Bloggers Delight

Hello!! My holiday is over, and my little moon has started school, albeit half days for 3 weeks and so, (hopefully) normal service will resume.

This post has been in ‘draft’ status for the past two weeks, during which time both New York and London Fashion weeks have taken place…

Fashion doesn’t stop for anyone.

Especially if you’ve fallen off the blogging wagon and been sucked into ‘just instagramming’ instead.

Anyway: I’m back, so here goes…

There’s been a lot of love out there recently for Zara & all her new season loveliness: she’s all over print magazines, Instagram feeds, blogs…

Just as Gucci rules the designer-high-end-catwalk waves, so Zara is ruling our highstreet, with the best Gucci inspired tributes out there: they’ve nailed it.

Zara has tapped into our Gucci induced hunger for embroidery, clashing prints, metallics, pleats and the like, with subtlety for the most part, as well as an occasional bonkers piece which really could have been designed by Alessandro Michele himself.

This jacket:

If ever there was a marmite jacket, this is it; and I’m definitely in the ‘love it’ camp!

I was first alerted to this jacket when Flic, from Love a Good Stripe posted it on her Instagram feed; shortly after, the same day I think, Kate from Wears My Money posted that she’d ordered it; and then finally that same night, just before going to bed, I noticed Erica Davies from The Edited had featured it on her Instastories…

Oh how I wished I hadn’t seen it just before going to bed!

The jacket, stayed on my mind for most of the night and cost me a good 4 hours of sleep that night whilst I was questioning my own sanity:

• it’s pink teddy-bear-shrimps like faux-fur FFS!
• It has copper & mustard leather in the mix!
• Its reversible with the other side being made of the most silver bacofoil like leather ever…
• and all for a £149?
• Could I justify it?
• Would I wear it enough?
•  The smallest size it comes in is a small which would be too big for microscopic little me?

Ugh! On and on and on my brain whirred until my resolve broke by the following afternoon and I ordered the jacket: if for no other reason than to see it in the flesh and get some sleep!

In the meantime, Erica Davies posted pics of herself wearing the jacket and looking fabulous in it, although she was uncertain as to whether or not she’d keep it as it’s so bonkers.

And Kate posted a pic of herself in hers – she looked incredible in it: but the no-pockets was a bit of a deal breaker and so she was sending it back.

And finally, Flic and I received our respective deliveries (of the jacket) on the same day but were both out and unable to get to our jackets until the evening and… well: you really ought to check out Flic opening her parcel and trying it on to see just how ecstatic she was with the Gucci-Bowie-teddy-fur-esque jacket: it was made for her!

Being a kindred spirit with Flic, I couldn’t help but smile & laugh at her sheer joy of trying the jacket on and seeing that it fitted: she totally rocked it!

I was equally excited to try my jacket on, but sadly for me, I was in for some severe disappointment: it was enormous on me.

I’m not sure that these photos fully show just how roomy the jacket is across my shoulders… and even if I made attempts to wear a chunky knit under it, you know, I would have my jumper sleeves scrunched into my armpits (i.e. sweaty & uncomfortable) as well as the fact that for £149 (not much to some, I know, but its a lot for me) I want my jacket to fit perfectly!

And, it turns out the too long-a-sleeve length wouldn’t have been that much of an issue, as they have raw edged hems & could be trimmed or look kinda cool turned up given the reversibility (is that a word?!) of the jacket.

And I will openly admit to you all, I was totally crest-fallen by the fact that the jacket was too big for me: I don’t often get mopey about being so teensy but all I could think was ‘why are my shoulders so bl00dy narrow?’ and ‘being short is one thing, but why so pathetically tiny?’.

Yeah, I entered a proper ‘woe is me’ day. Totally pathetic and ungrateful at my lot in life: and all over a bonkers jacket. [insert roll eyes emoji at self here].

Next up: Embroidery… so many pieces to choose from, but it was this Striped Poplin Top (£29.99) which caught my eye:

Sadly, I must be shrinking, as here I am in the size XS:

I won’t give up on my hunt for the right embroidered top that easily though, and there’s a lot more to choose from in Zara – I just need to remember to order from the TRF range!

The final item in my online order was this skirt, which appears to be *the* leopard print skirt to buy this season if Instagram is anything to go by and for £29.99, its a bargain:

I saw this on a rail in Zara, Barcelona, but only after I’d spent an age in the queue for changing rooms trying on an armful of stuff; and then another age in the queue to pay… I was on the clock to get back to mum duties and so couldn’t try/buy it and honestly? Forgot about it over the following 2 weeks of my holiday.

On returning home, I spotted the lovely Sue, from Susie So So posting about it on her feed and was reminded that I needed to order it!

I felt pretty chuffed to get my mitts on it as fairly soon after I placed my order this skirt was sold out online (although it is still available in-store).  Yet again, yet more disappointment in store for me.

This time round, it wasn’t a case of it not fitting me and in fact, I liked the longer midi-length (well, almost maxi on me!); neither was it a case that it didn’t suit me per se… it was more a case that the voice in my own head said a resounding “no!”: I just felt that it was too much leopard on tiny little me.

So again, its gone back.

However, as depressing as it was for me to have these items not fit & swamp my tiny frame, I do feel like I hit gold with these two skirts, both bough in Zara when I was in Barcelona:

This Metallic Pleated Faux Leather (or Pleather as I like to call it) Skirt is still available online.  It’s not the cheapest at £39.99, however, with its thicker chamois-leather like fabric, it can easily be worn into Autumn/Winter with a slouchy knit and ankle boots.

I’m going to be trimming the skirt down from its current maxi length (on me) into a midi, which in theory, should be straight forward enough because it has an unfinished hem.  I’ve yet to do this though as feeling nervous about it…

And the second skirt is this cute little gucci inspired box pleated printed skirt – from Zara Girls:

At just 5ft in height, I would normally take age 11-12 in kids clothing, however, in order to gain an extra inch of length on the skirt, I went for the size  ‘aged 13-14’.

I love this one!  And the best bit? As it was from Zara Girls, it cost just £16.99.  #winning

Again, planning to wear it through the coming months with some opaques, loafers and a roll-neck jumper.

And finally, I’ve saved the best for last.

No matter how much Gucci-esque tributes there may be out there, whether in Zara or other shops, there’s nothing quite like the ‘Real McCoy’.

If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that I have had the Gucci Marmonts on my ‘lust list’ for a while now, the perfect granny shoe as far as I’m concerned.

So after getting up at stupid o’clock on the August Bank Holiday and car booting a heap of stuff, I placed a bid with my car-boot earnings on a pair of gold Marmont’s on eBay: they were a size 35 and I normally take a 36.  However, by all accounts the sizes come up big and so… my finances, the Gucci Gods & eBay Auction all aligned…

I’m very pleased with them.

And, as someone who rarely goes #outout, I’ve had two Saturday nights out on the trot, worn these beauties and can report: not a blister in sight; they really are super comfortable and I know I will get a lot of wear out of them.

So, how about you: are you dipping your toe into any of the Gucci inspired trends this season?  I’d love to hear your thoughts? Leave a comment if you fancy: I’ll get back to you!

Thanks for reading. B x