Midlife Loves

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Midlife Loves

Ritz & Glitz!!!


Okay so this weekend has not only seen us celebrate Easter but also (& more importantly in our household) my husband’s 40th birthday :)  And if you’re anything like me when you know you’ve got the excuse to dress up you’ll have been planning your outfits for ages and perhaps buying the odd new piece to wear too!

When we originally planned our weekend several months ago I rather fondly remembered back to this time last year & the lovely warm temperatures & hoped this year would be the same! How wrong could I be, in the week building up to hubby’s birthday we had HUGE amounts of snow & plummeting temperatures resulting in several sleepless nights wondering if the weekend would even take place! 

Luckily by Thursday the snow had melted enough to not cause any transport problems and we were even luckily enough to catch glimpses of the sun but that didn’t stop the extremely cold & biting wind from putting in an appearance & vetoing my carefully planned & thought out outfits. Resulting in my lovely spring/summer clothes I had planned on wearing (& purchased) remaining firmly behind closed doors in hibernation! 

Now although the weather had been causing some disruption in the lack of sleep department, if I’m honest the more serious issue that has been keeping me awake at night is ‘what am I going to wear?!!!’ Having had my vision of a mini heat wave well & truly squashed I was left with the dilemma of what to wear that both felt ‘special’ & stylish but was also comfortable to do some serious walking (by which I mean shopping) in & also keep me warm enough so as not to turn blue in the process!!!

Unfortunately I am not one of these people who seem to be able to strut along high streets elegantly decked out in sky scrapping heels. As I have mentioned in a previous blog I have problems keeping heels on at the best of times and traipsing round London would not have been the time to put the toupee tape to the test! So I was left with the dilemma of needing a comfy pair of shoes/boots (is it just me or am I sounding middle aged here – ‘comfy’!!) which looked smart, would go with what I wanted to wear, were warm & I could walk for miles in. 

I didn’t even have the excuse (reason) of purchasing a new pair of shoes/boots as knowing my luck I was would have developed blisters in the amount of time it took to walk from the car to the ticket office at the train station!

So after several fretful hours I finally decided the only pair of shoes/boots that I possessed that would fit all the above criteria were some M&S shoe boots which in black meant they would go with everything & with a small heel (just over an inch) meant that I would feel a little bit as if I’d made some kind of effort, whilst maintaining the essential ability to walk & keep upright!

Next came the problem of what I would wear with these shoe boots which was a slightly easier (if not more expensive) dilemma as of course new clothes don’t need wearing in – hurrah!
So as we had decided to stay somewhere far more special than we would normally choose (The Savoy) & have afternoon tea at The Ritz together with a trip to the theatre to see Singin’ in the Rain, not to mention shopping & plenty of eating I needed to look fairly smart. Also add to the mix the fact that the Ritz has a strict dress code for men (shirt & tie) & no jeans (everyone – don’t they know I generally only wear jeans with the odd dress/skirt mixed in) I of course need to acquire the ‘appropriate’ outfit!

Now as I’m sure you will have gathered by now I don’t need a reason to shop but having a genuine reason was like giving candy to a child!  Ideally I wanted to get something which I could mix and match, dress up or down & here comes the middle aged bit be warm in!  So after extensive internet trowelling – well I do like to be thorough!!! I decided on this skirt from ASOS. 






Now I don’t normally go for patterns but this skirt really stood out for a couple of reasons, firstly I thought the length was quite elegant so wouldn’t look too muttony at the Ritz (although was a bit concerned it could look frumpy) & secondly I have a couple of jackets I could team with this skirt not to mention that the different colours would mean I could make several different outfits from it & also dress it up or down depending on the tops/shoes.  Added of course to the practical side that I could wear an underskirt for layers as well as thermal tights then it was a no brainer. And here’s a picture of what I teamed it with.




Jacket - Massimo Dutti
Blouse - Zara
Necklace - Zara
Belt - H&M
Skirt - ASOS
Shoe Boots - M&S


For the daytime I decided to continue the pattern theme (perhaps a new side to my wardrobe is emerging!) & wore this shirt from Zara.




I teamed this with my wax effect trousers to make the outfit feel like I’d made a little more effort & with a thermal top underneath was totally toasty :) 




Shirt - Zara
Necklace - Zara
Bracelets - Massimo Dutti & J Crew
Studded Belt - Zara
Wax Effect Jeans - Zara
Shoe Boots - M&S




Fur Stole - H&M
Coat - Zara


Now I would be having a serious personality transplant if I’d gone to London & not brought anything & of course my hubby & son would have been getting seriously worried if I hadn’t ‘nipped’ into Zara in the interest of research!  And of course there were a couple of items which caught my eye.  Although I did get told by our teenage son that a skirt was ‘too short for me”!!!! Which being someone who doesn’t like getting told made me like the skirt even more but I did walk away from the item – well for now at least but that was mainly because it was highly see-through as opposed to the length, after all I haven’t promised to grow old gracefully :)

One of my new purchases is this lovely smart sweatshirt from Zara which has a gorgeous gold thread in.  




Now I know there are a lot of sweatshirts about at the moment many of which are plain casual numbers which I love but this one really caught my eye for being that little bit different & can be dressed up or down. Not to mention it’s a lovely thick top which considering that this cold weather doesn’t seem to be going anywhere fast will be really useful.  In fact I teamed it with my wax effect jeans on the second day.




Jumper - Zara
Necklace - Zara
Bracelets - J Crew & Massimo Dutti
Wax Effect Jeans - Zara
Shoe Boots - M&S


So a fab time was had by all, lots of celebration, fun, shopping (a couple of new items to report back in next blog) & memories made.  We had been hoping to have a hot air balloon ride today to finish the weekend celebrations off but weather was too windy so has been postponed to another time & with it another nightmare of what to wear as I’m told skinny jeans & a blazer won’t be suitable attire – I think I may need to go shopping ;)

Finally a quick picture of my outfit for today which shows the Zara tops I mentioned in my last blog which I just love!








Necklace - Mango
Knitted Blazer - Banana Republic
Top - Zara
Bracelets - Handmade
Jeans - Zara
Shoes - Next


Happy Easter, I’m off to eat far too much chocolate but hope to return with a quick blog in the week showing my other couple of London purchases x

8 comments

  1. I am buying that top - it's AMAZING! Please tell me it sits in place as nicely as it shows and doesn't gape to show (non) boobs that I have?

    You look amazing and I hope yourself and your husband had a lot of fun celebrating

    Fiona

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    1. Thanks Fiona we've had a wonderful weekend :)

      The Zara top is brilliant as it's stitched in just the right place to avoid gaping. I know I'm going to live in these if we ever see any warm weather! x

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  2. That Zara top is amazing. Generally I steer clear of sleeveless, but I love the shape of it and with a bit of luck, we'll get some sunshine (pah!) Also adore your shirt and wax skinnies .. fab outfit. I'm almost inspired to go & do some sit-ups to see if I too can wear shirts as beautifully as you!! (not a chance .. there are still easter eggs left to scoff:))

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    1. Thanks Helen, have attacked the Easter eggs too but only after these photos were taken!!!! x

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  3. What great weekend did you go to the spa at the Savoy I am dying to know what it is like since the big makeover?

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    1. Hi ya no we didn't get time to visit the spa ..... next time maybe! The hotel is absolutely fabulous, couldn't fault it & perfect for a special occasion. I could definitely get used to staying there that's for sure :)

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  4. You look 100 times better wearing the clothes than the Zara model. I really wouldn't have fallen for those items until I saw them on you. Gorgeous x

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