Holiday capsule for petites - Marks & Spencer

Marks & Spencer went through a phase of being very dreary and old-fashioned, however recently they have featured in many fashion magazines, including some here in Spain. They are in danger of becoming trendy!

M&S have a reasonable collection of petite clothes and I have bought their petite trousers in the past, however when I looked on-line for this capsule I was a bit disappointed by the lack of choice, especially when it came to colours.

Let's start with the trousers.  A pair of denims is always useful, unless you are going on holiday to somewhere that is guaranteed to be hot, plus it is good to have a second pair of trousers in a different colour. I initially chose the white linen trousers, but then hesitated as they have wide legs. Is this advisable for petites? I have shown another pair with slim legs, which are more flattering for those of us who are vertically challenged. Wide legs don't look good when worn with loose tops, but if the tops are fitted then you can get away with it.  I've found that most linen trousers for petites are either wide-legged or cropped, which is ridiculous considering that most petite women are trying to look taller and slimmer and these styles don't help us to achieve our aim!

Believe it or not, I only had fourteen tops to choose from, including blouses and jumpers. I guess that I could have selected short-sleeved tops from the main collection but I am specifically looking at petite sizes for these holiday capsules. I was particularly disappointed by the lack of bright colours: no blues and reds to be found here. I would definitely need to include some colourful jewellery and accessories if I was packing this for my holiday! I would also add in the bright blue top from my earlier blue and grey holiday capsule from M&S.

Incidentally, while browsing the M&S website for this post, I was asked to complete an on-line survey about my experience. I made it very clear that the one way to improve their website from my point of view was to increase their range of petite clothing!

Who would believe it?

British readers will no doubt understand when I say that Marks & Spencer doesn't immediately spring to mind when you are planning to hit the high street for a fashionable outfit. Zara or Mango are the obvious shops to head for, or maybe H & M or Top Shop. M&S (as it is affectionately called by the Brits) tends to be avoided after many years when, quite frankly, it seemed to lose its way. You might go there to buy food or wine, or pop in for new underwear - always its strength - but a new dress, skirt or coat? You've got to be joking!

Imagine my surprise therefore when I opened the "Elle Fashion Book for Autumn/Winter 2013-2014", which came free with my copy of Spanish Elle magazine, to spot eight (yes,eight!) items of clothing from good old M&S in its pages! I was planning to identify some of the trends for the coming season to write about in this blog, so here they are - courtesy of Elle magazine - and all of them are available from Marks and Spencer.

1. Hits Mini & Midi, inspired by the 50s

Marks and Spencer Collection

It looks as if animal print is here to stay, so you may be lucky enough to already have something similar to the skirt above in your wardrobe. Elle also showed a floral lace skirt from M&S, which no doubt will prove popular for winter parties. Petite over 60s need to take care with Midi lengths, which can make us look frumpy, but minis may very well end up falling at exactly the right spot for us.

2.  Autumn garden trend

Marks and Spencer featured here as well, with two different floral dresses being selected. A word of warning to petite over 60s to take care with floral patterns, especially when it is a strong print like the dress below, which could easily overwhelm you.

There was also a photo of an animal print dress from M&S - quelle surprise! - emphasising the continuing popularity of this trend.

3.  Street style - winter coats

If you are looking for a new winter coat, Elle put the spotlight on three different styles at M&S: a pale blue coat in a masculine cut (two trends in one); a long grey fifties-style coat or the long belted coat shown below, which they describe as "código street" style.

It's lucky that I don't need a new winter coat, as long coats don't tend to flatter petites and pale colours don't suit me either.

Coincidentally, I had just ordered a new bra from Marks and Spencer and I was tempted into buying a new top as well, which you can see below. I chose the top because I liked it, not because it was trendy, however flicking through the fashion pages I noticed that grey is in fashion and so are pencil skirts, so I may wear it next time with my grey pencil skirt instead of my jeans. I believe that there's nothing wrong with wanting to look fashionable when you're over 60, so long as you remember that less is more and don't overdo the fashion trends. I definitely won't be wearing a bright floral top, animal print shoes and extra-large clutch with my pencil skirt!

Bought from a trendy store?