Zara shoes - too many to resist!

Today a colleague, rather cruelly, showed me a feature she'd spotted in a magazine on the amazing shoes in Zara for under £30. Cruel, because she knows I'm trying to restrain my urge to shop and that my will-power is teetering on the edge! I took a deep breath and looked on the Zara website...

Spring/Summer 2013 is a triumph in the Zara shoe department. Heels, platforms, wedges, flats, sandals, all a joy to behold. These are my top ten - alas, not all under £30 but still all reasonable prices.

If I could walk in heels, these would be the heels
I'd be walking in all summer long - £59.99.

With these a close second. They're incredible.
Ankle-breaking but incredible! £69.99

More likely to be on my feet - £39.99

Patent sandals with ankle straps - £69.99

Perfect heel height and love the open-toes - £39.99

High heel court shoe with ankle strap...for £29.99!
I know, ludicrously cheap!

It's impossible for me to not include an animal print!
£59.99

I love this colour...though was considering this for my front door.
Not sure that's a good reason to buy a shoe?! £59.99

Neon sandal - £22.99

Sorry, more green! Sandals - £22.99

Pierre Hardy for Gap wooden sandals - on Ebay

I've entered a brave new world...the world of internet auctions. I'm officially selling my first ever item on Ebay this week. It took me nigh on an hour to list it, so I'm hoping that it will actually sell! Believe it or not, I've never even bought anything on Ebay either. Mr W has done all our household Ebaying. It has been one of his jobs. But once I started sorting out my wardrobe and putting together a healthy pile of stuff to flog, he put his foot down. No more the Ebay slave.

So here it is...my first ever Ebay item.

Pierre Hardy for Gap wooden platforms - on Ebay
with bids starting at a bargainiferous price of £20!

These lovely wooden, brown leather platforms are from the 2009 Pierre Hardy collection for Gap. I loved them when I bought them but have hardly worn them. As comfortable as they are because of the platform, they're still pretty high and life these days limits when I get to wear heels.

Toddler + walking everywhere in London + swelling on nerves in my feet = flat shoes as much as possible!

My podiatrist was trying to encourage me to buy running shoes...for day-to-day wear. Everyone has their limits. This was mine.

Anyway, it does mean saying goodbye to some much loved shoes which I hardly ever wear. So there'll be more Ebaying for me - I'll keep you posted.

These are on sale until Sunday, with bids starting at £20. And they come with the original 'Design Editions' dust bag. (I think I bought them originally for about £45).

If you see me wearing them in a blog post in a few weeks time, you'll know my foray into Ebaying has gone wrong!

Exciting news from Clarks

Another day, another blog about Clarks. I'm getting to a point where I think my blog could just be renamed 'what can I buy in Clarks?'!

No one I ever speak to seems to bother shopping in Clarks (other than my sister - we share a Clarks habit) because it just has a reputation of sensible, slightly frumpy shoes. This is such an out-of-date image...and look what you're missing.

Scent Eley in blue textile - £79.99

Eley Kishimoto for Clarks! I shit you not. Can you believe it?! My sister texted me today and I could actually sense the borderline hysteria in her message. We are excited.

It doesn't go on sale until 1 March, so set yourself a reminder. I also think they're doing waiting lists...but that's a step too far for me!

Ancient Eley in orange - £69.99

Desert boot in orange geometric print - £89.00

Scent Eley in white combi - £79.99

Workwear uniform courtesy of Mary Portas

Finally I've managed to rope Mr W into taking a few outfit photos. It seems to be a logistical feat to get us in the same building together, at a reasonable hour, with me in something other than my scuzzy 'indoor' clothes (i.e. anything worn out, ill-fitting and generally quite knackered which I seem to have taken to wearing in the house!). Either that or I'm in my pyjamas.

It only takes about ten minutes of being at home before I've had something spilled on me by my 18 month old, so I've resigned myself to letting style standards nosedive a little at home. Mr W is thrilled, as you can imagine!

Anyway, with that rambling preamble, here are the outfit shots...

Taken yesterday, I wore one of my Mary Portas for House of Fraser dresses, which I love. I cannot recommend her range enough. I've bought four dresses, two pairs of trousers, a skirt and a top...oh, and a pair of shoes too. All of it has been bought in sales seasons and has been massively reduced. In the January sales, I bought two dresses (which will feature on Edna one day) both of which were reduced from £115 to £34.50. Bargain. Mary Portas dresses are slowly starting to become a work uniform for me.

If you do get a chance, I'd really recommend visiting a Mary Portas department at a House of Fraser. The customer service is joyful - and anywhere where they give you a cup of coffee while you try clothes on is a win with me!

Primark hat, a present from my lovely sister and not off
my head all winter. Mini snood made by my very talented mum.
And Kenneth Cole handbag.

Nicola de Main jacket bought a few years back on a particularly
spontaneous Friday night shopping trip at pop-up Swanfield on
tour boutique. I even had to leave the store, find a cash-point
and go back & pay for the jacket as they didn't take cards.
Clearly it was love at first sight!

Orange lipstick, nail polish, ring and hair may have been overkill?!

My Clarks Yarra desert boots (now £39 in the sale)...
as comfortable as a pair of slippers

End of sales round-up

I admit I've become a little obsessed with sales shopping. I think it's perhaps the drought of the last few months - once I gave myself permission to actually buy something, the floodgates opened and I felt on a shopping high! Most of the time, this has taken the form of just endless rooting around websites. Not much actual buying - just researching and planning and trying to justify opening my purse.

I was coveting this handbag from Lulu Guinness but it never quite reduced by enough and then it sold out. So in the end, some money I'd been saving towards it was used to buy shelving for our lounge instead. Reality has a habit of invading my shopping fantasies!

Anyway, I did buy the boots from Clarks shown below. They're amazing. They look great with dresses and, as someone with a few issues with my feet (swelling on nerves!), these are incredibly comfortable. I thoroughly recommend them.

So these are my end of the sales season picks. My purse is closed (I think), so I'm simply sharing them with you, rather than planning to buy...

Have you had any major sales bargains??

Mary Portas gold tweed coat with removable knit sleeves - £85.50 (down from £285)

Mary Portas cabbage rose shift dress - £39 (down from £160)

Clarks grey suede yarra desert boots - £39 (down from £99)

Lulu Guinness pink pave lips/lipstick necklace - £25.50 (down from £85)

Jaeger Boutique Rosemund spot jacket - £49 (down from £180)

Owl face jumper by Emma Cook for Topshop - £25 (down from £40)

Reiss navy zip through dress - £47 (down from £159)

Dahlia khaki embellished collar blouse - £25 (down from £58)

And, in my shopping dreams, Orla Kiely sparkle boat neck dress - £167.50 (down from £335)

Clarks wish list

Clarks makes a frequent appearance on Edna.  I’m a big fan. I’ve confessed before, I'll say it again. It has such a huge range of stock and lots of it can totally turn people off, especially if you’re under the age of 30 but over 5! But if you look closely enough, season-in, season-out, there are some gems. All well made. All really well priced. The Harris Tweed collection is gorgeous. Mary Portas has a great range, with more fashiony pieces (though I have to confess that the lime beauties I bought in the summer sale are a bit pinchy).

For Autumn/Winter 2012, these are my favourites.

Row 1: Camelia Crisp - £44.99; Hamble Oak Harris Tweed brogues - £49.99
Row 2: Dollar tango black patent shoes - £59.99; Jilli tweed in dark brown - £49.99
Row 3: Lulworth Beach teal suede - £59.99; La Catherine from the Mary Portas range - £120
Row 4: Cornish Ice shoes - £64.99; La Jolie from the Mary Portas range - £89.99
Row 5: Kelda Diva knee high boots - £99.99; La Mary black combination suede boots - £130
Row 6: Bea Karob black patent shoes - £64.99;  Pastel desert boots for little ones - £34 (which have Laney May's name written all over them!)

p.s. I've finally reached 50 members...welcome Edna's 50th! I hope you enjoy xx

Clarks update

A quick Clarks update...

I saw my sister at the weekend and she'd been on a bit of a Clarks shopping bender. And I can't believe I missed these beauties in my Clarks round-up last week!

She had a gorgeous purple heeled pair of sandals which are part of the Liberty range...although it took some time to locate them on the Clarks website.

Clarks Shea Cashmere sandals - £49.99

And these sandals will be making their way into my wardrobe very soon! They looked amazing on her and are a very reasonable £29.99.

Surf Gala in black suede - £29.99

Summer delights from Clarks

If you’ve read Edna for a while, you’ll know I’m partial to the occasional piece of Clarks footwear...

Back to work
Clarks Originals wedges
Lust item of the week – 1940s shoes
 

And Clarks is on fire at the moment.
 

They’ve got a range in store which features a 1960s Liberty print fabric, which has been updated by Zandra Rhodes. Just gorgeous. My favourite style in the range is the purple flats with the pretty fabric on the inside...

Cavier gold - £44.99

But I also love these styles too…

 

Scent bottle - £54.99

 

Cavier gold – floral - £54.99

The current Mary Portas range for Clarks is glorious too...though a little more expensive. These are my favourites.

La Peep lime leather shoes - £89.99

 

La Minx black suede boots - £110

 

La Gigi natural snake sandals - £79.99

And if this isn’t enough, apparently they're launching a range with Harris Tweed next month. Amazing.

Back to Work

I know I haven't blogged for a while...I'm now two and a half weeks away from returning to work and have been enjoying the last of my maternity leave. I have such mixed emotions about going back and leaving my little girl in a nursery...and I seem to be dealing with it by trying not to think about it!

On a superficial level, what I've been able to think about is what I'm going to wear to work. As much as I've tried not to descend into tracksuits or a uniform of jeans and a top whilst on maternity leave, my day-to-day wardrobe is obviously very different to what I'd wear to the office every day. I don't tend to get vomited on that regularly in the office or have to crawl around on the floor!

So now that I'll be back in an office three days a week, I've been musing on what I'd like to wear...or at least what would freshen up my wardrobe and suit me. I have very little budget to spend, so most of this is just daydreaming...though I've made one little purchase just to cheer myself up when I go back to work...

Autograph pleat front abstract print trousers - £39.50

I'm picturing myself in these with a blouse, blazer and a pair of (comfortable!) heels.

I also have my eye on all of these...

Clarks sandals - £54.99

Autograph Open Front Jacket - £59 (this jacket feels a bit Mary Portas...a pair of skinny trousers and statement necklace would work a treat!)

Twiggy for M&S v-neck animal print pleated dress - £45

 

Autograph leather front pocket shopper bag - £79 (a bit more of a luxe alternative to my endless, slightly grubby canvas shoppers that hold my handbag overspill)

Cos print front jersey top - £49

And my 'love them but would never, ever buy at full price' lust item at the moment are these little leopard print beauties from F Troupe...at £145

Lust item...of the month

Before my summer blog holiday, I featured some Topshop shoes on Edna that had taken my fancy. Amongst them were a couple of low-heeled ballet pumps that were so chic but the heart-print and red patent leather added a little bit of quirky character.

I’ve totally fallen in love with that style of shoe – they are flat enough to mean you can wear them all day long, day-in, day-out, but also the slight heel makes them feel a little more ladylike and a bit Parisian chic. I dream about wearing them with ankle-skimming trousers, or skinny jeans...or slightly modish with a shift dress.

I’ve managed to resist the urge to buy a pair (even though my lovely friend Lisa bought a pair of the heart-print ballet pumps for £10 in the Topshop sale and flaunted them in front of me!)...but I’m not sure I can resist Topshop’s latest incarnation...the Dalmatian print.
 

Dalmatian print heeled ballet pumps - £42

Dalmatian prints are everywhere this season...mainly because of the Topshop Unique A/W 11 Dalmatian covered collection.
 

I don’t think I’d go too crazy with the print and can’t imagine myself in a Dalmatian print coat...but a little on my feet would work a treat.

Blog Holiday Comes to an End

I always get that back to school feeling when September comes around, no matter how old I get. A change of season, a bit of a new start, cracking open the new anything...including clothes!

With the new season, I thought it was a good time to bring to an end my blog holiday and start What Would Edna Say again.

The arrival of my lovely daughter Laney May seven weeks ago means a lot of changes to my life...including limited time and energy to not only blog but even to think about fashion.

But I do have some time for fashion thoughts!
 

I realised I was finally recovering from my (horrific!) labour and various complications when I picked up a fashion magazine again, put on some mascara...and started to give a bit more thought to the clothes I was putting on my back! Tracksuit bottoms are, for me, a sign that all is not well emotionally!
 

Just before Laney May was born, a good friend suggested that if I was planning to breast-feed, it would be a good idea to look through my wardrobe and see what allowed easy access. She knows how much I love dresses and that they could pose a problem if I was attempting to discreetly get a breast out in public!
 

It turns out that breast-feeding has had more of an impact on my wardrobe than my pregnancy ever did. I’ve started to wear far more separates and also, like most women who don’t have much time to get ready, have been relying on jeans a lot. I’ve even bought maternity jeans for the first time so that I have a more forgiving waistband (I'm still sore from my c-section and have extra pregnancy pounds that will at some point be shed!).

So I thought I’d end my blog holiday with some photos of me wearing a pair of my new maternity jeans and embracing the world of separates on a trip out for lunch (where through a bad choice of seating in a gorgeous café called Lavish Habit I seemed to be breast-feeding in full view of a busy intersection...nothing like easing myself into it!).

 

 

Asos maternity jeans, Topshop striped top, Zara jacket (bought for a bargain £10), heart print scarf from a shop in Spitalfields market, and a Lin & Leo nappy bag.

Small Primark bag (which I think has a whiff of Chanel about it

Cath Kidson wedge espadrilles

The accommodating waistband!