I was fashionable in the 80s - no really I was

I used to consider myself fashionable. Admittedly this was back in the eighties when it was ok to wear baggy trousers and oversized tops in bright colours, Converse baseball boots, bright make up
and... hang on, hold the phone, it would appear all of this is now back in fashion !!

Yes, those clothes I adored that my much younger sisters teased me about so mercilessly until eventually I gave them all away are not only back in, but actually the height of fashion !?!?!? "Whachoo talkin' about Willis ?"

Matching shoes

Well I think it is fair to say I'm not the age or shape to wear those clothes any more - not least as I stood next to a young woman on the tram the other day who had a wedge hairstyle, peg trousers, chain loafers and pink shimmer lipstick (cannot confirm if it was from Rimmel though) and I was instantly transported back to sixth form, Chelsea Girl, Miss Selfridge make up and Dolcis shoes. Ah the memories. I was the first in my school to have a yellow canvas fashion rucksack and a homemade satin puffball skirt because I'd seen both on the Clothes Show. I was Jeff Banks' biggest fan and Warehouse was the 'posh' shop on the high street from which my best work suit came. I wore it for about 20 years before I finally gave in and retired it.

Of course now I'm a lot older, I'm a Mum and most days I'm lucky if I leave the house wearing shoes that match. I wear jeans almost every day and because I swim so much I choose clothes that are easy to wear pre or post dip. I went for a coffee with a lovely fellow blogger (and proper writer) the other week and she told me that the striped top is a Mumsy cliche - almost all of my tops are striped !! I was horrified. How did I transform from that young woman obsessed with fashion to this middle-aged sitcom Mum with a full wardrobe and still nothing to wear ? I knew I needed a revamp. And I knew I'd have to go and see a professional. So, I made an appointment for a personal styling session at Peter Jones in Sloane Square. It's the poshest John Lewis store I know and it's where we had our wedding list so I know it pretty well. I've never bought clothes there though.

My appointment was with Yvonne and she started by bringing me a lovely pot of tea and we had a little chat about the colours I like and the event I wanted to dress for. I told her I had a public speaking event I wanted to look nice for - I'll be reading one of my posts out at Britmums Live and who needs any excuse to dress up ? Lovely Yvonne went off with a clothes rail to choose some frocks and I sat and made use of the free wifi.

So many pretty frocks to try on 

The rail she came back with was loaded with amazing dresses and some matching jackets from ranges I've never shopped from before. She also brought me some lovely shoes to try on with the dresses. I only ever wear fit flops or boots so it was a bit of a trial putting on clothes and heels all at once, but hey what's life without a bit of a challenge eh ?

Yvonne told me I am different sizes on the top and bottom with narrow hips so I can wear a smaller size on my bottom half. This explains why I'm forever pulling my jeans up as I always buy the same size in everything regardless of how big it is and I never try on jeans in shops as it's just too demoralising. I was amazed how some of the fitted dresses really made me look shapely and she explained that my waist is my best feature - what ? are you serious lady ?

Beautiful and flattering

So, I whittled the selection down to three dresses that I absolutely love and as I've just had my birthday that was pretty poor timing really. They are completely different from my usual choice of clothing and I'm not sure I'd actually wear them often enough to justify the price tag, but how lovely to know that I can look that fab at my matronly stage of life.

I took off the high heels and gave them back to Yvonne. As I put my daggy boots back on I thanked her for her time and went back out into rainy Sloane Square.

I'm no fashionista, but man it's nice to pretend for a couple of hours.

wolf whistle time :)