Friday: talking about tights and jumpers

Yes, it's winter and what does that put you in mind of?  Tights and jumpers?  Well it does me and no, I don't go out in the street wearing just a jumper and a pair of tights - that would be just plain crazy and as you know, I'm not quite that mad yet.  I think the actress Sienna Miller managed to get away with it a few years ago, but I'm not as boho as her and certainly couldn't boast Jude Law as my ex (I'd tower over him for a start!)  The combination of tights and boots always puts me in mind of the panto season and it's always been an ambition of mine to don a tricorn hat, slap my thigh and serenade Cinderella - perhaps that's a sure sign that I need to get out more?

Tights huh?  I'm leggy and curvy so the phrase: 'one size fits all' doesn't quite cut it for me.  Personally I hate wearing a pair of tights with a baggy crotch, it's absolutely awful.  That is why I adore Marks and Spencer tights as they stock a size called, rather spiffingly, 'extra size' and it's big enough to encompass my pins.  I thought I'd post a picture of my current favourites which I purchased from a sale ages ago, they're brown herringbone and always seem to attract a great number of compliments.  Unfortunately they've developed a hole under the toes, which is a bit of a shame, so I may just wear them again next week and then sell them on eBay.

Jumpers: well I wandered into Asda (a supermarket owned by Wal-Mart for my overseas readers) this morning primarily to swap the pair of pink pajama bottoms with a black cat design imprinted upon them for a smaller size and happened upon a rack of fluffy jumpers.  I immediately tried one on but when I looked in the mirror I resembled The Honey Monster, which wasn't a particularly good look for me.  I think it's because I'm rather top heavy, so worn with my customary skinny jeans I look a little imbalanced.  Sigh. 

Thursday: Clarks Zebra Print boots and life moves on

I wore my Clarks Zebra print boots to work today; they're great by the way, a slightly hairy finish it's true, but none the worse for it.  What I REALLY adore about them is that they're so darn funky - for example, I chaired a meeting today and I think the boots really held their own in the room (I doubt they'd be able to hold someone else's though, they do have their limits...)  I'm loving the heel height too - at 4cm they give me a bit of a lift but are very comfortable; I think this is also because of Clarks' patented 'softwear' padding on the sole, which is rather yummy at the moment.

For those who are interested or even give a shit, I left my current post today and will begin a new one next Tuesday.  Personally, I'm delighted and look forward to the new challenges ahead.

Monday: dull day but bright shoes and socks bring cheer to the heart!

You've got to love a character sock haven't you?  You don't?  What on earth do you buy loved ones for Christmas then?  Those pointless boxes of shower gel and body lotion which end up consigned to the back of the cupboard and re-gifted at a later date?  Ok, now I understand.  Here are my current favourites by the way, they're Angry Bird socks and show the 'bomb' bird from the popular game; worn with leopard print shoes I think you'll agree that they're both practical and sexy.

Yes, I'm back after my mega sulk, but I'm the Duchess and I'm allowed such luxuries.  I may offer my smelly old fake Ugg boots for sale in a few days or so because the Duke complained so much about the stench last week that I was forced to house them in the hallway and shower down my tootsies pronto and lather them up with a bar of Dove soap.  Yum you may think?  Each to their own. 

My wholemeal loaf has sagged in the bread machine (a middle class dilemma if ever there was!) but at least a new series of Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue begins today at 18:30 - I cannot wait, that programme is a total treat.  Only Connect is also on tonight on BBC4.  Life's good (sometimes...)

Saturday: pedicure pains - part one

I am finding that removing stubborn nail polish is taking longer and longer these days - maybe because there was base coat, two colour coats, top coat plus a crackle layer?  Who knows?  Anyway, despite me using Cutex, which is one of the premier nail varnish removers on the market, some of it wouldn't remove from the edges.  I undertook the pedicure in the usual manner, which is thus:

1) Fill large Addis bowl (the rectangular sort, the circular doesn't fit my feet) with warm water and Radox bath salts

2) Soak feet for ten minutes or so whilst periodically rubbing them down with a pumice stone to remove dead skin

3) Cut the toenails straight across with a pair of sharp nail scissors

4) Dry them off with an old, rough towel and prepare for cuticle care, buffing and finally, polish.....

Well, that's part one over anyway; part two will be written and uploaded tomorrow, well it will if my eBay sales go well or indeed sell at all.  If not, I'm throwing all of the toys out of my pram (so to speak) and am quitting to spend time doing other things for the foreseeable future.  

Thursday/Friday: Doc Martens Elena knee high boots

I am writing this kind of retrospectively because I wore my new bright red Doc Martens Elena boots to work yesterday.  'Aren't they a bit casual for work?' you may ask and yes, you'd be right.  I can't stand wearing suits and things, I believe that they stem my creative juices, well the polyester mix probably does anyway.  I was in a high level presentation yesterday (ooh, get you!) and a senior member of staff complemented the boots, so I must be doing something correct.

As for the boots themselves, well I can say that they're very comfortable indeed - I think this is combination of the Doc Martens patented 'air wear' sole and the fact that they're very roomy.  Actually they are fairly wide and my feet aren't really, so I do rattle around a bit in them so perhaps it's time to purchase some thick socks to complement them?

Methinks it's high time for a new pedicure tomorrow which I'll photograph extracts from for your perusal and enjoyment, but being the saucy tease that I am, will only upload the pictures onto this blog if my items sell on eBay.  My two auctions end on Sunday lunchtime, so keep them in mind - my screen name is duchesseleanor, but do remember that I don't sell outside the UK. 

I'll probably undertake this laborious task whilst listening to the second half of Tony Blackburn's Pick of the Pops.  To all of those outside the UK, Mr Blackburn is a true broadcasting legend and his career spans many decades.  I adore his Saturday lunchtime radio show because he plays extracts from two music charts from different years and as you'd expect, it tends to bring back memories and long-forgotten gems.  It's one of my ambitions to get a text message or email read out by him on the show; the other, if you're interested, is to get a letter published in the acclaimed TV listings magazine Radio Times.  Yeah, I'm very sad. 

Farewell darlings xxx

Wednesday: Clarks Finnis Teal mary jane wedges

Regular readers of this blog will be aware of my adoration for the two inch wedge heel (well, it's about the only two inch thing I do hold in high regard...)  So with this in mind I have purchased two pairs of Clarks Finnis mary jane wedges over the past year or so - one in teal, as pictured, and the other in a bronze hue.  Clarks do stock a ladies size 9 in some of their ranges, not all, but it's encouraging if nothing else as I find their shoes both comfortable and funky.

As you'll see, I'm wearing them with a pair of black jeans to provide a welcome 'pop' of colour during these dark days.  A colleague of mine said to me recently 'do you own any black shoes?' and the answer is, well, not really, most of mine sit firmly on the funky scale and I'm very proud of that.

I suppose I should talk a little about Clarks as a shoe brand, well I'm going to anyway.  From the memory banks they're a British company, based in Street, Somerset which is located in the West Country - a truly beautiful place, well for a holiday anyway, I can't categorically state that envisage a move there permanently because I'm very much a townie and would find it difficult to adjust.  Anyway, I digress.  Clarks shoes are very much part of growing up in the UK and still remain so to this day, my mother spent a great amount of money on shoes for myself and my siblings whilst growing up.  She ensured that our feet were correctly measured (in the slightly scary metal machine!) and shoes were fitted accordingly so that we all grew up with beautiful feet.  I have to say that the opposite is true for my poor husband, The Duke, whose father spent all of his money on booze and allowed his poor sons to wear ill-fitting cheap 'Winklepicker' pointed shoes, thus causing them to have hammer toes and other awful foot problems in later life.  Ditto my friend whose mother tried to hide her pregnancy in the early months via a series of corsets, thus crushing her baby daughter's growing feet in the process.  Sacrilege!

I did go on a school trip to Bristol and Somerset with my primary school in the 1980s and we visited the Clarks factory in Street then.  I can't recall much more about the trip, apart from the fact that some awful girl called Sharon broke my sticks of rock against a metal bunk, one of the teachers smoked on the coach for the entirety of the journey and some 'dodgy' magazines were discovered on the top of a wardrobe.  Nostalgia's a wonderful thing isn't it?

Monday: workout including sports socks and Nikes

Happy Monday morning world and here's hoping that Hurricane Sandy won't cause too much devastation across in the US.  What an awful thing the weather can be at times?  New York's so vulnerable.

Right, shoes, that's what you want to read about, isn't it?  This morning I woke up with the good intentions of working out, so I donned my three-quarter length leggings, baggy t-shirt and placed a pair of sports socks on my feet, and they're pictured above, in their full glory.  Next I selected my Nike women's training shoes, pictured below.  I do like a women's training shoe, femininity is all when one has feet as large as mine and I adore the pink 'swoosh' plus the silver relief is adorable too.

As for the workout itself, well let's just say that, although I walk everywhere, I'm not the fittest person in the Universe so it was a bit of a strain.  I used one of my Davina McCall box sets, well the Power of Three DVD if you're interested.  For those based outside the UK, Davina McCall or 'Davina' as she's mostly known is a presenter, former dancer and one of Eric Clapton's girlfriends from way back.  She has a reputation for being a bit shouty on air and is probably most famous for presenting the UK version of Big Brother, which she's done from the beginning, well until Channel 5 bought the format anyway.  As well as all of the other career defining stuff she's well known for being the face (or should that be mane?) of a popular hair dye range and for producing a series of successful workout DVDs.

Now don't get me wrong, I love being fit, but scheduling it into my day is a complete nightmare as you're not supposed to work out too late in the day because it disrupts sleep patterns.  I can't abide doing lunges though and do worry about my knees.  I think I enjoy Davina's DVDs mostly because they're very light-hearted and to witness all the heavy-duty flirting she indulges in with Mark, one of her personal trainers, who's an ex-marine and generally a buff bald bloke.  It's made all the more amusing because it's going on right in front of his wife, Jackie's eyes, who completes the husband and wife personal training team.  I personally like a bit of flirtation though, especially if it gets me throughly dark days of winter.

Until next time xxx