TARDIS Tuesday- Summer 3rd Doctor feminine outfit inspiration AND tropical concert outfit!

Hello!  

Today for TARDIS Tuesday, I thought I'd do something a bit different.  I am featuring an outfit worn by 3rd Doctor and dandy- Jon Pertwee in an episode called The Time Warrior.  I did a version of this back in November 2018, almost 4 years ago

Image borrowed from this Pinterest

Image borrowed from 
this Pinterest

It's such a gorgeous outfit but, you are probably screaming at the screen, "KEZZZIEEEEEE, it's Scorchio maximo out there this week! Are you mad to don this outfit?!"

Well, no.  I thought it would be fun to do some Summer spins on some of the Doctor outfits.  Rather than trying to do a direct recreation of an outfit, I would use one of the outfits as the inspiration and basis of an outfit that works for the weather.  

And here it is:

As you can see, it is a bit different. I will talk you through it.

In place of the Dr's black trousers, I wore a black Broderie Anglaise skirt from Kew (charity shopped for £1).  It's perfect and light for Summer.

In place of the green velvet Smoking jacket, I donned a green cardigan from Dorothy Perkins (also charity shopped) as I like to have a cover-up in the hot sun and if I come home late and it is chillier when cycling.

In place of his tan shoes, I wore my tan Mary Jane shoes (they of the hanging-off strap).Also charity-shopped.

I wore the same ruffled blouse I wore last time for this outfit (did you realise it was sleeveless???).

It is charity-shopped Boden and has sublime ruffles! And last time, I was worried about ironing it...well, I didn't bother and I don't mind the effect!

In place of a black/grey bowtie, I wore this beautiful purple St Michael's Lady tie which I charity-shopped a couple of months ago. I could have worn my black version but decided I wanted the fun purple.

The final touch was my Ocarina necklace in place of his Loupe/eyeglass/dangling thing round neck.  It is a playable instrument and has the same sort of shape, if rather different!

And that's my outfit!

I WAS going to wear it today for my school trip BUT, I decided to wear something a bit more funky and Tropical for reasons which will become apparent.

I took my school choir and drumming club to another school within our School Partnership group.  There are 10 schools within it and we were all invited to bring a 10 minute arts performance of some sort. My head teacher asked me if I had something in mind. I instantly thought of a way to include BOTH groups in one item due to a serendipitous song choice this term.  I named our contribution: Tropic Vibes. We performed The Peanut Vendor song by choir which is from Cuba and it was accompanied by Drumming Club on Brazilian samba instruments.  

At the end of the song, I got all of the choir (who weren't in drumming club) to form 4 conga lines who then paraded to a Conga riff round the back of Drumming Club who were behind.  They then whipped out their coloured chiffon scarves and I got out my Samba whistle and segued straight into a Samba piece with the choir responding to my call and response rhythms with movements with their scarves whilst the drummers played their rhythms.

The children did absolutely fantastically and really did sound impressive!  The audience went wild and joined in the movement and call and response patterns and I was super pleased with them!  They behaved really well too and we had loads of positive feedback. An Argentinian teacher in the audience told me it made her feel like she was back home. The kids were really happy and thankful for their experience.  We loved meeting all the other schools and seeing how different schools approached the brief in different ways- there were 2 expressive dance groups, some violinists, some dramatic poetry reading and the rest songs.  My headteacher, who came along with me, was very proud too and has asked us to perform it in Whole School assembly on Friday afternoon in the playground with all the school watching!

Want a bonus outfit? This is what I wore instead!

I wore my Emily and Fin parrot and orange jumpsuit with Lorelai orange earrings made from recycled drink straws.

Layered up with a white linen M&S shirt for sun protection and a vintage straw and raw silk hat plus Rieker sandals.

It was a super day! I didn't have to teach year 1 and 2 all day either which was the BEST part of it!

Hope you are well!

xx

 

Why are there no Aspirin in the Jungle?

Answer... because the Parrots eat 'em all!

I love jokes based on homophones or phrases that can be heard as something else!  Never grows old!


No TARDIS Tuesday today.  I haven't been wearing anything Doctor Whoish and I didn't just want to get into something for the sake of it.  So, instead, I thought I'd join in with Style Imitating Art- something I haven't done for a while.

Van Gogh’s “Still Life with Blue Enamel Coffeepot, Earthenware and Fruit”

This is the piece we are studying this time.  The Blue Enamel post is the star of the piece but the oranges and lemons feature highly.

Here is my outif

This is an outfit which I confess that I LOVE!  Although it is a bit tenuous, it does feature a dark blue as the central feature, liberally sprinkled with oranges.  

This outfit is one I perhaps did not expect to share on here!

It is a jumpsuit!

I have objections to jumpsuits- namely the difficulty in visiting the bathroom in them.

But, I was in a lovely shop called Wish Boutique in Leigh-on-Seaon Saturday and they had this beautiful jumpsuit which I was curiously drawn to.  I was OBSESSEd with Scarlet Macaws as a child and my younger self is squealing at the thought of an outfit with them all over it.  Hey, my first ever charity shop purchase as a child was a white t-shirt with a sequined Scarlet Macaw on it!

I have a really nice, "Shop local," story associated with buying this.  The aforementioned shop stocks Emily and Fin clothing which I really like as they are 100% cotton, fully lined, have pockets, interesting designs and fit really well.  I own several of their dresses, most of which bought second-hand, with vouchers or as a present (except one or two)-  here are a few posts featuring them.  I'd seen a beautiful rainbow-checked shirt dress online which I loved and last time I went in this shop, they had the strappy version of that dress and I'd asked the lovely shop owner if she had the shirt dress version. She hadn't but advised me to try online from Emily and Fin direct. 
When I went in on Saturday, I looked at the alternative one again and she asked me if I had managed to find the shirt dress version. I replied that I had seen it but I preferred to buy from an actual shop, rather than online.  She was really touched by my saying that.   Then I spotted the Parrot jumpsuit and tried it on.  I decided, since I am going to sign up for a Slow fashion challenge (buy nothing, mend or buy second hand), I would just buy this item as a last hooray. I also thought that I wanted to support this lovely independent shop that is so beautifully curated.  As I paid for it, grappling with my phone- She gave me my receipt and said to me, "I've given you a discount on the price,".  I looked at her surprised (having not noticed) and said, "Thank you very much - that is so kind,".  At which point, she looked at me, smiled and quietly said, "Thank YOU for shopping local."
As I left, I noticed that she had given me £6 off the price and when I checked online later, this jumpsuit was £5 more expensive online anyway. so I saved £11 by shopping local.   It was a kind gesture from her.

I can confirm that  I was superbly comfortable all day in this outfit and I felt really stylish and, shock horrors, maybe even a little on-trend (whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat/???? WHO AM I???).  The loo-going experience at my Dad's house was, I admit, a bit weird but it was fine! Not sure how I'd feel about a skanky public loo though!


If you fancy seeing how everyone else interpreted the Van Gogh- head over to Kim at Fierce Fashion blog to find out more!

x

11 top charity shopped items of the year.

I failed with the Buyer's archive for the latter part of the year so I thought I'd share my top 10 charity-shopped items from 2017 as we all love a good nosy.  Most of these you must have seen, some you may remember, some you may have forgotten. Some you will have never seen,,,

1.  Sheepskin jacket.

This featured in yesterday's post.  I have wanted a sheepskin jacket for such a long time but they are very expensive and hard to fit to narrow shoulders. This beauty was £25 in the Dogs Trust charity shop.  I should point out that it is completely lined in sheepkin, not just the collar- utterly sublime to wear!

2.  Cath Kidston- Stop Thief bag

This was £7.99 from Sue Ryder. Brand new with tags though and I already have the dress to match so I was glad to give the money to the shop in exchange for it. That said, that Charity shop has always been expensive but they must have realised that they didn't do too well since they seem to have priced things more reasonably recently..Anyway, it has been my school bag since September and is an improvement on my older, non-waterproof attempts!

3.  Topshop Contrast lined mac

Image from Topshop.com

I have used the Topshop photo for this as it is really hard to photograph in the awful light at home! This was £7.99 in my local charity shop. I really like it as it is a light cotton jacket but with a hood.  Also, it is the screen accurate design for a Clara Oswald outfit from Doctor Who although in black rather than green and that item is rather rare and difficult to find so I was rather chuffed to find one in the charity shop. If I get bored of it, I could probably sell it!

4. Emily and Fin floral dress

Wearing my floral dress at Rainham marshes

It IS lethal having charity shops within walking distance of the house. Soooo easy to nip into the charity shop onto the way to the supermarket, station, library, swimming pool, post office...  However, I was really chuffed to find this Emily and Fin cotton dress for £6.99.  100% cotton, lined, pockets...

5.  1970's black and pink dress

1970's dress in September sunshine

The elusive cotton 1970's maxi!  I longed for such a garment for so long, having seen Vix picking them up like I pick up bags of crisps. Not in Essex. Until one day.  This beauty was mine for £5.99 I think plus it has a belt! Long enough for me!

6.  Blue cowled dress

Blue cowl dress for a summer concert

This was an absolute gem at £1.99 from my local Barnados. I have a few problems with light summer maxi-dresses generally: firstly, they are inevitably too short on long-limbed moi and so they look ridiculous. The other problem is that a lot of them are obscenely low cut, often like a bra with long material hanging down which I absolutely abhor. This darling is lacking in neither department as well as ebing really pretty and elegant with lace and a cowl back. In addition, it is a crinkly material which requires no ironing so I can legitimately be creased rather than lazily creased.  A good holiday smart dress...

7. And other stories navy beaded dress

Navy blue dress in Brighton

This dress was £1.99 from my wonderful Barnados and still had its £65.00 price-tags on.  It really is the perfect summer dress for a hot day as it has really low arm holes (so no horrible armpit issues) and it has a really pretty low back.   This was my lazy slouching dress in South Africa as well as most of last Summer!

8. H by Henry Holland navy collared dress

Collared dress.

I am an absolute glutton for a decorative collar and this one was one I had admired first time round.  £2.49 in Marie Curie Cancer Care. It was a size 12 I think so plenty of room.

9.  Henry Holland Sailor collar top

Collared top

I confessed this in the Buyer's Archive but I already have this top in a Size 6 and I love it but permanently worry about it shrinking so I  bought this size 12 one and for only £1.49, didn't break the bank...

10.  Topshop sailor jumper

Aye aye captain in the Spring.

The Topshop sailor sweater was a no brainer. It did cost £7.99 from Sue Ryder I think but if a sailor item turns up in a charity shop, I am powerless to resist..

10. Emily and Fin fireworks dress

A dress I saw on a blog and liked...

This Emily and Fin dress was located in Barnados back in April for £9.99. But it did have its £65 pricetag on it so I didn't mind particularly as it was one I'd seen and wanted. 100% cotton, lined and pockets ladies!

I guess. whilst the downside of living where I do is that house prices are ridiculously expensive, the type of goods people donate their books to charity shops is great so I am glad there are SOME upsides for living in the South East,


Oh and here's my favourite pile of charity-shopped books of the year.  All this lot for £6 and some real brilliant ones here

10 books for £6

What were your top 10 (or 11 if you can't narrow it down like me) charity-shopped or indeed, non-charity-shopped items this year?

xxx

5 brooches #41

Hello my dears!

I hope you are well!

All is fine here, just rather tired.  I have a busy weekend coming up. That choir concert I mentioned last week tomorrow, plus viewing some houses in the morning. On Sunday, I am playing for the church service which means a 9am rehearsal and then we are going canoeing in East London and finishing up swimming at the Olympic Aquatic Centre!

Anyway, before that, fancy some broochage?

 I rather love the Emily and Fin dress I wore here and felt it wanted some orange accessories so I teamed my You Make Me design brooch from Etsy (available in 6 pretty pastel shades)  and added my lemon slice necklace. I can't remember where I bought this!

 I had to photograph these two pins off rather than on as I hadn't a chance to photograph before changing into something else.
You might recognise the shapes of the left pin brooch. It was a pewter souvenir pin from the Giant's Causeway visitor centre from my cruise
The right hand pin, the Tudor rose, was also a souvenir from the cruise but from my next day's stop and adventures. Can you guess where we went after Belfast? You'll have to tune into my next cruise update to find out more.

A combination of two pins here.  The unicorn is a Punky Pins one and the pretty cloud comes from @FairytaleCollars on Instagram.    The necklace came from my Gloriously Glittery mystery box on Etsy also.

Any favourites here?
Have you worn any great brooches recently?
xxx

Ah, the bliss of Summer.

 You probably realise by now, that I LIKE putting together outfits, buying pretty things, combining clothing items. But, oh, Summer, true Summer, not that half-baked British excuse for it, when all you have to do is pull on a dress  and some sandals and you are good to go, oh how I love it.
I believe this is why my wardrobe is full of dresses- because I long for that simplicity.

Of course, it is fun to pull together many layers in the winter- I've taken to wearing shirts/blouses this past year, under dresses, but no matter what, in the winter- I always feel scruffy. Winter is about layers and somehow, when you are in a rush, it isn't so fun. Whereas Summer is relaxed, summer is casual, Summer is much more laissez-faire.

This Emily and Fin dress and I get on well. Pockets- check. Cotton- check, lined- check.  Machine washable- check. fun and flattering -check. Don't have to try my size on, it just fits- check!

Thank you to WOMOTM who gave me the birthday voucher I bought this with last year.  Who'd have thought I once shunned yellow.

Long may hot days, Summer and the carefree wearing of dresses continue.
xx

Sometimes I scream for ice-cream

Well maybe not, but sometimes I am a grumpy rat even if not a screaming rat.

CBC is VERY GOOD at trying to make interesting plans for the weekend. Inevitably though, they are often thrust upon me last minute. Or I have a headache. Or both. I am an ungrateful wretch but I do find it hard to be grateful when I have a headache. I just feel like the proverbial bear with a sore head.

Like yesterday.  CBC went off to cover some cello teaching for someone.  And then he came back and invited me out on a walk with his boss linked to World Challenge. I don't know why I was so grumpy about it except that I had a headache and it was raining and I had a headache.

 We went and although the headache did not subside, it was really good to be outside and walking.
He also wanted to go to the Leigh Folk Festival afterwards.

I don't really like outside festivals. It's a combination of crowds, no where to sit, being stuck in roasting sunshine, amplification and just the slow speed at which you can progress anywhere. And I had a headache (did I mention that!??!)

Yet, despite this, he was right that it was good to be there, although we didn't see alot and so we went along today after church. And despite my still being a grump and it being very hot, we saw some really wonderful music.  Cardboard Fox and Nick Pynn were amazing. So sometimes, it is worth being dragged out unwillingly.

Not much to say about the accompanying outfit except I wanted this Emily and Fin dress was SO LONG! I fell in love when I saw it on various bloggers. I resisted for a year and it sold out of course. But sometimes the odd Ebay search is fruitful and I got myself a new one for a third of the RRP in January and have bided my time to wear it.

Of course, I had to pair it with my DIY Ice-cream cone brooch!

Hope all of you had a good weekend.

xx

The Buyer's archive 2- April 2016

Hi there!

Joining with my second edition of the Buyer's archive with Elise and some other lovely ladies!

I thought this would be a good way to make my look at my spending (and hopefully shame me into spending less!). I thought it would but it seems this month, I did worse than last month- I truly and utterly went mad! Honestly don't know what went wrong with me! On the flip side of it, I got some incredible bargains!

Onto the shame:

 I went to TK Maxx with my sister after going out for dinner at the end of the Easter holidays and bought her some running gear as a birthday present. As I was looking, I spied this light denim shirt by SH Denim which was reduced to £13.00.  I also bought this shirt in the Helen Rollason charity shop for £4.25 from Next that week. Didn't need either but have already worn both a few times. Both fit really well.

The next few items were all bought in old my local Barnado's - they ALWAYS have really nice things in there- that's where I bought my tap shoes.

 The Newlook white collared top was £2.49 and I thought it was a great staple top for work in the summer when I want to wear a skirt with a sleeveless top (we're not allowed to wear strappy tops). I lack basics for summer like this as I always go for patterns.
To demonstrate the above point, this George floral and polka dot top was £1.99.

 I made a bee-line for these polka-dots. I can spot a me-pattern a mile off,hidden amongst items. This skirt was so pretty- mint polka dots, coral scalloped hem, red waist-band AND pockets- brand new with tags. Only £1.99!

The next item was probably my item of the month. I saw this Emily & Fin dress hiding amongst a whole selection of beautiful Monsoon dresses and I was so excited as I had loved this dress when I saw it on A Million Dresses blog. Emily & Fin dresses are made of 100% cotton, fully lined with pockets.I already have this dress in a different print. I couldn't believe it still had its £65 price-tag on. At £9.99, it was more than an average charity-shop dress price but it was a great saving on the original price!

As I was paying, I saw this necklace hanging on the pin-board and I saw it as something I could butcherize into a cute set of punctuation brooches! I don't wear big chunky chains like this but 99p for 5 potentially cute brooches-hurrah! They are all sparkly or mirrored!

 I thought that was it for the month.  I wish I hadn't been so weak..

That was the end of my Barnados splurge!

 The next item was from Age Concern and I really didn't need it. It still had its £17.99 price tag and cost £4.99. I thought this one was a better dupe for my Caretaker Clara cosplay so bought it. Probably shouldn't have but they let me in after they weren't supposed to and I felt somewhat obliged to buy something!

I'd totally forgotten about this purchase. I bought this Deer Arrow set of brooches for £4.50 + £2.00P&P from Ebay.

The last purchase was from Donna's instagram- a brand new Lindy-bop dress covered in retro TV's and radios. £18 posted.

The total is not as bad as I thought at  £64.19 but when you are saving for a house (and you have WAY too many clothes), it's much more than I should have.  Plus I bought a fair few books which I'll share in another post.

What have you bought this month?

If you head over to Elise's blog, she will let you know who is taking part in the Buyer's archive.

Here's Hazel's .  By the way, I am aware that I am somehow indirectly responsible for other participants' purchases this month! Oops, sorry Donna and Hazel!!

xx

Charity shop finds, voucher spends and the odd late birthday present

I didn't allow myself to buy anything that wasn't food or every day supplies during Lent as a fast of sorts.  E.g. No clothes or books.  I just felt it was something I needed to do and perhaps need to continue to do as I have far too much stuff (and I know I have tried to do this before and not managed to keep it up but doing it for Lent IS something I would keep up).  It is something I still need to change my mindset about. I KNOW I don't need more and I feel it so many times but I find myself drawn to buy things.  When I am feeling miserable about school or just excited to look round a charity shop are usually the times when I am more tempted.  

I ended up buying a few items after Easter Sunday although haven't spent a lot of money though still more than I should have done. I commend Char for her Year long shopping ban.

I received an ASOS voucher for my birthday from WOMOTM and ended buying two items which I had logged in Saved items. I had considered whether to buy them or not for a while and in the end, decided that I had liked them long enough and they weren't duplicates of items I had in my wardrobe

The first is this Emily and Fin Abigail mustard patterned cotton dress. I didn't have a mustard coloured dress, it's cotton and I liked the pattern. It is demure enough for school with a cardie but can be worn out.  It fits perfectly and just needs an iron (fat chance!)

The second item was these  Sugarhill Boutique denim linen polka dot shorts. Of course I love polka dots and the scalloped hem was cute. PLUS, they were actually made of cotton and linen which makes a change for this brand (Viscose- grr!) I like shorts for cycling (over the top of the embarrassing padded shorts) and for general holidays. Plus they are denim- something that doesn't come into my wardrobe that often!



Onto the books and the chazzers.  I borrowed the Hunger Games Book 1 from the school library and became utterly addicted, devouring it over 2 days. As we reached our last day in Northumberland, I couldn't bear the idea of not knowing what happened next. so I hit the jackpot in Oxfam Hexham with 'Catching Fire' Book 2 (not pictured- can't find it!). The very nice assistant asked me if I wanted anything else and I asked if there were any Railway Detective books and he pointed in front of me to 'Inspector Colbeck's case book'!   I should mention that before I tried Oxfam,I tried the Hospice charity book shop and instead came out with 3 Frances Doughty mysteries- I'd not read any but felt they'd have the ilk of my favourite reads (couldn't find the 3rd one for pictures- I think it's run off with HG2!)
As mentioned in Monday's post, I picked up the Hunger Games book 3 when meeting Melanie as I was going slowly insane not being able to get it in my local library or find it in a charity shop!

Finally, on Thursday, I picked up Diary of a Provincial Lady which I have long wanted to read but not bought in a Waterloo charity shop AND a copy of the Kafka which I have wanted to read the whole of since my A 'Level performing arts exam on Metamorphisis (which I got 97% for, dontcha know!)

This is the other Vintage Dress I picked up from Debbie Does Vintage. It probably looks too similar to any dresses I own,but since she'd only been open 3 weeks, I did want to buy something and this fitted me really well. It's C&A but I'm not sure of date. Is it vintage or just 90's? It's tiny for a 10 if so!

I've been admiring Char's sequin berets for ages and wanting to find a cheap one in a charity shop so I was glad to pick up this gold one for £1 in the Hexham Hospice charity shop.



My final (pictured) charity shop find was this gorgeous Orla Keilly red dress.  I couldn't believe it when I saw it. It has a darling tea-cup design on it and a sweet tiered hem (hard to see).  I can't wait to wear this when the weather goes back to what it was last week!

Penultimately, this was a gift but I saw my Dad for the first time since my birthday and he and my Step-Mum had chosen this gorgeous Cath Kidston Ric-rac dress for me which was perfect since I had dropped absolutely NO hints and they just thought I'd like it! You thought right!


Lastly, my Mum crocheted me this wonderful turquoise and aqua snood/infinity scarf.  I'd asked her if she'd make me one as I'd quite like a turquoise snood and so she made this beautiful coloured one. I love the two shades and when I saw her on Friday,it was fortunate as I was FREEZING and also wearing the right colours!


So, I've been really lucky with items found and items given. Have you bought or been bought anything recently or are you doing what I should be and NOT!!!!!  Do share, I love a nosy!

xxx

Umbrellas on the Sele

Thank you for your kind comments on my Photo Scavenger Hunt.  As you could probably tell, I was in Northumberland till Tuesday, now I am back!




Easter Sunday,  I had attended a joyful, packed Easter service at Hexham Abbey with my lovely Mother in law, J, and I was wearing the lovely birthday present, an Emily and Fin dress she had bought me (not shared on the birthday blog post as it hadn't arrived then).  She commented on how nice it looked at which point, I cheekily said, "In which case, you had better be my official photographer!".  She very gleefully (possibly tongue-in-cheek?)  said she'd be delighted!




I was really glad that the Abbey backs onto the Sele, a beautiful park in the centre of Hexham that has a delightful quaint old-feel about it.  We headed into there and she soon proved herself a great photographer, not impatient, suggesting different places and poses and we had a great laugh. I will definitely ask her again, she was very dilligent!





I should, at this point, say how much I liked the dress she chose for me. I like Emily and Fin because their dresses are 100% cotton,which I prefer SO much more to viscose and all those synthetic dresses around. I was delighted when she gave me this because I would never have chosen a tulip dress shape like this, being pear-shaped, I tend to favour looser skirt bottoms, so it was something different and since I'd given up shopping for Lent, was a welcome addition to my wardrobe!  Incidentally, my Father-in-law, the famous WOMOTM, bought me an ASOS voucher which I have, post-Lent, bought another Emily and Fin dress with! Watch this space.













The Sele is lovely and the sun was beautiful. It made a fun diversion on the way home.  We were even lucky enough to see a small patch of Bluebells too!








FYI, the jacket is thrifted Next, Cardie Primark, Shoes-Riedker, Umbrella- Tiger

****

Today, I spent the day with my sister and my little Niece, K.  CBC dropped me off on his way to his piano exam and a very lovely time I had too.
We went swimming and I was astounded to discover my 5-year old niece is able to already swim lengths. She swam 10 lengths all in all as well as numerous widths. I am amazed that she has done this with my sister alone. I couldn't swim at all until I was 10 and only a lenght when I was 11!

We went back and had lunch, watched a dance show on DVD and then I played Hide and Seek with her. Let me tell you something sad I discovered as an adult. You are BIG! So much bigger than you are in your mind. You are not the size of a child anymore. All the places you could once squeeze into are now totally out of the question, you cannot fit in them.  You will put your back out if you try to contort yourself into position.  You move rather like a bulldozer, not the svelte cat-burglar you once were.  You run round in a panic trying to find somewhere to hide, SOMEWHERE you will fit, and end up behind doors. You look like a mountain hiding under the duvet and are instantly discoverable. The airing cupboard is no-go, behind the sofa is a joke, you feel like you're going to break your neck trying to get under the bed and move the speed of a snail, divans are your enemy.

The only advantage you have over the 5-year old is that you have learnt to breathe silently! Aha, one advantage!

Bye for now!
xx