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It's Just So Tempting!

Last month, The Daily Mail featured an article on the growing statistic of women who admit to binning their partner's old clothes without telling him.  Apparently, 1 in 7 women have done this. I’ve not quite done this, yet…BUT  I totally get it! I understand and can sympathise with these 14% of women. 

I sort through my wardrobe and chest of drawers at least twice a year. My husband? I’ve only ever witnessed him do this after prompting and then moaning from me. I would do it myself, but I think it’s important that he has a say in what he keeps and what gets tossed. If it were up to him, though, he’d never, ever, EVER get rid of a piece of clothing, not ever. Not unless it was permanently damaged or completely un-wearable. 

While I was going through my wardrobe last week, I made a concerted effort to keep clear of M’s clothes. This isn’t very difficult, as his part of the wardrobe has been reduced to a one foot section with a separate door (my bad – and a different topic for a later time). But then, I went to sort through one of the under bed storage containers and found this sexy, bad boy:

Mhmm, that is faded black corduroy and blue jean combined in one jacket. Yaaaay! 

 

M has had this jacket since we first started dating. Unlike a lot of his other pieces, this one, I believe, was selected and purchased by himself (he has many other items that have been picked out or gifted from girlfriends’ past). I’ve attempted on previous occasions to convince him that it was time to let this particular item go, but M resisted very strongly.

 

And so we meet again.

 

I placed it on the give-away pile and have plans to discuss it with M over the weekend. But…maybe he won’t notice if it just goes missing?

 

What do you think? Are 1 in 7 women wrong? Or so, so, so right (and super clever)?

 

-Bry xx

New! Two Dresses and Two Skirts

I’m trying to be much more adventurous with my style. As the weather gets warmer and the days longer, I tend to gravitate towards brighter colours, lighter textures, and feminine silhouettes. It’s out with the stuffy knits of winter and in with light, breathable cotton pieces that go so well with sun kissed freckled faces and limbs.   

I’m looking forward to styling these four pieces in the coming weeks and, of course, showing you the results. Three out of the four pieces below are predominantly blue, which is actually a rare colour for me to choose. I usually stay away from colder colours, tending to choose warm greens and reds, but there was something about each of these pieces that I loved.  

Dress, Top Left (River Island):  This dress hugs my curves perfectly. The wide straps help balance out my shoulders so I don’t look too pear shaped. The bottom black panel, makes this dress very flirty. I’ve not worked up the courage to wear it to work yet.  

Skirt, Bottom Left (River Island): This skirt reminds me so much of Betty Draper in Mad Men (Series 1). The waist is high and very fitted and the skirt is full and hits just below my knees. I think I will pair it with a simple, white blouse, and if I’m feeling daring, red Dorothy heels.  

Dress, Top Right (Red Herring): I’m not entirely convinced that I love this dress. It fits a little big, but I think it will look great after cinching in the waist with a thick, brown leather belt.  

Skirt, Bottom Right (River Island): After hanging in my closet for almost a year, I finally wore this skirt to work. I paired it with a navy and white striped t-shirt and a skinny, brown leather belt.  I got some compliments on the pattern contrast. This skirt can easily be styled into a very formal look, but when paired with leather sandals, a white t-shirt, and a jean jacket you can create a perfect “dressy casual” look.  

Do you have any items that you can’t wait to style this spring?

- Bry xx

Spring Clean 2013!

Every Thursday, a man touting flowers sets up a temporary stall just outside my train station. Last summer, it became habit for me to buy a couple bouquets at the end of each week. I love the drama of pink Asian lilies, and would pick up three stems for the front room and then a smaller bouquet of something lighter and more delicate for the bedroom (like snap dragons or lisianthus). Over the long, winter months,  I just wasn't in the mood to buy flowers, but with the weather finally turning warmer and sunny this week, I decided to treat myself. As soon as I saw these beautiful, white hydrangeas, I knew they would go perfectly in the bedroom (especially after my spring overhaul).

***

I woke up early on Saturday morning after an early night to bed on Friday. My alarm wakes me up at 5:30am during the week, and by Friday I'm usually so shattered that I find it very difficult to keep my eyes open past 9:00pm. If M is home, I'll be fast asleep on the couch, with my head resting on his lap, as soon as we've finished dinner.  

 

After consuming a bowl of cereal, a large cup of coffee, and an hour in front of the television, I started the big Spring Clean of 2013. I find the process goes a lot more smoothly if you have a plan. Sometimes, the hardest part about tackling a big task, or many tasks, is just knowing where to start.

 

I decided to leave the bed linen changes until last because I knew I would be piling clothes and shoes on top of the bed while I did my sorting. So the first thing I tackled was the closet. I went through each item of clothing and in a few seconds decided if it would stay, go, or be put into storage. I find the less you think about it, the easier it is to make good decisions, at least when it comes to your wardrobe. That said, I did "hem and haw" over a few items. My general rule when it comes to purging your wardrobe is to get rid of anything that you've not worn for an entire season. It may be pretty, it may have been expensive, but there's a reason why you never chose to wear it . This rule generally doesn't apply to special occasion pieces, like black tie gowns for example (I say this as if I own a gown, but I do not).

 

From the photos below, you can see how quickly the "give away" pile started to grow. I had already done an initial culling a few weeks prior; despite this, I still managed to amass a large amount of items.  It always amazes me how much "stuff" I have, given that I've been forced to minimise my belongings so many times in the past ten years. I guess this is just more evidence of my shopping problem. Most of the items in the pile have been worn and loved over the years, but I am ashamed to admit that there are a few pieces that have only been worn once or twice (like the cream dress with the black lace trim - worn only once, 2 years ago).

 

 

After I had sorted the wardrobe, I moved onto the storage cupboars above the wardrobe and then finally tackled the bed. I removed the heated underblanket, changed the sheets and switched over to the summer tog duvet. I also removed the top quilt, gifted to me and Martin and handmade by my mom. It went up into the newly cleared out storage cupboards above the wardrobe with the other winter items for the bed.

I seperated the three bunches of hydrangeas into two vases, one for the wardrobe and one for the bedside table. I love how clean and crisp the white duvet looks in contract with the colourful pop of the wallpaper. This new, clean look makes me want to curl up in bed with a good book and a steaming cup of fruit tea, while the spring sun filters in through the window...beckoning me to go outside and play because summer is fast approaching.   



 

  

Do you have any spring cleaning tips to share or do you skip this ritual altogether?

 

- Bryxx

Preparing for Spring (& Summer, too!)

I've been banging on to M about my plans for spring cleaning for weeks. With M being back for the  past five weekends, it's come a little later than I'd have liked. My time with my husband is precious, as we've been working in different countries for the past 18 months and as much as I like cleaning, I like my husband more (aww - blech!). This weekend I'll be on my own, so I've already started making my spring cleaning plans.

I'll take some photos to post on here, but so far my list for weekend cleaning includes the following:

1. Remove electric under blanket from bed.
2. Change bedlinen and switch to summer duvet.
3. Clear out the storage on top of the wardrobe.
4. Tidy the linen storage area.
5. Go through entire clothing and shoe collections and sort into keep (winter - storage), keep (spring/summer - closet/drawers), and toss (give to charity thrift shop).
6. Vacuum the carpets thoroughly.
7. Dust - everywhere.
8. Tidy, tidy, tidy - everywhere.
9. Weed and mow front and backyard lawns.
10. Tackle storage under stairs if time permits.

I'm so looking forward to getting this done. I'm also looking forward to an early Friday night and waking up without an alarm clock on Saturday morning.


-Bry xx
 

The First Step

Like the old saying goes, “the first step to overcoming an addiction is admitting that you have a problem”. So here it goes, my name is Bryanna and I’m a shopaholic. It’s been 2 days since my last transgression. In fact, I’m wearing one of the 2 items I purchased from Zara right now (a lovely light blue striped shirt from their classic collection). I also bought a black and white horizontal, wide striped skirt…which I wore yesterday. But I digress…  

 

I’ve not always had this “problem”. In fact, when I first arrived in London almost 4 years ago, I came with only £2,000 to my name. £2,000 which needed to see me through 2 years of my working holiday visa. Luckily, I was able to get temporary work, but it didn’t afford me enough money left over to splurge on unnecessary clothing items. I was staying in a tiny, closet bedroom in Shepherd’s Bush, which cost me upwards of £600 a month for the privilege of the few square feet I could call my own.  In fact, for the first 2 months after I arrived in London, the only item of clothing I purchased was a cheap, grey skirt suit from H&M for £65. It saw me through many temping positions and was the item of clothing I wore when I first met my husband. I no longer wear it, but it is one of a few sentimental items that would pain me to get rid of.

 

After months of temping, working long hours and getting paid less than a living wage, I finally got my break. Over two years ago I began my current role, one that provides me with a considerable disposable income. This, combined with the fact that my office is located near Oxford Street; just seconds from Selfridges and all the high street shops (including the largest Zara in all of Europe!), means that I have quickly developed a shopping habit. Here’s the issue, I like to take my lunch break outside of the office. Unfortunately there are only a handful of weeks in the year that London experiences weather that would allow me to spend my lunch hour sitting in the park (Grosvenor Square to be precise). That leaves me with two options: 1. Suffer through the weather 2. Find shelter. So an innocent pop out to get lunch, can quickly become a £150 shopping adventure. It’s become so bad that some weeks, I hide my purchases from my workmates because I am that ashamed.

 

I went on a shopping diet over January, and I fear I need to go on one again for May. I’m an all or nothing kind of gal. So…as soon as I receive my online order of fashion tights and summer stockings, it’s on!

 

I’m hoping that by writing here, the urge to spend will decrease. And we are transitioning from colder weather to sping-like weather here, so that means wardrobe rotation!

 

Fingers crossed…

 

 

 

-Bry xx