Breaking my rules: Travelling outfit

I fly inter-state every so often and have always dressed with comfort high on the agenda.  I don’t wear blazers (too constricting), no white (attracted to stains of many and various types) watch the kind of footwear (having feet squeezed in for a number of hours – feels awful) – so – what happened here?  I broke the rules when I went on my Perth trip from Adelaide in South Australia.

I wore white trousers – topped with an tan/orange wool jumper.  At least I didn’t have the white in a top close to any food or “potentially hazardous staining material”. My blazer was pink and a colour I rather enjoyed.  I wore boots – though a bit constricting compared to my jogging shoes – the leather was worn and comfortable.  So here is the resulting look of all those broken rules!

Oh! I wore hot pink beads with that pink blazer and had my belt match the boots. For good measure my scarf had orange and pink squeezed in.  Oh and the reason I dressed so colourfully? So my family meeting me at the other end wouldn’t miss seeing me. 🙂

 

 

 

A look under $50

Do you have a budget to meet?  Things are tight?  It’s not always easy to choose clothing that is “quality friendly” and which also has the look you’re aiming for.  There are a number of things you can do.

One is making a list of what you want in your basic wardrobe.  What clothing you will need for how you spend most of your time.  Work can be easy if a uniform is worn – but not so easy if you are in an office environment and need an upmarket look.  Easier if you have more cash to spare.  More difficult if you are just about to start a new job. A basic wardrobe is better themed around a few colours such as blue, grey, beige (although be careful as this colour can call for a lot more maintenance stain wise).  Bring colour into your wardrobe with coloured accessories rather than having too much in your clothing – at least at the start of gettting your basic wardrobe together.

Another thing you can do is shopping at change of seasons (if that works in time wise) and even consider buying good second hand clothing.  There are people who put on weight and they are only selling clothing for that reason. Remember also good brands are often good buys.

In regards to a basic wardrobe – you can’t go past a pair of black pants.  They are so versitile – you can dress them up or down.  Whether for a formal interview or going for a more casual artistic conference (where the colour splash is ast the top of your person) you can’t go passed black bottoms.  Two pairs is even better.

Remember to take extra care of your nails, hair, light make-up and neatly washed and ironed clothing. It not only makes you look a million dollars – it shows you care.

Last on the list (at least for this short article) is shoes!  Nothing is such a downheel look as shoes that are nearly worn out.  It is so worth it to pay for comfortable and quality shoes.  Keep them well maintained with leather polish and lack of scuff marks on the heels.  Nothing pulls your look down more than badly maintained shoe wear.

Most of all – remember to keep your shoulders straight (practise against a wall – often!) a smile on your dial!, and be ever ready to work well in whatever position life calls you to.

 

 

 

 

A look under $50 by laxie77 featuring long sleeve shirts

Long sleeve shirt
15 AUD – amazon.com

White cape
25 AUD – beautifulhalo.com

J.Crew j crew jeans
27 AUD – fashionproject.com

glow-frame-blk
imagefrog.net

Lilas_Celebrate_stamp (2)b.png
fotki.yandex.ru

Squares
imagesnet.net

Яндекс.Фотки
fotki.yandex.ru

text
imgnook.com

Arrow
polyvore.com

Looking for that slimming “Look”

When you have more weight it is said a textured chunky jumper/sweater can add a few kilos or quite a few pounds. These and other tips come in handy when you happen to go up a few sizes like I did in 6 months.  I jumped from an Aussie Size 12 to Size 18-20.  Yikes!  I did get back down to a Size 16.  Not easy to lose though and much easier to put on.

So my aim is to learn tips and tricks and apply them with different clothing to get that stream-lined “look”.

Here are some different photos I’ve taken this year.  A scarf or vest makes you look downward giving the illusion of less weight.   So of these photos which do you think is more slimming?  You be the judge.

 

Showing it All!

Here I will have woe to go of what I come up with in the way of outfits. The reason? Poor me. I suddenly had medication that affected my weight. While for only a brief period – I went up 3 or 4 sizings. Wow. So it was a Size 12 for most of my life to a Size 18 to 20. I have since come down to a Size 16 which is when these photos were taken. I am working on losing more – but it’s not an easy task by any means.

So – what women hasn’t struggled with weight issues at anytime? Well for all my life I could have said me – but now I am more experienced. I understand how you think and feel.

 

Add some accessories. Here in Lime green & purple. Hides the curves

Well it’s position, position, positon – some photos don’t show it all!

Some of my accessories were pre-loved clothing finds.  The purple scarf, the lime green jacket (duster), the purple belt.

Weighty issues

I was stretching a few Size 12 sweat pants (the bigger sizing ones!) when I had rushed up 30 more kilos that I was used to.  Eek.. what a shock suddenly going from getting clothing straight off the rack to looking for something that fitted that was stylish and not a tent.

I went from a flat stomach to having a muffin top issue. I found it very de-moralising. So it was about that time 18 months to 2 years when I started getting interested in finding out what I could wear. My first attempt at a clothing blog was looking at the Bohemian style which was loose and flowing and rather fitted in with my state of mind.  Not making weight paramont and learning to live with who I now seemed to be.

So I started with contacting stores – mostly through Etsy – to ask permission to use their photos with links back to their stores.  Here was my first attempt.

http://randomandrelaxedstyle.blogspot.com.au/

then I carried through and started something similiar on Facebook with a forage into different styles as well.

https://www.facebook.com/RandomandRelaxedStyle?ref=hl

next I got interested in clothing for mature women and those with weight issues and lots of different styles

https://www.facebook.com/BabyboomerMatureWomenClothing

and here now I am addressing issues of sustainable, eco-friendly clothing, gardening tied in with health issues and cooking and that tying in with sustainable home decor.  Now that’s a broad range – nothing like in for a penny in for a pound!

 

 

 

Ah – my new wardrobe?

Well – lets tell it like it is or was or maybe in transition.  To make it clear – I put on a whopping amount of weight during some balancing out with medications.  Poor body – after being Size 12 (US Size 16) all my life I suddently went up to Size 18-20 (US Size 22-24).  I was aghast at how quick the weight went on.  The same can’t be said for getting if off.  I tried a high protein low carb diet for 14 weeks last year and took off 13kilos which I have not regained.  The same can’t be said for my husband who took off around the same amount (the diet included eating 6 times per day).  I think personally – it was pretty hard on the system since it slowed some processes down.

And so when we had to move from having built-in wardrobes I laughed to myself at the idea of having no wardrobe – just a sense since my clothing size was still size 16.  But anyway here is the temporary wardrobe.  I’m going to keep it to basics.  And you see I believe whole-heartedly in the sustainable culture which fits in with my wardrobe buying – through garage sales, thrift stores and flea markets.  Wish me luck! Pictures will be posted on my Outfits page.

My little wardrobe – while I am sourcing new clothing sourced as sustainably as I can get it! Clothing covered on the left are my husband’s shirts and coats – so I’m existing on very little

 

 

 

On September 22, 2014September 23, 2014 By My Salt & SeasonsIn Blogging101, Eco-friendly, Second Hand Clothing Finds, WeightLeave a comment