It's not often I wear a midi skirt and certainly rare I wear one with this much volume. Going back probably a couple of years I bought this in a blog sale. It's a lovely shirt dress with lovely sleeves, stiff collar and button down front. the shirt is big, swooshy and has a bit of weight to it, plus most brilliantly, pockets. 

It's been cold. Too cold for just a nice dress so I had to compromise and wear this tiny cropped jumper on top. At least it allows the lovely belt of the dress to be bowed up and remain a feature instead of being swallowed up into an awkward bulky lump. 
Big muddy boots because it's still absolutely mucky as heck in some places. Although it's evidently drying up in most places, it's not the case across the board. Of course they're not exactly becoming of the ensemble but I's have mud clad pretty shoes (and ankles) if I wore anything else. I suppose the most diligent of bloggers would probably bring a bag with nice footwear to change into for a scenic spot, but that's beyond my level of patience and besides, if you had any notion of what a labour these boots are to lace up to the correct tension then you would understand. 
Making the most of that quantity of fabric. I could be one of those dollies that sit over loo rolls. Grandma used to have one of those.
It's not a kilt. It's not.
Take care,

Whilst taking some outfit pictures there were some squirrels larking around in the trees behind. I suggested we could take shots of them afterwards and photoshop them on to my palms. Didn't happen.


Yay for being allowed out for recreation again. Have I been out more than once a day so far? Nope. But I'd like to go for a walk each day and a run at the weekend. 
More smiley than usual.
Take care,

 

This year has seen far less outfit posts than any other which is a little bit sad but there we go. Lets have a look through what I wore over the first half of the year. Spoiler, plenty of old staples and almost always ankle boots.

Winter weather dragged on a long time, then finally things warmed up and allowed for my summer wardrobe to take a turn.

 

Listen up all you people out there who don't regularly wear dresses; I'm letting you know that there are a number of difficulties with a frock and wearing it gracefully is the least of them. Getting in and out can be a real struggle. Even a well fitting dress, or a loose one can pose a challenge, especially if it involves a fastening out of eyesight, or reach or (alarmingly) no fastening at all and you're at the mercy of hauling it off your own shoulders. The very most merciful of dress designers would give you buttons at the front because, wow, that would be a doddle. 

Having found several of my summer dresses having mysteriously become too tight and uncomfortable, I took a chance to buy a few more on ebay over summer, with a few winter ones thrown in too. This cord pinafore/dungarees style dress is a bit too big really but it's easy to get in and out of so I'm willing to forfeit a flattering space just because it is so comfy. I gave my new-ish shirt another outing as an underlayer which worked much better than as it did under a tank top. 

Pockety goodness!
It's been so cold recently! There's talk of snow coming and it doesn't surprise me one bit. 

 

The mud's going to stick around a while. We took a walk last weekend and due to an inclement morning of torrential rain there were numerous super-puddles which took quite some negotiating to pass. One also lead to a diversion but it's sometimes nice to take a new path. Glad I wore my Magnum boots again, they cope so well in grotty ground. 

I did have to coax myself into something bright and cheerful, it was so tempting to go for the horrendous ugly  yet comfortable trousers in which I toil at the allotment or garden. But of course, I did raise my spirits with some eyeliner, mascara and a dress. There can't be many dresses that make you feel worse than huge baggy working trousers? I did feel more perky.

 

It might not be quite as apparent as it ought from these pictures but believe me, the side wind was blowing a hoolie. 
I loved the colour, print and sleeves. I'll have to wear it with my jacket and heels again in the hope of feeling a bit more positive about it.
Bucket and Spade necklace was a cute present from Kezzie, earrings are my most worn, bangles are just a handful I grabbed from my stash. 
Right, I'm off to kick Lockround II's sorry backside, taking no prisoners.