Diverting pencil skirts

I’m in my last week of maternity leave. I can no longer hide from the fact that this time next week I’ll once again join the throngs of commuters and be back in an office.

Aside from having an emotional meltdown about leaving my baby girl in a nursery and feeling so stressed I can barely breathe, I’m still trying to divert myself by thinking about my work wardrobe. I’m not sure it’s actually working but it’s at least helped for the past hour as I’ve been looking at my favourite patterned pencil skirts!

I think the key with any pencil skirt is fit – it’s just not flattering to have the straining creases across the front of the skirt that goes with one a little on the tight side. And if you’re a classic pear shape, then it can be difficult to get the waist and hips to both fit. I’ve found this style of skirt often works better for me if the waistband sits a little lower down nearer to hip level, so that it tends to fit my hips without gaping at the waistband.

I love the idea of updating a classic pencil skirt by wearing it with a bold print. They’d work well with something simple on the top – a white shirt, loose, draped t-shirt or a silk tank top, all tucked in.

I was going to say my favourites are the two from Cos but the insect print one from Asos is up there too.

Cos printed pencil skirt - £59

I saw this Cos skirt in store in a mint green with black mesh overlay, which I loved...but it only seems to be available in grey on the website. Cos straight mesh skirt - £49

Principles by Ben de Lisi dark peach tile skirt - £35

M&S Limited Collection palm leaf print skirt, which is now down to £15 but only available in sizes 6 and 8

Warehouse tejal scarf print skirt - £45

Dorothy Perkins blue bird print skirt - £26

And a bit out of my price range but I love this print skirt from Anthropologie - £98

Asos Beta Fashion tailored skirt by Samantha Edwards - £85

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

Stylish cast-offs

One of the benefits of having stylish friends is that now and again you become the grateful recipient of cast-offs. I've admired and jealously coveted my friend Lisa's spotty coat from Ted Baker since she bought it years and years ago. It's the sort of coat that once made Gok Wan holler in the street to tell her how great she looked in it.


One day, a month or so ago, lovely Lisa came to my flat bearing a gift. The coat had run its course in her life and she was ready to give it to a new home. That home was mine.

I've been skipping around in it ever since...though the glorious London sunshine has admittedly put the brakes on it a little. I've toughed it out a few days, sweltering away in my winter coat, but for now it's hanging in my wardrobe waiting to brighten up another grey day!

Under the coat I wore a blue (much need elasticated waist)
skirt from American Apparel, grey sequined sweatshirt from
Primark, my Copenhagen boots & bag from Zara.

I love the contrast of a really dressed down grey sweatshirt
with dressed up sequins. Perfect daytime sequins!

Always room for some leopard print in an outfit!

p.s. I promise I didn't paint my nails to match my skirt!! The colour was a hangover from a night out, when I got massively excited about going out on a Friday night and painted my nails for the first time since having Laney May last July!

Tee Time

I don’t wear t-shirts very often...I’ve always been much more of a shirt/blouse wearer. But now and again I do love wearing a particular type of t-shirt, ones that are lightweight cotton and loose fitting - and never worn as just ‘jeans and a t-shirt’.

I love this look from the upcoming Marni for H&M range (on sale from 8th March...not sure I'll be able to keep my purse locked away).
 

A quirky print t-shirt worn with a skirt suit is exactly the sort of way I like to wear t-shirts...though possibly not with knee-high socks!

I like the contrast of wearing a t-shirt with something a little more dressed up, otherwise I feel scruffy and a bit like an overgrown, slightly haggard-looking teenager.

Other than this Marni for H&M t-shirt – which I’m tempted to buy when it goes on sale next week - I also have my eye on an Emma Cook t-shirt for Topshop, part of its ‘NewGen’ range of t-shirts, designed by designers who have been previous recipients of Topshop’s NewGen scheme.

Emma Cook deer print t-shirt - £30

I’m also partial to these two...

Meadham Kirchhoff Dolly face t-shirt - £30

Peter Jensen squirrel heart print - £30

Lust item of February

When I first saw this dress in a magazine, I started to beat my chest and chant ‘mine, mine, mine’. Mr W was a little bemused to say the least. It was a primitive reaction to something I wanted very, very much!

Cos dress - £79

I love a stripe. I love a clashing print. I love a Prada influence. I love a sleeved dress.

This dress has it all in one lovely little package that costs a very reasonable £79 from Cos.

I want and need this dress in my life...and it’s February’s lust item.

Vogue's February Fashion Crush

It seems that my Edna blog is unwittingly aligned with the fashion folk at Vogue. My 2012 style crush Solange Knowles is Vogue's 'Today I'm Wearing' blogger for February.

In this grey, bleak old month, this fills me with a little fashion glee. It means that for the whole of the month I can get daily style inspiration from Solange...though given it's winter and she's in New York wearing a mini-dress today, I'll not be taking inspiration too literally! Still, love her!

Eighties style crushes

I watched When Harry Met Sally recently for the umpteenth time. I mentioned to Mr W how much I used to love her style and try and copy it. The baggy trousers, fitted jacket, slouchy bag and hat.

Looking back, I’m not sure trying to dress like a woman who was 15-20 years older than I was at the time was necessarily a route to a good teenage look! I also had very little choice in the shops I could visit, as there was bugger all around me, so thinking back god only knows what sort of homage to the look I managed to cobble together!

Anyway, Mr W laughed at me and pointed out that clearly I still subconsciously embraced the ‘Sally’ look as I still dress like it. And I realised he was right...

I thought I was referencing the cooler Annie Hall look but clearly not...over twenty years later I’m still influenced by When Harry Met Sally!

Thinking back to early fashion influences, I remembered being in awe of Magenta Devine on the early ‘Rough Guide’ travel series in the eighties/nineties. I’ve been trying to find photos of her but without much luck...it took a bit of google research just to find her name!

This is the best I could find...

And this clip from a Rough Guide to Bali - she appears intermittently, if you can be bothered to sit through it all.

She was constantly in sunglasses and had a cool, black, angular haircut. I remember her in lots of monochrome and stripes and just dripping in style...and sitting in my kitchen in mid-Wales (in my weird baggy trousered ensemble!) watching her and wishing I could be like her.

I’m not sure whether the fact that I wear lots of stripes and black could in all honesty be considered a throwback to her influence, but it was interesting to remember these early fashion crushes, which I’d forgotten about.

Can you remember yours? It’s so easy these days to reel off names but I loved thinking back to who stood out for me when I was a bit of a clueless teenager...and the likes of Alexa Chung and the Olsens were barely out of babygrows.