As we're getting into the swing of Christmas now, for my last Boden edit of the year it made sense to look at what we might wear when we're in the mood to look festive. Every year, at the end of November ( for me anyway) there comes a morning where I suddenly want to move away from my autumn clothes and add a little touch of something extra to my outfits. And that's what today's post is going [...]
I have a really lovely little find to share with you today. I haven't added to my Great British Boltholes series of good places to escape to since before lockdown but now I want to tell you about a bijou hotel in North Yorkshire. It's the one we stayed in last weekend and when I say bijou, I mean it's small and personal and family run. So, I'm going to talk a little bit about it and its surroundings [...]
It's the last of my AW22 everyday edits today and I'm as pleased as ever to be working with one of my all time favourite brands, Boden. As always with them there are lots of tempting statement outfits but I'm sticking to my pledge to focus on long-lasting wardrobe workhorses this season as I suspect most of us are squeezing our budgets hard. It really has been a case of sitting on my hands, especially when I saw pieces [...]
The weeks seem to be flying past at the moment so I thought it was time to take a mid-season pause and have a catch up with an autumn midlife lately. I've found random photos of various moments on our camera rolls so here's what's been going on in the background while I've been talking about travel and new season clothes. Autumn midlife lately - empty nesting Towards the end of September it was finally time for the youngest [...]
Today we're continuing with AW22 and I'm bringing you more ideas for making your wardrobe work hard. I think for all of us it's a season for being realistic; very few people are going to be buying into the 'everything new' mentality - instead it's a time to be savvy. So when it comes to new season, it doesn't feel right for me to just bring you a whole load of 'what's new' posts. Rather [...]
And so I can't hold it off any longer, Autumn is most definitely here and I can't believe how suddenly it's arrived this year. September is often the warmest month of the season for us up here and yet I've already found myself digging out gloves for my walks with Ted. So today you find me edging into A/W22 with White Stuff . I'm bringing you my personal edit from their new collection and to go with it, you'll see [...]
Thank you for all of your lovely blog birthday wishes last week. I'm writing this in a bit of a time-warp on Tuesday night because we've decided to act on our empty-nesters' ability to be spontaneous and head off for a few days to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We're not going very far at all, certainly not to the exotic climes that we should have been enjoying right now but we've realised that with a new project looming this might [...]
Hello and Happy Friday everyone. With the last few posts focusing on Christmas gifts it feels like a while since we've had a catch-up so today I bring you an assortment of outfit pictures with a bit of chat in between. It's a funny old time again isn't it? Just a week ago we went to our first Christmas party, marvelling at how normal everything felt and then within a few days there's a new named variant and we're all [...]
Ah the joy of a Christmas outfit trying-on session at John Lewis & Partners - I loved every minute of it and I'm hoping I have a little something for everyone today because there are so many different ideas. But before we go on, let's recap. In my first post about dressing for Christmas this year, we talked about how the approach is changing; lots of retailers and consumers are trying to be more thoughtful about creating capsules that will [...]
This is a gentler opening of my Christmas posts than I imagined back in the summer months when I first started planning my calendar with the retailers who do so much to support this blog. You see we're all going to find the landscape quite different at the upper end of the high street this year as we start to think about what to wear over the festive season. A lot of retailers are giving us a different way of [...]
After playing catch-up on our Greek trip for the last few weeks it feels good to be talking to you in real time again. We've had lots going on and I'm going to write this post the opposite way round to usual because it has some sadness and I don't want to leave you on a downer on a Friday. So I'm starting with some midlife ups and downs and then I'll move on to happier events and what I've [...]
And just in case you didn't already think this year's whizzing past, today I bring you the last of the new Autumn drops. After this it will just be what I've been wearing and then, very soon we'll be moving into the sparkly season. So if you haven't worked out how you're going to dress most days from now until (let's face it) April - it's time. Today I'm working with John Lewis & Partners and I've put together a [...]
Last Monday Boden's biggest Autumn drop arrived and there I was shading my screen from the Mykonos sunshine, trying to think ahead to what life might be like for us all at home over the months to come. As you know, before we went away I'd already categorised the principle lifestyle areas that I need to focus on this season: working from home with the occasional client meeting; casual weekends and relaxed nights out. I know I keep banging on [...]
A new range of simple, sustainable basics for fashion As I type this Mr MC is busy filling in our passenger locator forms and we're forcing ourselves to think about leaving the Mykonos sunshine to come home. At this particular moment Autumn feels like a million miles away but I know that in just over 24 hours it will be a reality. However at least we won't be going home to an empty nest quite yet; the eldest has been [...]
The end of days And just like that they've flown. After 25 years of family life our nest is empty and it's the moment I've been dreading since my boys first arrived and filled our home with love, mischief and laughter. I distinctly remember holding each one of them for the first time and feeling so many things: joy, awe, responsibility, love... all tinged with an awareness that I was heading on a journey that would be over before I'd [...]
Autumn wardrobe planning - a new start for a new way of life I might be a bit later than the back to schoolers but I certainly have a feeling of new term butterflies in my tummy this week - a mix of worry and excitement about what lies ahead. Of course for us this season (and this weekend in particular) really is a new start as we empty nest but I'm sensing that lots of people are feeling the [...]
AW21 trends and easy ways to wear them Trends - do they even matter any more? Whereas designers and glossy magazine editors used to dominate the world of fashion and dictate what we'd wear every season, since the arrival of the internet and social media in particular there's been a real change in the balance of power. Now pretty much any style goes if you own it and wear it with confidence. So I almost decided against doing this new [...]
Over the weekend I realised how many outfit pictures I have clogging up my camera roll so it's time for a catch up. Of course the highlight of my weekend was the wedding we went to so today's post is a mixed bag of summer and autumn outfits cumulating with what to wear for a wedding over 50. You see the last few weeks for us have felt a little more like life before lockdown especially as far as work [...]
And so here we are with the first post of the Autumn season and it's an exclusive - trying on Inès de la Fressange at Uniqlo AW21. I'm so sorry that it's late, the samples just didn't arrive and so today we've had a mad trip to the Manchester store to try the pieces I wanted to show you so that we could photograph them and send this post live. It's been a crazy day in hot sunshine and I [...]
It's been a while since we had a midlife lately catch up because I've been so busy with everything Christmas but it's starting to feel as though most of the planning is done now so I can come up for air. Wasn't November a funny old month? Even more of a nothingness than November usually is so I'm not sure how interesting this post is going to be but I suppose we're all in the same boat. As always, ours [...]
Hello again - as you probably realised I ended up taking the whole of last week off. Thank you to everyone who sent a little message checking up on me, it showed me that you notice when I'm not here so perhaps I do bring some value with this blog... which is something I often wonder about. Of course we 'should' have been in Paris but as it happened I had a nasty chest infection anyway (not Covid, I did [...]
Well the clocks go back here this weekend so we'll be officially saying goodbye to British Summer Time. Today I'm doing a Baukjen AW20 try-on, showcasing a few pieces from this tiny British brand that has continued to shine ethically throughout this difficult year. And at the end of the post I'll show you my tiny collection of new bags that have finally arrived after the hard work we did in the summer. New readers often ask me how Baukjen [...]
Hello, it's a short post today because I doubt any of us has a lot of spare time for reading and writing. I've turned down all Christmas blogging jollies this year because we have so much going on here - there are two more busy weeks of work lunches and dinners ahead before it all starts to quieten down a bit and become more family and friend focused. So, I'm doing my best to snap outfits as we go along [...]
I'm pleased to say that today's post has been prompted directly by you. You see I had the pleasure of chatting to lots of readers at the John Lewis & Partners event on Friday and one topic was requested more than any other: 'relaxed winter chic for women over 40.' So, before we launch headlong into the whirlwind of Christmas, I thought I'd recap on the basics of elevating your winter look. What's coming up on Midlifechic? But first I [...]
A winter blue capsule from Marks & Spencer And so my friends, I'm tentatively launching into the party season. I know it's early and some of you will get grumpy with me but as always my view is that it's best to get all of the planning done now so that when December comes we can just enjoy it. This way when the glossies are running features about how to avoid Christmas stress, we'll be blowing party poppers and wondering [...]
Something a bit different for you today because thinking we were going to be almost through to the other side of Brexit, I planned a British brand focus. As it happens we're not (why am I surprised?) but I'm going to talk about three of them anyway. Before I start though, I have an apology. One of the enquiry forms on Darryll and Bettina's website for The D'Azur failed on Saturday and so all of the enquiries that you sent [...]
It's been a while since I've worked with them and a few of you have been asking me what's going on at hush. It's a small company that has found itself growing so fast that it's suddenly had to switch its focus towards gearing up for growth in a big way. Everybody here of course has known and loved hush for a long time, but two years ago when they launched at John Lewis & Partners, they were introduced to [...]
As you know, I spent some time in Leeds this week getting ready for the Midlifechic reader event next month. I love being there because it's one of my favourite John Lewis & Partners sites. It's the anchor store for Victoria Leeds, a shopping centre that opened in 2016 incorporating some of the restored Victorian arcades and I don't think I've seen a more architecturally beautiful shopping centre in the UK. The new glass buildings compliment the old iron structures [...]
I'm early this week so apologies to everyone who tells me that my post is part of their Friday wind-down routine, I'm juggling again and so it was now or never. So it's a Friday cornucopia today (on a Thursday... confused? yes me too) with a mixture of clothes, beauty - and... a chance for us to meet. At last! More about that at the end of the post. Hush mid-season sale - recommendations I'm going to start with the [...]
Today's post has been inspired by a personal coat conundrum. As the weather has turned blustery so suddenly in the UK, I've found myself reaching for a coat far earlier than I did last year when I barely needed one until January. Looking at the coat rail in my dressing room, it was hard to see what I have because there are too many and being in a decluttering frame of mind, I decided that rather than needing a new [...]
Oh it went so quickly, our weekend break in Spain - and well done to Jenny who was the first to guess our destination of Jeréz. We decided on this trip on our wedding anniversary in February when we were looking through the 'wallpaper roll of dreams' that we made when we were first married. Amongst other things it lists all of the places that we hoped to travel to and because we've spent so many years choosing destinations that [...]
Today I'm really pleased to be bringing you a bumper Boden edit - Autumn 2019. Longstanding readers will know that I've been trying to open a dialogue with Boden for years. As you've seen, since spring we've been getting to know each other by doing a small monthly edit - and during that time, from your feedback and comments they've learned a bit more about you too. For this post I've had a chance to go [...]
It's a quick post from me today, I don't have much time because it's Mr MC's birthday this weekend and we're going away... but I'll tell you more about that later. In the meantime I've come up with a few more ideas of what to wear as we transition from summer to autumn when the weather's still relatively warm but unreliable. I've collated some chic autumn basics - wardrobe building blocks that don't immediately look exciting but will work harder [...]
Hello, I'm breathing a small sigh of relief this week because the North West business exhibition that we've been managing is finally over. It meant that I didn't have much time for Midlifechic last week so why I thought it would be a good time to do the sale I don't know. As some of you gathered, there were technical gremlins galore on Friday night and I was stuck in the office on my own unable to get through to [...]
Today's post is all about M&S but it isn't just my usual monthly try-on of new styles in store, I want to talk a little about why I'm making the statement that 'hope springs at Marks and Spencer.' And yes I know the first thought that's going to come into your mind is that last week they dropped out of the FTSE 100 for the first time ever. I'm sure when that result was announced you could quickly reel off [...]
Today, as promised we're going to look at easy ways to update your wardrobe for AW19. Hopefully since the A/W19 trends post you've had a chance to think through what you already have. This perhaps includes blazers, jumpers and jeans for a simple start, maybe midi-skirts and dresses too and a couple of pairs of wide leg trousers. Thinking back to the 'how to build a capsule wardrobe course' we did in January, I'm hoping that you're still using the [...]
Well I've had it with Summer. It's been like a bad boyfriend, letting me down so many times that I'm over it so, let's move on to our Autumn/Winter 2019 - trend analysis. Now it isn't the easiest of seasons to get your head around this year. There are no significant outline changes as there were two years ago when we moved into the new silhouette of the midi and wider trousers. This time it's more about a mood [...]
Ah the Bank Holiday... lovely wasn't it? The problem is that it's hit the Inès de La Fressange launch at Uniqlo and as a result, the warehouse just couldn't get samples to me in time to shoot them. We all know what a tight turnaround this limited release has and please take me seriously when I say that it will have mostly sold out by lunchtime today because really, it will. (For US readers it goes live this morning here, [...]
I have mixed feelings about seeing the new deliveries starting to arrive for Autumn because it's hard to say goodbye to a summer that hasn't even started and yet I'm ready to give up on summer clothes. I suspect it's going to feel like a long winter for us in the UK this year, kicking off with everything Brexit but let's not dwell on that. The farmer in my genes (good job this isn't a podcast!) tells me there's a [...]
I'm hoping to make this a monthly feature in 2019 because I really want to start focusing on small British brands run by women like us. Why? Well of course it fits perfectly with the Midlifechic ethos that this stage of our lives is just the beginning - especially for women who have arrived at the magical age of 50. If you're younger, keep going - your best time is still to come. However my other reason for doing this [...]
Well hello, I'm back and if you're reading this it means you're still here. I thank you for sticking with me during my absence, I just needed to take some time away. Anyway, I'll update you with a 'midlife lately' next week but today I'm easing myself back in with a look at one of my favourite brands, Uniqlo. You see as I've been collating your feedback on some of the retailer-specific posts that I've done this season, the cry [...]
Just a quick hello today because as I thought, getting the shop ready for our delivery of chic new bags has helped us to keep our minds occupied over the last few days. Before I go on to talk about them though, I just want to say a huge thank you for all of your kind messages that have been coming in from every direction. I've been reading them out at the dinner table as they've arrived and we've all [...]
A new brand edit for you today - I'm bringing you a selection of winter warmers with an edit of coats, knits and boots from JD Williams. As always this season, they have a selection that spans a wide range of price points and, of course, sizing as they continue to champion midlife women across the board. For AW18 they've asked me to focus on coats, knitwear and boots which, let's face it, is probably the most relevant field for [...]
It's just a short post from me today because it's been a funny old week. I've been slogging my way through a heavy cold and feeling a bit contemplative after the evening with my friend T. I've been thinking about life and reflecting on the pros and cons of the knowledge that I suppose most of us gain by midlife simply as a result of the experiences that we've lived through. The upsides are many - the 'what the hell?' [...]
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 [...]
I thought I'd take a breather from the madness of new season so that we can have a quick catch up. Today I'm bringing you a post of recent outfits, try-ons and a midlife lately catch up which has ended up being more introspective than I intended but that's what happens when I have something on my mind. So, as far as the weather is concerned, we seem to be sliding quickly into Autumn here but every so often, summer [...]
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 [...]
I'm really pleased that so many of you said you enjoyed my edit of the Inès de La Fressange at Uniqlo collection because I have a few more reviews of individual retailer collections planned over the next few weeks. Today I'm looking at Hush and I'm working in exactly the same way, in a collaboration where I'm free to style the clothes as I want to and talk to you about how they feel to wear. I know quite a [...]
It's time - I'm excited to bring you my Inès de La Fressange at Uniqlo Autumn 2018 Review. Yet again they've identified Midlifechic readers as their core audience and so I've had the chance to examine some of the pieces early - I can't tell you how happy this makes me. For US readers it should be going live for you today too. Just in case you're a new reader, what's so great about this Uniqlo collection? It consists of a [...]
