Day Forty Four. The tops and the end.

Right the final post for this blog spot. I whittled down to four tees well, I tried. A grey marl one pocket from T by Alexander Wang tee, grey heavy cotton tee by MHL, silk fuscia tee by Topshop and trusty ribbed vest tops- nude and navy from Whistles and grey by MHL. I know, I know I said four and that's erm six. What can I say...
BTW I have found, over the years, that bright vest tops can look very cheap so avoid them. 

Two knits - Sessun wide body jumper and a cardi. You need to go for a longline cover up when cutting back as this is most versatile. I like a  'throw on' type that masquerades as a coat. In fact I need one! Here's one I could go for. I LOVE this Acne grey cardigan £300 (yikes)- which will never date either.

Three tops (ahem) - a cream 3/4 sleeve by Cos - such a useful sleeve length, heavy sweat top in cream by MHL - goes with everything, leopard print sleeveless by Zara (for evening and yes, I know I have gone over again!) and a sleeveless voile by Chloe. I need to branch out on colour don't I! Everything is either cream or off white.... 

And finally three shirts. A denim chambray oversized number by H&M, a white boys shirt by Margaret Howell and a mid blue, bib shirt by Margaret Howell.  

So all that remains is for me to wish you luck with your own clearouts. I will be back blogging later in the year and will announce it on Twitter. Follow me @dressedinahurry
Have a great Summer and thanks for taking the time to read the blog.

Day Forty Three. Trousers and shorts

So then, bottoms. As part of the thirty eight pieces I chose five pairs of trousers. A slim pair of smart navy gaberdine trousers by Margaret Howell, a pair of high waist, wide leg, silk cotton trousers by Margaret Howell, J Brand's Inez chinos, some heavy cotton cadet trousers by MHL and a pair of khakis with an easy fit by MHL.  

I also needed two pairs of shorts - a black silk pair from the amazing Acne and a silk cotton city short by Paul and Joe ( seen with Cos top, Zara leopard print scarf and LK Bennet shoes)

Shorts are multi seasonal - I love them as much for Summer with bare legs and sandals or heels as I do in Winter with thick tights and boots. Ideally you could sneak in a cotton pair for messing about at the weekend in too.

Day Forty Two - Jeans and Jackets

Two jackets - a vintage denim jacket to take the smart edge off any outfit. I saw someone at a wedding in a jean jacket once - I'm sorry but that's not on..
The linen blazer - which just gets worn and worn and which I pray never goes shiny!

Four pairs of jeans - Now I want to make something crystal clear. Four is not really enough unless each pair is significantly different. So, you can choose four that work for the season and rotate them in your wardrobe OR select carefully jeans that perform entirely different roles. Gayle Rinkoff's advice is bang on when she suggests a smart, a baggy and a slim. This is a great starting point, yet most of us own jeans we have had for years. Don't be afraid to customize and alter. Twenty pounds for patching and slimming a leg is a pretty savvy and economic way of reviving an old favourite. 

For this season I carefully chose my crop Topshop mini kick flares (mainly because they give me curves and are a dead ringer for the J Brand gigi), the slimming cigarette leg by J brand, 70's revival Lovestory by J brand and Diesel men's baggies. I could also have swapped in a wide leg Notify pair instead of the baggies as they are more on trend.



For this season there are soooo many wide legs to choose from - as a huge J Brand fan, my money's on their Bette version $218

The Gigi is also very flattering either on an hour glass or a boyish frame as it does the most incredible balancing act for your hips....$180

If you are looking for a gorgeous, girly, but sharp, blazer I am sorely tempted by this dusky pink offering from comptoir des cottoniers
Denim jackets are easy to find but trawling vintage stores might be the best bet for a soft, worn in number.

Day Forty One - Dress finalists

The six dresses - I selected a mix of different shapes, sleeve lengths and hems, to enable a change of silhouette each time.

The black short sleeved sack dress by MHL,black vintage shirt dress, jersey strappy fitted maxi Topshop, the super long tee shirt maxi from Zara,short sleeved chambray shirt dress by MHL and the grey marl sweat dress from Cos - which can be worn belted or loose. All of these dresses lend themselves to layering and dressing up or down. You can wear the chambray shirt dress and sack dress over skinny jeans, put a big loose cardi over it or a long sleeve item under it. They all go with flats or heels, although the vintage shirt dress looks best with at least a small heel. Look at two or three shapes that suit you and build around them. Include a trend piece each season. Mine are the maxi's.








A few of my high street fave's are this rose print maxi from Topshop £75 and this strapless number £29  

What about this futuristic shift from Zara £59.99? And this patterned mini certainly needs no accessories! £35.99 

Lastly - how cool is the multi stripe (Prada anyone?) from H&M £19.99

Day Forty - the coat round up

I chose four coats - now, to some of you that may seem excessive but it's one of the pieces that makes the most impact. Coats and shoes - I think people really notice them. All the coats have been used in the blog previously.
As you can see I have a colourful one, two classics in navy and stone (go for a mac in navy, stone or black and invest as it will become a treasured friend) and a khaki parka. All these colour choices work easily into most wardrobe palettes.
I especially adore short sleeve coats and 3/4 sleeves - it allows you to play with length. You can layer an extended sleeve under a short sleeve coat and your arms look super slender.

Cottons and coated cottons are perfect for summer and our unpredictable climate.
Or maybe this pretty number (left) from Boden, it comes in four colours and is £130?

Try out a cropped duffle from MHL http://www.margarethowell.co.uk/?gclid=CLjusojy4acCFcod4QodISiC-Q#/shop-online/womens/outerwear/mhl-cropped-duffle-proofed-dense-twill-stone-x-small 

Feel a little French chic coming on? Then apc have this festival ready parka 320 euros http://www.apc.fr/homeS09.php?r=1&ew=1280&eh=800&Largeur=1178&Hauteur=601&rnd=1300787482&&specialDisplay=standard&ref=0&refc=0&zone=eu&lg=en&argFiche=0&site=EX&i=7&d=7

Finally for the English rain - Autograph shower resistant trench £99 http://www.marksandspencer.com/

Day Thirty Nine

I got this last summer when denim shirts were having a bit of a moment. Moment or not it's still works, I mean it's a denim shirt and it was cheap as chips. Well, if you buy your chips in a very pricey chip shop. This is a classic 'knocking about with the kids' ensemble. Practical, hard working, washable, but never boring. This shirt is extra long so can be worn, jacket like, over little dresses, shorts or skinny trousers. See, I told you it was useful.
These wide legs look great with wedges, converse, trainers and flip flops. The heavy cotton is heavy duty so will last for years. As you wash it the fabric fibres break down so it softens with age.

Details:
Chambray denim shirt http://www.hm.eu/
Tan leather belt MHL http://www.margarethowell.co.uk/
Washed indigo wide leg military trousers MHL http://www.margarethowell.co.uk/
Dark tan leather sandals http://www.margarethowell.co.uk/

Day Thirty Eight

Coat number four. I have already extolled the virtues of a mac. Banana Republic and Zara have good ones this season.

Grey marl is also an enduring, easy classic. Choose a tee or a sweat - both of which are superb with jeans or khakis. Do, however, exercise extreme caution with turn ups. They make you look shorter. If I wear these with flip flops I can lean towards the dumpy side, but it's a essential beach type jean - not too hot and really battered.

Details:

Beige waterproof mac by Mackintosh http://www.margarethowell.co.uk/

Grey marl drapey tee T by Alexander Wang http://www.selfridges.com/

Tan leather belt http://www.margarethowell.co.uk/

Men's slouchy vintage denim jeans http://www.selfridges.com/

Nude leather and cork wedges http://www.katekuba.com/

Holiday note!

Dear readers, I won't be posting over my holiday so please do check back next weekend.
Have a good week! Anna xx

Day Thirty Seven

A great work look, it's smart but softened by the linen jacket and heavy, almost sweat like, tee. This was my 'going away' skirt so it will always be special. It's also a good gauge of the level of cake consumption as I was super skinny for my wedding (through wedding nerves) Off white is versatile and gives a pleasing sharp contrast against black. It's by Belgian designer Sophie D'Hoore who does cool classics in easy to care for fabrics. Try off white to calm down a bright, team it with the Jil Sander blue (Zara have some good colour options in azure) or fuscia and it's a perfect partner for denim too.

Details:

Thunder cloud grey heavy tee MHL http://www.margarethowell.co.uk/

Thread and bead necklace http://www.day.dk/

Charcoal suede gathered belt http://www.cosstores.com/

Cream cotton pencil skirt http://www.farfetch.com/

Black leather and satin strappy wedges http://www.camper.com/

Jet linen blazer http://www.margarethowell.co.uk/

Day Thirty Six

OMG it was light when I ventured into our bathroom around 6.25am! Oh the unbridled joy. What a difference it makes - I have a bit of a spring in my step. As if that wasn't enough, I also have some help with childcare today so I can pack for my holiday. Even though I am talking you all through how to make more with less, I am not able to pack light. I wish I could, I really do. Every single holiday I lug a huge pile of clothes away with me. Wear about 10% of them and pack them all up to bring home. It's so predictable and inefficient. I fully expect to repeat the whole process this holiday. Someone should do a manual....Anyway back to the 38 pieces. Florals are big again this summer - as they are most summer's, which is why this little blighter has been a keen investment piece. I've had this for about 5 years and I wear it constantly through the summer. It looks like a flower but it's actually huge feathers.They look like giant animated feather fingers.  Trust Miuccia Prada to design such an enduring magical fantasy print. It looks best when the top is kept simple - wear it with a vest and some fitted denim or a little blazer, and you can go and skip through some fields.
Vintage denim jacket http://www.habitual.com/
Vest underneath http://www.whistles.co.uk/
White, blue and khaki feather print cotton skirt http://www.miumiu.com/
Camel leather and cork wedges http://www.katekuba.com/