Saturday 22 December 2012

Merry Christmas

Hi Readers,

Firstly, A very Merry Christmas to you all.  

It was the week when we wound down for the coming festivities.  It's Saturday evening & I usually do this on a Saturday morning, but after a heavy night last night, I have finally arrived home, so lets do this.


Monday;

Cream knitted Peplum(Tu); Brown Straight trousers(Miss Selfridge); Brown wedges shoe boots(Primark);

Tan Faux Leather Jacket(Topshop); Tan Shopper(Zara); Tan floppy hat(H&M); Animal Print scarf(H&M)

Jewellery; Earrings(Dorothy Perkins); Necklace(Miss Selfridge);


Tuesday;

Blue thin knit Keyhole jumper(Miss Selfridge); Black Wide Leg
trousers(H&M);
Black fitted Blazer(H&M); Black Platform boots(Zara); 
Scarf(Miss Selfridge)

Jewellery; Earnings(H&M)



Wednesday;

Black crepe shift dress(La Redoute); Frilled Cardigan(Wallis)
Shoes/slippers(New look)

Jewellery; Earnings(Miss Selfridge)  Necklace (Primark)

Tan Shopper(Zara);



Thursday;

Black Jumper(H&M), Black Faux leather stripped Leggings(Tu)

Platform Shoe Boots(Zara); 

Jewellery; Chain(H&M); Earnings(Miss Selfridge)



Friday;(Dress Down)

Leggings(Tu); Oxblood heart Jumper(New Look); Scarf(Primark)

Jewellery;  Earnings(Primark)  Necklace(Dorothy Perkins);

Oxblood Trainers(New Look)






Friday was my last day of work & I now have 2 lovely weeks off, so I can switch the Alarm off & just be.  But yesterday was my office party & I collated some great pics. to share with you.   





I chose a Black front pleat dress with an asymmetric hem(H&M). 
I added a Heavy gold snow flake necklace from (Top shop); my Red 
Quilted Channel lookalike bag(French Connection) & Red, nude &
Black Shoes(Zara)

           
                   

My girlfriend wore a stunning Red puffball dress which was specially made for her. 

The detailing at the top of the dress was stunning; As seen here.  
Here we are with another girlfriend, who wore a beautiful dress which draped at the front flattering her great legs;  She picked this up in H&M for £10. That's a bargain right there & she is pretty good at finding them.
The lady on the left is a fitness instructor & rocked a great black scope neck dress which looked great on the night too. 

This girlfriend chose a Dorothy Perkins Peplum with Faux leather lapels. 

It can be said that we all had an amazing time & finished off the evening partying till 4:00am at a Golf club in Chingford, where I ran in to lots of old friends who I haven't seen in too long, who all looked lovely in their Christmas finery, but unfortunately I wasn't able to get pic of them.

So there are only 2 shopping days left till Christmas & my last Blog post for 2012.  This year has been eventful.  I turned 50, lost lots of inhibitions & started this blog.  I can honestly say I've had a ball doing it & cannot believe it will be 3 months tomorrow since I started it.  It has been read by just over 2,500 of you, which is way more than I ever thought would be reading it, when my darling daughter told me to do it.  

Oh & taking of my daughter, remember I told you in previous blogs that body cons are 
not just for slim girls, well here's an example of my curvy girl, rocking a body con.  
So you curvy girls who wondered if you could, you can do it too it you have a great shape...., they really are not just for size 8 ladies. 

I would like to say a huge Thank you for your support.  I am still taken aback at the amount of you, who are still reading it & tell me you enjoy it & that it has made you think differently.  If that's what it has done, then it did it's job.  If it helps you, tell your friends, family & colleagues about it, it might help them too. 

I will be back next year ready to take on more & excited about what the January sales will bring.  I know which sale I'm going to, it's the only one I'm ever interested in & have all my gift cards ready to go.  If you're going, remember only buy it, if you will wear it.  If you are buying it to donate it to the Charity shop in 6 months, then leave it for someone else.  

My life will change next year in that I will be gaining a dressing room in my home, as my BFF has now flown the nest.  I plan to organise it, in my two weeks off work.  I've also decided to join my daughters choir in January. Start walking in the mornings with a friend as the mornings will still be dark till spring, along with weekly Zumba classes(which I know I am rather late at).  

I hope you'll all be ready to continue reading in 2013 & wish you all a very merry Christmas.  Eat drink & be Merry.

Look after yourselves People till 2013.


Signing off for 2012





StylishAT50 









Email;   Stylishat50@gmail.com
Facebook:  Stylish AT50   


 












Saturday 15 December 2012

Bags of fun

Happy Saturday people.

Hope you've all had a great week.  One week left & so looking forward to not having to wake up to an alarm. What a week it's been.

Last weekend was full & lots of fun, I attended my team meal on Friday, a Christmas Special at Da Scalzo's Italian restaurant with Reese Robinson, Andy Black & Singology Choir on Saturday which was awesome & really got me into the spirit of Christmas & finally the engagement of one of my heartbeats on Sunday.  After that weekend, although lots of fun, knowing what I had coming up for the coming week, I was truly grateful to be in uniform on Monday.



But from Tuesday onwards, it was all about pacing myself, warmth & comfort. I opted for a black Polo neck, black frilled skirt & black Shaggy Cardigan.  Outside it was -2, so I was going to make sure my body temperature didn't match it.  To brighten myself up I wore Oxblood tights & shoe boots & a necklace with colour.              Here's a closer photo of the neck piece.


On Wednesday I attended a family funeral & didn't think to take a pic of myself.


As Thursday was going to be spent in a training room & later that day, I was on the door at my daughters Singology Christmas concert taking ticket sales, I went for warmth again, so wore a red Jumper with zipper detailing on the sides from Zara. black leggings & flat boots.  I matched it all with a large red messenger bag & multi coloured scarf from Tu & wore two hats to keep my head & ears warm.  Obviously there are pros & cons to everything & having a shaved head means I have no hair to fill out hats.  As the red hat is a little big, it means I can put it on top of another, killing two birds with one stone.









On Friday I was going out from work with my colleagues, so was getting in by tube.  So I went for loose trousers, with a black polo neck jumper for the day & took my heels, trousers & a blouse with me to change into.

I also had to think about my outta wear as although it wasn't as cold yesterday, they reported high winds, so wore a black biker jacket & added a black & grey cape on top as I knew the jacket by itself wouldn't keep me warm.  

I later changed into black waxed Jeans with zipper detail at the foot from H&M, a floral blouse with built in vest from Gok Wan's current collection for Tu & black boots.  I added Blue accessories & off I went to the 02 to meet up with my colleagues.




                                                So that was my week in a nut shell.



Clutch Bag heaven


The one thing all women need to complete their outfit when going out for the evening, is a clutch.

If you are not into latest fads then finding them in the sale would probably be right up your street.


Wristlet Tassel clutch by Very sale £11.00


This one is on-line & is great because it has a section for your hand which makes it feel more secure when holding it.  The same bag can also be found at Littlewoods for £14.


                                             



Here are some of the many studded clutches around which are on trend right now.
ASOS Stud Foldover Tassel Clutch Bag
Asos, studded £22.00

Black faux fur £20 Fashion Union

Nude Faux Leather Union Jack Studded Box Clutch Bag
Nude Faux fur Union Jack studded Clutch £25.



There a lots of inexpensive clutches around, you just need to look everywhere for them.  Sometimes you can find them in the least likely place.  Make sure they are comfortable to hold all night, once they are full.  The one on the left is great, but will probably only hold a few small items.  If you have a large set of keys, a large mobile phone & the rest, it is probably not the one for you.




If like me you like things that are a little edgy, here are two clutches that are not your average clutch on the market.    They are little more costly so an investment.            


Steven Harkin bag


Steven Harkin Bag













 These two are also a little higher up the price bracket, but a girl can dream. 
Mulberry clutch bag






Burberry Clutch

Small clutch bags suit demure outfits, like the LBD, but I prefer a larger clutch bag.  The advantage of a large clutch is you can carry more in them &...... they make you look smaller.

If you are one of those ladies that have an insecurity about part of your body as we all do in some way shape or form & wish to distract from people noticing that 'thing', use your bag as a fashion statement.  People usually focus on the unusual, whether they love or hate what they are seeing.  That way you'll feel that their concentration is as far away as possible from your "Thing'.

Anyway, as there are only 2 weekends left for shopping, I need to go get some presents, so I'll leave you to get on with yours.

Have a great week people & see you next week



Stylish AT50




Email;    Stylishat50@gmail.com
Facebook;    Stylish AT50



Saturday 8 December 2012

All that Glitters!





Hi Readers,

Hope you are all well on this bright cold Saturday.  The week has been a busy one & the coming one is about to go up a whole other notch.

The struggle of fashion against freezing temperatures is becoming more and more difficult, while trying to fend of the blistering wind that swirls around my office block.  To top things off, the heating system at work wasn't working for the first two days of the week & although I'm usually a person who feels the cold, I didn't as much this week, but that might have something to do with my thermals.  Mentioning I had them on when checking whether my team were warm enough, was meet with lots of laughter, until  I reminded them that I wasn't sitting at my desk in coats hats & scarves. 



On Monday I choose a Navy & grey pin stripped Shirt from Victoria Secrets, a Navy wool Skirt Tulip from Great Plains, a Grey H&M blazer & Navy a grey shoes from Office. 




Tuesday I went back to my animal print peplum, shown in earlier blog, black bubble pencil skirt both from Tu at Sainsbury's & pumps, my bag is also from a previous blog & years old.  This time I work jewellery with my top, but kept it plain but chunky. 



On Wednesday I once again opted for warmth as well as style & went with a Black polo neck, black 3 qtr length trousers, black blazer  & wellies & added a simple perspex Necklace from French Connection.





Thursday's choice is a long pleated wool H&M skirt, which is so thick it's ideal for keeping winter conditions out, a white frilled blouse also from Victoria Secrets, black fitted blazer,  again with my wellies.  As I was actually on duty, & supposed to be in uniform with a pink neck scarf, as a compromise I added a pink Rose necklace.



Friday, was my team's Christmas lunch, so I went with Green.  I took a cream Tu top with scalloped collar, added a printed pleated skirt from Zara's 2012 summer sale @ £10, a green H&M blazer (also 2012 summer sale @ £15) & black studded pumps from New look.  So you can still spend small amounts & feel great.  Green was right on trend this year & although it wasn't in your face in every shop, there were little bits around that I accumulated unconsciously, which I was then able to make up an outfit out of.

I especially liked that it wasn't everywhere & most people would ignore it, as it is slightly out of the box.

Here are two of the accessories I picked up that complimented my look.




All that Glitters, IS NOT GOLD


jewel print midi dressChristmas is the season for embellishment & bling.  There are ways to get it right & ways to get it so very wrong.  Here are two examples of embellishment overload

where they have taken it to another level.  If you're 18 - 22 a little quirky in your style, then you might 'just' get away with the fitted dress, but for the rest of us, it's likely you'll just end up looking like a Christmas tree with all the trimmings.   If you're over 40, the other one is probably still something only you mum should wear, unless your aim is to scream look at me for all the wrong reasons.                                                   


detail on front of midi dress
Asos Midi dress
Here's an example of a dress with jewels.  They're effective but just enough to make a statement.  For those of you who watch Eastenders, "Who's dress sense do you prefer, Kat or Tanya.  I'm with Tanya all the way, a real woman's body & always looks presentable enough to not get the 'Really!' look.

There is taking glitter that little too far, which Kat does all so well.  Although she stands out, consider whether it is for the right reasons.  If your aim is to do the same you can, but do it for the right reasons.  Remember there's good attention & negative attention. Decide which one you want when buying a little embellished number.
 Thumbnail 1If you are more of a free flowing dress kinda woman, here's an example of something you might feel that little bit more comfortable in.
Warning, if you want to cover your arms & you are a curvier lady do not, under any circumstances use a 'cardigan shrug'.  Another of my Pet hates, but I'll cover that in another blog.  There are lots of lovely shawls, jacket shrugs or large scarves out there, that you can wear instead.                                                                         


Here's some examples of embellished pieces that you could add to your wardrobe, that can be paired with much simpler items, to avoid being the one that gets it wrong.

Asos £45 Sequined Maxi





Purple (Purple) Tall Purple Sequin Pencil Tube Skirt | 261515350 | New Look
Pencil Tube Skirt New look £10
                             If you have long perfect pins, the maxi skirt is a great piece. A down side to sequins is, you cannot get away with it all year round, so I would take caution in not spending too much money on a piece, if you're on a tight budget.  If you're heavy set from the waist down, be careful that what you choose doesn't make you look bottom heavy.                         

 If like me you are large busted be careful with Sequined tops or glitter & sequins on the top half of a dress.  The shine will just accentuate your bust even more. Unless this is your intention of course.  This top works well with A line skirts, trouser suits or dressing up a pair of jeans.  You can also find vest in the same material, which are reasonably priced.
This M & S cardigan can brighten up a plain shift dress, it's a great piece that can be added to a work dress if you are going out straight from the office.
M & S cardigan


Or you could go for a really plane dress or two piece & make your shoes the statement piece.

  


Here are two of my personal favorites.  They're simple, on trend & can be worn anytime of year, not just at Xmas.                

Hope that helped you if you were looking for inspiration.  Until next week, I'm off to get ready as meeting up with friends for a Christmas Special at Da scalzo's, Victoria, where my daughter, her acoustic guitarist Andy Black & her choir are going to entertain us.



Have a lovely weekend people.


Keep warm



Stylish AT50






Email;    Stylishat50@gmail.com
Facebook;    Stylish AT50