New Season at Seven Boot Lane

Seven Boot Lane have come up with another swoon-worthy autumn winter range and every season when they offer me a pair to feature on the blog, I honestly have to pinch myself because I feel so lucky to be asked. But working with them over the past few years, I've fully realised the logic of paying a little more for good shoes because each season when I do the wardrobe switch over, I realise that the brands you pay a bit more for, are the ones that endure. I still have that first pair they sent me 3 years ago and they still look as good as new. Yet, on average, I give away or throw out two cheaper pairs seasonally because they are too exhausted looking to survive a second season of wear (or indeed too uncomfortable)

I dithered between boots and shoes but in the end, opted for the Halo Leather Brogue in Metallic Leather

A little try-on in Next...

Unbelievably, I've not bought any clothing or footwear for over a month. Not much for some people but for me, this is significant. A combination of being overdrawn, uninspired and busy, meant I managed to abstain from the high street and it has gotten me thinking about how buying all the time can become a bit of a habit. I have pared my wardrobe back lots over the past couple of seasons and ironically, it makes dressing easier and has me feeling less like I need to add to it constantly.

As a result, I'm going to try to stay on this more frugal theme on the blog over this autumn winter. A bit frustrating for readers (or so I'm told) as it means you can't instantly click and buy past season items but the reality is that I don't have the disposable income to keep up right now. However, I'm always lucky enough to be gifted a few bits and pieces here and there so they will help keep things fresh.

And in fact, that's what brought me to Next as I was given a gift card recently as part of a press drop promoting their new AW range. I had an hour to spare the other morning so I raced in for a quick try on of a few pieces that I hoped I could add to my workwear capsule...

The colour palate was greys and blushes, starting with this ruffle top - which is like a jumper but the fabric is more like a soft top.

What I've been wearing...

Oh I'm so behind in blog posts! But I've had a few people contact me after my last round-up post to say that they would like to see a weekly combination blog post with all I've worn in one go so here goes with the last week (and a bit!) and as most of it is past season, I have links to similar things where I've been able to.

Work wise, I managed one more wear of the white jeans before retiring them until next spring/summer (changeover is happening this weekend)

M&S AW16 - Model & Me!

I received an email from the team at M&S a few weeks back with a challenge - to recreate a look from the M&S AW16 Lookbook. Model and me style.

I'd been really impressed by some of the new range when Alex featured it over on The Frugality recently so I was already thinking that AW16 could be the season when the on-trend, Zara-loving 35-50 demographic starts to shop in Marks & Spencer again.

Lash Lift at Beauty & Brows Lisburn

I've just been for my second lash lift and I am officially hooked. So much so, I just had to share about it on here.  My first treatment was done in the middle of June and until a couple of weeks ago, I had the most fab lashes. It was amazing how long the effect lasted. Even in recent weeks, I only needed a little bit of lash primer to give my lashes a bit of colour and lift.

Back to Work and Gareth Malone!

Erm...where did that week go? All the intentions of blogging in the evening after work got knocked on the head. Between prepping for the next day, homeworks, gym and catching up with all the great TV people kept telling me I was missing (Cold Feet anyone? LOVED it!)...oh and I can't forget the small issue of recording a Christmas song with Gareth Malone.

Yes, this week, the whole of the choir was sworn to secrecy but I can tell you now that we are backing vocalists on two of the tracks from Gareth Malone's new Christmas album. We sing on his cover of the John Lennon song 'War is Over' and also a Gareth's own Christmas song, which is going to be sung by Ricky Wilson from The Kaiser Chiefs. Well the excitement was unreal...helped by the fact that we all had to wear Christmas costumes.

This is the group shot after over 3 hours of recording:

and there's also a video on this link.

New season, new beginnings, new wardrobe...WORKWEAR!!

I'm writing this in a silent house as finally, all 3 kids are back at school! I've loved the 9 weeks we spent together this summer but even the weather shifted gear this morning and we're all ready to move into a new month and a new season.

I've been taking a spin around a few shops recently as you'll see from my blog posts in the last couple of weeks so on this post, I thought I'd share what I've got on my AW16 shopping list but linked to that, I also wanted to share my new beginning for those of you who aren't on Facebook.

As of Monday, I'm back officially in the working world again after a break of 8 years. I've been working in a self employed way for a few years but I've really struggled with drawing a line between work and home and blog....it all just got so blurry and I felt like I was dipping into all three continuously and not doing any of them as well as I want to. It appears I don't have that multi-tasking gene that most women have - I prefer to focus on one thing at a time.

So on Monday, I start with a local home fragrance company