Have you seen my style? I think I had it yesterday ( AKA just because you hit 50, you don't

Before I start , let me just say...
YES, this is a bit of a rant about women, style, and *shock, horror* The over 50's.

"Not the over 50's" I can hear you thinking...  old women with no shape, a penchant for beige, elastic waists (and I'm not just talking about clothing!), skirts of indiscriminate length, and blouses?

(By Adam Jones Adam63 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

Yes, the over 50's! No, No, never, and 'god forbid' to the rest!

*Gets out my soapbox*

*Heaves myself up (ignoring the clicky knees)*

*Takes deep breath, and intones - in the tone of an AA convert -
( Alcoholics Anonymous, NOT the Automobile Association - though for all I know, they may also have some sort of membership ritual that entails a summary of breakdowns attended and years in the service) 
....but I digress 

Is digressing is a sign of my advanced years? I think it might be....

"My name is Hazel, and I've been over 50 for 3 years, 10 months and 1 days!"*

There you go. It's out in the open.
I. Am. Old.

OK. Let me stop myself right there.
I am NOT old.
I may look a bit older than I did a few years ago.
My hair is pretty much grey under the rather uplifting auburn (or "a bright and vibrant red that gives you a vivid colour result" if I listen to what Schwarzcopf say)  that I'm favouring at the moment.  My eyebrows need not just shaping but defining, and I'm a size or two *cough-or three-cough* larger than I was in my twenties, but I'm still the me that I was, inside my head.

I still:

• Love retro styling
• Tend towards the dramatic
• Want clothes that flatter my figure

Although according to my results....

I don't want:

• To look like my Mum
• To look like my daughter
• To be bland

While I've been poking around on the internet, I came across this article by Michele Hanson and I absolutely agree. She was commenting on the section in the Channel Four series 'Fabulous Fashionistas" that focussed on older women who still looked amazing in their 80's.

Her point was that these women have ALWAYS been interested in fashion , and are only continuing to do what they have always done - look fantastic.

I would love to look fantastic/quirky/individual too.

The trouble is, I'm having a bit of a style crisis.

A sudden lack of confidence in my own taste.

A feeling that there is nothing out there in high street shopping land for people like me.

And I wonder....Am I alone?

Take my last shopping trips to look for something to wear for: 

1 - The work Christmas party - dinner and disco, with a casino theme.

2 - A work luncheon at a VERY nice hotel in London.

3 - Some new non work clothes suitable for being seen in ( as opposed to mooching around the house in)

The Christmas party.

The shops were full of low cut, "sexy" outfits, that made me feel like Bet Lynch on a bad day, and had my rather ample decolletage threatening to collapse the bodices if I so much as leaned forwards to pick up a fork, or dresses so sparkly that you couldn't look directly at them ( probably a good thing or you might notice that they no shape and turned you into a rhinestones sausage). 

So I turned my attention to the internet, and WOW! - Almost immediately I found a site stocking the kind of thing I'd wear!

*Does a happy dance*
And then I realised that it  (along with lots of the other websites I visited) was in the USA.
Not a problem, I hear you say.
Well, thats true, but the thought of ordering something that might need returning, the potential customs costs, and the delivery times ( yes, of course I'd left if to the last minute) meant that I had to think again.

Thankfully Marks and Spencers came to my rescue, and I managed to find a dress that was suitably dressy, made me feel great, and was available to try and buy in Bluewater.

The Luncheon.
OK, unless you are someone who regularly does formal lunches, this is a really hard one to dress for.
Do you go for something light and feminine and channel your inner tea dress?
Do you got for formal work wear, since it's a work event including liaising with directors from other companies?
Do you go for some chic cocktail dress, and glam it up a bit, even though it starts at 2pm?

Well, as it turned out, the event was a mix of women wearing all 3! The majority had gone for glam evening wear though, which was a bit of a blow to me, as I had opted for business formal. Still,  I felt ok, as my safe black dress and jacket was perked up with a sizeable chunk of green amber (a gift from my mum a few birthdays back), but that still didnt stop me looking enviously over at those chic women who had the knack of getting it just right.
And I admit it, part of me was thinking that they had it easy as they were exclusively around the size 10 mark, with big feet.


Why big feet, I hear you ask?
Well if you have big feet, you can wear heels without having to balance on your big toe, fetish like, if the heel is anything over 2 inches high.
But lets not get me started on that one. I'll save it for a later post, when I fade back to my teens, and shoe shops with rows of heels that increased as the shoe size went up, keeping the line of the shoe in perfect proportion....

And Finally:
The Non Work clothes. 
It was really this search that was the catalyst for my post.
I have lost my style identity when I'm not being defined by an event.
In part I think it's because my shape has changed. I've lost my waist - although according to a style advisor I consulted a few years back, I was never actually an hourglass (which is what I'd thought), but a straight with a large bust, which only made it look like I was. Who knew?
So while I tend towards jeans, tshirt, and cardigan, I no longer look like ME when I wear them, I look like some kind of frumpy, style-less, grandma.
*insert your most favoured sad/red faced/horrified emoticon here*

So I've had enough.
I'm on a crusade to FIND MY STYLE!
Now I just have to decide what's appropriate to wear while I go and look for it.

Hmmmmmmmm...
This might take a while!

* Actually I'm older, because it took me ages to get round to posting this.

"The joy of Pinning" or "In praise of big knickers!"

Its nearly Spring!

Ok, maybe not, but It's not freezing every morning any more, and when the sun shines, its actually WARM!.
So, in the hopes of sparking off a proper pre-spring cleaning frenzy, over the past week I have been looking through my bookmarks to try and get them into some kind of order.

I don't know about yours - you may be one of those strange and mysterious beings who tag, file and collate your bookmarks with library precision, able to find any reference with a few precise clicks.
If so, I bow to your magnificence and suggest you skip the next bit rather rapidly. You will be appalled at my haphazard methods.

Me?
Well, I just click 'bookmark this page' in the handy section at the top of my browser, add the link to whatever section seems most relevant at the time, and leave it there until I need it again.
At which time I realise that:

1.  I haven't titled it.
2.  For reasons which are lost in the mists of post menopausal memory, I have not put it in the section that now obviously relates to it.
3. It's not actually about what I thought it was about in the first place.

And I promptly resort to Google.

Yet again.
*Le sigh*

Now, while I've found somethings that have made me smile*, or wonder why I bookmarked them in the first place, mostly its been a slog to open them, rename them

However, since I discovered the joys of Pinterest my bookmarks have become much more manageable.
Post-pinterest, things are rather different.

• I find something interesting as I pick my way through the spider-silk  of the Interweb.

• I realise, as I'm Ooohing and Aaahing, that I want to follow the link to some other tantalising site.

• But I don't want to lose the link to the page that I'm on, so.....I look for something visual that will tell me as soon as I see it, what the original site was about, and I click the 'pin it' button, kindly supplied by those sensible people at Pinterest. ( I bet they collate their bookmarks!)

• It  brings up a pretty list of all the possible images, and choose the one I decided on earlier, click it, add a note about it, put it in the relevant file, and Hey Presto! its done.

Of course, there are pitfalls.

• Time works differently when you are in the Pinterest dimension - before you know it the ten minutes that you think you have spent flicking through a couple of sites has warped into ten hours. And, NO, I'm not joking.
• Some swanky websites don't let you pin their images. Not in an 'You do not have permission to do so' way, but a ' No image or video found on this page" way. And while I recognise that the image belongs to someone ( I always try to make sure I've attributed it to the correct source, and don't pin an image if there is a request on the page not to,), and Pinterest will ALWAYS remove it if someone objects, When I'm on a page that is selling stuff, PLEASE make your image Pin-able! . I mean, when even a computer illiterate like me can screen grab, save , copy and then add a link back to the original page then what difference would it make?

So, after that mini Pinning 101, it's back to the old fashioned version.

And 'click'

Enjoy your weekend!

* This was this story that made me smile - It was in The Guardian on Wednesday 2 Jan 2008 and was called "Fire,fire, put pants on fryer"

:D
Oh yes, I can empathise with that last comment!

Blogging for work

One of the ( many and varied) reasons that I can be rather, well, lets call it 'random', in my personal blogging schedule, is that I am also in charge of writing a blog for the company that I work for.

Its called 'I love this frame', and is supposed to feature one frame per week that catches my eye and makes me go Oooooh!

Now I regularly get the Oooooh! effect at work, and you would think that once a week I'd be able to get my act together, put fingertip to keyboard, and get it down on *virtual* paper, for the delectation of the few random people who might stumble across it in the blogosphere.

And in the main I do and I have.

But It has meant that the time I had hoped would be spent adding to this, my personal blog, is often taken up by organising the data for the work one.
Especially since, although it is written on behalf of the company that I work for, I write it in my own time.

So, having noticed that I haven't written anything for myself for a while, I thought I'd give you all a taste of what goes down on the other blog.
And here it is, this weeks edition of 'I love this frame'....



Frame overload at the Vinyl Factory

Ok, I know this blog is titled 'I Love This Frame' and reading that, you'd expect to see something about a particular frame each week.
A perfectly reasonable assumption I agree.

But this week I just couldn't choose.

"Why is that?" I can see you thinking....
( Oh yes you were, don't pretend you weren't! )

I mean, with all the frames that I have to choose from in the Opticians where I work I manage to make a selection, so how come this week is different?

Well, let me fill you in on the reason for my sad lack of decision-making.

This week I had a few days off and had intended to go to a couple of trade events. ( I know, talk about busman's holiday, but hey, I love my job!)

The first was Pure.
Not an Optical event but a fashion buying one, with lots of interesting seminars highlighting the trends for autumn 2013.

Unfortunately for me, for a variety of reasons, I didn't get to go.
*sad face*

The second was The Eye Show.
This was a brand new Optical trade show, and it was getting everyone quite excited.
In the UK we already have a large Optical trade show, Optrafair, that happens every 2 years in Birmingham, but apart from one brief event quite a few years ago, there has never been anything in London.
But, *insert second sad face* it got cancelled at the last minute.

Which left me with nothing to do.
By 'nothing to do' I'm ignoring the housework / unfinished craft projects / reports for work / CET* / sickly teenager, that are waving madly at me from all corners of my house and saying "MeMeMeMe" trying to attract my attention.
( I mean that quite literally, in the case of the teenager ).

But, oh joy! Before I had to decide which was more important - pompoms or lemsip** - I discovered that some brilliant people had set up a pop up event to showcase some of the brands that had been going to exhibit at the Eye Show.

So I bundled up against the snow, grabbed my trusty train pass and made my way over to Soho to have a shufti.
I didn't even get distracted by Choccywoccydoodah or Irregular Choice on the way!

And the reward for my diligence and single mindedness, was an array of frames that were beautiful to behold!

There were featherlight, innovative frames and bespoke, personalised ones.

 There were catwalk featured, couture frames and high street on-trend versions.

There were Swiss frames who's finish and quality made you want to handle and stroke them because they felt so wonderful!

There were amazingly ornate, jewel encrusted Parisienne works of art, and examples of classic English craftsmanship.

There were re-worked versions of frames worn in classic films, and by Hollywood legends.

 There were funky, fun, flower inspired children's frames.

There were award winning frames, and personalised lenses.

There were rimless frames, chunky frames, feather light and flexible frames.
Acetate frames, Titanium frames and Wood frames.
Retro frames and almost invisible frames.
Frames in every colour, finish, shape and size.
Oh, the bliss!
*Swoon*
( Don't look at me like that ... I LOVE frames! )

It was like being given a Wonka Gold ticket!

There were even showgirls!

And an afterparty!
( yes I have photo's, no I'm NOT going to add them )
:D

So no, this week I don't have a single frame to show you.
I was in love with them all!

( And if i was excited this week, I hate to think how I'll be in a few weeks time when we go on our visit Mido in Milan! )

Next week normal service will be resumed as I calm down over the weekend with copious amounts of coffee and some ironing!

See you then.
*wanders off, dreaming of frames*




* CET = The ongoing training that all Dispensing Opticians / Optometrists have to complete every year to retain our registration and show our fitness to practice.


** Before you think me a heartless mother, the teenager in question, though apparently dying at eight am, had miraculously transformed into a slightly hoarse, sofa occupying, iPad using, definitely alive body by half past ten.

Views from a car window, or 'all legs and hair'

Is it strange to be concerned about someone that you don't know, and will probably never come into contact with?

Why?
Well, let me explain.

I don't know about you, but I normally take the same route to and from work every day.
Since I work full time, that means that five days a week, at approximately the same time each day, I'm doing the same thing, in the same place as all the other people who are also living their lives as prompted by their personal timetables.

So I often see the same things over and over again. Points during my journey where I glance over and check out the view.

Like the brow of a small hill, just outside of Seal, where the traffic flow can slow and jam as the road narrows at the bottom just before a blind corner and an informal crossroads.

When it does, and I'm stuck waiting for the cars to chug slowly on, I glance to my right, and see how the field is looking.

This was what I saw in November 2005

And this was in December that same year.....

Its much the same today.

( ok, I fess up, I took this photo AFTER I wrote the blog, but hey ho, such is life )

The fence posts have been replaced, but are still rough hewn, irregular lines of grey, wobbling up and down as I drive past.
The shrubs have been cut down and regrown.
Sometimes there are sheep nibbling their way down to the valley.
Or a tractor.
Once there was a helicopter, black sleek and slightly sinister, just sitting, silent and solitary, on the grass.
Perhaps, next time I'm stuck in a total jam, I'll take another photo to compare....

I see people too.
Generally though, I'm not aware of seeing the SAME people.
Except for one.

For at least the past year, almost every Saturday, I have driven past the same person, walking the 3ish miles along the A25.


View Larger Map

The first thing I think I noticed was her hair.
Being of the short, tousled (aka scruffy) titian variety myself, her long blond mane caught my eye as I drove past.
But it might just as likely been the oversized jacket she was wearing.
Which brought to mind the very comfy, completely ugly, massive denim jacket that I used to own during one of my pregnancies, that I have to shamefacedly own up to wearing rather a lot AFTER said pregnancy when i was going through one of my 'why-do-I-care-what-I-look-like-when-I-have-baby-sick-on-my-shoulder' phases.

The juxtaposition of an impression of tall, slender, manicured, blondness and ginormous tatty lumberjack jacket made an impact.

When I saw her walking in almost the same place the following saturday, I did a more active recce.
Same hair, same jacket, same impression of height and slenderness....um, rather extreme slenderness in fact, but that might just have been the black tights and big jacket.
I mean, thats almost certain to make your joints look a little, well, knobbly....
Isn't it?
My dad used to describe one of my tall, slim, school-friends as being "all legs and teeth, like a colt just learning to walk" when I was having a teenage low esteem session, and wishing for the inches that she had, rather than the curves that were prominently mine!
That was almost the impression I got.
All legs and hair! and Jacket, it's impossible to ignore the jacket.

Its a longish walk, but when I think back to the distance I used to cover getting to school in london - through a park, down a couple of long roads, past the railway station and the town hall, then down the length of the high street, it wasn't really any different from that.
A bit of a solitary walk though. The pavement is bounded by woods on either side, with very few other walkers, but lots of traffic whizzing past.

So I have been looking out for her as I drive to work on Saturdays.

Partly to do that thing we all do, of imagining the lives of people we notice, making up story-boards in our heads...
Is she a stable hand, or training for some endurance event?

But I have to admit, that as the months have gone on, and those slender-to-start-with legs seem to have reduced in thickness even further, while the jacket has grown ever bigger, I check to make sure that I don't see a pile of cloth in a heap by the edge of the woods.


I was later than usual driving to work today.
For once I had an admin day, and  didn't need to set up the practice before the patients started arriving. So although I was at work before 9.00am, it was about 15 minutes later than normal.
I was at the bottleneck in Seal when I drove past her.
Instead of the width of at least a carriageway and a half, plus constant cars and vans blocking my view, there was about 15ft.
She was wearing the jacket, the black tights and had her hair sleek and straightened, falling to her waist.
And she stumbled as she walked.
:(

One of my daughters ( the one who had inhabited my version of the jacket with me ) used to figure skate, and at the rink there were a number of extremely slender but completely fit and healthy girls.
One of them was also tall, blond, and so slim that when she spun on the ice, her waist in side profile appeared about 6 inches wide. Some people used to worry that she was unnaturally slim.
She wasn't, she just came from a family of tall slender people, and ate well. She had to eat well so that she had the energy to skate at the competitive level that she did! But she worried that she would always be, in her view, straight and skinny.
As she grew up, her curves appeared, and she's now a tall, slender, shapely woman. So is her mum.
Sadly for my daughters, their genetics mean they have inherited my lack of height and tendency to dodgy knees, but we'll skip over that.

I wish that my story board for the blonde jacket girl had an uplifting ending.
...and the crowd cheered as she lifted the trophy.
or,
....the owner told her that she was being given a raise in recognition of the hard work she had put in at the stables.

But that stumble gave me pause.
And I wondered if she would be walking that road next week.

Pinterest, work and me

Have you heard of Pinterest?

Lots of people that I know, do know about it.
(yes, i do have real flesh and blood friends!)
But lots of people that I meet, don't.

That makes it sound as if I accost random people and, after a short introduction , hit them with questions about their interweb usage!

Perhaps I'd better explain the context.....

By profession I'm a Dispensing Optician, and so obviously come into contact with lots of different people every day.
One of the things that the practice that I work for specialises in, is something called Colorimetry , which can reduce the effects of visual stress. These are the kinds of effects that can make it difficult for people with Dyslexia to read, or which can be linked to Migraine.

The short of it -and I could go on at length about this because it's really interesting- is that for some people, the use of a specialist tint can really reduce the symptoms dramatically, and so they have those tints made up as spectacles, either with or without a power to correct their vision.

That seems straight forward, I can hear you saying as you nod sagely...
...and you would be right!
The problem comes when you add to the mix:

• The majority of users are children ( adults do use them, but have often worked out coping strategies as they have grown up ) 
• The impact appearing 'different' can have on said children
• The  sad lack on understanding from teachers, who often think the spectacles are a fashion accessory.

In order to combat those points, we have started to take photography of those people who collect a pair of Colorimetry glasses (with their permission , obviously!) and putting it on the work Pinterest page.

There are also photo's of the spectacles themselves... like this gorgeous purple lensed set.

Plus a link to a video explaining all about how it works, that was made by the lovely people at RiceOpMedia for us.

The aim is to have an accessible, visually attractive page where people can comment if they want to and show it to their friends, family or uninformed teachers.
So when i take the photo, I send a copy to the patient, or their parents, and give them a link to where it will be posted.
Which brings me on to Pinterest.

As I'm explaining that the photo will be shown on Pinterest, linked to our Facebook page, and our Twitterfeed  (all curated by me at the moment - how do I find the time?) and I normally ask them if they have heard of Pinterest?
Mostly the answer has been no!
Which has surprised me.
I know Pinterest is fairly new, but everywhere I go on my travels through the Interweb, I find little 'pin it' signs by the images, or added to the list on 'follow-me's'.
Plus its rather addictive...I just went to set up a link and I've been pootling through the pins for half an hour....erm, actually, it was nearer an hour : /

Which is the reason for my question.

Feel free to comment - not only about Pinterest - I'd be very interested to know how many of you know that the colorimetry lenses are available, and how they can help.

Now I'm off to put the kettle on, so I can have a relaxing mug of coffee while I pootle through the Pins!
:D


Oooh! I've just updated to add that I'm rather excited that my own Pinterest 'Home' board has reached 332 followers!
*does a happy dance*
:D