An education in fashion

my denim jacket has a style all of its own, but is it on trend this season?

As I head out the door this morning I reach for my denim jacket – the perfect wardrobe staple is always hanging on the newel post at the bottom of the stairs. There is a moment of hesitation as I ponder if I really should run upstairs and select a pashmina instead. Pashminas are in, a pashmina with polka dots in matcha green would be the pinnacle of chic, especially when paired with jazz shoes and cocktail shorts.

Did I have time to revamp my style? I was only going to Morrisons and I wasn’t really sure if wafting down the aisles, pashmina artfully draped over my glowing clavicles was really the right look on a Monday morning. So I shrugged on my jacket and went on my way.

From where did I glean this fashion wisdom you might be wondering? Especially if you are also in need of a wardrobe refresh for the new season. I was unaware just how hopelessly out of date I was until this weekend. Although it must be said by chance I had selected a few statement pieces which were on trend, for example my beachy beads and JAANT (jeans and a nice top).

You might think my companion for the weekend away was fashionista and mum-fluencer extraordinaire Isabella M Smugge. The advice I was given was so contemporary. Alas Issy Smugge is a figment of the imagination of my delightful writing friend and co-conspirator Ruth Leigh.

Ruth works hard to keep up to date with the trends, all in the name of research. But as the manuscript she has just delivered to her publisher, for Issy novel number five, is set last year, even Ruth is looking a little dated. (I’m certain she won’t mine me saying that!) So she purchased a copy of Grazia* to read as I drove all the way from Suffolk to the Yorkshire Dales for our writing retreat.

I’m not sure Ruth has ever ventured so far up the A1.

“Are we in the North yet?”

I shook my head pointing out the signs still indicating the North was some way off. **

But I digress, you may need our fashion advice, especially if you are still wearing ballet pumps and butter yellow - so last year I’m afraid to say.

Yes, I picked up a few key trends but quite honestly when we stopped and Ruth showed me the photos of some of these “must have” items I realised her descriptions were far too generous. There really are some hideous new looks, and don’t get me started on the prices! Four figures for a bangle I would pass up at 50p in a charity shop.

The most hilarity was had when Ruth reached the beauty pages and we discovered all the things we were doing wrong with our skincare routines – neither of us uses primer before applying our make-up. We need to purchase orbital cream, tubes for our eyelashes, some kind of Japanese make-up brush and dry shampoo to stop our shoes rubbing on our heels (actually that was a neat, cheap trick we both said we might try, although the more I think about it the more I know I won’t!)

It's been a long time since I have been driving along with tears in my eyes. This time caused, not through grief or because my eyelash tubes were chafing, but just from the laughter that ensued.

The final article in the magazine was a Q and A piece by an entrepreneur neither of us had heard of. She was answering questions about the last book she read (her own self-help manual), last thing she bought (something really obscure, and forgettable – maybe a Japanese make-up brush in Macha green) and last TV programme she binged (Sex in the City – can’t say it’s ever appealed to me and Ruth was very dismissive).

So I thought it only right to finish today with a few Q and As of my own…

Last book I read – Children of the Jacaranda Tree by Sahar Delijani, set in Iran after the revolution, this book probably deserves its own blog post!

Last thing I bought – a new doormat while we were away for the weekend, which maybe also needs its own blog post, it is colourful and fair trade, certain to make a dramatic statement!

Last TV programme I binged – The Capture (look out for it on iPlayer) I watched it with my grown-up sons – AI and deep fakes are soooo scary!

*other fashion publications are available

**note to self, I must check how far up the A1 you need to travel before the signs no longer say To The North

For more fashion tips and a jolly good read check out Ruth Leigh’s Isabella M Smugge collection https://www.ruthleighwrites.co.uk/ruth-leigh-books