Sun, Spring, Sailor

Oh, the SUN, the SUN!  It has been glorious! It puts one in such a good mood! I ate my breakfast in the garden both days of this weekend and it was a joy!

I walked with my friend Margaret this afternoon which was also a joy- we travelled to and walked along Southend Seafront to Thorpe Bay and back.

The signs of Spring are here- my first Daffodils opened and I can see buds on my cherry blossom.

Yesterday, I made sure to wear clothes I can't usually on a bike- a long skirt and a hat!

And went for  real sailor vibe.

This necklace was a present from my friend L for Christmas

Wore my Laura Ashley top bought in Loue last Summer along with my red tiered skirt (my Romana skirt!) 

Added my sailor jacket (Zara via Vinted) and an ASOS felt hat.

You can't see my Dr Martens.

I wore this to travel up to London for my orchestra concert. It was a great concert and two of my colleagues came to watch it- it was so nice to have them there, particularly as one of them had been fasting all day for Ramadan and was very hungry! They were so sweet and enthusiastic!

This week, I am taking the choir to the ROyal Albert Hall.   Hopefully, there won't be any catastrophes like Vomit-gate like last time!

xx

My 2 Totnes cardigans

Remember back in August, I shared a post showing what I bought on my Cornish holiday. This included 2 vintage cardigans from Totnes market.

I've been really enamoured with them and really glad I  bought them- both have already had a lot of use. I have been throwing one on each night when I get home and wearing them over whatever I have been wearing at the weekends.

Since both got worn this weekend, I thought I'd share them.

Outfit 1, worn on Saturday:

The whole outfit, bar my hat is second hand.

The Tam O'Shanter hat is Isle of Skye tartan bought on Kirkwall in the Orkneys in Summer 2016 on my cruise with Mum.

The blue top was Zara (Charity Shop), Indian skirt (CS),  Vegan blue Dr Martens (Insta 2nd hand sale), cardigan (Totnes vintage market stall) and finally the gorgeous black sheepskin (?) gilet/waistcoat (CS)- I'm not sure if the gilet is Toscana sheepskin or it is fake as it is reversible so there's no washing indication but it cost £15 in the charity shop so I'm wondering if it is genuine- it is exquisitely soft and fine and keeps me so warm. I can't tell from the smell- anyone got any ideas how I can tell apart from setting fire to a bit of it to see how it burns???  If it's real, I got an ABSOLUTE bargain- if it's synthetic, I was conned!

Saturday morning I was SO CROSS. I went to bed at around half midnight and was exhausted, having not had as much sleep as I needed this week. What time did I wake up? 5am!!!!! WHY???? I lay awake for hours until I gave up and got up around 7.40am to go downstairs to do the washing up and make tea.   After various bits of tidying and pottering, emptying the compost etc, I went to shower and CBC and I made porridge.   I then carried on with some sorting as well as a bit of reading and then decided to do my Summer/Winter wardrobe changeover. I keep the out of season clothes in 2 enormous (I mean ENORMOUS) suitcases kept in my Spare room wardrobe.  The switchover took a couple of hours and also involved some sorting and culling- managed to cull about 20-25 items- I find this hard- I like the things I own but I also like the new things.  I decided to cull some things that a) I didn't wear so much including a gorgeous Monsoon sequinned circle skirt and clothes which I find I don't enjoy wearing so much e.g. if they are too tight around the armpits, synthetic, make me sweat or I don't like the fabric so much. I have realised in recent years, I am quite hypersensitive to materials and how things fit or feel (Ha, my stepmum could have told me this - she still has nightmares about me and, quote- "That wretched white cardigan!" that I was always trying to get out of!).  However, often, I don't realise what something will feel like or how I will fear, until I've worn it for a day, or a couple of times.

I was still working on this but CBC and I decided to go out and get some lunch. We headed to one of our numerous local garden centres.  This one has a newly expanded restaurant which has been shown as being really popular. We've tried to go before but the queue was epic and the restaurant was full. Luckily, as we were going close to the end of serving, we got a table easily.  I ordered a breaded chicken escalope with garlicky chard and potatoes and CBC a butternut squash risotto.  We ordered hot chocolate and chocolate milkshake respectively. Mine was delicious although the chard wasn't super garlicky and could have been more plentiful (I'm a huge garlic AND chard fan!). CBC's was tasty but smaller than he would liked. Whilst waiting and eating, we played Qwirkle. I bought this game back in July after having bought it for my sister for her birthday and LOVING it.  CBC is always willing to play it which is an absolute bonus as usually, he's not so up for playing so many games with me!  I bought it from Mr Wolf Hexham as it was recommended to me by the WONDERFUL Mrs Wolf who I am very friendly with when I go to visit.  I have subsequently bought it from her repeatedly (SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESSES not BIG BUSINESSES!) via my Mother In Law when she visits or gifts- it comes in a handy little pouch so it fits in a handbag easily- it has been on every holiday with us subsequently and my Taiwanese friend LOVED it and kept asking to play in on holiday which I adored as I will play a game at any time, any place). 

It was quite a tense game and the final score was

197 a piece! YES, we tied for the first time ever!

We had a quick look round the garden centre- I was tempted by some LARGE Jingle Bell garlands- they clanked like cowbells- but at £28, I decided to forgo it- would have loved them for the music room!  The garden centre is stocking Field and Fare freezer products which are unpackaged so you can bring your own container for them.  We bought some fishcakes and Chicken Kiev, frozen fish.

Back home, I sat down at the piano and FINALLY got started on my Christmas song/carol- well, I got the first chorus lyrics and melody written and the accompaniment worked out, just need to work out the verses- CBC was pitying the neighbours as there was a lot of stopping/starting and repeating the same chord over and over again as I tried things out.  To ensure neighbourly relations are peaceful, I left it there and  continued with the wardrobe changeover c;earup and sorting and later, we had some Thai food whilst watching Outer Banks on Netflix.

This morning, I got out of bed at 8.57....church starts at 9.15am.  I was at church by 9.17am having cycled!  

The service was a really beautiful service and Steph who led the sermon gave such a powerful sermon.

My main two takehomes from this were:  We take each day as it comes.  In the Lord's prayer, we ask for our daily bread, not our weekly bread and we must react to God's placement  of us. Trying not to worry about next week doesn't mean the same as not being prepared for what is coming.  Also, revisiting the past and imagining different outcomes or choices can be a form of self-harm - I needed to hear that as I often end up thinking about what I should have/would have/could have done.

Had lovely chats to friends after the service, including my lovely neighbour Morris who is 97.  I took him round some Lily O'Brien chocolates 2 weeks ago as he was unwell and able to attend church and he was so grateful and said he'd never had chocolates like them before.

I came home and got started on the washing up from last night (yes, I am a slattern..) whilst listening to a lovely Radio 3 programme with Rupert Everett and his Desert Island discs  and then decided to do some sorting through the cupboards and try to get rid of some out of date baking ingredients and try and rationalise the chaotic pantry.  It's a bit better.  Chucked a few things to compost and also packed a few things for school as flour can be used for Playdough and 15 year old mung beans and aduki beans can be used to make shakers.  I then made a pot of tea and crumpets.  Next I rehoovered the floor and then washed the kitchen, utility room and hallways (they really, really needed it) as well as getting on my hands and knees scrubbing stains with sodium bicarb and an old toothbrush. I  folded up clean washing and put it away and then hoovered the living room whilst imprisoned by drying floor and polished the piano and repositioned the house plants.   CBC came home from cycling and thankfully, the floors were almost dry and he was careful (usually, he tells me not to be a drama queen when I freak out when he walks in and makes a mess).  I washed the upstairs bathroom floors and then hoovered the dry floors to pick up the extra bits that were revealed by washing and hoovered the bedroom.

I then went into the garden and pulled out the remaining tomato plants and bean plants, weeded the raised bed, pulled out the canes, raked leaves and put them onto the raised bed to mulch (wish I'd gone to collect more oak leaves from the field behind our house as there weren't enough to cover the bed...I will then put compost on top and then maybe put cardboard on top- if CBC doesn't moan - he has Opinions about things like this looking messy (even if the advice came from an expert) -picked the last pepper. I then came in and ate some brie, chutney and crackers and sang some songs and played piccolo and piano with CBC for some carols and then went to practice my piccolo for my orchestra rehearsal tomorrow (poor neighbours).  A bit more tidying and then finally, the house was looking calm and more ordered. I have found it really hard to function as the house has felt and looked so dirty and messy and I feel soothed by having done all this cleaning and sorting, even if I haven't 'rested so much

Ah, what was I wearing? Well, the OTHER Totnes cardigan of course! You read the post title right?

This is the gorgeous Alpaca Stained glass pattern one.  My bassoon-playing friend, who owns alpacas and is an alpaca wool geek, told me that this jumper probably retailed at around £400 so I got an absolute bargain for my £35 shell out.  The white top underneath was charity-shopped.  My burgundy cashmere shawl was from H&M about 14 years ago and is one of my top winter favourites.  I have always said I prefer Summer and its sartorial choices but actually, I ADORE my winter favourites and look forward to wearing them.

My black trousers are from Seasalt, bought from their EBay outlet in the Summer after my cycling accident ripped my favourite black trousers (Ang, I just haven't sent them yet!!! I just need to get everything to the post office!) - they are super comfortable and thick material. Finally, I wore my Leggero Gortex and leather boots. I bought these in October 2020 and have worn them through thick and thin, 4 winters and they are still going strong. I paid £160 which is the most I have ever paid for a pair of boots/shoes/garment but I think the cost per wear is probably in pence now as I have worn them so much. What will I do when they wear out? (which they show no signs of doing)

It's now Sunday evening and I am finally doing school work (oops,should have done before now)  before we will eat Thai left overs, but I am feeling satisfied with my weekend endeavours.

 

I hope all is well with you.

xx

 

TARDIS Tuesday- Sarah Jane Adventures Multiple appearance outfit

Hello friends!

I hope you are well.

Today's TARDIS Tuesday is a mixture of two fairly recent cosplays I shared on here worn by Classic and New Who companion, Sarah Jane Smith, played by the late Elisabeth Sladen. You can see them here and here (where my hair was the perfect length!)

The great thing about this cosplay is that it was worn by the character in multiple episodes AND the separate pieces were worn in other episodes too!

The main three episodes the whole outfit featured were: 

Day of the Clown, the Curse of Clyde Langer and Enemy of the Bane

Let's have a wee look at it!

All  images come from Gretchen's amazing Sarah Jane blog- 

https://sjscloset.livejournal.com/1750.html

https://sjscloset.livejournal.com/10722.html

It's easy to break this outfit down:

Turquoise/pale blue Joseph collared jersey top, Karen Millen pinstripe waistcoat with fake lapels, dark washed jeans, knee high boots.

I really like Sarah Jane's outfits from the Sarah Jane Adventures as they are really smart, have an overall idiosyncratic appearance and work well for school, particularly for performances. I last wore this waistcoat for the Royal Albert Hall concert last year.

And here's my version: 

As you may have realised, I decided to try and imitate Sarah Jane's poses from the stills above.  These outfits as as screen accurate as I can manage as the top half of the outfit has only been IDed- not that I'd be worried about obtaining screen accurate boots or jeans!  FYI, my boots are my eYe boutique ones bought well over 17 years ago- they've been reheeled and the zip refitted.  The jeans are my Clara Into the Dalek ones. They are from ASOS and really comfortable.

The Karen Millen waistcoat has a great back view- I'm planning to wear this outfit on Wednesday for the Primary Choir of the Year competition which I am taking my year 5-6 choir to perform at. If people are going to be seeing at my back view, they might as well have a nice outfit detail! Not, I hope, that they will be paying any attention to me. I will, instead, be wearing a pair of Black pinstripe trousers instead.

The Joseph top is really soft and easy to wear.  It had a really high RRP price as Joseph is a designer brand but luckily I bought mine for about £6.00!

That's a bible in my hand! It matches her book well.

This particular bible has a lovely story to it. When I was studying in Bali, I was craving English reading material.  I mentioned to one of my friends online, that I wish I had brought a Bible with me and my lovely friends Rob and Amy bought one and sent it to me in Bali. I worked my way through most of the Old Testament which I hadn't done before.  Leviticus was hard going!

I'll keep you posted on the Choir of the Year competition. This round is to try and gain a place in the Final in April!

TARDIS Tuesday- Martha Jones in the Lazarus Experiment

Hello there!

I hope this blog post finds you well today.  Are you happy? 

For TARDIS Tuesday today, I  am sharing another dressy look after last week's glamorous sequinned evening gown!  Thank you for the kind feedback on it! Thank you Mummy too for visiting!

Let's have a look at this week's look!

This is a smart look worn by 10th Doctor companion, Martha Jones, a medical student. Most of her looks are definitely not my thing, a bit like her predecessor, Rose Tyler.  However, the look featured today was very much up my street!

https://www.shopyourtv.com/doctor-who-season-3-episode-6-marthas-purple-dress/

https://badwolfcloset.tumblr.com/post/62267819512/martha-jones-series-3-episode-6-the-lazarus

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1000257/

Worn in an episode entitled, The Lazarus Experiment, it featured a beautiful plum silk dress from Ted Baker. She paired it with plum-coloured shoes, a necklace and a black crocheted, slightly sparkly headband.

This dress is so pretty and is very much me. I used to own a lovely plum silk v-neck dress which I wore for my friend Tamsin's wedding. I was really sad when it stopped fitting me.  In addition, I used to own a Ted Baker dress which was very similar but in a turquoise/teal which also stopped fitting me.

I knew this one would be good because it has a fitted top and a looser bottom half which works well for my pear-shape.

Here are some photos I took.

Ted Baker made several plum silk dresses which are quite similar to this and finding the correct one wasn't something I did really very much but I did find one for £12 on Vinted a while back. It feels really comfortable- perhaps a bit bigger than necessarily but it works.

I had some better shoes (Clara's flapper shoes) to wear but my feet were really swollen and refusing to get into them so I wore my comfortable Somerset Clarks t-bar shoes (charity shopped)

I 

Happily, I realised I had a black-crocheted headband I hadn't worn for a while so I located it. I wore a lovely Whitby Jet necklace my Mum was given when she left a job which is not her style

It's been a really busy week- 

Last week, I had a Monday performance at CBC's school playing viola which I didn't get home from until 11pm.

Tuesday, I had an Orchestra of the City rehearsal - I didn't get home till around 11pm.

Wednesday, we had Exhibition Evening at School and then a leaving dinner for a colleague- didn't get home until 10.30pm

Thursday, I had a Gamelan rehearsal- didn't get home until 10.30pm.

Friday- I had an Orchestra of the City concert of Mahler's 5th Symphony. It was a wonderful concert and SUCH a full audience at St Andrew's church, Holborn. But I didn't get home until around midnight!

Saturday, I was supposed to be travelling to East Finchley for the Anglo-Indonesian society picnic at the Indonesian Ambassador's residence but because of the forecast strong winds and rain, it was cancelled. I was incredibly grateful that this was the case as I was INCREDIBLY tired after the last week's late night.  In addition, CBC's weekend away in the New Forest for Silver Duke of Edinburgh award was cancelled so it meant I didn't have to leave him all alone. I made us eggs on toast with homegrown perpetual spinach and then I spent most of the day, until 9pm, at home. I did washing, composting, picking fruit, tidying and quite a large amount of time using Sibelius music software to make an arrangement AND to make a new arrangement of a Gamelan piece I wrote at university for flute quartet. I really enjoyed this as I haven't done this for a while.

We headed out to dinner at 9pm at our favourite Thai restaurant which was lovely.

When I got back, I did some more work on Sibelius and stupidly headed to bed at 2am!

I got up at 8am. CBC had woken up at 6am and gone off to catch the train to London to join in with the London to Southend cycle race.

I headed to church at 8.45am on my bike and played flute. It was a lovely service. I came home with a yellow courgette. Lots of people at church share their surplus vegetables from their allotments!

CBC came home and then we headed over to my Mum's to give her her birthday presents. It was really great to see her.

We headed back and now it's onto another week which absolutely NO spare evenings and many late nights!

Only one week of school left!

xx

Embroideries

On the subject of embroidery, before I get lost in my own personal waffle, do head over to Ang's blog to see the complete Postcard project that she and Kirsten have been working on for the past year! It's been really exciting seeing what they each embroidered every month, before sending back to the other for the next installment!

Here's a throwback to the first Saturday of Half Term (I think!) to an outfit that was pleasingly coordinated!

It came about because I found this cute cotton embroidered top in the charity shop that would be excellent for Summer for school. However, I was itching to wear it and I took inspiration from Vix who wears her lovely embroidered tops layered over other items. In this case, a boring but much worn cotton top from the Lidl middle aisles quite a few years ago.

I knew it would go brilliantly with my Zara velvet, embroidered trousers which I brazenly copied Anna (Anna's Island Style) by buying!

Here they are up close- worn with my Remonte teal boots- bought from Finale in Corbridge in 2021, to replace my DMs which are not waterproof anymore.

 Yaaaay, I found some more of my hats- there's a box under the stairs- Mum made this beret for me! 

The earrings are more from Lorelai LQ- these were some of her earlier pieces when she was first experimenting with reusing plastics- they are made from plastic bags and go so nicely with the colours of the top.

Hope all is well with you. Stay safe.

I had a lovely weekend with the foraging walk, church, around 3 hours of Gamelan practice by myself at home, some marking and making nettle soup as well as a little gardening!

xx

xx

Not my usual style

 Hi there!

I hope you are well.

I've unfortunately got yet another cold. It started Wednesday night with swollen tonsils and blocked sinuses.  Thursday I didn't feel well but Friday, after a good night's sleep, I felt better.  Friday night, after a gamelan rehearsal at LSO St Lukes, I went home. When I went to bed, I felt a bit snotty but during the night, it felt interminable- I couldn't sleep, I was totally bunged up and my throat was really raw so breathing through my mouth was hard. I kept drinking water and then kept needing the loo, then I kept coughing. CBC finally came to bed after conking out on the sofa, after a work meal out. I went to sleep in the spare room and settled down better in there but still had to get up a few more times and my sleep was broken. Why are the nights so long with a cold!?

Once I got up, I felt better. 

I cancelled my flute quartet session as I was obviously not wanting to share  my germs in a small room. I was relieved that one of the other flautists was also still not well so had been thinking of cancelling. We had some cake and cheese-related banter on our Whatsapp group.

CBC borrowed my Brompton to catch a train and rescue his car which he had left near the restaurant last night. I went and ripped open 155 teabags from the school 'teabag compost' and emptied the compost. I then did all the washing up from the past few days (yes, I know. Don't judge), put some washing on and put away clean washing and cleaned the kitchen worktops.

I eventually showered and dressed to head into town to pick up some supplies from the Refill shop quite late on my bike, prepared with mask.

Alas, it was closed (Google lied) so I went to have a look in the charity shop for something I was looking for. It's very spacious and was totally empty. I didn't find it but I did end up buying a suitcase! My good-sized travel bag has got holes in the bottom of it and a rip at the seam by the zip (can it be fixed?)  and I knew I'd need. It's medium-sized so it was perfect for a short trip of a few days.

I also bought a brand new pair of TurtleDove Cashmere wrist-warmers and a geography game.

I thought I'd share what I wore as it's very much different from my regular style (well, that's what everyone who has seen me wear this jacket says).

I bought this denim coat from Primark with my niece about 4 weeks ago. I had no intention of buying it or anything like this. My niece wanted to try a couple of things on when we were shopping. I decided to try this coat on to take some pictures in the changing room mirrors as it looked similar to a coat which is going to be worn by new Who companion, Ruby Sunday (who I am not going to cosplay for TT as she is just too young and hip!).  It's not my style so I thought it would be a something to try whilst she tried her things on.When I tried it on, it felt SO cosy and comfortable- it is thickly quilted. My niece really liked it and somehow egged me on into buying it.  I have not bought anything from Primark for at least 4-5 years so I felt a bit uncomfortable...

That said, I've worn it on a few weekends and everyone has commented how much they like it!

I wore it today with this striped turtle neck from RiverIsland which I bought from Lorelai LQ's jumble sale, with a cotton waistcoat from Whistles (2nd hand)

The trousers are my green Porfell corduroy trousers from Seasalt which I bought from Bury St Edmunds in October. I have worn them so much- they are the perfect Winter trouser.

The boots are from Leggero and I bought them from Finale, Corbridge in 2020. They are Goretex, totally waterproof and still going strong. Lined with Sheepskin, they are the perfect Winter cycling boot.

 I added my F&F snow-leopard print beret and have been cosy and happy all day.

I am so glad it is half-term. It's been only 5.5 weeks but the Jan-Feb half-term is usually the miserable one. It's been hard but ok.  Having had 2 Wednesdays where I wasn't in school (once at the LSO for INSET and once the teacher strike day) has made the difference.

There have been some positive lessons and some hard ones.  The Year 4's have made some good progress and I haven't dreaded their lessons as much term.  The Year 6's have been good and have produced some admirable performances.   Singing Assemblies have been positive.

I've only had a few Gamelan rehearsals and that one concert last Saturday so I haven't been too overwhelmed with rehearsals either.

I'm looking forward to some rest AND fun at half term. Just need to kick this cold away!

xxx

TARDIS Tuesday- Sleep no More and Series 9 promo Clara

Hi there!

I thought I'd take a break from my Summer spins on Classic Doctor outfits (mainly because I haven't thought about one!) 

Today, I am sharing a Clara outfit. Most of it was from an episode entitled "Sleep No More" but actually, the version I am doing here today was from the Series 9 promotional images featuring Jenna Coleman and Peter Capaldi.

I had a few previous goes at this outfit.  Back in May 2019, was the last time I wore it. 

Let's have a look at it!

https://troughtonismydoctor.com/2016/01/20/doctor-who-series-9-review/

It features an expensive outfit:

It had a skirt and a top from French brand, Claudie Pierlot, a Merino wool jumper from Gap (not featured in the Promo images), a necklace from River Island or H&M, some black tights and some very painful-looking black leather monk-style shoes from &Other Stories.

Here's my version of it:

I started with the top which the lovely Ang customised for me to look like the Screen accurate one.  Mine was a charity-shopped top from M&S with a pleated collar made from another charity-shopped top.  Ang was clever-enough to make it look really similar.

Ang also customised a skirt for me to look similar by adding scalloping!).  However, it's lost its colour in the wash (after my paintstaking painting job!) and looks very odd and patchy so needs a repaint. Quite a while back, I found a Claudie Pierlot dress in the same material for a reasonable price (and thanks to lovely Alison, Dormouse for sending it to me from France!) and  ended up buying it.  You can see it below- The scalloping is around the arms instead of the hem.

I wore it under the top and added my identical triangle necklace.

The final item is the Monk shoes. They are the same brand and almost identical to the Screen-accurate ones but for one difference.  The screen accurate ones are the most ridiculously high 

YUCK! However, they also made a flat version of the shoes and I was fortunate enough to get them back in late 2019.  They were a bit small so I had them stretched (before our lovely cobbler retired). They are super quality leather and I was lucky to get them for about £14compared to the RRP of over £100

I very much like this outfit.  The t-shirt is in a more practical material (i.e. cotton) than the screen accurate one which is in synthetics. Whilst the dress lacks the scalloping (which is round the sleeves instead...I suppose it might be possible to reposition it though I quite like the sleeeves), I do like it.

With the exception of the tights (which are light), it is quite a good Summer oufit.

What do you think?

xx

TARDIS Tuesday- Summer 5th Doctor outfit

HI there!

I have enjoyed my last 2 Summer spins on the Classic Who Doctors.I hope you did too!

Today, I am considering baby-faced 5th Doctor, Peter Davison's outfit.

I last looked at this outfit as inspiration in April 2021- here I did a literal cosplay and recreation of the outfit but this time, I wanted to do a Summer spin on it. Therefore I was using it as inspiration rather than a direct recreation.  I have actually done a Summer version of this once before (back in 2015 which you can see here) and I used the same base-dress.

Let's look at the original:

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

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

And this time, I have created two versions of it with one garment difference:

 

Here's the first one: I started with the obvious item- my Question mark shirt (embroidered by Ang) which I wore for my 6th Doctor outfit last week. As I said last time, the shirt is lovely and lightweight. I rolled up its sleeves for a more summery look.

The next item was my vintage dress bought back in 2015 or so.  I loved this dress. It's handmade and I definitely get cricket jumper vibes from the patterning around the neck and hem. Do you agree?

I added my handmade celery brooch (made from Shrink plastic in 2015). Yes, it looks more like Chard.

I wore CBC's LilyWhite's genuine Panama hat (which I bought from Oxfam for him 7 years ago or so) and added the same red spotty scarf I wore round my neck last week for the 6th Doctor outfit.

Here's the second outfit. Spot the difference!

This time, I took away the white shirt (I could have kept it on but I think in the Summer, it would be a bit too warm with both the jacket and the shirt. Instead, I wore my Whistles blazer which I bought for £4 for my 5th Doctor cosplay. It has ties but I tied them loosely inside the blazer. Celery was repinned.

I wore my Toms Huarache shoes- couldn't wear my white brogues as they are in school (spare shoes) and didn't think that the white Converse high-tops would work so well.

I think I like this outfit better out of the two, but what about you?

xx

TARDIS Tuesday- Romana and the stones of Blood

 This week, for TARDIS Tuesday, I decided to go back to a favourite Classic Who outfit worn by Romana, the clever Time Lady companion who joined him in his quest for the Key to Time. She wears this outfit in a great episode called The Stones of Blood which deals with Stone circles!

I last attempted this outfit in 2019 and 2017.

It's a very comfy outfit. I wore it on a Sunday and when we went for a walk.

I started with this second hand red gypsy skirt which, like my shoes yesterday, was damaged by getting caught on my bike but this case, getting chewed up by the cogs! It's got a slight hole at the hem with some bike grease stains.Sigh.

The top was charityshopped a couple of years ago.  It's from Select I think. Whilst it's not quite a match for Romana's, it has the correct vibe.

You can't really see my feet but I wore brown ankle boots as opposed to knee-high ones.

Not much else to say. Hope you are well!

xx

TARDIS Tuesday- Peri Brown from The Mysterious Planet- 80's suit!

Hello there mes amigos.

Hope you had a lovely weekend. I had a wonderfully unfixed one. I didn't end up covering flute for that friend (which I was quite relieved about- didn't really fancy a full on weekend since the next 2 will be also!). Friday night, we headed out for Thai. CBC had an interview to become Head of department at school which he got. Which of course meant he was knackered which meant virtually falling asleep at the table so I boxed up the remaining food (I come prepared with my own boxes), which meant, together with an extra container of rice, which the owner kindly gave us, meant dinner was sorted for Saturday night! I did various bits of cleaning, tidying etc over the weekend and paid a visit to the library to pay my usual fines (when will I learn) and return a book.  We also ended up having a late lunch out on Saturday. When I was in town to return my library books, I naturally paid a visit to the charity shop.  To my delight, they had a blazer which I have had saved in my favourites on Depop which I'd been thinking about buying, but never done. I have the matching trousers for it (Miss Selfridge sale before it closed down) and it's a linen striped summer suit. And also, the blazer was perfect for a Doctor Who cosplay! It cost me £8 which, as a donation to charity, I was happy with. 

So...naturally, I decided to don it for this week's TARDIS Tuesday.

Here's the inspiration:

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

For a change, there are lots of good quality images of it available! It was worn by Peri Brown (played by Nicola Bryant) in the 1980's for a series arc called A trial of a Timelord.  The first story in this serial was called The Mysterious Planet.  Peri wears a rather covering outfit compared to her previous season's outfits which were usually low cut and short!

Fun fact:  My very first classic Who video and episode watched as a 16 year old, when I got back into Doctor Who was this.  My wonderful sister bought me the Trial of a Timelord (which came in a TARDIS tin!) as a Christmas present that year. Best present ever! 

I've been considering this outfit for about 2 years (as mentioned re the blazer).  I had everything in my wardrobe except the stripy blazer. I knew I'd really like to get the matching blazer for my Miss Selfridge trousers but was always hoping I could find them cheaper than the £10.00 + postage on Depop.

Here's my version which I'm very pleased about since the blazer is the only thing I didn't have already.

It was fun to try and recreate some of the absurdly camp poses (which I presume were promo shots for the season).

The yellow blouse I am wearing has featured in Style Imitating Art a number of times AND was worn for a Sarah Jane Smith Who outfit about 4-7years ago. It was from a vintage shop.  I just tucked its regular collar inside to give it a neckline like Peri's.  

My trousers, from Next,charity-shopped at least 9 years ago, are getting a bit tight now but are much loved.  Alas, I didn't have a navy belt (I used to!) but this stretchy black one did instead.

Grandad's straw boater made another appearance (has been worn for both Romana and Yaz cosplays) and I decided to use my 7th Doctor Question mark umbrella in place of a cane.

Finally, there's even a bit of Clara in there.I used my T-bar Clarks heels from my Mummy on the Orient express outfit but tucked in the T-bar so they were just regular ankle straps.

We have a rainbow umbrella from Flying Tiger (has featured in various outfits before including my rainbow one) so I couldn't resist including it!

And that's a wrap- Da naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!

What do you reckon?  I really like the way this outfit looks and might even consider wearing this for work- with a little rearrangement of the neckline!