Autumn outfits

Wow, that was a rather long - and unintentional! - break from blogging but you know, sometimes life just gets in the way!  The kids are all well ensconced in school, I'm back to my morning 5km walks round the reservoirs just across from my house (which I really missed doing during the summer holidays) & I've been helping a lot at the school again.  This teamed with my mum being unwell & running around helping her out has left little time for post research/reviews etc so I've been a blog reader, not a poster for a while.  But my mojo is back & how fortuitous that it should happen entering my favourite time of year & all the shops are getting all of their autumn/winter stock in!!  I *may* have made a sneaky purchase (or 10!) already......

It's no secret that I LOVE a bit of poncho/wrap/cape action so it pleases me immensely that the shops are full of these again this year.  I've bought a couple of new ones already (and have my eye on a couple more, ahem!) & I'm on the hunt for a new wool fedora this year.  I can't decide between this grey one from New Look or this charcoal & tan beauty from Zara that my friend bought last week.  We don't live near each other however, so won't have the worry of turning up wearing the same thing!  But then I keep coming back to this navy one from Topshop too, decisions, decisions!!

I feel like I've 'done' navy to death over the past year so this season I'm veering back towards black & grey. My old but comfy pair of black skinnies are now more of a grey colour (which I don't dislike!) so new pair of high waisted black skinnies are on the list.  I'm also looking for a grey cross-body saddle bag so have been trawling the internet looking for one.  I like this from Clarks but I'm just not keen on the patent straps, however I do love the more casual style of this one from White Stuff.

I've always been a bit self-conscious of putting OOTD posts on my blog but I've decided I'm going to do more of them from now on starting with these few outfits I've been wearing over the last couple of weeks with some of my new purchases!!  Apologies in advance for the poor photos, mirror selfies just aren't clear!

Left: grey jumper dress, Primark, current

black leggings, M&S

black trainers, M&S

Right: oversized grey cardi, Primark, A/W 14 but similar in store

black (now grey!) jeans, Asda

trainers, as before

Left: black blazer, H&M '14, similar here

white shirt, M&S

jeans, Next

sliders, Garage 

bag, eBay

Top right: navy boyfriend cardi, Primark '14, similar in store

top, Next, S/S '15, similar here

jeans, Next, as before

sliders, as before

Bottom right: black trainers, M&S, as before

Left: check coatigan, Primark, current (my favourite new purchase!)

grey jumper dress, Primark, current

black ponté trousers, H&M, similar here

trainers, M&S, as before

Right: rust blanket wrap, Primark, current

black jeans, Asda, as before

trainers, as before

You can probably tell that I'm MUCH happier dressing for autumn/winter so I'm looking forward to hunting out all my other ponchos, wraps & hats!  The dark nail polishes are also back out now too!

What will you be wearing for A/W this year?

Marrakech clothes

So with only 3 weeks to go until our trip to Marrakech, I decided I had to go through my wardrobe & choose my final picks to take with me.

We're only there for 4 days but as you may have seen on my Instagram yesterday, the predicted forecast is (fingers crossed!!) due to be around the 20-25°c mark, in which case we'll need cooler - but still conservative - clothes for the day with something warmer for the evenings.  Everything I've chosen can be mixed & matched with each other so although there's not a great deal, I can make quite a few different outfits in total!  I'll run through the list quickly but you can get all the details from my Polyvore if you click on the picture.

For the bottoms, I've chosen a pair of relaxed skinny jeans (I'll wear these to travel in), black jersey wide leg trousers, a navy maxi skirt & a plain black maxi dress, ideal to wear with one of the lightweight kimonos thrown on top of it.

The tops I've chosen are 2 longline vests in burnt orange & navy (I may take a white one too), a navy v-neck t-shirt (for travelling in), a mustard top & my new striped boat neck top.

I bought 2 kimonos at the end of last summer to wear as lightweight jackets, ideal for covering my shoulders should be enter somewhere where bare shoulders are frowned upon.  Either can be folded up small & put in my bag.  I will also pack my denim jacket & new navy jacket I bought in Next last week (again, I'll travel in this), but it isn't online so it must be one of last season's.

Shoe-wise, I decided to forego any sort of heels & take only 2 pairs of flats.  I wanted a closed-in pair as it'll still be cold here when we leave so the Freckle Ice from Clarks are perfect.  I have 3 pairs of these now & they are honestly the best ballet pumps for me as they support my arches & are ridiculously padded!  Then I'll take my pewter sandals from M&S, which granted, look minging on the photo but look great on, honestly!!  Again, they're really padded & comfortable for walking in.

I'll only take a couple of pieces of jewellery as I'd like to buy some whilst we're there but I do need a scarf or two, & these from Alice's Wonders are lovely.  I'll take my Clarks tan saddle bag for the day & a beaded clutch for evening.

And not forgetting a swimsuit, sarong & sunglasses!  I'm just taking a plain, boring black swimsuit because I like to wear my leopard print sarong & I don't want to clash!!  I also need to get to the opticians to have new prescription lenses put in my sunglasses but I'll not be going back to Vision Express after the chronically slow service I'm experiencing at the moment with my new glasses, grrrr........

As a lot of things I'm taking I bought at the end of last year & they're no longer in the shops, I've had to choose similar pieces on my Polyvore set but you get the jist!!  I will do another post with photos of the actual clothes I'm taking....I might just do a wee packing video too, we'll see!! ;)

Totally going off track here but does anyone have difficulties with their posts when they add a Polyvore set?  It either totally changes my font & I can't adjust it or like today, my type width will only go to the width of the photo, not across the full page????  It drives me bonkers, does anyone know how to remedy this?

Anyhoo, that was a very rambly post, sorry but I'm getting a tad excited now, hee hee!!!

Is there anything I'm missing?