Tag Archives: Cartier

Recovery

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I am so, so tired today, but I’m struggling through! The struggle is eased by the fun memories of my birthday! My family yet again went above and beyond to make it a special day. Everywhere I looked there were little stickers with my face on them, and my husband made a card with a blog photo from every month of last year!

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We dined out last night at an amazing new steak house in Atlanta – Marcel – just exquisite – certainly an indulgent treat! For the occasion I wore the AllSaints Noir dress which I purchased in the sales. It was perfect – no waist to hinder over consumption! It has a cool zipper neck line which I love – it gives a little edginess to a LBD.

AllSaints dressDress – AllSaints // Shoes – Marks and Spencer // Bag – YSL

As I was searching for the sandals online (now on sale at just £19!) I came across this flat version at M&S – be quick – you know they are bound to sell out! There is also a closed toe heeled version here.

Today and yesterday during the day were very casual. Jeans and sneakers – my favorite ensemble!

JCrew teeSneakers – Stan Smith Adidas // Jeans – J.Crew boyfriend jeans // T-shirt – J.Crew

GGJeans – J.Crew (30% off with SHOPMORE) // Top – AllSaints (old) // Sneakers – Golden Goose (on sale here reduced to $167 from $555)

GG 1

I cannot believe I contemplated not getting these Golden Goose! They still have limited sizes available on sale here. I am wearing what is marked as a US 9 online, and they fit true to a Eur 39.

Okay I’m off for a lie down before the kids get home and I have to attempt 4th grade homework again!

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Accessorizing

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I often get very lazy with accessories.  Partly because I forget to add the final flourish, partly because I sometimes feel overdressed with too many, and partly because I’m not sure how to wear them.

I’ve decided that I am going to attempt to incorporate more variety with my accessories over the coming months – that may help me figure out which are for me and which aren’t.  When I glance at the list below I’m definitely a creature of habit and some habits are good to break!

1. I’ve always been a lover of scarves and have learned much about how to wear them and what to wear them with from my fellow bloggers.  I have a whole drawer full at home.  I roll them up and place them by color in the drawer, so I can see what I need with a quick glance.  I think I have scarves pretty much nailed.

2. I’ve started to incorporate more hats this year.  A couple of fedoras in the summer and now my fabulous new wool and leopard print J.Crew caps are making an appearance.  I’d love to try a wool fedora, or even a big boho floppy hat but I’m not sure that is really me.  I’m learning, slowly about confident hat wearing.

3. With short hair I was always overwhelmed by large earrings – as much as I love them!  Now my hair is growing I am finding it much easier to wear hoops (my all time favorite) again, but I do feel far more comfortable with my little diamond studs.  Let’s face it if you have diamonds you might as well wear them!  Also having had my earring holes stitched and re-pierced a couple of years ago – after stretching them so much I could see through them – I am loathe to wear heavy pendant earrings ever again!

4. I really struggle with necklaces.  I always admire other women who wear great statement necklaces every day.  For some reason a necklace is the last piece of jewelry I ever consider.  Partly because I like the look of my bare neck, partly because I don’t like to draw attention away from the earrings, and partly because, in all honesty, I find necklaces heavy and cumbersome.  I have a couple of Tiffany chains that my Husband bought me that sadly never get worn – I resolve to wear these beauties more, though a statement necklace on a daily basis maybe a step too far for me!

5. I love arm candy.  Regardless of my issues with necklaces I can wear bracelets up to my elbows and not be bothered by them.  Bangles, chains, cuffs – you name it I love it.  I have worn my little Tiffany open heart chain every day for almost five years now.  It is part of me.  Watches fall into this category too.  I believe you can never have too many watches and there are some beauties out there to choose from.  I have several from cheap and cheerful sports watches, to a very special one that gets worn most often that my Husband bought me for my 40th.  The bigger the better for me when it comes to watches – I can’t do little feminine things – I want a big face with a chunky strap.  Arm candy – I love it.

6.  As for rings I used to wear a gold one on every finger – uuurgh – it was the early 90s and I should say I was also wearing a black catsuit so my taste was questionable to say the least.  Now I  prefer a far more subtle approach when it comes to rings.  I’ve even put my engagement ring away for now and have been wearing only my Love ring on my left ring finger and my Trinity ring on my right ring finger.  Gold is back in favor with me.

7.  Finally belts.  I am rubbish with belts – I have a whole hanger full of wide belts, jean belts, and skinny belts, yet I tend to wear the same 2 Gap men’s belts all the time.  One brown and one black  – they are the softest leather and the perfect width for jeans with simple silver buckles.  Sometimes I’ll grab the Gucci jean belt, that again my Husband bought me, but the belt on my ultimate wish list is from Hermés.

So there we have it – I’m a girl of simple, very expensive tastes:)

What accessories can you not live without, or do you wish you wore more of?

Finally a couple of outfits from last week.  I wore the plum Avenue57 dress for our kindergarten parents’ party on Tuesday evening with a Zara scarf (new but not online) – I adore these dresses – so easy to wear!

Avenue57 plum dress

 

And then it was all about comfort with the Diesel Jogg Jeans, Zara t-shirt from the sale, Marks & Spencer Limited jacket and Isabel Marant Bobby sneakers.

Diesel Jogg jeans and M&S limited jacket

 

 

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Abercrombie & Fitch and Marketing 101

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Dipping in and out of the social media channels today I’ve noticed a lot of irate posts and comments regarding a recent article in Business Insider about the comments made by the Abercrombie & Fitch CEO, Mike Jeffries.  Basically he has said that he only wants ‘cool, thin, beautiful people wearing Abercrombie’s clothes’.  Reading the comments stirred me – but not into resolute agreement with the dissenters I’m afraid.

Before I continue I will preface with saying I am not fatist, remember?  I’ve been there, and I know what it’s like not being able to buy the clothes I want.  Even if the sizes were available – at my largest I really should not even have been thinking about wearing some styles from stores like H&M and A&F.

So back to what Mr. Jeffries said.  Anyone who has studied Marketing 101 knows that every great (and not so great) brand has a target.  You sacrifice being everything to all people in order to become niche with a certain core target.  In theory all brands are exclusionary.  Cartier market to wealthy individuals, Jenny Craig market to those that want to lose weight, Walmart target to those that want to ‘Save money. Live better.’, and Lane Bryant market to plus size women.  Where are the complaints about these brands being exclusionary?  I bet if you saw some of the white boards in those offices with the brand’s target demos, psychos and guiding principles written out, you would shudder to see who it really is they want buying their product.

I disagree completely with The Daily Mail’s summary regarding the furore – “But it might be time to change this dated business model. Plus-size, generally referring to U.S. 14 and above, makes up 67per cent of America’s purchasing population.”  Let’s stop increasing this number and start addressing the problem by getting healthier America!  I’ve often aired my hope that Zara doesn’t start vanity sizing for the US.  Their sales are not as good here as in Europe due, it is said, to the larger average size of the American woman.  Put bluntly a lot of American women can’t fit into Zara’s Large (very few of their clothes go to an XL).  Keep the clothes as they are – those that are desperate to wear the clothes and can’t, can go for a run and stay away from the chocolate.

Now I do realize this isn’t just about being ‘large’.  It’s also the reference to needing to be a ‘cool kid’ to shop there – and I get that.  There are all sorts of pressures on children as it is – never mind them worrying about being cool enough or not to wear Abercrombie, but ‘kids that are cool’ versus ‘kids that are not’ is nothing new.  Yes I have watched The Breakfast Club way too many times.  As far as I am aware most high schoolers can’t afford to shop in A&F without their parents chipping in – so surely that is where a parent helps to guide them with their clothes choices?  If, as a parent, you oppose the brand’s targeting practices don’t shop there.

So in conclusion to my random thoughts on the subject – I actually applaud Mike Jeffries for being open about his target market – it really doesn’t take much to work it out.  I can’t see it damaging A&F, in fact for many it will become more desirable – and for those objectors there are many other places to shop.

 

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On ice.

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So it’s my birthday soon – I’m a fiery Leo – probably no surprise to most that know me, as we are renowned for our lack of modesty, patience and ability to be quiet – I make no apologies.  In the 20 years I have been with MM he has been overwhelmingly generous on my birthday and regardless of our circumstances he has always gone above and beyond to make it a special day for me – without any prompting I hasten to add.  This year, after my VERY extravagant 40th last year, I have asked him not to buy me anything – partly because of the huge expense of the house renovations and partly because I’d like any extra cash to go on furnishing my new walk in closet (so yes still all about me).

I did happen to be browsing though on some other WordPress blogs and found my birthday present for NEXT year!  I have been very lucky to have been gifted a couple of items from Cartier in the past few years – both from MM so he has raised the bar substantially.  I love their unusual, statement rings.  One of my favorite pieces of jewelry is my Cartier Trinity ring in white, rose and yellow gold – he bought this as a random, surprise gift – just because he loves me – I presume:)

So for next year I’m already hankering after the Juste un Clou ring.   I love it in silver – it’s an iconic 70s piece and looks fabulous with a little bit of ice:)  He reads my blog occasionally so nothing subtle about this ‘hint’!

Keeping with the ice theme I took Poppy to see ‘Ice Age: Continental Drift’ at the movies yesterday – cute as kids movies go, but I know I must be getting old when I sit and dissect a movie analyzing all the bits that have been stolen from other movies – there were the ubiquitous pirates and even Guinea Pigs that resembled Eewoks.  Ah well – Poppy isn’t to know yet and she seemed to enjoy it.  Knowing it was going to be icy in the movies with the crazy air conditioning most public places have I opted for another scarf.  This one is a gorgeous H&M scarf – great colors – really nude pastels – a little green, peach and pink in a very subtle rose print – I love it.  I wore it with my Top Shop asymmetrical t-shirt and Boden quail egg skinnies – these jeans are just fabulous and fit me perfectly.  The quail egg is like a mint color without being too green.  For a bit of neutrality I added my Tory Burch tan Emmy sandals.  Oh and two pieces of great news for us shopaholics – Top Shop is opening in Nordstroms throughout the country and H&M will start selling online in the US in October!

Today I know I am definitely flogging a dead horse with the scarf thing – this is a new scarf from H&M.  I nearly didn’t get it as I rarely wear blue but the blue in this scarf is so vivid and contrasts well with the nude/peach in the scarf – plus it’s animal print – so as with my addiction to all things grey marl I had to have it.  The photos show me wearing it with my new Boden Florence tunic from the sale.  Now I love these linen knit tunics, yes they are a little sheer but they’re not indecent and here in the heat and then frigid air conditioning they work a treat.  A bargain to boot at $26.40.  Again worn with my Tory Burch Emmys.

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