women’s – Mediocre Mum

What not to wear?

Need help choosing clothes for work like me?

I hate clothes shopping and I’m terrible at it but I’m loving Polyvore. I’m incapable of coordinating outfits which has resulted in an entire wardrobe full of stuff that doesn’t go together. If the Sales are on with racks and racks of cheap tat, I panic and walk out. I recently went to an event wearing the following outfit, a friend who lacks frontal screening and was slightly inebriated (totally mullered) exclaimed upon first seeing me ‘you look like a child who put on all their favourite clothes this morning’. I couldn’t argue with him really.

Where the problem starts

I prefer to walk into a shop to find a fully dressed mannequin wearing exactly what I’m looking for and if I can afford it I will buy it. I do like flipping through catalogues, folding the pages that catch my attention but hate catalogues that have items individually (e.g a page of jeans) listed on the page without showing how they go with other stuff. What am I supposed to do with that. The same goes for websites. It’s amazing how many sites don’t have ‘Look Books’ for inspiration for those of us who are fashionably challenged.

Alternatively, I’ve been known to corner the young shop assistants for their help saying ‘I have so and so to go to, what should I wear?’ which has worked well in the past, however, on occasions, they have persuaded me to buy something that was totally unsuitable, never got worn and is still hanging in the wardrobe with tags on it. I’m in my 40s for fat snakes!

This is why I like Polyvore, I came across it awhile back. Besides being an online clothing store it also has the facility that you can create your own sets, allowing you to put together outfits. What’s even better is that you don’t have to stick to the clothes on their site. You can add a button to your tool bar, so in future, when you are surfing the web looking for clothes you can ‘clip to Polyvore’. So, if you find an outfit online (e.g. Pinterest, Fashion Sites, Tumbler) that you like, you can try to recreate it using this tool.

And if you’re still not sure if the outfit works you can always share it on your social networks and ask your friends for advice like I did.

Autumn/ Winter Work Outfits 2013

Luckily for work I don’t have to be suited and booted, however, it would be frowned upon if I wore jeans. So, I’ve been looking for Autumn/Winter Clothes for 2013. I still have a long way to go, but here are two that I put together so far. I was attempting to use some of the items I already had in the wardrobe.

How am I doing? Be honest. I’d still love to find a way to wear my camouflage jeans to work if anyone has any ideas. Happy shopping and be prepared to lose a few hours of your life.

Win a £50 Voucher from Zalando UK

I love Autumn! Not because it’s my daughter’s birthday, our Anniversary and then my Birthday but because the weather starts to cool down and I can bring out my Big Jumpers, Leggings, Scarves and Boots.

There’s nothing more comfortable in my opinion! Plus, it hides the lumps and bumps also know as muffin tops!

Disclosure: Thanks to Zalando for my lovely new jumper and scarf! I’ve worn it three days in a row now.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations to the Women of Saudi Arabia!

I was absolutely thrilled last week to read that Saudi is going to give woman the right to vote and run in elections. A few years back I worked in Riyadh, Saudi on behalf of the British Council and apparently I was only the second woman ever allowed into the Ministry of Education.

I met some amazing woman during my time, some of the most highly educated woman I’ve ever met and I’m still friends with a few of them to this day, speaking regularly via Facebook. I was openly welcomed into their secret world, even attending a wedding and privy to a very sober hen-do. However, they went out of their way to try to convince us they were happy, not being oppressed and that the Western World had it all wrong. Nevertheless, I couldn’t shake the niggling feeling this wasn’t the case, as Shakespeare said ‘lady doth protest too much’.

When I travel I have a policy of keeping my ‘eyes open and my mouth shut’, which you may find hard to believe. I disagreed with a lot that I saw from beneath my Abaya; the school was highly segregated, if we had technical issues they couldn’t be dealt with while we were in the building as the technicians were male. We travelled in separate cars to our male counterparts and they had tinted windows, when we didn’t (this was during the time people were taking pot shots at foreigners at intersections and 3 days before Ken Bigley was beheaded). When we were invited into people’s houses for dinner we were allowed to eat with the men, uncovered, while our new female friends ate with the hired help.

Last night at book club we had a discussion about this, not a heated one, but a few were absolutely disgusted that this was still going on in this day and age. I had to remind them that not that long ago (within a 100 years) it wasn’t that different here. I’m not sure how it will work logistically as woman are unable to drive and they’ll have to be escorted by male family members but I strongly believe that this is a step in the right direction.

What do you think? Is it a step in the right direction? Is it an empty promise?

These Shoes are Made for Walking

This is what happened last time I wore my trusty walking shoes when I trekked the Gower Peninsula for Breast Cancer last year.

I’ve been trying to work out how long I’ve had them. I think it must be at least 7 years, probably closer to 10. They’ve done the Moonwalk, climbed Mount Kinabalu (2^nd highest mountain in South East Asia) and have been to at least 10 different countries in this time.

So, when Hotter Shoes offered to send me a new pair to try out I jumped at the chance. They sent me a pair of Sierra Women’s Gore-Tex Walking Shoes (£69) I haven’t had a chance to give them a proper test as we don’t do as much walking as we used to. Madame is at that awkward age where she is too heavy to carry in a back pack and not quite big enough to do longer walks.

However, I have been wearing them around the house and to and from school. Bliss! They are so much lighter than my last ones. I love the style and colour, plus the ice skating type hooks that allow me to tie them tightly. From what I can tell so far they are also very good quality. I had a look at the seams, joins and moulds and I’m impressed.

When I took them off last night I said to hubby ‘these shoes are so comfy’.

I can’t wait to try them out properly. Sadly, it’s time to say goodbye to my old ones. Off to the bin for them!