The green poncho goes on its travels

Up I got bright and early Thursday morning to go to Belfast. It was a bit nippy and I selected the green poncho as my accessory to keep the chill off. After all I was flying Aer Lingus and going to Belfast.

Sat in the Aer Lingus lounge

Day 4 of capsule wardrobe outfit is ASOS jumpsuit, Zara flats, Jigsaw belt, Hussain Chalayan tank worn under jumpsuit, Topshop necklace and Chanel sunglasses.

Queen Marie told me that I'd love Belfast and it was just like Glasgow. I've not been to Glasgow properly but I feel I know it inside out due to my father's artwork from his time at the Glasgow School of Art.

Belfast building very reminiscent of architecture in Glasgow

Belfast is a lovely city and so friendly. I got the airport bus in and on the way out. The driver said when myself and Tara the makeup artist got on the bus on Friday morning, 'I's took yous into town.' (That is my best attempt at writing a Belfast accent). I'd asked him on Thursday morning to give us a shout when we got to City Hall and he did. We have never been made so welcome by so many people. We couldn't go anywhere without dispensing makeup and styling advice. We loved that people asked us what we did and then when they found out they were straight in there for advice. Tara is a font of all knowledge and so I'm going to pencil her in for a post on her top makeup tips and products.

The event went really well and all the women who came from all ages were lovely. Having abandoned my attempt to get the women of the UK to feel the Fashion Force on jumpsuits, I set about underwear as outerwear. I've completely sold the maxi dress to one and all but I still want more risk taking. However the underwear as outerwear was another Fashion Force special that met with slight horror, sweaty foreheads and made for much sucking in of stomachs.

Day 4 capsule wardrobe evening wear for event. Topshop jumpsuit, Pierre Hardy for Gap shoes, Reiss belt and I threw on a grey kimono Topshop item from my clothes rail when I realised I had tan marks on my back from swimming outdoors.

Feeling the maxi love

The lovely Topshop body suit that was spurned

My best discovery in Belfast apart from how nice it is and the friendly people was PoppoGoblin on Alfred St. We were staying at the Premier Inn (oh the glamour of it all) despite working at the Radisson and right next door was one of the best café's in the world. Gorgeous juices, smoothies and coffee plus wonderful fresh sandwiches and soups. On Thursday lunchtime I had a cream cheese and salmon bagel with an Iron Boost juice, consisting of beetroot, ginger,apple, carrot and spinach.

On Friday morning I passed on the Premier Inn breakfast and nipped into PoppoGoblin. What a feast greeted my eyes! The lovely owner (whose name I forgot to ask) only bakes fresh scones in the morning. I choose the blueberry and white chocolate one over the raspberry and honey offering. I selected "The Cure" as my morning smoothie, loadsa berries, banana, yogurt and fresh orange juice. I'm not saying I was hungover but I had quaffed a few glasses of vino.

Then I was kindly given the nicest Americano coffee by said owner who loves his café and also plays great music there as he also dj's. Yummy Belfast!

Poppogoblin on Alfred St, the chairs match my green poncho

Good grief Gok is selling crisps now!

My smoothie being prepared

Oh my, look what I spied

The perfect breakfast

The blueberry & white chocolate scone in all its glory

Summer Capsule Wardrobe Challenge

From Monday to Friday The Small Fabric of my Life has challenged us to a summer capsule wardrobe. This year the 5 days consists of five items and limitless accessories.

I'm a bit behind with my posting on this and it is due to the tragic loss suffered by fellow blogger and friend Sister Wolf who eldest son passed away on Sunday. He had recently had more surgery after a long bout of previous surgery and recovery. She has made a brief statement. I have to confess to barely getting dressed on Monday although the house got really cleaned, the petit garcon was thoroughly spoiled and Mr MDS was greeted by the perfect housewife with a gin & tonic for him and supper on the table. Even if you don't know or read Sister Wolf a small moments thought of well wishing would be a lovely gesture.

My capsule 5 consists of 2 jumpsuits, 2 tops and a dress. It is nice and warm currently even though it is raining a lot. As long as the weather doesn't change I won't have to resort to a pashmina for warmth.


l to r: black Topshop jumpsuit, teal ASOS jumpsuit (both this season), grey Gap dress (4 yrs old) Hussain Chalayan tank (TK Maxx find) Reiss top (Sept 09).

Yesterday I wore the dress on its own with flip flops and my WendyB Little Woolf necklace

Today I'm wearing the grey dress with Reiss top over it and have added a scarf and some wedges. The petit garcon made a last minute dash into the picture sporting an Iron Man mask and a Woody the cowboy hat. Oh and that is my suitcase and bag packed on standby for Belfast.

Style inspiration

I love the eclectic look of Kate Bush - her version of the 80s was very similar to YSL style muse Loulou de La Falaise. Lots of colour and drama.

You've got the love....

...but you need to re-inject it into your wardrobe. When thrift means no new injection of garments whether it is your summer or winter wardrobe you need to keep mixing it up to find the love.

A wardrobe sort is just the ticket. Get everything out all your clothes and make some piles. This is a proper project so set aside an afternoon or all day.

The Piles
Pile 1 - Designer clothes
Pile 2 - Vintage clothes
Pile 3 - High St/thrift/non designer clothes
Pile 4 - purely summer holiday clothes (bikinis, kaftans, sarongs etc.)
Pile 5 - gym clothes
Pile 6 - lounging round house clothes
Pile 7 - gardening or painting clothes (these are old clothes that are worn or torn or merely unloved)
Pile 8 - worn/tired/potential to alter or mend clothes.
Pile 9 - scarves
Pile 10 - accessories

What to do with Piles
I recommend tackling the piles in the order I've outlined below, so you are free to hang all items into your wardrobe at the last step. This will leave you with a fabulous and satisfactory feeling.

Pile 8 - sort out these poor things into either clothes you can use for gardening or painting, those that you can alter with buttons or the hemline and the rest for the charity shop. If anything has really had it cut up to use as dusters.

Pile 7 - put these items in a cardboard box or storage box in a space that is dry but not your bedroom i.e. utility room, garage, spare room, cupboard.

Pile 4 - has to be put into a suitcase or in a put away storage item. Make sure all items are cleaned and ironed before you store. Put a moth ball in with these clothes.

Pile 5 - make sure your gym clothes are put in a drawer all together. You do not want to confuse these in any way with your other clothes.

Pile 6 - you might not have these items but it is worth having nice lounge clothes for changing into for sloping around in your own home. I love looking at the selection at Net-A-Porter for reference. Imagine the fun you would have cleaning in a Marni silk-foulard romper suit!

Pile 9 & 10 - Make sure all your jewellery is stored and sorted properly. I separate fine and costume jewellery. I also declutter the costume jewellery by weeding out anything truly old hat. Some items just look dated so quickly. I keep decent jewellery in their original boxes or in the case of my cheap and cheerful Dotty P and Topshop et al purchases in a box together. My scarves are all folded and kept together. I rarely get rid of a scarf. I had a lovely silk/cashmere pashmina that got torn so I darned it and use it for the beach. It is in my holiday storage box.

Then the next step is to hang or fold piles 1,2 & 3.

I hang all my designer (and proper vintage) pieces even the t-shirts together. I run these items from right to left in the wardrobe/closet. This means all the hangers are facing forward with the steel hanging bit to the left. I only have wooden or padded hangers with a few thick plastic ones for awkward items. I hang the clothes in this order coats, jackets, dresses, skirts, long sleeve items, short sleeve items and then trousers.

Then I hang my high street items to run from left to right so they meet the designer pieces in the middle. Hangers face forward and the steel bit is to the right. Again it goes coats, jackets, dresses, skirts, long sleeve items, short sleeve items and trousers. I have a divider in the middle that houses my belts, costume jewellery, scarves and folded jeans. I don't like to hang jeans and I also only use trousers and skirt hangers for yes you guessed trousers and skirts.
The other system I use is to hang the items in darkest colour to lightest, for example black dresses, navy dresses, purple, red, light blue, white etc. If it is a patterned item I use the strongest colour to determine where the item hangs in this order.

You can hang all your coats and jackets in a separate closet if you have one. And also you can fold jumpers and tees depending on quantity, I'm quite minimalist with these. Don't forget to add a moth prevention product to the closet/wardrobe.

Now you've rearranged and reordered your wardrobe/closet you should have found new delight in old items. Also you will probably identify any gaps in your garments and can prioritise these items as future purchases from a store or thrift shop.

Let me know how you get on!

Your tour guide

I feel equipped to give a potted tour of the UK now I've set foot in Scotland properly. On my train journey from Newcastle to Edinburgh I saw and fell in love with Berwick on Tweed. I'm off to Belfast on Thursday for the Find Your Me Spot tour and it will be my first visit there too.


Me at the Jesmond Dene hotel, Jesmond, Newcastle, wearing Topshop top bought in April and a Kate Moss maxi skirt from her first ever collection also my orange Studio TMLS wedges which you can't see in the photo.

High Street Pick of the Week

On my road trip of the UK one item in my array of adding wow into the wardrobe is a lovely silk top from Warehouse. The people on the street (those attending the events are loving it). So nice stylist that I am - I'm sharing.

Feather print vest Warehouse £40.00

Style inspiration

When I fly today back to London (had to change flight from Heathrow to Gatwick due to argy bargy) I will be disappointed by the uniform. I long for the days of designs that said flirty and fashion. This BEA uniform was designed by John Cavanagh. Cavanagh was born in Ireland and ended up working for the couturier Edward Molyneaux before setting up his own fashion house. Whilst many a design house gets reborn with French and Italian heritage, the British ones seem to remain firmly in the past. Shame.

Evening Dress John Cavanagh from V&A The Golden Age of Couture exhibition in 2007/2008

SATC2

I went I saw I liked. Safe to say the storyline won't win an Oscar but boy Kim Cattrall deserves one! Love her.

Also I love the Halston Heritage range (I don't care if I might be lacking individuality and taste either about the film or clothes) and whilst I was very concerned by SJP's eye makeup, new breasts and the lose of her mole, I did think the orange maxi dress was divine.

If you fancy some Halston Heritage action then Harvey Nichols online is probably your best bet. A bit of a secret that I've now let out of the bag. Oh well bag yourself some HH.

Halston Heritage Metallic sac bag £155

Guestie

Today as I embark upon week 2 of my UK tour (today Newcastle, tomorrow Edinburgh) I'm a guest blogger for Australian 11/10 blogger Faux Fuchsia. She asked me to challenge the paradigm of age and fashion trends. I rolled up my sleeves and got to it. Go read...

PS sorry I've not replied to comments of late or been reading all your wonderful posts but this style event tour is v.demanding and I'm on the road sans laptop, I've got enough to carry with clothes samples.

I need a lie down rock 'n' roll is killing me...

Well it seems a bit like that. I have realised I am the most useless tour manager for myself. This travelling, packing, printing out e-tickets and returning home, unpacking, repacking malarkey is a bit much. Now I know why they are needed. If I were a tour manager this is what I'd wear.

Minx Leather Jacket DVF Net-A-Porter £680

Helmut Lang Dark Matter t-shirt Selfridges £135

High waisted red skinny jeans Topshop £40

Sykes Ankle boots Matches £558

Now I've got the look just find me a band!