I’m short on time today – meetings in London after a week in Newcastle, a 60th birthday with old friends tonight and then the last of our Christmas parties tomorrow. After that life is narrowing down a bit with a focus on close friends and family for December. Phew! So I’ve had to finish pulling this together on the train this morning and the wi-fi really isn’t playing ball. However there are some Black Friday 25 offers on some of my absolutely favourite pieces from this season so I just thought I’d give you the heads up on those – some you’ve seen before and some you haven’t.
Before I start though I just want to say a huge thank you for the outpouring of support after my post on Tuesday. I might not get the chance to reply to every message, comment and email but I will try. – Please know that I’ve read them all and I also read quite a few out to Mal and his mum when we brought her over to the flat yesterday afternoon. She loves sitting in the chair by the window watching all of Newcastle’s life going on beneath her and so many of you made her smile.
And I was incredibly moved, I didn’t expect it. Once again you’ve reminded me of why I write this blog because despite my comment about reflecting an ordinary life we’re a community of extraordinary women. Quite a few of you mentioned how difficult you find Disqus for commenting – we’re always looking for a solution. The trouble is that if we move system we lose all of the legacy and that’s thousands of comments over the last 11 years. I do appreciate everyone who persevered though and one day we’ll find a way around it.
Christmas tales – another one from Mal
Anyway knowing that I have all of your love and warmth behind me – are you ready for the other of Mal’s Christmas stories? Let’s begin.
So, with their being six children in the house there was a stocking at the bottom of the bed for each one of them but that was it, there wasn’t enough money for much more. Instead, each year, one child had a present under the tree and the others crowded round to watch them opening it. Mal says there wasn’t any envy because they all knew their year would come… but they all secretly hoped they’d get to have a go with whatever toy it was.
When it came to Mal’s year he was about eight (they skipped the early years until they knew the child would fully appreciate their gift). There was just one thing he was hoping for… a bike of his own… because his brothers never let him share theirs for long and so whenever they went off on adventures he was always running behind on his little legs and sooner or later he couldn’t keep up so he was always left behind.
Anyway the day came and sure enough there it was – his shiny bike, a blue and white racer which probably wasn’t new but it didn’t matter because it was all his. And so off he went on an adventure of his own – you see there were some speed bumps around the corner that he wanted to do jumps over. His brothers had never let him do it on their bikes in case he warped their wheels… and off he went… starting from way down the road… peddling like crazy to build up enough speed so that when he went over the bump he’d feel like he was flying…
… And the next thing he knew he woke up in hospital with concussion. But even so he remembers it as a great result – he had everybody’s attention AND he got to stay in overnight and have a second Christmas dinner!
(Please!) join me for a virtual Christmas drink on Wednesday!
I have one more thing to add. At 7pm on Wednesday (3rd December) I’m somewhat terrified to say I’ll be doing my first Instagram Live which is already causing me to lose sleep. My friend Claudia (Bradby) is doing her best to bring me into the 21st century and she’s going live with me. We’ll be chatting about our jewellery project and goodness knows what else (those of you who’ve been to one of our fireside chats know that the conversation can wander). Anyway it would be great to be surrounded by friendly faces when I’m having a true rabbit in the headlights moment so please do join us for a bit if you can. You’ll find us on my Instagram @midlifechic so please, pour yourself a cup of tea or a glass of wine and come over for a Christmassy chat. I’m praying I don’t mess it up – or get stage fright!
For now though I’m sure you have Christmas shopping to finish (or start if you’re like me – that’s this weekend’s job!). Let me show you a few choice finds and then I’ll end with a directory of the very best Black Friday 25 offers.
Worn & featured – now in Black Friday 25 sales
Goldilocks cardigans
By that I mean cardigans that are exactly right. I haven't actually got round to featuring them on here yet but the most wardrobe changing thing for me this season has been to add a series of shorter length cardigans like this to the outfits I already have. I'm being very strict with myself and I've built a capsule of blue, red, cream and brown – no other colours are allowed in and it's transformed everything. I'm buying less and only choosing things that are great quality and suddenly both my town and country wardrobes work together seamlessly.
Finding a Goldilocks cardigan is a mission in itself though – it needs to have structure and not be too thin, I want it to stand up for itself rather than be flimsy and apologetic as cardigans so often are. It also needs to have good strong buttons. As soon as I saw these in Fenwick I bought them which is very rare – I usually deliberate for ages but they were such a good price. They're boiled wool so they look fantastic and now they have 20% off for Black Friday weekend! Anyway here's a still taken from a video I did recently wearing the red one.
Red boiled wool cardigan – 20% off; supersoft cord blouse; jeans
And here's the lovely warm brown one in a mid-tone. It's just a quick shot because this is what I was wearing yesterday when I was working in the flat. I'll wear these cardigans forever and so they're a key part of the 'permawardrobe' I'm currently building for my life ahead. I wish they'd bring them out in navy – the only other option at the moment is black.
Mid-brown boiled wool cardigan – 20% off; barrel jeans – 20% off with code BF20; cream high neck jumper; Boden gold boots AW23
Another one I've added is this deep chocolate brown with the sumptuous silk satin trim which just adds a lovely extra touch of texture to outfits. Again I had it with me yesterday so I slipped it on to show you in this quick picture. And this weekend it's 30% off – plus code EXTRA15 is taking an additional 15% off a lot of the offers so give it a try at checkout. Sigh!
The last cardigan that I want to remind you about is this one, the oversized buttons and the cropped fit elevate it from the ordinary. I wear it with denim and it's also lovely with brown or red. It's a key part of my capsule this winter and it currently has 30% off. It's beautifully soft but size down, I'm desperately trying to find it in the cream in a size small now. The tweed jacket shown here is also good if you size down (two sizes) and now has 15% off here, the chocolate brown boots have 20% off here and the excellent slim barrel jeans have 25% off here.
A hero jacket
Another hero piece is this jacket which I've worn and worn and worn since I got it in September and this weekend it has 40% off. It's such a flattering cut for wearing with jeans and dresses too, somehow it just makes you look very wasp waisted and the great thing is that it isn't too warm so it's a good buy for things like shopping trips when you want to layer.
Chic, outfit completing boots
The chic Parisian boots that add such a neat finishing touch to mid-tone outfits now have 40% off too. Dress them down or dress them up, they take you anywhere but size up, they're neat on the toe. The jumper has 20% off here, the navy and red version is 40% off here and the pine green is now half price here.
Tan suede ankle boots 40% off
The harmony of reds and browns
This season's 'robin' colours work well with denim blue and in a block like this. The soft mid-brown jumper here now has 30% off, – I'm wearing a size S, the red cotton high neck which is so good for layering has 20% off here and the barrel trousers have 15% off here (size down).
Soft mid-brown jumper – 30% off
Winter elegance skirt
This beautiful skirt that I described as being like wearing a glass of port wine has 40% off, the cashmere jumper is 20% off here and the festive mistletoe earrings have 40% off here.
Port wine satin skirt 40% off
Wardrobe cornerstone jeans
We've talked a lot about the value of having a pair of smart clean jeans in your wardrobe. These are my pick and they're now 40% off here. The jumper's sold out but there's that jacket again, also 40% off here.
Navy jumper with white stitching trim – 30% off
Black Friday 2025 – best offers compendium
I won’t take any more of your time today, I’ll just leave you with this compendium of the best Black Friday offers. I’ve only included the ones that I think are worth taking a look at – happy shopping, we can get on with the fun of December next week.
Fashion
- John Lewis – offers added every day – dedicated Black Friday hub here
- Jigsaw – 30% off everything here and it’s worth adding code EXTRA15 at checkout – it’s working on most sale pieces
- M&S – Black Friday hub here
- Boden – 40% off everything here (worth browsing), 20% off everything else
- The White Company – 20% off everything here
- Mint Velvet– 20% off with code BF20 here
- Claudia Bradby – Black Friday sale on here
- Bella Freud – 25% off sitewide here
- Cos – 20% off everything here
- Arket – 20% off everything here
- Albaray – 25% off everything here with code BF25
- Anthropologie – 25% off everything here
- Hobbs – up to 30% off everything here
- Calla Shoes – 20% off everything here
- And Other Stories – 20% off everything here
- Massimo Dutti – up to 40% Black Friday edit here
- Fat Face – 30% edit here
- Clarks – up to 30% off almost everything here
- Hush – 20% Black Friday hub here – new lines added
- French Connection – 30% off everything here
- Mango – up to 50% off everything here – worth the trawl!
- Seasalt – 25% off everything here
- White Stuff – 25% off everything here
- Whistles – 25% off everything here
- Sweaty Betty – 50% of everything here
- Nike – up t0 50% off everything here
- Dunelm – Black Friday hub here
- Waterstones – fabulous book offers but also really good board games at 50% off here
- LK Bennett – 30% off almost everything here
- Liberty – 30% off everything here plus 20% off beauty
- Rise and Fall 20% off everything here
Beauty Black Friday 2024
- Cult Beauty – up to 25% off almost everything here
- Victoria Beckham Beauty – 20% off everything here
- Kiehl’s – 30% off everything here
- Clinique – up to 30% off site-wide here
- Clarins – 25% off plus free gift here
- Estee Lauder – 25% off here
- Jones Road – up to 20% off everything plus free shipping here
- SpaceNK – Black Friday hub here
- UK Lash – 30% off everything here
