The reason I am not a great fan of clothes shopping is because the shops really do not seem to like the idea of creating clothes for women with real body shapes. At 5ft 3 inches, I am about about an inch shorter than the average UK woman but most clothes are really long and seem to be made for Amazonian gazelle-like ladies.

My boobs, waist and hips are not in proportion with each other. So when I do venture into shops I tend to find a combinations of problems.  Some clothes will fit in the wasit but are too tight on the thighs, some will fit around the arms but are too tight around the boobs, and most items are  too long for a shortie McShortie like me.

Petite Range To The Rescue
Lots of shops have created a petite range and I have been successful in finding some items of clothing that work perfectly for my height but this is still mired with difficulties.

I Am Trying Another Option – Catalogue and Online Shopping
I have ordered a brand new catalogue and I am working my way through it and its acompanying online store to see if I can find some solution to my shopping dilemma.

I did a little reading on the history of the catalogue and found that, according to Wikipedia, the first mail order catalogue came into existence in the mid 18th century. It took a couple of centuries before it really became a boom business. Big names in the mail order business included The Sears Catalogue – founded in US in 1893 and The Littlewoods Catalogue – founded in 1932 in the UK.

Memories of Picking and Choosing From our Famiy Catalogue
My early memories of catalogue shopping was when my mum would receive the huge tomb of a book through the post. Her catalogue of choice was called The Freeman’s Catalogue, the UK based company which was founded in 1904. These were issued, twice a year I believe.

There was one published for the Spring/Summer season and one for the Autumn/Winter season. These catalogues were filled with hundreds and hundreds of pages of items from all departments including clothing, kitchenware, gardening, home furnishings, musical equipment, electrical items and lots more.

Each season, when the new catalogue arrived, my mum, my sister and I would busy ourselves flicking through the pages to look at all the beautiful clothes. Well my mum would be looking at the clothes section. My sister and I would flip to the back of the book and check out all the latest toys and gadgets that were for sale. It was never too early to think about what Christmas gifts we wanted from Santa / mum/ dad / Freemans. Ah, the memories.

Catalogue Shopping 2.0 -  Rebooted for the 21st Century
Fast forward to 2013 and catalogue shopping has made a comeback. It never really went away but there are now a lot more adverts on television and in the fashion magazines. This is definitely due to the state of the economy. Catalogue shopping means you can purchase something now and pay for it later. This is the perfect solution for those who do not have the necessary money upfront and like the idea of being able to spread the cost over a few weeks or a few months.

Celebrities Have Jumped on The Catalogue Bandwagon
The popularity of the catalogues have been further enhanced with a whole slew of celebrities either endorsing one brand or creating their own line of clothing which is sold exclusively through one of these companies.

One example is reality TV star / singer / classical pianst / TV presenter Myleene Klass, pictured here. Her clothes range appears in the latest edition of the Littlewoods catalogue.

Even though we have progressed and we are in the internet era, where you can buy almost anything at the click of your computer mouse, it is still possible to remain old skool and get a catalogue delivered to your home. But these days all of the catalogues have set up online stores too. I wouldn’t be surpised if they phase out the hard copies all together and rely soley on their online shops.  This is bound to happen in the not too distant future.

My Wardrobe Renewal Shopping Challenge
I have decided to try a little bit of catalogue and online shopping to see if I can replace and improve my existing collection of clothes. I have already bought stuff online from places like Amazon and ebay so this is not a completely new thing for me.

With the help of  this way of  shopping, I hope to:

• Replace my old, stale, sorry clothes
• Update and embrace new trends
• Shop on a budget
• Create a look that represents the person that I see when I close my eyes and picture myself out of the comfy tracksuits and baggy that seemed to have become my unofficial uniform of late.

How Will I Pay For This New Wardrobe of Clothes?
I am working hard (not really) on making some money online. I will therefore allocate some of my earnings towards my wardrobe fund. I am only allowed to spend a fixed amount of money per month, otherwise this could get a little cray-cray. You know how easy it is to buy online – your debit account could be depleted of all its funds in no time at all.

The amount I am allowed to spend will be the a maximum of £40-£50 per month. Is that a lot? A little? I don’t know. Can I get a whole new wardrobe of clothes on that amount of money? Well watch this space….

Have Your Say: Do you have a set budget for clothes shopping? Do you enjoy clothes shopping? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Hopefully our experience will be able to give you some ideas on how you can make changes to your own space, whether you are getting the home ready to sell, or just looking to give your space a fresh new look.

The Decluttering Process Begins

Sunday was the start of a major house transformation. My parents are getting ready to sell their home. This is a little bitter sweet as this was the home that I grew up in. We moved there in 1974 as council tennants and my parents were fortunate enough to be able to purchase the property 20 years later.

The reason for the move is bascially because the house is too big for them. The parents are both retired and the upkeep of a 3 bedroom maisonette is too much. They did a fantastic job of raising a family in that home and now it is time to pass on the gauntlet and allow another young family to enjoy the space, the location and the family friendly street.

My sister and I have taken it upon ourselves to oversee the procedure. This means working out what needs to be done, how much we can do ourselves and what jobs need the skills of the professionals.

As we are busy during the week, the tasks will have to be carried out over the weekends so the best way to manage our way through is to work on sections at a time. The good thing is that there is no hurry, though it would be better if we could finish the makeover and have the house ready for sale as soon as possible.

Stage One – Decluttering The Master Bedroom

The house has three bedroom and we thought that we would tackle the parent’s room first. Well, the first words out of my mouth, when we opened the wardrobe doors were “Oh my god! Why have you got some much clothes?”

I didn’t realise it before but the parents are hoarders. There were clothes coming out of evey corner of that room. In the wardrobes, hidden in suitcases and behind the bed. Yes, behind the bed. One of them, my father most probably, had actually wheeled in my old wardrobe and used it for his suits. Actually added an extra wardrobe to house their clothes.

Decluttering with Mother

We started with mum first. We hauled everything she owned out of the chest of drawers and wardrobes and dumped them on the bed. Then we went through the process of separating the items into bundles to keep, to give away to charity, to sell on ebay and to dump.

She did surprisingly well at first, happily reliquishing ownership of jumpers, skirts, blouses that no longer fitted or were no longer favourites. Then we hit upon a stumbling block. If you have ever seen an episode of Hoarders, you will understand what happened next. An item of clothing was held up as a treasured necessity by my mother. Now I haven’t seen this item of clothing since the 1980s and, as you can imagine, the fashions of the 1980s have moved on (a lot!) since then.

So questions were asked in a soothing, undestanding tone, while the item in question was featured in our little tug of war. We were eventually victorious is being able to persuade mother that she didn’t need the Alexis Carrington shoulder padded pants suit. The charity shop will no doubt find some use for it. A fancy dress outfit maybe? Who knows, who cares, it is outta there.

We finished with our mother’s clothes and everything that was left over was nicely folded and returned to the wardrobe.

Decluttering With Father

We thought our mother was bad but dad’s collection of clothing took the biscuit. I already mentioned that he had commandeered my old wardrobe for his suits. Well, in his own wardrobe, there were 3 black plastic binliners filled with t-shirts, blue jeans, cotton trousers and bulky sweaters.

3 suitcases were filled with brand new clothes. Some were items that he had recieved as Christmas presents, most likely from us, and other members of the family. There was a large collection of American apparel, which were purchased during their annual vacation trips to Florida visiting my uncle. On top of the wardrobe were 8 boxes of brand new shoes, shoes that were ordered from cataglogues. My dad just can’t resist a bargain.

Dad also did very well in getting rid of lots of old clothes. He did have a problem letting go of anything that was brand new. The things we were trying to pry out of his hands were stuff that wouldn’t fit him anymore or items where he had duplicates. It was hard for him to comprehend getting rid of anything that was still in its packaging even when he knew that he would have no use for it.

I realised that this was not simply a hoarder’s mentality. This was something that went back to the way his parents thought and how he was brought up. They were from a generation where you stocked up on things so that you always had something for a rainy day. Even if that rainy day never came, you would always know that you could go to your store cupboard, your wardrobe or the box under the stairs and find what you needed. My parents still have this mentality today and it is a hard one to shrug off.

We hit upon a compromise and let my dad keep most of the new items – for now. He doesn’t realise it yet, but this was just phase one of the decluttering process. Phase two might end up being a fight to the death over a pair of white tennis socks and a box of hankerchiefs – who the hell still uses hankerchiefs. lol.

We ended the afternoon we 6 black bags filled with clothes that will leave that house for good. We also emptied out that extra wardrobe – my wardrobe (I actually moved out 6 years ago but it is still MY wardrobe and MY bedroom) and we emptied 2 bed side cabinets and a chest of drawers.

Phew, that was tough going. We made it through round one. We are all geared up for the next decluttering process. This will most likely be the kitchen which has its own soap opera of a storyline.

Til then folks

Have Your Say: Have you ever had to go through the decluttering process? For yourself or someone else? How did it go? Share your memories in the comment section below.

It is the middle of winter so this is the perfect time to think about Winter clothing and hats in particular.  I have one hat that I wear all the time.

It is a black woolly thing which has served me well.  It is practical and functional.  This could also be translated to mean boring and bland.

Time for a Brand New Hat & Style

Anyway I knew that it was time to get a new hat.  I had a few styles that I really liked but I always felt that they were far too dressy for everyday wear.

I always appreciate how other women look in their great hats and their great coats but I always believed that this just wasn’t me.

I am starting to realise that the only person stopping me from changing my image is me.  There is no rule or law out there that says I can’t wear a fancy looking hat just to go to work.  There is no rule that says work wear has to be boring.

This is the Choosen Hat

So with this in mind, I took a look at the type of hat that I wanted.  The style can be characterised as a retro 1920s type hat.  I looked at a selection that were available on Amazon and I settled on the one pictured here.

Click Here for Price and Delivery

How Do I Look?

It is a black felt hat with a satin ribbon around the base. On the side flower petal shapes have been cut out and layered on top of each other with a cluster of black plasticy things that are supposed to be the inner part of the flower.

I placed my order with Amazon and the hat arrived about 3 days later.  The box was so light, I didn’t think there was anything inside.  I absolutely loved it when I put it on.  It certainly made me look and feel chic.  I still felt that it was a little too dressy so it took a couple of days before I plucked up the courage to wear it outside lol.

My Friends Loved The New Look

Oh my goodness! The compliments I got from my work colleagues.  They loved it too. No-one thought that it was over the top at all.  See, it was my own imagination and my own silly predjudices that almost stopped me from making the purchase.

I love this hat and I wear it all the time.  I will definitely be looking to add a few more fancy pieces of millinery to my little ole head in the future.

Click Here for More Cloche Hats for Women

Have Your Say: I have two questions – 1) What do you thnk about my choice of hat? and 2) Is there an item of clothing that you would love to wear but think that it might not be appropriate? Share your thoughts.

Do you look in the glossy magazines or watch TV and think to yourself, why can’t I look like these women? Or maybe you are like me and you think that the way that these celebrities look and dress is way out of the reach of us normal folk.  And anyways, it is far too high maintenance to keep a style looking fresh and appealing.

Well that has been my viewpoint for a very long time. We are talking years.  I basically gave up on trying to look good.  I got really comfortable in my baggy tracksuit bottoms and my oversized jumpers.

I have one particular friend whose style I always admired.  She always looks so chic and put together, as if she had her own celebrity makeover.  I have always been of the opinion that there is no way I could pull that off because I feared that I would be stood in front of my bedroom mirror for hours on end, trying to work out what item of clothing matched what and how to fix my hair just so.

It’s Time to Make a Change

(OK, did the Michael Jacskson song pop into your head while you read that line? Yes? No? – You’re thinking about it now aren’t you. lol)

This year I made the decision to take action.  I am taking action in my work life so I need to take action in the rest of my life.

There are so many things that I want to do and experience but for some strange reason, I wasn’t actually doing anything to attain these goals.  Instead I would get to the end of another year and then lament the fact that nothing had changed, that I hadn’t done anything interesting or amazing and I hadn’t experienced anything new at all.

Through reading some great books and great blog posts on the web, I have slowly come to the realisation that I can’t just hope for things to change.  I actually have to get off my butt and do something about it.  There isn’t any fairy godmother or a genie out there to grant me my wishes or to make my dreams a reality.  I have to decide what I want and make those wishes and dreams come true for myself.

Click Here to find out about the above book Frumpy to Fabulous

Steps to Making That Change

I am a pretty happy go lucky gal. I know that people like me and that I can conduct myself with confidence in most situations. However, I also know that the way that I present myself doesn’t really match up with the way that I see myself in my head and it certainly doesn’t reflect my personality.

A shop has to create a wonderful window display in order to entice potential customers through their doors to buy. A book publisher has to commission the right type of book cover so that readers are compelled to find out more about the content. A chef has to present a visually stunning meal so that customers enjoy their food before they have even taken that first mouthful.

Is it then not perfectly normal for a person to do the same thing for themselves?  Well, I would like to evaluate, edit and improve on my own window display or book cover. The way that I present myself should reflect the type of person I am.

Click Here to find out about the above book The Wardrobe Wakeup

Beautiful Women Who Understand Their Personal Style

Here are just a few examples of well known women who have identifed their own style. They know exactly what works for their body type.Their appearance helps to convey something about their personalties and you can instantly come up with a stream of adjectives to perfectly describe their look and what they stand for.

• Michelle Obama
• Holly Willoughby
• Dita von Teese
• Jennifer Hudson
• Kim Kardashian
• Paloma Faith
• Florence Welch
• Jennifer Lopez

These women know their body shapes and understand what works for them. I am sure that they didn’t have a clue in the beginning but over time they learned what suited them.

Ways To Start Working on Defining Your Own Style

The first thing you need to do is to define your body shape.  Once you understand what type of clothes work well for your height and shape, you can start to pull together looks that will highlight your good points and camouflage your not so good points.

This isn’t about going on a diet or trying to be something you are not.  This is about learning who you are today and how you would like others to perceive you. You should be able to exude extreme confidence because you know that you look and feel good!

This is going to be my first step towards my makeover.  Wish me luck. 

Have Your Say: Do you clothes match your personality and body type? Do you think that it is important to work on your appearance?  Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Whenever I think about the type of home I would like to live in, it usually consists of the following attributes:

• It is Georgian in style, reminiscent of the homes featured in my favourite Jane Austen inspired films and miniseries.

• It has two large living rooms – one which has a piano and is a little more formal, the other is filled with large comfy sofas, a gorgeous working fireplace and a massive flat screen TV.

• There is a large kitchen diner with the kitchen table facing the set of double glazed, double fronted doors

• The doors open out to a very smart but not too big garden, with a decked patio area and comfortable benches for when we have one of two days of British Summer weather.

• The bedroom is large, modern in style, similar to something you would find in a sophisticated contemporary hotel suite.

• There is an en suite, naturally, with a lovely roll top bath and a huge power shower.

• There is a room which I have designated as my cute little office area.  This will mostly used for storage as I will work from the large kitchen table, near the food and the very important feature – my kettle – for those much needed cups of tea.

• I am not sure how many other rooms there are in my dream home but this is where I am up to right now. I know that it will change lots over time.  I may not even get to live in such a home but I can dream. And, sometimes dreams do come true. 

Have Your Say: Do you have a dream home in mind? Are you already living in it?  I would love to know your thoughts so leave a comment below.