A Crazy Day

Thank you for all your suggestions for my Comic Relief dress down day outfit. I decided eventually to wear my colourful shirt and blue trousers. It was a completely different outfit to my normal work clothes - we have a black/white corporate dress code - and it was interesting to see some of my normally ultra serious colleagues in casual outfits. We raised over £100 from donations and sale of cakes at lunchtime which made the event worthwhile.

My latest charity shop purchase is this knee length grey skirt. It is quite plain but will go with a number of different tops and will no doubt get a lot of wear during the spring/summer. It only cost £1.25 on a bargain rail so I couldn't go far wrong!

Dress Down Day

In my last post, I wrote about our dress down day at work on Friday to raise money for Comic Relief (which for my non-UK readers is a nationwide charity event). We need to wear a casual top and jeans which caused me a headache as I am probably one of the few women around who does not like jeans - I have actually never owned a pair!

Anyway, I thought I would step outside my comfort zone during my lunchtime on Thursday and see if I could find an inexpensive pair of jeans I could buy just for the day. I had tried on some jeans a few years ago when my best friend tried to persuade me to buy some and I remember how uncomfortable they felt. I thought it would give it another go and ventured into one of the stores that sold budget clothes and tried on some jeans.

I managed to take a photo in the changing room. The one pair that fitted properly I felt were far too tight around my thighs and bottom. I am always self conscious of my bottom when wearing trousers and you will see that these jeans emphasises the shape of my bottom far too much and would be against my standards of modest dress. I just would not feel comfortable wearing them.

I have two alternative outfits - the first is this fun shirt which I could wear with my blue trousers. The shirt is quite long and hides my bottom!

The second is leggings with a tunic. I bought these leggings two years ago and wore them on holiday. I am not a huge leggings fan but they are far more comfortable than jeans and give a casual appearance.

What do you think - your comments will influence my decision!

Comic Relief Day

For my non-UK blogger friends, I must explain that we have two major charity events each year - Comic Relief in March and Children in Need in November. Millions of pounds are raised at each event and there is massive TV coverage and fund raising events in nearly every city, town and village.

This year, Comic Relief is on Friday, March 24th and, much to my surprise, my office is taking part. My organisation is usually strict on corporate image and we have to wear smart white blouses and black jackets, skirts or trousers every day. However on this one day we are all taking part in a "dress down day" and putting a donation into the charity bucket for the privilege. We are also selling Red Nose Day cakes from our foyer. These are simple sponge cakes with white icing and a single cheery on top.

The "dress down day" will involve us wearing casual shirts or tunics (no problem) and jeans. The jeans will cause me a headache as regular readers of my blog will realise that I must be one of the few women of my age group who does not own a pair of jeans. 

I have never owned a pair of jeans. The nearest I have got was trying on a pair in a shop in 2015 when my best friend Lisa was attempting to persuade me to buy a pair. The post is here Jeans shop I found them very clingy and uncomfortable around my legs and bottom and they drew attention far too much to the shape of my body. I am also not that keen on the image of denim.

Since 2015, I have relented in the case of my daughter, Hannah, and she now has several pairs of jeans which she wears at weekends. I didn't want her to be different from her friends who all wear jeans but Hannah's are straight jeans rather than skinnies and do not cling around her bottom and they certainly aren't the distressed variety!

I have not decided what to do yet for Comic Relief Day. Chickening out and taking the day off is not an option as I have no leave yet in this leave year which ends on 31st March and we are having a busy period in the office anyway.

I would welcome your thoughts. Am I the only non-jean wearing woman that exists? Should I grit my teeth and buy a cheap pair just for the day?

Comments please!

Boots

I don't wear boots that often (apart from rubber boots in the garden) but found these in a charity shop priced at £5.00 and they were my size. I tried them on and they fitted and were comfortable so I just had to buy them. I know the winter is coming to an end but we may still get some cold wet weather so I could easily get some wear out of them before next autumn.

The skirt was unsurprisingly another charity shop purchase and cost me £3.00 a month or so ago and now temperatures are gradually rising, I am starting to wear skirts again more regularly. I like the length of this skirt - just below my knees - making it quite modest.

My black top and white jacket have been in my wardrobe for some time. 

My office is surprisingly talking part in Comic Relief Day in a few weeks. For non-UK readers this is a Charity Fund Raising Day carried out nationally lead by massive media coverage. It will cause an issue for me concerning my outfit for the day and I will seek your advice in my next post!