Lent 2014 - Day 8

Flat discipline

Vegetable stir-fry as planned last night.  I wasn't cooking this time, so the vegetable over-catering wasn't in evidence but that left space for noodles, so a win nonetheless.

Lone Discipline

Slightly bleary-eyed after teaching a dance class

Wearing

Brown spotty dress (item 14):  Yet another charity-shop find.  This dress doesn't have proper pockets, but the breast pockets are just the right size to pop my phone or ID card in to run a short errand.  Size-wise this is pretty good, but it does gape between the top buttons (there's a strategically-placed safety pin deployed to deal with that) and the empire waist seam sits just a little too high at the moment.  But it's soft and fun and a very 'me' item of clothing.  Also the shortest dress I'm comfortable wearing with only a single pair of tights.  Wierdly, I'm prepared to wear a slightly shorter skirt than this, but I think that's because bending forward in a dress causes more hemline movement.
Orange angora cardigan (item 15):  Man this is cozy.  It's probably on the cusp of becoming unseasonal, but one of my offices (don't ask!) has highly temperamental heating, so a bit of extra warmth to throw on once it's getting darker can be a god-send.  There's a tie-belt, but I tend to leave it knotted at the back to give a bit of shape.  Perhaps if I wear it again I will try it belted, but it just makes me feel like I'm wearing a dressing-gown, which isn't even appropriate on a casual Friday.

Footwear:  The brown leather boots are out again.  I'm still struggling with the length but it very nearly works, giving me a reasonable gap between the top of the boots and the hem of the dress.
Accessories:  Amber pendant - another gift from the paternal grandparents, this time one I chose myself.  It hangs on the chain from the celtic cross I wore on day 6, because it didn't come with a chain of its own.
 Amber drop earrings - A more recent gift, from Christmas 2012.
Hosiery:  I'm back to fleshtone tights.  This outfit looks more autumnal when I wear it with dark (or opaque orange) tights, the fleshtone tights lighten it up a bit for spring, so I'm good.

 This is a very 'me' outfit.  It's easy to wear, comfortable and goes well with my proportions.  It feels fun but it's smart enough for work.  It transitions seamlessly to a dance class where people need to be able to see my legs and feet.

Somehow this dress reminds me of the many charity shop items that have made their way into my wardrobe.  They make up 6 of my 16 items so far.  In the main they are dresses, skirts and tops, but that's par for the course when you're this tall.  I feel that with charity shops or clothes swaps you win twice (or maybe three times) - once for supporting charity, once for avoiding first-hand exploitative practices and once for the eco-points of reusing and recycling.  Of course, the downside is that there's a lot of work involved in finding items and if the fit is off you can't just try the next size up or down.  I get the feeling I compromise more on fit with these kind of items.

And I've still got 14 items to allocate.  We'll see how that goes.  I'm going to be adding two party dresses this weekend because Friday's dress will be in no fit state to wear on Saturday, so one of those might find itself in the casual Friday mix if I'm running low on inspiration.  Actually, 40 days on 30 items might not really be a challenge.  I'll have a think about reducing my selection further in order to improve the exercise.