She's got legs...

You’ll remember my Jean Genie post where I told the world that I had 20 pairs of jeans and you in return told the world how many you had. Wasn’t that fun? Thanks for joining in.

The results of the survey are in. 27% of you own more than 15 pairs of jeans and the same percentage own 4 pairs or less with the average ownership being 9.3 pairs. I’m guessing the point 3 refers to the teeny tiny denim hot-pants that you’ve got hiding in your sock drawer, yes? Oh don’t deny it ‘Mr. I-like-to-pretend-I’m-Miley’ from Harpenden. I’ve got the data!

Anyway, as an antidote to all those jeans, I set myself the ‘NO JEANS TO WORK WEEK’ challenge. And copping out by calling in sick is against the rules - though the labrynthitis/vertigo that hit me on Sunday night nearly got me bed and dressing gown bound for the week, I can tell you.
No, I actually have to go to work wearing only skirts, dresses or trousers (but definitely no jeans or trousers pretending to be jeans). May I also add that I’m not allowed to buy anything new immediately before or during the challenge to make it easier. I will have to make do with what I already own – which is 2 skirts, one pair of black trousers and some chinos (which I would usually reserve for summer, so let’s pray for some sun!).
I do have dresses but they are a bit summery and I don’t think that March, me or you are quite ready for bare leggedness just yet. Setting myself this challenge is either dumb or inspired and I don’t know which yet.

What I decided to do, which I never do for an ordinary jean week at work, was to plan my outfits. There was no way I could risk faffing around each morning trying to work out what to wear. If I did this, the result would be lateness for my son and me – and as you know, I can’t abide lateness. And under that kind of pressure I may succumb to jeans or walk out the door looking a right old state – and that may just be a little bit worse than being late.

So here, in pictures and words, is my ‘NO JEANS TO WORK WEEK’…da da daah!

Monday

TOP: Grey asymmetric top from Phase Eight. Love this top!
SKIRT: Black jersey skirt from H&M. I bought this about 3 years ago, but they have many colours and patterns available in store now. Only a ridiculous £3.99!
SHOE/BOOTS: These were a very wise purchase a few months ago. They are a grey/mocha suede shoe/boot from Marks and Spencer. They are really comfy and look good with straight leg jeans or skirts. I can’t see them online now but look out for similar this Autumn/Winter if you want a versatile piece of footwear.

Marks and Spencer shoe/boots - so versatile.

 

Tuesday

TOP: This was a very lucky find in the back of my wardrobe. I can’t remember exactly how long I’ve had it, but about 4 years I reckon and I think it was from River Island. Glad I found it - I like it’s bagginess in contrast with the tight skirt.
SKIRT: Same as Monday
SHOE/BOOTS: Same as Monday
HAIR: Models own! And cut into a sharper bob the night before.

 

Wednesday

 

JACKET: From H&M. I love this. It fit’s so well and looks more expensive than its £24.99 price tag. It goes well with jeans too – funnily enough! Lots of colours available.

TOP: Striped t-shirt from H&M
TROUSERS: Chinos from NEXT
Ironically, although these chinos are very comfortable, they are out of my comfort zone. I feel a bit ‘Prince William’ in them and as lovely as he is, he’s not one of the people I tend to channel when I get dressed in the morning. I bought them last summer but when I tried them on again at home, I wasn’t really sure of them. I was going to take them back but lost the receipt and thought oh what the hell - I’ll keep and wear them anyway.
SHOES: Clarks. Not sure they are exactly right for this outfit – but I didn’t have much choice and they are my faves.

Clarks shoes - such a cute little buckle!

  

Thursday

 

BLOUSE: Grey with a slight dotted pattern from H&M

SKIRT: This is embarrassing now, but yes, you’ve guessed it, it’s H&M! It’s fairly old but, again, they do similar versions year after year. I like this one because it’s lined and not too clingy.
SHOE/BOOTS: as before

Friday 

TROUSERS: From Topshop. Now these have to be about 6 years old. I used to really love them, and I still like them a lot, but I’ve not worn them for well over a year. I originally bought them to wear with trainers and a casual printed t-shirt.

TOP: Grey jumper from NEXT (these come in an array of colours and look good with a shirt underneath too).
SHOES: Clarks. These shoes are cute - though Mr.B said they look a bit ‘Blackadder - ish’!

He does have a point 'M'lord'

Friday was my least favourite outfit of the week – something just not right about it for me and I felt scruffy all day for some reason. A good tip when deciding what to chuck out or keep, is to ask yourself 'would I buy the item again if I saw it in a shop today?' If the answer is no - then get rid!

 

So how was my ‘NO JEANS TO WORK WEEK’?
 

After the initial denim separation anxiety, I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it quite inspiring. It was quite a talking point too actually. I had comments like ‘Ooh what are you all dolled up for?’ and ‘you’re looking very elegant today’ and ‘don’t you look smart!’ Interestingly, Wednesday’s outfit got more tongues wagging than the other outfits and I think it’s because it’s quite a different look for me (and they’re obviously not used to royalty looky-likeys). But maybe, just maybe, it was because it wasn’t black and grey like all the other outfits that week! Jeez – where’s that injection of colour that I promised myself back in January?

So, next week, why don’t you, go through your own wardrobes (though how exciting it would be to go through someone else’s) and wear the things that haven’t had an outing in a while? Go on – I dare you! We’re all guilty of getting ‘ploddy’ with our clothes choices and that’s probably because we’re usually rushing in the morning and just grab for what we know works. This a totally reasonable tactic for busy people, but if we all just take 10 minutes the night before to plan an outfit for the next day, I reckon we could all get so much more from our wardrobes.

But approach this dare with caution. I now have a long list of items that I want to buy to make my no jeans weeks even more interesting and colourful!

Which brings me neatly onto the exciting news that, H&M in St. Albans has just got BIGGER! Am I happy? Hell yeah!

M x

I’d like to wish all the mums a very happy Mother’s Day for Sunday (30^th). I hope that you have a wonderful day feeling loved and appreciated. Just a homemade card and a cuddle will do the trick for me. In the evening I’ll be singing for my supper at The Farmers Boy, St. Albans. Mmmm – what to wear? What should, or more importantly, shouldn’t, a 41 year old mum/singer wear for her upcoming gigs? Good question. I will have some answers and pictures for you next time.

She's a model and she's looking good...

Hello again. This post is about my Personal Shopping training day. If I lose my way trying to relive the tears, the laughter and the fabulous OMG moments here in text for you all to appreciate, just know now, in one word, it was AMAZING!

On the morning of my Personal Shopping training I was very careful to choose what I wore. Firstly, I needed to make sure that my footwear was comfortable as I knew there’d be a lot of walking. I also needed to make sure I looked well put together and groomed. Not only so the models (our volunteer guinea pigs for the day) respected my style and judgement but that the shop assistants did too – sure to get better service that way. Hence I decided against my tie dye, cut-away mini dress and patent thigh-high boots so to avoid any Pretty Woman scenarios.

I was due to meet Gail at 10am so we’d have time for a catch up and debrief before we met our first model, Ali, at 11am. I was half an hour early. I’m a bit of a time freak - I hate being late and I’m not very patient waiting for people who are late either.

If Gail was late, I didn’t notice. I was fascinated by the dialogue that was going on between a young male shop assistant and an unnecessarily demanding, commanding, unsmiling and rude elderly lady in the shoe department (and they say it’s the young that don’t respect the elderly? Pah!). In my opinion, the shop assistant lad deserved employee of the day. I was very impressed how he kept his calm and didn’t raise his voice once. I won’t relay the whole conversation to you, but suffice to say, had I been in the shop assistant’s shoes, I’m not sure I would have been able to resist surreptitiously replacing the pretty little patent heel courts in her carrier bag with a pair of gentleman’s corduroy slippers in the hope that it would teach her a valuable lesson in karma and respec’. Innit!

 
Ali
Anyway, let’s move on. Ali arrives and, over a coffee, she runs through her shopping list with me and Gail. It’s a very organised list on a sheet of A4. I’m impressed. I love a list. And I love an A4 clothes list even more!

Gail, Ali and the list!

Ali is an Autumn and has a straight, slim and angular body shape – so Gail suggested that Zara was a good place to start (she’s been doing this style advisor and shopping malarkey a long time now and she sure knows her stuff). So off we went, colour swatch and list in hand.
 

I don’t think I was quite prepared for how quickly Gail can identify and pick clothes off the rails – she was on fire! It took me a while to get into the same mind-set as I kept gravitating towards clothes that were best suited for me rather than Ali! I was very nervous as I knew that Gail would be watching me closely to see if I was picking up the right clothes, sticking to the brief and following all the theory that I had been studying at home. Let’s just say that I got braver by the minute and very quickly got into the flow. So much so, that my arm started shaking with the weight of the clothes draped across it. I physically couldn’t hold anymore and so it was time for us to head to the fitting room.

Now's not the time to tell us you only have a £40 budget Ali!

  

We divided up the trousers, tops, jackets, skirts etc. so that Ali was able to try on lots of different outfits with the minimum of changes. I was having the time of my life seeing someone in clothes that made them look and feel wonderful. There was a moment that quite honestly I got goose-bumpy! Who would have thought that a mustard yellow shirt (pictured above) from Zara was capable of such things?

 

 

Ali with her 'yes' rail of clothes

 

There weren’t many items from our initial harvest on the shop floor that Ali said no to which I think was a product of a great selection of clothes and a body that was very easy to dress. Anyway, 3 (very heavy Zara) bags-full later and a Cheshire cat grin on Ali’s face, we ventured into Accessorize and H&M to pick up a few last bits.

For those of you who know me well, you will know that H&M is my favourite shop. And to concrete that further, something amazing happened in here when Ali tried on an Olive Green jersey dress. I felt tears burning behind my eyes because she looked so totally fantastic in it! Yep, tis true. I asked Gail if it was normal to feel that emotional and she said it was – phew! And I’m so blooming sorry that I didn’t get a snap of Ali wearing it – I was obviously too overwhelmed to get my phone out of my bag. Ali, if you’re reading this, please send me a pic to share with the world (no pressure!).

 Ali with her bags and Cheshire cat grin 

 

Me and Ali with our sparkly grins

 

So that was the end of Ali’s personal shopping trip which lasted 3.5 hours. Not long at all for a wardrobe overhaul I reckon. However, we overran by half an hour so I was late for Sarah. Not good. But luckily, unlike me, she’s not a time freak and seemed very laid back and relaxed when we met her in the café.

Sarah

Now, Sarah’s list was significantly shorter than Ali’s. Sarah needed skirts and dresses which she finds tricky to get due to her inverted triangle body shape - as what fits on the hips often doesn’t fit on the waist. 

It was good experience for me to see how tricky and obviously frustrating this can be. She tried on many, but sadly they didn’t fit or were unsuitable for what she had in mind. But armed with a few tips, she can now at least continue her search online and in other shops at her leisure. We discovered that she definitely suits a pencil skirt shape and that she needs to avoid skirts with waistbands and opt for those that sit on her hips instead.

But please don’t feel too sorry for Sarah - she found a top that quote “I will wear all the time!”. The top was lucky to make the final cut actually as it cost a few more pounds (well 50 more pounds to be precise) than Sarah wanted to spend on a top – but it did look brilliant and the cost per wear will make it great value. She also bought a beautiful blue scarf, a silk shirt (that she wore to an interview this week and got the job - congratulations!) and a gorgeous pink, fine knit, V-neck jumper. These items will revitalise any existing clothes she has in her wardrobe – and can often be the most rewarding purchases.

 

The 'I will wear it all the time' top from Jigsaw

 

Sarah joked that she was disappointed that she hadn‘t found a garment that reduced me to tears and used this as her gauge throughout her session. However, what Sarah’s clothes didn’t provide for in the tear department made up for in the laughter department. That sounds wrong. I know this is likely to lose something in translation, but there was a pure comedy moment where Sarah put on a top and turned to me and Gail for our opinion. Sarah saw both our shocked and surprised faces staring at her. Our faces then collapsed into fits of giggles. And no, she didn’t buy the top and yes she found it very funny too – it was a great moment.

Happy Sarah!

There is so much more I want to tell you about the day but, already, I think this is a post of epic proportions and if you’re still reading this, thank you for your patience. I imagine that reading this could easily be compared to looking through someone else’s photos of a two week beach holiday – yawn! But I hope not.

My conclusion is this. The day confirmed to me that being a style advisor is what I was born to do. And as I was born over 41 years ago I really do need to get a right old shifty on, finish my training and get out there!

A want to say a massive thank you to Gail for allowing me to showcase my ideas and knowledge on the day and for generally just being her very stylish, approachable and lovely self. And of course to Ali and Sarah the models – I hope you’re enjoying your new clothes - you look pretty darn gorgeous, ladies!

M x

Next time, as an antidote to Jean Genie, I will be taking the 'No Jeans to Work Week' challenge. That sounds more 'half naked' than I intended it to be. Let me clarify. I have to wear either skirts, dresses or trousers to work - no jeans allowed. I have no idea how this is going to work out as I'm sure I only have 1 skirt suitable for work in my wardrobe and possibly only 1 pair of trousers - think I'm regretting this already. Time to get creative!

 

Jean Genie!

Welcome back, and thank you for popping into Styled by Mel. Hope you’ve all had a good couple of weeks and are enjoying the spring offerings that have hit the shops, magazines and at times, even the weather!

I’d also like to welcome to my blog, a new and very elegant lady – she’s up in the header and she’s my new logo! I love her little silhouette and I know that I’m going to enjoy her being by my side throughout the Styled by Mel journey. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be getting her up there, but it was all worth it. I’d like to say a big thank you to the designer for interpreting my vision (a lorry-full of chocolate coming your way) and of course to my IT savvy Mr.B for making it happen.

For a while I’ve been meaning to sort out my clothes. Just lately it seems that jeans are on the agenda. My favourite fashion blogger was deciding whether to buy skinnies from Whistles, Gap or New Look and then my therapist (beauty, not the other one!) was telling me that she was having trouble finding a pair to fit her hourglass figure. And so I felt it was my calling to start the wardrobe tidy up with my jean drawer.

I have counted 18 pairs of jeans (it’s a big drawer). I have one pair on and another on the clothes dryer, so that makes 20. I wasn’t sure if I should put an exclamation mark at the end of that last sentence because I really don’t know if that’s an unusually high amount for a woman. I asked Mr.B what he thought. His reply was “20?!” pause “why would anyone need 20 pairs of anything – even pants?!” I swear he will be signing me up for the next series of BBC’s Britain’s Biggest Hoarders quicker than you can say black bin liners.

Right – on with the tidy up.

Jeans posing as duvet cover!

Now in my defence (if you think I need one), for the last two decades or so, I have worked in offices where the dress code is smart/casual and so jeans, with smart tops, have been my working uniform. And when the weekend arrives, I again, gravitate towards the denim – so it’s been very easy to build up a collection.

However, for the sake of my Personal Style Advisor training with Study in Style and to actually free up space, I try them all on and divide them into 3 piles. You can have some fun naming the piles but for this exercise I’ve chosen:

Definite (a good flattering fit) = 15

Don’t know (good fit, wrong decade) = 2
Ditch (never to be worn again, by me anyway) = 3

Mmm, not much of a cull is it? But I like all 15 pairs, they fit well and I’m sure I will get round to wearing them all again at some point. Also, I have very few skirts and other trousers in my wardrobe and so by my reckoning, I can keep all 17 pairs.  Thank you. The End. 

Oh you’re still here. Not happy with that conclusion then I assume? Ok, erm, let’s play a game – it’s called ‘The Hoarding Mummy and the Style Advisor game’.

So, I’m the mummy and my Style Advisor has told me that I must choose just 3 pairs of jeans because it’s the law! She says a lot of my jeans are very similar in colour and fit so it shouldn’t be that difficult (yeah, yeah). But more importantly, if I don’t comply, she says I will get arrested by the fashion police and be made to wear Crocs with socks and slightly-too-short, elasticated leg tracky bottoms for the rest of my life.  So with that image in my head, I swiftly choose the following:

1.     7 for all Mankind straight leg jeans. These are perfect weekend jeans as they look good with Converse (though I’m hoping to replace the Converse with some rather delicious Ash or New Balance trainers one day soon). Gosh in fact, the jeans are looking a little faded now aren’t they? Tough. They are the most expensive jeans I’ve ever bought and unless I stumble across a lonely £180 that doesn’t need to be spent on food or bills, they will have to do. And in fact, a little fading can be very ‘homely’ I’ve decided.

 

 

2.     Dark blue skinny Demi Curve Levi’s. These are smart but still casual for work and also good for an evening out. They fit really well on the bum and have generous belt loops for a chunky belt that I’m partial to.

 

 

3.     Black H&M skinnies. These can look much smarter than the Levis for work and, again, are great for a night out too if dressed down a bit with a waterfall cardigan.

 

 

4.      Topshop flared jean – love these for work and play in the summer with my wedges and painted toenails.

Yes I know she said only 3 but the flared pair are so cute and I always feel good in these when the sun is shining. And anyway, whose side are you on exactly?

Now for some audience participation – how many pairs do you own and what’s the minimum pairage you think you could live with? Jeans, not Crocs!

Oh and FYI – Mr ‘who needs 20 pairs of anything?!’ has 19 pairs of pants. NINETEEN! He assures me he didn’t bin a pair just to avoid hoarder status but I’m not sure I believe him. I didn’t think you’d want the full blown analysis and pictures of him modelling his most comfy and smartest pairs, but I’m here to please and so feel free to get in touch if this is a matter you want addressed.

Mel x

This Saturday I have my Personal Shopping training day. I will have to choose the right clothes in the right sizes, in the right colours for my two models, whilst negotiating the crowds at a busy shopping centre! What could possibly go wrong? I look forward to telling you all about it next time.