Out of action
I was planning to bring you inspiration from my annual birthday reflections today but I've been down with the virus that everyone seems to have all week. Is it just me or do these bugs seem to hit much harder since lockdown? Anyway in over eleven years of blogging I've never surrendered before but my head is so thick that the words just aren't coming. I'll be back next Friday with a try-on and then birthday thoughts the week after [...]
What’s going on at John Lewis SS25?
I haven't had the opportunity to do many retail updates this year and yet I know from the survey I did in January that it's your favourite department store so let's have a look at what's going on at John Lewis. I do have a new season try-on today as promised but first I thought I'd give you a quick update on what's been happening since Peter Ruis was appointed Executive Director last spring. I'm sure you'll remember the [...]
Visible signs of ageing – can they be tackled?
I don't often talk about the visible signs of ageing on here - as you know I believe we all need to approach our advancing years with a positive mindset. By midlife most of us have become increasingly aware of what a privilege it is to grow older. The years of being a 50-something are known as sniper's alley for good reason and if we make it through, complaining about looking as though we've lived feels like the biggest [...]
Cornucopia – style, beauty, books and tech
Happy Easter! Wow that came around quickly - even though it's late this year I feel as though I'm still emerging from Christmas in a way. I hope you have a lovely weekend planned - ours is probably going to be quiet because I'm starting the dental implant surgery to replace the tooth that's been bothering me for as long as I've been writing this blog and so I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself today. We're spending the [...]
Let’s talk about Me+Em
Broadly speaking I look for one of two emotions when I'm trying on something new, they're the gut instinct signals that tell me whether I should buy something or not. The first is the solid and more prosaic satisfaction that says, 'this is going to work really hard for a long time' and that's good - it indicates the discovery of a wardrobe lynchpin that will pull lots of pieces together. The second turns up less often and it's [...]
M&S – what to buy now for SS25
Wow - the sun's really out isn't it?! As promised, I have a new season try-on for you today and I'm looking at Spring wardrobe building blocks 2025 from M&S. When their big Spring drop arrived last week they invited me to pull together a small Midlifechic edit of my favourite pieces. As we saw in Friday's Spring Fashion Trends post they have a strong focus on the key colour palette of the season which is a tonal collection of [...]
About Me
Hi, I’m Nikki Garnett, for 9 years I was the editor of Selfridges’ magazine. Now I’m married with 3 sons, a cat called Alfie and a dog called Ted. I live near the Lake District in the North West of England and run a small creative agency with my husband.
I created Midlifechic because a little while ago, amidst all the chaos of family and working life, I was beginning to feel like I’d lost my groove. So this is for anyone else out there who is emerging from the child centred years and looking forward to beginning a whole new chapter.
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The thinking women's style blog
About Me
Hi, I’m Nikki Garnett, for 9 years I was the editor of Selfridges’ magazine. Now I’m married with 3 sons, 2 cats and a dog called Ted. I live near the Lake District in the North West of England and run a small creative agency with my husband.
I created Midlifechic because a little while ago, amidst all the chaos of family and working life, I was beginning to feel like I’d lost my groove. So this is for anyone else out there who is emerging from the child centred years and looking forward to beginning a whole new chapter.
Stay in touch
Awards
Subscribe via email
Follow me on
I am a member of the
The thinking women's style blog
Spring fashion trends 2025 – the most wearable
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Ad| “If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely”… but good skincare and make-up help! Over the last few weeks I’ve been testing all kinds of products from the No7 range at Boots and now I want to share my top 10 with you.
10 seriously good skincare and make-up heroes for anyone on a positive ageing journey - I’ve found they make a visible difference and they’re really good value.
Here you go… from morning to nighttime
1. Future Renew Serum – clinically proven to reverse visible damage to the face
2. Future Renew Damage Reversal Day Cream – adds extra power to the serum
3. Pro Artist Soft Glow Bronzer – looks scary in the pot but magical on the skin
4. Pro Artist Colour & Glow Lip & Cheek – a pop of colour and sheen in one stick
5. Pro Artist That’s A Wrap Mascara – non drop, so no dark circles
6. Pro Artist Matte Muse Lipstick – the perfect ‘no lipstick nude
7. Pro Artist Fixing Spray –adds glow and makes your make-up last
8. Future Renew Eye Serum – peptide magic for the under eyes
9. Future Renew Night Cream – nourishing overnight peptide repair
10. Protect & Perfect Body Serum – my ALL TIME favourite for tackling crepey, bumpy skin – especially on the arms
If you’d like to give any of this a try you can get 10% off Boots No7 between now and Tuesday 15th April with code NIKKI10
(excludes Future Renew)
Good skincare and make-up isn’t about trying to look younger, it’s about bringing out the best version of the face you have.
#skincarereview #postiveageing #agewell
Can you learn salsa in a week? Come to Colombia with us in 2026 and find out!
As you can see we didn’t have a clue when we danced our first steps out there with @dancesomoloco in February but by the time we left we could make our way around the dancefloor. It was a lot of fun and since we’ve got back it’s opened up a whole new social life for us at home. The whole experience has been so life-changing that we want to take a group of Midlifechic-ers out there with us for a @dancesomoloco week next September.
So come with us! It doesn’t matter whether you’re a pro or a complete beginner, a couple or travelling solo because you’ll have your own private teacher. The group will be a mix of people from the UK, the US and other countries so you’ll have great company and a lot of laughs as well as learning to dance salsa.
If you’re interested we’re holding a Zoom meeting on Tuesday night (8th April 2025). Just go to the link in bio where you’ll see what it was like for us along with an idea of prices. Register your interest at the bottom of the blog post and we’ll send you an invitation to the meeting.
Midlife is a time for new adventures so go on… take a leap into something new…
¡Bailemos amigos… bailemos!
#learnsalsadance #learnsalsa #learnsalsadancing #salsadancing #medellin #agelessstyle #midlifechic #midlifeblogger #midlifeadventures #emptynestadventures #midlifetravel
Just emerging from the Twixmas bubble to wish you the happiest of evenings as 2024 takes its final bow. There’s a fresh start ahead - let’s hope the new year brings contentment for everyone, everywhere.
I’ve been rubbish at posting over the last couple of weeks so here’s a random spin through my Christmas camera roll… my last day at work… general joy of having my boys and their girls back home… Christmas Day moments (who knew Wetherspoons gift cards and gardening gloves could bring so much pleasure?!)… a carol service takeover by the village cat… and various outfits I haven’t posted of being out and about.
Thank you so much for following my feed this year and the biggest of new year kisses to everyone who reads my blog… that’s where my heart lies, as you know.
Happy new year and may all of your resolutions be fun ones! In 2025 let’s spend our hard earned money on experiences not things and our precious time living in the real world not online.
#happynewyear #newyearseve #agelessstyle #familychristmas #newyeariscoming #over50blogger #over50fashion #midlifechic #styleoverfashion #everydaystyle
Pictures on the fly from a weekend in Leeds.
If you read my blog you`ll know my guilty pleasure is disco - both the cool contemporary kind and cheesy 70s joy. Last weekend was a celebration of the latter in 70s regalia... one of those dancing until your feet blister kind of nights. Never, ever let anybody tell you you’re too old to dance, just go out and do it anyway… whenever and wherever you can.
There was also time for a wander around Leeds in all its festive splendour and on Sunday we retrieved the much missed students from the youngest`s university lair, driving back through pretty Yorkshire towns, stopping for tea and cakes along the way until we returned to the glory of the Lancashire countryside.
One more week of work to go...
Outfit details:
Rainbow jumpsuit: Etsy festival shop 2020
Gold platform sandals - Hush 2021
Mals` shirt - Rush in Ambleside 2024
Mal`s jeans and shoes - vintage
Red jacket - Boden current (gifted)
Jeans - Me+Em 2022
Boots - Zara - 2023
Navy sequin top - Whistles 2018
Gold twinset - Zara 2024
Jeans - Me+Em 2022
#agelessstye #discostyle #outout #wiw #ootd
Thank you for so many comforting comments after Wednesday`s post - you`d think by midlife we`d be ready to live without our parents but there are times like birthdays when their absence just hits you.
Partly because of that, this week has just run away with me - I don`t know if you feel like you`re just behind with everything too but at least when I looked at my calendar I realised that we`re a weekend short in December this year so it made more sense.
So this serene looking picture isn`t me right now at all, it`s from this week`s blog post and if you`re a reader there`s a huge new catch-up just gone live there on everything else I`ve been doing, wearing and thinking over the last month.
For anyone else, here`s a Christmassy-ish outfit option that`s still available from my Boden edit this month. (I haven`t been paid to post this but the pieces were gifted).
Happy Friday everyone.
Outfit details: jumper, skirt and boots all Boden (gifted)
Grief doesn`t stop for Christmas.
We adapt to life without our parents but we never stop missing them. Today would have been my dad`s 101st birthday and isn`t it sad when all you can do to mark a day that`s always been important is visit a grave? It always feels wrong when a date that has always been a celebration turns into one that just passes by. But then I realised I could mark it here and pay a little tribute to the kind, funny, gentle man who shaped me.
Most people believe their dads are special but mine really was, in his own quiet way. He was unquestioning in his belief in me and that`s what you need from a parent isn`t it... knowing that you have someone who is always on your side?
There`s comfort in visiting him for a chat and saying hello to my mum and my beautiful niece Kay who lie there too... in the grounds of the church where I was christened, confirmed and married... a place that mirrors the full circle of life.
They`re kept company by so many other people who were part of our village lives - the headmaster, the vicar, the grocer, the mechanic, the parents of friends and, sadly, a few of my school friends too.
But today is my dad`s day, a day to say thank you - if I could send him one last message, what would it be?
It`s quite simple - "of all the dads in the world, I`m so glad that you were my mine."
And as I left the grave and all of those people who are no longer here it felt clearer than ever that life is for living to the absolute max - I`m sure that`s the message that they`d want to send back to us. Every single day.
Photo notes
Picture 3 with my dad at the same church on my wedding day - Kay my lovely niece is the bridesmaid next to my sister who is in the cream lace dress.
Picture 4 the same church again, this time Kay is the bride and I`m her matron of honour. She lost her battle with leukaemia four years later.
Work outfit - green and silver.
Moments from a Christmassy day. Feeling the whiplash of a mad few hours so apologies for random pictures taken along the way:
an early start for my last trip down to London
an end of year meeting and the wonder of Heal’s (try not to miss it, there’s nowhere else like it)
a festive working lunch
a haircut with the best hairdresser in the world (@hair_by_premlee)
… and now trying to make it back to the north for work drinks at 6pm - but I think I’d be quicker on foot than by train. Grrr!
Outfit details:
Grey Coat - Jigsaw 2018
Green Dress - Me+Em 2023
Silver boots - Boden current (gifted)
Silver leather bag - John Lewis 2015
Green scarf - M&S 2019
My daily advent calendar of outfits has been mostly about rewearing what I already have and making the things I`ve bought in the past earn their keep.
I`ve had a few messages asking if I can show some outfits with items that are current stock though so here are some pictures from blog projects over the last few weeks.
And just to be transparent, I haven`t been paid to post any of these pictures but I have been gifted samples for photography which I`ll mark with *. I can`t link them here but if you get stuck, go to my blog and you`ll find them there with chat about sizing and fit too. Most things are still in stock as I write although not in all sizes.
My top tip for Christmas styling is always going to be texture - contrast shine with soft wherever you can to play with the sparkly light. And when you`re buying a major piece, ask yourself how many other ways you can wear it. If you can`t instantly think of three then it needs to be very special indeed to pay its way in your wardrobe.
Outfit 1 : jumper, skirt, coat, necklace and shoes* @marksandspencerstyle
Outfit 2: jacket, blouse and jeans* @boden_clothing
Outfit 3: skirt, nacklace, earrings* @whitestuffuk, jumper Duffy cashmere (past season), Boots Hush past season
Outfit 4: jacket, clutch and jeans* @boden_clothing, blouse @boden_clothing, shoes @boden_clothing (past season)
Well I could give you the Bing Crosby version of our Christmas decoration weekend or the real one... let`s do the real one.
1 Went out in Storm Darragh to buy the tree
2 Pretty wild out there
3 Failed at making mince pies - went to Sainsbury`s instead (Ecclefechan are nicer anyway)
4 Came home to find cellar flooded by storm - new sump pump needed (all the glamour of a trip out to Toolstation!)
5 Rescued Christmas stuff from cellar (the joys of a 300 year old house)
6 Today was better, tree up, all rooms decorated... then power blew in one half of the house (sounds like a Mal problem - again)
7 Took refuge and left him to it!
Outfit details:
Red jumper - And Other Stories 2022
Silver mini - Boden 2023
Suede boots - LK Bennett 2018
Red coat - M&S current
Silver bag - Jigsaw current
pearl hoops - Claudia Bradby current
Black dress - Me+Em 2023
Out out (or `oot oot` in Newcastle). And in winter, outdoor culture goes on here... even when it`s so cold that you can see your breath!
So another reason that I haven`t yet become an honorary Geordie is probably because I wear a coat, especially when we`re with people who I know will want to be outside until midnight. But this year I`ve found an `oot oot` version so I`m happy in my layers alongside the glam strappy sequins and sandals (to whom I absolutely bow down).
And if you don`t believe me about them not feeling the cold look at the boys in pic 5 - an outdoor bar and it was minus 3... still in shorts. Anyway I`ve added a little joke they shared with me at the end to make you smile on a Friday... it says it all.
Outfit details:
Silver puffer jacket - M&S current
Metallic tweed jacket - Anthropologie 2023
Dark denim jeans - Me+Em 2019
Silver vest top - Hush current
Silver boots - Arket 2023
Silver belt - Boden 2016
Snowflake earrings - Boden 2023
Oh my word the weather`s just vile today isn`t it (not a good day for photos!). This is when it`s worth using your clothes to work with what little light there is. I never wear a pleated skirt unless it has a touch of metallic (an ordinary one just makes me think of Sunday school nights and Barbara Woodhouse on TV - iykyk).
But a metallic finish on a pleated skirt makes it work hard because it`s forever catching the light in a different way as it moves. So don`t see it as something that you`d just wear at Christmas, it`s a great tool for any dark winter day - in January and beyond. And it sparkles in summer sunshine too - worn with a simple white tee.
I`ve added the softness of suede boots and a cashmere jumper here to balance the shine - and the coat for a bit more winter richness. Texture makes all the difference at this time of year, it`s worth playing around with it so that your outfits are constantly contrasting shine (metallics, sequins, satin, lurex, leather) with depth (wool, suede, silk, flannel, boucle).
Outfit details:
Metallic skirt - Boden 2022
Cashmere jumper - Duffy 2020
Suede boots - LK Bennett 2019
Faux shearling coat - Boden 2022
#wearwhatyouhave #agelessstyle #styleoverfashion #everydaystyle #outfitinspo #styleinspiration #styleblogger #slowfashion
So this was as we arrived in Newcastle for our Christmas celebrations there last week. It was right in the middle of the cold snap so the locals @greggs_official had come out with hot free pies and drinks for everyone.
Did we try one? Well it is Christmas and actually I hadn`t had one before (which is probably why I haven`t achieved honorary Geordie status) and I still prefer proper Lancashire pies with shortcrust pastry to the flaky nonsense... but Mal was right at home.
And then we went to see mum-in-law who had forgotten we were coming. The double edged sword of dementia is that she hadn`t been able to look forward to it... but at least she had a nice surprise... we find the silver linings where we can.
Outfit details:
Navy leather bomber - Me+Em 2021
Tinsel jumper - Mango 2023
Silver belt - Boden 2016
Snowflake earrings - Boden 2023
Denim culottes - Me+Em current
Silver boots - Boden current (gifted as part of a blog project)
