Today I am puzzling over something rather strange. Faithful blog devotees (I think I have a couple) will be well aware that I am a girl with 42 jumpers. This mini-fact has indeed been the subject of numerous conversations over the last few months. Apparently this is an unfathomable quantity of knitwear, particularly for a girl of diminutive stature. Unfortunately, it turns out that quite a few of these jumpers favour style over substance and as I am sure you will agree, given the current meteorological state of affairs, this is somewhat below par. I am freezing, in fact on some days in the last week I have been almost certain that I am about to lose a limb to frostbite.
In a ridiculous twist of fate it appears that although I have more jumpers than the average outdoorsy eskimo, not more than three actually foster any significant amount of heat. This alone would be bad enough, however, this season, the shops are awash with amazing, thick, knitted, novelty jumpers. Even if I had 100 furry wonders I would still crave one of these. As I sit feeling a little worse than chilly, their presence in the shop windows of the capital is almost too much to bear. In particular I am most upset by the proliferation of novelty Christmas jumpers. For many a year I have been searching for the perfect novelty affair and have failed to find one, this year it seems that they are ten a penny and yet it is not to be....sigh.
All of this has made me think a bit about last year, I don't really remember being cold and I don't remember throwing out any jumpers so I struggle to understand how it has come to pass that I have such a lacklustre collection of knitware. I can only imagine that I must have somehow become more sensitive to the cold as a result of living down south. There seems no other explanation.
Saturday 27 November 2010
Sunday 21 November 2010
Day 144 shoe crisis after shoe crisis
So this week I have been having shoe based struggles, it has been rather distressing. My woes can be split into two broad topic areas.
Firstly, and possibly worst, my shoe collection consists of a wide range of extraordinarily high heels. These vertiginous classics have carried me seamlessly from day to night. Indeed, I have happily taken my four inch marvels from the boardroom, to the pub and out on the town until 4am on many an occasion without so much as batting an eyelid. It is only now that I realise an awful lot of my life used to be spent in a car. I didn't actually walk very far EVER.
Now my life is different, I walk to the train and from the station to work, I sometimes do that a couple of times a day. I walk loads and I drive very little. I rarely deliver myself neatly to the clients' office with no need to exercise and often I need to break from walking to running. It has quickly become apparent that my shoe collection is entirely unsuitable for my new lifestyle. I realise I have a collection almost entirely made up of 'taxi shoes' and am mortified that I am (until July) without means of rectifying this problem. I have virtually no shoes that I can wear for work and I am unsure how to proceed (sob). All my beautiful lovely, beloved teetering lovelies are gathering godforsaken dust in the bottom of my wardrobe and my poor shoe boots are doing so many miles they might have an asthma attack. Its all very sub optimal as I am sure you will agree and serves only to highlight the culture shock I am currently experiencing. Yikes
The second problem is, I suppose related to the first, I have a few pairs of shoes (shoe boots included) which are suffering from exhaustion. The longest suffering are my flat black boots, as detailed on my last post they are in need of a little bit of sole based TLC. However, because I am silly and because I am suffering from having a shoe wardrobe which has effectively been halved, I decided to wear them on wednesday despite their fragile state. Unfortunately, yet unsurprisingly, the sole fell off on the right boot.
This alone would have been a tragedy worthy of tears, but to add insult to serious and grievous injury, it was peeing it down and I had to spend all day with squelchy feet. This was definitely NOT cricket. So now I need to visit the delightful man at the menders again. I hope sincerely that he is the bearer of great news as I am terrified he will not be able to mend them. Whilst the rules dictate that in fact I can replace shoes due to my need to remain professional and of course to leave the house without getting wet tootsies, I really don't want to have to buy lots of new shoes.
Hmm this whole London thing is having a larger impact than I had at first expected. Harumph. This week I am planning to buy myself an interim camera which should make this more interesting again.
Firstly, and possibly worst, my shoe collection consists of a wide range of extraordinarily high heels. These vertiginous classics have carried me seamlessly from day to night. Indeed, I have happily taken my four inch marvels from the boardroom, to the pub and out on the town until 4am on many an occasion without so much as batting an eyelid. It is only now that I realise an awful lot of my life used to be spent in a car. I didn't actually walk very far EVER.
Now my life is different, I walk to the train and from the station to work, I sometimes do that a couple of times a day. I walk loads and I drive very little. I rarely deliver myself neatly to the clients' office with no need to exercise and often I need to break from walking to running. It has quickly become apparent that my shoe collection is entirely unsuitable for my new lifestyle. I realise I have a collection almost entirely made up of 'taxi shoes' and am mortified that I am (until July) without means of rectifying this problem. I have virtually no shoes that I can wear for work and I am unsure how to proceed (sob). All my beautiful lovely, beloved teetering lovelies are gathering godforsaken dust in the bottom of my wardrobe and my poor shoe boots are doing so many miles they might have an asthma attack. Its all very sub optimal as I am sure you will agree and serves only to highlight the culture shock I am currently experiencing. Yikes
The second problem is, I suppose related to the first, I have a few pairs of shoes (shoe boots included) which are suffering from exhaustion. The longest suffering are my flat black boots, as detailed on my last post they are in need of a little bit of sole based TLC. However, because I am silly and because I am suffering from having a shoe wardrobe which has effectively been halved, I decided to wear them on wednesday despite their fragile state. Unfortunately, yet unsurprisingly, the sole fell off on the right boot.
This alone would have been a tragedy worthy of tears, but to add insult to serious and grievous injury, it was peeing it down and I had to spend all day with squelchy feet. This was definitely NOT cricket. So now I need to visit the delightful man at the menders again. I hope sincerely that he is the bearer of great news as I am terrified he will not be able to mend them. Whilst the rules dictate that in fact I can replace shoes due to my need to remain professional and of course to leave the house without getting wet tootsies, I really don't want to have to buy lots of new shoes.
Hmm this whole London thing is having a larger impact than I had at first expected. Harumph. This week I am planning to buy myself an interim camera which should make this more interesting again.
Saturday 13 November 2010
Day 136 shall we call it a blip?
So it has been some time since I have blogged. I have some excuses, I have moved house, moved job, lost my camera (with lots of photos on it), had 4 weeks without an internet connection and 6 without a computer, am rubbish etc. However I suspect we should not dwell upon my inadequacies but should think about the month or two that have gone by without documentation. It is important to note that things are going swimmingly. I have not failed, not even once and still have quite a respectable number of tights which I have yet not worn. So here goes, despite the dearth of activity on the blogging front I have indeed been doing lots of things.
Following the last post I put together a large (very large) pile of everything in the world that I own and put most of it in storage. I and my clothes jumped into my car and moved into lovely Lucy and George's flat in Brighton whilst I searched for a home of my own. Plunged headfirst into a new job and a new commuter lifestyle I quickly found myself with little time to dedicate to either what I wore or indeed documenting this. During the month I spent there, there were some significant shoe based Hanger Strike moments; my faithful black flat boots developed a serious ailment of the sole and are currently bagged and waiting for a trip to the special shoe man. My beloved, yet underworn tan vintage boots enjoyed a trip to the special shoe man to have their sole reattached and it promptly fell back off again. Rest assured that they will be joining the black boots on their way to shoe man mark two. My black shoe boots were re heeled and have been stalwarts in the London footwear portfolio. Brown flat boots are looking a bit tired which is an area of concern for the future, but not something I believe we should be too worried about quite yet.
In October I attended 2 weddings and managed to construct a quite contemporary and respectable outfit which I wore to both lovely occasions (I'm not a magician). Apart from the alarming moment when the strap of my dress broke as I changed gear en route to wedding two, there were no wardrobe malfunctions and I felt very proud of myself as I put together an outfit I would probably never have tried to construct had I not been forced. I also wish to note that a lovely lady at wedding 2 told me she was impressed by the practicality of my animal coat. Now, those who know me, and indeed said coat will be aware of the ridiculousness of this statement. Nevertheless I was delighted at the complement and took it as permission to wear the animal to work. Hurrah hurrah hurrah.
Following the last post I put together a large (very large) pile of everything in the world that I own and put most of it in storage. I and my clothes jumped into my car and moved into lovely Lucy and George's flat in Brighton whilst I searched for a home of my own. Plunged headfirst into a new job and a new commuter lifestyle I quickly found myself with little time to dedicate to either what I wore or indeed documenting this. During the month I spent there, there were some significant shoe based Hanger Strike moments; my faithful black flat boots developed a serious ailment of the sole and are currently bagged and waiting for a trip to the special shoe man. My beloved, yet underworn tan vintage boots enjoyed a trip to the special shoe man to have their sole reattached and it promptly fell back off again. Rest assured that they will be joining the black boots on their way to shoe man mark two. My black shoe boots were re heeled and have been stalwarts in the London footwear portfolio. Brown flat boots are looking a bit tired which is an area of concern for the future, but not something I believe we should be too worried about quite yet.
In October I attended 2 weddings and managed to construct a quite contemporary and respectable outfit which I wore to both lovely occasions (I'm not a magician). Apart from the alarming moment when the strap of my dress broke as I changed gear en route to wedding two, there were no wardrobe malfunctions and I felt very proud of myself as I put together an outfit I would probably never have tried to construct had I not been forced. I also wish to note that a lovely lady at wedding 2 told me she was impressed by the practicality of my animal coat. Now, those who know me, and indeed said coat will be aware of the ridiculousness of this statement. Nevertheless I was delighted at the complement and took it as permission to wear the animal to work. Hurrah hurrah hurrah.
And so to my new life...Firstly, I was shocked at the volume of precipitation that issued forth in my first few weeks. I had been told some vicious lies about improved quality of weather down here and have quickly realised that this is broadly fallacy. This has rendered all ballet style footwear largely useless for at least 60% of each week. Tsk. Despite this coming as a shock it has not impacted particularly on the clothing, I have moved from the raining capital of the universe after all.
What has come as somewhat of a shock is this infernal culture of going out straight after work. Never before have I thought of myself as particularly Northern, or indeed perceived any real difference between Northern and Southern cities in the way they conduct themselves post work. It is apparent that I was sorely mistaken. Whilst up North we (or at least I and my friends) finished work, went home and then got ready to go out, down here it is straight to the pub from work and if you are unlucky on to a club. I have spent an inordinate amount of time in the last month staring into toilet mirrors in horror and trying in vain to backcomb some volume into my hair whilst sending my last email. This of course impacts not only on my face but also on my wardrobe. It is now clear that although I have a plethora of outfits, I don't really have a wardrobe filled with transitional day to night affairs. This is a method of dressing that I have yet to truly familiarise myself with, let alone perfect. I am concerned and a little distressed that it may be some months before I am able to truly remedy this issue.
Despite this I am delighted to report that over the last month I have not been consumed with any serious levels of discomfort at my lack of shopping. Indeed I have actually found things have been going relatively smoothly which is, of course, most excellent news. Over a third of the challenge behind me I am actually starting to enjoy it and the way it makes me think about what I have and what that can become.
I will be back very soon
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)