Weighty Issues

I know, I know - my blogging has been terribly remiss of late. A house move coincided with my busiest and most productive month as The Wardrobe Angel to date which left me surrounded by boxes, dreaming of clothes and clinging to time drifting like a blizzard through my fingers. Apparently, buying a house and moving is one of the most stressful experiences you will ever  have in your life - I can confirm this is true. Half a stone lighter I feel less of myself but parts of me are more visible: my hip bones are jutting at an angle I'm not accustomed to; my jaw, sharper and more defined rests on wrist bones that are mountainously knobbly - no better word for it. 

A slighter example of who I used to be, I hosted my first networking event at Hobbs in Leeds last week.  "You look very thin" a colleague approached me and said. I replied, "I've just moved, it's been really stressful." When I get stressed my body takes it upon itself to chow down on my resources. It has always been that way. The most annoying thing it that this leaves you with clothes that don't really fit and a dilemma for your body to answer - do you buy more clothes in a smaller size to see you through or wait until the weight returns?  

I've done both. I've turned to fiercely belting dresses I already own (pictures to follow), wearing a leather A-line skirt with thick jumpers tucked in to fill the gap at the waist and celebrating my elastane filled pencil skirts which love me whatever my shape. I've ditched the boyfriend jeans (they drown my legs and frankly, don't stay up at the waist any longer) and donned my skinnies. I've taken to wafting around my new pad in a ballgown skirt I picked up in a charity shop when I lived in London - I love the heaviness of the material, it seems to fill me in where the weight has left me wanting. Buying a pair of GAP ultra skinny trousers in the sale proved a wise choice. They are wonderfully skinny, slightly cropped at the ankle and at £7.99 didn't break that bank. When my half a stone returns I can re-gift them or sell them on. 

I had a client last Sunday who had the same weighty issue - she had lost weight due to healthy eating and exercise and was asking "when do I buy new jeans?" I'd give it a month for your body to find its ideal resting weight - we all have one - the weight that our body recalibrates itself to after a while. Give me a month and hopefully I'll be back to mine. 

Blankety Blanket Burberry Coat

We saw. We lusted. We...started saving up?  The wonderous blanket coat from Burberry has turned many a head, and probably busted many a bank, already this season. A "must have" piece my friend so politely calls "the personalised car rug lookalike" is an easy one to replicate. 

Image from The Telegraph

A few years ago I was visiting a friend in Barnard Castle and I had overwhelmingly under-packed, Being far far north of the Watford Gap, I was FREEZING. The only shop that was open was an Edinburgh Woollen Mill where, in my eyes, style came to rest its weary legs and fashion came knocking oh so rarely. Comfort, ease and gillets were the order of the day. As I poked around the rails for something that I would actually wear, I spied a rack of what looked like blankets. My spidey sense told me I was on to a winner and lo! a navy and green checked blanket crossed my back. 

Good things DO happen over time - just wait 'til you see the next picture...

Such an inexpensive item is a great piece to have fun with this and get involved with this seasons blankety blanket coat trend. I've popped my Gap denim shirt underneath, rolled an Hermes scarf tight looping it around the collar and secured everything with a leather belt. You can see the length of the drape on the front of the blanket wrap hits the knee so this would be great with coated skinnies and ankle boots. 

oooof that's tasty

And here we have the magic filters of Instagram at work!

Why I love a (good) clothes swap

I've been volunteering at The Leeds Community Clothing Exchange for over a year now. It's grown and grown and now fills the Oblong Community centre on the last Saturday of every month from 12 - 4pm. So you'll notice the title of the post is "why I love a (good) clothes swap." I went to a clothes in London once and it was rubbish. The Leeds Community Clothing Exchange is a good swap and here's why:

1. A wide variety of clean clothes and accessories in good condition
2. Membership - it makes people come back again and again
3. Location - there is loads of room to move around and changing rooms with a mirror
4. Links to local charity - any clothes that aren't up to swapping par are bagged ready for a charity to come and collect and sell. It all helps extend the clothing lifecycle.
5. Staff - there are at least 10 volunteers at the Leeds Community Clothing Exchange who greet, sort, register, tidy and pack away.

This post is to combat any misconceptions that people may have around clothes swaps. Some people don't 'get them'. Clothes swapping is simply shopping for free in a big clothing tombola. And Forrest, you never know what you're going to get. For instance this week I saw 2 mint condition Superdry jackets snapped up, not to mention the gold Adidas high top trainers and the immaculate vintage jacket that waltzed off the rails. Here's what I picked up:

Topshop pleather trousers
Gap breton striped top
Vintage French Connection Jumpsuit

And here's how I styled them:

The pleather trousers look mint with the striped top, Topshop sliders and necklace and a leopard print scarf. The trousers are a wee bit hot for now so I'm saving them for Autumn.

The grey jumpsuit nails 2 trends this season - 1. Jumpsuits 2. Denim. The grey denim pops next to the lemon shoes and I went mental ala Mr. T with the necklaces - I love the contrast of the utility denim and the ladylike pearls. It does look reminiscent of a boiler suit and I did question whether or not I looked like one of the Ghostbusters but hey! That's the joy of vintage. Check out the label - proper old school:

Some people think that the clothes at a Clothes Swap will be 'dirty'. OK - sometimes they might not be freshly pressed but do you think the clothes that you try on in shops are either? Do you know how many times garments are tried on and put back? You've all visited fitting rooms, tried and discarded a garment which is then hung up, taken back out and placed on the shop floor. Food for thought - keep an open mind and give clothes swapping a try.