TARDIS Tuesday -Spyfall Mustard

Hello there!

Ooof, I am tired!  It's all my own fault.  I have been putting off getting my report grades done for 2 weeks. I should have done it over Half term but I didn't.  The teachers have to submit their reports on Thursday completed so I really did need to send them my music Effort and Attainment grades before that so I finally completed them and sent them off at precisely 2.37am this morning after working on them (as well as doing some previous marking as extra evidence since about 6pm! I was in bed by about 3am.

I felt decidedly groggy at 7.15 this morning when I finally dragged myself out of bed after numerous alarms!  Luckily, the day was actually quite good in terms of lessons and drumming club except for the wretched hall computer. It is a complete diva.  Any time there is some sort of public event (or, to be fair, quite frequently in assemblies) it decides to have a hissy fit and not work.  Sometimes, it might be the screen will refuse to turn on. Or the image won't show up.  Or the sound system wont work. Or the sound system will play really quietly through the projector on the ceiling but not through the speakers around the hall.  This morning, it decided to refuse to turn on the actual screen image and then the sound system decided to mimic a hurricane the moment you turned it on. I had a strop at it and then all the children were there for singing assembly waiting for something, anything to turn on or to hush up!  I ended up teaching them a different song by heart and the ICT lead managed to get the screen working by the END of singing assembly. I was slightly stressed about it because tomorrow, my school is hosting the local round of the Primary Choir of the Year Competition and 2 of the schools are using backing tracks. It would be absolutely typical and extremely awful and embarrassing if it didn't work!!!

Anyway, I enjoyed my day.  The Year 4 children did really well at exploring pentatonic scales and learning about sharps and flats and playing in octaves.

Onto TARDIS Tuesday.

It is an outfit which has featured twice on TARDIS Tuesday and the last time apparently I featured it was March 2022. REALLY?  I am sure I had featured it since then but perhaps I wore it and didn't photograph it?

It was worn in Series 12 opening episode, Spyfall:

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

Yaz wears her ubiquitous All Saints jacket, in black this time, a sheer mustard blouse with acorn print from French Connection, some light blue skinny jeans, grey trainers and a black camisole underneath.

Here is my 2026 iteration and I think, my closest, best one so far though I think I do prefer it with black trousers.

Sheila recently talked about the annoyance of vegan leather starting to flake off the neck or shoulders of one of her jackets.  My very cheap £2.50 charity shop H&M jacket is doing the same which is really annoying.  Still, the front looks ok.   I have £2.50 blue jeans bought from the same charity shop which are a good match for Yaz's and CBC's abandoned Tu trainers work as a great substitute for Yaz's.

The acorn blouse is just the same as my previous outfit.

I'm pleased with the match but I think I might try to wear this blouse under a dress next time.

Wish me and my choir luck for the Primary Choir of the Year competition. We got to the final last time and it would be lovely to get there again this time but who knows if we will be good enough!  I was very pleased with their practice on Friday, they had really worked on the harmonies in one song and the actions and storytelling in the other one!

Hope all is well with you!

xx

dfdfd

#TARDISTuesday Yaz Khan

Hi there!

I wore this TARDIS Tuesday outfit for school today and I was determined to ACTUALLY photograph it! Managed to get CBC to take a picture for me too so no faffing with the tripod!

I cannot believe that I haven't featured this outfit since May 2023 for this week's TARDIS Tuesday.  Utterly perplexed!

This will be the 3rd time I have featured a version of this outfit for TT!

Let's look at the original!

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/jodie-whittaker-faces-final-doctor-25333198

Worn by Yaz Khan in The Power of the Daleks, it is classic Yaz.

It featured a Dessa Balfern jacket by All Saints, and a burgundy and black snakeskin-print blouse, also from All Saints.  Some unidentified boots which may be from Doc Martens and some black jeans.

I like this outfit because it's made out of cotton materials, not leather or synthetic!

Last time I featured this outfit, I was wearing the screen accurate jacket but NOT one owned by me.  I was the recipient of this jacket for my Russian friend Anna who lives in Argentina.  I sent it onto her but she let me take some photos in it.  I liked the jacket but never planned to buy it as the RRP was ££££ (over £100, possibly £200!!).  However, a year or so back, I saw it for sale for £5 on Vinted! £5!?!?!?!  I couldn't resist it at that price and I am glad I went for it! Such a jolly Autumnal colour.

I wore my ASOS black trousers as usual. I do actually have a pair of SA Yaz Khan All Saints jeans (not these ones!) which were a bargain at £5 too but I can't wear jeans for school!

 I am not the biggest fan of animal print but the snake skin print on this shirt, also from All Saints is really pretty in the colours it features in! It was also very cheap! I like the fact it's actually cotton and has nice balloon sleeves and elasticated cuffs!

I'm not sure if she is wearing any necklaces but I decided to wear my K necklace!

For warmth, I added in this mustard cardigan from White Stuff (a present from my Father in Law and Mother in Law a long time ago when FiL was still alive). I know it was cold today because I kept this cardie on all day even when I was playing 'In and out the dusty blue bells' with Year 1 children in the music room!

A final touch is my hair in plaits! I found this amazing blog which is dedicated to analysing ALL of Yaz Khan's outfits, shoes, jewellery AND hairstyles and they show that this hairstyle is actually 2 strand twisted braids so I might try that another time! You can find it here

I enjoyed this outfit and it's nice to return to Yaz's outfits again!

x

TARDIS Thursday- Peri from the Mysterious Planet

I thought I'd make a return to TARDIS Tuesday this week but I didn't have time to post what with OFSTED unexpectedly turning up! So it's coming on a Thursday instead!

I was observed by the lead inspector this morning with my year 4's.  Of course, he had to come in at the moment they were all fetching instruments. I apologised and said, "Sorry, it's chaos in here as we get instruments!".  He stayed for about 10 minutes and I hope he saw some good things or what he wanted to see. I think it was fine, just wish he'd stayed for the creative stage, not just the recap! Still, I did show some extension of the highers and offered feedback to one of the kids so hopefully, he saw progress.

On to TARDIS Tuesday/Thursday.   

Last worn in May 2022 on here, it's an outfit I love but don't wear very often which is a shame as I really like it.  Let's look at it:

IMage borrowed from Darren Mooney on Twitter
https://twitter.com/darren_mooney/status/1185955427026165760

Image borrowed from:
https://them0vieblog.com/2013/06/25/doctor-who-the-trial-of-a-time-lord-the-mysterious-planet-review/

IMage borrowed from Darren Mooney on Twitter
https://twitter.com/darren_mooney/status/1185955427026165760

Worn by 6th (and 5th) doctor companion, Peri Brown, it is a departure from her usual combo of short bottoms, tight top.

Here's my 2025 iteration:

The entire outfit was second hand when bought.

The straw boater was one from my grandparents' house.  I do like these Next tailored trousers which I've had a very long time from C.S  The blazer, originally Miss Selfridge was charity shopped and my comfy Rieker shoes were also.

The top is the same vintage blouse I wore last time. I decided to try wearing it inside out so it didn't have its lace strips down the front and tucked the collar in which I think worked fairly well!

As I don't have a cane, I used my 7th Doctor umbrella to recreate the photo!

Hope that you are well.

xx

TARDIS Tuesday - Under the Lake/Before the Flood

 Last worn in March 2022 on the blog from what I can see but worn at least a few times in the last year, I decided to share an old favourite TARDIS Tuesday outfit. It is one of my original Clara Oswald cosplays from my original TARDIS Tuesday posts.  It's also a brilliant 'School Teacher' outfit

Image borrowed from this pinterest

A Miss Patina pinafore, a Topshop mustard turtle neck, black tights, black socks and black Topshop boots- it's a great Autumn outfit.

Here is today's outfit:

I have not really changed this outfit for a long time except that I occasionally wear a different turtle neck. The dress is a good length and sometimes I wear it with different tops!

The lovely TA who helps me with choir (one of our few long-serving staff) saw me in the playground and said, "Is it Clara Oswald today then?!"  Ha, she recognised this outfit as a  stalwart Clara outfit. She's my main person to talk to about Doctor Who.

Today was a hard day for some lessons.  The children were definitely... talkative, distracted, listless in two of my lessons. One Year 1 class was really disheartening and a Year 3 class also really distracted. However, the other Year 3 class and the Year 2 class were good so I should take what I can get.

I was quite tired.  I went to my friend Izzie's house as we were rehearsing for a dear family friend's funeral next week. More on that soon.

CBC is away for a pair of days on a Geography field trip.  He's staying in the house which Constable painted, "Willy Lott's cottage!"  I miss him but I did eat some junk for dinner tonight!

Hope you are well.

xx

Owl and Skirt

 Thank you for those of you that kindly commented on my last two posts- I know they weren't the greatest posts ever (one full of lengthly book reviews and the other, me feeling annoyed the rantings on social media).  I don't think, despite my long walk, I was feeling my best. My sinuses and tonsils felt really sore and swollen last night and I ended up not sleeping well and feeling dreadful when I woke up so I ended up not going to school as my throat felt awful- the usual 'apple in the throat' feeling I get when my tonsils are enflamed.  Having an additional 4 hours sleep has helped and I am feeling much improved.

Wanting to post something cheerful, I thought I'd share my outfit from Saturday.  It was comfy and a bit different so I wanted to share it.

It features my March purchase (I did mention I would only be buying one thing a month, less if I could) and is a second hand skirt originally from East but made by Indian company Fabindia.  Vix, has been looking stunning in her beautiful Indian blockprint items and I bought a maxi skirt last year but it didn't quite work for me as it was wrap-around.  This one has an elasticated waistband.

I wore it with an old sparkly navy top and a cardigan I bought from Mistral in Wallingford a long time ago and my blue boots.

Something about the outfit suggested  a night sky to me so I decided to don my Starry night necklace (Kimchi and Coconut) and gold star earrings (Esoteric London)

The Battlesbridge antiques centre wired headscarf was the final thing to complete the artistic look. CBC liked it- he said it was very me but also very Ellie S. (Ellie is in her 70's,  dear flute playing friend and someone who I aspire to be like- she is an artist in later life too).

It was fitting, therefore, to be able to pose with our Oliver Hurst owl (you will remember it was one of our lockdown 1, 'support an artist' works which featured in the Bloggers' art gallery) which CBC finally bought a frame for, had a lot of trouble getting it together and then hung it in our entrance hall between the toilet and the kitchen.

I'll be back in school tomorrow and I hope to be back on form- unfortunately, I think the return to school was a bit of a shock to the system and the constant use of my projected voice, the long days, the early starts and the lack of sleep is often a trigger for me to get tonsil issues so I will try to make sure I get to bed nice and early....even if I can't sleep!

Hope all is ok with you.

xx

Style Imitating Art- Woman with Dog

 Style Imitating Art this week is hosted by Salazar and she chose Pierre Bonard's "Woman with a Dog" for our inspiration:

Image borrowed from
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Pierre_Bonnard_Woman_with_Dog_1891.jpg 

I knew immediately of several garments in my wardrobe that would work for this painting but could I find any of them!??!? No!
SO instead, I present you with:

I wanted to wear a H&M black and white Gingham dress but it was awol, as was my Gingham floral blouse but I spied this vintage Marjon Couture dress in my wardrobe and figured it would do as a picnic rug.  Plus, it has black edging which points to the prominent black fur coat of the lady on the right.  Also, the white buttons could be tenuously associated with the polka dot neckwaer or the white flowers up the top.

Underneath, I wore a charity-shopped mustard sweater which has a texture up close which might be said to resemble the brushstrokes of the dog's fur.

It was too cold for no leg-wear so I added my green leggings as a touch of the green from the painting.

As a nod to the neckwear of the lady, I wore my red and white floral cravat. I'm not sure if it goes but I quite liked the addition.  

The final touch, I am gutted you didn't get to see are my earrings which Hazel gave me for Christmas- they are resin with preserved yellow wild flowers and green foliage and give a really lovely nod to the yellow blooms in the picture.

Update: turns out I took a picture on my phone:

Boots have no particular reason for being in this outfit but I couldn't be bothered to find my Irregular Choice mustard and checked shoes as I didn't think they'd look good with socks and leggings! Pity as they would have gone quite well.

Wish our neighbour's dog, Lolly, who keeps sneaking into our garden through the badger hole had made an appearance for these photos- would have been nice to have an actual dog in my picture!

The return to school today was ok.

I had 2 year 4 classes and 2 year 6's- all were really well behaved and did their work and genuinely seemed pleased to see me. I managed to make those who didn't do the music work feel dead guilty, whilst not actually telling them off, saying I understood it must have been hard to cope with being at home and working in a new way, but then sharing my great appreciation of those who HAD done it and sighing and saying how sad it made me that some of them didn't even attempt one bit of work or send me any messages to clarify.

The smug year 6's who had done their work found their music listening work really easy this afternoon- they loved the smug feeling of knowledge! I may have milked the 'If you had done Week 5,6,7 work you would have extra knowledge of these instruments,' blah blah etc.  Sorry, not sorry.

It was a good day.

Hope you have had a good week.

xxx

Style Imitating Art- Van Gogh's Still Life with Irises

Hi there!

Greetings on this Wednesday!  It's nice to be almost half way through the week and hopefully, since I'll have been on a school trip today, I might actually have my voice, rather than bellowing over the dulcet tones of 30 recorders for 3 hour lessons!


So, today, I am sharing my outfit for Style Imitating Art with Salazar from 14 Shades of Grey.

Ahhh, it is such a beautiful,bright painting!  Poor Van Gogh. Such beauty from such a tortured mind.

Still Life with Irises- Van Gogh

And here's how I interpreted it.

 I confess to looking at Salazar's outfit on her post on Monday and taking inspiration from her choice of garments!

I started with this blue and black checked shirt (charity shopped from Jack Wills).  To this, I added this mustard cardigan from Mistral.  To further pick up the yellow, I added my Poetic License heels, which you can see poking out.
To show the green, I wore these Asos green trousers which look annoyingly black in the picture, even though they are GREEN!

The accessories further continue the theme with yellow and green leaf earrings and a felt brooch which I tried to wear as a bow-tie- if only I could pin it straight!!!

Head over to Salazar's blog to see how everyone else wore it!

xx

Style Imitating Art outfit: Pocket Flask

Hello!  How are you?

I'm back with another outfit inspired by art.
Daenel chose this week's piece:

Pocket Flask {The MET, public domain}

The blown pattern-moulded glass Pocket Flask were made in the U.S. between 1800 and 1860.

I do love this!! What a beautiful image- the glass shades so complimentary- the patterning, the background- all gorgeous!

 Here is how I interpreted it:
I started with this vintage checked shirt dress.  It has a yellowy beige background, orange and green stripes and beautiful green glass buttons.  Because the dress is a little too loose on me, I added an old brown leather belt which picked up the colour of my (men's) Brogues.

 To add a little more yellowy colour I added this Mistral cardigan (notice the nice criss-crossing pattern on the edge! Serendipitous detailing!). I saw this exact same cardigan in a charity shop on Saturday in a size larger- I did contemplate buying it as it would be nicer to be a bit bigger!

 My green abalone shell necklace seemed quite appropriate- I liked the circular shapes and these plastic green beaded earrings seemed necessary to add some transparency to the outfit.

What would YOU wear for this outfit?  If you have time to cobble something together today or tomorrow, take some photos and send them to Daenel at livingoutsidethestacks@gmail.com.  More details are on her blog www.livingoutsidethestacks.com.  You can head over there on Wednesday for the roundup of outfits- it is well worth a look at how everyone interpreted it!

xxx

Taken into Mustardy

I know, I know, it's a bad pun, but you don't come here for comedy!

How are you today?  Well, I hope!! I am fine- well and happy, just rather tired.  I think I should probably head straight off to bed when I finish typing this.

Sometimes, I wear an outfit which I want to photograph. Even if the light is terrible, even if it is dreadfully late when I reach home.  This was one of those occasions. 

This vintage blanket skirt was bought a long, long time ago for £5 from the jumble-sale style stall at Spitalfields market, East London. It always looks different in photos to real life!

This is the first time I paired it with this charity-shopped mustard jumper.

Here's the view of the landing in my new house.  I'm giving you taunting, sneaky little views, aren't I!?   I did try taking a picture with the ostentatious chandelier our predecessors left for us but alas, it cast a blurry halo around my head, so you get the spare bedroom door!

And what resplendent outfit would be complete without a wise owl? None, I fear!

I seemed to be having a colourful skirt week but then I spoilt it all today by donning a boring breton striped jumper and black pinstripe trousers (with toothpaste necklace!) 

I hope all is well with you!

Much love,

Kezzie xx

Tweed and tigers and bees, oh my!

An outfit again?  Surely not?  But yes!

I occasionally regret buying these Poetic License shoes. They are lovely and really pretty and I got them at a great discount.BUT...given the amount of walking I do, they don't get worn much AND the mustard and, tweed and brown combo is one I find hard to wear with much!

Nonetheless, given an opportunity, I wore them! Teamed with my charity-shopped Tiger skirt (bought with Hazel and Sophie- yay, soon we shall have another trip!) and my mustard Mistraal cardie plus a black top, they worked well for a smart, yet slightly quirky church outfit.

CBC says this skirt is See-through but no one else has ever commented..

This month, apart from this one skirt, I am trying to wear dresses all month. It seems fun to do that since it is now Spring! Expect a round up of dresses at some point soon!

Mind you, how could I have let this Mary Poppins vibe go- that's one reason to keep them!

Oh and I wore my Punky Pins bees to complete the look!

Hope all is well with you!

x

Tick tock, it's mustard o'clock!

Howdy! Thanks for your kind comments yesterday. I am glad that the Spring is bringing joy and hope to you too!  I will be writing a little more at some point soon!

What AM I doing with my face!??!?!?  I thought I'd share the outfit photos that prompted me seeing those daffodil shoots yesterday- you can see them to my right, almost off screen!

 Despite owning maaaaaaaaany clothes, there are ones I come back to again and again which makes me ponder the fact that I should just stick with those ones.  A mustard cardie and my Cath Kidston clock skirt are frequent callers in my wardrobe choices and a navy top with mustard of course!

 I ended up picking up these Conker-coloured boots in Whitby as I wear my turquoise Doc Martens almost constantly in the Winter and I wanted a slightly more versatile colour.  In addition, I was searching for sea glass and an unexpected wave completely soaked my feet so it was great to have something to change into!  They are from a brand called Roamers and they were a fraction of the price but leather and English-made.  And they came from the Men's section...

Here's the broochage and er- necklaceage from the outfit- birds and plants..

I'd like to say I am glad to be back at school and indeed, it was a successful day, but oh the gloom of post-half-term! It will go away soon, esp when I write all 500 reports...

Hope all is joyous with you.

xxx

Dinogirl

 Evenin' all!
Hope that your day was enjoyable, happy and fun.
Mine was... ok!

I thought I'd share this dress which I ordered back in October and tell you a bit about it.

I first saw @VintageStyleMe on Instagram back in August.   They handmake dresses to order.   I thought this was a nice idea and had seen this dinosaur print on their dresses.  However, I was going through my, "Noooo, I have too many dresses, must not buy, must not buy!" phases (I wish these won the war most of the time).   Then I read an article on the lady who runs Vintage Style Me's blog where she talked about the difficulty of running an independent clothes business where she has to compete against fast fashion and how she cannot compete with a clothes chain who can sell dresses for £5 or similar.  She wrote about how sometimes, just one sale in a week can save her and allow her to pay her bills etc and selling one dress can be a lifeline.  I can't find the article on the blog, it doesn't seem to be working right now, or I'd link to it.  It was written so eloquently and honestly and stuck in my mind. I kept hearing those words over and over again in my head. More often than not, I buy my clothes second hand or occasionally from brands such as Miss Patina,  Cath Kidston, Palava Folk though I do frequent Primark and Topshop and Asos.

 Still, it remained in my mind for a while every time I saw an Instagram post and I kept looking at the website.  Finally in October, they had a promotion of 40% off any dress which in my mind tells me that I should have bought it full price, since that would support the principle that was running in my mind.  However, I am a sucker for a bargain so I ordered. I went for their 'Design your own dress' option which is a bit more expensive than the 'ready designed' ones. Usually £59. I chose the dinosaur dress and went for a more fitted Skater dress, rather than their ubiquitous smock style which doesn't suit my shape. I am a total collar addict when it comes to my clothes (in case you hadn't noticed) so I opted for a cute collar and cuffs and a slightly longer length.

Bear in mind, it DOES take a while for this option to be made and arrive.  It was posted on around the 21st December when I was in South Africa and it hadn't arrived when I got back from there. I contacted them and said they'd posted it but obviously it had been lost in the post.  They said would make another one which made me feel terrible. My original intent of supporting an independent business had somewhat backfired.

They were really quick and it arrived a week later and here it is.   It is made out of a sort of Barkcloth material- quite textured.  However, wearing it here on that Saturday, somehow I have managed to rip it partially down the back seam.  It seems to have frayed there after my doing that. I did hear a rip noise when I was pulling down my sleeves (you know when 3/4length sleeves get stuck by your elbows and you're putting on a cardigan).  I hope to do something about it.

Nonetheless, despite the comedy of errors, it is a nice dress and very different and I am very glad to have ordered it.

I added dinosaur collar clips in case you didn't realise!

Do you buy independent?

xxx

Mustard and olive vibes

Hello there,

I am sorry about 3 days of outfits and brooches in a row, but really I have more important things to write-about nobler causes and also my  Cruise writeups to finish and they take me so long so I habitually put them off. Terrible really.

I thought I'd share an outfit from Saturday when we were going for more house-viewings (We put in an offer for one- was rejected) and then headed up to London (the night of the hideous grid-lock) 

I do think this is a typically autumnal look. It reminds me somewhat of the lovely Donna at Polka Dot Pink who frequently pairs mustard with a navy pattern, often being polka dots!

This week so far, aside from Monday's awful day (all was fine until after school meeting) has been quite a positive one. I've been pleased with the lessons I've taught, including the three most notoriously difficult classes.  Pre this term, I DREADED teaching Tudor Dance to one class but on the whole, they have totally got on board with it and really enjoyed it. I applied for a music scholarship for one of my pupils last year and discovered she got it which is fabulous, my choir rehearsal was deficient in about 15 pupils who are away on Residential but the 13 I had made a brilliant sound so that was positive. CBC made me dinner tonight ('tis a rare occurrence nowadays which is a shame as he is a great cook), we had a String Quintet recital today which is always a delight, I managed to get all the Nativity scripts printed, annotated and highlighted for staff and pupils and meticulously broken down parts on a big grid so feeling rather smug and organised.   So lots of good things after a gloomy start to the week.

CBC has made me consent to going to watch Spamalot with his school tomorrow which I'm a little grumpy about as teenagers make me feel awkward but hopefully the show will be good. Apparently, his non-music colleagues keep wondering why I never come to anything (er- I play in the music concerts!!!!!!) so I'm being dragged along.  Hopefully should be fine...

Outfit:

Dress: Louche at Joy (was FREE with a purchase)

Mustard Cardigan: White Stuff (Christmas gift from J and WOMOTM)

Leggings: Primark.

Teal Boots: The Doc Marten store.

Beret:  Nottinghill

Necklace: Tatty Devine

Dorothy Brooch: Goodnight Boutique on Etsy

Right, I'm off to read some Terry Pratchett and NOT eat any more Fudge!

xx