Giving Thanks. Staying Optimistic.

 First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers! As a British woman living in Spain it isn't a significant date for me however, in the strange times that we're living in, I welcome any opportunity to be thankful for the good things in our lives. Family. Friends. Having a roof over my head and food on my table too - things that we so often take for granted. 

I've been very quiet on my blog in recent months, for many reasons. Clearly the coronavirus pandemic has affected me in several ways and I've found it difficult to stay optimistic at times. No doubt many of you have felt the same. I also have to confess that I've been lethargic, putting things off until tomorrow, after all we're still going to be in lockdown tomorrow aren't we? So it can wait. This is partly the reason why I haven't been writing any posts and that is why I decided to write something for Thanksgiving, as I know tomorrow will then be too late so I have to write it NOW!

Another task that I've been putting off is sorting out my Autumn capsule. Regular readers will know that I usually create a capsule wardrobe of 33 items for each season, à la Courtney of Be More With Less. I'm also a huge fan of The Vivienne Files for inspirational capsules: click on the link to the right to find out Janice's latest ideas. So it's over 2 months since Autumn began and where is my Autumn capsule? It's nowhere to be seen and I'll soon have to start thinking about my Winter capsule!

I hadn't totally forgotten about the idea of limiting the clothes in my wardrobe, as I took part in a mini challenge with some friends and created the capsule below, which consists of 20 items of clothing. For our challenge, we had to make 20 different outfits over the following 20 days. I thought that I could use the capsule as a starting point for my 33 item capsule, however as it's now decidedly cooler, not many pieces of clothing will be warm enough!

Recently I've noticed several emails in my inbox with the words Black Friday, which is another incentive for sorting out my wardrobe before I'm tempted to make further (unnecessary!) purchases. The idea is to see what I have, discard anything that's past its best-by date and then identify any gaps in my wardrobe. If there are any gaps, I should make careful choices when filling them. Is my new purchase going to go with several other items in my wardrobe? Are the colour and style ones that suit me? How sustainable is the item that I'm about to purchase? 

The forecast for tomorrow is 100% chance of rain, so I'm going to be optimistic and say that it will be the perfect opportunity for me to go through my clothes and pack away anything that I won't be wearing until Spring. I will recycle any clothes that I'm not going to wear again for whatever reason and I will create my 33 item capsule. So now that I've made that positive statement - watch this space!

My Autumn 33 piece capsule wardrobe

At long last temperatures are dropping, especially early in the morning and late at night when I'm out walking my dog Lisa, so it's now time to pack away my summer clothes and bring back my warmer autumn pieces. I have taken the opportunity to recycle some clothes that were past their best and I've purchased a couple of new tops, making sure that they will work with existing items of clothing. As in previous years, I have followed the guidelines of Project 333 though I don't include shoes and accessories in my 33 pieces. The idea behind Project 333 is to select 33 items to cover the next 3 months and ideally your shoes and accessories should be included, however I bend the rules slightly!

 

 

Since I first started blogging about Project 333 my wardrobe has seen a few changes, mainly influenced by my search for the colours and styles that suit me best as I become older. Navy has now replaced black as my dark neutral and I have added warmer neutrals such as brown and camel, which are more flattering for my warm colouring. I do love colourful accents though, as you no doubt will have realised, looking at the photos above! I usually wear trousers during the day time, as that suits my casual lifestyle, but I have included the lovely patterned skirt that I bought in Paris in May for any special occasions.

The cardigans and jackets shown above are also neutral and will help to create a column of colour with the trousers and jeans. The good thing about creating a column of colour, for someone who is vertically challenged and not as slim as she used to be (that is me!) is it gives the illusion that you are taller and slimmer. Finally, I have two trench-coats to wear during the autumn months: my favourite short red trench-coat and a longer copper one. Don't be deceived by my photos, the red trench is definitely shorter than the copper one!

These are the pieces that I will mix and match to create various outfits and, if my maths is correct, it should be possible to wear something different every day over the next 3 months. If, like me, you are someone who tends to always wear the same combinations, Project 333 challenges you to create new outfits. I know that some of you have joined me in the past and I hope that more of you will feel inspired to join me this autumn. Please let us know in the comments below if you're going to participate and, if so, how you are getting on.

My travel capsule

The photos below show the travel capsule for my recent trip to see family and friends in the UK. I was away from home for nearly two weeks, however I didn't want to carry a large suitcase as I find it tricky travelling into central London from Gatwick airport with heavy luggage. I ended up with three bags: a small cabin-sized case, a foldable canvas bag (which fits neatly on top of the case) and a rucksack. 

On the way to London there were two bottles of my local Jumilla wine in my case to share with my hosts, while on the way back I had some purchases from a shopping expedition in central London to fill the gap in my case. Well, that's my excuse!

The first two photos show what I packed for my trip. My neutrals were beige and navy with accents of red, orange, olive and turquoise. These colours will be the basis of my autumn capsule wardrobe.

       

I wore navy trousers, my favourite blue Desigual top and a comfortable pair of navy trainers for travelling, and carried my short red trenchcoat in case it was cold when I arrived. My new purchases, which are for my Autumn capsule, were a striped top (no surprise there!), a pair of copper slim leg cotton trousers and a pair of ballerina shoes to replace a pair that have seen better days. 

 

All of these worked well with the clothes that I had packed for my trip, so I am confident that they will fit into my existing wardrobe. As summer seems to be on its way out here in Spain, where they've had horrendous weather while I've been enjoying the sunshine in London, I will soon be organising my Autumn capsule. As in previous years, this will be inspired by Project 333 and will consist of 33 items of clothing that I will wear for the next 3 months. 

My Autumn 33 piece wardrobe

I know that we're well into autumn, and winter is fast approaching, but isn't the old saying "Better late than never"? This is my Autumn 33 piece capsule wardrobe, which is in the spirit of Project 333, though I confess that I don't follow it to the letter. The idea behind Project 333 is to have a capsule wardrobe of 33 items or less to last you for 3 months. Many people include accessories, however I restrict myself to items of clothing. You may recognise the first 8 items, as they are the pieces that I chose for the 10 x 10 challenge.

My regular readers know how much I love colour, though I am trying to include more neutrals in my wardrobe as I know that will make it more versatile. As well as the brown trousers and navy jeans shown above, I have included bottoms in camel, dark grey, burgundy and another navy pair. There's a navy cardigan, a bronze belted cardigan, a brown tweed jacket plus a navy and grey striped jacket. My outerwear consists of a short burgundy jacket, a longer beige puffer jacket and a navy wool coat. I do hope that you're suitably impressed!

Did somebody mention that there's a red skirt shown below with a matching top? Well spotted! In my defence, we are approaching the party season, so I have added those two pieces as they can be worn together or separately and are ideal for Christmas time.

My accents colours are shades of red, orange, green and blue. If my outfit of the day is one of the navy striped tops with the navy cardigan and bottoms, I'll probably add my red bag or other red accessories to brighten it up.

I am also trying to include as many of my Autumn palette colours as possible, although I'm not going to throw out every piece of clothing that I possess that is in a "wrong" colour!

Let's finish with the mathematics. In my Autumn 33 piece wardrobe there are seven bottoms if you include the skirt, though it will probably only be worn for parties. I have seventeen tops and I may very well wear the red top shown beside the skirt with a pair of  trousers in the daytime. If I multiply 7 by 17 it will give me a total of 119 possible combinations, which is more than enough to give me a different outfit each day during the next three months. 

However some of the combinations won't really look that good, so I worked out how many of them were outfits I would actually wear and the figure was eighty, which I think is still pretty impressive. I haven't even mentioned adding one of the two jackets or two cardigans. Let's not forget the outerwear, which I'm already wearing now that it's becoming colder in Spain and will definitely need when I'm in the UK.

Talking about mathematics, I do know that I'm only showing 32 pieces of clothing here and it is proof that you don't need a huge wardrobe to create lots of different outfits, but I reserve the right to add a final piece when I go to London next month to spend Christmas with my family! 

Of the pieces shown above, only six items have been added since last year, and they have replaced clothing that has been taken to the recycling bins. "Be more with less" is the name of Courtney's website where you'll find out about Project 333. I think it's a motto that we should all adopt. What do you think? 

PS Exciting news: I am taking part in the UK Blog Awards for the first time! If you'd like to vote for me (pretty please!) click on the following link. I'm under the category Fashion, and I'd love it if you clicked on my heart!  https://blogawardsuk.co.uk/vote-entry-categories/ 

10 x 10 challenge - part two

The second part of the challenge was (dare I say it?) a bit more challenging, as on days seven to ten I had to wear tops that I had already worn, but ensure that the outfits were completely different. I made sure that I wore different bottoms with each top, but also used accessories to change my look.

On day six I wore my new cardigan (which can be belted or worn loose as in the photo below), which is already proving its worth now that temperatures are dropping.

Day 6 outfit

Day 7 outfit

Day 8 outfit

For the second half of the challenge I pulled out a few scarves from my collection and wore those rather than necklaces to change the look of my outfits. I also swapped my red bag for a bright blue one, which I carried on the days I wore my navy jeans. If you're creating a capsule wardrobe for a holiday, these are good ways to add more variety to your looks without paying excess baggage fees!

Day 9 outfit

Day 10 outfit

Having survived the 10 x 10 challenge, limiting myself to ten items of clothing over the last ten days, I'm now looking forward to Project 333 and expanding my Autumn wardrobe to thirty three pieces! Did any of you take part in this challenge, or are you all waiting for Project 333?

10 x 10 Challenge - part one

I'm half-way through the challenge and so far it's been pretty easy. After all I have six tops and two pairs of trousers to choose from, with two jackets to keep me warm when walking into town. I'm also able to choose shoes and accessories to suit each outfit. I know that the real challenge will come on day seven when I have to wear the tops with a different pair of trousers. I did face a small challenge on day four, when it was bitterly cold and pouring with rain and I realised that neither jacket was warm enough to go out in. Reader, I had to cheat slightly and wear a trench-coat over my jacket!

Day one

Day two

On reflection, day one's outfit was a bit monochromatic for me and would have been better with a brighter necklace or scarf. I did take my red bag though when I went out, which brightened it up. I carried my Monet bag (bought in the shop in Giverny) on day two, which toned with the trousers.

Day three

Day four

Here I am wearing my favourite stripes on day three. This time I remembered to grab my red bag before taking the photo. On day four I was wearing this warm top however, as I said, I still needed my cardigan jacket with the trench-coat on top. It's not always sunny in Spain!

Day five

On day five I added a scarf, which blended with my top and jeans. plus a splash of red. I think I will have to hide this red bag before I start the next five days - that way I can ensure that at least three outfits will have changed! Tomorrow is a holiday in Spain, so I will have time to plan my five outfits for the rest of the challenge.

Autumn 10 x 10 Challenge

I'm working on my capsule wardrobe for Autumn (a.k.a. Fall in some countries!) and hope to reveal my Autumn 33 capsule soon. In the meantime I spotted a new 10 x 10 Challenge and thought it would be the ideal starting point. The idea is to choose 10 items of clothing to wear over the next 10 days, combining them in a variety of ways so that you create 10 different outfits. Click on the link above for more inspiration from Leanne of Classy Yet Trendy. If this challenge proves successful, I will add to the ten pieces to form a complete capsule of 33 pieces to wear over the next 3 months, as part of Project 333.

The easiest way to do this challenge is to pick mainly neutrals for the ten items, but I've never been one to choose the easy way and I do love colour, as regular readers will testify! Before selecting my pieces I checked the weather forecast for the next week and to my dismay saw that temperatures are due to fall (sorry - just had to use that pun), so I have chosen warmer clothing than I've been wearing recently.

The good news is that accessories don't have to be included in your ten items, so I have several scarves and wraps on stand-by as well as a variety of shoes, bags and jewellery.

Why don't you choose your ten pieces and join me in the challenge? It's Saturday today, so a good day to start. If you decide to join in, please let me know and tell us all how you get on with the challenge.

30 day challenge - colour palette

I decided that my colour palette for this challenge should be based on a) colours that I've been told flatter me (always a good starting point!) and b) colours that I already have in my wardrobe. What do you think of the colours shown below?

In case of any doubt (the tool I was using didn't have the exact colours I needed), the neutrals are navy, camel and brown whilst my accent colours are turquoise, coral and red. These are the colours for the main items in my capsule, which I included in my previous post, though I'm not excluding other colours for my accessories, especially as I have such a colourful wardrobe! The bright blue bag in the photos is a good example of this.

I have now completed the first seven days of the challenge, posting my daily outfits on the facebook group. I decided to create a collage, so that you can see all seven outfits below.

I do have a slight dilemma, as the weather here in Spain is still very warm and there are several thicker long-sleeved tops in the capsule that I chose. I may need to swap some of them for other lighter tops, unless I repeat the tops shown above. I will be using my long-sleeved tops though later in the challenge, as I'm travelling to London on 20 October for a few days and it's going to be cooler in the UK than here in Spain.

Looking at my first week's outfits, I think the most flattering colours on me are red and turquoise. Coral suits me, but the third top from the left is a stronger shade of orange. The floral top is softer so perhaps a better choice. What do you think?

Autumn is approaching.....!

Although temperatures where we live in Spain are still in the mid and high 20s, it's becoming cooler in the mornings and evenings, reminding us that summer has come to an end. It's time to sort out my wardrobe for autumn, as well as taking part in a few capsule wardrobe challenges.

I've been on an amazing holiday to celebrate my 70th birthday with parties in Spain and London, as well as going out for lunch with friends in Paris and making new friends in Venice. I also bought some new clothes for my celebrations and holiday, as shown below.

Birthday dress 

New red trench-coat

I received many compliments when I wore these new clothes and friends told me that the colours turquoise and red both flattered me, so I decided to use these as the accent colours for my autumn capsule wardrobe.

My neutrals for autumn are brown, navy and camel. My trousers, cardigans and outer wear, which you can see in the photos above, are nearly all neutrals - with the exception of my new red trench-coat.

Apart from my new dress, the only turquoise items of clothing are the top and the patterned trousers, although I do have turquoise earrings, necklaces, bracelets and scarves. I already have a lot of red in my wardrobe, including the tops shown above, a red Longchamp bag, a red pair of ballerinas and other accessories. Another colour that suits me is coral, so I am adding that to my autumn capsule too.

I am accepting Wendy Mak's 30 pieces-30 outfits challenge for October. If you've counted all the pieces shown above you will realise that there are only 26 items of clothing here. I am planning to add some more turquoise tops to my autumn wardrobe and another pair of slim-fit trousers in one of my neutrals, which I hope to purchase when I go to London in October.

Another challenge that I'm taking part in is Project 333, where I select 33 items of clothing to wear over the next 3 months. As the 30 pieces-30 outfits challenge is just for October, that means I can add 3 more pieces for the following two months. Why don't you join me in one or both of these challenges? If you decide to do so, please let me know how you get on.

Finally, having mentioned my special birthday, I plan to write a post about all my celebrations including our "grand tour". Watch this space!

Building my autumn 33 capsule

I'm a bit late in putting together my Autumn 33 capsule: partly because of two trips to London at the beginning of the month and partly because of my new purchases, which I have included in the capsule below. For any new readers, I am following Project 333, which means that I have a capsule of 33 items of clothing to last me for the next 3 months. If you click on the link above to read more about Project 333, you will realise that I bend the rules a bit and don't include any shoes, bags and other accessories in my 33.

These are all recent purchases that blend well with my capsule

The blouse on the left is new

My new striped sweater is in the second photo

The brown tweed jacket bought on my last trip to London

I have seven new items in my wardrobe, some of which were for my birthday and the rest were bought on my two recent visits to London. That means that when I next do a clear out, I will aim to throw at least seven items out with the recycling: we have bins locally that are destined for a charity.

You probably realise that I have only included 32 items above. My wild card will be a dress to wear on Christmas Day and for any parties that I want to get dressed up for, though that will be weather dependent! I have included a couple of sparkly tops in my 33 that I can wear when going out if it's too chilly for a dress.

Six of the tops are short-sleeved so I will gradually replace them over the next three months. As I have four cardigans and two jackets that can be layered over my tops, plus a trench-coat as an outer layer, I doubt if I will need to wear a coat until winter.

Looking back at previous posts showing my Autumn 33s, it's obvious that my colours now are warmer than in the past, plus there are more neutrals. This helps to make the capsule more versatile as the majority of my tops can be mixed with all of the bottoms. In fact I've calculated that I could wear a different outfit each day until the end of the year - how's that for versatility?