Rewind to 1985 – a 40 year style celebration

By |2025-03-21T18:41:10+00:00March 21st, 2025|Categories: Project Happier, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

I'm sure you're already aware that we're living through a period of nostalgia - it's been happening for a while, people looking back to safer, simpler feeling times. You see it with the throwbacks that are going on everywhere - in fashion, in food, in music... amongst the older generations who remember an offline era that was slower and less pressured... and throughout the younger generations too. Top of the Gen Z Christmas wishlist was a 'vintage' 90s digital camera, [...]

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Colombia guide – Caribbean Islands & Cartagena

By |2025-03-14T17:13:34+00:00March 14th, 2025|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , |

Colombia Guide - Coffee Plantation Visit This is the last of my posts about Colombia - I could happily write about our trip for weeks but new season is approaching so I know we need to get onto that soon. Just now though it's still to soon to be thinking about new clothes, the best is yet to arrive in the shops so let me give a different Colombia guide - the Caribbean Islands & Cartagena. You see after [...]

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Wardrobe refresh – pops of spring colour

By |2025-02-14T16:43:15+00:00February 14th, 2025|Categories: Health, Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Ok so that's enough of the heavy thinking posts for a while, let's take our very first 2025 look at some easy wardrobe updates. It's so lovely to see the first, very early glimpses of spring. As soon as Christmas was over we used to wait for my dad to start saying "we just have to make it through to the second Sunday in February when we'll be able to have tea at five o'clock with the lights off." And [...]

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January catch-up – books, films, TV and fresh air

By |2025-01-24T17:05:24+00:00January 24th, 2025|Categories: Project Happier, Style|Tags: , , , , , |

As it's still January there's nothing interesting in the shops and payday hasn't come around yet so it's another chat post today - how's your month going? I hope you've managed to swerve this week's Blue Monday mood. I know a lot of people get themselves into a pickle about it being a manufactured event but I do think there's something to it. I've noticed that a lot of the chats I've had on the canal when I've been [...]

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Christmassy midlife lately & what I’ve been wearing

By |2024-12-13T17:06:02+00:00December 13th, 2024|Categories: Christmas, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Today is the day I've been looking forward to when the worst of my workload is over. It's a bit of an end of exams feeling by which I mean I'm not as euphoric as I anticipated, there's still a lot to be done on the home front (the big Christmas shop still only has two bottles of champagne in the basket!) but... we have a dancing weekend ahead and at the end of it the boys start to [...]

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Midlife lately – pockets of October joy

By |2024-11-01T19:07:14+00:00November 1st, 2024|Categories: Midlife, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Another month gone and October always feels like the most transitional month of the year - for me it began on the beach in hot sunshine and ended in full throttle Christmas prep! We'll start thinking about that soon but first let's have a catch-up with a Midlife lately - pockets of October joy. When I came back from holiday I was full of energy so until my back went I did a good job of taking the everyday [...]

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How to make outfits interesting

By |2024-10-25T17:06:12+01:00October 25th, 2024|Categories: Style, Style Seminars|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

By popular request it's another style tips post today - you see one of the conversations that crops up regularly during the colder months is about how to make outfits interesting. That's because so often our AW wardrobes consist of darker colours that initially feel refreshing after summer's brights but then quickly become monotonous. Of course your individual look has a lot to do with the way you wear things but years of studying market research has shown me that [...]

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3 style tips for autumn outfits

By |2024-09-27T22:35:12+01:00September 27th, 2024|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

It's a quick post from me today because I'm chasing the sun and heading away for a few days so I thought I'd leave you with some wardrobe styling homework as there won't be a post next Friday. I'm bringing you 3 style tips for autumn outfits - they will interest those of you who enjoy a bit of forensic outfit structuring and for those who don't, there are 3 outfit combinations to help you to get in sync [...]

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M&S – what’s in store for AW24?

By |2024-09-24T17:11:46+01:00September 20th, 2024|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

So here we are, this weekend brings with it the autumn equinox. As I type I'm looking out at a garden shrouded in early morning mist, the apple tree is heavy with fruit but it's been a poor year for the pears. The morello cherries have gone to the birds... again. There's a single day where the fruit suddenly turns sweet and somehow they know. As I mentioned last week, after being reminded that we don't have endless autumns in [...]

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Midlife lately – summer lived to the full

By |2024-09-13T16:46:58+01:00September 13th, 2024|Categories: Midlife, Project Happier, Style|Tags: , , , , , |

From this week's weather it would appear that summer is completely over (9 degrees here!) and I haven't kept my blog up to date with what we've been doing. As you know, these posts are really just for me to look back on in the future so if you come here for the fashion updates, skip over this one, clothes will be back next week. Despite the awful weather, summer 2024 has been one of the least travelled but most [...]

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Another slice of summer midlife lately

By |2024-08-23T16:57:31+01:00August 23rd, 2024|Categories: Midlife, Style|Tags: , , , , , , |

It's another quick catch-up today because I'm immersed in trying to write my book and it feels like time's running out - my Inbox is full of emails about autumn launches and Christmas so my quieter summer period is nearly over. I'm not sure how I'm going to juggle things over the months ahead but for now that's a September problem. So just to keep in touch, here's another slice of summer midlife lately. The weather here has gone [...]

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Summer 24 midlife lately catch-up

By |2024-08-16T14:36:05+01:00August 16th, 2024|Categories: Midlife, Project Happier, Style|Tags: , , , , , |

Continuing with my series of shorter posts, here's a little summer 24 midlife lately catch-up but first I must just thank you profusely for all of the answers you gave to my question last week. I'm busy going through them and I'm so grateful to everyone who's shared so much, please know that even though it's anonymous I still feel honoured to have your confidence. I will try my utmost to pull something good from everything you've told me - [...]

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A quick Margate guide – what we did

By |2024-08-02T16:46:22+01:00August 2nd, 2024|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , |

I'm playing catch-up today. A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that we were off for a short break as part of our summer of music project. And I'll start with an apology for the photos - we really didn't take very many because we just switched off and pottered around but I'm pulling together what we have. Our destination was Margate, it's a resort that you hear a lot about but it's a long way from a lot of [...]

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The week my husband dressed me – midlife lately!

By |2024-07-05T17:22:59+01:00July 5th, 2024|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , |

Before we begin, don't worry - I haven't turned into a trad-wife. After a tightly packed few days, total meltdown on the trains saw me stranded in London last week and so I had to take some drastic measures which resulted in an experiment I'd never anticipated - the week my husband dressed me [spoiler - he didn’t do a bad job!]. This is the first of the series of shorter posts that I'm going to be writing over the [...]

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Me+Em review – Retailer Spotlight

By |2024-06-04T20:35:34+01:00June 4th, 2024|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

I've had lots of people requesting a return to the brand specific spotlight posts that I ran in the autumn. SS24 has been a bit of a juggle in terms of work, travel and blog so I haven't had time to put a consistent series together but today I'm delighted to be bringing you another one, this time it's a Me+Em review - Retailer Spotlight. Me+Em - brand background in a nutshell Disclosure: [...]

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Summer in the UK – what to wear & midlife lately

By |2024-05-31T16:43:16+01:00May 31st, 2024|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

I think for a lot of midlifers the concept of summer changes, especially when you find yourself no longer bound by school term dates or even edging towards retirement. Time stretches and you can take advantage of booking a holiday earlier or later in the season and actually enjoy summer in the UK. But that of course comes with its own challenges, specifically weather because it's rarely quite as good as you imagine it's going to be. And that's where [...]

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Sailing Around Thailand – women-only

By |2024-05-17T14:57:48+01:00May 17th, 2024|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , |

At last it's time to tell you about my sudden but very exciting journey sailing around Thailand - women-only trip of a lifetime. There's such a lot to say that I need to split it into two instalments. Today I'll tell you about the trip and what we did, then next month I'll talk about how it felt to travel with people I hadn't met before and the lessons I learned. So let's begin. Sailing Around Thailand - women-only [...]

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White Stuff update – and can you help?

By |2024-05-10T16:57:47+01:00May 10th, 2024|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Another new season try-on today with a look at the continuing evolution of White Stuff. A few of you have been saying that you're missing the retail insight posts that I ran back in the autumn so I'm going to go a little deeper into the the brand background on this one. As you know, I've been following their progress for a while now, ever since they undertook what they called their "quiet" rebrand in 2021. As a retailer [...]

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Heading towards summer – Boden try-on

By |2024-05-03T17:08:39+01:00May 3rd, 2024|Categories: Retail Review, Style Seminars|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

I'm busy playing catch-up and so my Boden edit for April is running a little bit late but at least it's now warmer than when we took these photographs last weekend. We were in Newcastle with a bitter east wind blowing and I've assimilated to Geordie life pretty well but not their capacity for short sleeves and sandals in sub zero temperatures so some of the outfits had to be kept inside! It's a great feeling knowing we've finally made [...]

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The best capsule pieces – new M&S collection SS24

By |2024-03-29T14:37:42+00:00March 29th, 2024|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

And so it's time for us to think about our spring wardrobes. Despite the weather's grimmest efforts this weekend I'm convinced that we're going to have a good summer this year - it may be wishful thinking because we're remaining solidly in the UK but I'm sending it out there! Today I'm delighted to be looking at the new season drop from M&S. They're a brand I haven't focused on for a while - as you know that's because [...]

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A journey through the Valencia region and reflections on this midpoint of life

By |2024-03-22T16:48:28+00:00March 22nd, 2024|Categories: Family, Midlife, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , |

There are times when you settle into a flight home and wonder if you've even been away. And there are others where you've done so much that you feel as if you've completed an episode in the story of your life. That's how our journey through the Valencia region of Spain was, even though we were only travelling for ten days it felt like a month (in a good way I should add!). In a short time we experienced so [...]

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Spring wardrobe lifts that work now

By |2024-02-16T16:21:21+00:00February 16th, 2024|Categories: Hair & Beauty, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

It's a bit of a cornucopia today - I don't know about you but I'm starting to feel the winter blues so I'm looking for spring wardrobe lifts that work now. Starting with clothes, I'm not ready to think about buying anything major yet in terms of outfits. The new collections won't arrive for a while but having seen the trends and some of the retail previews, I have a good idea of what I'm hoping to wear this year. [...]

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A midwinter midlife lately

By |2024-02-09T20:46:43+00:00February 9th, 2024|Categories: Family, Style|Tags: , , , , , , |

It feels as though the year is slowly opening its eyes doesn't it? My grandma was an incurable romantic and she insisted that Valentine's Day was the day when every bird found its mate. Obviously nature isn't quite as well programmed as that but some are pairing off already - the owls in our garden have been busy for ages and now the herons on the canal are catching up. It does feel as if hope is there, even if [...]

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A surprise trip to Amsterdam & goodbye to 2023

By |2023-12-19T16:46:20+00:00December 19th, 2023|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Last week I left you just before we went away for the surprise break that Mal had planned. We set off very early on the Thursday to get to Manchester airport and had a rather anxious drive there because the motorway traffic was awful so it was a rush to the gate... and just as we got there the flight was cancelled. Sudden bad weather over Europe was causing chaos. Of the many travel disruptions we've experienced this [...]

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Midlife lately – and first thoughts on the Zoe Programme

By |2023-12-15T16:56:27+00:00December 15th, 2023|Categories: Health, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

At last, I'm breathing out a bit - looking back through Mal's camera roll I realise we haven't had a Midlife lately for ages so let's have a catch-up (and I warn you it's a long pot of tea/glass of wine one). There are times when I really don't feel like having my photograph taken but in the long run, it's great that he snaps away when we're out and about because it gives me a record of ordinary times [...]

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Boden review – retailer spotlight

By |2023-11-17T14:41:21+00:00November 14th, 2023|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

So many of you have said you've enjoyed the retail spotlight posts that I'm bringing you one more for 2023. After this, they'll be on pause until January while we focus on Christmas and all of the prep that it entails. So today as well as doing my monthly edit, it's a Boden review - retailer spotlight. Let me bring you up to date with what's going on there. Boden - brand background in a [...]

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Christmas 23 – easy outfit ideas to get you in the mood

By |2023-11-03T13:46:21+00:00November 3rd, 2023|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , |

It’s time to start thinking about the big day next month – yes I mean Christmas. And if you feel it’s too early, spare a thought for those of us who work in retail and had to start planning it in January! I’m easing in slowly today with Christmas 23 - easy outfit ideas to get you in the mood. Starting to think about whatever you have planned will help you to ease towards the festive feeling. I don’t [...]

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Using texture with winter outfits

By |2023-10-20T17:33:54+01:00October 20th, 2023|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

I'm continuing with my series of easy style tips today - in last Friday's post we talked about using accessories to add new life to outfits, this week I want to look a little more at using texture with winter outfits. You see texture is a tool that you can't use as well in summer but at this time of year it comes into its own. Before we get into it though, as I go on to talk about [...]

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AW23 – the trends and thoughts about planning your wardrobe

By |2023-09-08T16:53:34+01:00September 8th, 2023|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Hasn't it been glorious to have a blast of summer this week? The mid-20s temperatures up here have been absolutely perfect, just what we needed to lift everyone's mood before the season really starts to shift. The leaves are turning, the hedgerows are heavy with berries, the boughs on our pear tree are so heavy with fruit that they're almost breaking which means it's time to start adjusting to the big move on... not in terms of 'buy it now' [...]

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A midlife weekend in Porto with friends

By |2023-09-01T17:52:56+01:00September 1st, 2023|Categories: Project Happier, Relationships, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Well hello, I hope you had a lovely bank holiday weekend. As you know we spent ours in the sunshine with Gillian and Stephen who started off as Midlifechic readers (well perhaps not Stephen) but have now become firm friends. With disrupted travel it's been a hectic week since we got home so I'm inviting you to join us for what will have to be a whistlestop tour of our midlife weekend in Porto. A midlife weekend in Porto -  [...]

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Capsule wardrobe building: transitional pieces for cooler days

By |2023-08-18T17:19:57+01:00August 18th, 2023|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

Hurray - we've had a bit of sunshine across most of the UK at last although looking at the long term forecast it isn't set to stay for very long. So for this month's Boden edit I thought I'd look at capsule wardrobe building with hardworking transitional pieces that work for cooler days as well as warm ones. The thing about Boden's cross-season drops is that it's easy to flick through them and think that because there aren't any show [...]

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Midlife lately August – simple summer moments

By |2023-08-11T15:24:04+01:00August 11th, 2023|Categories: Family, Midlife, Relationships, Style|Tags: , , , , , |

What should we talk about today? It can't be clothes because I seem to be living in jumpers and jeans so I think it has to be a midlife lately - August. I know that lots of you are on holiday, as are we usually. In fact this is the first August since 1997 that I haven't been away somewhere or other and it feels strange. We spent May, June and July constantly on the move, mostly for work or [...]

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A relaxing weekend in Cornwall’s Daphne du Maurier country

By |2023-08-05T10:45:18+01:00August 4th, 2023|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , |

We spent the weekend before last in Cornwall, as you know. We hadn't been there for 20 years, in fact the last time was in August 2003 when the youngest was only days old. Back then I'd booked a lovely cottage in St Ives with space for both sets of grandparents, thinking that it would be a good way of keeping the older two entertained while I was getting used to having three to juggle. You see I was [...]

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Midlife – as your family moves on, so does your life

By |2023-07-28T17:24:15+01:00July 28th, 2023|Categories: Family, Project Happier, Relationships, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

And so, as you'll know if you follow my Instagram feed, there was a big day for our family a couple of weeks ago. It was the middle one's graduation, a day I found myself completely unprepared for in terms of impact. It was a bit like pregnancy when you find yourself so focused on the birth that it's almost a shock when you have to take the baby home with you afterwards and you realise that in the [...]

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High summer outfit ideas – ageless style

By |2023-07-21T17:34:34+01:00July 21st, 2023|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , |

Now I realise there's some irony to high summer outfit ideas if you're in the UK at the moment because summer seems to be having a holiday of its own and focusing all of its power on Europe. It can't be easy if you're over there in the intense heat but isn't it crazy that such a short distance away we're living through days of high winds, torrential rain and even hail? It's made it a bit tricky deciding what [...]

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A midlife week in Amsterdam – empty nest adventures

By |2023-07-07T16:44:45+01:00July 7th, 2023|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

I'm opening this post with an apology because I said that while we were away last week I'd be over on Instagram - but sometimes you have to put the key people in your life first and we needed a complete break. Life since Christmas has felt pretty non-stop for us. I've mentioned a few times that I didn't think we were going to have the chance for any kind of proper holiday until the autumn... and I know we [...]

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Capsule wardrobe sale buys & midlife lately

By |2023-06-16T16:46:27+01:00June 16th, 2023|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

And so, as I warned you last week, we're heading towards the close of the SS23 collections so today I'm going to flag up some capsule wardrobe sale buys because some of the best brands are diving into summer sale already. It's been an extremely tough season for retailers; with the cost of living crisis and also the unnaturally cold weather lasting up until the end of May, people just haven't been buying many clothes. From a consumer perspective [...]

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Boden’s high summer drop – a try-on & midlife lately

By |2023-06-16T15:25:33+01:00June 9th, 2023|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

A Boden outfit try-on today and it's always the one that gives me a bit of a lump in my throat because we've arrived at the last of the high summer drops. After the June deliveries, retailers will be moving into sale and then season transition which brings more autumnal colours and a change of mood. Anyway let's not think about that until we have to, for now we've reached the apex of clothes for warm sunshine and amazingly [...]

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Geneva to Dijon road trip – what I wore and did

By |2023-06-02T17:13:57+01:00June 2nd, 2023|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Today I'm going to tell you about our little French adventure. As you know we took a few days off a couple of weeks ago to go and see the youngest who is living in Dijon, studying at l'Université de Bourgogne. Of all the French unis he could have chosen, he opted for the one that's the most difficult to get to from here and with the little bit of time we could carve out from work there were [...]

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Summer holiday outfit ideas – ageless style

By |2023-05-26T18:39:59+01:00May 26th, 2023|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Ah summer holiday time. Those of you who follow my Instagram account know that we had a very busy but very lovely few days in France last week. I'll tell you all about it when I've had time to go through the photos but today let's think about summer and what we might wear now that the days are softening and trips away are in sight. With different kinds of holidays in mind I'm looking at what John Lewis have [...]

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Summer outfits for different occasions

By |2023-05-13T13:18:45+01:00May 12th, 2023|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

Do we dare say it? Has the weather finally turned? This has been the coldest spring I can remember but last Saturday, after a morning of heavy rain, the sun suddenly appeared. And it was hot which was lucky because we needed to take photographs of Boden's latest summer drop while we were out and about and I'd been anticipating shivering in between the showers. At the moment we don't have a big summer holiday booked, work permitting we might [...]

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How I packed light for a week on Kenya’s coast

By |2023-04-28T16:45:16+01:00April 28th, 2023|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , |

My week has been completely railroaded by work projects I'm afraid. I had to go down to London and then over to Newcastle for meetings which means I haven't had time to put the cornucopia together that I wanted to do. I had two choices - I could either not post at all or show you the photos from our final week in Kenya. I'm hoping it might help you to get into the mood for sunnier days and times [...]

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Emerging brands run by midlife women – and a catch-up

By |2023-04-21T18:28:29+01:00April 21st, 2023|Categories: Hair & Beauty, Style, Work life balance|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Well hello! As promised it's a bit of a catch-up today and then I have a lovely cornucopia of emerging brands run by midlife women for you. With work and the boys coming home and the various bits of travelling we've been doing, 2023's felt a bit like a bobsleigh ride so far and I have all kinds of things I've been meaning to talk about here. I'm warning you now that this is quite a long one, in [...]

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A Spring 23 wardrobe capsule and try-on

By |2023-04-14T16:59:33+01:00April 14th, 2023|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Despite the arctic blasts that are ripping through the garden outside my window I'm full of the joys of Spring 23 again today, this time with a look at Boden. With sustainability in mind they have a focus on 'buy less and wear more' this season and they've pulled together a useful section on their site that they're calling Spring Uniform - an edit of everyday clothes that work together and are easy to wear repeatedly. It fits with the [...]

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Midlife lately – a January catch up

By |2023-01-27T10:59:23+00:00January 27th, 2023|Categories: Midlife, Style, Work life balance|Tags: , , , , , , |

I'm posting early because I have an exciting afternoon ahead - it's our NW reader meet-up and I'm so glad it's here to bring light into January. So how's your month going? Chilly isn't it? I think I'd rather have it this way than just damp and grey though. There's something special about this time of year when the earth seems to be sleeping until you look more closely and see the shoots starting to come through, signs that soon [...]

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Wishing you a cosy Christmas – 2022 over and out!

By |2023-01-12T13:30:58+00:00December 16th, 2022|Categories: Christmas, Midlife, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

So here we are with my final post of the year, wishing you a cosy Christmas. I don't know about you but we're limping towards it. We both came back from our week of work travel full of cold and I'm running on a single cylinder so I'm signing off earlier than planned. Before I go though, let's have one last catch-up. I confess photos haven't been on my mind so I've had to scrabble about to put this [...]

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Midlife lately – behind the scenes

By |2022-12-09T16:35:25+00:00December 9th, 2022|Categories: Christmas, Midlife, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Well I said I'd do a catch-up today and it shows how focused on Christmas prep I've been when I have photos and moments going all the way back to the end of October. As you know, I like this blog to be a reflection of a real midlife and while I've been busy getting everything ready for what will hopefully be a fun-filled Christmas, everyday stuff has been going on - as it always does. November, in particular, was [...]

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Great British Boltholes – a bijou hotel in North Yorkshire

By |2022-10-28T13:28:13+01:00October 28th, 2022|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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AW22 everyday edits – Boden

By |2022-10-27T19:12:50+01:00October 21st, 2022|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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Autumn midlife lately – time for a catch-up

By |2022-10-14T17:05:45+01:00October 14th, 2022|Categories: Family, Health, Midlife, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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Edging into A/W22 with White Stuff

By |2022-09-30T17:42:52+01:00September 30th, 2022|Categories: Product review, Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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Sandals Resorts for midlifers – a good holiday option?

By |2022-09-23T20:28:36+01:00September 23rd, 2022|Categories: Midlife, Relationships, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , |

And so I'm back from the unexpected gift that rounded off what has been a fabulous summer - a trip to St Lucia with the team from Sandals Resorts. When I left you at the end of my last post I was feeling both nervous and excited. I was delighted to have been invited but a bit surprised too because I've always seen Sandals Resorts as a honeymoon destination - so let me tell you how we found it. I [...]

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When your family moves on and expands – welcoming partners into the mix

By |2022-09-11T13:31:26+01:00September 11th, 2022|Categories: Family, Relationships, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Pre-script Since I wrote this we've travelled to St Lucia and on the flight over we heard the sad news that the Queen had died. It felt right not to publish this the following day but a few people have been in touch saying that they'd be grateful for a break in the sad news that surrounds them. So I hope I won't upset any of you by sending this live now. It's difficult being away and not feeling part [...]

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Holidaying with your adult children – a time of adjustment

By |2022-09-02T17:41:02+01:00September 2nd, 2022|Categories: Family, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Well how lovely it is to be chatting to you again. It's odd but life feels as though it slips through my fingers when I'm not blogging; time's tendrils gather round me and without being logged, the memories evanesce. So my next two posts will be an indulgence for me - I need to squirrel away our happy Kalkan times because the boys' lives are really moving on and I can't see us the five of us having the opportunity [...]

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City trips to London and Glasgow – what I did and wore

By |2022-08-05T15:04:09+01:00August 5th, 2022|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , |

We're in August already - the only problem with planning a summer to remember is that time goes really fast! I feel as if I'm on a bit of a one-legged hobble now, finally on the run-up to our holiday so it's a quick Midlife Lately today. I'm whizzing through my camera roll and not exactly jetsetting but last week I had city trips to London and Glasgow and now I'm in Newcastle but I'll save that for next week's [...]

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Love & marriage – the joy of a simple wedding

By |2022-07-29T18:25:27+01:00July 29th, 2022|Categories: Family, Project Happier, Relationships, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

This week and next for me are all about tinsel and baubles. It's officially my 30th year in retail and 'Christmas in July'... I've been doing this for a long time! Going in and out of Christmas events on hot London days does leave you somewhat confused - it's like the feeling you get when you wake up in a hotel somewhere exotic knowing that you'll end the day back in your own bed. However, as the boys would say, [...]

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Midlife Lately – Making summer weekends count

By |2022-07-21T15:01:20+01:00July 15th, 2022|Categories: Family, Relationships, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Well hello and a huge thank you for all of your comments last week - I think it's a record. Just as I was beginning to wonder if you'd stopped reading you astounded me. I usually reply to everybody individually but I have a lengthy corporate identity document to complete so instead I'm going to spend any spare blog time I have collating each comment into a report. I'll add 'noted' under each one so you know that your feedback [...]

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Summer cornucopia – outfits, travel & The Telegraph!

By |2022-08-01T12:21:36+01:00July 7th, 2022|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

I'm popping up on strange days again - I'm early this week because we have a family wedding tomorrow which is exciting and I think it might be slightly haphazard all summer but I'll get back into a regular routine when autumn comes. As you know, retail is in full sale so rather than a focused post, it's a summer cornucopia with outfits, travel & The Telegraph. So let's get going. Welcome to new readers I'm starting with something quite [...]

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Clothing to combat hot weather & midlife lately

By |2022-07-21T15:03:57+01:00June 17th, 2022|Categories: Family, Midlife, Project Happier, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

My goodness these weeks roll around quickly when the sun's out don't they? We have a lot going on on the domestic front at the moment and I'll tell you more about that at the end so it's a catch-up post today. I'm going to start with a run through of what I've been doing and wearing, move on to clothing to combat hot weather (I think you need it more desperately in the South than we do up here) [...]

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Looking good in summer – beauty tips and outfits

By |2022-06-01T16:10:18+01:00June 1st, 2022|Categories: Hair & Beauty, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , |

And so we have a big weekend ahead in the UK with a languorous four day break for the Queen's 70th Jubilee - whether you're a royalist or not it's hard not to admire her as a woman who's shown lifelong strength and dedication. Today's post isn't about the red, white and blue though, it's the last of my summer posts with John Lewis & Partners which always makes me feel a bit sad because next time I get together [...]

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What I’m wearing at home and abroad

By |2022-05-27T17:00:12+01:00May 27th, 2022|Categories: Family, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

As promised it's a catch up today with a bit of an outfit round-up. I know you've seen snippets of our short break in Lanzarote but I'll tell you a little more about that and then talk about what we did for my surprise birthday weekend. So without coming over all Foreign Office, today's post is all about what I'm wearing at home and abroad. There are a lot of pictures and I've tried to keep the writing as short [...]

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Ageless style – summer holiday looks and birthday thoughts

By |2022-05-13T18:11:03+01:00May 13th, 2022|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

We're back from our week in the sunshine and I'm so glad that we took the time while we could because we're heading into another busy few months of work. It continues to be an interesting time in retail as everyone tries to second guess the zeitgeist for AW22 - it's looking as though it's going to be a bumpy ride so I don't know about you but I'm determined to make the most of every moment as spring and [...]

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Easter style and beauty – dresses, trousers, tees and tools

By |2022-08-08T15:45:54+01:00April 14th, 2022|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Well hello and Happy Easter! Isn't it great to have a long weekend ahead? I haven't actually been looking forward to it because we had meetings booked in (retailers have no sympathy with Bank Holidays) but happily they've now been moved to next week so we have an unexpected break and an almost empty diary so we're just going to enjoy the last weekend of the boys being home. It's a bit of a mishmash today, I have some try-ons [...]

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A midlife catch-up – what I’ve been doing and wearing

By |2022-04-01T17:10:30+01:00April 1st, 2022|Categories: Exhibitions, Family, Midlife, Style, Work life balance|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

And here we are on 1st April which means we're a quarter of the way through the year already. I'm not bringing you the post about getting older that I was hoping to because I just haven't had time to do it properly. Instead, when I was looking back at my camera roll trying to make sense of the fact that the year's going so quickly I realised that there were lots of photos on there that I haven't even [...]

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SS22 wardrobe refreshes – defining your own style

By |2022-03-25T15:06:42+00:00March 18th, 2022|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

I've been dipping in and out of new season but I think it's time to declare that Spring's arrived. There are hosts of golden daffodils in the Lake District and over in Newcastle this week we've been watching the kittiwakes returning to nest at The Baltic. After two muted summers living under the shadow of Covid I'm looking forward to updating the outfits that I have in my wardrobe and being out and about again. So I thought now would [...]

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Edgar House review – a British bolthole for large groups

By |2022-03-11T17:20:48+00:00March 11th, 2022|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It's time for a catch-up and to log how much the world has changed (yet again) in such a short space of time. So before I move on to talking about a very special family weekend away, I want to acknowledge it. As you know, I write this blog as a form of diary so for the sake of record it's now two weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine sending Europe and the rest of the world into a state of [...]

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White Stuff review – a brand with renewed direction

By |2022-02-28T16:56:09+00:00February 28th, 2022|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Today I'm focusing on a brand I haven't covered before with a White Stuff review. I've had to think hard about why I've so rarely included their clothes on here and I think it's because for a very long time I haven't felt as if I'm their customer. However, a little while ago I was contacted by the new team there which I was thrilled to see now includes some great people I know who've moved over from other brands [...]

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The best jeans cuts for midlifers – SS22 denim try-on

By |2022-02-18T16:10:50+00:00February 18th, 2022|Categories: Style, Style Seminars|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Well as you may have guessed from the picture above, I have something a little different for you today - Mr MC is making his modelling debut on Midlifechic... for one post only. When John Lewis & Partners wondered out loud if we might do a his and hers jeans try-on I wasn't sure how he'd react but he was thrilled by the thought of being at the other side of the lens for a change. His only stipulation was [...]

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How to make necklines work for your body

By |2022-02-11T16:57:45+00:00February 11th, 2022|Categories: Style, Style Seminars|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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How to pack the right clothes for a weekend break

By |2022-01-28T14:23:08+00:00January 28th, 2022|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

And it's a back to normal post today with 'How to pack the right clothes for a weekend break'. But first I just want to thank everyone who commented on last week's post about spiking. I've read every one but I haven't replied because keeping on going over it isn't doing me any good. However I have a call scheduled with the Inquiry Manager for the Home Affairs Committee on Monday so I'm hoping to fight back and do what [...]

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So that was Christmas! Hello 2022…

By |2022-01-14T14:21:57+00:00January 14th, 2022|Categories: Christmas, Family, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

So that was Christmas! Hello 2022 - I'm wishing a rather belated Happy New Year to you. As you'll have gathered if you follow my Instagram account, our Christmas was lovely but not quite the one we expected because along with so many others, I went down with Covid. It meant that I took last week off to recoup some of my lost time with the boys before they went back - and to recover a bit. So there aren't [...]

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What I’ve been wearing and doing this week – pre-Christmas outfits

By |2021-12-15T17:13:19+00:00December 15th, 2021|Categories: Christmas, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

And hello - as promised a Wednesday post which throws things out a bit but life has been going at a gallop and it's the only time I can find to fit one in. Today all I have for you are snaps of what I've been wearing and doing this week - pre-Christmas outfits. Photos are never very good at this time of year when it barely seems to be light before it gets dark again, we've had miserable grey [...]

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Winter outfits as we build up to Christmas – women over 50

By |2021-12-03T18:34:23+00:00December 3rd, 2021|Categories: Christmas, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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A different way of dressing for Christmas 2021

By |2021-11-09T17:07:24+00:00November 9th, 2021|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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Midlife ups and downs – and what I’ve been wearing

By |2021-11-05T17:14:34+00:00November 5th, 2021|Categories: Family, Midlife, Relationships, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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Midlife Guide To Greek Island Hopping 3 – Mykonos

By |2021-10-29T15:55:19+01:00October 29th, 2021|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Midlife Guide To Greek Island Hopping 3 - Mykonos Today I have the final instalment of my Midlife Guide To Greek Island Hopping and I'm going to keep it as short as I can because I sense you've had enough of it all now. After six very laid-back days in Ios it was time to move on; the island was closing and anyway, we'd spent enough time there. We were feeling rested and ready for somewhere with a bit of [...]

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Outfit ideas & 5 minute make-up for women over 50

By |2021-10-26T17:05:57+01:00October 26th, 2021|Categories: Hair & Beauty, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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Midlife Guide To Greek Island Hopping 2 – Ios

By |2021-10-19T17:29:11+01:00October 19th, 2021|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Midlife Guide To Greek Island Hopping 2 - Ios As promised, here's the next instalment of our Greek Island hopping adventure, moving on to a very different spot, Ios. I have a mixed up week ahead because I have to go down to London for longer than originally planned so I won't have time to write a post on Friday. I thought I'd let you know now because lots of you tell me that you read my Friday night post [...]

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Trying on Boden’s latest AW21 collection

By |2021-10-17T19:08:00+01:00October 15th, 2021|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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Midlife guide to Greek Island Hopping Part 1 – Crete

By |2021-10-12T17:07:49+01:00October 12th, 2021|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , |

And, rather regretfully, we're back. What an incredibly reinvigorating time we've had Greek Island Hopping. I knew the work would have piled up for our return and so I wouldn't have much time to write about it but so many of you have asked for tips and information that I've been putting notes together as we've gone along. It means that this post might be a little less lyrical than I'd like it to be and I'll have to spilt [...]

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AW21 trends and easy ways to wear them

By |2021-09-10T16:59:54+01:00September 10th, 2021|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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What to wear for a wedding over 50 – and other outfits

By |2021-09-03T16:20:05+01:00September 3rd, 2021|Categories: Relationships, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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British City Staycation – Newcastle Part 2

By |2021-08-20T19:29:56+01:00August 20th, 2021|Categories: Midlife, Relationships, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Happy Friday! Although it already feels like an age ago, today I'm bringing you my British City Staycation - Newcastle Part 2. I left you last week as we were hit with the news of Mum-in-law's diagnosis and everyone in the family was reeling. I'm grateful to all of you who've sent advice and links to the various organisations you recommend. The doctors have told us that the most urgent thing for now is to get the LPAs in [...]

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British City Staycation – Newcastle Part 1

By |2021-08-13T16:24:51+01:00August 13th, 2021|Categories: Family, Midlife, Relationships, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Well hello, it's good to be back and talking to you after our two weeks away. I'm wondering how this post is going to work because a few of you will already have seen the photos on Instagram but of course there was no space on there to give you the full story behind them so I hope it will still be interesting for you. As you know after various holiday cancellations we decided to spend two weeks over at [...]

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Cornucopia – new discoveries and midlife lately

By |2021-07-16T17:16:34+01:00July 16th, 2021|Categories: Health, Midlife, Product review, Relationships, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , |

As we approached summer this year I thought it was going to feel like a long one. Without the rush of a big family holiday to prepare for I imagined it being languid, like the summers you read about in interwar novels where people spent long, limpid days at home in the shade with a book. And of course it isn't turning out that way at all, it still feels as though time's rushing by and weeks are eaten up [...]

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Midlife lately – Covid finally hits us

By |2021-07-09T13:35:36+01:00July 9th, 2021|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Midlife lately - Covid finally hits us I feel as though I've been holding my breath over the last few posts. Covid finally reached our doorstep and I felt incredibly superstitious about mentioning it until I knew we were all through to the other side. So that's the reason behind the lack of 'midlife lately' recently - you see I've found that whenever I say what a lovely summer we're having up here it starts to rain so I was [...]

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Recent midlife summer outfits – what I’ve been wearing

By |2021-06-22T17:33:55+01:00June 22nd, 2021|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

I've found time for an extra post this week, just a quick one because when I did a real life outfits post a couple of weeks ago a lot of you asked for more of them so I've been trying to remember to take quick outfit shots as we've gone along. My phone's filling up so let's have a catch up with some recent midlife summer outfits - what I've been wearing and doing. Midlife summer outfits - a trip [...]

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Summer staycation in Newcastle – trying our new life for size

By |2021-06-11T14:21:51+01:00June 11th, 2021|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Well I have a funny old post for you today, you see I was hoping to show you the pictures of our completed apartment but at the very last minute there was a delay on the curtains which means we're having to go over again tonight to finish things off. As you can imagine this week's been a busy one catching up with work and I haven't had time to come up with any other ideas so I'm just going [...]

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Summer outfit building blocks & midlife lately

By |2021-05-21T15:33:48+01:00May 21st, 2021|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

It's that cruel point in the season when the sun's barely started shining and yet it's time to start wrapping up wardrobe posts about Summer drops. Already the new season previews are starting and I find myself peeping reluctantly through my fingers at Autumn clothes. This is the last of my SS21 posts with Boden and I've been thinking hard about how to approach it because I'd usually be talking about packing for Summer holidays with wafty beach dresses and [...]

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Cornucopia: style, menopause, hot sauce & books!

By |2021-05-11T16:56:46+01:00May 11th, 2021|Categories: Midlife, Product review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Style, menopause, hot sauce & books - how's that for a lead in?! A surprise mini post today because there are a few things I've been meaning to mention and one in particular that I need to flag before Friday. I do like posting on a Tuesday again though - even if it's just a quick 'hello' it helps me to feel as though life's getting back to normal which it is in a way. I had my second jab [...]

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New season try-ons – Bank Holiday Bumper Post!

By |2021-04-30T18:14:54+01:00April 30th, 2021|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

And hurray for a Bank Holiday weekend in the UK, don't you just love this time of year? It has to be said that if any month deserves not one but two Bank Holidays it's May so I hope you have plans that include at least one pop of joy. We're currently over in Newcastle starting to bring our ideas to life. As you know all we've done so far is paint the whole place white, not because that's the [...]

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What I’ve been wearing as we emerge from lockdown

By |2021-04-23T15:48:03+01:00April 23rd, 2021|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It's one of those 'conversations with a friend' posts today because I had a panicky text from one who'd been told rather suddenly that her office is going to reopen for three days a week and she was dumbfounded. "It's going to mean going to bed and getting up at regular times again... and setting an alarm... and packing lunch... and getting dressed - I know you've been getting dressed all through this so tell me what to wear?!" Well [...]

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March cornucopia & what to wear for outdoor meet-ups

By |2021-03-26T16:13:00+00:00March 26th, 2021|Categories: Hair & Beauty, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

It's time for a March cornucopia because there are a few things I've been meaning to mention. Let's start with clothes because change is afoot in the UK with groups of six being allowed to meet outside from Monday - and of course this will soon be followed by pubs opening their outdoor seating areas on 12th April so we need to think about what to wear for outdoor meet-ups. This week I've noticed that lots of pubs are busy [...]

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Cornucopia – new outfits, food and Midlife Lately

By |2021-02-27T17:02:49+00:00February 26th, 2021|Categories: Family, Relationships, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Well hello, how are you? Feeling buoyed by Boris's roadmap or not? I've noticed that this week has been an emotional one for a lot of people. Everyone I've spoken to seems to be swinging between elation at having a hairdresser's appointment in the diary and despair at still having weeks of limbo ahead. I feel the same and I'll have a go at encapsulating it in Midlife Lately at the end of this post because I'll be fascinated to [...]

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7 years of Midlifechic – looking back – and ahead

By |2021-02-05T16:46:00+00:00February 5th, 2021|Categories: Midlife, Project Happier, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

And here we are in February, a month I like because it takes us swiftly out of winter and into the beginning of spring. It's a month of love in our house because not only do we have Valentine's Day but also our wedding anniversary. First though comes Midlifechic's birthday. Yesterday this little blog of mine reached the grand old age of seven and of course in the context of the lives that we've lived, that doesn't seem very old. [...]

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Lockdown hair, beauty, outfits and midlife lately

By |2021-01-29T16:59:30+00:00January 29th, 2021|Categories: Hair & Beauty, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Here we are at the end of January, we've made it through the year's darkest month so I think this weekend should feel like a small celebration of some kind. A glass of wine... a bar of chocolate... a new lipstick... a jumper in a spring colour, there's definitely a reason for a little treat. The buzzword for it would be 'self care' but I hate that so I'm just going to call it a personal reward for keeping on [...]

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Winter cornucopia and what I’ve been wearing

By |2021-01-22T17:05:02+00:00January 22nd, 2021|Categories: Hair & Beauty, Health, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Happy Friday everyone, that's the most difficult week of January over with and even I have to confess that I've found it trying. It began with Blue Monday and then we were battered by Storm Christoph - I'm hoping that none of you are in the worst hit areas, extreme weather really isn't what we need at the moment. Once again today's post is a mix of things that have caught my eye or sprung to mind while I've been [...]

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Goodbye 2020 and hello lockdown 3.0

By |2021-01-08T16:20:06+00:00January 8th, 2021|Categories: Family, Midlife, Project Happier, Relationships|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Well hello! How are you? I hope your 2020 ended with a Christmas that meant something to you, even if it was a bit different - and that you feel in some way restored. Hitting a new year in a state of extreme lockdown wasn't what any of us were hoping for but we'll get through it together. Today I'm going to do a quick Christmas recap for my memory bank and then I'll share the way that I'm going [...]

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‘Twas the week before Christmas – what I wore and a festive appeal

By |2020-12-16T09:54:58+00:00December 15th, 2020|Categories: Christmas, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Well how are you? Full of beans and ready for the Christmas break or limping and just desperate to get there? I confess that I'm in the latter camp. I woke up yesterday wondering what on earth was wrong with me because I felt as though every last ounce of energy had left my body. I had a flu jab on Saturday so at first I thought it must be that but then I mentioned how I was feeling in [...]

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Midlife lately and what I wore in November

By |2020-12-04T21:16:24+00:00December 4th, 2020|Categories: Christmas, Midlife, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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A Baukjen AW20 try-on – and new bags

By |2020-10-23T17:04:12+01:00October 23rd, 2020|Categories: Accessories, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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Retail update – small British brands – and à bientôt…

By |2020-08-07T11:30:28+01:00August 7th, 2020|Categories: Hair & Beauty, Retail Review, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Retail update - small British brands - and à bientôt... I'm typing with my fingers crossed because if everything goes to plan, we'll be setting off on our holiday tonight. Preparing to go has been challenging because all kinds of things have kept changing. This has included our usual petsitters being offered a holiday that was too good to resist on the same dates as ours which wasn't a problem until we realised the cats' inoculations had run out and [...]

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Staycationing in London and Newcastle post Covid 19

By |2020-07-24T18:50:10+01:00July 24th, 2020|Categories: Family, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Hello, how are you... it's been a while. As you know I've been away from my desk for the last week staycationing in London and Newcastle which means today's post is going to be a catch-up (and it's a bit of a long one so pour yourself a drink). So what was it like to go away just as the lockdown began to lift? Staycationing in London post Covid 19 London Thursday We started our journey on a very quiet [...]

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Slowly moving out of lockdown, summer 2020

By |2020-07-10T19:41:21+01:00July 10th, 2020|Categories: Family, Project Happier, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Hello everyone. Well another week has gone by, the first one of relative freedom and it was interesting to read how some of you were slowly moving out of lockdown in the comments after my last post. As so many people said, it's clear that everybody has a different attitude to risk and the good thing is that so far, most people seem to be able to live alongside each other without judging. Mr MC and I are finding that [...]

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Making summer plans (at last) and recent outfits

By |2020-07-03T17:09:20+01:00July 3rd, 2020|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , |

This new schedule of only posting once a week is going to take some getting used to but it's nice to be back. It's going to be a bit of a cornucopia today because there hasn't been much going on here other than work which has mostly revolved around planning and strategy meetings and I can tell you, they've never been harder than they are after more than 100 days of lockdown and counting. However we are, at last, making [...]

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What I’ve been wearing and learning the lessons of lockdown

By |2020-06-23T16:29:38+01:00June 23rd, 2020|Categories: Project Happier, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Well (and I say this cautiously) it's starting to feel as though we're coming through to the other side of the great coronavirus lockdown. I hope you've had a good weekend and that you've managed to start meeting some of the people you've missed so much. We've caught up with a few friends and clients now (although the weather hasn't been great here so some conversations have suddenly been cut short by torrential downpours) even so, it's felt good to [...]

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The zeitgeist and what to wear for the weekend

By |2020-06-12T16:43:09+01:00June 12th, 2020|Categories: Midlife, Relationships, Style|Tags: , , , , , , |

The zeitgeist and what to wear for the weekend Has anyone else found this week to be a tough one? For me it's been by far the most challenging of lockdown, not for any particular reason other than the new monotony. As I've said before I've realised how much I rely on forward goals to keep me going and with the endless uncertainty that seems to surround us in the UK in particular, it's still impossible to implement any. Of [...]

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Women over 40 tell me – how is it for you? And a catch up.

By |2020-06-10T13:24:00+01:00June 9th, 2020|Categories: Family, Health, Style, Surveys|Tags: , , , , , , |

Hello and happy Tuesday everyone. I'm back after a couple of days off last week when as you might remember, Mr MC and I intended to make a plan for the next few months. We wanted to focus mostly on our business but of course like most people's, our work and life is so closely interwoven that we needed to consider everything else as well. So, we sat down with coffee and notepads and after some drumming of fingers we [...]

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Midlife lately and SS20 at home outfit ideas

By |2020-05-27T16:51:17+01:00May 27th, 2020|Categories: Family, Midlife, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Hello, I'm out of sync at the moment because I had two days off for my birthday last week and then tunnelled into the Bank Holiday. It means I'm behind with the comments (and everything else) but I'll crack on with them after this. First of all though, a catch-up, starting with midlife lately and then I'll move on to some SS20 at home outfit ideas because a few new drops have landed this week and they'll be the last [...]

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Quarantine – as the days roll on – Coronavirus 2020

By |2020-05-12T16:45:42+01:00May 12th, 2020|Categories: Family, Project Happier, Relationships, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Quarantine - as the days roll on - Coronavirus 2020 How are you getting on? I have to admit that today is the first day when I've felt a bit fed up of all of this so I'm glad it's a blogging day. With the possibility that somebody has happened upon this post few years on from now, let me just apply some context. We're now in the eighth week of quarantine and in Boris Johnson's broadcast on Sunday evening [...]

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Lockdown week 5 & a prize for kindness

By |2020-05-01T15:52:55+01:00May 1st, 2020|Categories: Accessories, Project Happier, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Lockdown week 5 Well, here we are at the start of a shiny new month, probably not as far along as we thought we would be when when we turned from March to April but it feels like progress nevertheless. May is my favourite month of the year and of course that could just be because it's my birthday month and so it always feels as though it's brimming with promise but even so, I still believe it's the most [...]

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Midlife lately – quarantine days and nights

By |2020-04-21T15:11:30+01:00April 21st, 2020|Categories: Family, Midlife, Project Happier|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Hello everyone, I'm back from my 'week off.' I hope you've all been settling into this new way of living, I thought we'd have a quick Midlife lately quarantine catch up today and then perhaps go on to look at some clothes on Friday. As this spell of good weather continues (she says, touching wood), I'm starting to think about a wardrobe for a summer that is largely, if not completely, going to be spent at home. Before that though [...]

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Midlife in the time of coronavirus – more diaries

By |2020-04-10T12:54:44+01:00April 10th, 2020|Categories: Family, Project Happier, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

We're coming to the end of the third week of lockdown and so I thought I'd do another simple diary. As readers you will of course know what it's like to go shopping at the moment but I'm recording it here for legacy purposes. I hope that soon we'll be looking back with disbelief and I don't want to forget how extraordinary this time was. So today do please add in the comments anything that's struck you as you've tried [...]

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My capsule wardrobe for the week – smart casual

By |2020-04-09T15:39:48+01:00April 7th, 2020|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

I thought we'd take a break from discussing the virus today and settle back into our happy zone of what to wear. I'm keeping it relevant because this is a personal project. On Sunday I sat down as usual to think about the week ahead and with no complex projects ahead, it struck me that this is an opportunity for a quasi-clinical test on the smart casual element of my wardrobe. So I set myself a test to build a [...]

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Lockdown outfits – keeping spirits high

By |2020-04-03T12:13:41+01:00March 31st, 2020|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Hello everyone - are you still hanging on in there? I'm delighted to be bringing you some lockdown outfits today because I'm determined we'll stay chic, even if we're all at home. I'd like to say a huge thank you to Boden who are working with me today and are the only large brand to have honoured their commitment. Occasional posts like this will enable me to keep Midlifechic going so if you want this blog to survive they're a [...]

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Supporting small brands through difficult times

By |2020-03-24T17:05:30+00:00March 24th, 2020|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , |

Supporting small brands through difficult times Every time I start a post the world seems a little stranger and today I feel as though I'm broadcasting from a bunker. It's a concept that's quite vivid in my imagination because I've always been a bit of a living history geek. When I was at Selfridges I seemed to be the only person other than the archivist who was interested in the store's story. Sensing a kindred spirit he used to allow [...]

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A casual midlife lately – winter draws to a close

By |2020-03-03T16:35:26+00:00March 3rd, 2020|Categories: Midlife, Style|Tags: , , , , , , |

A casual midlife lately Hello, it's time for a quick catch up I think with a casual midlife lately. Wasn't February grim? It really seemed to drag, I think everyone in the UK is feeling battered by the weather. We usually go away for our wedding anniversary early in the month and I really missed it - thank goodness it's March. We're surrounded by signs of spring up here - the daffodils are out, there are lambs in the fields [...]

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What I’ve been wearing and doing in February

By |2020-02-11T16:40:03+00:00February 11th, 2020|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

What I've been wearing and doing in February Hello, I hope you're sitting somewhere warm away from the storm - crazy out there isn't it? I'm still busy poring through the survey results - it takes quite a while to read through 3000 sets of comments but as I said last week, it's fascinating. One of the most common requests that's coming up is for more general outfit shots of what I've been wearing when I've been doing everyday things [...]

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What I wear in January, outfit ideas women over 40

By |2020-01-22T15:58:26+00:00January 21st, 2020|Categories: Midlife, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

What I wear in January, outfit ideas women over 40 Today's post is the first of a new series that I'm aiming to include every month featuring a compilation of outfits that I've been wearing for work and weekends. These posts will show you what I wear day in, day out and they should contrast nicely with the new season try-ons that I do with some of our favourite high street brands. I'm not going to patronise you by saying [...]

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What I’ve been wearing – for work, rest and play

By |2019-12-03T16:38:49+00:00December 3rd, 2019|Categories: Christmas, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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A Midlifechic reader weekend at The D’Azur

By |2019-10-25T17:23:50+01:00October 25th, 2019|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

And so my first proper get together with readers finally happened last weekend in the particularly glamorous surroundings of the French Riviera. A lot of new readers have joined us recently so I'm just going to backtrack a little to explain how it all came about. Earlier this year, friends in London introduced us to Darryll and Bettina and they invited both us and the boys to stay with them at The D'Azur, their villa in the South of France. [...]

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What’s going on at hush and an AW19 try-on

By |2019-10-22T16:24:26+01:00October 22nd, 2019|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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Ordinary outfits for an ordinary working week – season transition

By |2019-09-24T16:50:34+01:00September 24th, 2019|Categories: Style, Work life balance|Tags: , , , , , |

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 [...]

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Family holidays with teens – Turkey 2019 #1

By |2019-08-09T21:24:05+01:00August 9th, 2019|Categories: Family, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , |

Well hello... it's been a while so I hope you're still there. We're back from the longest of our summer trips this year which was a fortnight in Kalkan on Turkey's Turquoise Coast. As you know it's the place where we find we can completely switch off. We first went there in 2000 when the eldest was just a toddler so we've seen it change over the years. This time I have to say it was very, very busy. Kalkan [...]

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Best nude lingerie for summer – tried and tested

By |2019-07-14T16:48:10+01:00July 12th, 2019|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , |

It's another reader request today - can you tell I'm ticking off my to-do list before we go away? A few people have mentioned the difficulty of finding truly invisible lingerie to wear under things like white linen trousers and low backed dresses in the summer, especially since I featured the halternecks I wore for our French trip. So, over the last few weeks I've been calling in samples to test and I've come up with my pick of the [...]

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Summer sales – great buys and midlife lately

By |2019-06-28T16:45:32+01:00June 28th, 2019|Categories: Accessories, Sale, Style|Tags: , , , , , , |

Just a quick post today because I can't imagine many of you will be reading when there's glorious sunshine outside. Anyway, we're back from France and I'll tell you all about it and how the packing capsule worked out next week. In the meantime I'm whizzing through some 'summer sales - great buys' and I'll end with good news in a quick midlife lately roundup. Summer sales - great buys It's hard to think of anything other than t-shirts at [...]

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The Lake District with teenagers: The Swan Hotel & Nests

By |2019-06-20T17:13:10+01:00June 20th, 2019|Categories: Family, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , |

After months of toil and tension, the exams have ended and this week our summer of last hurrahs began with the first of the trips you saw me planning - a few days in the Lake District with teenagers. We were invited to stay at The Swan Hotel and Spa at Newby Bridge which is in my favourite part of the Lakes, the Western Peninsula. The Swan has always been one of my top five hotels in the Lakes but [...]

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An easy wardrobe solution for a wet summer

By |2019-07-14T16:43:40+01:00June 11th, 2019|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , |

It's a quick one today because it's one of those days when work has to come before pleasure. This post was prompted by a distress call from an old schoolfriend. She defected to the south years ago and messaged me last week because of the rain. You see she's been away so long that she's forgotten how to dress for a summer that doesn't turn out as expected. She needed a wardrobe solution for a wet summer; her words were [...]

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Here, there and everywhere – a week of Midlifechic!

By |2019-05-03T16:33:47+01:00May 3rd, 2019|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

It's been a hectic week - I really wanted to bring you a nice shopping post for the Bank Holiday weekend but I just haven't had time to put it together so I'm going to whizz through what I've been doing instead. After this weekend I'm refusing to move from my desk for a while so next week I'll be going into full summer wardrobe planning mode with holiday packing posts, summer workwear and all kinds of other things in [...]

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Spring sunshine outfits & new retail offers

By |2019-07-14T16:20:54+01:00April 26th, 2019|Categories: Sale, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

It's just struck me that we're almost at the end of April - the late Easter this year has confused my body clock. It means of course that we're in a retail hiatus because the big summer drops usually arrive in the first week of May. So, there are some good retail offers as they clear stock to make space for the new arrivals. I'll cover those later in the post but first, a round-up of spring sunshine outfits from [...]

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Outfits of the day and more thoughts about mothering

By |2019-03-29T17:28:40+00:00March 29th, 2019|Categories: Family, Midlife, Project Happier, Relationships, Style|Tags: , , , , , |

Well here we are on 'Brexit Day' at the end of what must have been one of the craziest weeks in British history. Our business is feeling the impact. We work with a number of Sci-Tech businesses that are being badly hit by the loss of European funding, the stalling of potential global funding and the inability to get innovations passed in the absence of a governing system. As a result, some people we know are facing the loss of [...]

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Early spring outfits of the day – what I’ve been wearing

By |2019-03-08T09:50:30+00:00March 8th, 2019|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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A cornucopia: clothes, food, beauty, thoughts and good news!

By |2019-02-28T16:59:21+00:00February 28th, 2019|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

I know I don't usually post on a Thursday but my schedule's a bit topsy turvy at the moment. I have some heavy marketing projects that are keeping me busy and given that we're running a business in the shadow of Brexit (or are we?) I'm not complaining! I'm also halfway through reading all of the feedback to the reader survey so in addition to feeling buoyed by lots of heart-lifting comments (thank you so much), I have some conflicting [...]

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Marks and Spencer trying-on session – Spring 2019

By |2019-02-26T16:30:10+00:00February 26th, 2019|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

The sun is shining, in fact the tabloids are calling it the Moroccan Melt so to everyone who asked me to bring the weather back with me from Marrakech, you're welcome! It means that for once, the new Spring collections that are arriving feel timely. It's usually hard to imagine spring in February but this week retail sales have been booming as everyone casts off their winter layers. I'm sure we'll have another stretch of jumpers and boots next week [...]

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A return to Marrakech – what I packed (and what we did)

By |2019-03-27T11:16:30+00:00February 15th, 2019|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Let me take you to Marrakech for a blast of warmth and downtime... it's a long post but there's a lot to say. As you know, for the Christmas before last Mr MC gave me a jar of money and a promise of time away together in 2018. We'd hoped to go somewhere in October but with the sad news of his brother, it wasn't to be. And so we made a plan to head off for our wedding anniversary in [...]

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Pop of colour outfit updates to take you through to spring

By |2019-02-01T17:05:36+00:00February 1st, 2019|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Well after a month's abstinence I think it's time to have a look at the shops again and it's so cold that my mind's on jumpers (many jumpers - our heating's packed in!). I'm looking at 'pop of colour outfit updates' so let's have a think about them from a capsule perspective. I don't know about you but my body temperature has changed in midlife. Thanks to my HRT I don't have hot flushes but I definitely find myself getting [...]

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New year, new plans at Midlifechic – Happy 2019!

By |2019-01-08T16:40:51+00:00January 8th, 2019|Categories: Christmas, Family|Tags: , , , , , , |

Well hello and a very Happy New Year to you. I feel as though I've been away for ages which is good but I've missed blogging and it was lovely to hear from a few of you who emailed last week to say that you were missing the posts. Let's catch up with a quick look back at Christmas and then a focus on new year, new plans at Midlifechic. You may remember that my last post on Friday 21st [...]

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Christmas outfits – what I’ve been wearing and doing this week

By |2018-12-14T17:20:22+00:00December 14th, 2018|Categories: Christmas, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

It's a quick post from me today because as always when we're approaching a break, I have a desk full of projects that have suddenly come in. One of them is particularly interesting and so I foolishly put my hand up for it. It's a timeline covering 1000 years of history and I've really enjoyed researching it but as a woman of many words, I'm finding it almost impossible to condense it down into a few soundbites. There are just [...]

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Midlife Lately – what I’ve been doing, wearing and thinking

By |2018-12-07T17:52:15+00:00December 7th, 2018|Categories: Christmas, Family, Midlife, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It's been a while hasn't it and some of you have written in to ask why I haven't been doing Midlife Lately. The thing is that for me, this is not a job. As I've always said, I started Midlifechic primarily as a personal journal so that I could leave a record that my future great grandchildren might read. I was inspired to start writing after reading through boxes of family letters that I discovered after my mum died. For [...]

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Small British brands run by women like us

By |2018-11-07T09:28:56+00:00November 4th, 2018|Categories: Accessories, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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Midlife lately and amazing women over 50

By |2018-10-23T17:18:21+01:00October 23rd, 2018|Categories: Midlife, Project Happier, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Ok, I promised we'd have a catch up and I have so much to tell you - October has been a blur but let's start where I left you last time, just before the funeral. Newcastle It was, as you can imagine, heartbreaking. When you're inside a family, you never really see the impact that your relative has beyond your immediate enclave until something like this happens. As we arrived at the crematorium, we were overwhelmed by the sheer size [...]

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What I’ve been wearing and a midlife lately catch up

By |2018-09-18T17:00:15+01:00September 18th, 2018|Categories: Family, Midlife, Relationships, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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A weekend at Thoresby Hall, what we did (and what I wore)

By |2018-07-31T15:06:45+01:00July 31st, 2018|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , |

So you may remember that a few weekends ago I mentioned that Mr MC and I were heading off for a couple of nights on our own. We'd been invited by Warner Hotels to spend a weekend at Thoresby Hall and it was a real treat. As you know, I've been travelling up and down to London a lot recently and so we've haven't seen much of each other. At times like these we fall back on the well oiled [...]

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Midlife and the turning of the generations – plus what I’ve been wearing

By |2018-06-26T18:39:50+01:00June 26th, 2018|Categories: Family, Midlife, Project Happier, Relationships, Style|Tags: , , , , , , |

And so the world of style blogging is hitting its summer lull. As the sales are in full swing and the storybook sunshine goes on, I can feel my mind turning away from its usual fascination with retail towards the things that matter more. I'm very aware that for our family, this will be our last calm summer for a while. We have no important exam results to anticipate and when autumn comes, our status quo will continue with everyone [...]

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Summer t-shirts, skincare and a garden party

By |2018-06-08T17:10:20+01:00June 8th, 2018|Categories: Hair & Beauty, Interiors, Style|Tags: , , , , |

I realise that Wednesday's post was a long one so I won't take up too much of your time today. As the sun keeps shining down on us (I'm typing with my fingers crossed), I've actually got over my usual mania for madly wearing dresses before the clouds come back. This week I've found myself veering towards summer t-shirts, worn with shorts if I'm working from home and wide crops or a skirt if I'm in the office. Now this [...]

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City break with teenagers – 4 days in Valencia

By |2018-06-06T17:29:13+01:00June 6th, 2018|Categories: Family, Midlife, Project Happier, Relationships, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Hello, I'm back. My schedule is still slightly disrupted but it's good to be blogging again. Let me tell you all about our trip to Valencia which turned out to be very simple and very relaxed - just what we all needed. This is one of those posts that is a bit of a personal journal as well as a midlife style blog. As you know, one of the reasons I write is for any future great, great grandchildren of [...]

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A capsule summer city wardrobe, what I’ve been wearing and a blogger sale

By |2018-05-11T17:20:39+01:00May 11th, 2018|Categories: Sale, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I have a few different things to talk to you about today. Firstly a capsule summer city wardrobe challenge - can I create a chic wardrobe for a month in just fifteen pieces? Then a few outfits of the day and finally, full details of the blogger sale that will open on Sunday morning 13th May at 11am (British Summer Time). Please read the details carefully to avoid any misunderstanding or disappointment. Capsule summer city wardrobe challenge I get all [...]

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Summer 2018 at Hush and Uniqlo – a Midlifechic edit

By |2018-05-01T14:26:28+01:00May 1st, 2018|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

I have a big project on at work so it's a speedy post from me today but I just wanted to bring you an edit of some of the 'new-ins' now that it looks as though spring is finally arriving. Let's look at Summer 2018 at Hush and Uniqlo. Hush Summer 2018 Hush have launched their summer collection today. As always, they have included loose, flowing pieces that can be tricky to style. However they are balanced by figure defining [...]

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Working in London – what to wear & The UK Blog Awards 2018

By |2018-04-26T12:17:21+01:00April 24th, 2018|Categories: Hair & Beauty, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Hello, it's good to be back - I feel as though I haven't blogged for ages so I'm going to make up for it with a long post. As you know, I spent a few days in London last week so I thought I'd do a "working in London - what to wear" post and of course tell you all about the UK Blog Awards 2018. By the way none of this trip is sponsored but I'm going to add [...]

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 2

An update on 2018 spectacle trends and the new range from Kylie

By |2018-04-22T16:30:31+01:00April 22nd, 2018|Categories: Accessories, Midlife, Style, Work life balance|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

As you know, I've had an ongoing relationship with Specsavers since last summer. They're a brand that I particularly like to support because of all of the quiet behind the scenes work that they do, giving back to both their local communities and the anti-bullying charity Kidscape which I discussed in my post about their fundraising awards. This season they have asked me to look at two of their spectacle ranges in more depth. The Twiggy for Aurora collection which [...]

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 0

Indigo jeans try-on and what I’ve been wearing

By |2018-04-13T17:33:12+01:00April 13th, 2018|Categories: Family, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Well first of all let me start by thanking you for the overwhelming response to the survey on Tuesday. I've switched it off now because there were many more replies than I expected and it was getting expensive but it was worth every penny. I'm currently going through all of the data and comment fields. I will get back to you on some of the points that popped up repeatedly over the next few weeks and I'll answer the first [...]

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 1

A great weekend break and the new drop at Hush

By |2018-03-27T10:40:31+01:00March 27th, 2018|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Hello, before I go on I must thank you for all of the fascinating feedback on my last post - it's been interesting to hear so many different thoughts about Boden. I will be replying but I'm having a crazy week (again) so please do bear with me. In the meantime, we've just had such a great weekend break that I thought I'd share it with you. Plus there's a new drop arriving at Hush today so I've shortlisted some [...]

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 2

Reasons to be cheerful and more outfits of the week

By |2018-03-16T17:01:25+00:00March 16th, 2018|Categories: Project Happier, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

I confess that as we head into another weekend with a forecast of bitter weather, I'm beginning to feel at a bit of a loss as to what to write about. It seems that we're living in Narnia's perpetual winter. Spring has completely stalled up here, the birds are quiet, buds are barely showing on the trees and the skies are many shades of grey. Even I don't feel like shopping when every day is just another jumper day. So [...]

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 0

What I’ve been wearing… and how I carved out a whole extra day in my week

By |2018-03-09T17:48:19+00:00March 9th, 2018|Categories: Project Happier, Style, Work life balance|Tags: , , , , , , , |

I've had a great week and it's all thanks to you and the very first post that I wrote this year when I was looking for a better way to manage 2018. If you remember, I was feeling as though I was being pulled in too many different directions and not doing anything well. Since then I've been spring cleaning my life whilst incorporating some of the tips you shared and at last I'm starting to see the difference. Lots [...]

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 8

Thoughts on Mother’s Day as your children grow older

By |2018-03-08T13:39:43+00:00March 6th, 2018|Categories: Family, Project Happier, Relationships, Shoes, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

(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 [...]

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 3

11 spring pick-me-ups: brightening the dark days

By |2018-03-02T16:37:42+00:00March 2nd, 2018|Categories: Gift ideas, Interiors, Shoes, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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 14

Spotlight on Inès de La Fressange at Uniqlo SS18 – EXCLUSIVE

By |2018-02-15T08:42:52+00:00February 15th, 2018|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , |

At last it feels as though Spring is really on its way. As always it's heralded by one of my favourite posts of the season - Inès de La Fressange at Uniqlo SS18. We've been given an exclusive preview again. Before I show you the clothes, remember that with this collection you have to be quick. The online allocation tends to sell out by midday. Just because something is in your basket doesn't mean it's yours. If someone else checks [...]

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 6

Midlife adventures – The Ice Hotel Transylvania review

By |2018-02-13T17:31:19+00:00February 13th, 2018|Categories: Project Happier, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

I've finally managed to plough through the hundreds (yes honestly) of photos we took on our midlife adventure in Transylvania. There's just so much to show you that even after some serious culling there are a lot of them. So I'm going to try to make sure this Ice Hotel Transylvania review isn't too wordy. Join us virtually through the pictures... and even the occasional video. Before I start though, I just want to say that I have two pieces of fashion [...]

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 4

A week of winter outfits for women over 40

By |2018-01-26T13:02:14+00:00January 26th, 2018|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , |

It's been a busy week so it's a quick dose of real life today. I've remembered to get someone to take a quick shot each day so here's a week of winter outfits for women over 40. Winter outfits for women over 40 Library Sunday We're starting last Sunday with me in my happy zone - I had to go analogue for some research I was doing. It may be a nerdy thing to admit but I love it when Google doesn't [...]

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 16

January casual wardrobe updates – new in

By |2018-01-19T17:25:52+00:00January 19th, 2018|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

To celebrate the end of what is allegedly the most miserable week of the year, I thought we'd indulge in a spot of retail therapy with some January casual wardrobe updates. Before we do, I just wanted to say thank you for all of your kind and very touching words after my last post. It was a difficult one to write because I just don't know how many people read my blog locally and I don't want to make anyone [...]

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 17

Midlife lately – winter outfits and events

By |2018-01-09T16:45:58+00:00January 9th, 2018|Categories: Christmas, Family, Midlife, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

We have some catching up to do. Forgive me for the fact that this includes Christmas, luckily there aren't many sequins because we did most of our partying earlier in the month. When I left you in 2017, it was the eldest's 21st birthday and he was due to arrive home from London late that night. So, we're picking the story up as we arrived at the railway station to meet him. The 21st birthday Poor boy, I don't think [...]

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 17

Winter sale edit and a Christmassy Midlife lately

By |2018-01-08T16:38:15+00:00December 19th, 2017|Categories: Christmas, Project Happier, Sale, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

T'was the week before Christmas... and I looked at my diary only to realise that I have blithely arranged for an awful lot of festive gatherings to take place... all through our house. I'm not quite sure how that happened but I have some serious food prepping to do. So, as I will shortly be mutating from Midlifechic to Midlifechef, my last post will have to be a quick one. I'm starting with a quick winter sale edit because if [...]

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 14

Winter outfits of the day – what I’ve been wearing in November

By |2017-12-05T09:34:14+00:00December 1st, 2017|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , |

So today I thought we'd take a break from Christmas because I have a few random winter outfits of the day that have been sitting on my desktop. There is no particular theme or order, they're just things I've been wearing for work and weekends. Before I start though, some of you may be aware of questions that have been raised recently on various forums (can't help thinking the plural should be fora) and social media channels about bloggers and [...]

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 42

Relaxed Christmas Party Outfit Ideas – women over 40

By |2017-11-24T06:12:47+00:00November 17th, 2017|Categories: Accessories, Christmas, Shoes, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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 10

Hush Christmas Edit – join me for a virtual evening at John Lewis

By |2018-01-08T16:46:57+00:00November 10th, 2017|Categories: Christmas, Product review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Hush Christmas Edit. Christmas started for me with a bang this week when I went to do a talk for Hush at the “My John Lewis” shopping evening on Wednesday. My brief was to pull out my favourite Hush pieces and discuss them. So, I took lots of lovely ladies through five specific capsules that I’d created for days that are likely to crop up in our Christmas calendar. At the end so many of them came to tell me that they'd [...]

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 17

Marrakech in 3 days with teenagers

By |2017-11-22T12:15:16+00:00November 7th, 2017|Categories: Family, Project Happier, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Marrakech in 3 days with teenagers. Before we dive fully into Christmas madness, I thought you might like to join me for a few days of sunshine. As you know, we had a little trip to Marrakech last week. It was a plan that we came up with back in the spring when we realised that my 50th birthday was going to be somewhat subdued because it fell, as it has done all of my life, in exam season. Why [...]

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 40

Autumn 2017 coats – the styles you need

By |2018-01-08T16:50:09+00:00October 20th, 2017|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Autumn 2017 coats. In my last post I mentioned that longer length coats were more prominent this season. However coats are an investment and I had a couple of emails from readers saying they didn't want to buy something that could be a passing trend. So, today I'm looking at all kinds of coats for autumn 2017. I've focused specifically on day coats though because we'll be going full steam into partywear before you know it. In the meantime, there [...]

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 11

An autumn capsule wardrobe – women over 40

By |2018-01-08T16:50:46+00:00October 17th, 2017|Categories: Shoes, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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 24

A spectacular evening in London at the Spectacle Wearer of the Year Awards

By |2017-10-13T17:39:07+01:00October 13th, 2017|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

As you know, I've been down in London again this week and I thought you might like to join me at the rather glamorous party I went to. Specsavers invited me to attend the Spectacle Wearer of the Year awards ceremony so that I could learn more about the fundraising they do for the anti-bullying charity Kidscape. Kidscape is an amazing organisation dedicated to helping children and teenagers who are being bullied whilst supporting their parents and teachers too. Kidscape - preventing [...]

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 15

Side stripe trousers, a great solution… and a midlife wedding

By |2017-10-06T17:26:24+01:00October 6th, 2017|Categories: Health, Midlife, Project Happier, Relationships, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I'm following on from my post about leather leggings with a focus on a different type of trouser. You see when I was down in London last week, I gambled on not having to stand up too much in my consultancy sessions. For once, I travelled light without 'street shoes' in my bag. It misfired. I was working with a larger team than expected and so I had to stand to enable everyone to hear (and see) me. We were [...]

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 22

Wearing leather leggings after 40 – is it ok with the demise of the skinny?

By |2017-10-03T16:51:10+01:00October 3rd, 2017|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

Wearing leather leggings after 40 - this is one of those posts that specifically addresses an email from a distressed reader. When I published my autumn trends post a few weeks ago, Victoria emailed to say "I can cope with the demise of skinny jeans but what about the expensive leather leggings that I've invested in - am I going to look stupid if I carry on wearing them?" The short answer is no. All you have to do is [...]

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 19

A cornucopia of recent outfits – women over 40

By |2017-09-26T16:18:11+01:00September 26th, 2017|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It's time for a catch up. I have a few random outfit photos that are cluttering up my desktop so I'm posting some everyday looks from the last few weeks. Before I do though, I just need to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported the launch of the Midlifechic Boutique. Each sale, thought or note of encouragement has really helped me to have confidence in this new venture. It has gone better than I could ever have [...]

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 15

Hush Autumn 17 – a Midlifechic road test

By |2017-09-08T16:27:59+01:00September 8th, 2017|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

You may remember that back in June, I had a lovely evening at The Ned in London with some other over 40 bloggers where we were shown the forthcoming Hush Autumn 17 collection. I have to say that one of the things I like most about Hush is that they are actively nurturing their over 40 customers. For a brand that feels very youthful, I believe that they genuinely want to see women of our age wearing their clothes. It [...]

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 19

Back to work and a desk to dinner project

By |2018-03-02T09:44:35+00:00September 5th, 2017|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

It's back to school for us today which means back to work too. We need to get back into the swing of mealtimes and bedtimes, lunch boxes and shoe polishing - all of the things that don't seem to matter over the long summer break. I had a shock last week when I realised I only had one set of name tapes to stitch into uniform this year. I still have a large pack for each boy in my sewing [...]

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 17

Spotlight on Inès de La Fressange at Uniqlo AW17 – for women and men

By |2017-08-31T09:50:16+01:00August 31st, 2017|Categories: Family, Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

So we're kicking off Autumn 2017 with my favourite post of the season - the launch of Inès de La Fressange at Uniqlo AW17. It is live now in the UK and launches at 9pm ET in the US (although be prepared - it launched an hour earlier than advertised in the UK). I think everybody who reads Midlifechic knows that Inès is my ultimate style icon. Other than Helen Mirren, I don't think there is anyone like her in terms of [...]

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 26

Autumn 2017 trends for women over 40: colours and styles

By |2018-03-02T09:41:07+00:00August 25th, 2017|Categories: Shoes, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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 30

A family holiday in Kalkan and what mattered most

By |2017-08-18T17:23:36+01:00August 18th, 2017|Categories: Family, Project Happier, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Hello, I'm back! It's always a bit strange starting the first post after a holiday. It reminds me of the first day of term when you used to feel a bit nervous about going back to school even though you were going to be reunited with all of your friends. I hope you've had a good few weeks. I'm just going to write one post about our family holiday in Kalkan this time because I'm going away again next week [...]

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 30

What I’ve been wearing and the trials of student internships

By |2018-01-08T16:59:28+00:00July 21st, 2017|Categories: Family, Midlife, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Hmm..what shall we talk about today? It's that finger drumming time of year so I thought I'd show you a few of the outfits I've been wearing recently. It will give us a chance to have a little chat about what's been going on too - I have a story that I've been meaning to tell you for a while about the trials of student internships. A school mum outfit Some of you may have seen this on Instagram. I [...]

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 59

Hope sale – and revisiting my past

By |2017-07-07T17:05:33+01:00July 7th, 2017|Categories: Family, Midlife, Relationships, Sale, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

I have a late addition to the summer sales for you. Hope will be opening their sale tomorrow (Saturday 8th July) and I have a VIP preview which means you can go onto the site and snap up the bargains before everyone else. In preparation for the new stock arriving, they are having a huge clearout from past seasons and a lot of items are 70% off. It's a great opportunity to buy something of high quality at an amazing price. Here [...]

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 29

Out with the old and in with the new at Hush – and other things

By |2018-01-08T17:00:20+00:00June 30th, 2017|Categories: Accessories, Hair & Beauty, Sale, Style|Tags: , , , , , , |

Another week has flown by and I didn't have time to post on Tuesday so I'm bringing you a cornucopia today. Let's start with Hush. I meant to cover the sale on Tuesday but didn't because I was actually down with Hush in London. They invited a small group of over-40 bloggers for a sneak preview of the Autumn / Winter collection. We met at The Ned, the new and most talked about hotel opening in London. What a fantastic [...]

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 24

Summer outfits of the day… and great sale offers

By |2017-06-23T14:49:02+01:00June 23rd, 2017|Categories: Accessories, Sale, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Let's have a quick catch up today. I say quick because I lost a whole day's work this week thanks to lightning striking the local substation. It meant that we had no electricity on Wednesday from 11am until nearly midnight. The schools were closed and, as always, at first it was fun. We played boardgames and then lit the barbecue so that we could munch our way through the melting freezer food. By 9pm though, when we had reached the [...]

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 11

A summer garden party – what to wear?

By |2017-06-20T16:34:23+01:00June 20th, 2017|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Now, regular readers will know that there is an important annual event in my work diary. It is a summer garden party that is hosted in the shadow of Lancaster's ancient castle by one of the oldest law firms in the North. Why there? Lancaster Castle has a busy Crown Court where famous trials from the Lancashire Witches to the Birmingham Six have taken place. So, as you can imagine, a thriving legal scene surrounds it and people from the [...]

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 22

Holiday packing for women over 40 – part two

By |2018-01-08T17:01:06+00:00June 13th, 2017|Categories: Accessories, Shoes, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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 13

Holiday packing for warm climes – women over 40

By |2017-06-10T20:37:49+01:00June 9th, 2017|Categories: Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , |

Well if the UK's future was unclear when I left you last time, it is even more so right now! However, as women over 40, we know things will sort themselves out one way or another. In the meantime after a week of unsettled news and weather, I've found myself focusing hard on the thought of escaping it all for a sunny holiday. I had an email from a longstanding reader saying that she keeps a print out of this [...]

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 15

Summer In The City – the classic dress

By |2018-01-08T17:02:03+00:00June 7th, 2017|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

It's all my fault. I jinxed the summer by packing away my Winter knits over the weekend. I even switched the heating off. We had a barbecue and everything was lovely - then Monday dawned with torrential rain and a temperature of 12 degrees! However, I've had a lot of emails over the last few weeks asking for a post on what to wear for Summer in the city. I then included this dress in my Chelsea Flower Show post last week without [...]

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 21

A day at Chelsea Flower Show with a brand I didn’t know before

By |2018-03-02T09:46:24+00:00June 2nd, 2017|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that I spent some of last week down in London with my blogger friends from the Over40Collective. Enticing invitations have been coming thick and fast this season and if I had the time, I could have spent the summer wafting from one fabulous event to another. Sadly whenever one arrives, I have to grit my teeth and remember that I have a day job to do and an agency to run. In the end [...]

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 21

The return of the trouser suit to your working wardrobe.

By |2017-05-26T09:59:09+01:00May 26th, 2017|Categories: Product review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

It isn't often that I dedicate a whole post to a single outfit but then it isn't often that you are approached by a brand like Winser London and invited to choose a special new outfit. It was easy for me to make my choice, I wanted to celebrate the return of the trouser suit. I showed you a glimpse of it in my last post because it is what I wore during the day on my 50th birthday. Single breasted [...]

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 13

Spotlight on Baukjen – sunny days and nights

By |2017-05-16T14:58:27+01:00May 16th, 2017|Categories: Retail Review, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I'm very pleased to be working with Baukjen again today. You may remember that they were the first of my brand Spotlight Posts back in February and this time they've sent some of their Spring / Summer 17 collection for me to review. As always, when I work on a Spotlight post I like to assess whether a range can work hard for me by covering my key wardrobe requirements: work, weekend and evenings out. Baukjen Spring / Summer working wardrobe Starting with workwear, [...]

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 22

Welcoming Springtime with a dress…or two

By |2017-05-03T19:33:20+01:00May 3rd, 2017|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , |

May has always been my favourite month. I suspect that when I was younger it was because it is my birthday month. I anticipate birthdays a little less eagerly now but I still love May. For us, being rurally based it's the month when everything wakes up. The trees bud, the flowers bloom and people re-emerge from their houses after the dark days of Winter. Every weekend there is a fete in a different village - the time of eating of [...]

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 20

What it’s like to be a finalist at the UK Blog Awards

By |2018-03-02T09:51:23+00:00April 25th, 2017|Categories: Accessories, Hair & Beauty, Project Happier, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I'm sure you remember the mad week before Christmas. You were desperately trying to finish your Christmas shopping and I was pestering you to vote for me in the UK Blog Awards "readers' round." Well, as you know, your kindness won me a place in the finals and the big event was last weekend. Like most people, I have been to lots of Awards ceremonies. A lot of them were during my years at Selfridges when we were in the process [...]

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 55

Easter weekend – what I wore (and did)

By |2018-01-08T16:55:33+00:00April 21st, 2017|Categories: Shoes, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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 14

Twelve things for Tuesday – and Mother’s Day weekend

By |2017-03-28T16:46:27+01:00March 28th, 2017|Categories: Family, Midlife, Project Happier, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

Happy Tuesday everyone. It looks as though I will be spending a disproportionate amount of time driving this week as I have meetings that range from the Scottish Border right down to the Midlands. So I am putting together a quick post with a few of the things that I have spotted recently that I think you'll like and I'm finishing off with a round up of Mother's Day weekend. Easter This is probably the last stretch of time that we [...]

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 10

Capsule wardrobe updates for women over 40 – Spring 2017

By |2019-08-09T16:31:13+01:00March 24th, 2017|Categories: Accessories, Shoes, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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. [...]

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 23

Can you cure a lifelong phobia?

By |2019-08-09T16:31:13+01:00March 21st, 2017|Categories: Health, Midlife, Project Happier, Sale|Tags: , , , |

As you can see, I'm talking about something completely different today. A little while ago I mentioned that I have been having some treatment for a phobia and that I would discuss it when it was completed. Well today's the day. So, let me tell you more about it. My phobia is 'ornophobia' or a fear of birds. It not only covers the idea of them flapping around me or even being in my path when I walk through a [...]

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 37

Spotlight on Pure Collection – brand review

By |2019-08-09T16:34:13+01:00March 17th, 2017|Categories: Accessories, Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

So it is with great pleasure that I bring you the second of my spotlight posts which, as you will remember are the posts where I focus in greater depth on a single brand. Today I am looking at Pure Collection. I will be honest and say that when they first got in touch with me before Christmas, I told them that I wasn't convinced that they were the right fit for Midlifechic readers. Although I knew that they made great cashmere, I didn't [...]

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 29

Midlife loneliness – a follow up

By |2018-05-17T14:58:47+01:00March 3rd, 2017|Categories: Midlife, Project Happier, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Wow that was quite a response to the last post on midlife loneliness! As I said at the outset, when I receive a cluster of emails on a particular topic, it suggests that something is going on at a wider level. I knew I could count on you to rally around Anna but what I didn't anticipate was the wonderful outpouring of empathy. I'm not going to write a long post today, partly because a power cut has wiped five hours off my [...]

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 13

Night and day – new February outfits…and a book!

By |2018-01-08T17:05:24+00:00February 20th, 2017|Categories: Accessories, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

So you may remember me saying that I had a couple of other new February outfits to show you from last week's deliveries. I was waiting to get some slightly more exciting photos than a trying on session because we were going to the opening of a new play. We are 'critical friends' of the local theatre and every so often they invite us along to see something they have been working on and get our feedback. This was a one woman [...]

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 17

Spotlight on Baukjen… and midlife love

By |2018-01-08T17:06:04+00:00February 14th, 2017|Categories: Midlife, Product review, Project Happier, Retail Review, Style, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I am very pleased to bring you the first of the spotlight posts. It's a big thank you to Baukjen for being the first brand to come on board as part of this series and I'm particularly pleased to be working with someone that I haven't featured before. I have only one Baukjen piece in my wardrobe and it is a jumpsuit that I bought in a hurry after seeing it featured in a magazine last year. For some reason [...]

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 37

What I’ve been wearing… and thinking about midlife

By |2017-03-18T22:37:47+00:00January 30th, 2017|Categories: Midlife, Style|Tags: , , , , , |

Boo! I'm surprising you with a Monday post because after my two days in London everything feels out of sync - plus I have something special to bring you on Thursday. So today I'm going to start with some rather random recent outfit shots and then move on to the thoughts I had when I read your midlife comments as they came in whilst I was on the train. What I've been wearing Now, this was over a week ago on [...]

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 56

Next Spring 2017 collection – trying it on.

By |2017-03-18T22:31:29+00:00January 20th, 2017|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Today's post is one of the ones that goes a bit wrong. I had initially intended it to be about the new pre-collection from Hush but when I looked through it, it wasn't as exciting as I'd hoped so the only piece I'm going to feature is the charcoal and brown sugar stella jumper which is back in stock. These jumpers are a lovely cut and they somehow make you look younger. Charcoal and camel star jumper I have one in [...]

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 18

What to wear in January and end of sale bargains

By |2018-01-08T17:07:37+00:00January 13th, 2017|Categories: Accessories, Sale, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

I confess that I have always struggled with the month of January. So much so that we set our wedding date for 10th February so that I would have something to keep looking forward to during the darkest month. Although I love living where I do, the absence of bright city lights is something that I really notice at this time of year. The usually stunning vista of wide open skies is bleak and grey. Now that I've been blogging [...]

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 28

Losing the extra pounds gained over Christmas and other things

By |2018-01-08T17:09:09+00:00January 4th, 2017|Categories: Christmas, Family, Health, Project Happier, Sale, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Hello and Happy New Year! I know I'm supposed to be full of perky new year's resolutions but I tend to see September as more of a time to start afresh than January. For me the decorations are down, the middle son has already gone back to school and this morning, I faced the scales which led me to a moment of self loathing because I've put on half a stone. However, when I look back at the fantastic Christmas we've had, I [...]

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 35

Christmas Party outfits for women over 40 and a Christmas tree farm

By |2018-01-08T17:10:29+00:00December 13th, 2016|Categories: Christmas, Family, Interiors, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It's getting closer....Our weekend was a rush of decorating and entertaining. Here's how it went. Festive Friday I was working at home for the day but then had to go to a client's drinks party. Although they were all wearing suits because they'd gone straight from the office, I felt fine wearing a jumpsuit. It's such a saviour for things like this...not too smart, not too casual, not too dressy... Jumpsuit - this year's version; Jigsaw ponyskin heels (past season); Necklace; Earrings [...]

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 22

Christmas outfits of the day & The UK Blog Awards

By |2018-01-08T17:11:04+00:00December 5th, 2016|Categories: Christmas, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Hello, I hope you had a great weekend. I don't know about you but I'm getting a bit tired of reading Christmas gift articles so I thought I'd do another post on one of my real life weekends and share some of my Christmas outfits of the day. Christmas outfits of the day - Friday night So, on Friday night we had to go to a business event: the mayor's Christmas party. It was one of those occasions when I should really [...]

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 38

Chic Christmas gifts and what I’ve been wearing

By |2022-09-23T22:08:42+01:00November 29th, 2016|Categories: Christmas|Tags: , , , , , , |

I don't know about you but the mad scramble of Black Friday and Cyber Monday seems to have changed the face of Christmas shopping for me. So today I'm stepping up to higher ground and looking at chic Christmas gifts, the things that you would choose for a sister, a mother or that you might pop under a loved one's nose when they're asking what you'd like for yourself. They're items that people probably wouldn't generally indulge in and I've tried to [...]

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 23

Casual outfits of the week for women over 40

By |2019-08-09T17:00:51+01:00October 28th, 2016|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Hello and Happy Friday! It's ages since I've done a casual outfits of the week post but we're now in the hiatus between new season and everything sparkly so here's a dose of real life! It's been a much calmer week. For once I haven't been travelling, so I've been able to opt for a low key wardrobe as I've either been home or office based. Half term finally begins here tonight and I've been trying to get things wrapped up so [...]

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 14

The process of learning which colours suit you

By |2019-08-09T16:51:38+01:00October 20th, 2016|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

There comes a point each year in my blogging calendar when I notice that all of my Summer brights have given way to a dull palette of grey, camel and black. As I was looking through my Instagram feed and pondering this, it occurred to me that it is easy to wear colour in Summer when you only need to co-ordinate one or two items of clothing at a time. As Winter approaches and you pile on layers of tops, bottoms, tights, coats, [...]

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 47

Black Tie for Women over 40 – moving it on

By |2019-08-09T16:48:03+01:00October 18th, 2016|Categories: Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

It's the time of year when invitations start coming in. I'll be covering party dressing and black tie for women over 40 in more detail in a few weeks' time but I thought I'd show you what I chose to wear to a Black Tie event last Friday. I'd been thinking about what I was going to wear for a while. I kept looking through the barely worn cocktail dresses that hang in my dressing room, not wanting to wear [...]

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 18

Chic Autumn outfit updates – and a special competition

By |2019-08-09T16:53:58+01:00October 14th, 2016|Categories: Accessories, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

I thought we'd take a break from clothes today and look at chic Autumn outfit updates to add to the clothes you already have in your wardrobe. We talked about the difference that a pair of statement shoes or boots can make a few weeks ago. Now we're going to look at affordable bags and jewellery because they make such a difference. I have lovely memories of helping my dad buy a khaki handbag for my mum, not knowing that it [...]

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 23

Dressing for quiet confidence – Winser London

By |2019-08-09T16:35:42+01:00October 10th, 2016|Categories: Product review, Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

I don't know about you, but every so often an occasion crops up when I use what I'm wearing to boost my confidence. It's almost like putting on a suit of armour to help face something bigger than an ordinary day. Usually for me, it's a meeting with a tricky client but last week, as you know, I went to my middle son's school for the preview of the BBC documentary that he has been taking part in. We were only given a [...]

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 18

Finery Review – standout chic for Autumn

By |2016-09-30T15:49:57+01:00September 30th, 2016|Categories: Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

I don't know about you, but when I get to this point in the season, I'm over the excitement of Autumn clothes because I've become accustomed to the new trends. It feels as though each retailer is simply offering a slightly adjusted version of the same thing and I yearn for something that stands apart. There are a handful places that I turn to for visual refreshment: Cos, Me+Em, Kin at John Lewis (not Modern Rarity - I feel like I'm the [...]

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 29

New boots and old friends – a great week!

By |2016-09-28T16:37:57+01:00September 27th, 2016|Categories: Project Happier, Shoes, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

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 19

Marks and Spencer fashion for women over 40 – a style challenge

By |2016-09-20T11:59:38+01:00September 16th, 2016|Categories: Product review, Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Today we're looking at Marks and Spencer fashion for women over 40. As you know, ever since I went down to the press day I've been excited about their new looks for this season. My favourite pieces still haven't been released but I think they're off to a good start. To launch the new season they are running a blogger challenge. A couple of weeks ago they gave a number of us a look book which contained about 40 different items [...]

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 28

48 hours of Hush – from work to weekend

By |2016-09-19T14:37:19+01:00September 13th, 2016|Categories: Product review, Relationships, Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Today I'm talking about Hush, another of our favourite Midlifechic brands. I've been trying to meet the team there for a while and it has become almost a running joke between us that whenever one of us suggests a date in London, the other can't make it. In the end serendipity played a part when I went down to London for the John Lewis 'Christmas in July' event. I'll tell you more about that soon but the important thing for today [...]