Lacy loveliness

I have tried and tried to resist the lure of Catherine Middleton. I am a Socialist after all and Royalty is the vestige of an out of date hierarchical system that favours no one!!

But she sure is pretty and pretty things are my weakness, even if they are married to a Prince.

Her personal style is a little on the plain side for me. If I had her body and her deep pockets I'm pretty sure I would go for spectacular clothes, not just pretty ones. This fictional I could get it spectacularly wrong as well, but I do wish she would take more sartorial risks and let it go wrong occasionally. She is very restrained, no?

I have been keeping my eye on the lace trend lately .... a little past the peak of it's trendiness now I admit but that seems to be when I like to jump on board.

Catherine does it beautifully and exactly how the pretend Duchess me would do it, because TOO much lace is not something I would get all spectacular with. I know that much!

This dress she wore whilst touring Canada is so beautiful and right that even Catherine can't stop fondling it! (It's by Canadian designer Erdem Moralioglu - a nice touch.)

This is another look of his that I wish I - the normal Mum of three me - was rocking right now. Those pants are the perfect colour red I have been looking for! Not bright but not dirty. There's no prices on the website so I'll just pretend they cost $29.99 and add them to my virtual shopping trolley.

I may have to try my hand at this nice little 'some up some down with a bun twist' hair style as well.

Finally, to prove I have not turned into a total Royalist I also want to assure you that I also love the lacy looks on Jennifer Aniston and French actress Delphine Chaneac.

I am waiting for summer to try the lace look for myself, hopefully as successfully as these three ladies.

(* All photos from Getty Images.)

The black whole

I love colour! I always try to wear something with a strong colour or pattern just to add that pop of interest. But sometimes even a colour enthusiast like me just wants to dress sombre, in greys and blacks.

It's okay though because then you can look at the silhouette and get back to basics with some classic shapes and some good quality. There is also that always fun option of adding colour and interest with accessories. Ooooh, I do LOVE to experiment with accessories!

I'm staying local today. I have noticed that I do a lot of my dream shopping in international stores on the Internet, neglecting to even check the local brands. It's bad of me because it's no biggie if every second person has a jumper that you covet - it is your mission to make it fit in with your style by adding a little something different to it.

My pick of the black goodness today goes as follows...

(l-r top line - Country Road outfit, Jag dress, David Lawrence skirt, Jag shirt, Just Jeans scarf, Just Jeans hat, Jag sweatshirt, French Connection jacket, Jigsaw necklace.)

Nice, but maybe a little too monochrome? Jazz them up with these bright spots.

(l-r - Jigsaw red belt, Lancome lipstick, Ice purple watch, Elk wooden necklace, Jigsaw scarf, Louen Hide bucket bag, David Lawrence silver bag.)

What I really wish though is that I was walking the streets of Oslo on a sunny summer's day looking exaclty like the gorgeous Hanneli. Wouldn't that be perfect?

Dress me!

Today my wardrobe is offering up zero inspiration. That can be blamed in part on the fact that I can't seem to make a dent in the pile of laundry that seems to be having dirty laundry babies all the time! No population control is the problem.

So a good portion of my clothes is sitting in a pile on the laundry floor along with half of Hubby's sock drawer and various pajamas and school uniforms.

But I know where the clothes are always clean and freshly ironed - the gorgeous Wonderful World  Wardrobe! I'm getting virtually dressed today ... actually, I'm also really dressed just in case you thought I was wearing my skin suit today.

So, if I had access to the ability to click my fingers and make clothes magically jump onto my body, this is what would appear.

 Old Navy gingham shirt, Piper Lime sequin cardigan, Urban Outfitters pants, Asos colour block bag, etsy silver necklace, and grey boots from Shoe Show.

If you wouldn't mind, I would like you to picture me in this outfit today instead of the reality - jeans and a jumper. Your cooperation is appreciated.

Rachel style

One of my favourite actresses, Rachel Weisz, has just married my stand-by husband .. you know the one you have waiting in the wings in case things don't work out with the current one? Or is that just me?
Anyway, I am going to have to find a new stand-by because  *sniff*  Daniel Craig is off the market!

I have always like Rachel Weisz so I can't be too angry with her, although it is a little inconvenient to have to go and find a new celebrity crush. But maybe it won't last!! ;)

I thought I would show Rachel how I don't hold it against her by having a trip down memory lane to revisit some of my favourite Rachel looks.

Yum!!! I don't know who designed this dress, but I love it! And Rachel looks flawless.

Not so yum. Sorry I had to show that even Ms Weisz is not perfect. This is like some sort of satin pant suit with a brocade pattern. Eek!

Casual yet funky and gorgeous. I am going to have to try to recreate this look for myself.

Casual Rachel on the go looks as good as dressed-up Rachel at an event. Not fair!

Divine!

Better than Angelina any day!

Love her use of colour - and she has the best hair ever!

I just hope she and Daniel have children because those kids would be superior beings.

(All images come from Getty)

Songs and mud, no style

Six years ago a friend and I went to the Glastonbury music festival with my two girls then aged three and 18 months. My friend worked on the Festival's PR team so we had 'VIP' treatment, which really just meant a largish tent within smelling proximity to a bank of port-a-loos. The tent was behind public lines so we got to see all of the badly behaved celebs park their ridiculous cars on our front lawn.

But, it goes without saying, we had a FABULOUS time and my girls still claim they can remember every second of it!!

Most of the people there looked like this...

..... that is tired, dirty, sleeping, and drunk! And the mud was like mud you have never seen before - like brown Clag glue that has had sand and all of the earth's smelly things scattered in it. Blurk! I can still smell it.

It was amazing how happy and friendly everyone was under the trying circumstances. And it was fascinating to see how everyone sort of deteriorated over the days. The first day they arrived sparkling and all dressed up and ready to go, by the end of the weekend they were sleeping in muddy clothes and wandering around in those same clothes all day!! I think my girls stayed in the same clothes they are arrived in, undies and all. It took all of my efforts to get their teeth clean and to stop them from disappearing into the mud.

When they bands came on stage we forgot about all of that and got down with our bad selves. I'm not usually much of a dancer but the crowd enthusiasm made me forget that. The bands included the White Stripes, Coldplay, Beautiful South (my favourites from the whole festival!!!), Elvis Costello (a close second) and New Order. Musical fabulosity!

Having been there it always amuses me to see photos of celebrities poncing about in their cool outfits, looking to me like they have been photoshopped into a field. I mean, where is the mud? Where are the dark circles under the eyes? Where is the unbrushed, straw hair?? These pampered pooches obviously fly in for a couple of hours of press time then board a helicopter home. Seriously, at any given time there seemed to be four or five helicopters lined up to arrive or leave, each of them bearing someone too posh to slum it with us.

Like waving a red flag!

Ruby reds are on my mind today -

• The red hibiscus flowers that are experiencing a mid-winter bloom thanks to the appearance of the warm winter sun. They are in a planter box at our front door and it makes me so happy to walk past their happy flowers!
• Oozing, roasted red tomatoes that are going into our soup for dinner tonight.
• The red beads on my bracelets bought in India 10 years ago... not so much the pale, pasty arm though!
• Red shoes ANYTIME. I bought my red desert boots a couple of years ago in London, but these are the same ones!
• Bold red lips. I'm over the pale lips thing but a quick search of the Internet shows celebrities are still way behind me. They'll have to leave behind flesh coloured lipstick sooner or later!
• and my favourite red cardigan bought from Gap yonks ago!

Look out! Colour below.

Another trend I love but am not sure if I can pull off is coloured jeans/pants. I have never been bold enough to venture into colour or pattern on the bottom instead of the top territory, but looking at some beautiful examples in the media has made me think seriously about finding the courage from somewhere!!

I could start off by easing myself into the coloured bottom waters by sticking with neutrals. White?!? Hmmm .... maybe because I do like white in winter as well as summer.

Kelly Rutherford, Leslie Bibb, Fearne Cotton, and Cameron Diaz all looking good in white pants.

Or I could leap in and pull on some bold colours and wear them with a self-confident swagger.

 I mean how good does Elle MacPherson look!? I'd like to think I'm just a pair of red jeans away from looking like this while I drop my kids off at school, but probably there is more of a gap than I'd like to admit ;)

I seriously love these tartans pants from Tripp NYC. With a big white or black jumper slouching over the top I think I could venture this far! Could a 40-something Mum wear these??