Workwear with a Kathryn Twist

After a great weekend in Glasgow (you may have seen my tweets **shakes head**), I was struck down with a stomach bug which seems to be going around, so Wednesday became my Monday!

Mondays aren't usually a problem day for me. I like my job, I don't mind office wear, and usually ge enough sleep to not feel cheated out of sleep. But as I was still recovering from lack of sleep and tummy trouble, I needed something to cheer me up!

Ooh, scowly face Kathryn there! Sorry about that!

 

I love this necklace, I immediately thought of designer Rob Ryan when I saw this!

Marks and Spencer tights in purple & my Clarks brogues. 
They remind me of The Bill credits,
and the shoes the female Police Officers wore!

Top in teal: Simply Be - same as the top worn here
Skirt: Domino Dollhouse (no longer available)
Belt: unknown
Necklace: Glasgow Westend Market
Brogues: Clarks
Tights: M&S
Glasses: Gok Wan for Specsavers

The belt is a thin one I must have got with a dress at some point. Like I mentioned, my tummy wasn't feeling at it's best, so I felt a thin belt would be best (to actually hold my skirt up!), but can't wait to wear this with my thick nurses belt for an added waist OOMPH.

I loved this combination! The teal and the purple are far enough away from each other that they compliment, not clash, and I got a real autumnal feel wearing this!

The Domino Dollhouse skirt is a favourite of mine, and I love that it can be dressed up for smart work, as well as dressed down with a band tee for slouchy weekends. 

I'm hoping to put a post together about my favourite outfit from Glasgow in the next couple of days, but I did wear this (with leggings, not tights) for shopping on the Saturday and it still felt amazing! Just a perfect combination that I'll make sure I get my wear out of this A/W!

Much love my lovelies,

K x

Separates and Swallows...

My separate challenge started off with a heavy emphasis on skirts - mainly to help with my transition from dresses I think! - but since these came into my life, I've been managing separates a lot more. 

Don't get me wrong, dresses will always be my go to item, the first thing I look at on any clothing website, but I like how adventurous I'm getting! Sometimes I get it right. Sometimes not so much! I am trying to get better though! 

I'll be honest, I wasn't sure this worked, but warmed to it over the day:



I teamed my SimplyBe tunic with an Excite clothing shrug. When the lovely team at Excite sent me a big bag of shrugs, the pink was one I was looking forward to wearing to try and challenge me into wearing a more feminine colour palette! 

There was just too much sun in the house this morning, and by trying to make it less exposed, I've made it really dark! Oops!

I keep forgetting about this tunic, and get a lovely surprise whenever I 'rediscover' it. I forget how many colours are in this top, from the pale greens, to the subtle pinks / purples and the deep navy...

I then, rather adventurously, added my wine coloured tailored trousers to the mix:

I wasn't convinced, and if I'd had time to, I would have probably changed them for a 'safe' black top. But I was running late, so went with it!!

I am really happy with this combination - in the winter months, I can see the pink shrug making way for a heavy cardigan, and I might add some socks and brogues to the mix, but yup, I think I'm a fan of this look now!

When I got in from work this afternoon, I was met with my lucky dip purchase from kitschensink, where for £5, I got an item, or items worth £15. Just amazing! So this little beauty arrived: 

 Can you tell I like it?

Also, it is the blog debut of my new glasses! They're taking a little getting used to, but I do like that they're different, and TRENDY!!

So there we have it!

K x

Equality

I've been thinking about this idea a lot recently.

Equal. 

Having the same right as another. 

The dictionary defines it as: "The state of being equal, esp. in status, rights, and opportunities".

But as we know, it is not as simple as that. 

I saw a great quote the yesterday, on Facebook of all places:

"I learned first-hand that fat people are the recipients of the last remaining socially acceptable prejudice. Racism and sexism will get you ostracised in more enlightened communities, but you can mock fat people all you want."

We're fair game, aren't we? A fat, easy target?

So often, us fatties use humour as a defense mechanism anyway, that we would probably laugh, or extent the joke further. By doing this though, are we not saying: 'YES! It's okay to make fun of me. Continue?'

I was watching, of all things, The Chase (if you're not familiar, it is a game show in the UK with Bradley Walsh), where the 'Beast' came on. I was very angry. Here, on prime time (7pm on a Sunday evening) telly, we had a popular face of TV mock the Beast for his sheer size. No other reason for this. The Beast responded in turn. I can't remember these comments, I was too shocked, and probably too busy frantically tweeting my fury. 

Why am I annoyed?

We know children learn behaviour they see around them. At 7pm on that Sunday, they saw that it was okay to mock someone for being FAT. If it had been race, or disability, or creed, it would have been an OUTRAGE across the social media world. I didn't see anything about it: did you?

No, and that is because it is seen as acceptable.

We are showing our children that bullying someone for their size is okay. That mocking them for eating a bag of crisps is funny. How do we know that that is the only food they'll have today? We don't. 

So I say we're not as equal as others, not while Fat Hating is rife. 

What I do say is: we can be Healthy at Every Size (HAES), and someone who is a size 2, could be more unhealthy than a person who is a size 22. 

Who are we to judge?

Much love my lovelies,

K x

Military Revisited

Last night I had a serious "WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR!" moment. We were heading over to Sunderland to see an old friend perform in the 'Split Parade', which, in their words: Split Festival's sister event for emerging talent across the North East.

In the build up to Sunderland's biggest music weekend, Saturday 15th September will see the regions top music talent play across 4 venues in the City's 'Holme' of music!

Now, when I was a wee whippersnapper, I regularly would have got to events like this, and I don't remember having such a crisis of what to wear!

Then I remembered! This dress, which was worn to a house party, hadn't 'officially', been worn on a night out! And away I went!

Clothing at Tesco Military dress - available here

George@ASDA handbag - no longer available

Belt: Thrifted

Necklace - Tatty Devine

Phone Cover - ASDA - no longer available

And off I went! 

I went with a very good friend, and J and I reminisced about past events in Sunderland, and fun times had. 

Little did I know, that going to see our friend Nadine Shah play, would mean that I was going to have a complete and utter flashback!

Nadine is a beaut: her lyrics are maudlin and powerful, emotive and soulful. Her facebook page is here.

But what made the event special was this:

She was joined by Lucas Renney, ex Golden Virgins, to cover 'Staying Sober'. I have no words. Watch the video, and you'll see why. 

As a youngster, I adored the Golden Virgins. So seeing my fellow fangirl performing with the singer? Just no words. And that is why I'm not a music journalist!! 

There you have it. My Saturday night.

Much love my lovelies,

K x

A Blazer (of) Glory!

The lovely team at Curvissa saw me enthusing over their red cord jacket, and offered it to me to review! It arrived quickly, and I've had a great week teaming it with colours and outfits, wanting to test it as much as possible for you lovely lot!

If you follow me on twitter, you may have seen me tweet a picture of it:

I have always loved cord jackets. Easy to throw on and rock, without much thought. It used to be my 'look'! My black cord jacket, and blue and black striped scarf saw me through many a night out / wander about Sunderland / Newcastle. 

I can't remember when I said goodbye to the trusty coat, but when I saw this coat on the Curvissa facebook page, all those memories came flooding back, and then we add a lovely extra with this jacket:

ELBOW PATCHES!! I love this feature of this jacket, it really makes it stand it for me.

It is on the website as a 'red' blazer, and as I've a bit of a lover affair with black and red, I thought it would fit perfectly into my wardrobe. As you can see the from the photos, it is most definitely a russet red, or even a burnt orange, not a 'red' red by any means!

And then it met my latest 'fashion' interest - challenging me, and my colour palate! The way my office has been lately, I could be sat in my shirt sleeves, melting in the heat, or sat wearing my coat all day - and I wouldn't want my coat to clash with my outfit now would I?!

So away I went, to dig out my Simply Be sleeveless green leaf print dress:

I ordered the 22, and as you can see, the buttons fasten well, and it's always a great help when the material is a good stretch (96% Cotton, 4% Elastane will do that!)

As you can also see in this picture, there are pockets! Good deep pockets! So good, that my phone sits in the bottom of it and I SWEAR I've forgotten it / lost it!! 

I love that it is a lined coat, and I can see it seeing me through the dark autumnal days when a winter coat is just a little bit too 'wintery'. Just picture a scarf to snuggle into and mittens. Perfect.

Thank you to Curvisa for this item to review, all the words are my own, and I wasn't paid to review the item favourably.

Much love my lovelies, 

K x

A Lady of a Competition!

I've a very exciting competition for all you lovely lot!

The team at Lady Vintage London have offered one very lovely reader a free dress of their choice from http://www.ladyvlondon.com/

If I had the choice, it would have to be this one!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

But instead, it's down to you lovely lot to choose and leave a blog comment telling me a way of contacting you, should you win!

It is as simple as that!

Good luck my lovelies!

K x

Mam's the Word!

My Mam does struggle with the idea of blogging, she doesn't really 'get it', and thinks I'm 'vain' for taking so many photos of myself. 

But, that aside, after placing a large order with SimplyBe, she agreed to let me photograph her in her items! I wasn't going to pass this up!

First up was this Jeffery & Paula tunic. My Mam likes her tunics, and has the most AMAZING legs, so regularly rocks a pair of leggings with a dress / tunic that I wouldn't DARE try:

She found this tunic rather shapeless and baggy in the size 22. Not only that, but with her blonde hair, she was conscious it drained her colouring:

Next up, was the Joe Browns tunic in a 22:

I had pointed out that this was made out of a heavy material, and I was concerned she would find it too warm. I was right. But wrong. 

She loves the quirky print, and likes that while it is warm, her arms are bare, so she would be able to feel toasty warm, but not overly hot. A winner for her office and floating between offices and different sites. 

See what I mean? Those LEGS! She plans to wear with leggings, and either her riding boots, or possibly these boots in black:

Next came this Jeffery & Paula hooded jumper:

Mam likes to be snuggled, and feels the cold rather easily - I blame her school days in London! - so this is perfect for her:

She LOVED this! The length is perfect on her (she is 5"6), and again - leg envy! I can see her with her grey riding boots cutting a figure around her office! 

And finally, this number:

She ordered this in a 20, and it a was a wonderful fit with both the hooded jumper under it (although, in her words, it gave her a 'hump' where the hood sat under the coat), and with the Joe Browns short sleeved tunic.

We had good fun with this 'trying on session', in which I got this dress:

And whilst it is much more 'slinky' than I normally wear, I felt amazing in it! I felt with the right tights and heels, it would be an amazing fit and flattering to boot! 

A disclaimer of sorts: My Mam is a picky consumer. She doesn't buy things she 'might' wear. She buys things and wears them to DEATH!

Maybe I've converted her to Simply Be? We can only wait and see!

Much love my lovelies,

K x

Home bird...

Oh dear.

I fell in love with a flat on line. 

I confess. 

I saw it on line when we were looking to see what I could expect to pay in my chosen area. And I fell head OVER. 

Oh dear. 

I've book marked it.

I kept staring at it.

So, parents and I went to look. 

Oh dear. 

I wanted to fall OUT of love with it. For it to smell, or be too much to take on (only so much 7 photographs can tell you about a house). 

Nope. The opposite.

A small vestibule, a flight of stairs, zany carpet. A fabulous mirror at the top of the stairs.

The sitting room has fabulous view across a local park, a 30s fireplace, bay windows with the original lead stained windows in the new UPVC:

 

There are two double bedrooms and a study. One of them is currently a dining room, and the one that is the bedroom has an amazingly HUGE closet it. But I'd probably have that as a 'guest' bedroom, and the 'dining' room as the main bedroom. This may change!

It is the kitchen and bathroom that show the most signs of wear, but the main work that needs doing is a new roof and a rewire.

The kitchen is liveable as it is, as is the bathroom. 

I'm now stuck in that limbo of waiting for meetings with people to talk percentages and monthly payments. 

But it felt RIGHT walking into that front door, through the split doors, up the stairs, looking at the light hitting the mirror. 

Wish me luck, 

Much love, my lovelies, 

K x