Outfit of the day 07/02/17

Posted on 07/02/2017 by The Librain

Whoop! I managed to go out today! Lovely Husband took us both to the garden centre where we had tea and a short walk. Not very exciting for most people, but an achievement for me. We couldn’t stay very long as they are undergoing a major refit and the dust was pretty awful. Luckily, it didn’t set off a cough. TMI coming here, but I am going to be honest. One of the reasons that I don’t go out much is that so many things cause me to cough, and when I say cough what I mean is a cough so bad that I lose continence, feel that I am about to die from the choking and often vomit. So it really is that bad!

Things that set off the cough: perfume, polish, cleaning sprays, dust, ash, smoke, strong smells, eating, drinking, stress, worry, anxiety, fear, pain…. You get the idea? And there is no cure. Amongst other meds, I take a low dose of morphine every day which has the side-effect of suppressing coughs, but also has other nasty side-effects too. Which means more meds and then even more meds to counteract the side-effects of those meds. Hmmm….

Anyway, on a more cheerful note… this is today’s outfit, based on this lovely Hermès scarf called Daimyo Princes du Soleil Levant. It is a silk twill 90cm in a wonderful green (I cannot manage to capture the exact shade in a photo) with blue, pink, fuchsia, gold and silver. The pattern has samurai swords with golden ginkgo leaves. I will write a post focusing on this scarf at a later date.

  • Silk scarf – Daimyo Princes du Soleil Levant – in a cowl knot with the lower edge tucked into the jumper – Hermès.
  • Navy cashmere v-neck jumper – John Lewis.
  • Navy wool and cashmere cardigan – WoolOvers (image shows similar).
  • Indigo jeans – Klass.
  • Navy leather shoes – Hotter.
  • Diamond stud earrings – Blue Nile.
  • Navy enamel and gold bangle – Halcyon Days.
Outfit of the day 07/02/17 with Hermès' Daimyo Princes du Soleil Levant

Outfit of the day 07/02/17 with Hermès’ Daimyo Princes du Soleil Levant

I haven’t said anything yet about my growing love of vintage handbags, but will probably write a post soon. It is rapidly becoming an addiction. There is something so beautiful about the neat, structured and well-made bags which remind me of my childhood. Not that my Mum could afford anything expensive in those days. My love of Hermès and Ferragamo does not mean that I can aspire to their handbags – they are far out of my league! Anyway, I had an email from eBay yesterday about a bag I have been watching. The price had been dropped really low and so it is now on its way to me. I will post more when it arrives. I hope it is as good as it looks:

Vintage cream ostrich leather handbag - Waldybag (photos from eBay seller)

Vintage cream ostrich leather handbag – Waldybag (photos from eBay seller)

I managed to get a bit side-tracked with my reading over the weekend and instead of starting the book I had planned, Mary Kubica’s “The Good Girl”, I put it to one side and read “The Kill” by Jane Casey. Simply because I am enjoying this series so much and I am reading them out of order – oops!

“The Kill” by Jane Casey

When I finished this, I began to read the last book in my other favourite series of the moment: Neil White’s “Cold Kill”. I will update the blog with how I get on with this one.

“Cold Kill” by Neil White

Posted in Clothes, Handbags, Health, Lifestyle, Outfit of the day, Reading, Scarves, Shopping, Wardrobe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wardrobe planning #05 – organisation

Posted on 06/02/2017 by The Librain

Dilemma: how to change a wardrobe that suited my working life to fit with retirement?

In 2014, I officially retired from my position as a school librarian. As I had been off work for some time with illness, this was the obvious next step. Over the subsequent weeks and months, I began to realise that I needed to make some changes in my clothing to fit with my new life.

If you opened me up like a stick of rock you would find “Librarian” written right through. It is repeated over and over in my DNA. Even though I have retired, I cannot shake off years of professional practice and training.

So, all of this plus the boredom of being ill in bed meant that I had to organise my wardrobe in a typical librarianish way!

I thought about how I would list (catalogue) all of my current clothing and accessories, plan future purchases (make a wish list), add new items to my list (accession) and make sure that I didn’t duplicate or buy unnecessary items (regular shelf checking).

Reading The Purse Forum (see the link in the sidebar) gave me suggestions for apps that I could use on my iPad, one of which I tried – Stylebook. As I want to use my laptop from time to time and also my ancient smartphone, this was not working for me. In addition, I would have to spend a lot of time inputting information into the app in someone else’s format. Other people find this app very useful as it works out things like “cost per wear”, if you input the right data. Some people on The Purse Forum use Word or Excel to catalogue their clothes, scarves or jewellery, but this would not work for me as you would have to carry an up-to-date print out when going shopping. Google Docs might work well here as an alternative and I am sure that there are other services that have come into being since I retired.

Instead, I thought back to my working days and the system that did everything that I needed to organise my personal and professional life. This could run on all my devices and I was very familiar with it…

Evernote

Evernote is a system which works across devices, online and offline, syncing everything that you want to save: text, voice clips, images, video, documents etc. You can clip parts of web pages, add in your own text, save photos, attach documents and much more. It is very flexible. When I was working, I used Evernote for both personal and professional organisation with to-do lists, planning for events, tracking achievements, prepping for reports, and much more. Evernote has a series of tutorials to help you get to grips with how it works and it has loads of extra add ons, if you feel more adventurous!

The screenshot below should give you some idea how I use Evernote to organise my wardrobe planning. The idea is that you can make a series of “Notes” grouped into “Notebooks” and put anything you want into each note. I have a “Note” for each wardrobe colour for my clothing and list every item in an order that suits me:

  • Heavy jumpers and jackets
  • Light jumpers and cardigans
  • T-shirts, tops and blouses
  • Trousers and jeans
  • Shorts
  • Skirts
  • Dresses

For each item, I also note the following:

  • Colour
  • Fabric/material
  • Description
  • Source
  • Season/month and year of purchase
  • Price

I am thinking of adding some other things such as condition if not new, size etc.

Where possible, I also add in an image of the item. These are easy to get if I have bought the item online or if it is available online (for those items I have bought in a shop). With my older clothing, I am planning to take quick photos with my iPad and add them in. This is a work in constant progress as I enter new items or things I already own and tweak the information that I want to note about each item. It will probably take some time, but then I have a lot of time available!

Evernote screenshot #01

Evernote screenshot #01

Notes about accessories work in a similar way and I have all of my footwear listed, plus  handbags, jewellery and, of course, my scarves!

Evernote screenshot #02

Evernote screenshot #02

All of this helps with forward planning in a number of ways:

  • I can easily see everything I have, neatly set out in colour families.
  • This helps me to spot the gaps and I can then note down what I need to replace or add to my wardrobe.
  • I can put in images and links to items that I would like to buy.
  • Sale items can be tracked so that I get the best price!
  • I can access all of this on my iPad, laptop and phone so that I don’t make mistakes.
  • This is also a way of keeping an inventory of everything, just in case…

Sooo librarianish, although I can’t work out how to include Dewey in all of this!

Posted in Clothes, Footwear, Handbags, Jewellery, Scarves, Wardrobe, Wardrobe planning | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Outfit of the day 03/02/17

Posted on 03/02/2017 by The Librain

I will admit from the start that I am cheating a little bit. This is the outfit I would have worn today, if we had gone out. For once, I was feeling just about well enough for a pot of tea and a library visit, but Lovely Husband was too tired and had to have a rest this afternoon. He is quite seriously disabled and had to retire very early from work. I am so lucky to have him as he tries so hard to look after me, despite his own problems. We have been together for almost thirty years and he has always been such a wonderful role model to our lads as he cooks, shops and does loads of housework as well as supporting us all.

I hope our sons make good husbands or partners – they will do if they follow his example! Of course, we are all human and are under a great deal of stress as a family which means that our life is far from perfect. Thank goodness for social media and my friends who support me via Facebook and other such services!

Phew, enough of the personal stuff. The outfit today was based on this pretty Ferragamo scarf. It is a silk twill 90cm in shades of brown and beige with pops of purple, violet, green, orange and pink. I love the leopard and the gorgeous flowers and foliage. It was the first Ferragamo scarf that I bought.

  • Brown silk scarf by Ferragamo.
  • Horn shawl ring by MaiTai.
  • Camel cashmere jumper by Marks and Spencer (this image does not quite show the correct colour).
  • Brown suede jacket by Wallis.
  • Navy jeans by Klass (I definitely need some brown trousers, perhaps chocolate cords?).
  • Gold knot earrings.
  • Tan leather ankle boots by Ted and Muffy.
  • Caramel leather handbag by Peony and Moore (no longer trading).
Outfit of the day 03/02/17 with Ferragamo scarf

Outfit of the day 03/02/17 with Ferragamo scarf

If I do manage to go out over the weekend, I will wear this outfit – promise!

Posted in Clothes, Family, Friends, Health, Lifestyle, Outfit of the day, Scarves, Wardrobe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Great news plus Egyptian motifs 01/02/17

Posted on 01/02/2017 by The Librain

Younger Son passed his driving test today! Hurrah! And at the first attempt! Whoop!

Passed driving test

Not much else to say, really. Still very ill and unable to do much except watch the TV and read. I am wearing much the same outfit as yesterday, but with nice Egyptian style earrings. So, to entertain you, here is a collage of Egyptian motifs.

Egyptian motifs collage

Egyptian motifs collage

  • Egyptian style turquoise earrings by AngelineDresserSilks via Etsy.
  • Egyptian style blue earrings as above.
  • Cuff bracelet as above.
  • Wall decal by AdnilCreations via Etsy.
  • Painting: “The Finding of Moses” by Alma-Tadema
  • Head of Nefertiti.
  • Scarab motifs.

I studied Ancient Egypt as part of my first degree in Ancient History and Archaeology back in the 1970s and I have loved the style ever since. We were able to visit the Tutankhamun exhibition at the O2 back in 2008 and I bought the earrings then. They are very similar to the image of the wall decal in the collage above.

Top image from Flickr:

One of life’s milestone moments by nutmeg66

Posted in Family | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Outfit of the day 31/01/17

Posted on 31/01/2017 by The Librain

Today has not been terribly inspiring, really. I have been very weak and tired over the weekend and did not go out of the house. So, things have been very similar today too. I tried to get up this morning and went downstairs, but Lovely Husband quickly sent me back to bed.

My outfit today was a velour lounge suit by Cotton Traders. It is in a deep navy and is very comfortable and comforting when I am feeling low. I also managed to wear some brass dangly earrings and my navy leather Ferragamo bracelet for a bit of bling. LH bought me a fluffy fleece blanket some years ago, so I snuggled down with this for most of the day.

Outfit of the day 31/01/17

Outfit of the day 31/01/17

I read my latest book for a while and ate lunch, kindly made by Younger Son before he went out to work. In the afternoon, LH and I swapped places and he came up to bed for a rest whilst I went down to watch the Silent Witness recordings from last week. I enjoy this show as I really like Emilia Fox and I don’t usually guess the killer until well into the second part – very unusual for me.

I finished “The Glass Rainbow” by James Lee Burke on Saturday. I found this hard to read, not because the writing was poor, far from it, but because my lack of concentration means that I struggle to read descriptive passages, and there are a lot in this book. Burke sets the scenes and culture of the Deep South with such a beautiful touch. Even though I didn’t understand every word, I felt transported into the swamps, levees and bayous, the heat and sweat and damp trickling through the leaves. Wonderful stuff!

Glass Rainbow by James Lee Burke

Glass Rainbow by James Lee Burke

This evening, I will read some more and then write more blog posts, if I am in the mood. My new book is “The Reckoning” by Jane Casey and is the second book in her Maeve Kerrigan series. I am filling in the gaps.

The Reckoning by Jane Casey

The Reckoning by Jane Casey

Such exciting stuff when you have a chronic illness!

Posted in Clothes, Health, Lifestyle, Outfit of the day, Reading, Wardrobe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wardrobe planning #04 – choosing colours #03

Posted on 30/01/2017 by The Librain

Dilemma: how to change a wardrobe that suited my working life to fit with retirement?

In 2014, I officially retired from my position as a school librarian. As I had been off work for some time with illness, this was the obvious next step. Over the subsequent weeks and months, I began to realise that I needed to make some changes in my clothing to fit with my new life.

In last week’s Wardrobe Planning #03 post, I wrote about how my choices of the last two years have affected the balance of colours in my wardrobe, how I address gaps and, hopefully, make sensible purchases. This week, I will quickly touch on other influences on colour choice.

Colour collage #01

Colour collage #01

I have already shown the charts which demonstrate the colours of clothes and accessories in my wardrobe. These were made after observing what I already owned and reading fashion forums and blogs. But, what made me choose those colours when I originally purchased those items, sometimes many years ago? And why have I chosen these particular colours: navy, blue, brown, turquoise, purple, coral and creamy white, as opposed to red or orange, for example?

Well, I think the quick answer is that I have a reasonable idea which colours suit me. On further consideration, there are also aspects of age and experience to include! When I was younger, I really enjoyed colours like yellow and red. But my hair was darker and my skin was brighter and less washed out. As I have aged, I have coloured my hair a much lighter shade (not yet ready to go grey) and my skin is paler, so those colours simply don’t do anything for me. Similarly with black – it makes me look even more ill.

Colour Analysis

Some of you reading will have heard of this. As far as I know, Consultants hold colour swatches against your face to find out which colour families or seasons bring out the best in you. They then give you a set of swatches to use when you go shopping. Now, I didn’t want to spend money on this, but I read up on it and worked out which colours fitted with my face, hair and eye colours.

  • Interestingly enough, they were the colours I already had in my wardrobe, or at least pretty close.
  • I also thought about the outfits where I had received compliments in the recent past. Not things like “lovely dress” or “nice jumper” but “you are looking really well today” or “your face is really glowing in that outfit” (yes, amazingly, these have been said!). Again, my favourite colours were top of the list.
  • Lastly, I thought about my favourite paintings or fabric or furnishings and the same colours came back to me again and again!

For example, the first time I saw the refurbished bar in my favourite hotel – I loved it. The whole room is decorated in turquoise and brown with pops of other colours – fantastic!

Ullesthorpe Court Hotel bar

Ullesthorpe Court Hotel bar

So, here we are again with navy, brown, turquoise, purple, coral and creamy white: erm, can I see a gap here for coral accessories? 😉

Colour collage #02

Colour collage #02

Maybe I was bored, maybe my Librain head was working clearly – a couple of years ago I thought of a great way to sort out my wardrobe and avoid the pitfalls of buying the wrong items in the wrong colours…

See the next Wardrobe Planning post.

Posted in Clothes, Wardrobe, Wardrobe planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Scarf of the moment: The Savana Dance

Posted on 27/01/2017 by The Librain

This was only the second Scarf of the Moment posts that I wrote for the blog back in 2017, after Le Jardin de la Maharani. As I was still finding my way back into writing, I hadn’t quite developed the style that I have now settled upon for this series of posts. Now that I have written so many, as my Hermès collection has developed, I am working through my older posts and updating them to reflect the style. This is now a work in progress!

(Updating began on 05/01/20).

The Savana Dance by Hermès

Savanna Dance by Hermès

Savana Dance by the Ardmore Artists for Hermès

I bought The Savana Dance at the same time as Le Jardin de la Maharani, trying to beat the January 2017 price increase! This gorgeous scarf was designed by the Ardmore Artists for Hermès’ Spring/Summer 2016 collection as a 70cm and then again as a gavroche for Spring/Summer 2017 and has also appeared as a cashmere/silk shawl, a twilly and a mousseline. The design has become so popular that Hermès also used The Savana Dance on clothing, jewellery, ceramics and other items. It has now been offered as a wash silk 140cm for Spring/Summer 2020.

Description

My version of the scarf is in heavy twill silk and measures 45cm each way. This size is called a pocket square or gavroche. It has the famous Hermès rolled hem and the colours are wonderfully harmonious. They are cream, denim blue, and powdery pink with other shades of blue and pink. The rolled hem is pale grey and there is a lovely pattern around the main central image of the leopard and the monkey with stylised foliage.

Colourways

The scarf was originally offered in Hermès’ Spring/Summer 2016 collection as a 70cm. Here are some of the colourways (I will add more if I find suitable images):

There were lots of alternative colourways for the Spring/Summer 2017 gavroche, so it was very difficult to choose the right one for me, which was 07:

Savana Dance has returned to the Hermès collection in Spring/Summer 2020 as a 140cm wash silk:

Please note that Hermès deliberately put muted images of scarves on their website to combat fraud, so the pictures here don’t show the true beauty of the colours. If I find clear images of the other available formats in the future, I will add them to this page.

Design Story

Another lovely thing about Hermès scarves is that each one usually has a “scarf story” as well as a name. These stories seem to appear on the website in a rather serendipitous manner! Kind friends on The Purse Forum site (link in the sidebar) gave me the story of this scarf:

“Chased by a leopard, a vervet monkey turns to face its predator, his expression anxious and uncertain. In Zulu culture, the leopard symbolises royalty, while the vervet monkey represents intelligence and wit – fine qualities, though they may not be enough to save his life here. But who knows? Giant King Protea blooms (South Africa’s national flower) surround the two protagonists, and the carré is framed with a border of amazumpa motifs, used in Zulu pottery. Ardmore is a collective of Zulu, Zimbabwean and Sotho artisan potters, founded in 1985 by Fée Halsted, in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. Today, the group numbers seventy members: creative artists dedicated to reinventing traditional styles, united by their recognition of what our common humanity and fraternity truly mean: that each of us exists thanks to others. This carré marks the beginning of a new collaboration between the collective, and the house of Hermès.”

Details

Here is a slideshow with the details of the scarf:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

How I wear the scarf

Savanna Dance - Hermès - collage #01

Savana Dance – Hermès – collage #01

The collage above shows some clothes I might wear with this scarf. In the winter: grey cashmere jumper, navy wool mix cardigan, velour jogging pants or jeans, navy cashmere jumper with enamel bracelets by Halcyon Days. In summer I would switch to linen pants, a white or blue t-shirt and navy sandals.

Further collages below show some other alternatives:

Savana Dance – Hermès – collage #02

Savana Dance – Hermès – collage #03

Here are some more recent collages, showing possible outfits:

Outfit of the day 22/05/18 with Hermès’ Savana Dance scarf
Outfit of the day 15/11/18 with Hermès’ The Savana Dance gavroche
Outfit of the day 22/02/19 with Hermès’ Savana Dance gavroche

Scarf ties

I will upload some images of scarf ties as soon as possible.

Background information

Ardmore Ceramic Artists
Main page
Website for the Ardmore Artists

Ardmore Artists Fan Club on The Purse Forum
Ardmore Artists Fan Club
Lots of information and discussions about the artists and their work for Hèrmes.

The Fashion Plate
Hermès’ Unveils New Scarves By South African Sculpture Artists’ Ardmore
Very short article introducing the scarf.

House and Leisure
A Collaboration to Love
Interesting article about the early stages of Hermès and the Ardmore Artists work.

The quality, the designs, the colours, the artists, the stories – these are the reasons that I love Hermès scarves!

I hope readers have found this exploration Savana Dance both interesting and useful. Once again, if you find any errors or have any additional information that I could add, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Edited:

  • 01/04/17 to add in alternative colourways of the gavroche.
  • 05/01/20 to change into standard format, correct some mistakes, and add in alternative sizes and colourways plus some new modelling photos.
Posted in Clothes, Scarf of the moment, Scarves, Wardrobe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Outfit of the day 26/01/17

Posted on 26/01/2017 by The Librain

This afternoon, I went to the local cinema with Younger Son to see Rogue One – all good fun science fiction with loads of action, the usual daft plot holes and an intriguing CGI version of Peter Cushing. We really enjoyed the afternoon as we both love watching films together. A nice mother-and-son activity which we have been doing since YS was very small.

Today’s outfit was again based on this purple jumper – it is soooo lovely and warm!

  • Purple wool-mix jumper – Tommy Hilfiger.
  • Navy cotton jogging pants – Cotton Traders.
  • Navy suede slippers – Lands’ End. Changed into my Hotters when I went out. Comfort was paramount today.
  • Purple amethyst and silver stud earrings – Blue Nile.
  • Purple enamel and gold plate bangle – Halcyon Days.
  • “Lilacs” – purple, lilac, green and white silk scarf – by MinkuLUL via Etsy. This is a hand painted scarf and it has received a lot of compliments for the colours! Prices seem to have increased since I bought the scarf, but perhaps this is due to the weak pound. I love some of the Mucha inspired scarves ❤️❤️❤️
Outfit of the day 26/01/17 with MinkuLUL's Lilacs scarf

Outfit of the day 26/01/17 with MinkuLUL’s Lilacs scarf

I also swapped handbags for my previous favourite (before I bought the navy Massaccesi). This is from Francesco Biasia and I have had it for over ten years, I think. It is a lovely purple glazed leather with gun-metal fittings. The image doesn’t really show the true shade of the leather.

Francesco Biasia handbag

Francesco Biasia handbag

Posted in Clothes, Family, Handbags, Lifestyle, Outfit of the day, Scarves, Wardrobe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Serious issues of the day 25/01/17

Posted on 25/01/2017 by The Librain

The day began with what felt like a punch to the guts. I got downstairs at about 11.00 and sat watching a recording of the morning’s Victoria Derbyshire show on the BBC. Just two reports, but both left me reeling.

First, the interview with “Ivy”, a woman who had suffered horrendous domestic violence and abuse from her former husband, and who then went on to suffer further from the appalling actions of those who should have been helping her. If I had not already read similar accounts on the Mumsnet forums, I would have found it very hard to believe it all. But, sadly, it is clear that women are not only being abused in huge numbers by husbands, partners, and other family members, but are then often treated dreadfully by the “system”. I wept for Ivy and her children, who are also badly affected, and I hope that things can get better for her and her family.

Victoria Derbyshire and "Ivy"

Victoria Derbyshire and “Ivy”

You can see the report and video on the BBC website. The entire Victoria Derbyshire programme is available on BBC iPlayer for 29 days, starting today.

The second section that affected me so much was about the proposed changes to the welfare system, meaning that for some families to get child tax credits for third and subsequent children, women would have to prove that they had been raped and made pregnant by that rapist. I had already read about this online and in the newspapers,  such as The Independent , but the programme really brought the issue to the fore. Again, this is appalling abuse of women by offialdom and must be challenged forcefully by Opposition parties in Parliament. I hope that the Labour Party can do something to stop this.

I am outraged by issues like this, but am also sad that I am too ill to help with the fight. Instead, the stress caused by even thinking about this makes me feel even more ill. And so it has proved as I have been unable to go out today.

But this is not about just my reactions. If anyone reading about this feels as I do, then please do more than I can manage and at least write to your MP. I will donate to a suitable organisation in lieu of direct action – Women’s Aid would be a good one. Please let me know of any others via comments if you are able.

The Citizens’ Advice Bureau have a list of organisation which can help those suffering from domestic violence and abuse.

Writing about my outfit of the day seems to be very inappropriate after talking about such serious issues, so I will leave that until tomorrow.

 

Posted in Politics, Women's Rights | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Outfit of the day 24/01/17

Posted on 24/01/2017 by The Librain

Since my last post on Friday, things have improved a fair bit. I spent the weekend slowly regaining my health and strength – well, by regaining I mean getting back to my previous pretty crap levels rather than the really dreadful way I felt at the end of last week.

Once I could concentrate again, I started reading. On Friday, I had finished Neil White’s Dead Silent, which is number 4 in his DC Laura McGannity series. For some reason, I had got out of sync with this series, so I found myself reading number 3 on Saturday! “Last Rites” was another good read, although, a bit OTT in places even for me, and I have rated it on Goodreads as usual.

Last Rites by Neil White

Last Rites by Neil White

Sunday saw even more improvement and I was able to go downstairs for a while and watch cricket with Lovely Husband, in between glancing at the papers. I went back to bed in the afternoon and read almost two-thirds of “The Darkest Goodbye” by Alex Gray before giving up in irritation. The religious theme just annoyed me too much to carry on.

Darkest Goodbye by Alex Gray

Darkest Goodbye by Alex Gray

The next book I am reading is James Lee Burke’s “The Glass Rainbow”. I started it on Monday and found it a real change from the books I have been reading recently as it is set in the American deep south.

Glass Rainbow by James Lee Burke

Glass Rainbow by James Lee Burke

Today, I finally managed to visit the library to return the massive pile that I had finished during December and January and to pick up the last book in Neil White’s DC Laura McGannity series, number 5. Before I read that, I will finish the rest of the books which I borrowed before Christmas.  They are pretty randomly chosen. This is what is so brilliant about libraries – browsing! Most of the books I read I find through sheer serendipity.

Over the weekend I stayed in pyjamas, but managed to wear a nicer outfit today. This time I have chosen purples and blues to go with my L’Arbre du Vent scarf designed by Montserrat Gonzalez-Lugo for  Hermès (90cm). The image below shows it on my navy sweater in a loose drape.

  • Purple wool mix jumper – Tommy Hilfiger. I love the wonderful colours in this yarn, but sadly it pills really badly. 🙁
  • Indigo jeans – Cotton Traders.
  • Purple and turquoise soutache earrings – BeadsNSoutache (no longer trading) on Etsy.
  • Purple leather and pale gold bracelet – Ferragamo.
  • Black leather ankle boots – Clarks. I am weaning myself from black footwear, but I love these and am not throwing them out! That would be taking colour co-ordinating to ridiculous levels!
  • Navy metallic leather handbag – Massaccesi.
Outfit of the day 24/01/17 with Hermès' Arbre du Vent

Outfit of the day 24/01/17 with Hermès’ Arbre du Vent

After visiting the Library, Lovely Husband took us out for a cup of tea. When we got home, I spent some time arranging bunches of beautiful flowers which he had brought home on Monday evening.

Now I have finished this post, I will have my afternoon treat (tea and cupcake) and then rest in bed. LH is promising that I can have trout for dinner – my favourite! Will post again tomorrow, all being well 🙂

Posted in Clothes, Health, Libraries, Lifestyle, Outfit of the day, Reading, Scarves, Wardrobe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment