground...CAN'T WAIT! 

I've got a bit of a wish list going on for my Spring style, but I'm having one big problem: I can't find anything that I want. So frustrating! The new season stuff is still starting to come in admittedly, but I am slightly concerned that most of it seems to be a) cropped, as in it might fit my 13 year old niece, and b) all the pastel shades. Now I'm not averse to some of the pastel stuff, in fact I've just bought a beautiful pair of blush pink kicks today but that will probably be my one nod to pastel, it's a tough shade to pull off when you're pale of skin and red of hair. 

So here in no particular order is what I want in my wardrobe for Spring. If you've seen any of these things please shout up in the comments! 

1. A long line blazer, slim-ish fit but with slightly baggier sleeves that can be rolled up to about three quarter length. I'd like this in a navy or a black to be classy. Think Julia Roberts in the final scene of Pretty Woman...

2. A pair of trousers. At this point I'm not fussy about anything. Today I visited about six shops and tried on countless pairs. They all look awful. Any big-bottom-ed girls out there who know where to buy trousers, please share, PLEASE! I desperately want some! 

3. All the florals - loving this trend! Any colour, any style, bring them on! 

4. A couple of nice loose (but not too baggy), cotton (but not see-through) shirts that I can wear for work tucked into skirts and paired with the mythical trousers that may not exist. 

5. Some brown/tan suede loafers. You would think this is easy but I have a couple of new demands on shoes now - they cannot be completely flat to the floor anymore (all that pounding the floor in libraryland number 2 in rubbish shoes has done bad things to my legs!) so a bit of a block heel, maybe like an inch. And they also have to be totally comfortable from day one. Blisters are evil and make your life a misery. I cannot be doing with any footwear that requires 'breaking in' - been there, done that with the Doc Marten boots that actually cut my feet to shreds back in the day - memories - ugh *shudder* 

6. A moving into Spring skirt. I'm still to decide on the actual type but maybe one that is a little bit lighter than fifty shades of grey and blue which is my current skirt situation. 

7. A three quarter sleeve cardigan that is lightweight cotton but does not contain any lace. Lace is itchy and rips easily and as we all know Claire = clumsy so not a good combo.

8. Some new trainers that are worn purely to look good with an outfit and do not, in any way, shape or form, turn into dog walking trainers. I'm still considering New Balance...

9. A white t-shirt that is good quality cotton, will wash well and is not see through. This does not seem like too tall an order but paired with the mythical trousers has yet to be discovered. What's up with that?!?

10. Blush pink kicks - YES! Tick! Bought today and already loving. 

So in summary: some pretty specific demands that give a clear indication that my style is evolving. As I move around in this 40-something decade I'm feeling a need for quality over quantity and am definitely willing to pay more if this means that a clothing item will endure countless wears and still look good. I'm also finding that I'm way more about looking as chic as I can manage (with the messy hair it's never going to be entirely chic and sophisticated) while still being totally myself which is a little bit funky, a little bit cool-cat, a little bit, dare I say, smart...? Who would have thought that would ever be a word I would use...

Imagination vs Reality

So here's the thing. I needed to buy a new coat for Winter, it's on its way, it can no longer be denied, the clocks will be going back soon and everything. In my head I had this idea of me rocking one of those beautiful wool coats in that camel/tan shade with a belt round the middle being all kinds of chic and stylish like as if I was Parisian or something. You get the idea. 

The thing is when I tried one on I looked like I was wearing a sack of potatoes, with a belt round it. I don't actually own anything that is on the brown/tan/neutral spectrum except for accessories, and this is because it really isn't my colour at all. Nope. Not gonna happen. Back to the drawing board. 

This beautiful grey, military style, 3/4 length coat caught my eye next. Even though the price made me gulp a bit I decided to try it on as the shop had a 30% off weekend (woop!). I put it on and it felt AMAZING - so soft, so dreamy, so chic, so...grown up! I swished and swirled and admired myself in the mirror for about 30 seconds before I took a second look. Yes that coat was beautiful and oh so chic, the person in the coat however? Not so much. My jeans are cropped and mottled and my boots are scuffed and scruffy, the hair the usual mop of madness and I was wearing a battered sweatshirt type top - the two just don't compute. The type of person who needs to wear that dreamy coat is someone in expensive designer jeans, wearing delicate ballet pumps that may or may not be Chanel, with tidy hair that is shiny and silky. I think I still have some growing up to do before I can feel that I belong in a coat like that. 

But don't be sad! Just around the corner I found the one, the coat that is absolutely 100% me. It's still soft and smart and a beautiful dove grey colour, but it's got a massive furry hood and pockets and plenty of room for tying big scarves and the wearing of bobble hats - much more Claire-like. 

In truth I don't know that I'll ever graduate to that fancy-dancy type coat. You think maybe when I'm 50? Yikes! I'll keep you posted! 

Capsule the Claire way

I know I keep banging on about this whole nearly 4 years and no good job, but it has honestly been the cause of many a revelation to me. Just let me talk about it again today for a brief paragraph before the point of this post emerges. So you know the drill by now - very little disposable income meant really thinking about how I spent my money, which definitely led to a reduction in a lot of the stuff that had previously been a big part of my life. The stuff came in many shapes and sizes and a lot of it was clothes. Like a whole heap of clothes that were often not worn as there are only so many days to fill in a week. During that time I really didn't miss buying the new clothes that much, and whenever I did want to add to my wardrobe I would hit the charity shops and generally come back with a good little haul that cost only a small amount of money. At the time I called this phase skint, but I have recently come to realise that it was a form of re-education. I simply didn't, and don't any longer, need that much stuff. Which is a very long winded way of bringing me to my point. 

The point being that I am really inspired by the idea of a capsule wardrobe. There are many variations on the capsule and I am not choosing the absolute version where you can only have a certain number of clothes in your wardrobe at any one time. What I am taking is the idea of season by season having a collection of clothes, well thought out and considered, that can be easily mixed and matched, and represents the style of Claire. Which by the way has changed quite a lot over the past few years. A style evolution is probably a whole post on its own but recently I have discovered that unintentionally or not, I wear a kind of uniform for work and one for weekends. Which is why I am 100% certain that I can do the capsule thing. It'll definitely make getting ready for work on a morning so much easier when choice is restricted! 

I've not tied down the absolute essentials yet as it's very much in between seasons at the moment but I'm thinking along the lines of a couple of pairs of smart (and strutty!) trousers, lots of variety in the tops department, couple of pairs of leggings, bring out the opaque tights as the colder days set in, some funky ankle boots, and the rest will be decided upon as the days go by. Autumn is a really easy time to try this I reckon, before the jumpers set in and the scarves come out. If you're interested I'll be happy to give you a breakdown of the wardrobe choices - shout out in the comments. 

In the meantime, if you like the idea of this and want to give it a try, there's a couple of people I would really recommend checking out. First up is Anna who started her capsule about a year ago and was probably the front runner in getting me interested in the idea. Along the way I've also come across Alli and Kat who have some really interesting video content around capsules, responsible shopping, and do some excellent charity shop hauls! 

What do you reckon? Do you think I'll give in once I see my bank balance and just go wild in the aisles? I'll keep you posted...

Style talk: strutty pants

For a while back there when I was working at the college that shall not be named, I lost my style way completely and utterly. The notion of biz-ness dress was one that I had never had to consider, and I had absolutely no clue. For the first time in a long time I looked at what my work colleagues were wearing and tried on their style for a while. It wasn't too surprising that I never felt quite like me and much of what I bought ended up going to the charity shop, along with the significant pennies spent to buy it all in the first place. By the end of it, I think I was getting there and was slowly moving it away from the idea of biz-ness and more towards Claire-ness, then I got a job where I worked from home every day and basically wore shorts if it was hot and jeans if it wasn't - result! Weekly meetings were my chance to bring back the Claire of old and I really enjoyed mixing it all up again. 

Which brings us to now: the return to libraryland and 100% the return to full on Claire-ness - woop woop! Step, or should I say strut, forward: the strutty pants!

The strutty pants are magical! They are floral on a black background, they cling in all the right places, are super stretchy for all that shelving malarkey, and I absolutely love 'em! Each time I have worn them for work they have received many an admiring glance and I am happy to say that a couple of my co-workers love them so much they have bought some for themselves - strutty pants for the win!

As the photo above demonstrates, I like to mix them up with some stripes and my 'fugly' shoes. I might wear a plain top sometimes, but most of the time, there's pattern clashing going on. Add in some jewellery choices, and a funky 'do in my slightly shorter hair and I am libraryland ready with a huge smile on my face. Claire-ness is back! 

It doesn't look as if they have my pair in stock now, but if you fancy your own strutty pants you can find all the options from New Look here. Happy shopping! 

Big arse jeans shopping

I briefly considered calling this post something much more professional sounding, but then I thought nope, I'm telling it like it is, which is shopping for jeans when you have a big arse.

I firmly believe that shopping for jeans could be introduced as a new method of torture. It's truly beyond, and in the past I have been known to end up very close to tears with sheer frustration. I also believe that this torture applies to anyone of any size, shape, and gender. Unless you have hundreds of pounds to spend to have your jeans made to fit your own unique shape, trying to find a pair that fits perfectly is hellish and stressful and I'll bet has caused a real tear or two to be shed. But shed those tears no more! If like me, you are ample of arse, then I have a couple of pairs that could solve your problems.

First of all though I think we need to talk shape. As in my shape. I've mentioned above that I am ample of arse, it's a true statement. It's not hugely wide, but it is more booty than botty, in that it sticks out. Pair this with some womanly hips, chunky thighs, and slimmer waist, and therein lies your jeans dilemma. I like a skinny jean, and I like a boyfriend style also, but mostly I just wanted something that wasn't covered in dog drool and actually looked good to leave the house in. It's been a long search and I've tried on everything from the famous-on-the-internets Topshop Jamie jean, which was frankly like wearing sausage skin and how do you breathe/move/sit down in them? No thank you. I also tried all my usual haunts such as New Look, Dorothy Perkins, M&S, hell I even tried good old BHS! But enough chitchat, onto the jeans.

The first successful mission was online in the form of the River Island Ashley jeans They are boyfriend jeans, so straight leg rather than skinny, but I like a looser fit for wearing with tees and kicks in the warmer months. I have to wear a belt with them as they're too big round the waist but they fit perfectly everywhere else. I would recommend opting for your true size (I'm a UK 16), and if you're a shorty it might be worth checking if they come in petite, but the bottoms are designed to be rolled up anyway, so maybe you could just roll them up further. They're pretty dark at the moment, which I am liking, but I know I'll also love them as they get washed more and begin to take on the older, faded look. At £40, they're definitely a higher price bracket than your New Look etc. but I still think they are very reasonably priced. I've had River Island jeans in the past and loved them until they fell apart so definitely worth the extra few pounds.

The second successful mission was in TK Maxx. This isn't a shop I spend a lot of time in as I think it's a weird kind of hybrid between high street and charity shop. You need the charity shop browsing skills combined with your high street wallet, and the odd high end/designer item makes my eyes boggle. Anyhow I digress. I can't actually find a link to the jeans on the website, but the brand of the jeans is Blue Fire which it turns out is a German brand. The pair I successfully found are skinny fit (or tight fit as per the website) and were a bargainous £12! They are also a size 13, which made me assume that they were a brand from the US, but maybe they have that kind of sizing in Germany too? Either way, they fit like a glove. They're high rise which means no belt (woop!) and are supersoft yet still feel like they might last a while. I almost whooped out loud in the dressing room when I tried them on as I immediately didn't want to ever take them off! I wore them out on Sunday and definitely did a bit of strutting - yeah baby!

Mission accomplished, twice! I feel so chuffed as now I won't need to jeans shop for a good long while which is always good news.

I do have one other option for you that I have been living in for the past few months, but it all depends on how you feel about 'jeggings'. This is a word I never imagined would be in my 'style' vocabulary, as I used to think they were actually very short on style. Which is probably true, but they are big on comfort (elasticated waists for the win!) and the beauty of them is that no matter how many washes they always go back to their original shape. I have two pairs of the Eden jeggings from Dorothy Perkins and they are all kinds of wondrous. When I first got them I never imagined I would leave the house in them, but the denim quality is actually really good and is just like wearing a really tight pair of jeans, with an elasticated waist (still winning); I would even go so far as to say that with a funky ankle boot and a good top I have even done some jeggings strutting, and been complimented on looking 'leggy' which I will kindly take, thank you very much. I'd definitely recommend them, and might even get a new pair as they're currently on sale with 25% off - Brucey bonus time!

I hope this post has been a big help if you're of the big arse persuasion. Or just taken you to some new places for jeans inspiration. If you've got any recommendations of your own, share them below - let's stop the crying over ripped jeans (and by ripped I mean rrrrriiiiippppp as you try to squeeze yourself into a pair that are too small - ooopsy...)

Over and out.

Lucky

Do you have any little superstitions that you go along with at certain times or are you firmly in the camp of believing that it's a load of rubbish? I've always been somewhere in the middle, but today I'm calling it - this dress is officially my lucky dress!

Photo edited with #acolorstory
 

I bought it when I was a skinty-skint student and it cost £18 from Dorothy Perkins. I was doing an 'Expo' where I would be showcasing my final project work to prospective employers and we were advised to dress in 'business dress' (ugh how I hate that phrase). I'd been pretty much wearing skinny jeans and mini skirts all the time I was a student and had no clue about what might pass for the dreaded business dress, but I tried this on, I loved the cut of it, I loved the brightness, and most of all it felt like I could be myself whilst looking kinda smart. And it totally did me proud. I felt smart and confident and the Expo thing went really well. Bright patterned dress for the win!

I also wore it for my very first interview post-university. Got the job. The dress nailed it again!

I wore it almost every week the whole time I worked at that job. I'm sure my work colleagues were probably sick of the sight of it by the end of the year. I dressed it with a black cardigan, a black jacket with white cuffs, ankle boots, knee high boots, suede brogues...it's a very versatile dress is this lucky dress.

Whenever I had to go to a big meeting or was feeling nervous about a day, I would rock this dress out and each and every time I made it through. You can kind of see why I started to call it my lucky dress.

Yet again, the dress came through just this last week. I was scheduled in to read a story to a school session at my new libraryland. I was feeling a little nervous about reading to 25 kiddos so I went with it. Thank god I did! Turned out I wasn't just reading a story but was running an hour long session...with no preparation...all about Spain. Thankfully I had an activity booklet that we had made up. The rest was me basically flying by the seat of my pants - thinking on my feet is a skill that I am continuously bringing to the fore these days. The session was a big success, both for the kiddos who seemed very happy with their little trip, and for me for successfully making it through and kicking ass all at the same time. Go bright patterned dress, go!

I am grateful that for the time being it seems to still be going strong. It's been washed and better washed this far down the line. And long may it live. What will I do without it?! I can't even think about it...it will simply have to last forever!

Sale haulin'

I haven't really bothered much with the sales the last few years, mainly because I can't stand the madness of people queuing up at dawn on Boxing Day - so not fair to the poor staff who have to work those rubbish hours. Been there, done that, had an awful coloured t-shirt to prove it. But this year I thought I'd give it a go again and ventured into town with Tee, not at dawn I hasten to add, fully sociable working hours only. And we killed it! I think her haul was definitely the most bargainous - each item was £3, including an awesome Harry Potter sweatshirt. Way too cool for school. But I haven't done too badly myself. I picked up some great things, that are totally my style, and am very happy with my haulin'.

I'm trying to branch out into new things on the blog this year and my first ambition is to up the photography game. So, in light of all things adventurous, I made a little gif of my sales haul...hope you like it!

New Season

My budget is barely there these days for new clothes so when I do buy, I choose wisely and with things that I know I will get heaps of wear out of. I've added a few items to my wardrobe ready for the new season ahead - can you believe it's nearly Autumn? Where has this year gone?! There's a bit of a theme - khaki/olive green, but it's one of my favourite colours and it suits me so...good investment.

Finally how could I enter into any new season without buying a new striped top. Or hoopy as Dave calls them. This one has the added bonus of an orange pocket for a burst of colour!

They all look a bit blah on the hangers but trust me, they look rockin' in real life and I'm very happy with all my purchases*. I will admit to a couple more splurges (hello Mr credit card debt) but as they are yet to arrive...

How will you be updating your wardrobe for the new season ahead?

*update: the first time I wore this top I was appalled to discover that it split at the arm seam. Huge hole. Not impressed and all out of stock so no opportunity to order a replacement. Big shame as I love how it looked but not impressed with the quality at all.