Fashion | The Last of the Summer Shorts

Sleeveless jacket: New Look, White and grey linen dress: H&M, Patterned Shorts: Sainsburys TU, Shoes: Clarks

Honestly I am shocked by how long I have managed to wear shorts into what should be autumn. In fact in the UK autumn starts in September however this week we have had highs of 30 and I’ve worn shorts and T shirts, its that hot.

I’m actually beginning to wonder whether autumn will ever happen, maybe we will have that summer wedding after all . . . regardless I’m still hoping that these might be the last of the summer shorts, I’ve worn them religiously for the last few months so to be honest they are probably looking forward to a rest!

Fashion | A ‘shorts’ story

Do you know what proved to be a difficult piece of clothing to buy? Shorts.

What should have been a ‘short’ story (haha) was in fact endless, almost a year in fact. The factors against me was firstly I’m an apple shape so I wouldn’t say that shorts are necessarily the most flattering but secondly I had to go through the trends none of which were particularly flattering.

Last year I thought a great equaliser would have been the boyfriend short. In distressed denim I thought they would be good to equal my top heavy shape. Instead they didn’t work on my skinny legs and so the fit was supremely odd looking.

In all honesty I gave it up for a bad egg last year. My other issue was with being tall, shorts have a tendency to look indecent. If your shorter or petite, shorts work to your advantage as they can make your legs look endless, I don’t quite have that problem.

This year I took another tact. I went back to the form fitting ones and also high waisted. I’m kind of in love with high waisted jeans at the moment. I have a feeling that by Autumn I’ll be on the look out for another pair of high waisted jeans to fill that gap. In the meanwhile however, shorts!

I decided that this year I was also going to have a pair in denim and a soft loose pair. So knowing that I love new look jeans I went there for their high waisted shorts, looking for those with the slightly longer legs (although i’d still consider these hot pants!) and secondly I went looking for a patterned pair as well.

With one pair down I did not expect to find the second so easily but then I was in Sainsburys (supermarket) of all places when I saw them. A highly patterned pair of culotte shorts (who knew that that was a thing?). I think worn with a fitting shirt and maybe my new long armless jacket would be perfect and can be dressed down with sandals or up with heels.

How the Capsule Wardrobe can show you how to love what you own.

The Shorts you shouldn’t love.

White open back top: Zara, Shorts: Next, Sandals: New Look, Bag: Accessorize, Sunglasses (similar, orig from Oliver Bonas in store): Oliver Bonas

I always look at these shorts and wonder why am I wearing these? I’m not entirely convinced that they suit me, they sometimes leave a nice welt on my waist and they go against most of my style rules and yet . . .

I find more tops to go with it more than anything I own and I wear them at least every other weekend and I have the Capsule Wardrobe to thank for that.

If I had bought these whilst I was spending freely I think I would have more than likely wore them once and then put them to the back of my wardrobe and forgotten about them. As it is with the capsule wardrobe I have instead found myself finding ways to wear them and incorporating them even when I didn’t think could.

So if you are still staring at capsule wardrobes thinking this is not for me then this is something to seriously think about. I know that recently I have had my doubts but when it comes to saving money and actually wearing and loving what you own this has been a real game changer for me and it could also potentially be for you.

Short thoughts.

Top: Zara (I’m pretty sure its on sale now!), Shorts: Next, Trainers, Converse

So I thought I would keep this post short and sweet. I actually wore this outfit a couple of weekends ago for a Saturday of errands and chilling with Joshey. I really love the pattern on these shorts even though sometimes I feel that they are a little unflattering but I can’t help but enjoy wearing them. Prior to buying these I never saw myself as a smart shorts wearer but since finding these I can quite safely tell you all that these are worth having! Pairing them up with either tights and a jumper in winter and now just a simple t shirt and my coca cola sweater they have been just perfect!

The Art of Summer Dressing (Or not as the case maybe)

Am I good summer dresser? No, I’d say not. This year I literally bought five summer dresses from H&M and have been wearing them non stop. Occasionally I mix it up with my harem trousers or my flippy skirt but really? I have just worn dress after dress after dress. Its so nice and easy add shoes and your out the door!

What I wish however is to somehow mix that old pattern up. Without resorting to leggings or shorts that is.

Sports Luxe and Tailoring . . .

So as a follow on to last weeks post about summer boredom the lovely “Wonder of Something Curvy” (click for her blog)  asked about styling the loose shorts that all over the high street at the moment. So this for me was petrifying im not the skinniest of girls so i did worry about the way they would hang. I found a great pair which can be seen on Lauras blog (All the Tall Things) here+ But they weren’t perfect for me. However because I had tried on the black pair I had wondered whether maybe a patterned pair would be better for me?

So I went back in and of course most of those had sold out but these above had not. Now disclaimer, they are by no means modest, they have two slits up the sides (which I intend to sew down sometimes this week) and they are also slightly see-through and when I say slightly I mean wear nude pants or keep these for the beach. But for £7 I figured it was worth a splash to see if they would work for me. They fit fine so the next question was how to style them?

On Friday I’ll show you how to wear them (or how I would) on the weekend but today I thought lets dress them up! I love the look for dressed up shorts they are so easily made casual or beach ready that I find the contrast of silky sports shorts with a tailored blazer and pointed heels so much more appealing.

I actually love this look, especially since it looks like all that cycling is paying off on the legs front! In fact I’m hoping to wear this out on mine and the bears next date night! I think this actually looks great with more tailored and form fitting pieces. On friday you’ll see my original thoughts of these shorts which included a loose top but this one above is for sure my favourite!

 

 

Puddle Of Mud

 

Although the title may suggest it, I’m afraid to say that I didn’t unfortunately meet the classic 90’s band today! I did however meet a lot of mud and because of that I’m so thankful that these photos were taken at the beginning of the day!

This top is one of those tops that in real life seems to be worn every week but never quite gets it onto the blog. So today I thought all thats going to change! Its the perfect cover up for getting lunch on a cycle day and therefore here it is!

Thankfully however I took the top of before I fell sideways into a muddy puddle, i’d like to go, “I jest, I didn’t really fall in puddle” but alas, that would be lying. 

stylin’ . . .

 

This really doesn’t show the true extent of the puddle I found myself in. I did one of those great slow motion thought processes of I’m going down. As I stood still and fell sideways. Opps. Then we got a flat and ended up having to catch a train home, semi successful?