We have a post with a purpose today, it's all about chic heatwave dresses because Meg wrote in to say "I have a colleague who's been looking effortless in the heat when we have our Zoom meetings. I'm still struggling to make the transition from office to home and I find I'm sweating in front of the camera wearing the structured ponte dresses I usually wear to work. Can you help me to find the kind of thing I'm looking [...]
Another short edit from me today - this time I'm looking at party shoes. The best thing about a pair of glittery heels is that they're the easy way to instant glamour. When the phone rings with a spontaneous invitation, all you have to do is throw them on with whatever you're wearing, pick up your Midlifechic metallic clutch(!) and you're party ready. The evening is yours for the taking... after all, look at what a pair of sparkly shoes did [...]
Now that the weather's suddenly turned cold, I have lots of questions coming in about what footwear works best with trousers and jeans so it seems like a good idea to write a practical post. The best solution is a pair of ankle boots but you need to get the balance right - as always, it's best to think about the body in an architectural way and understand the best part of your leg to focus on. If you have [...]
One of the things that I often hear people say about Marks & Spencer fashion is that there's just too much of it, that it's too hard to know where to begin. So I've spent some time going through the current collection identifying the particular strengths that I can see at the moment. Of course it makes sense to look at what I see as being their hero areas, however they're pretty strong on some of the new season trends [...]
Ok, here we go, the one some of you have said you've been waiting for - it's the key wearable trends autumn winter 2018 post. I hope you're not bored of trends already because I know everyone's been covering it. However as always, I'm coming at it from the angle of someone who's spent their retail career trying to correlate the flights of fancy of the buying teams with the sales targets of the commercial teams and the wearability demands of [...]
(Note to confused overseas readers - Mother's Day or Mothering Sunday is on 11th March in the UK) I've always maintained that Mother's Day is my favourite day of the year. It's better than a birthday because you don't get any older and it's a celebration of the incredible task that we undertake as we help our children grow into decent human beings. For the last 20 years I've been lucky. On Mother's Day my nest has been full and [...]
Wow - what can you say about the weather that hasn't already been said across every news channel?! As I type, Storm Emma is blowing in from the sea. There is nothing to shelter us from the coastline and so the winds are whistling around us like something from a horror movie. In all of the years that I have lived here, I have never known the snow to fall so incessantly. So, I decided it was time for one [...]
Relaxed Christmas party outfit ideas. If you're anything like me, you may have one or two dressy events lined up but the rest of your Christmas will be a more relaxed affair. I think some of the best times are the spontaneous ones when someone calls and asks if you fancy popping over for a drink... which inevitably turns into three or four. So today I'm bringing you outfit ideas for when this happens. Looks that say you've made an [...]
Gift ideas for women over 40. This is an important post. Why? Because quite a few of my friends' husbands shop from it so I feel a huge sense of responsibility. So, chic Christmas gifts. Ideas for the woman who doesn't really need anything but would quite like a little something to open on Christmas Day. Before I go on, I have a couple of apologies to make. Firstly if you read via Bloglovin, I have been having some compression [...]
We've talked about the dominance of vivid scarlet in this autumn's colour palette but there is another seasonal theme coming through and it reminds me of the colour of toffee apples. Reds and greens are often associated with Christmas but if you think about it, they feel right now too, as we approach bonfire night. I've put together a selection of easy pieces to inspire you (and me - when I tried to put an outfit together to show you, [...]
Now that we're well and truly into autumn, I think we're starting to get used to the new silhouette that has come in. The midi length hemline and the move to the straight leg jean are two of the easiest styles to adopt and I've been really enjoying wearing them as you'll see from some examples below. The other key focus of course, is colour. I really like the bright scarlet that is everywhere but a lot of people have [...]
At a business lunch recently, I was sitting next to a lady who was returning to her career after spending ten years at home with her children. We chatted about how it was going as you do, bemoaning the perpetual juggle of the work life balance. After a while our conversation turned to our sense of identity and how much clothes matter. At this point I mentioned that I write a blog about such things and her eyes lit up. [...]
It feels too early to be doing this. I made a quiet pledge not to complain about the weather but really - 2017 has been the year that summer forgot. So, I've been finding myself looking ahead to Autumn without feeling guilty. After all these are the clothes that we wear for about nine months of the year. Style-wise there is more change afoot than there has been for quite a few years so I thought I'd kick off with [...]
Hello - as promised, I'm back with part two of my holiday packing posts for women over 40. It has taken a very long time to put it together so I'm mostly going to let the pictures do the talking. Thank you to everyone who got in touch to say there was a mistake in the downloadable packing list. I have a junior designer in the office with a red face but really it's my fault for not checking it [...]
Well a huge thank you from me to everybody who supported the sale on Saturday. I had no idea it would be quite so manic, nearly everything sold out in 20 minutes (the last few pieces will be live here until Friday when it closes). I have finished wrapping and dispatching everything and so it is all on its way. I apologise in advance if it smells very strongly of roses. The youngest was keen to be involved so I [...]
Just a quick hello from me today because after being preened and pampered, I am now heading down to London for the finals of the UK Blog Awards. I'm going to have a relaxing train journey and catch up with all of your recent comments. In the meantime, here's a quick 'What I Wore' from the Easter weekend. Girls night out outfit This was last Wednesday, my friends had broken up early for the Bank Holiday and were keen to celebrate over a bottle [...]
My most read wardrobe posts are always the ones that focus on creating an edited collection so I thought it was time for another one. I've been working on my own wardrobe for Spring as I'm having a huge clearout and so I'm using my own plan as a basis for this post on capsule wardrobe updates for women over 40. I'm going to start with jeans because they are increasingly becoming acceptable for working wardrobes as well as weekend looks. [...]
Hello. We haven't had a 'trying it on' post for ages so today I thought I'd show you some of the things I've been ordering. It's half term here and I've been doing my best to work from home and spend some time with the boys because I know these days are trickling through my fingers. In fact I only have 4 more February half terms left in my life. So, join me in the chaos. In the pictures below, you can see [...]
It's the busiest shopping weekend of the year so I'm just going to get straight to the point and give you my 'ultimate Guide - best cyber weekend offers 2016' post, an easy to use listing of all the best offers in one place. I've listed the best deals first. The links should take you straight through to the landing sites. Cyber weekend - Fashion offers Finery 30% off everything (ends midnight Sunday 27/11) Hush 25% off 25 items (ends Monday [...]
Today I am pleased to be introducing you to Lotus, a small UK based shoe brand. Until they got in touch with me, I wasn't aware of them. As you know, at the moment I tend to rely on Boden, Marks and Spencer and occasionally Clarks for my everyday shoes and Jigsaw for the special ones. It's always good to add a new brand to your arsenal, especially when it's an affordable one. A little while ago we talked about [...]
So here we go, we're ready for Autumn. I am finding that my approach towards shopping for clothes has evolved now that I spend so much more time thinking about it. As you know I bought very little over the Summer which turned out to be absolutely the right decision. I'm not going to moan about the weather but we have only had a handful of hot sunny days in the Lakes this year. This means that Autumn buying makes much [...]
My last two posts have been practical ones, focusing on summer essentials - tailored cropped trousers and summer sandals so today I thought I'd do something a bit more frivolous. I'm writing especially with Nicky B in mind. For those who read the comments section, you'll know that she is my longest standing and most regular commenter. She has been with me since the very beginning (shortly followed by Nicola R who is also very special to me) and I [...]
I think that you have to be more careful buying summer sandals than almost any other kind of footwear. After all, you are wearing them with bare feet so they are in direct contact with your skin. Any friction is not only going to hurt your feet but it is also going to create inflamed patches and hard skin which isn't a good look. Without you really noticing, the arch of your foot starts to suffer during your 40s. This is why [...]
Actually I think they're pretty perfect for women of any age but I'm discovering that there are so many ladies out there adding 'women over 40' to their search phrases that this helps them find us. So, before I start, I just wanted to apologise for (and growl at) the gremlins that removed all my carefully worded replies to your comments on the last few posts. I can't understand what happened but I wasn't being lazy I promise - I do appreciate the [...]
