True Grit...

I blame Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer for my fascination with Cowboy boots.  I adored the film Footloose as a teenager (and still do today) and will always remember the scene where Lori Singer puts on her red Cowboy boots after being with her then wayward boyfriend up to no-good in the woods.  "My daddy hates these boots", she exclaimed as if that gave her more reason to wear them.  And without going into my family history, those words rang true with me as I had a particularly tormented relationship with my own father.  And no doubt, he too, would have hated those boots.

So, I scoured the land high and low for a pair never quite finding that perfect pair and finally found them in France of all places when I was spending my wonderful year as a Teaching Assistant in St Raphael.  It was a year spent in blistering heat and despite their impracticality for the weather, they had to be mine.  It must have been a moment of frivolity too because they came with a 100 euro price tag (as did everything in the south of France).  The only other pair of shoes that have cost that much were my wedding shoes and then it still killed me to hand over such a stupid amount of money (by the way, I have lost those shoes since the house move, something that is vexing me greatly but that is for another time).

So, there I was, owner of a beautiful pair of red cowboy boots ready to burst into song or dance à la Footloose at a moments notice.  The kids in school thought it was hilarious, I wore them non-stop despite the fact my poor feet were baking in the heat and the majority of the school was in flip-flips.

They are still treasured today but they now have several brothers and sisters as my cowboy boot family has morphed into 6 pairs.   The newest additions being the ones below..

£7.25 from a charity shop here in Caldicot and a perfect fit to boot.

I started thinking about the origin Cowboy boots and decided to do a little research.  There is no definitive claim as to who designed them originally but it is thought that after the American Civil War, when cowboys were back to herding cattle across the beautiful plains of North America, they went to their cobblers with some suggestions of how better their boots could serve them.  Their feet needed protection not only from the elements but things like brambles, snakes, rocks and needed to be hardy and comfortable enough for long journeys in the saddle.   Many prototypes were made, each one individual to the cowboy himself until a more general design was upheld.  The one we know today that has become somewhat of a fashion icon with tough, colourful leathers and detailed stitching is a nod to the original work-horse boot that it once was and still is today for our modern-day cowboys no doubt. 

They are worn by models and celebrities alike, Kate Moss and Sienna Miller favour theirs with floaty dresses reminiscent of a visit to Glastonbury Festival (on a dry day of course). I like to keep it simple and wear mine with jeans usually. At this point, I should probably point out that I was in fact wearing a pair of Cowboy boots when I recently hurt my back.  Beautiful to look at but absolutely no grip whatsoever! Not on a very mossy outdoor step anyway. 

 If you do an Internet search for them, the array of designs is truly impressive, as are their prices so being able to find them nestled in charity shops, is for me, a real find.  I no longer have a spare 100 euros to give away to decorate my feet in such luxury. 

£7.25 is a much more respectable price to pay.  

Hidden Gem...

Yet again I find myself neglecting my blogger duties as I attempt to deal with every day life. I have returned to work after my stint at home with a bad back and it is as if I was never away.  John is working tirelessly to get the en-suite finished in our bedroom and is having various meaningful relationships with things like copper piping and cement board.  In a bid to ensure that he never sits still, he also started a new project of decorating his youngest daughters room so that she has a nice peaceful sanctum of her own when she comes to stay.  And, I am pleased to report that apart from one last piece of wallpaper it is all but finished and looks truly lovely. A melange of pale pinks and lilacs, Eiffel Towers and beautiful french calligraphy dancing all over the walls.  I am quite excited about her seeing it this weekend for the first time.

But, home improvements aside, I wanted to get back into writing my posts.  It is a welcome distraction from the cut-throat world of retail in which I work, and the DIY SOS that I come home to at night.

So if you are sitting comfortably,  I shall begin.

This little find turned out to be somewhat of a surprise....

I have been looking for a new watch for a while, ever since my lovely husband stepped on my beloved watch by accident. 

He kindly offered to replace it for me but unfortunately it was a charity shop find (of course) and had no branding so there was no way to acquire another one. I am sure I blogged about when I first started out as I was so pleased when I came upon it. Anyway, I have been looking to fill the void on my wrist for some time but not found one as worthy.

I found this watch on the lovely mother-daughter day that I mentioned in my last post. It was hiding at the back of a jewelry display cabinet and was priced at £4.25 from the Weston Hospice Care shop, in Weston-super-Mare, my hometown. 

You may think this is very plain and not particularly special but I thought it was a classic design. It will serve me well for work and the two rows of diamanté crystals will make it easily transferable to the evening. 

And the added extra? When I did a little research on the particular brand and style, I was amazed to find that the little stone just above noon is in fact a diamond! So my little find is now all the more cherished and adorns my wrist with pride.

Proof again that you really can find some amazing little treasures if you look hard enough.  People know not what they give away!

The "Inner" You...

I cannot believe it is Saturday already.  Despite having spent almost two weeks off work, it seems like the time has flown by in the briefest of whispers.  I will be back to work on Monday.  Maybe not running around at my normal speed but my back is definitely on the mend and mobility has at least increased.

I have however, been making the most of my time off (within the boundaries that a cracked vertebrae will allow).  My "brain food" books arrived from Amazon so I have been educating myself in the ways of Greek Mythology and  Astronomy.  I love the learning environment and increasing my knowledge any chance I get and this extra time off gave me a chance to catch up on two subjects that I have been wanting to learn more about for some time.

Another good thing about being off work? My good friend Jo crossing time and space to visit me in  Wales this week.  We spent a really lovely day together.  We rarely get lazy, quality time like that, shame that a cracked bone forced the issue!

She brought me a magazine that I never read before "Psychologies" (Caldicot is a bit light on Vogue subscribers) and I am so grateful that she did. I have often seen it in shops but always been a bit skeptical and never actually picked one up.   I tell myself that I am "not that deep", but it wasn't full of the high-brow, journal-style articles I was expecting.  Just lots of interesting and thought provoking articles about issues that we face day to day as we trundle along this thing called life.

I was particularly interested in one article that talked about "dressing for who we really are" and the argument that clothes are not just a cover up of our nakedness or protecting us from the elements.   It really hit home to me personally as I have always thought along those lines, probably from a very young age if that's possible. Clothes for me are about expression, showing your inner-you to the real world and ultimately having fun with fashion.   It talked about being true to yourself, letting your "inner-light" shine through in how you dress each day. Olivia Martin, who runs a design agency was the subject of the article and there were some photos of how she expresses herself through her dress. She looked amazing. Fearless, confident, eccentric, fun.  I was instantly envious.

She put together outfits (as seen above - excuse the not so great photo) such as bottle green silky trousers, a baggy slogan t-shirt and a long beaded patterned cardigan, a very plain loose fitting linen dress with an amazing hat, scarf and bag (none of which matched) but she still looked incredible.   Working where I do (and despite that I work in fashion retail), I feel like I have lost that exciting inner-me that once existed.  The girl who would dare to wear a tutu on a first date or a cobalt blue jumpsuit to Pizza Express before jumpsuits were even à la mode.  Having to wear a uniform has stifled this inner person as I must conform to wearing products that are pre-determined for my work.   I have a certain level of adaptation I can use I suppose in terms of accessories but not much else.

The article went on to talk about Dressing without Fear....some of the pointers are listed below:

• allow your creativity to overcome your self-esteem
• laugh at yourself while experimenting (I am a huge advocate of this, laugh at yourself first and beat the others to it!)
• collect and wear things that make you smile (again, hugely important)
• dress to counter or enhance your mood
• compare yourself to how you were yesterday - no other comparisons
• and aim for originality, not perfection. Originality is achieveable.   

Unfortunately, age changes who we are and how we dress whether we like it or not. Maybe not our spirit or imagination but our parameters change.  Life's wants and needs are different as we get older and less "playful" opportunities present themselves (certainly in terms of tutu wearing ones!).  Reading this has inspired me though. It has reminded me of how important my sense of dress is and how by hiding in jeans and jumpers as I have been, its hiding the real me.  Yes, I have been ill so I wouldn't expect to be find myself in my vintage finery during this period but it has made me re-think for the future. I am going back to work on Monday, but before I do, this weekend I will try and spend some time in my amazing dressing room (if John moves his tools that are currently residing there
 ready for starting on our en-suite), just playing around with different (age suitable) looks to see if I can "re-find" myself.  I am going to ignore the little demon on one shoulder that's saying "you are too old, you can't get away with that anymore!" and I'm going to listen to the other one that's saying "go on, put it on, think how amazing and confident you will feel!".

I cannot keep blaming the ageing process for me not being myself anymore. Ageing is inevitable for sure but I am not quite ready to be written off as "nondescript" just yet.  Everyone should let their individuality shine, surely that is how we leave our footprint on the world?  After all, where would Elizabeth Hurley be without that safety-pin dress or Katherine Hepburn without her androgynous trouser suits.   We owe it to ourselves, inner and outer, to shout about who we are. Nobody else is going to do it for us.

So, in honour of this new attitude, I wanted to share a picture of a vintage dress that I bought on a recent scouting trip in Bristol centre. I posted recently about the pop-up shop that I found and some items that I bought there.....this is the final piece. A gorgeous blue evening dress that looks like it has just stepped off the set of dynasty, shoulder pads and all. It was £15 and despite the funny shape it appears in photos, it fits like a glove when worn. This WILL require a bit of confidence to pull it off but hey.  That is the whole point about having fun with fashion n'est pas?

The Red Shoes...

The Red Shoes is a somewhat dark fairy tale that was written by Hans Christian Anderson, the story then being loosely brought to life in a 1948 British feature film starring Moira Shearer and Anton Walbrook.

The tale tells of a peasant girl that was adopted by a rich older lady after her mothers death. The girl tricks her adoptive mother into buying her a new pair of red shoes "fit for a Princess", and promptly refuses to be parted from them, she even wears them proudly to church. Eventually, the shoes take over her life and she begins to lead a selfish  existence, only having love for the shoes and nothing or no one else. Ultimately (and rather sinisterly), the shoes take control and lead her to dance and dance and never stop, to the point where she begs to have her feet cut off just to rid herself of this "curse". 

I was always fascinated by the grim tale when I was younger but it didn't stop me longing for a pair of my own red shoes. Dorothy didn't help either with her sparkly pair! 

Now I have around 20 pairs ranging from burgundy and scarlet, and from pillar box red to crimson. Different styles, heels and purposes. None of which have thankfully taken control (as yet) and led me a merry dance. 

Red to me, as for many others, symbolises confidence, love, passion and happiness.  My stepfather would argue it prompts aggression however and grumbles every time either my mum or I wear it. All I know, despite the family conflicts it provokes, is that I instantly feel better when I am draped in that colour, more so than any other hue. Why? I don't know. I have always been attracted to it and probably always will. I am, after all, a Leo and we are not usually the shy and retiring folk that like to blend into the background with the grey and navy set.  That's not to say that I use it to specifically stand out and promote myself either. It is simply a gorgeous colour. To me, it's not worn enough and I think we all have a responsibility to colour our little part of the world, wherever that may be. 

These particular chaussures rouges are my newest acquisitions and were kindly bought by my lovely mum a few weeks ago when we spent a lovely mother-daughter day together.  We found them in the RSPCA charity shop in my home town of Weston-super-Mare. Originally from Topshop, that great British stalwart that supports the fashion addictions of our young generations (I, am sadly no longer a devotee but for their colourful and good quality footwear), they cost only £5.

 They're brand new, never worn and much loved. 

It's important to have passions though don't you think? Whether it be a pair of red shoes, dancing or even just a good cup of tea. 

Sometimes it's the littlest of things that can bring you the biggest of joys.