Well, I *thank* you...

I have stumbled upon this delicious set of missives by the stationer to the royals... Smythson

At £35 for a set of 10 notelets (with hand-lined enveloples), they perhaps may be best saved for the particularly large present givers.

Is there any possibility that I may be allowed this...?

• Gold fabric with tonal dot motif.
• Gathered vamp with topaz rhinestone brooch.
• Open toe.
• 50% silk, 30% polyacrylic, 20% Lurex®.
• 3 1/2" covered heel.
• Guaranteed to improve your life*

Manolo Blahnik Brooch D'Orsay Pump.
$665 which in today's climate comes to a bargainous £334.85**

*Ok, I added that last one myself.
** And no, I'm not going to define bargainous.

A note on how to deal with Registrars...

  Went to the registry office this week to publish the banns of marriage with the Boy. After providing all his details about himself, he was asked by the Registrar to give my full name and age.

I got the giggles that I was not allowed to answer.

A swift look from the Boy and I controlled myself.

Due to a long-unremedied error on my passport, the exchange then went as follows:

Registrar: And the bride's date of birth?

Me: 12 September

Registrar: Oh...it says 2 September on your passport...?

Me: Oh... um... whichever suits you.*

Registrar: Well, which is it?

Me: Tedious explanation which I won't bore you with.

The Registrar sighs, accepts my explanation and fills in my correct date of birth. After reading out the legal ramifications of the forms and the need for care, attention and avoiding prison sentences for incest and treason, she asks me to check the licence.

At which point, the Boy realises that I am not the age that he stated. I am, in fact, a year older.

I never could do maths.

The two marriage licences are destroyed and we have to start all over again.

My giggles have now reached a critical level.

Ten minutes and much glaring from the Boy later, we narrowly escape from the registry office with our licence and £60 worse off.

We are awaiting postal confirmation that all is well.

I am not holding my breath.

*Note to others. If you find yourself in a similar situation in the future, provide detailed corroboration of your birthday. Do not think it will be helpful to allow the Registrar to choose for you. They will think you are illegal. Or lying. Or stupid. Or all three.

** If this isn't an excuse for another showing off of the bling, I don't know what is...

Honeymooning by the Sea?

 

This gorgeous little number is from my new favourite place, Oli, and is a bargainous £30. Thank goodness I don't suit yellow even an inch or else my bank card would be getting something of a bashing right now.

I am the MOG

Fantastically successful weekend with the mummy finding fabric for her outfit. Will share when it is able to be laid out and puffed up suitably but it certainly has crystalised the style of the day. Mum's going for olive green long silk crepe with a beaded silk chiffon empire-line bodice (backed with the crepe, of course, to protect her modesty).

Which means: long, beaded, silky.... eveningwear without doubt.

The search for the Mother of the Groom outfit continues in earnest and I have been dismayed to find so many outlets specialising in strapless... or black... or black... or strapless... or both.

Rampant googling has unearthed the wonder that is Oli. This website was launched with rather a lot of fanfare as I recall but then rather fell off the radar. What I have found, however, is that, although most of the fibres are polyester (no good for snobby-skinned me, but perfectly fine for most) the styles vary enormously and the prices stay under £100.

Any of the following lovelies would do a mature yet sexy and slim-figured MOB/MOG very well...

In order of appearance, the dresses are:

Aubergine Purple Ruched £89

Eau de Nil Frill £40

Brown & Black mesh £55

Buttermilk Mesh £75

Copper Taffeta £30

Purple High-necked £50

Petrol Taffeta £30

Navy blue lace £40 down from £89

Gold embroidery £65

Purple bow detail £65

Bottle green beaded £99

Lilac flapper style £69

Well shod

Shoe searching...

Idra by Marc by Marc Jacobs (£230)

Lala Glitter by Marc by Marc Jacobs (£215)

Kelis by Dune (£95)

Night Attire (to wear by the light of the (Honey)moon)

After the underwire, thong and what have you has come off you may want to slip into something more comfortable...

My selection would be thus...

What bridal round up would be complete without a spot of good ol' Vera Wang? This silk ballet gown (£58) hits all the right buttons, just as we would expect from the queen of the wedding industry.

Hush's silk nightie (right) at £50 is bang on and the smokey plum shade is a variation on seas of ivory.

 

Mary Green Silk Knit camisole (left) (£25) and shorts (£18) are demure without being reduced to large t-shirts involving cartoon characters.

Anusha cotton pyjamas (right) have a crochet trim and a gorgeous retro print and at £59 are pretty bargainous too.

Other places to have a browse are The White Company and some of the stockists at Not On The High Street.

xx

Under where?

My puns are getting worse. They really are. I can only apologise.

The lovely Angelica noted my last blog post on underwear that only skimmed the surface and asked me for recommendations of stockists and pretty styles...

I do as I am asked and have had a hunt on. You should know that, with underwear, as with all things, I have requirements:

• I am ample of boob. I require support. And when I say support, I mean small scale scaffolding (32e... yeah baby)
• That does not mean that I think 4" wide straps are attractive
• Or necessary
• That does also not mean that I want to suppress or hide my bosom. I like my boobs. They just need to be convinced to stay upright. That means I need padding, not to add to their volume, but to support and cup them.
• I hate man-made fibres. So I'm looking for silk bras.
• I like sexy but not trampy. I like provocative without being obvious. I like pretty.

On to the pictures...

Elle Macpherson Intimates is gorgeous and the colours are often sweet without being vapid and have some really delicious retro styling:

Dentelle bra (32B - 38DD) £30 and shorts at £18

Notorious Bra (32A - 36D) £35

 

 

 

Rigby & Peller is an industry standard and well worth going to a branch to have an official fitting done. They maintain that a basque or corset is never necessary for strapless lift: that should all come from the under bust measurement fitting you securely.

This Giselle style has body to it without diminishing its delicacy and I really like the latte colourway: (32B - 40E) £66

 

 

 

 

 

Myla is always a favourite, if only in my mind. Though I've not stretched to anything from here yet, the following are very high up my list of possible splurges:

    

Ella Silk Chiffon babydoll £139 and bra (32A - 36DD) £109

The Nicole range is so pretty and lacey and comes in an eye-popping shade of coral pink that I have throughout my wardrobe. The basque, though, is probably the most bridal.

Basque (SML) £129

Bras (32A - 36DD) £89.00

I am the MOB Part 2

Helen Mirren is currently doing it for me as a red carpet inspiration so that my Mum looks like gorgeous and flattered and not a hint of polyester floral with lilac jacket hideous...

The regular themes are

• skimming but not tight fabrics
• fluid rather than stiff fabrics
• shimmering colours and textures that are pale without being insipid
• an emphasis on her assets: her forearms and her decolletage rather than her ankles or upper arms.

Now... if only we could find a pattern that would do the same thing. Suggestions on a postcard...

Credentials

This is slightly off-piste, but Michelle has been impressed in the comments that I am brave enough to make my dress (or at least have it made for me by my mum). While I love a bit of stitching for myself, I am of the 'botch it to get it done in time to go out in' school of seamstress.

My fair mum, on the other hand, has couture dressmaking flowing in her veins. To show you how I have not a worry in the world, herewith some demostrations of talent...

For my brother's wedding she made the baby bridesmaids and pageboy waistcoats...

Her own outfit and my sister in jade (I made my gold number but the fit was never quite right - the day in July was about 36 degrees too which didn't help!)

The bows at the back of the girls was my favourite touch of the whole day...

My cousin's wedding dress the following January (left) was silk satin with an internal corset and a lace bodice that was only revealed after the fur wrap was removed.

My dress is going to gorgeous, and fit me, and be made by my mum.

I can't wait!

I'll give you a hint: it's from the Vintage Pronovias collection...

Busy Busy

A successful weekend has passed with more decisions made and jobs ticked off. I went back to my hometown of Cheltenham for a girlie weekend with my Mum while the Boy worked most of the hours available to him (and some that weren't!).

First on the list of jobs was the first fitting of the toile for my dress. (See this helpful site for an explanation.) I'm afraid modesty (!) prevents me from explaining the design in any great detail, but suffice to say that we have managed to find a few patterns to replicate the ready-to-wear design that we have fallen in love with from Pronovias and the fitting went without hitch. Corset and toile will go back to the sewing machine for fitting number 2 in a fortnight's time.

Also had a flit around the wedding shops in Cheltenham for a scope of the shoe possibilities out there (a resounding BLEURGH) and enjoyed coffee, chats and general merriment.

Other completed jobs include selecting the blue silk from Angus International for bridesmaids' dresses and sashes, sourcing a company to make ties for us from said silk, and approving the waistcoats and shrugs that Mum has been lovingly stitching for the wedding party. She is a very talented little bunny and I really could not have pulled this together without her. Thank god for retired Mums!

On an aside, I have had a comment from one of your fair selves requesting a wedding night underwear suggestion. I am compiling my thoughts and will hopefully post by the weekend. Thanks for your patience and in the meantime, have a browse on Figleaves if you have not done already. A huge selection and very helpful searching facility should make light work of your plight. xx