Style Me May: Ivy League Preppy

Or, Catholic girls school education preppy completed with a hair ribbon.

My first trip to America is hotly anticipated and currently in the planning stages.  Scheduled for 2014, the to-do list is going to take about 9 months, and it's constantly growing.  But as for today, having never seen a real live Ivy League anything yet, I give you my understanding of 'preppy'.  It includes: a collared shirt, a jumper (that should be sweater, obvs) a pleated skirt, tights, lace up shoes, and a blazer.  Oh, and a hair ribbon.  Considering my ribbon is HH's tartan, and the blazer is from Scottish boutique label Ness, this is a kind of Isle of Skye-vy League Preppy look.  The pale blues and greens in it are reminding me of my high school uniform, as are the stockings and shoes.  Maybe if I go to ASDA in it I'll get asked for ID again (that happened a couple of weeks ago and I'm still excited by it) I think the woollen aspects of it are going to stand me in good stead for going to Shakespeare's Globe tonight though... it's still a wee bit chilly outside.  You get a gratuitous shot of the trees across the road because I was using the timer setting on the camera and pointed it too high.  There's real life ivy by my feet near the fence btw. 

Someone just emailed me asking what did my school uniform look like?  Well Lou, I'm glad you asked.  See the picture above. I  should say now that I didn't do a lot of standing around near the fountain in my day.  My skirt was probably a fair bit shorter than the girl on the left's, too.

Style Me May: Seen on a Style Blog...

In which HH won't be seen out with me...

If I wear my favourite style blog 'look' which is... socks with sandals.
I know.  But... I like socks, ok? I also like high heels, and dislike a, cold feet, and b, the caprice of English spring weather (rain outside my window, case in point.)

If you'd like some further so-wrong-it's-actually-right inspiration, the lovely ladies at Fancy Pants Style  have put together a whole socks and sandals list.
My take on it is below.  I am threatening to wear it to Paris when we go on Wednesday.  HH probably won't sit with me if I do.  Which is ok, because that means I won't have to share my Kindle.
I am clearly following some of these 'how to pose like a fashion blogger' tips although the one showing my accidentally symmetrical  fashionista top-knot hair came about because I was looking down to see if I'd set up the camera properly.  
I think you'll find I've ticked quite a few style blog boxes including stacked bracelets, over-exposure (of the photos - although I suppose Style Me May posts every day count as over-exposure in some quarters, especially if you ask my brother) and the 'all my weight on one leg' side pose.  Gosh.  I don't know about you lot, but I'm exhausted.  On a completely unrelated note, but still speaking of style, can anyone, please, tell me why the font above the first photo in this post is a different size than the font I'm typing in now when behind the scenes it appears to be the same? In fact, anyone who wanted to teach me how to make a blogger site look nicer would be my new best friend.  I know I should probably just change to wordpress.  But that would be too easy.  You'd think I'd be able to work it out for myself, wouldn't you.  Working in online editorial and all. 

Style Me May: Colour Below the Ankles

The one where I pretend I'm not going to tell you where these fab shoes came from...

And then I 'fess up and say Barratts.  You can't really see the backs of them (I was too busy getting ready to go out for 'it's the night before my birthday let's just have a few drinks' drinks to faff with the camera,) and don't get me started on how much I hate that wave shaped mirror.  Oh, too late.  I HATE that wave shaped mirror.  It came as part of our furnished rental flat and it's too awkward to store anywhere.  I'd break it out of pique except I'm too superstitious.  So where was I? Oh yes, the colour-blocked shoes from Barratts.  If you could see them better, you'd see they're a combo of wedgewood blue leather block heels, navy leather sides and yellow suede toes.  Love.

Want to see another pair of gorgeous Barratts shoes? Oh, go on then...

Yep, my wedding shoes came from Barratts too.

Style Me May: Classic White Shirt...

Or, the first appearance of wardrobe thievery...

A couple of the many things HH brings to the table in our marriage are his record collection and his wardrobe.   After the Great T-shirt Purge of 2008, the necessity of which he came round to in time, I have enjoyed the fact that when checked cowboy-esque shirts, over-sized American Apparel T-shirts, aviator sunglasses and striped tops came in and out of fashion, I had his selection at my disposal.  (what? I was a student...)


The following outfit is one I normally only break out when I'm doing something really fashion-y which doesn't happen as often as I'd like, frankly.  It's HH's white shirt which has a cute rounded collar, and I always add a necklace or in this case, a ribbon, and a jacket, in the hope that it's more a look of 'polished androgeny' and less 'I didn't have a costume so I came as Tom Cruise in Risky Business'.  With a black blazer I like that it's kinda suit-y, and with my favourite pale blue raincoat it's weather appropriate.  Perhaps the shiny leggings should have gone into things that used to scare me - but it's not really me that they scare... more other people.

Style Me May: Used to Scare Me...

Used to? Used to scare me? This post's outfit comprises at least 4 separate elements which are all up there with watching Let The Right One In.

I can cope with wearing my leather pencil skirt, which originally was a bit 'out there' when I bought it from a vintage store in Amsterdam in 2010, because leather has been everywhere recently and also because Londoners don't turn a hair when they see it.  I used to be a bit afraid of coloured tights though, because I thought anything dark red might just make me look like I had some kind of severe skin disease.  I've worn them under open-toed shoes, which is the thin edge of the 'socks and sandals' wedge. I'm still pretty leery of wearing black close to my face, because I think it washes me out and makes me look like a 50 year old smack addict, a look which is only developed by me pulling my hair off my face, something else I rarely do.  Finishing the look of scary things are my glasses, which due to their Dame Edna-esque properties had been relegated to second string status until I lost my good ones and... BRIGHT RED LIPS.


So this outfit is the sartorial equivalent of reading Edgar Allan Poe by candlelight in a blackout with only mice for company.

Style Me May: A World Traveller...

Or, a bunch of pictures of me wearing the same ole thing in different places around the world...

I bought this top from a second hand shop in a tiny village in the Dordogne region in France.  It was run by two ancient ladies out the window of their front room which opened onto the street.  It was already a world traveller because someone had picked it up in Maui.

Don't you love it when clothes have a secret history? I'd say this vest was made in the eighties (it's got those tell-tale big arm holes and is finished with neon writing) and sold as a souvenir - but how did it end up in a tiny French village? Did one of the old ladies running the shop pick it up in her youth and wear it on some millionaire's yacht before returning home and changing her style completely to tweed and and cardigans? Did another tourist leave it behind?   I paid 1 euro for it, and promptly wore on that trip, (the photo below where I'm holding pastries - check me! It's almost like I knew that one day I'd need it to illustrate a blog post and used location-specific props!) in Bali on honeymoon (again with the props - as obvs I'm not going to drink that giant Bintang beer) and in Cuba (for all the long conversations I had to have with statues when HH stopped listening to me)

And I'm wearing it today.  With a fairisle cardigan for gosh sakes.  It's MAY.  Sort your act out, weather.  No wonder I look all moody in the picture.  The jeans are J-brand, if anyone's wondering.  Actually they're an item that always gets complimented, and are 'investment jeans' which really live up to their brief.

Style Me May: Layer jewellery...

Two necklaces may be too decadent for a Sunday...

But here they are.  I made them both a couple of years ago.  Despite what you may think, HH was a lot of help when I was digging through things trying to find them.  Honest.

Thrusting my chest out like that is potentially too much for a Sunday too... I don't know what they'd make of it at Mass ;)

Style Me May: Put a scarf on it.

Or, would we call some ancient jeans plus more ancient cardi with a scarf 'styled'?

This working-from-home business means that I don't have much reason to dress up during the week.  However what we've got planned for this Saturday, namely a walk to Greenwich park, followed by a trip to ASDA and potentially one off the wood in our local pub, doesn't really call for lashings of sartorial brilliance (we don't, after all, want to scare the natives.) 
So readers, I give you 'Put a Scarf on it.'

The gratuitous shot of a flower in a milk bottle is to prove that although I wasn't particularly styled on Saturday, our lounge room was.  I mean, the floral 'installation' (one of several) matches the Penguin books.  I bet Rachel Zoe is pretty terrified by my work.

Style Me May: Always Gets Complimented

In which I cover the house with flowers before people come over for dinner...

As I mentioned yesterday, S and her boyfriend, (whose initial, confusingly, is also S) are coming for dinner.  As I write this (and can't post it, because our power keeps surging and the router seems to have blown) I realise that my 'always gets complimented' repertoire is mostly comprised of evening dresses and high heels.  None of which I should really crack out tonight, because otherwise I run the risk of friends and husband thinking I've gone round the twist.  (which, to be fair, they may be expecting as have now been off work/freelancing in the house for 4 weeks.) So instead of coming to the door supremely over-dressed, I'm wearing the same slim leg blue trousers-from-Madrid which I wore on Wednesday, a cream lace blouse, belt which I stole liberated from my Grandma's wardrobe a couple of years ago, and my oft-commented-on woven brogues from Topshop. 
Despite being from Topshop, the brogues are unique, because when I bought them they were cream.  I loved the shape and the soft leather, but HH said they looked like leather trainers, and that from a distance I looked as if I was wearing knock-off Lacoste shoes.  So I dyed them a dark chocolate brown.  Which matches my nails.  Also involved in this ensemble  is a tweed jacket with corduroy elbow patches because it's chilly outside you guys.

Style Me Update...

In which the hobo is trying to clean the oven before having guests over which is potentially unwise, and still needs to go out to raid other people's gardens unnoticed communal areas for flowers to try to draw attention away from the fact that I'll be seating four people around a fairly titchy coffee table.

Outfits for Wednesday, 'Bright Happy Colour' and Thursday 'Jazz Up Your Hands', along with today's 'Always Gets Complimented' will be updated tomorrow, cos I've been in Glasgow and not had my kit. (my blogging, kit, ie, my laptop.  Obviously I had kit as in clothes.  Otherwise I'd have a, failed the Style Me May challenge and b, been naked.) 


OH MY. 


I was going to leave you with the following picture and say 'what a shame I didn't buy this t-shirt in 2009 when I first wanted it because it's now been out of stock for over two years and what do you think of it isn't it nice or am I a little too old for band t-shirts at almost but not quite 28?', only to re-google it and find that it's come back into stock! Here's where you can buy it.  But not yet, k? I don't want it to sell out again before I've gotten one in the hobo cart.

Style Me May: Jazz Up Your Hands

In which my hands go grunge...

Bf Soph and her boyfriend are coming for dinner tomorrow night, so I’ve jazzed up my hands with a glittery chocolate coloured nail polish from Kiko to match the gorgeous stacking rings which S gave me for my birthday last year.  The effect, on the whole, is quite early 90’s.  I was going to listen to some jazz, (I do love a literal interpretation of a theme, me) but these hands are far more likely to be pressing play on a cassette tape of Nirvana.  Or they would, if the Hoboest Husband would let me... But S and I are children of the 80’s, and started our stylin’ in the 90’s, so I think that’s ok.  If only HH would let me continue the theme tomorrow night by playing Nevermind...

Makes me want to twirl...

In which the Hobo begins 'Style Me May', gets blog envy of Dean Street Society, and prepares for an overnight bus journey to Glasgow.

Why am I going to put photos of myself on the blog every day this month, even though I don't really believe in it as a general rule?*  Because I'm taking part in in a daily styling challenge in order to get into the swing of blogging regularly, and to get some use out of what's in my wardrobe.
Today's outfit is 'makes me want to twirl...'

And, apart from the skirt of this taffeta frock being, well, innately twirly, it makes me want to twirl because:
1. It was a bargain.  It came from a charity shop on High Street Kensington, cost £7, and still had the tags on it.  It's from ASOS.  When I found it I did have a momentary pang because I thought that some girl may have given it away by mistake, but I got over that by telling myself it was more likely that said girl ordered it, didn't like it and forgot to send it back within the ASOS-approved time window and thus had to get rid of it, and that explanation was much more satisfactory because it's the kind of thing I'd do.
2. It's got a tartan-esque pattern, perfect for going to a ceilidh** in.  At the ceilidh club nights in London you get a cheaper ticket if you're wearing tartan AND the dress is great for dancing in - so it's perfect.
3. Today it's warm enough to wear it with knee socks and high heeled brogues.  It's possibly not the most practical outfit to wear on an overnight bus to Glasgow, which is what I've got planned for this evening, but strictly speaking that activity will probably come under tomorrow's Style Me May anyway.

Speaking of twirly - if you haven't seen this amazing frock on Florence Finds, go and check it out.  It moves and everything.
*Disclaimer: I only believe in this as a general rule for me and not for other bloggers, who, it goes without saying, look awesome in real life photos of what they're wearing (see aforementioned example Rebecca on FlorenceFinds)  and who are blogging about fashionable items available in the shops, as opposed to me, because I look like a numpty in photos and am more often than not wearing something that was once my Pma's or is currently my husband's.

**It's ok, I won't tell the Hoboest Husband that you don't know what a ceilidh is.  It's a Scottish dance, and it's pronounced kay-lee.  I'm probably the worst dancer of ceilidh in the history of the world, but what I lack in talent I make up for in enthusiasm.  And appropriate frocks, obvs.