Seasonal Skinny Wk 3: Date Night

For week 3 of my Seasonal Skinny Challenge I decided to move up a gear.  Weeks 1 and 2 had been fairly casual with my Spots & Stripes outfit and my Back to School Satchel outfit respectively.

Bizarrely, all week I’d had a craving for a good, meaty burger and as TallBrownFox needs little persuading to go for a burger, we decreed last Friday night to be ‘date night’, giving me the ideal opportunity for upping the ante of my Seasonal Skinny Style Challenge.

As we were only going to a burger restaurant it didn’t need to overly fancy.  Normally, I’d reach for my faux leather jacket but as one of the reasons for blogging is to wear more of my existing wardrobe, I resisted the temptation to rely on the usual suspects.  I chose a more formal piece – a wool jacket – to pair with the informal piece – my skinny jeans.

The jacket used to be part of a suit.  The trousers were long ago given to charity as annoyingly, *cough*, they’d shrunk in the wash.  Small voice of reason says ‘oh, so nothing to do with the beginnings of middle aged spread then???’.  Pipe down small voice of reason.

I bought the suit on a trip to the States about 15 years ago which is where I discovered Anne Taylor petites.  15 years or so later, the jacket is still going strong; a testament to its quality.  A nipped in waist and tailored detailing of a double flap pocket on one side.

Jacket chosen, I just needed to dress the jeans up a little more with the right accessories.  A black, fringe clutch, jet black, droplet necklace and ‘not to be messed with’ shiny shoes, added the required oomph to complete the look.

I’m not overly fussed about fringing, if I’m truly honest but I did fall in love with this fringe, suede clutch.  It’s a great size – big enough for all your date night bits and bobs but the beauty of this clutch is its versatility.  It can be turned into a crossbody bag, as it has a detached strap.  Genius!

And on our way home, I attached the strap, so I could wear it across my body.  After a few drinks, I didn’t want to accidentally leave it behind on the train.  It’s kinda like those gloves I wore as a nipper – you know – the ones attached with string to each mitt that you wore under your coat so you wouldn’t lose them.

No?  Ah, you’re too young then to remember those….  Feast your eyes on the fringing instead.

I’ve not worn this necklace for ages, so it was overdue an outing.  I like that the drop effect of the 3 centre parts, mirrored the fringe slightly.

I don’t normally lust after shoes but oh, these were lusted after when I saw them on Topshop’s website.  The dainty ankle strap, the block mid-heel, the pointy toes, the croc effect pattern and that colour, oh that colour.  I was pretty much sold on just that oxblood colour alone.  Over the summer I’ve been doing alot of holiday cover for other teachers so I gave into the lust and treated myself to these.  And I’m very glad I did.  They are so comfortable to wear and can be dressed up or down. 

Up until now, I’ve only owned two pairs of pointy shoes.  I find it tricky to find ones that don’t actually push your big toe and little toe underneath the remaining three other toes, like some gruesome, foot bandaging torture.  With these, my tootsies have wiggle room!

Outfit assembled, it was off to hunt down our burgers.  Now, this is a sign I like!  Does what it says on the tin, no mucking about.  No faux burgers here, thank you very much!  

Proper hamburgers is what we were after. Proper hamburgers is what we got!

TallBrownFox threw caution and calories to the wind and ordered a hardshake with his hamburger. A hardshake?  What the heck is a hardshake?  A firm handshake from the waiter once he’s taken your order???

No. It’s a milkshake, flavour of your choice (in his case, chocolate) with a shot of your choice on the side (in his case, bourbon)!  Here I am, sampling said hardshake.  It was like drinking a liquidised, alcoholic, chocolate muffin mousse.  Heaven!

TallBrownFox had to literally prise the shake back off me so I had to slum it with my vodka tonic instead!

Anne Taylor Petite Wool Jacket (old)

Dorothy Perkins Butterflies t-shirt (old)

Black Necklace from the Emporium of I Forget

Joythestore Leather & Suede Fringe Clutch.  In store but not currently on their website.  Comes in 4 other colours – navy, red, caramel and a purply pink.

Top-shop Oxblood Croc Effect Shoes.  Nude ones here

Do you like mixing more formal, tailored pieces with informal pieces?

And how do you like your hamburgers?  With a hardshake on the side?

You can read about my Seasonal Skinny Style Challenge here. 

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