I’ll Never Manage Monochrome

I’ve always want to be one of those super chic fashionable people who can throw on any old outfit, whether it’s a gorgeous sleek dress or tracksuit bottoms and instantly look like they’ve made the effort. I’m probably the complete opposite of this – too much thought goes into my outfits and they look over the top. One of the looks I’ve always loved is monochrome, but I can never seem to bring myself to do this: I’ll always have to throw on some sort of colour with my black and white look or else I feel like something’s missing. So today, I almost managed full black and white from top to toe, but at last minute realised I should probably wear a cardigan to keep off any of this randomly autumnal chill we keep getting around here, and of course, I decided a near-neon yellow would be the perfect pairing for this – sigh! I actually made it worse because after taking the photos I realised I wanted to walk up town for my lunch so would need flats and swapped for my favourite Mel shoes with red hearts (although in the end, I never made it up to town, just had a quick lunch instead!).
Although I am proud of at least one element about this – I managed to get photos of my outfit before work! That’s something I haven’t done since early in my days working at Bronco. It takes me getting up that little bit earlier and persuading Ben to take the photos, which isn’t normally something he’s willing to do pre-8am. Fortunately we both woke up a little earlier than usual today (for no apparent, I was actually super tired last night after a day trip to London for a client meeting!) and he seemed to want to do me a favour – I think it’s probably that he’s feeling guilty as he’s working until at least 10pm tonight and tomorrow tonight but still starting at normal time so our weekend is a little bit limited.

 

Cardigan: WoolOvers | Top: c/o New Look | Midi Skirt: Charity Shop | Sandals: New Look

The other thing I’m slightly impressed with on this outfit is that several of the pieces are really pretty old ones. The shoes were my staple sandals last summer and worn day in day out (although they now somehow give me blisters, argh). The skirt is now apparently at least 4 years old (to me, it’s a vintage one) – I remember buying it in a charity shop at uni intending to turn it into a knee length or shorter skirt (not that I have any clue how I could have done that without a sewing machine at the time!) but I’m glad I didn’t now as it gets more wear as a midi. And finally the cardigan is nearly 5 years old – I bought it with vouchers that were a Christmas gift from my grandma back in 2010 and have worn it a few times on the blog now. I often forget I own it, but I really love the range of cardigans Wool Overs have and feel like I should check it out more often, especially as cardigans are a pretty big staple in my wardrobe in any season. In summer I tend to throw them over simple dresses and wear cropped ones with midi skirts, then in winter I like to use them as an extra layer, sometimes button them up to wear them like a jumper – I like that they’re a bit less smart and structured than a jacket but aren’t too casual either. Basically, I need to expand my collection of cardigans as I wear them daily and it seems to be the same ones time and time again!
The top is going to feature in more detail on the blog soon, but it’s a new one from New Look which I think will in time become another wardrobe staple. I’m really into plain and simple tops with patterned bottoms at the moment, so this was a perfect addition, plus it has the ability to be worn off the shoulder too. I do find it funny though as it’s made from that shirred elastic that you used to get tops made from when you were little on the promise that they were “magic” and one size fits all – needless to say, we decided to test this when I was younger, and yes, those magic tops do also fit dogs!