Breaking the Fashion Rules

Great article from The Times about dressing your age and what you can and can't wear. This makes me feel better that I am unable to give up wearing a bikini on holiday - nothing makes you look older than wearing a one piece, unless you are Cheryl Cole! Read it here.

A small consolation

Last night I made a decision. I decided I was going to purchase the Louboutin shoes I showed you in a previous post. Once I had made my mind up and got home from work, logged on to the computer, the shoes had completely sold out! To say I was gutted was an understatement. The night before they had loads of sizes, but last night nothing, the picture had gone completely.

Refering back to previous posts regarding Skincare, I still haven't bought a new cleanser or eye cream and am now running very low, so I logged on to the Eve Lom website and purchased a gift set as they now have a sale on, and got the Eve Lom Classis Skincare set which features key essentials for beautifully clean and moisturised skin. Products contained in this set are designed for anyone who desires to achieve healthy-looking skin. What does it contain? 100ml Cleanser, Muslin Cloth, 50ml Day Cream, 15ml Eye Serum - so that is all bases covered really and for less than £50! It is small consolation for the loss of the Loubs, and I am worried that everytime I close my eyes to pat on the serum, I will have visions of red soles.....

Ouch my legs are on Fire!

It appears that when we are young, we have the ability to get really tanned. In my late teens and early twenties on 18 - 30 jaunts to various Greek and Bearleric Isles I would come back the colour of a cup of Kenco with hardly any milk in and it always amused me how your tummy went browner than anywhere else on your body. Everytime somebody said "oh you are really brown" they would be met with "look at my stomach, that is the brownest" and upon seeing said stomach, you could see the look on their faces as they realised that it truly was your brownest part.

The weird thing is, my girls do this now and it really gets on my nerves. Main reason? my stomach no longer goes brown. In fact my stomach seems to get a line of colour down the centre with a 4 inch (approx) white stripe at either side which doesn't even go pink if you fail to use sunscreen on it. I say that only the centre gets colour because that part is actually about 6 inches closer to the Sun, when lying flat.

As for legs, well I really shouldn't even start on them. Now I know it is not only me, almost everybody I know reaches the age of 40 and loses the ability to tan their lower limbs. Women the world over moan about this and unfortunatley I am no exception. No problem at all with tanning from the knee up, but the knee down, forget it! The tops of my feet still go golden brown so when I look down at my legs I am reminded of a life size custard cream the wrong way up, golden, cream, golden. Today, anybody that saw me Twitter would know that I was off to Little Mans Cricket Tournament and only spent about 2 hours out of doors, before the little Year 3's were knocked out! It was really hot up at the Cricket Ground and as soon as I had plonked my backside down on the Grass, out came the Factor 40. I covered my face and chest in the thick white gloup and began to discuss Chanel Sunglasses with fellow Mum, F. Finally Little Man and I made our way home and I thought my lower legs looked a bit pink which shocked, but kinda pleased me. Now 5 hours later, my calves are burning so badly, the pain is making me think of Lulu bursting on Stage with Take That for their "Relight my Fire" Hit. Not only are they pink and sore but they seem to have developed a lovely little Prickly Heat rash, just for good measure to ensure that I don't wear a dress again for days! How can this happen? I don't even get leg colour after a week in Spain, has something happened to the English Sun? has it been infiltrated by a crazy Korean Dictator who has sent something up to the Hot Planet to burn us all to death? Will my skin have peeled off tomorrow to reveal my leg innards?

Picture is not of my legs, mine hurt too much to get up and take a photo but it is very similar to how mine look tonight!

Virtual Shopping List (My list of wardrobe staples from the net-a-porter sale)

Christian Louboutin
Etrier 100 patent leather sandals
Was £375 Now £262 30% OFF

Bottega Veneta Veneta intrecciato bag

Was £886Now £532 40% OFF

Emilio Pucci Miri leaf bikini

Was £152Now £106 30% OFF

Only three things, not too much to ask is it?

Oh, nearly forgot, I want some new white jeans aswell!

True Religion Julie denim skinny jeans

Was £160 Now £112 30% OFF

The Fashion Stakes for the under 40's

I am afraid there has been no time for blogging this week. Work on Wednesday and Thursday. Mother in Law rushed to Hospital Thursday evening (later discharged) followed by a Friday spent cooking party food for daughter 2's 18th party last night with a 3 hour gap to attend the funeral of my friend B's Mum, then work today, so all in all, a pretty hectic time and I won't even start on the fact that my Gas has been cut off by the Engineers working on the pipes up my road who refused to switch me back on as my box is apparently, illegal! So I now have no Gas until Monday morning at the earliest and the whole family will be traipsing down to MIL tomorrow evening for showers and hair washes. Tonight we shall be embracing the old boil a kettle to have a wash in the sink job which will take me back to my childhood when the immersion heater was only allowed on for a few hours each day and bath nights were Wednesday and Sunday!

Anyway, the Party went well and daughter 2 was very pleased with pressie, of which I shall take a pic later, as she has it with her today and now to Fashion, as this post is losing the plot completely!
Below you will see my kids. The one in the pink dress is the party girl - dress is by Lipsy, middle one is the eldest who is wearing New Look and the blonde is my youngest who is wearing a dress by CCDK a Danish brand stocked at a local boutique. It was lovely to look at all the girls last night in their pretty dresses and my 3 daughters weren't the only ones in those shape dresses, virtually everyone else had a variation of the strapless, tulip skirted frock. I am afraid I was so busy, this is the only picture I took!
As for fashion for the over 40's - I wore the same dress I wore a few weeks back to my friends wedding - cost per wear darling!

Not so Fab Today

I didn't really have time to take a photo this morning, but just wanted to share with you how I am managing to mix and match things up in the wardrobe department, with the help of last Tuesdays purchases. I wore the Jigsaw Navy short sleeve knit top with skinny jeans, rolled up a bit as they are far too long and the champagne metallic moda in pelle gladiators. I got changed into an old top when I got back from school to do the housework in, couldn't get motivated after having to make a couple of important phone calls and then had a friend turn up unexpectedly whilst I was catching up with Mary Portas, so all housework went out the window which is pretty annoying as I need to be organised this week with daughter 2's 18th birthday party on Friday night and work Wednesday and Thursday. I now have to attend a funeral during the day on Friday, so will have to go without a wash and blow dry which would have turned me into a vision of Rachel Zoeeness.....
I was then in a rush for the school run this afternoon, grabbed my Dior sunnies and as I put them on, realised that I looked a bit strange as I passed the mirror. Upon closer inspection it turned out I actually hadn't put any make-up on this morning! How weird, I have never done that before. I remember putting my lipgloss on, but think I did it after the sunglasses so obviously didn't realise that the eyes were untouched! How embarrassing! God knows what my friend thought. Definitely not Fab in your Forties today girls!

Updating your wardrobe for Spring

Now you girls know that I have been trying hard to do that with my most recent purchases and I was even more thrilled to find an article in The Times online telling us exactly how to update our look for spring and that a few of the items mentioned are now in my growing collection of wardrobe staples.

Quote

As for the “now” items to add zest to the basics, take your pick from the following: a corset top that will look amazing under a jacket but also work on its own at night or on a hot day (look for one that fits well and comes in cute rather than vampy fabric); a block-colour dress (the Times fashion team has gone mad for Richard Nicoll’s fuchsia, orange and flesh-pink ones); oversized sunglasses – a quick and easy statement, even though, in years to come, we’ll look back at photos of ourselves and wonder what we were thinking. It’s worth forking out for a pair that are solidly built and provide maximum sun protection, as this is one fashion item that should be fully functional, too. There is a similar argument for splashing out on an expensive pair of nautical trousers – they never go out of style, and expert cutting and a dense weave are vital.
As to what to hunt down on the high street, a denim jacket for sure, and a tulip skirt, which, along with the pencil skirt, is this summer’s shape. If you can find a chain-store version in a fabric you like, nab it, because they aren’t that hard to manufacture cheaply. Besides, while this style seems to be hanging on for next winter, who knows whether it will last another 12 months?
Large totes are always a good investment buy, which is an argument for investing in a quality one; on the other hand, if you’re easily bored, ransack the high street. One of my favourites is the stripey linen tote I got last year from Gap for £20, which was folded up for holiday packing, dragged to the beach and washed repeatedly and is still going strong.
Finally, coloured watches, as pioneered by Dior and Chanel, are a fun way to update your accessories. ToyWatch makes the ones to have, but, at £125 upwards, they’re a commitment buy. If you’re looking for a one-summer hit, head instead to http://www.asos.com/ for its own-brand pink or sky-blue timepieces, £19.95.

Unquote

Now obviously a corset top, a Richard Nicoll dress and a coloured plastic timepiece are way off my fashion radar, I was rather pleased to find tuplip skirt - check, big sunnies - check, large tote - check. So although I nearly keeled over at the counter in Jigsaw the other day, the white tulip skirt was obviously an investment piece that I am sure I will be able to wear next summer aswell. Find the full article here.

The Bling Twins, The A to Zoe Style Guide and the LV ring

I don't usually wear necklaces and I don't usually wear costume or junk, jewellery. My daughters are like magpies and as well as liking and wearing "The Real Deal" in the jewellery department (they request Tiffany for Birthday, Xmas etc) , their bedrooms are stacked full of Accessorize, Topshop and Diva pieces. When I went to my friends wedding the other week, I felt that my dress needed a long necklace and pinched one from daughter number two's bedroom. As I arrived at the Church and stepped out of the car, the thing broke in two halves. I rather disgustedly threw it in my clutch bag and carried on, but was really pissed off (so will she be, when she finds out it has gone and I broke it!). So that is one of the reasons why I tend not to bother with cheap stuff. I normally only ever wear my two Tiffany bracelets (the ball one and the venetian link) together on one wrist, my watch on the other (if I ever get it back from Goldsmiths), my pave set wedding ring and diamond studs earrings, occasionally changing to large silver hoops when going for a "Studio 54" look, so I like to keep things pretty simple. However, I saw this great necklace (pictured) on Twitter which 40notout had bought and really liked it. A fellow tweeter RML asked where she had got it from and low and behold, it was a fiver from Peacocks! I really liked it and as 40notout had mentioned she was going for the "Givenchy" look (or was it Lanvin, I can't remember), I couldn't be left out of this trend, so popped into my local store to buy one. It is very similar to the Venetian Link look of the Tiff bracelet but it is a duller looking silver with a larger link. Do you think people will think it is from Tiffany as well? 40notout mentioned that we could be Bling Twins and I thought it was a great name for a band, can you sing 40, or play the drums?

Whilst on the subject of costume pieces, I have mentioned in the past I really fell in love with the LV inclusion ring as sported by friend K, and luckily for me, my OH bought me one the other week as a belated Valentines/Anniversary present (Feb and March respectively) and only because he had a nice little win on the Grand National! The Inclusion ring comes in various colours but I wanted the black one as felt it would go with more.

So my junk jewel collection has suddenly sprung out of nowhere and as it all looked rather glamorous and very "Rachel Zoe" laying on the bed, I couldn't resist sticking her Style Guide book into the picture as it finally arrived from Ebay yesterday! I am off to paint my nails in Rouge Noir, put on my jewellery and do the ironing, knowing that I truly am, Fab in my Forties!

A proper look and my wardrobe plans

So the first outfit above from Jigsaw. I saw it in the window on a mannequin and as I felt I was a bit lacking (due to my love of jeans) in the skirt department, ventured in to try it on. The top is a lightweight knit and as you can probably see, the skirt is a tulip shape. It just looked like an easy outfit to wear and although it is quite plain, the top will go with lots of other things in my wardrobe, as will the skirt. My friend M, often uses the word "easy" when describing something she is wearing, if I say "oh I like that" she responds with "yeah its an easy piece, you know just chuck it on, no need to think about it" and with this outfit, I kinda get her drift. With my Dior sunnies and the "Neverfull" it will be the sort of thing to throw on, instead of jeans and a top, if I pop into town.

The plain white t-shirt above is also from Jigsaw, in the sale at £19. V.neck but with a rolled up sleeve feature, I grabbed this purely because every article I have read on wardrobe staples says lots of t-shirts in white, black, grey etc. As white t-shirts tend to be required every season, so that they always look nice and white (as opposed to bobbled and greying) it should go with everything.

The yellow tunic top is from Whistles and was reduced from £85 to £65. I had seen it before and liked it. Most of my friends would say this is my kind of top as I tend to wear a lot of this style. Just a nice top to chuck on with jeans if going out for a drink or going shopping. It may well give me an opportunity to wear the yellow Lanvin pumps a bit more if I wear it during the day.

The cardi above is sort of a reddish/orange in real life and I wanted some coloured cardi's to inject a bit of life into my shopping bags and my wardrobe and Gap came up trumps. I only bought the jeans as a) they were reduced and b) one of my daytime pairs is doing that thing of wearing very thin at the tops of the legs, so these will do for school runs, housework etc. I do have a love of premium denim, which I buy on sale, if possible, and this is the first time I have had a pair of Gap jeans, which must be pretty amazing, given my age and love of the shop!

So there you have it. I do think everything will mix and match well, either together or with existing pieces and I am only gutted that I now have 3 days of work which means I won't get to wear any of it unti at least Monday (Sundays are Juicy Couture slob around day).

Whoops!

and here with have todays Bluewater Haul 1 x top from whistles, 2 x tops & 1 skirt from Jigsaw and 1 x cardi and 1 x jeans from gap. Trust me, they are all wardrobe staples as they can all mix and match together as well as go with other summer bits I already have i.e. white linens, black city shorts, white jeans etc but we will do more on this later, as I am going to endeavour to work these pieces into as many different outfits as possible.

In the winter season, I was not impressed by Whistles or Jigsaw but the s/s range in both shops is fab and I could honestly buy it all!

Looking after mature skin - part 2

I just stumbled across this article which has top beauty editors giving you their top picks on skincare, red lipstick, concealer etc. Check it out here and feel free to leave comments on your favourite skincare and make-up essentials, as I love to know what products you all rave about!

Looking after mature skin - lost in a skincare wilderness

I am in need of a new cleanser and that is what has prompted this post.

Since my early twenties, I have only ever used high end skincare, everything from Clarins, Lancome, Clinique, Estee Lauder etc and then in my mid thirties I took a liking to Liz Earle products whose cleanser I love and has often since, come either 1st or 2nd to Eve Lom, in many magazines 100 best beauty buy surveys and uses the same muslim cloth method. At the moment I am using a Chantecaille one, which comes in at £43 as opposed to the Liz Earle one at £11. The other products I am using at the moment are Origins as I thought I would try out its new anti-aging range and have the serum and the moisturiser.

Talking to some friends about skincare last week, one friend who only uses cheap products and has great skin, brought the conversation round to the fact that the most important thing is that you actually cleanse, tone and moisturise and that the amount of money you spend on product is actually irrelevant.

When I was a child, there was not the awareness about skin damage caused by the sun and to be honest, I spent most of the 6 weeks summer holidays outside, all day every day and living by the beach did not help. I have also suffered sun stroke on various occasions when as a young woman I spent most of my holidays abroad flaked out and hungover, asleep on a sunbed and unable to apply lotion on a regular basis due to my intoxicated state! When we go on holiday as a family, I am constantly moaning at my girls to reapply their sunscreen which sometimes erupts into a family row, round the pool, as they have to pull the ipod speakers out of their ears to listen to me and they get all huffy not realising that I am doing it in their best interests as I certainly feel unprotected sun exposure has a lot to answer for when I look in the mirror these days and no matter how much I spend on skincare, no product ever seems to provide the miracle "wrinkle disappearance" answer I am looking for, so should I bother spending lots of money on product with nothing seeming to make a huge difference?

My facialist uses Dermologica products and recommends the Special Cleansing Gel, she is not a fan of their AGe smart cleanser, I also have a friend who uses Dermologica and has great skin, but rumour has it she is a fan of Botox and at 43, she has not one wrinkle on her face, I am beginning to believe the rumours are true! My friend K uses Eve Lom cleanser followed by Chantecaille Flower Harmonising moisturiser, which comes in at £87 from Space NK, but I tend to think this amount of money could buy me a new top from Jigsaw or almost a vial of Botox! I also bought the whole Boots Protect and Perfect range when that hit the press but soon discarded it when it didn't make any difference to my skin whatsoever! I am not interested in what my skin might look like under a microscope, only what I see when I look in the mirror!

My Origins moisturising products won't be running out just yet, but if anyone has any recommendations for a nice cleanser that maybe I haven't tried in the past, then please let me know, I like something to wash off as don't feel clean without water touching my face and it would be nice to know what other people use. So it appears not only do I suddenly feel that I need to sort out my wardrobe but that I also need to sort out my skincare regime, is this what they mean by a mid-life crisis?

Whats in your bag?

As I haven't bought any clothes for a couple of weeks or got round to sorting my wardrobe out, I feel that I am a bit short of blog fodder.

I saw a post the other week entitled "whats in your bag" and I really enjoyed reading it and thought at the time, I would do one similar sometime soon.

As my bag was in serious need of a sort out, I decided to do it today. Now, Louis Vuitton call this bag "The Neverfull" well believe me, when it is owned by Mrs Fab, it is always full and it is the largest one in the range! It was bought for me for xmas by my husband and the reason I wanted this bag was because of its size. If I go into town, everything I buy goes in it, pack of 6 loo rolls from savers, purchases from local boutique, dry cleaning, shoes collected from menders, you name it, it all fits in and believe me is always full and weighs an absolute ton!

So the list of disgusting contents goes like this:-

notebook

diary

appointment book

mobile phone

phone charger

3 purses - 1 x gucci, 2 x lv

Hermes Eau Des Merveilles perfume x 2, 1 full size, 1 handbag size

chewing gum

empty chewing gum packet

sissors

pen

pencil

tissues - including 4 that have fallen out of pack and are ruined

3 fox's glacier mints (loose)

mirror

2 letters from doctors surgery - 1 telling me my thyroid test was OK (gutted as thought that was reason I can't lose weight (little man is 8 - just had baby excuse is wearing thin) , 1 telling me my blood sugar level and cholesterol are not, please come to surgery immediately (I am ignoring those as am too young to have these problems, in fact must throw letters away and pretend never got them. Lulu may have high cholesterol but she must be 20 years older than Mrs Fab)

1 x leaflet for Spa Hotel

2 bank statements

2 mini print out statements

3 kirby grips

2 used wrestling tickets (took little man in 1/2 term)

receipts from tesco, co-op, savers, local boutique, for laptop repair

repeat prescription slip

bus ticket

boots weighing slip

2 sugar sachets

old raffle tickets from school easter bonnet parade

9 boiled sweet wrappers

3 lipglosses - 1 mac, 1 estee lauder, 1 fake bake

1 lypsyl

When my arms can no longer take the strain, I shall have to buy one of those check shoppers on wheels, mind you, it will be a bugger getting on and off the bus!

The insiders guide on what to wear to a summer wedding

Check out this article I stumbled across, which is supposed to be complied by industry "insiders", giving us the lowdown on what we should be wearing to a summer wedding this year. It is the biggest load of drab outfits I have ever seen! some of the shoes and other accessories are nice, but the dresses are far to dark and awful.

Only K could think if this (Chanel Ceramic Watch)

My inspiration, dear friend K, phones or texts me with the funniest things. Usually, "quick I am in Chanel and don't know which bag to buy, go online and tell me which ones you think are best, shall I get the 2.55 or a Tote?" I have also had calls from inside the Louboutin Store, Selfridges, Jimmy Choo etc etc, I swear I am wasted and should have been a stylist! How about a call from Harrods when purchasing a Epi leather purse that was about to be discontinued and was not needed as she already had 3 LV ones, but didn't want to miss the boat and what did I think, bearing in mind she had them reserve it for her days before! She got Chanel shoes sent from Selfridges in Manchester even though she lives down South, because Bond St didn't have her size! she is a one!

Anyway some time ago, K was on about a Chanel Ceramic Watch for her birthday back in March. Upside was, she has a Cartier and then got a Rolex for Xmas 07 so I couldn't really see why another watch was even coming into the equation. She kept on about it, then changed her mind and said she didn't really need another watch and of course I agreed, but I have just had the following text conversation:-

K - I have been looking at those Chanel watches again

Me - and?

K - Well what do you think? they are a lot of money and do you think they are as prestigious as a Cartier or Rolex?

Me - How much?

K - A couple of Grand, well overpriced

(Now bear in mind this is K, so a couple could mean anything under five!)

Me - Well they are in the same price bracket, so must be in the same league as the big boys

K - I was thinking though, if you dropped it on a tiled floor, it would smash

Oh dear what can I say, clever isn't she? this did make me laugh and would be the last thing I would think of, if I wanted to purchase one. I have visions of her getting the watch and ripping up the parquet flooring in favour of carpet, incase she drops the bloody thing!

Bridal Etiquette over 40

As this blog is all about looking fab over 40, I can't help but feel as if I have something to say on the subject of bridal attire for the mature bride, so here goes and I am sorry it is another wedding post!

Last week, when I found out M, was wearing a white gown, I was quite shocked. When I remarried some 9 years ago, I felt that I had to dress appropriately for a second time bride who had 3 children and certain things for me, were off limits. I felt that I had to have an ivory dress, it couldn't be too full skirted and I certainly couldn't wear a veil!

Luckily for me, I found a dress on the inside cover of the first bridal magazine I opened, by Pronovias of Barcelona, it was a straight style with a small train coming from the hem of the dress and had a covering of coffee coloured lace. It was beautiful and just what I wanted, not white and full skirted like at my first wedding.

So you can imagine what I was thinking about M, until she walked into the church that is, because then all my fears of her wearing white completely disappeared and there is no doubt in my mind that there could not have been a more perfect dress for her. At 42, M has 3 children but has never had any luck with Men. All of her friends, including me, have wanted for her to find the man of her dreams for many years and now that has happened. So as a first time bride, even one with kids, do you feel it was OK for her to wear white? Do you think the Bridal etiquette that I enforced for my own wedding, is necessary for 2nd time, or brides of a certain age? The Style of the dress in the picture, you will no doubt agree, is perfect for M's figure, she makes Madonna look fat, honestly how can anyone, after 3 kids, look as good as her - it is so unfair!

So since Sunday my attitudes towards more mature brides has changed completely and I wish I hadn't set myself such strict rules when I got remarried. My advice for older or 2nd time brides would now be, go with the flow! If white suits your skintone better than ivory, then go for it and do try on as many dresses as possible, to get the style of dress that suits you best, don't dismiss anything until you have tried it, rules are there to be broken, even unwritten ones and if Fashion Editors of The Times are saying the over 40's can get away with denim shorts/hotpants, then why not!

Wedding Guest Chic

I must say that I had never seen such an assortment of beautifully dressed wedding guests, most of whom were over 40, as I did yesterday. The picture above is of one of my dear friends who is 35 but I had to add the picture as I picked the dress out for her when we went shopping together. She had her heart set on a Fuschia Pink and Orange one, and when we went to try it on, I saw this one as we walked in and said "that is your dress". So £199 later - job done! It is from Karen Millen by the way. Gold Shoes are by Ravel.

Who would have thought that the Bride at 42, could have worn white and look so bloody fantastic! It is me in the picture with her in a dress by Whistles which I saw on another blog and liked it, Sunglasses are Dior. As you can see my efforts at the Rachel Zoe style hair and the centre parting had flopped by then, who gets married on a Sunday when hairdressers are closed?

The first dress is from Coast and the second from Reiss.

The green dress is by a brand called Noli.

The brides Mum, I think this was Karen Millen but she bought 2 outfits as she has another daughter getting married shortly, but I think this is the KM one. So all in all a lovely day at a beautiful little church in the heart of the Kent countryside.

Another Red Carpet Moment

It is lovely to start a new blog and receive awards so early on, when you are still unsure in what direction your blog is going to go. All I know is I love fashion and always have, but want to sort out my style and my wardrobe!

So thank you to the lovely Make Do Style for passing on the baton.

As some of my followers already have this award - I would like to pass it on to RML and That Girl - both are a great inspiration to me and seem like truly lovely chicks!