Never said I wanted to improve my station

 Necklace: erm? Dress: Vintage. Shoes: Next via eBay

Sunshine! And warmth! At last – enough of both for me to pull this vintage beauty out of the wardrobe. Here, have a close-up of the fabric, just because, and to show the colours off a bit more clearly:

 And, er, as a result of wearing this dress all day, I can certainly vouch for the effectiveness of the Ultimate Strapless Bra. I won’t say that strapless bras are the comfiest things ever to wear all day (it’s the silicon they add to the band to give them extra grip, I think), but it wasn’t half bad and I don’t think anything moved more in that thing than they did in my Shock Absorber Run bra while out for this morning’s run!

Yep, still running, too. I’m aiming for two to three times per week and am feeling the difference in stamina, speed, distance and, well, general ability to do the thing, as well as in my overall health. I think that last thing also partly ties back to the fact that a) it’s getting me outdoors, which I love and miss somewhat, and b) it’s about the only time my brain isn’t ticking over. I know a lot of people enjoy running as it gives them time to themselves to think, but this over-thinker really appreciate the time for the opportunity to just be.

It’s a wonderful surprise to see your shoes and your spirits rise

 Cardi: thrifted. Dress: Vintage. Necklace: Etsy. Shoes: Dorothy Perkins via eBay

I’m just going to paste in a comment I made in a discussion about body image earlier, because… well, because I’m feeling lazier now than I was then, frankly!

I wish with body image and fitness – fitness in particular – the emphasis was on how you feel rather than how you look. I feel amazing after a run, and I love feeling stronger and fitter after exercise – but that’s not what’s generally sold.

Clothes are presented in mags in terms of how they hide bits you’re not supposed to like – skim this, disguise that, balance the other. No! I dress to flatter the bits I do like – if I’m in the mood to do so – not hide the bits I don’t like. I don’t *have* any bits I don’t like, these days, as it happens. But it was bloody hard work getting there.

Different styles will always appeal to different people, and different people will always want to create different effects – but why not talk more neutrally in terms of the types of effects clothes have and looks they can help to create? Sal from Already Pretty does this brilliantly – she talks in terms of people having different figure flattery priorities and will say for example that x may have a leg shortening effect so may not be for you if leg lengthening is one of your personal priorities.

Exercise, too, is so often pitched as a necessary evil for achieving <desired bodysize/shape/type>, or as something like a car service where you have to do it for Sensible Overall Health Reasons. You’re almost expected to feel you ought to do it but you won’t like it, which is setting up a situation in which people are less likely to want to do it or to maintain it in the first place. You’re also encouraged to measure its effects – and by extension yourself – by appearance and/or the number on the scales, whereby it’s easier to feel a failure, because the visual effects are often slower to materialise than the changes to mood, strength, stamina, etc. But both of those things are so much less important than the discernible improvements to your overall health that you feel from exercise.

It’s just all wrong, dammit!

Some day you might find your hero. Some say you might lose your mind.

 Dress: Gap via eBay. Necklace: vintage. Shoes: Office via eBay. Cardi: thrifted

Strange day. One of contrasts, for which dull black and bright orange now seem oddly appopriate.

Camaraderie and loneliness. Enjoying the present and feeling nostalgic for the past. Laughter and almost-tears. Making plans and wondering if some plans will ever actually get made. Quite the pleasure/pain thing!

Still, it’s an extra long weekend and after yesterday’s torrential rain and today’s greyness I had to pull out the shades to drive home this evening so maybe things are looking up a little.

Your guard’s down and all of your timing has gone. You were patient ’til the earth swallowed the last of the sun

 Cardi: thrifted. Top: Wallis. Skirt: Vintage. Shoes: thrifted. Necklace: Tatty Devine

I think at this point, all I can do is paraphrase a Facebook status update from earlier in the day: gods and goddesses preserve us from people ‘just being helpful’.

She’s the one that keeps the dream alive from the morning past the evening till the end of the night

 Dress: Vintage. Necklace: Dorothy Perkins. Shoes: Dorothy Perkins via eBay. Belt: thrifted

What a strange evening. I left work just late enough to join the traffic bedlam caused by an accident at a roundabout, which inevitably came complete with attendant Numpties Blocking The Rest Of The Roundabout (Y’know how your exit is blocked by a police car? Maybe try and avoid doing that to the people trying to get onto the roundabout by just sitting on it because the next exit is understandably busier than usual?). And then, of course, there were the People Trying To Peer Into The Wreckage.

Seriously, folks, there’s an ambulance and a fire engine and a police car – it ain’t going to be pretty, and it’s none of your fucking business! Let the professionals do their job, keep your eyes on the road and your wits about you to prevent you adding to the problem, and give the poor sod(s) for whom all the blue flashing lights are assembled some privacy.

Take me as I am. This may mean you’ll have to be a stronger man

 Shrug: thrifted. Dress: vintage. Shoes: Office via eBay. Necklace: Dorothy Perkins. Belt: H&M

It’s month-end, so I’m afraid I’ve only just finished working for today.

But at least I looked pleasingly vintage while I did it

Don’t get me wrong if I split like light refracted

Dress: Gap via eBay. Bolero: thrifted. Boots: Duo via eBay. Necklace: vintage, a gift. Holdups: Wolford

Hmmm. My head seems to be very full, but not really with things I can quite articulate.

So on an entirely different note, has anyone else read Mr Chartwell, by Rebecca Hunt? Interestingly light treatment of a potentially dark subject. And a speedy read. Look out for the bit with Mrs Churchill towards the end – excellent writing.

Put it in your heart where tomorrow shines

Shrug: thrifted. Top: Wallis. Skirt: vintage. Boots: Duo via eBay. Brooch: www.mockinghorse.co.uk

For some reason, this skirt is one of the items of clothing to which I tend to be drawn when I’m feeling lively and flirtatious. It’s got an inbuilt petticoat, so it feels pleasingly swishy as I stalk across the office.

Sometimes, it’s the simple things that keep you bouyant.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to search for more swishy vintage skirts!