Live Simply Simply Live
  • Blog
  • Studio
  • Home
  • Cards
  • Coronation Wood

Simply..clothes again....

8/11/2022

8 Comments

 

It may well be a bit  narcissistic to write about my clothes (It may well be a bit narcissistic to write a blog!) but clothes are important to me and fashion is my fun.

I think I have always loved clothes and can remember very clearly things I wore when I was little more than a toddler. I studied printed textiles at Glasgow School of Art, and I love people watching - just seeing what people wear and trying to understand what it is about those people who just get it right...

There are quite a lot of posts under Simply Stylish if you have time to browse, and in 2013, in an attempt to get my own style right for me and avoid buying things I then did not wear, I started my own style notebook.  See here.  This has been invaluable.
The biggest wardrobe change since then is  that as I can no longer drive, I use public transport and that definetiely requires different clothees. Buses, ferries and trains combimed with unpredictable weather can make it quite a challenge,


Well travelled Mary collects scarves as souvenirs - a treasure trove of memories!
Picture
8 Comments

Simply..a scarf installation....

7/11/2022

6 Comments

 
Here's how my friend stores and displays her scaves. You can see her colour palette is very different to mine, and she loves pattern. I think it looks like an art work. Gorgeous.
Picture
6 Comments

Simply..superhygge....

5/11/2022

4 Comments

 
Scarves
Picture
Picture
 
I've been sorting winter scarves. I love scarves. The thicker ones I keep rolled up in a drawer, the thinner ones I hang. I prefer natural materials - wool, felted wool and linen. Most of them I have had for many years. No matter what I am wearing I think adding a big loovely scarf and a pair of earrings can take me anywhere!
4 Comments

Simply..stylish....

4/11/2022

6 Comments

 

A different kind of street photography. I enjoy a browse every now and thhen of The Sartorialist. This one features scarves..
6 Comments

Simply..a change..

28/10/2022

4 Comments

 

..of clothes. Shopping in my own cupboards again, I am enjoying the change to different textures and colours. I know in many parts of uk you are still weating tee shirts and shorts, but it is cooler and wetter here on the west coast of Scotland, but I don;t mind. I am ready for a change.

Picture
All several years old - the jacket from Zara, good fabric, not terribly well finished but very inexpensive. The scarf from The White Company - very fine wool, it feels really beautiful and doesn't crease. The brooch I've had forever and the earrings are from a wonderful website called Scandinavian Silver - sadly no longer trading it seems.

I am wearing these with jeans and soft brown leather lace-up ankle boots and a new white long sleeved tee shirt has provided a freshness.

Must see what else I can find!
4 Comments

Simply..yes....

31/8/2022

14 Comments

 

I did find a bargain! Cotton, quilted and fully reversible - reduced from £50 to £31. For the chillier days to come.


Picture
Picture
14 Comments

Simply..planning....

30/5/2022

4 Comments

 
I have plans for some sunshine!
Picture

Isn't it wonderful to make plans again, with a reasonable expectation that they will come about? Do you have plans? Do you find that the planning part is almost as exciting as the event?
4 Comments

Simply..those shoes....

26/9/2020

2 Comments

 
Picture

Love them!

The rest of the online shopping?

Not so good....
2 Comments

Simply..more shoes....

19/8/2020

4 Comments

 

I bought a pair before breakfast today! (Well there has to be some fun in life when you are tidying in Marie Kondo's komono category ..... )

My post yesterday made me think What if they discontinue my favourite shoes?

It happens doesn't it? You spend years finding the perfect shoe/pen/shampoo/bra/whatever and before you think of stocking up it's discontinued, or they make a new version, or change the formula.


Picture
A friend sent this phtograph of a childrens' shoe shop in Bruges. Thriling. Better than a sweet shop!

Back to my favourite shoes. See this post. I have them in lime green and in blue and have just ordered them in red  (half price in White Stuff sale) - all of which go with my neutrals  navy and grey, and can be matched with my new necklaces! 

I just need somewhere to go now!
4 Comments

Simply..among my notes....

18/8/2020

8 Comments

 

Among my copious notes I found this advice -

If the shoe fits, buy it in every colour!


Picture
!
I photographed this shop window in Venice one evening and planned to visit it next day, but next day - lockdown!

Oh well, I couldn't have afforded to buy every colour and would have had a very hard time choosing...
8 Comments

Simply..a little zing......

30/7/2020

3 Comments

 

..and a good way to spend dull wet day.  I have tidied tops, bottoms, dresses, nightwear and jackets, and so far have 9 things to part with (two of them unworn :-(. )

Some years ago I bought this necklace at the Saint Nicholas Fair in York from a lovely jeweller called Anna King. It has been a graeat favourite.

Picture

I always meant to order more, and to ask if she woould make me slightly shorter ones to sit inside the neckline of my standard Tshirts - a simple look I really like. It took lockdown to make me get around to it! They arrived today adding a little zing to both the day and my wardrobe.
Picture
Picture

The quality, price and service were all excellent (she arranged to send one to a friend too).  I think you may like a browse of Anna's website here.
3 Comments

Simply..comfort clothes....

29/7/2020

2 Comments

 
Surely not as dangerous as comfort food!

In my style notebook I copied down:

We want that utopian place where comfort meets good looks

 It may be useful to identify the clothes you have that fit those criteria - then buy them in several colours! I have done this with Fly Yaz shoes and fine knit sweaters from Hobbs,

But there are also shabby old things which provide great comfort - A Cotton Traders thick jacket which I put on for outdoors breakfast on coolish mornings, or to snuggle in on the porch as the sun goes down. It's like an old friennd always there at the back door.

You may remember my kagoul which also hangs at the back door fell onto the newly painted floor. I bought a new one and waterproof trousers online - essentials in rural Scotland. Don't quite spark joy but I suppose there is joy in not getting soaked to the skin..

I'm having fun with MK's step by step approach (see link on yesterday's post). It's good to have an overview of all my clothes and figure out what still works and what doesn't.

Picture
Picture
I had the beach to myself this afternoon.
2 Comments

Simply..in for a penny....

28/7/2020

8 Comments

 

..in for a pound.

The full Marie Kondo.

Every item of clothing in one pile. No, I'm not going to show you the pile! It is embarassingly large..

But I will show you the three items chosen because they definitely spark joy. MK suggests you do this to remind yourself how to judge if something sparks joy or not. See Day 9 Learn How To Joy Check - how useful a skill!

This may look an unlikely candidate but I feel like myself in this and would happily wear it anywhere. Well maybe not to a wedding..but I have worn it over something quite dressy. It's longer at the back than the front which I really like (not uneven as it looks in this photo) and I will never part with it.  I can't remember how many years I have had it.

Picture
This one is new and I have not worn it yet. I love it's simplicity and the fabric, and I have some scandinavian silver jewellery I am looking forward to trying with it. Could be dressed up or dressed down. I think it's going to be a favourite. Instant falling in love in the White Company Shop before lockdown.
Picture
Picture
Another falling in love (in M&S children's department a couple of Christmases ago!)  Ballerina dreams. Love the moon and stars fabric. and have worn it to two parties and a wedding..


Can you find three things that spark joy and hone your joy checking skills?  As Swissrose says wouldn't it be fun if we could peek into each other's wardrobes here....

Picture
Can you find three things that spark joy and hone your Joy Checking skills!
As Swissrose says wouldn't it be fun if we could peek into each other's wardrobes...
8 Comments

Simply..back to joy?

27/7/2020

4 Comments

 
My browse through my Simply Stylish posts (see sidebar) reminded me how much fun I have had from clothes in the past.

It does take a bit of effort (see Apply Brain) and some of that effort is pretty mundane.

I tried on all my trousers.  My least favourite item to shop for. I don't make a feature of trousers - if I had  long gorgeous legs I might, but they are a kind of neutral, background item for me. Only one pair felt a good fit and just right so I looked up the label (LauRie) online, and found another pair with 60% off!  My size, my colour. Slim Straight leg, no tabs, zips, pockets, rivets, or bulky seams that spoil a smooth outline. Decent fabric, Free delivery. Yay!

Back to the recycle bin with three old pairs! Ptogress.

I want to feel delighted when i look in my wardrobe

Another small step - I also put like with like. How did it get in such a muddle?

Tell us what you want to feel and what you did with your wardrobe today?



NB Marie Kondo is doing a free 8 week tidy challenge. This week is week 2 and the category is clothes! I am asking myself if I am up to the challenge of her way of doing it - it looks like a huge effort, but I did it a few years ago and loved the result. Are any of you up for it?

Upcoming posts - Fantasy wardrobes, shopping online, the challenge of transitioning to 'normal', is it possible to make plans?, the Keto diet and autophagy....
4 Comments

Simply..what is your wardrobe....

25/7/2020

14 Comments

 
..trying to tell you?

I opened my wardrobe and tried to answer this question.

Try it?

More tomorrow....
14 Comments

Simply..a lockdown wardrobe....

19/7/2020

12 Comments

 
After the first few weeks of lockdown when I never got out of my gardeining clothes, I had a little online shop and got nearer to a 'capsule wardrobe' than ever before. It's an idea that has always quite appealed to me.

I bought three pairs of chinos and two new T shirts and teamed them up with two summery scarfs which I love.  I only wore the necklace once but it made me feel good when I did.


Picture
Picture

I would have liked two new pairs of coloured sandshoes, but buying shoes online is tricky and returning them even trickier, so I wore my old very faded but comfortable purple ones.

Simple.

Nice.

Clothes are still my fun.


12 Comments

Simply..so hard....

12/1/2020

23 Comments

 

Of all the hard things in life throwing away old shoes shouldn't really rank highly. But I find it really really difficult!


Picture

The faded purple sandshoes. There's somethin.g very nice about faded sandshoes on a hot summer day in the garden or on the beach. Though I also have a faded grey pair. Maybe I'll keep the spotted laces

The slippers are pretty horrible and I was given money at Christmas for a new pair.

Apart from a pair of tan patent shoes with a silver buckle which I bought when I was about eighteen from Russell and Bromley no less, these lime green Fly shoes are my favoutite shoes ever. One of them has a big hole in the sole. I bought another pair but they are a very slightly duller green - they don't have that zing whch makes my heart sing when I look at them. There is an old fashioned cobbler in Byres Road - the kind of man who is interested in shoes - I might just ask him if anything can be done....

The little boots, ten or more years old, have been so useful. Or they were until they began letting in water. You could put them in the washing machine.

Even books are easier to part with than shoes!

What do you find hardest to let go of?
23 Comments

Simply..a bargain....

4/1/2020

8 Comments

 

I do love a bargain and perhaps because I am a small size I am very lucky in the sales. In fact I rarely pay full price for anything.

This year I have bought a big warm scarf (50% off), a pair of shoes (25% off - so glad I waited) and this hat which I simply adore. (Children's department of M&S £12 reduced to £4.)

Don't laugh. It's age 6 - 10!  I'm not that small! Chilfdren these days must just have big heads....

Picture
Picture

It's my Venice hat.


Has anyone else been to the sales?
8 Comments

Simply..wild weather challenges....

9/12/2019

6 Comments

 
Picture

I felt lucky to get to the annual Click Sargent charity concert in the city  (start of Christmas proper, a heartwarming event)  and to get home again as winds of 47mph and heavy rain are causing some travel problems.

Dressing for the ferry,/bus, dinner, a concert, a party and an overnight stay is something of a challenge too!

Layers, of course. I bought this dress from COS and think it will serve me well for the season and beyond. It's wool and cotton.

I can wear it with a necklace (also from COS a few years ago) grey tights and my party shoes or with a big warm scarf, jeans and thermals underneath and my blue Fly shoes or boots.

Picture
Picture
Poor photograph - the scarf is navy and the shoes brgiht blue!
Picture
I bought this gift in the Christmas Market . IWouldn't it look lovely as a table centre with a large pillar candle in the centre?

Definitely getting in the festive mood now.  Are you?
6 Comments

Simply..laugh....

23/10/2019

8 Comments

 

I do love shoes and this year there seem to be lots that I really like, so this made me laugh..

Picture

I haven't bought any yet.

Can't make up my mind...
8 Comments

Simply..small changes....

13/9/2019

8 Comments

 
Picture
Picture

I do love all the seasons, and the fact that we have four, and I have always enjoyed changing things in my home to reflect the seasons,

I like to do it slowly. Incrementaly. The bowls of fragrant quince are on the summer rug - soon to be changed for the winter thicker one.

I've bought a new jacket and am wearing it with a summer scarf at the moment. Autumn is very much about textures isn't it.

Picture
Picture

Have you nade any seasonal changes yet? To your home and/or your wardrobe?
8 Comments

Simply stylish....

12/6/2019

14 Comments

 

I love this little bag, a surprise find in a local shop where I was just passing time till the bus came... Italian leather £19.95

Picture
I got a sweet hug from a laughing girl in the street who was holding a big notice saying FREE HUGS.

Both the bag and the hug were very cheering!
14 Comments

Simply..now where was I?

8/7/2018

10 Comments

 
Ah yes, getting dressed. I was reviewing how my life is simpler on a daily basis since I started writing Live Simply Simply Live... From when I open my eyes in the morning, listening to the first sounds and getting washed and dressed..

Isn't life easier in good weather? Cotton underwear, loose chinos and a linen shirt with sandshoes have been my 'uniform' for six or seven weeks now. So easy. So simple. Old comfy ones for gardening, newer crisp ones for going out for meals with friends - all in great colours with perhaps an added string of beads.  I am treating this heatwave as a holiday at home and as we now have a village restaurant within walking distance I am taking full advantage of it.

I've loved having worked out what I like and what suits me and have pretty much stayed with that look since this post.

Fewer decisions.

fewer mistakes.

Have you figured out your style? And thus simplified your wardrobe? And your life?

Picture

There are quite a lot of posts to browse under Simply Stylish (clothes are my fun!)
10 Comments

Simply stylish....

22/3/2018

21 Comments

 

I love this top from COS. Clever tucks and folds have created a lovely shape and the disjointed pattern on the fabric adds to the complexity, yet it is not fussy. Deconstructed is the word that comes to mind!

I plan to make it the foundation of a capsule wardrobe, something I've always liked the sound of but never really focussed on before.

Picture
21 Comments

Simply..stylish....

11/10/2017

10 Comments

 

I've been on this theme for well over a week but it has led me to such interesting places - sociology, psychology, history, nostalgia.... There are some great books and blogs to explore.

I reminisced in yesterday's post about my family's interest in making things, clothes included. The things they made were more homely than fashionable but in my father's family (coal miners) Great Aunt Jen, Aunt Nan who worked in the fashion department of a big store, and Aunt Margaret who was very pretty had style.

Aunt Jen was housekeeper to a wealthy family, and when she visited home, a two roomed house (that's not two bed-roomed, that's two-roomed with outside toilet shared with another family) I remember her furs, hats, discreet make up, jewellery and perfume - all in the best of taste, and understated, never flamboyant. The lovely thing was she was perfectly at ease about these things and shared her pleasure in them with us all. I think ease with whatever you are wearing is a hallmark of real style. She was quite a character, with a great sense of humour, and I wish I knew more about her. She holidayed in Switzerland. Switzerland!! It might as well have been the moon.

We were thrifty and frugal but knew quality when we saw it. I remember my Mum showing me how some cloth was full of dressings which would wash out and leave the fabric limp. She would also examine the weave for closeness (thread count though we didn't call it that).

Studying Printed Textiles at Glasgow School of Art further refined my eye for good quality, design, and style and when I see someone or something with style I always do a quick analysis - it's fascinating to me, and fun.

What were your influences?

Picture
My Mum knitted me this beautiful jacket to a Kaffe Fassett design.
10 Comments
<<Previous

    Categories

    All
    Live Simply
    Live Simply
    Simple
    Simply Beautiful
    Simply Bin It
    Simply Chill
    Simply Christmas
    Simply Christmas
    Simply Do A Good Deed
    Simply Draw
    Simply Draw
    Simply Eat
    Simply Fitter
    Simply Fun
    Simply Get Rid
    Simply Grow
    Simply Headspace
    Simply Holiday
    Simply Home
    Simply Home
    Simply Inspirational
    Simply Laugh
    Simply Learn
    Simply Listen
    Simply Live
    Simply Low Maintenance
    Simply Money
    Simply Move
    Simply Move
    Simply Organise
    Simply Paint
    Simply Routine
    Simply Seeing.. Or Not
    Simply Stylish
    Simply Venice
    Simply Write


    Author

    An artist seeking a simpler life - (but not too simple!)

    All words and images copyright Freda Waldapfel 2010 - 2020

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.