Summer brings my favourite outfits

You might have noticed I haven't shared as many outfit pictures in recent times as in the past. There are various reasons for this but one being the fact that I find that my love for Winter and cold-weather outfits is significantly smaller than my love for Summer clothes. I just adore Summer outfits and find I just like sharing what I wear. Even if it's just a dress with little or no other styling, I still enjoy seeing and remembering them! 

So, here are a few I've worn in recent weeks. 

CBC and I went to the beach last Saturday after a wander in a town to get some essential refill items we had completely run out of. 

The skirt was Monsoon, charity shopped, and beautifully light-weight cotton. The top is, also Monsoon and linen. It's a little awkward to style but I feel cool in it! The little cotton waistcoat is embroidered and I bought it recently from Vinted. It's a little big for me but I have seen Vix wearing so many pretty waistcoats like this and wanted to try it! 

This dress is just F&F at Tesco, charity-shopped. It's a light cotton and I wore it on that hot Saturday a few weeks ago and perfect for a hot day where you want to be covered up. I wore it to go for a mooch around the shops when CBC was away and I added this Boden Cashmere cardigan I bought that day for £4 and this cute hat which I needed as I'd forgotten a hat! Plus my gold sequinned Tom pumps. 

The next outfit was worn for church the next day and then school and features my Miss Patina sailor cardigan. I added my cats as mermaids skirt, also Miss Patina plus my Clarks Funny dream shoes. And the hat! 

Another Miss Patina outfit. I tried this beautiful light-weight linen/cotton pinafore with lace trim and the cotton blouse.  I actually ended up swapping it for a darker linen version. Now looking at these pics, I'm kind of regretting swapping it but I wasn't sure about it! 

The final outfit was worn for Cultural Day at school. Last year, I wore a Greek dress (for my Greek grandma) and I did debate wearing the White F&F dress above as it has Grecian look and colours but also almost Scottish flags for some ancestors but in the end, I wore this beautiful Laura Ashley cotton lawn dress. Nothing screams English more than Laura Ashley, especially with roses. When I first wore it on this blog about 14 years ago, it was too big for me but now it fits perfectly. Soooo many compliments from staff, kids (all genders!). 

I wore this hat with it all day. 

I've got to talk about the Cultural Day. 

It was, like last year, an incredible day! 

Everyone was dressed in outfits which they felt reflected a culture they have a connection or background to. 

Last year, the same week, we did three morning performances on 3 days in Mid-July to parents featuring songs from multiple cultures represented in my school. 

This year, as it was May and we had only had 6 weeks to learn songs, we just did internal assemblies. Also, we have been having a focus on representing South Asian cultures. As part of this, I had sent out a request to staff to see if anyone was willing to do a short term club to teach some sort of South Asian dance. To my delight,  3 members of staff volunteered to run clubs for 3 different year groups and different types of dace- one Rajusthani puppet dance for year 1-2, another Dandiya stick dance to year 3-4 and another Bhangra dance to year 5-6.

In each assembly, all three dance groups performed, brilliantly.

In Year 1-2, I had taught them, and they sang 3 songs.  Ghum Parani from Bangladesh, Anile, Anile O diva from Sri Lanka and Ali Baba from Afghanistan.  They did such a sweet job of the songs especially the Afghan song.

In year 3-4, I taught them Khamma Mana Nanderji from India and Alef Ba (alphabet song) from Afghanistan and in addition , recorder club played a piece from Jamaica.

In year 5-6, they sang Alef Ba from Afghanistan and Eso Eso by Rabindrath Tagore from the West Bengal/Bangledesh and drumming club performed some Bhangra Chaal drumming rhythmson snare drums.  The whole day was extremely joyful and I was so proud of all the children.

One lovely member of staff came and gave me a hug when she heard Eso Eso as she said she had sung that in school and loved it and was so glad I had helped her twin girls learn some songs from their cultural background when they had shown little interest when she had tried to interest them in it. This really touched me!

 

TARDIS Tuesday- Ace and the Greatest Show in the galaxy!

I'm camping and have lost all track of the days. Is it Tuesday today? 

TARDIS Tuesday tody features an outfit worn by 7th Doctor companion, Ace McShane. I last wore it on here in January 2023. 

It is from Classic Who and is worn by Ace (played by Sophie Aldred) in an serial called 'The Greatest Show in the Galaxy'. Unusually, she doesn't wear her ubiquitous Bomber Jacket in much of the story which means we actually get a proper look at her top. Like my much-cosplayed companion, Yaz, she seems to wear this jacket ALL the time so it makes identifying the features of their clothing, particularly tops, very difficult!

Let's look at the original:

Image borrowed from 
The Ultimate Guide to the Fashion of Doctor Who

And here I am:

This time, I wasn't going for total accuracy, but a wearable outfit, based on it and what I could find. 

I started with one of my Seasalt sailor tops. I haven't actually worn this particular top for this Ace outfit. FYI, it was charity shopped in Halstead, Suffolk a few years ago. 

I have a more accurate skirt but I wanted to wear this charity shopped Far Face skirt as it is a bit longer. 

Of course, I didn't want to miss an opportunity to wear my Ang customised Ace bomber. Isn't it brilliant?? 

The Clarks boots from last week and then I added my Luftwaffe cap badge from my Clara Nightmare in Silver cosplay as a nod to Ace's patches. 

Also, Ace had a Blue Peter badge so I'm proudly displaying MY Blue Peter competition winner's badge! I won it, as well as an Oscar's Orchestra video for being one of 100 runners up out of 28,000 competition entries. Sadly, the pin fell off ages ago.

 

The rainbow dress strikes back!

Hello there!

Before I start waffling, here's some music for you to listen to. I've not heard this piece by the English Composer, Gustav Holst (he of the Planets!) before but I was delighted by the opening music between viola and flute.

The term has ended and the last week went well.

The school concert went really well without too many mishaps and most of the children and their parents turned up. We started 15minutes late so it overran but I was really proud of how well the children performed.   

One delightful thing that occurred was that I applied for a scholarship for one of my year 5 boys who we have been partly funding for flute lessons this year. He has really taken to it and worked hard and I wanted to ensure that he would be able to carry on after he left me so I applied to the London Music Fund and to my delight, he was selected to receive funding for lessons for 4 years.  Such an opportunity for him!

I bought the children involved in the concert choc-ices (the only ice-cream/lolly product which comes in no plastic packaging!)  to say thank you for their hard work and I was delighted with the serendipity that I had bought just enough for everyone AND enough to give one also to the children who had helped out and done extra jobs like putting away my singing assembly things each week and for tidying up the music room.

At the weekend, CBC and I went to camp in Snowdonia for the weekend.  I had a stinking cold but had a gorgeous time and will share some photos soon.

I bade a sad goodbye to CBC this evening as he drove off to Portsmouth to catch the overnight ferry to France.  We are to be parted for 2 weeks as we do different things - he is a checkpoint monitor for the Transcontinental Cycling Race and I am to go to music camp.

Enough waffling, I found some photos from last Summer (on my lost camera which turned up- it was in the walking rucksack!!!) of when I styled the Madras check dress in yet another way.

Let's have a look:

I wore the dress with its V-beck crossover side which I rarely wear as I prefer the straight one but I wore it the other way round here.

I added my pink Peri top underneath with a matching pink rose in my hair and a pink belt.

I added my red polka dot skirt underneath to give an extra layer of pattern to the dress

I decided to hoik up the hem of the dress on one side to see if that gave another dimension to this.

I am not 100% sure I liked this outfit totally but certainly it was different from how I've worn it on other occasions!

Plus my George @Asda blue and gold velvet pumps!

I've been practicing for our flute recital on Friday

Very excited as we've practised lots! I HOPE people come to watch especially as my friend Tony is coming from Kent as we are performing his beautiful arrangement of Debussy Petite suite for two flutes and piano for the first time.

x

 

The Rainbow dress worn sideways!

You always know it's Summer when my rainbow dress gets an outing!  It likes to be a chameleon, cropping up in outfits in new and different combinations!

It was on Sunday, that I suddenly had a thought.

Could I turn the dress sideways, get my head through one of the shoulder straps- could I make it into a halter-neck dress?

After a little experimenting, and one moment of panic, I discovered...

Yes I could!

I discovered, that I could get my head into the hole. Although the pattern matching at the seam isn't great, it still worked!

At the back, I tucked in the other strap so it had a slightly lower back.

As it is a circle skirt, I suddenly thought about adding a tulle petticoat underneath to give it a bit of body and to puff it out.  I added my TARDIS blue one!

A black belt to cinch the waist.  Perhaps a blue one would have been better but I only have turquoise, not electric blue.

I decided to pin my hair up with a flower clip from Bali.

Here's a side view.

I decided to wear my TARDIS blue floral Irregular Choice pumps to go with the tulle petticoat.

What do you think of this new take on the dress?

Do you have any other suggestions for this dress styling?

xx

TARDIS Tuesday - Peri Brown, Planet of fire!

Hello there!

With a week's break from TARDIS Tuesday, I am returning with a Summer favourite from Peri Brown, 80's companion!

It featured in back to back serials- Planet of Fire and The Caves of Androzani!

Last worn in May 2023, this will be its 4th outing on the blog!

Let's look at the outfit:

https://medium.com/doctorwhomarathon/day-316-november-12th-2021-13a9408ff41b

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-my-life-as-a-fan-part-3/

It features pink high-waisted shorts, a white/rainbowy checked shirt with white pumps and a pink bikini top.

Today's version looks much better than last time, possibly due to smiling even though the garments are identical to last time!

All the items I wore were charity-shopped over the years- pink 80's shorts, a Select rainbow pastel blouse, Rieker white pumps and then red bikini top!

 I think this is a pretty good match on this outfit and it doesn't look too costumey, unlike a lot of Peri's looks! Not quite as pink as my previous Peri outing!

Had a lovely day today (Monday) playing flute trios with my quartet (one member ill).  I reached the house of my friend via train and bus and it was an adventure getting the bus! 

Hope all is well with you!

xx

TARDIS Tuesday- Peri Brown from Mindwarp

 Today's TARDIS Tuesday last featured in May 2022 and features one of my earliest TV memories. It was an outfit worn by 80's companion, Peri Brown, played by Nicola Bryant.

Let's have a look at what is quite a pyjama-y look:

https://archivetvmusings.blog/2014/10/26/now-i-am-she-alive-within-this-oh-so-wonderful-wonderful-frame-doctor-who-the-trial-of-a-time-lord-mindwarp/

https://www.herocollector.com/en-us/Article/doctor-who-omega-returns 

https://chancenovember.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/trial-of-a-time-lord-2-mindwarp/ 

https://theultimateguidetothefashionofdoctorwho.wordpress.com/2017/02/04/perpugilliam-peri-brown-trial-of-a-time-lord-mind-warp/

Here's my 2024 Mindwarp rendition:

I'm going to start with the newest item in this outfit which actually won't be residing with me much longer. This kimono came from a charity shop in Chelmsford, originally New Look. The one I wore for my previous version of this Peri outfit was also from New Look and charity shopped.  Last Summer, we went to see CBC's friend who was over staying with her mum from Sweden and I wore that kimono.  She admired it and asked where I got it from. I told her where it was from and where I got it.  She mentioned it looked lovely for the Summer. I stored that information in my mind.  Hence, when I saw this one in the charity shop for £4, I remembered her admiring it and decided to pick it up for her as I knew she is back in July and CBC would be seeing her (they are going to see Frozen together but I can't go because I am performing the solo flute part for Bach's Brandenburg Concerto no. 2).  This weekend, I finally did my Summer wardrobe swap over and got the blue linen trousers out (which Ang fixed for me last Summer!) I saw the kimono folded in the spare room, lying on the bed and figured, I should wear it just this once for TARDIS Tuesday.

Along with a pink top I bought for another Peri cosplay and the aforementioned linen trousers (which I IRONED!) plus my actual kimono cord as a belt plus some Aldo heels and I was ready to go.  It's a nod to the original look rather than a direct recreation but I like it! It's very much 80's bold colours and patterns.

This week is very busy. I have 4 performances of Chicago with CBC as well as various Treasure Island practices at school and then a Sunday morning rehearsal of the Rite of Spring plus CBC's Mum is coming to stay to see Chicago so now the mad frantic clean and tidy of a very, very messy and dirty house must ensue!

I hope your life is less frenetic (and hopefully cleaner!) 

xx

dfdfd

TARDIS Tuesday- Romana's swansong look from Warrior's Gate

Hello there!

For TARDIS Tuesday this week, I am debuting a new outfit AND it's another red one! 

It features in my favourite Classic Who companion, Romana's final serial called Warrior's Gate.

Romana had a real eclectic, costumey set of outfits in her wardrobe and her style is very much up my street!

Today's one is quite different from her usual look but not her usual colours:

Here's the designer's initial drawing of the outfit:

http://www.4thdoctorcostume.com/2015/06/lalla-wards-time-capsule.html

https://aminoapps.com/c/doctor-who-cast-crew/page/blog/romana-iis-outfits-ranked/6qpR_leSzukZwpj3n1ZVGYpKqKDpLlg15

As you can see, she wears matching red socks to go with the top and black Mary Jane shoes to match her black trousers.

https://doctorwhoworlduk.com/romana-2-gallery

The high-necked, almost Mandarain look blouse has covered buttons all over it- I hope there's another way to get in and out of it as otherwise, that set of buttons would take a LOT of time to do!

Here's my look!

I started with a high-necked top from River Island (bought from Vinted) which has lovely flowing sleeves. It's not my usual top silhouette but is really comfortable.  Although I didn't have identical coloured socks to accompany it, at a distance, they seem to match.  I wore these socks for my Romana Shada outfit too!

My shoes are from Clarks and are T-bar shoes but I tucked in the  T-bar and kept the ankle strap part.

You can see those lovely sleeves in this picture (which is a behind the scenes picture from @doctorwho_60s_70s_80s

Couldn't resist trying to (VERY BADLY!) recreate this picture!  Ha, ha, how bad is my editing!!! The MS Publisher equivalent of using Paint program!

The silhouette of this look, for me, is very much, Female Conductor! I feel like I've seen female conductors wear something similar in different colours! I would wear this for a choir performance when conducting or leading them!

I recently watched this on BBC iPlayer for the 2nd time and I enjoyed it but there was a lot of to-and-froing plus I thought the way Romana left was very abrupt!!!

What do you think of this look?  For a lot of Who characters, they find this look kind of boring but I like the thought of this being in silk!

xx

Happy Easter!

Wishing you a joyful Easter!!! 

Christ has died

Christ has risen

Christ will come again!

My Easter weekend has been one of joy and rest as well as being busy!

The school term ended on Thursday! I spent most of the day doing what is called Pupil Voice with children from each year group.  It's something one has to do nowadays as a subject leader in school.  Interview a small group of students to find out what they are learning in that subject to check it is being taught comprehensively, fully and to find out what is working for children/teachers and that the subject is going according to plan.

It's a pain to do but it's useful and interesting and also reassuring (and frustrating when they can't remember things and you have to prompt them!.  Not sure what possessed me to ask them 20 questions this time!

In between that, I took my Samba band up to the hall to perform for the Easter Bonnet parades (as it was raining and windy, we had to do separate ones inside!).  The kids were incredible at performing the Samba and everyone was gushing about how good they were! I love that 1/4 of the group have SEND and are all brilliant!

Once I'd cleared up my room and sent some essential emails (annoyingly cannot access my school email at the moment from home!), I headed home.

I dumped my massive collection of things at home and headed to the doctor's surgery to see the nurse to see if I had a water infection (as have had abnominal pain for the past 2 weeks).  Traces of blood but not infection so she managed to get me in for a Saturday afternoon appointment for the Doctor.

I headed home for a quick snack and then cycled in the dark to church.  The wind was CRAZY!!! Rocking up on my bike to church through dark fields was interesting!

Our vicar is not very well at the moment and the lovely lady who regularly plays piano and leads workshop is currently receiving treatment after surgery so I was on for most of the Easter services.

It was a wonderful calm in the church in the midst of the hurricane outside. The service was beautiful and I only made a few bad crashes on the piano.

I came home and made dinner for myself.

Good Friday, after some sleep but not as much as I'd have hoped (SOMEONE's alarm went off at 6.45am and has done for the past 3 days!!!) I got up and cycled to the other church for the 10.30am Good Friday service. The wind was very much against me and I arrived bright-red and sweaty as I climbed the hill to church...annoyingly 5minutes too late to play flute (which I was going to do to support the lovely lady who was playing the piano for the first time since her op.

Again, it was a lovely service. We laid hearts at the foot of the cross and it was beautiful to be there. I was very glad I'd attempted the cycle.

As I waffle about my weekend, here are some photos of what I wore for Easter Sunday!

I cannot quite believe I have never worn this coat on this blog before but I honestly think it is true. I actually don't think I've worn this coat for about 10 years!  I bought it about 20 years ago from Mathew Williamson at Debenhams in the sale for either £30 or £40 and it is covered in beautiful floral embroidery! My mum was SO jealous of me when I bought it, when we still lived together.  She wore it a couple of times too!

For church I wore this floral Laura Ashley dress from the 80's that my Recorder teacher, Maggie gave to my mum.  Fast forward to 2021 and mum gave it to me where I wore it for my friend's Jane Austen themed Hen day! It's the most sumptuously soft cotton lawn.

Worn with my Karen Millen (charity-shopped) cardigan and some blue boots bought in Florence 2019!

Saturday, I did washing and some cleaning (including successfully using Nancy Birtwhistle's technique to remove some limescale from the taps in the bathrooms!).

CBC took me to my Doctor's appointment.  He's referred me to see a Urologist and to get some scans and ultrasounds (within 2weeks hopefully) plus a bloodtest.  I'm hoping it's Kidney stones perhaps but not sure.

CBC and I then drove to a cycle shop to enquire about a Bike Box as he is taking part in the Mallorca 312 in 3 weeks and we went and we went and had some late lunch at a Pizza restaurant. We shared a Puttanesca pizza with a garlic butter glaze on the crust and it was amazing!!! I don't say that about Pizza very often! We went for a short walk to the seafront and then we returned home

At home, we did some bits and pieces and I read and then I made some dinner.

Easter Sunday, as my abdomen was hurting in the night, I was really tired when my alarm went off at what was (due to clocks going forward) 5am, and I was really sad to miss the 6.15am sunrise service at church.  I got up at 8.30am and was at church by 9.05am to play piano.

It was a lovely, joyful service and I didn't make any major mistakes on the piano! I love this small country church- such a lovely gentle congregation.  After the service, I got a lift to the other church (we have a 2 church parish) for the second service I was playing for. Same songs but totally different service.  Equally joyful but in such a different way! I was inspired and invigorated by the services and am grateful to have faith in a God who loves me!

After church, I cycled home (downhill this time) and ate breakfast with CBC who had STILL not left for cycling. I carried on reading and then spent quite a gentle afternoon.

CBC and I just got back from buying each other an Easter egg at Sainsbury's and we are about to eat dinner!

Wishing you the joy of Easter and fresh chances

xx

I cy