Roger Vivier...

A pair of RV buckle shoes is like a Rolex Submariner or a classic Burberry trench, they will never date or go out of fashion as he reworks the same styles every year. For those who are really 'in the know' they will appreciate that the wearer has parted with over 400 smackers for the perfectly proportioned paired back pump and over 600 for the boots, but without the flashy 'look at me' red of Christian Louboutin, or the verging on streetwalker style of Jimmy Choo.
After my panto dressing episode, I have to be careful with this whole buckle shoe style for fear of looking a little too much like I may be participating in a 'classical re-enactment' of some kind or another.
However, I do love the RV interiors and would move into any of them as my Parisian pied a terre in a second!

If I had money to burn, the suede flats would be my RV of choice in black or tan.

This is the higher version. There are a suspicious amount available on Ebay, so I guess this is the favourite style for the Chinese copy-ists..

These are the wearable boots, they would last forever but were about £725 in Harrods!

 I bought these from the Blue Cross animal charity shop for £9.99, they are Russell and Bromley, but they fulfill my RV fantasy!

What I have worn recently...

Mr B has still not quite got his head around this photography thing, however he does approve of this outfit that took exactly 2 minutes to put together (more time to run in the park). Cowl neck angora jumper from Monsoon, 7 for all Mankind cords with belt (my only accessory and only worn because by the second wear they always stretch a bit around the waist (not as good as my River Island ones). Giant cardi  (nicked from Mum). Joseph boots and totally fake bag from China, I put it next to my friends original and she nearly cried, it is identical in every way. However this was actually brought back from China and not bought online, so it is lambskin, with silver hardware etc, (and it still cost £400). I'm not sure that you can get anything this good without seeing it for real.

 Straight from taking RockSculpt class to dog walk, Bert beginning to get used to this photo thing (poseur).

 Another funky (?!) outfit for RockSculpt, leggings with sequins (can't remember name of the shop, but will have a think, there are three of them and they are like a proper boutique but everything is about 20 quid). Love t shirt from Top Shop, brown vest with support from H & M. Super expensive trainers from 'On the Run' they analyse your running gait an then give you trainers to suit, it is a great service and my calf pain is gone.

My perfect unaccessorised 'every day' regular clothes, brown River Island cords (fab fit) and navy blue boat neck 3/4 sleeve jumper Ralph Lauren and Joseph boots. So drab really need to do something about it.

Style Crush Does my Bum Look 40 in this?

I always think that Kat looks great as she is that delicate tiny boned fairy type.

Her chunky layered style always made me feel like some kind of post apocalyptic survivor and yet when I wore this my husband mentioned twice in one day that he liked it so may be I should persevere with this look.

The coatigan is Top Shop, coated leggings and T shirt Zara(yawn), jewellery and scarf, old bin end bits from Accessorize and Dior bag ancient Dior from when it wasn't preserve of oligarchs, but anyone could pop in and buy a bag for around 100 quid, how times have changed!

High Thermic with cabbage

Thermic eating is the basis of the Find's nutrition guidelines.

Working on the principle that not all calories are equal since some food types require so much energy to digest them that they counter balance their calorie content.

Means that you can eat MORE and lose weight.

The meal above is a Thermic maximiser. Smoked chicken on a bed of cabbage and salad with a side of lentils, peas and sunflower seeds.

All served on my favourite cabbage ware dishes.

Healthy doesn't mean tasteless

A criticism of healthy, low fat food is that it is tasteless and boring. I always have a number of pots of  tastebud tickling delights to keep even the blandest of meals interesting.

From left to right, sticky balsamic vinegar, slightly sweet and not acidic, trusty grainy mustard, the base for most dressings, Nomu, magic nutty, seedy sprinkle bits with chile and spices, blow your head off hot Mango Chutney, capers, coriander paste, mint dressing, picilile, sauerkraut.

What are your favourite accompaniments when you are trying to eat sensibly?

Pretty in Primark...

Loved the Psychedelic Furs but could only hum the chorus, this is the first verse, I am not sure that I ever knew the words despite singing it a hundred times

Caroline laughs and
It's raining all day
She loves to be one of the girls
She lives in the place
In the side of our lives
Where nothing is
Ever put straight.

Sounds very much like the soundtrack to my life at the moment!

I found this pink top on ebay I think it was 20p, but it warm and cheerful. So much for saying NEVER to Stella and Dot, I hankered after a lace cuff since the Alexander McQueen collection, so couldn't say 'no' in the end! 

The fake tan line is fairly apparent, I have been tanning like a loonie any thing that gets me through this bloody weather! 

Real sunshine...moving day

Just a small selection of boxes...

Picnic lunch that I ate OUTSIDE sitting in the sun....

REAL sun....

Moving things in...

Miss B sunbathing...

Beautiful Kameez....

My new favourite search on Ebay is Kameez, using it as a key word you unearth all these beautifully embroidered tunics in every colour of the rainbow.  This came with silk scarf edged with the same hand embroidery and a pair of trousers (all for £4.99 plus postage!).  The scarf will appear soon and the trousers are being made into cushions. I have always fancied a heavily embroidered Alice Temperley tunic top, unfortunately my favourites never seemed to make it to Bicester Village, but the workmanship on some of the Ebay Kameez(es) ( plural?) is definitely finer than on many 'brands'.
I have been in a bit of a quandary about what to wear now I am truly sick of Winter clothes, but it is still FREEZING, these strike a good balance as;
1. They are lined
2. You can wear a vest under them
3. They look fine with a cardi over the top
4. There are loads of bright summery colours to choose from

Clothes that make you look slimmer...

I think that I am rubbish at fashion as this is all I ever thought about when it came to clothes.  Hiding bulk was always the focus, fashion an afterthought that trailed a long way behind. I think the 10 tips below are the equivalent of losing three dress sizes...

1. Wedges: match your leg colour as best you can or go darker to 'ground' you (ie for most shoes sold as 'nude' you would have to be anemic, if you use fake tan, go for darker browns) , add length and slim your legs and ankles with wedges, if your ankles are slimmer go for ankle straps so that you can walk, if you have large ankles go for court shoe style

2. Use Coco Chanel's tip and seek out two tone court shoes, the nude body of the shoe creates an illusion of length. These ballet flats are the same principle and a tenner!

3. Match your trouser/maxi to the shoe colour, if the shoe and garment touch, keep the colours the same, if there is significant amount of flesh showing go for nude as above.

2. Flared hipster bias cut trousers, these are tricky to track down, Kookai did an excellent pair, but Maria Grachvogel is the queen, they make your legs look longer in all the right places (but they cost about £400)

3. Skinny jeans won't add length but are like wearing butt to ankle spanx and are more forgiving than most other styles. Boot cut trousers and jeans will balance rounder hips and cut slightly longer than your leg length will add inches in the right place, wear with wedges and wonder at your giraffe like proportions!

4. Black does make you look slimmer, but stick to one colour pallet and it will have the same effect.

5. Illusion cut dresses really work, any design with a bright/busy front panel and dark sides will slim the torso.

6. Always dark belts, unless you are blessed with a 50s style wasp waist, NEVER go for belts paler than the clothes that you are wearing. The wider the belt the thinner your waist will miraculously become. These are great if you are ok to be a little uncomfortable! Under jackets over white shirts they are less pervy! 

7. Wide neck/V neck tops, show flesh where it doesn't matter if you have a bit extra, it will draw the eye! Who wants to see bony shoulders? A wide neck slightly to one side is more subtle than low cut and looks better on the curvy than the skinny.

8. Pull your hair back like an Alice band with your sunglasses, they add height and slim the proportions of the face. Keep other accessories jewellery etc to a minimum and chunky, unfortunately more makes more when you are trying to hide pounds (probably why I don't own any jewellery to speak of!) . A large bag is good for proportions, but bad for your spine.

9. NEVER wear empire line unless you want to look pregnant AND in a nightie

10. Anything structured is your saviour, go for jackets and coats, wear them open and have very dark slim fitting clothes underneath

What tips do you have to disguise the pounds?

New YSL Lippie

I don't really wear much make up as it doesn't really suit my lifestyle (outside and sweating!)

However I found a YSL lipstick in the back of a cupboard, either a Christmas present I have forgotten about or something I bought for a night out and never used. 

The colour looks quite brownish on the lipstick, but it is a fiercely red 'sorbet cassis' a bit of a shock from nothing to this. Clothes are all eBay, jacket was Zara 99p! Beaded tunic top Karen Millen, £8, I quite like the quality of KM, but find it expensive. Although seemingly KM devotees all want sexy little dresses and glittery tops, no one is searching for these kind of sensible 'mummy clothes' so there are bargains to be had if you shop as a contrarian...

What to wear to move

Our heads have always ruled out hearts when it come to buying properties. We've never really bought a place that we have loved, only somewhere with 'potential', (and that's potential to pay future bills that we might struggle with).
And now we are moving into this little, one bedroom, fifteenth century cottage.  It is tiny and perfect and the day that we got the keys, the sun came out.
There is no 'potential', but all the time that I am there, it is like being in a gentle hug!
As for the clothes, the jeans are cast off from my son and the cardi is from Primark, it was £1, it makes no sense to me, after VAT, that's 80p. How can they stay in business? It is what I would call SC (suspiciously cheap), when I buy second hand stuff on Ebay that is just an individual having a clear out, I can understand that prices will be low, but when it is a business, how on earth can they operate selling knitwear for one pound?

Anniversary party outfit

I wore this to a 40th Wedding Anniversary.  It was a VERY quick change as I had just finished two hours of training.  The top is Temperley from Bicester Village, it was from a few years back and has a whole cape thing going on on the shoulders.  The skirt is my trusty Coast stretchy duchesse satin, (goes with everything!) and Top Shop cardi.  Shoes were hand me down Chanels from my mum (praise be for her habit of buying clothes and never wearing them and then giving them to me to make space in her wardrobe).