A new year

The end of 2018

2018 has been a year of progress, for my body and my wardrobe.

The winds of change came from Down Under when I tried a new type of personality test.

The 16 Style Types programme by Inside Out Style blog’s Imogen Lamport Imogen Lamport and Jill Chivers of Shop Your Wardrobe, revealed much about my personality and how I make my choices around shopping and getting dressed.

The system is based on the more familiar Myers-Briggs personality test. It turned out I'm ENFP.

What was most significant was seeing that I’m a choices person. Not having several opportunities to choose from makes me feel constricted and depressed. I kills my creativity.

It was quite a surprise to learn that my focus on what I wear would often leave me no time for anything else. All too true! I need to set a timer that allows me to do make up and hair as I often kept that to a bare minimum where I could do better. 

A fashion photo shoot (my first ever!) in September showed me what a difference proper make up makes. I have the photos but not the rights to publicise them so a couple of selfies will have to do.

I'm rubbish at selfies!

A close up - my skin has never looked this good!

As I like to have several opportunities to choose from I’ll never be a minimalist and a small capsule wardrobe will never make me happy. There goes my carefully planned colour palette - it is just too limiting.

It took such a long time to come up with this, but it's too little

These facts sort of set me free. As the study also says I like to make up my own rules. I translated that into keeping my colour choices within a certain part of the colour wheel, in mid to lighter tones in the brighter spectrum, as they suit me the most. With my (external) Trumpification warmer colours work best. That narrows down the field but still gives me an endless number of colours to choose from that for the most part will mix really well.

After my trips this summer lots of items in my wardrobe had given up. Travelling was just the last straw! They were completely worn out, with holes in the fabric and frayed hems. Replacing them was a chance to change track.

Ever since the late  1970’s disco has had a huge place in my heart. During this last year there’s been so much shimmer and shine in fashion - and I can’t get enough. I wanted that to be a main feature in my outfits, in clothes, shoes and accessories.

Disco version of me in shiny everything!

By now my wardrobe consists of satin tops in lime and coral pink, shimmer knit tops in tomato, aqua and lime plus a single top in white sequin! Even some of my outerwear is sparkling. A little tweed jacket in a black-white-pink-blue-mix and a pink coat, all with some shimmer in the fabric. 

At the last Monies sale - a new purchase, and my aqua glitter top

New orange trousers and lime glitter knit top with old Monies necklace

Around Christmas last year I bought two pairs of trousers, in shimmering cobalt and black. I would like to have more trousers with some shine to them, but every one I ordered had to be returned as they didn’t fit. Instead I have orange trousers, and lighter, dusty blue trousers, plus the two identical pairs of cream trousers from spring.

Trousers are the most difficult piece of clothing for me. The advice in many books is to have them altered to fit. I tried a few months ago, but the result wasn’t good. I’ve found another place to try but is still debating with myself over which pair of trousers to risk!

The biggest problem however, is and will always be shoes!

My feet have been a problem my whole life. They’re very wide and very sturdy. In fact they’re so wide that one shoe brand labeled my width “jumbo wide”. How nice to know you have elephant feet! 

Since many of the shoes I’ve worn over the years have hurt my feet, and others just not fitted well enough to be actually wearable (no matter how much “stuffing” I added), I decided it was time to save my health and invest in a pair of bespoke shoes…

Handmade Italian shoes made to measure sounds terribly expensive - and it is. But I counted the pair of shoes I got rid of during just one year (when I finally realised I would never be able to make them work), and added up the cost - about the same price as my new pair of shoes!

The trick is that my shoe maker has a number of lasts that he customises and so makes it a lot cheaper than if he had to make a special last just for me. My price is then around £ 350,00 or a good 300 US Dollars. That’s not too bad. Especially since these shoes potentially have a decade of wear in them depending on how well they’re cared for.

With my lust for shine, and a few old pairs of shoes in remembrance, I chose to have a pair made in silver leather.

New shoes - hand made in Italy and so shiny!

The fit is amazing! It feels like I can’t fall in these (I’ve fallen so many times due to ill-fitting footwear) and they go with almost everything - LOVE!

Finally, my daily training is beginning to show. I can walk up to 5 kilometers per day maybe three times a week now - a huge improvement!

For days when I want to be really grown up and serious I've found myself a pair of leather look leggings - very contrary to everything in my wardrobe. Adding a gifted, floor length kimono, heels and better make up I felt very dramatic Saturday night at a restaurant with friends and husband. I'm back to disco for New Year's Eve though.

For rock n' roll days

After a night out and still fighting a Christmas Cold

The beginning of 2019

Equipped with perfect shoes and a disco wardrobe I’m looking forward to 2019. I’m going to work on my make up skills, on my health, and possibly look for a part time job, to get me out of the house more regularly.  It all depends on my body. 

In any case, I’ve decided that my life needs more party so I'll start every day in 2019 with loud disco music!

I’m wishing you all a very happy New Year

Love Kaffesoester

Cocktail party outfit - but not the LBD please!

A selection of my cocktail party adornments

Oh yes, I'm going to a cocktail party with some really good friends next Saturday!

Oh no, what am I going to wear?

First of all, everything feels too tight even though I've been dieting for weeks. Second, I don't have many cocktail dresses - because there aren't enough cocktail parties on my social calendar :-D

So - help me decide, please!

Although many of my "style bibles" recommend the LBD, I'm in a spring mood and NEED colour.

I've boiled down my dress choices to three dresses: 

1) Biba leopard print which you see styled for daytime here.  I wore it on New Year's Eve 2013 as well, and some of the guests are the same. It doesn't necessarily require a cardigan on top, only if it's cold.

2) Kaliko teal silk/linen dress that I've also worn at a dinner party in April 2014, again with part of the same crowd that will be there on Saturday.

3) Pied a Terre purple silk dress, never worn! But - it's a bit tight around the waist :-(

My choice of shoes is very limited, especially for evening since I've always prioritised daytime footware. Depending on the weather I might add tights, nude fishnets with the leopard dress, and teal green with the two other outfits.

It's no secret that I'm dying to wear the new dress, but I fear the tightness will prevent me from having as much fun as I can. However I can wear this one without a cardigan. A huge plus.

It seems so shallow to be worrying about an outfit a week ahead. But I know that in a well-considered outfit I'll be able to relax and enjoy myself, and bring my bit of fun the party.

And isn't outfit preparation the essence of blogging?

Anyway, tell me what you think, Teal, Purple or Leopard?

I'm taking all three dresses to another party this very minute - Patti's Visible Monday party at the Not Dead Yet Style blog. Maybe I can get some more ideas for Saturday's party :-)

Have a lovely week all

Love Kaffesoester

How to style a yellow jacket that you shouldn't wear!

The FABruary Style Challenge has resulted in many new outfits, but the most surprising one was yesterday's - Something old Something New.

I immediately knew I wanted to wear my Great Grandmother's necklace, but I hadn't decided what new item to wear.

In my closet I had this jacket that I bought on sale last summer, and never worn... I took some courage you see!

Very bright and very yellow!

This is by far the brightest and most colourful outfit I've ever worn, and I can't wait to wear this mad jacket again!

Even though yellow isn't my best colour I think it works with the navy dress because the colour is next to my face.

 Another possibility was wearing a colourful scarf in a "good" colour around my neck.

How else would you style this jacket?

The sleeves have permanent gatherings that makes it hell to iron it - I may remove them, although I like the effect on my arms (leaving a fair amount of space for an arm party!).

The party

The jacket isn't really that fitted, so I'm considering taking it to the tailor and see what he if he can change that  (and possibly deal with the sleeves as well).

You haven't seen the last of this jacket!

Earrings were Monday's challenge. You've never seen me wear earrings! I do have a few. However I always think my face becomes "crowded" when I'm wearing glasses too...

The crowded face

Maybe it's just me, but I came up with another solution just the same!

Now crowded neckline

They're cute as little brooches, an idea that I'll try to remember. Best with clip on style! Do you think this is cheating?  Or did I wear earrings?

The rest of the outfit:

Just a plain jeans outfit

And a close up of the "jewels":

Next time earrings on shoes?

On Wednesday it was my husband's birthday, and the challenge of the day was Boots. I wear boots every day all winter - the real challenge here is to still like your boots afterwards!

The temperature was well below freezing (it still is!) so I wore my warmer ones, along with a festive summer dress and white skinny jeans!

Clingy dress

Because of the temperature the dress became static electric and kept clinging to the jeans, which in turn became more and more loose so I had to pull them up all the time.

Multi tasking

My mother called while I was taking my photos, and with dinner preparations waiting I didn't have time to call her later. I guess you can say she has appeared on the blog too!

Bali Moonstone

The pendant is a large Moonstone, and it usually gives beautiful blue flashes, but that's so hard to catch on camera. Maybe next time?


Finally here's today's outfit - which is my answer to the Animal Print challenge:

Just trying to stay warm!

Apart from the dress I'm also wearing a knitted cardigan, grey jeggings, a heavy scarf, boots - and outdoors, my magenta wool coat and lined leather gloves.

With -6 degrees Celsius (low 20's Fahrenheit) and a bit of wind it's so hard to stay warm. I didn't add thermal underwear today, which I should have!

My brain has most likely frozen, all I can think of is spring, sunshine and Spain! That's why I'm wearing those same bangles again today!

A neutral outfit, who would have thought?

This is such a long post, but there just wasn't time during the week. Tomorrow my daughter and I have arranged a surprise party for my husband - just the closest family. Hopefully we'll get some good shots of the table.

On Sunday I also plan to do a post about the Liebster Award - so stay tuned!

Will this dress ever see tights again?

And on that bombshell I'm wishing you all a lovely weekend! (Too much Top Gear)

Flowers in February

As part of the on going FABruary Style Challenge by Imogen Lamport of the Inside Out Style blog I'm wearing flowers today -  I've paired my fairly new double ended zip top with my pink skirt.

Winter flowers

The temperature has gone down again, so based on my earlier experience with FABruary Style Challenge I'm also wearing a jacket, which isn't that uncomfortable under the coat, and of course a scarf.

I'm also mixing pattern here!

This top is so beautiful that I had to have some more photos - and my loving husband gladly stepped in to help!

Not sure this is the best angle....

Statement rings were the challenge on Friday, and I do have a nice one! Sadly the weather forced me to wear jeans again - but with a new-to-the-blog top!

Remember you can click the photos and see a larger version

After having mentioned the jeans it is probably best that I show a photo of them, although they've appeared many times lately.

If you like the necklaces, there's a photo of them below.

The top is from - well take a guess! It's very comfortable, and would also look nice with my navy pencil skirt.

My treasures!

On Saturday I wore some daytime sparkle, on my coat! I wasn't doing anything special indoors, or so I thought, so I decided to pay extra attention to my outdoor look.

The little white bits are snowflakes.

The sparkly bits were a golden brooch and a hand crocheted silver shawl, made by my mother. As if sparkle wasn't enough I also added a bit of colour, teal gloves and orange bag.

I've had enough of snow for this winter, thank you!

Later Saturday we had unexpected dinner guests, so the planned blog post was postponed, sorry! Anyway, most readers would be busy with other stuff, I told myself - and would have better time on Sunday.

Colour blocking outfit

Above is how I looked as I was headed out the door on Sunday, down to the shops for a few extras - now that another unexpected party had announced their arrival!

Too much flash, I know

Tomorrow's FABruary Style Challenge is layering. That may be a tough one for those living in Australia, but so perfect up here in the dark deep freezer called Denmark!

There's just one last photo of my flower top, which will be my contribution to Patti's Visible Monday party at the Not Dead Yet Style blog - the weekly party that makes me put an extra effort into dressing every Monday morning!

Thank you so much for your patience with this long post!

As far as the weather forecast goes we will have snow and frost, and quite a bit of wind. No wonder I'm dreaming of moving to Spain!

Then on the bus home tonight I heard a woman speaking Spanish right behind me. So, if I can't come to Spain, Spain will come to me!  

Enjoy your week, and remember to check in on me and see how I handle challenges such as wearing coloured shoes, lace and being blue.



Lots of warm hugs to everyone!

First skirt outfit in 2013

Within the last 48 hours the weather has changed dramatically in Denmark. Going from minus 15 degrees Celcius to plus 10! Of course I had to take advantage of this by wearing a skirt.

Another new top from CC

It's hard to see but I'm wearing teal tights, trying to match the colours of the top. What I'm not showing is, that I'm wearing bicycle shorts underneath the skirt

The jewellery

It was not so easy to find jewellery for this outfit. I guess I could have worn my teal and turquoise rings too - well, maybe next time!

Badly in need of a re-colouring of my hair!

My days are crazy busy at the moment - so I have to cut this post short. Hopefully the weather stays fine (above freezing!), so that I don't have to stuff myself with extra layers, making me feel like a teddy bear!


Hope to be posting again soon - take care everyone!

A beige dress - how exciting!

For the remaining amount of my restricted monthly clothes budget, I've bought a beige dress. Guess what: It's  another CC dress, on sale!

Just add pink accessoreis!

This beige, which is more like camel, has never been even close to my best colour. The old trick of adding a "good" colour in form of a scarf has worked beautifully so many times, so why not on a Monday too?

Even the tights are pink!

Of course I'm matching the tights! After seeing the photos I'm sort of regretting that I didn't go with the mint green tights. Next time, I promise!

Again an excellent fit

I was quite unimaginative this morning when I chose jewellery for the outfit, but there's both gold and silver in there - following the mini-blogger-trend of Joni (Walking Colors) and Curtise (The Secondhand Years), although on a minimalist scale!

One gold ring, one silver ring = mixed metals!

Now I'm all ready to join the Visible Monday fun at the stylish and elegant Patti's Not Dead Yet Style blog. It's so nice having Visible Monday to look forward to when the weather outside is cold and wet, with strong winds and too little daylight.

Thank you Patti!

A quick remix

Last week I showed an outfit that I wasn't entirely happy with. The accessories weren't quite right. So, here's another go:

Dash dress remixed, with dog

I didn't have the heart to send my dear old Malamute away, he loves being near his Mom! The accessories in this outfit are in more subdued colours and lots of silver, than the previous.

Pale green, white and silver jewellery

 
We've been warned that the nice weather we were promised a few days ago, is cancelled. Instead we're in for some arctic cold = time to get out the fur!

My old fur jacket is losing more hair than my dog!

With a few age-related hot flushes the fur jacket soon became too hot, but by then I was on the bus, just typical!

I clearly forgot something important here: A bone for the dog!

This is it for now! My throat is very sore, my temperature is rising and the nose is starting to drip, I'm off to bed!

Hope you're all feeling better than me!