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...

Style Me May: Bright Happy Colour

In which the Hobo jaunts around Glasgow in the sunshine.

It doesn’t look super bright in these photos, but this floral tunic (which is about a million years old) is happy and colourful.   I layered it with a hot pink silk blouse, French navy trousers, a white blazer and white converse sneakers.  If re-creating this look at home, I'd advise a, that Kirsty has pinned a million white blazers, and b, the zombie eyes I'm sporting are optional.