Sunday's stripes

I did a little bit of a wardrobe clear-out today and found this stripy jumper I forgot about. I have to admit my wardrobe is in state, it's clearly been built for a guy who has 3 t-shirts and one pair of jeans, it's so tiny that I usually can't fit more than a few jumpers and basics on the shelves which means that every once in while I need to refresh my memory and pull some things for a bit of a wardrobe refresh, I usually then take a few items from my clothing rail and put them back to the wardrobe, I try to do this at least once or twice a month so I can get a good view of what I have, especially at times when I get really bored wearing the same over and over again so I was really happy to find this stripy jumper although I have to admit it wasn't my best purchase this winter, I got caught up for a bit with the stripes trend but eventually forgot this jumper at the back of my wardrobe which was actually not  such a bad thing as now I can finally enjoy it now that I'm a bit sick of the sight of solid roll necks and oversized jumpers which I have far too many of.

Essentials and non-essentials

Recently I've noticed a pattern in my approach to shopping and the sales period this year was a proof that there is a slight change in my approach to shopping and spending which I'm actually very happy with. Probably the best evidence for that is my reluctance to shop the sales, not because I hate the stress of diving into messy sale rails and pushy customers but because I truly got to the conclusion that there was nothing I really needed to spend my money on, at least nothing that I can consider completely essential to my wardrobe at this time of the year. I have plenty of basic items, knitwear and by now, enough jackets and coats to last me a few good winters but one thing I noticed I can't get enough of recently is shoes and handbags, these shoes from Topshop and Maanii handbag have been two items I marked quite a long time ago as two pieces that I will buy once the end of season markdowns start and I'm quite happy I managed to hold myself until the sales and save some money but I was also really happy that I bought exactly the two items I set my eyes upon and didn't get distracted by any other sale items that I simply didn't need at this point. 

One of the things that I noticed is that pretty early on in the season I had a list of items that I wanted but didn't want to pay a full price for and with that list also came a more sensible outlook on what I need or don't need so when the sales started, most of those items I thought were essential at the beginning of the season, suddenly disappeared from my list simply because as times passed I started realising I did not really need them and eventually I was left with just two items on my list - a pair of shoes and a bag, certainly not big sale scores but definitely more practical then most other items I set my sight on when the season just started.

I'm hopeful that I'll be able to keep up with this as the new season arrivals start to hit the shops, it was certainly something that not only saved me a lot of money but also taught me to evaluate carefully what I need and what I can live without. 

Routine

Every year, once the holiday season is finally over, I feel like a giant weight was lifted of my shoulder, the holiday season is usually quite stressful for most but for me the worst part of it is the sudden impact on my routine. There's nothing I hate more than having my daily routine broken by the holiday madness, I love the stability of knowing what I will be doing Monday to Friday and where I will be and the holidays always seem to shutter this stability. Celebrating the return to work this week has also meant celebrating the return of safe and comfortable wintery outfits and after spending the week in sunny Tel Aviv where temperatures reached 26 degrees during the day, putting on a fuzzy cashmere jumper on a rainy and windy day felt like the best thing ever. Call me crazy but I always preferred dressing up for winter and after a long holiday at home being able to go back to my comfortable wintery wardrobe and get back into my routine were exactly the two things I needed after this slightly crazy holiday season.

Trusted favourites

Time seems to fly this week and I can't believe it's only two days before my Christmas break officially begins. On Sunday I'll be on the plane back home but so far I have done zero packing or Christmas shopping, I'm writing this while taking my lunch break at work, the clock just struck 6 and we're still looking at at least 3 more hours of work preparing a new project to go live. Although I love moaning, I'm actually enjoying my time at work but unfortunately the crazy hours this week have stopped everything else in my life and all my plans outside work have now been put aside and just as my plans, the daily morning fashion exercise now consists of me picking up just about anything I can find, although I'm quite happy with my outfit today, a skirt and a trusty old men's jumper is probably my favourite items. I know I can pull them out of my wardrobe when my eyes are still half shut in the morning and still manage to get a sort of OK outfit that I won't feel ridiculous in. To challenge myself I decided to wear my chunky pair of shoes which I still haven't really broken into but so far so good. Now all I  have to do is wish that the project we're working on tonight will finally be ready to go live and then I might finally be able to take a deep breath and hopefully finish all my holiday preparations in time.

Bag obsession - the gym backpack

It seems like I can’t go a week without developing an obsession for a handbag style and after my foray into the controversial world of bumbags recently, I’m now developing a slight obsession with drawstring gym bags. Yes, it’s yet another time-travel adventure for me, back to the summer camp days when I was forced to pack all of my daily summer camp belongings into a flimsy drawstring bag decorated with all sorts of colourful and ridiculous motifs that were there to remind you what summer camp you’re in. Obviously, once the summer camp days were gone, I never had to look at the drawstring gym bag again, but recently it seems they’ve been slowly making their way back and luckily, this time, the loud and colorful is replaced by sophisticated and practical making the drawstring gym bag feel a little more age appropriate. 

These are some of my favourite picks, ranging from the very high end and ridiculously expensive Alexander Wang x  Samsung bag to the slightly more affordable high street option from Zara.  

New in : the Maanii bumbag

So last week , I caved in and decided I'm going to get this Maanii handbag which I wrote about a couple of weeks ago and this morning it finally arrived. I find it really hard to call it a bumbag, it is shaped a little bit like a bumbag, but it's really far from the bumbags I  remember from my early teens somewhere in the 90's. This bag is actually more of a cross body bag which instantly wins points in my opinion. 

The leather is really soft and there's plenty of space for me to throw in a bottle of water, my headphones , a wallet and even a small book (yes, I love to overload my bags) and of course there's the slouchy shape and the chain straps and details. 

Overall I'm really happy with this purchase, clearly my bag obsession lately has gone a bit too far but this bags definitely ticks all of the practicality points for me which means no more bag shopping any time soon!

Bag obsession - Maanii Copenhagen

I once again found myself drooling over a bag this weekend, I don't know if my latest bag obsession is a result of actually not really being that inspired when it comes to getting dressed, it's not that there are no fabulous and gorgeous garments everywhere this season, it might be just the recent changes to my daily routine and lifestyle that make me get more excited when I see a cool bag.

I've recently discovered this bag by Maanii , part bumbag, part shoulder bag, it's certainly one of the more unconventional bags I've bumped into recently and I'm really tempted to reach my credit card and get one of these. Oh, how I hate handbag temptation!