New year nails

I’ve blogged before about Topshop make-up, mainly because the packaging is so pretty and I’m drawn to superficial things like that!! I was, admittedly, disappointed with a lip crayon I purchased from the range because it only lasted about a week...I loved the colour but not it’s longevity! But I bought a blusher at the same time which is still going strong and doing it’s best to put some colour in my cheeks and banish my winter cadaver-like complexion!
 
I was having a quick look on the site tonight and have totally fallen for a lot of their nail polishes. Even though my nails tend to border on the ok/chipped & knackered looking, I'm still obsessed with nail polishes and have far too many of them and always seem to be on the look out for more. I think the blue ‘Nails in Cloud’ polish is next on the list!

New year, new accessories

Pregnancy has already had an impact on my lust items of the week. It’s difficult to contemplate buying clothes at the moment when I don’t know how long they will fit...and then how long they'll reside in the cupboard, neglected, until I can one day get into them again...hopefully!

Instead, I find myself obsessed with accessories...and at least accessories help to freshen up what you’ve already got in your wardrobe. This is something fresh in my mind this evening after a three hour session trying to sort out my wardrobe and once again being reminded that I have an epic amount of clothing and only wear a fraction of it! I can feel some sort of new years resolution forming...
 
A new pair of ankle boots can suddenly make dresses that have been hanging forlorn in your wardrobe look right again and ready for an outing. As can a beautiful piece of jewellery, such as this week’s lust item.

Surrounded double roped grape bracelet by Brook&Lyn - $85 (about £54)

I cannot remember how I came across the Brook&Lyn site. I think the designer was mentioned on Twitter and I looked at her blog and liked her style and loved her jewellery. She’s based in the USA but they do seem to ship internationally, so the jewellery is within reach.

As much as I love the necklaces, what I am really lusting after is a bracelet (my statement piece with the new blouse, black trousers, & red lips outfit!).

New season blouses

For someone who has lived in dresses for years, with only the occasional foray into separates, I have oddly found myself obsessed with blouses. All I seem to be looking at in shops at the moment are blouses and its variants. I keep imagining myself looking chic but with a little quirk like this photo from Garance Dore or channeling a little Jill Sander SS11 like this.

Photo: www.style.com

I’ve had an urge to streamline my look a little and want chic black trousers, with a loose silk blouse tucked in, a statement bracelet and maybe a bit of leopard print via my handbag...oh, and either bright red lips or nails!

However, given that I’m on the path to getting a bigger and bigger pregnancy bump, I’m not sure how ‘streamlined’ my look is going to be! But I do know that when I eventually buy a few maternity pieces, black trousers and a blouse will be on the list...perhaps even the Topshop number featured below!

Other blouses that have been catching my eye…

Zara printed blouse with bow - £22.99 

Asos pussybow blouse - £30

Topshop maternity feather print open back blouse - £36

Topshop navy sheer spot shirt - £38

Oasis parasol print blouse - £40

Warehouse animal print swing blouse - £40

Reiss military shirt - £55 (down from £110)

Whistles Ginny shirt - £95

A bit of Chanel via Uniqlo

New Year, another new dawn on the finance front in our household. Once again, I am committing to cutting back, suppressing the feeling that any money I earn is burning a hole in my pocket...and wearing and using what I already own!

So as much as I would love to go on a sales shopping spree, I've quashed the urge and only opened my purse to buy two cardigans from Uniqlo...both in the sale and under £35 for the pair! We’ve still got months of winter left and layers are essential and some of my layers are starting to look a little ratty. So these are actually a replacement purchase rather than an addition (that’s my reasoning, anyway!).

I wore one of them to work today, hoping to create a Chanel inspired outfit. 

The cardigan has jacket styling and a sort of Chanel boucle feel to it, with a metallic thread throughout. I wore the cardigan with a black jersey dress from Cos (a sales purchase from last year), an old favourite necklace from Untold at House of Fraser and my never-off-my-feet-this-winter boots bought in Copenhagen last year. I think the leather over the knee boots helps to give the outfit more of an edge; it toughens it up rather than looking too ladylike.

 

However, as much as I was trying to channel Chanel, it was in appearance only. I’ve had a day in the office when I’ve signed my name as Katie Water for a water delivery and realised about an hour after lunch that my lovely black Cos dress has a huge dollop of leek and potato soup down the front! Thank god I liked my outfit, as my ability to carry out basic functions such as eating and signing my own name seem to have been beyond me!!

An Acorn from Vivienne

Regular Edna readers will know that I worship at the feet of Vivienne Westwood (at least on a fashion basis, not necessarily when it comes to her manifesto!). If I found myself awash with cash, Vivienne Westwood and Chanel would be the two stores where I would have a splurge.

I am lucky enough to have a few bits of Viv – some jewellery and a couple of handbags (you can view my lovely Bambi bag in all its glory here!). When it comes to sales season, I always have a look at what’s on sale as Vivienne Westwood does massively reduce items. They’re still not cheap but if you love something and know you will cherish it, then you can treat yourself but often pay half the original price.

Which brings me to this week’s lust item. I love jewellery influenced by nature – I adore the jewellery range at NW3 at Hobbs with its little hedgehogs and pine cones. My sister in law made me a lovely acorn necklace for Christmas (I will post a picture over the next week or two). And the king of nature inspired jewellery is the wonderful Alex Monroe (you can enter a competition on the Elle website at the moment to win an Alex Monroe bee ring).

And so when I saw this acorn and oakleaf necklace on the Vivienne Westwood website...and in the sale...I knew it had to feature on Edna and I would need to draw upon the well of willpower to stop myself cracking open the credit card!

Acorn and oakleaf small pendant - £63 down from £105

Christmas baggage

Christmas sadly feels like a distant memory...all the sparkle has already faded and we’re left in the month of hell that is January!

I never understand why anyone abstains from anything this month...if you’re going to detox do it in any other month when there doesn’t seem to be such a cloud of gloom. If ever there was a time when alcohol is needed, it's in January’s grimness. Unfortunately the only bottle I’m hitting is lemon barley, so I have to think of other things to cheer myself up!
 
And what has been cheering me up no end this week has been carrying around my new Christmas handbag!

There is something very satisfying about opening a present that feels like a handbag...and is a little beauty of one when you tear the paper off! Mr W bought me this lovely satchel from Zara. I had dropped a little hint that I liked pretty much all the handbags in Zara and this is the one he chose (and in typical male shopping style, walked into the store, showed an assistant a photo of it on his iphone, she then got it for him, he paid and left, all in the space of a couple of minutes!).

Gorgeous tweed lining & accessorised with my faithful monkey!

p.s. I’m also wearing my wonderful new grey, sparkled snood from M&S, a present from my lovely mum and dad, which has been a permanent fixture around my neck since 25th December! My coat is a few years old, again from M&S, and was also a Christmas present!

Hitting the New Year Sales

Happy New Year Edna readers...if there are any of you left after my prolonged hiatus! December was a pretty stressful month and I got to the point where I didn’t have a fashion thought left or the urge to write a single word...and when that happens I know life has gotten pretty bad!

I knew that my stress levels were finally starting to drop when, like a sleeping beast, the urge to shop started to awaken!

The reason for the stressful month is that I'm pregnant! I’m very happy about it and was feeling reasonably ok (aside from all day sickness and zero energy) until things started to go horribly wrong in December and I ended up in A&E! Thankfully, the little one is ok and aside from giving me a mini breakdown, all seems to be well.

I do sincerely pledge, Edna readers, that although I'm excited about being pregnant I will not turn this into an extension of the Baby Centre website or a total mummy blog. I may slip in the odd bit of maternity wear – and ask for maternity tips...especially skincare as mine has been in meltdown – but only if I love it and would wear something similar if I was without a bump!

I find so much maternity clothing far too mumsy. I know I'm going to become a mummy but it doesn’t mean I want to change my style...and I don’t care if it’s more yummy mummy than mumsy, I don’t want any of it. I want to look like me...but pregnant. It’s the same as with anything else in life – what I wear to work, to socialise, to sit around the house...I want to keep my own style but just adapt according to circumstances.

But as I near the July due date, if you see me posting a photo in something you know I would never normally wear and there’s even a whiff of mumsy, please shout at me!

Aside from my big news and apologies for neglecting you, tonight’s blog – the first of 2011 – is about sales bargains. Around the time of the summer sales last year, I blogged about my tips for getting the best out of the sales. The same rules apply and are essential to avoiding getting ripped off and filling your wardrobe with a load of tat that you’ll never wear.

If I was going to open my purse...and I am tempted to, especially in the quest for comfortable but chic shoes (I’m feeling pretty sure the LK Bennett numbers are going to find their way onto my feet soon!) these are some of the lovely items that I would consider buying. Lots I have loved full price, always a good starting point when you approach sales shopping.

By Malene Birger Topas chiffon blouse - £104 down from £209

Lucy Hutchings glass stone tassel pendant - £38 down from £95

DKNY cute lady twill scarf (a past lust item of the week) - £35 down from £70

Reiss Charlie silk printed shirt - £55 down from £110

Reiss Fabio wool hat - £24 down from £45

+J wool soutien collared short jacket - £59.99 down from £129.99

Zara buck skin clutch bag - £49.99 down from £69.99

p.s. I love shopping vicariously...so if you have had sales success send me photos!