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!

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.

Scarves

 
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!

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

..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.

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!

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

I have plans for some sunshine!

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?

Love them!

The rest of the online shopping?

Not so good....

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.

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!

Among my copious notes I found this advice -

If the shoe fits, buy it in every colour!

!
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...

..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.

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.

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.

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.

I had the beach to myself this afternoon.

..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.

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.

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....

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...

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....

..trying to tell you?

I opened my wardrobe and tried to answer this question.

Try it?

More tomorrow....

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.

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.

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

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?

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....

It's my Venice hat.

Has anyone else been to the sales?

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.

Poor photograph - the scarf is navy and the shoes brgiht blue!

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?

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

I haven't bought any yet.

Can't make up my mind...

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.

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

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

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!

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?

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

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.

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?

My Mum knitted me this beautiful jacket to a Kaffe Fassett design.