The day I was shocked in Primark

I promise I don't only shop in Primark. Far from it. I have returned again today after my visit on Sunday only to return the shoddy dress I purchased. I had a leadership course day and finished at 3 so took advantage of the spare time and dropped into town. Well. I managed to pick up a black and white vest in my size (miracles do exist) and in the process, spotted a dark purple dress that I thought would be good for work. Much of a muchness, simple dress, easy to change the look with cardigans, scarves, different footwear etc. I tried it on and just glimpsed the label as I was taking it off, and was shocked to see it cost £17.

£17. A small sum of money indeed, but for Primark? For a very simple, not-much-to-it dress? No siree. I will happily pay large sums of money for good quality, higher end items but £17 for a Primark dress? I must be getting tight in my advancing years, or else the effect of the husband is finally rubbing off after 9 years of togetherness. (Thank you S, I really do appreciate your financial management lessons...)

I might have also purchased a new scarf from Marks and Spencer as well as an advent calendar for me and the husband and some praline chocolate stars. I did manage to avoid the Christmas decorations that looked so inviting though <polishes halo>. Restraint is my middle name...

Finishing with outfits for the last couple of days, both work days, Monday normal work day, today more casual due to the course:

White long line vest top : Primark
Cream angora mix boxy knit: H & M
Plain jersey scarf: Cos
Dark leopard print skirt: F and F @ Tesco
Black tights: Marks and Spencers
Flat riding boots: Primark

Beige long line vest top: Primark
Cream thin long sleeve top: Cos
Silver open back thin knit: Zara
Tassel Piaf Scarf: By Malene Birger
Dark denim jeans: River Island
Biker boots: Dune

Black leather jacket: Zara
Grey wrist warmers: H & M
Bag: Mulberry postman's lock hobo

As seen above, my Dune boots arrived! And they fit, miracle of miracles! I swear I saw the husband visibly exhale when I excitedly relayed to him that they fit and I like them... I think he was having visions/nightmares of a trip to Westfield this coming weekend so that I could continue my search. Although I'm pretty sure I still need to do some Christmas shopping, and haven't we got some birthdays (including mine) coming up...

Only kidding S ; )

Two blogs in two days...

Hell has not frozen over. I have indeed managed to blog two days in a row after an absence of, hmmm, what was it now?  3 months?! Hurrah!

Today was nothing too exciting, just a quick runaround and chores. I schlepped to TK Maxx fully intending to purchase a few Christmas gifts (they have some very nice OPI and Leighton Denny gift sets in at the moment), and instead got distracted by items for myself. Fail.

I think I may have mentioned before that I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with TK Maxx. I have found some amazing bargains in there in the past, but on other occasions, it resembles the private dressing room of Lilly Savage. I had time today so had a good rummage and found a few items that set my heart a flutter. I tried on two jackets and purchased the one that fit me well (the other I loved but was a large size small so had to be left behind). I'm not sure how I'll pass off said jacket as 'Christmas shopping', I'm hoping hubby won't ask to see what I purchased when he gets home.. It's not even like I managed to buy any other gifts that I can show him.. double fail.

Antoni and Alison jacket, £37 reduced from £150.

And now for today's outfit, nothing too exciting, practicality a must for shopping and chores:

Thick stripy jersey top: H & M
Long line white vest: Primark
Blue jeans: River Island
Hi tops: Converse (These are permanently attached to my feet at the moment, they are perfect for running around in).
Checked scarf: New H & M purchase from yesterday. Annoyingly not on their website.
Leather double rivet cuff: Mulberry
Sunglasses: Missoni (not because I am a poser but because of the blasted winter sun, I nearly crashed my car when driving without them the other day).

Cream coat: H & M
Grey wrist warmers: H & M
Bag: Mulberry

I will try not to leave it so long between blogging in future, I ordered the boots from yesterday's epic boot saga so will hopefully have some pics and a success story soon!

If you kiss enough boot frogs you will eventually find your boot prince...

Or you will instead end up consuming copious amounts of wine/gin/vodka (pick your poison) when it becomes ever apparent that the black boot you are searching for does not exist, and the hours you have dedicated in this search have been for nothing.

Bugger. Let me backtrack. I need  would very much like a new pair of everyday black boots. Leather of course, flat to very low heel, mid calf biker style with perhaps a buckle or two for extra je ne sais quoi. No studs, stars, laces, strange colours mixed in, just an everyday biker boot, perfect for wearing with skinny jeans and dresses alike. Am I asking too much here?? It certainly seems so. Double bugger.

But I digress. Having spent the day searching in my usual shopping mecca (Bluewater), I have found nothing that a)fits b)looks half decent c)doesn't hurt/pinch toes. The few pairs that I had narrowed the search down to on the iPad this morning were all in stock (a miracle in itself), but were just not quite right for a plethora of reasons:

Pair 1: Dune Riff calf boot £120. This pair was item number one on my agenda, the leather looks divine in the pics and the buckles a nice touch. In reality, the size 5 were too big, my heel would not stay flat inside the boot when I walked. The 4 were of course too small. Sob.

Pair 2: Label lab biker calf boot £111 House of Fraser. This time, the boots were too big around my calves, think a small child in a much too large pair of wellington boots. Damn my slim calves.

Pair 3: Lauren by Ralph Lauren Saphira boots, £161 House of Fraser. I had high hopes for these but once again they were too big around the calves. An old lady sitting nearby tried to convince me that they looked good but I was having none of it. 

Pair 4: H by Hudson Kepler £180. I also tried on the H by Hudson Horrigan £145. Both were too big, same problem as with the Dune boots, my heel would not stay put. I even had thick socks with me to see if that made any difference, It didn't.

In desperation, I headed to Clarks to see if they had anything similar. Fail. They all looked a bit, dare I say it, mumsy. Which is a shame, as the summer season at Clarks was pretty good this year. Having already persused M and S online, I knew there was nothing there either.

So. All in all today I have concluded that my feet have shrunk a bit, and must be a pretty odd shape as nothing anywhere seems to fit me properly. Short of taking a shoe making (cobbling?) course and stitching my own, I'm going to have to keep trying until I reach the holy grail, the boot prince. I am set to order the following two pairs tonight, and hopefully, something there will fit. (She says as she begins researching shoe making courses in the south east area).

Dune Rallie boot £95. This seem worth a shot, definitely the style I am looking for and with cosy shearling inners. Couldn't find these in store today but they have size 5's online so I'm ordering away.

Radley leather buckle biker boots, £127, John Lewis. These could be another contender. Not quite as high up on the leg but long enough not to leave cold ankles. 

So that's pretty much the whole boot adventure from today. When I relayed this mini-saga to hubby over the phone he was extremely confused and pointed out that I only bought two new pairs of black boots last winter. 'Well yes, but they are heeled boots dearest. And don't you want me to have nice sensible walking boots, you always moan when I have to walk slowly in heels'... he's still unconvinced. Men never understand sensible shopping logic anyway, I may as well be explaining myself to the rabbit. (Love you really S x)

Finally what I wore today to go on my long and arduous adventure:

Leather jacket - Zara
Beige long line vest - Primark
Stripy long sleeve tee - Cos
Horse print scarf - Dorothy Perkins
Black leather double rivet cuff - Mulberry (a little purchase I made at Cheshire Oaks designer outlet on Tuesday)
Khaki skinny jeans: Zara
Sneakers: Converse
Bag: Mulberry

Apologies for the lower quality photos, our camera gave up the ghost on our recent trip to Yorkshire (more on that shortly) so I have been using my iPhone. A new camera has been added to our joint Christmas list (which is growing longer by the day), so I will have good quality images fairly soon, hurrah.

Wish me luck with the boots... gulp.