Quality Street chocolates, what could be more Christmassy? Jane and Beryl say, 'Oooh... let's use the gorgeous colours for dressing inspiration.' In fact, our gals have something of the box of chocolates about them at this time of year... 
a very high fat content, wrapped in something shiny! 
Have yourselves a Merry Little Christmas, 
with love from Jane and Beryl.    

Fudge
  
Preloved Phase Eight dress, £75, past season Zara coat, £130, 
Weekend by Max Mara sweater, £119 (sale), shoes, £30, Zara, gloves preloved £8 

As Jane so eloquently puts it, our divas have been 'freezing their tits off,' in gardens of the stately homes of England in order to continue blogging in these challenging times. Beryl had intended to remove her jumper for this shot, but flat out refused due to an icy blast from the north. 
Still, she is pleased with the effect caused by layering up three garments of this gorgeous hue, and the mixing of wool and chiffon.
The word chif-fon always makes Beryl feel a bit unnecessary. 'Chiffon, chiffon, chiffon.' she chants. 
 Jane throws Beryl a withering look. Beryl changes the subject fast, she knows when she is pushing her luck. 
    


Toffee Penny/Caramel Swirl 


Dress, Pearce Fionda at Debenhams, £70, coat, Wallis, £40,
shoe boots, Clarks sale £70

Toffee in any guise is one of Jane's top faves in a Christmas selection (although dark chocolate enveloped stem ginger or Turkish delight are both up there). But despite raking through her wardrobe, she was hard pressed to come up with an outfit to match the sweet: caramel? Really? That's another word for beige isn't it? So she focussed on the swirl angle instead and found this old favourite - in fact, two old favourites, both twenty plus years old. Always gratifying when you can still get into a frock you wore in your thirties.

Strawberry Delight



Dress, past season Ellie Tahari, £119, shoes, LK Bennett, £195,
Hobbs necklace, £49

At first glance, this dress really does evoke a sweetie wrapper and has a marvellous neckline. What could be more festive and fun? However, Beryl, like many women of a certain age is self conscious about her stomach area, which has a tendency to bloat like a puffer fish, at the mere mention of apricot stuffing. Shiny fabric offers little camouflage to any lumps and bumps a gal might have accumulated. And Beryl knows that in any case once a woman has taken agin her arms or her bottom, say, it is like trying to argue with a member of The Flat Earth Society to persuade her otherwise.                                                              

The Purple One

Dress, Amanda Wakeley, coat, August Silk Collection, shoe boots, as before

Ahh, the Purple One, isn't that everyone's favourite? Jane may look as if she is trying to suck in her stomach, and that's because that is exactly what she is doing. Acres of bias cut silk velvet across the tummy area is always going to call for drastic action and as Jane refuses to countenance Spanx any more, she will have to just look constipated while wearing this. 



Orange Cream/ Orange Caramel Crunch

Fake fur tippet, gift, velvet tunic, Toast
 This is a whack, whack oops... outfit, if ever Beryl saw one. Beryl's friend's labrador, who once ate a whole tin of Quality Street, even left the Orange Creams! This tunic is a beautiful deep orange with a luscious velvet texture, but that said Beryl is deeply, darkly, sorry that she bought this garment. Feeling positive about yourself is tricky enough in your sixth decade without wearing clothes that do you no favours. With no waist on show, Beryl forms the actual shape of an Orange Chocolate Crunch. This is not the embodiment she was seeking, and proof that even those who are old enough to know better can still make expensive mistakes. Note to self, no more baggy tunics.  
                   
Chocolate Caramel Brownie
 
Devore kimono, Besarani Collection, shoes, Zara, £29.95

Jane rather thinks that this new kid on the Quality Street block is something of an interloper, pandering to the 'youf', as Jane is a purist where her brownies are concerned. However, it is her lot in the sweetie tombola that is the whatwewearatfifty blog to represent it, and of course, she always rises to the challenge. Jane concedes that the wrapper is the most gorgeous shade of sea blue nonetheless and is happy to bring out her velvet kimono which does the 'cover up the lockdown overindulgence' a treat.  

Coconut Eclair
(Juxtaposed with Strawberry Delight)


Previous season's Jaeger coat, £180 sale, Pretty Dress Company dress, £120,
Jasper Conran shoes, £59 


In a moment reminiscent of HM The Queen and The Right Honourable Margaret Thatcher going head to head in the drama, The Crown, this outfit caused a bit of a grande dame off in a draughty Wiltshire churchyard. Jane maintained that in order to embody a Quality Street chocolate, one colour only is the precedent, while Beryl vigorously countered that you could mix up the colours as they are found in the tin. 
Who's the Queen and who is Thatcher? Well... Jane is obviously always the Queen, and Beryl is wearing that blue Mrs Thatcher favoured. Glad to see that Jane and Beryl are engaging with all the truly important issues of the day. 

The Green Triangle/Milk Chocolate Block

Vintage green coat £150, dress, The White House Sale, £40

 Just as Jane would never say that the green triangle or indeed the milk chocolate block are her favourite variety of Quality Street in the tin, so she would never claim that this hue is her favourite colour in the sartorial stakes - it doesn't favour her complexion. However, she is increasingly drawn to green these days: perhaps it's just the want of a change, a bit of variety, the dawn of a new era...'Calm down, Jane,' says Beryl, 'it's only that you are angling to be Santa's favourite gnome.'  Whatever, there is a lot of it about, just don't wear it with a red hat in the next month.




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