I heart dresses

Although I do not feel the same frisson of excitement as I used to when I first bought Vogue all those years ago, I still feel The British  one is one of the more intelligent Vogues published in the world. 

I can appreciate the steely iron grip that Anna Wintour has had over American Vogue, but as she gets older she is in danger of become a parody of herself, wonder if Anthony Perkins is not just around the corner hissing “mother what have you done!” whenever I see pictures of her.

Likewise Carine Roitfeld of Paris Vogue appears  also to be the darling of the fashion press whilst having the looks and figure of a  pram face 

I am sure they are both utterly lovely women and yes, I am guilty of a bit of woman on woman bitching now and again, but it does puzzle me that both these woman are ranked so highly as arbiters of style and fashion yet Alexandra Shulman rarely gets a mention. Maybe it is because she is so grounded as this article in yesterday's Guardian proves. This is an editor that acknowledges the minor irritations we suffer as we get older, the drooping upper arms the thickening waist line and for me the shock of slack skin. Even I ‘Princess Olive Skin’ am suffering from gravity in that department

A dress you once imagined as delightfully bohemian suddenly looks like something your least favourite teacher* would wear on the hottest day of term. Because summer highlights not only concern about bare arms and legs but seems to draw unwelcome attention to the depth of your torso. The distance between the front of your stomach and your back unfortunately becomes a whole new difficult territory delineated by the thin fabrics of summer, and high-waisted dresses do little to help this.

*Oh there we go teacher bashing again

Although I am amazed to find myself writing this, leggings seem suddenly to be a bearable solution to wear under dresses if you find the seasonal loss of the opaque tight unsurvivable.

Both pragmatic and a realist. I am currently wearing some, because quite frankly, it is bloody freezing and I like to wear a skirt every now and again. I personally like to wear a loosish pair of jersey dhoti pants with tunics, whilst knee length very opaque coloured footless tights look lovely under a knee length skirt. Tabio is fantastic for these and although they cost as much as some skirts, they last forever and make the cold bearable.

So a big Mwah to Shulman (despite the usual teacher bashing) for showing us oldies a little understanding.

S-Sung as recommended by Shulman, I love these but they only appear to be available in America.
Matta, which I found here again in America

I do really like this last dress, very unusual and wearable over thin cropped trousers.

Believe it or not two from M&S! I am not a big fan and I can guarantee they would not fit but the one above is very Marni, again recommended by Schulman.

Katzeboutique from Etsy

Pamela Tang again Etsy

I currently love this shape over trousers, I do exercise my arms a lot, so they are tolerable!