Wardrobe basics

[violet]

Ok, so a lot of this stuff is useless for sahms, but she's set out a very nice list of basics:

whatiwore.tumblr.com/post/274914220/build-your-wardrobe-lets-start-at-the-very-beginning

[Linda]

That is a good list of the basics. I too like to use black and then add in a few colours. I don't look so good in black, but love it for pants/skirts etc. It goes with all other colours too...so that is a bonus.

Linda

[braided-rug]

I love black so I am glad it is back in. I was devasted when I had to buy blue jeans again, though used to it now, and if I was to buy a pair tomorrow it would probably be blue. But I have a black bag.

If I had money tomorrow, I would buy a windcheater and coat straight away and those jeans. And some makeup perhaps.

I haven't worn high boots since I was little. I wonder if older women are wearing them?

Not sure if this lady has lived on a budget with bracelets and scarves, but after going to the deb, with a social life you would need some jewellery.

There was a deb last weekend in my hometown and one girl's grandma had a similar outfit to mine. She is my Mum's age, and looked really nice. She had the more expensive traditional jewellery, where lots of people wear stuff that is in fashion, so much of it around.

[violet]

Black seems to be the only color people are allowed to wear in Melbourne, lol. Everyone wears black, all year.

I am pale and look terrible in black, but that is what colored t shirts and scarves are for. I have mostly black, with some red items and a bit of warm grey. And white actually, and a bit of blue.

As for jeans, mine are always dark denim. Once they're too pale - which takes a couple of years - it's time for new ones. The old ones are for around the house then.

Jewellery is a big thing where we live. The ladies who lunch wear a lot of gold stuff, but I've never been a jewellery person. I have a long black and grey necklace dd bought me. It's gorgeous and looks great with a lot of outfits. I have two short silver chains with very small pendants on them, and that's really all I wear apart from small earrings. My diamond earrings are about the size of this: . Lol, seriously, they're minute.

My first and most important criterion is comfort. I have to be able to bend and stretch and walk without fiddling with clothes or feeling uncomfortable.

But then I'm not very cool. ;D

Br, women of all ages are wearing knee-high boots at the moment.

I liked her article because it's nice to have some guidelines about these things.

Elisa

[braided-rug]

I think it is possible there is more black in Melbourne than anywhere, what do you think? Linda, Melbourne has a lot of Greeks and Italians and they good in black and wear it often.

This older lady had gold.

I was always a gold person, but I like silver now, that that I have any real jewellery in silver yet, just the black/silver bracelet.

[violet]

I think it's the architects, shop assistants, fashion types and ladies-who-lunch who wear black around here, Br, but in the Northern suburbs it's the older Greek and Italian ladies.

Silver's my choice too, I'm not a fan of gold, especially when it's very heavy. That said, I do like the way other people look with their beautiful statement pieces, but I don't like wearing it.

Part of the reason accessories aren't a big part of my life is that I'm so uncoordinated. Even today, as I picked my handbag up from the counter of the shop, I managed to get the long, webbing strap caught around something.

I can get tangled up on anything. ;D That's the other reason I like cross-body bags; if I carry a handbag on my shoulder I invariably drop it fifty million times, or get tangled up trying to get my wallet out or find my keys.

A bit off topic, but this is the bag I carry most times. It's light, comfy and has enough pockets so that things don't get all mixed up. I think I may have bought it from this place.

www.bagworld.com.au/shop/detail/hedgren-eye-cross-body-bag-charcoal-hi176/

Best of all, it's not (quite) black. ;D

Elisa

[braided-rug]

Not sure if I would seriously use it, but my favourite handbag at the moment are the ones with chains on them.

[Linda]

BR, That's interesting about Greeks and Italians living in Melbourne. That skin tone does look lovely in black.

I've never thought about wearing an over body bag, but can see where I should. My purse shoulder has been giving me a lot of trouble. I can no longer wear it over that shoulder and just can't get used of wearing it over my right shoulder (read: it won't stay on there, it keeps falling off and dropping . We'd make a good pair out for lunch, Elisa....you tangled and me dropping my purse all over.... ;D ....people would think we'd been drinking..... ;D)

Linda

[braided-rug]

LOL.

[violet]

Lol, Linda. ;D

After managing to get my large sleeves tangled up in the door handle on a train while on the way to work in the late 1970's, I finally had to admit that I would never be cool.

Cool people don't come to an abrupt halt when the handle of a bag catches on something - anything - in the public toilets, at the shops, really anywhere there's an audience. ;D

If you are ever looking for a bag that is indestructible, light, comfortable to wear, slightly sheen-y so that it doesn't stick to clothes and is also (I believe) waterproof, I highly recommend those made by Hedgren. They're not cheap, but they're well made - I know women who've had them forever.

I'm not one of those who changes bags too often; I like stuff that's fairly plain and suits the purpose for which it's intended. And leaves my hands free for disentangling. ;D

Anyway, regarding Br's question about boots. I was in the supermarket yesterday. A nicely, fashionably dressed woman in her 20's was walking in the same direction as I was.

Coming the other way was a woman in her late 50's, stylish, dressed in black (not Greek, not Italian, it's a Melbourne thing) with a shirt and a knit on top, pants and boots.

Her boots were flat, with a bit of detail on the side. The young woman, as they drew closer, remarked that she liked the woman's boots. The woman responded, after looking around, that they were from Target. The young woman grinned and held up her foot, with its short, heeled boots and said with a grin, "K mart". They both seemed to enjoy their bargain fashion moment. ;D

They both looked very well put together, so boots seem to be an any-age thing, and are obviously able to be bought inexpensively.

Elisa

[braided-rug]

To be honest, I found the shoes in Target and K-mart drool worthy this season. I was surprised.

[violet]

That's a shame, now I'll have to look. ;D

Some years are like that, where a particular shop will have a range of really nice things.

Elisa

[violet]

Finally found a long, warm scarf that I am happy with. It's a soft dull red and is cotton, so there's no itching or over-heating.

Best of all, thrown around my neck when wearing my inevitable jeans/black t shirt/black cardigan, it brightens up my face and my outfit.

I wore it today and only got tangled up twice - I sat on it and nearly throttled myself when standing up.

At least I was warm and colorful while being embarrassing. ;D

Elisa

[Linda]

In the last few days, I've managed to get my purse strap tangled up a few times....and as I struggled to get it untangled, I thought of this thread lol.

One of the times was at church.....I got it caught in the van door... But it gets better.....dh had locked the door with the remote and then started to walk on. My purse strap was caught in the door which was locked....which I couldn't remove the strap or open the door.... Like I said....I thought of this thread and couldn't help but smile...while dd went to get dh and the remote so I could free my purse. ;D

The scarf sounds lovely, Elisa.

Linda

[violet]

Linda, I'm so sorry you got caught (but that's the funniest thing I've heard all day and if there was a rolling on the floor laughing smiley, it'd be here right now!!). ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Now here's some inspiration for both of us. This actress has managed to leave her car and is carrying a coffee AND her car keys, all thanks to her cross body bag. Really.

www.crossbodypurses.com/2010/02/21/reese-witherspoon-the-new-crossbody-junkie/

The image of you and your bag attached to your car is still vivid in my mind's eye! ;D

Elisa