Hello and Happy Friday! One of the most common requests from the survey feedback was for more pictures of everyday outfits so that you can see how I recycle things. I’ve been doing my best to remember to get them – it means they’re all just iPhone shots so maybe not the best quality (although I’m sure Apple would disagree). So here you go, a few early spring outfits of the day.

Liver bird

This is from a couple of weeks ago when we were in Liverpool with the middle one who was having some auditions (we haven’t heard back yet but he has low expectations, it was more about the experience). Anyway after taking the IdLF @ Uniqlo pictures, we were looking for a good place for a warming cup of tea when we came across this. I felt as though I should have been wearing something spectacular but I suppose ‘love saves the day’ wasn’t a bad message for it…

Midlifechic spring outfits of the day

Hush jumper (gifted SS18, this year’s version), jeans (gifted SS18); Trainers

Rainy Saturday

On Friday night we were watching a film with subtitles and for the first time, I couldn’t read them. It’s been getting more difficult for a while but apart from one pair of specs which I always seem to lose, I’ve resisted the distance prescription that Specsavers gave me because I’m convinced that once you give in it gets worse. Anyway on Saturday I decided it was finally time to submit and have some more of my glasses made up as varifocals. The spring sunshine from earlier in the week was a distant memory and I was back in winter colours.

spring outfits of the day

Cord blazer; Jumper; Jeans; Hush boots (AW17)

Simple Sunday

On Sunday morning I was playing around with some of the samples that Hope have sent me to review from their new SS19 collection. As a recap for new readers, Hope is a brilliant brand, they design all of their clothing specifically with the midlife woman in mind. It’s run by a small team of midlifers headed by Nayna McIntosh who is a former director of M&S.

So, when I say that the clothing is designed for the midlife body I mean that amongst other things, it takes into account the issues that we often have with a thickening middle. As you can see, this is the ultimate boyfriend jumper made from Hope’s merino and cashmere blend which actually feels softer than 100% cashmere because of the way it’s spun. It’s a beautiful pale iris blue, the sleeves have ribbed cuffs which means they stay up nicely if you want to reveal a bracelet…

Cashmere blend boyfriend jumper (press sample on loan); Hush jeans (AW16); Boots (now in sale); Mother and Child necklace (gifted AW18); Silver pebble and pearl earrings (gifted AW18)

…and the hem is stepped so it doesn’t bunch. It’s the perfect cut for an apple or a pear – it isn’t cheap but the quality is fantastic and as I keep saying, if we want these small brands to upscale so that they can then bring their prices down, we have to support them. Oh and forgive me for doing a ‘Meghan’ here – I promise I’m not pregnant(!) I just never know what to do with my hands if I don’t have pockets or something to hold.

Cashmere blend boyfriend jumper (press sample on loan); Hush jeans (AW16); Boots (now in sale); Mother and Child necklace (gifted AW18); Silver pebble and pearl earrings (gifted AW18)

Working Monday

I managed to get a picture at the end of the day and combine it with a quick dash to catch the post which made me realise how rarely I have to post anything these days because there’s no longer an evening collection. Anyway the postbox was forgiven because it did a nice job of picking up the red in my boots.

I posted this on Instagram and had a few questions about the trousers which I bought last spring but they’re still available. Again they’re expensive but if you spend a lot of time sitting at a desk / travelling by train like I do they’re invaluable because they just don’t crease. They’re a fabulous fit but bear in mind that because of the stitching detail they can’t be shortened so you can see where they fall on my legs and I usually wear a ‘regular’ length. Otherwise they’re true to size and an investment piece that you’ll wear endlessly.

spring outfits of the day

IdLF at Uniqlo Jacket SS14; Striped top (part of paid collaboration SS19); Trousers; Hush boots (now in the sale – gifted AW18); Bag – new stock coming soon to Midlifechic

Afternoon tea Wednesday

Some of you will remember me talking about a party we went to in September held by my friend T who had a terminal diagnosis last year. Well he’s still defying expectations and doing brilliantly. On Wednesday we met up for tea and scones in Windermere and spent a happy couple of hours reminiscing and also looking at a project he’s working on.

I love the way that it’s always so easy to slot in with someone you used to work with – the familiarity of sitting across a desk from someone never goes away, even though it’s now exactly 30 years since we bonded as displaced Northerners on the illustrious magazine that was ‘Newsagent.’ It wasn’t the most glamorous way to begin my career in publishing but actually I learned so much more about the nuts and bolts of putting a magazine together than I would have done if I’d gone straight onto a big glossy with lots of staff. In the years after that whenever I went for interviews I didn’t know as much about the rock n roll side of publishing as other candidates but I did understand how to keep a magazine’s heart beating (and I soon caught up with the rock n roll!). So, as I’m forever telling the boys, if I hadn’t started from a grass roots level, I probably wouldn’t have risen as quickly as I did.

Anyway I was in the mood for light spring colours so this is what I wore.

Midlifechic Nikki Garnett

Jumper; Hope skirt (gifted AW18); Boots (now in the sale – gifted AW18); IdLF at Uniqlo coat (paid collaboration AW17)

Working from home Thursday

And finally this was yesterday when I popped out for lunch at a new tea room that’s opened in the next village and needed to be tried. What can I say about the outfit? It matched the landscape and the weather, it’s hardly stopped raining this week – in fact it feels more like January than January did.

H&M jumper (AW14); Hush jeans (AW16); Coat (now in the sale AW18); Boots (now in the sale AW18)

And that’s it for today because I’m finishing this in advance of setting off for London. I’ve been invited down to meet Josh Wood at his salon and I’m feeling a bit nervous because I’m going to be trialling his new ‘home colour and hair system’ i.e the hair dyes that you buy in a box and use at home. After spending so long getting my cut right I’m now struggling with the colour. As you know I decided that my roots were getting too grey for the balayage treatment that I’ve had for the last couple of years and so my hairdresser stripped all of the colour out of my hair just before we went to Marrakech. I’ve since had a few lowlights put in but it feels a bit of a mess and because of the bleach stripping, it isn’t in great condition.

If this home colour system works as well as they tell me it does then it would save me a fortune but I’m not sure that it will. I think lots of us would love there to be an good home solution though so I’m happy to be a guinea pig and of course I’ll tell you all about it next week when you’ll be able to decide for yourself. In the interests of disclosure it isn’t a paid collaboration but I’m having my hair done for free – I’ll give you an honest appraisal at the end of it.

And with that I must dash to catch my train so have a lovely weekend and I’ll be back on Tuesday.

New ranges that have dropped this week

Disclosure: ‘spring outfits of the day’ is not a sponsored post

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