Frock It! #8

Slim pickings for this week's Frock It!; I couldn't find many outfits that stood out, at least on my radar.

So I have also plumped for a sporting event. This Mid 30s Life went for Royal Ascot and I agree there were some eye-catching dresses there, but (apart from the stilton hat) nothing really stood out as being different from any other year. 


After scouring the web for like, minutes, I found this gem of a sporty Frock It!, cue the rant:

I really, really dislike this get-up. Not just for the obvious reason that it's hideous, but that it is once again, completely inappropriate for Wimbledon. 


The All England Club is the epitome of Englishness, the historic and revered home of British tennis. It is not the place for plunging playsuits and shiny gold underwear. For goodness sake, sometimes The Queen is there...


Some of you may think I'm being prudish. Maybe I am, but I wish we could go back to women wearing more demure sporting attire at Wimbledon. They needn't be wearing skirts (I'm not that old-fashioned), shorts would be fine, just not something you would find on Venice Beach. 


It's not just Venus who is guilty as charged, many other players in recent years seem to have forgotten the occasion and dress with disrespect. With regards to Venus' outfit, how can you even play good tennis with those batwings flapping around???? Crazy! 

Frock It! #7 - Wedding guest etiquette

For this week's Frock It!, it's off to the quaint, leafy village of Cranham in the Cotswolds and the quintessentially English wedding of singer and fashion designer Lily Allen.

The bride looked radiant in a 1920's inspired Karl Lagerfeld design complete with metres of lace which barely concealed her growing baby tummy and an unusual veil headdress secured with flowers over each ear (sounds hideous, actually suits her).

The remainder of the wedding party looked borderline presentable and the sun was shining; everything was adding up to a beautiful occasion when...da da daaaaaa....


along comes this frocky horror:

What would the vicar say?!

WTF is going on with those boobies?!

You can usually count on someone in your family to upset the apple cart in some way on your wedding day. Usually it is a drunken uncle leching over the bridesmaids, but for Lily, unfortunately, it was her half-sister, Sarah.


This dress would be appropriate in the following places:

1. A fancy party in a bar or club in London, esp. one swarming with paparazzi
2. A peep show in Amsterdam
3. A street corner in any town, anywhere

A place this dress is not appropriate:

1. The church wedding of your sister, or in fact, anyone!

Too short, too booby, the pattern is beautiful and it could have been a winner if it wasn't for the Lolo Ferrari cleavage on show.

Hang your head in shame Ms Owen for committing the cardinal sin of upstaging the bride (and for all the wrong reasons). Consider yourself slapped in the face by the wedding etiquette fairy.

Listography: The Top 5 Decisions I've Made

Today, I'm doing my first Listography linky which I found via This Mid 30s Life.

But, the one condition to you reading my post today is that you have a look at the Listography origin site, Kate Takes 5 and then sign the petition for Save the Children's 'No Child Born To Die' campaign.

Thank you.

So now, here are the Top 5 Decisions I Ever Did Make:

One: Having children

I know that physically having babies is not a conscious decision, I'm talking about deciding to create a family, an extension of yourself to go forth into the future. 


Without a doubt, Imogen is the best thing I ever did and I'm glad I wanted a family and decided to get it underway. It's a corny, worn-out cliche, but she gets better every day and watching her learn and grow is incredibly rewarding.

*******

Two: Moving to America

Technically, this was James' idea and his ambition. He made all the decisions in getting us over here and setting us up, but it was my decision to come along with him and support him. I gave up my former existence, my job, friends and family and trusted him that it would work.


I always believed I was a homebody. I thought I was happy living in my hometown surrounded by everybody I knew; that was my comfort zone and I didn't want to leave it. I was convinced I would be paralysed by homesickness here, I couldn't envisage it working out. But, I decided to give it a go, that's all you can do in life: try.

What I found was that yes, I am a homebody, but that home is not my 'hometown' but the house where I live, wherever that may be; that is where I always want to be and where I feel safe and content.

*******

Three: Forgiving a betrayal

Nearly 4 years ago, I suffered a heartbreaking personal betrayal by a very close family member that made me question the concept of familial love and loyalty. The root system of blood links I thought existed between us failed spectacularly and I was left emotionally adrift and physically estranged from the person involved. The events of that day led me down a dark path of anger and bitterness which ended with me suffering chronic anxiety. 


The only thing that saved me and my sanity was facing up to the white elephant between us and forgiving what happened. After 18 months apart, we met up and moved on. Relieving myself of the stress and negativity I had been carrying around immediately made me happier. 


I will never forget what happened, but it is in my past now, it has become just a small part of the person I am today and no longer controls the whole of me.

*******

Four: Eating those four Jaffa Cakes this morning

I am very pleased I decided to do this, I felt so much better after! They're only 1g of fat each, so I felt justified in having a doughnut when I went to the supermarket afterwards.

*******

Five: Buying this skirt

I found this skirt in Banana Republic over the weekend and it was reduced to $12. TWELVE DOLLARS!!!! You can't buy a button in there for $12 normally, so I bought it just because I could and I'm glad as I've worn it for the past two days already!



Have a good week!

FROCK IT! Le Cannes Special Edition

I have found my new favourite blog activity: FROCK IT via This Mid 30s Life.

I have been hoovering up all the pictures from La Croissette all week so now I have a great excuse to gratuitously post up dress shots and babble on about them!

I see from the previous entries that Jane Fonda went down well en France, so I will steer clear of her and instead concentrate on...Penelope Cruz!

That most Spanish of actresses, for me, showed the French a thing or two about glamour. In all the pictures I have seen, she looks immaculate with a figure to DIE for (and she's a new mama! she must have some killer Spanx on).

I'm not convinced by the frou-frou straps, but the rest is heavenly

If coveting a hairstyle is bad, I don't want to be good

So let me know if you agree with La Cruz's wardrobe choices. Post-baby she seems to have a new confidence, a self-assurance that comes from the knowledge that the person who's love and affection you crave is back home asleep in his crib, not fawning over you on a red carpet.

Showcasing the best of British design in Stella McCartney

Keep it up Pen.