"". July 2017 | Is This Mutton?

Fashion for the over 50s with books and beauty

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Monday 31 July 2017

Cobalt blue and white

 A dynamic colour combination, cobalt blue and white is stylish and invigorating. Shown on Is This Mutton? in a drapey tunic and white jeans.
I've had a cobalt blue top for a while which I've never worn, so I was inspired to get it out by Jennie at A Pocketful of Polka Dots who showed cobalt with black. Cobalt is a refreshing and invigorating shade and looks good with either black or white.
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Saturday 29 July 2017

Autumn/Fall 2017 Preview Part 1

Part One: The Colors

It's around this time that I get a bit bored with summer fashions, having been on holiday in June and endured the sales. So I have been looking eagerly at new arrivals online in my favourite stores, and studying the colors which the Pantone Institute has decreed will be the colors for Autumn/Fall. Find the colors here.
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Wednesday 26 July 2017

Beauty: exploring HA masks and rose and violet delights

We need more rose! Is This Mutton? reviews Argan Moroccan Rose day cream
This month I've been trying another hyaluronic acid face mask, a rose scented day cream from the supermarket, the Marks and Spencer Summer Box and two products I'd never thought of trying - mainly because I perceive them as "too cheap"!
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Sunday 23 July 2017

More ways with a gingham skirt

Styling a gingham skirt with a cashmere cardigan for cooler summer nights and with Converse trainers for a casual look
I've been getting good wear out of my gingham skirt this summer. You first saw it here, although I didn't keep that skirt in the end, it had too much fabric. Instead I went for one from Marks and Spencer, which is featured today and also here on holiday. 
A cropped cashmere cardi, in many colours from Boden, is a warm alternative to a top as the weather inevitably gets cooler.
Fuchsia pink is definitely one of my favourite colours, and now that we've passed the Summer Solstice and August is nearly here, we'll soon be needing cardigans and sweaters. So I paired the skirt with a cropped cashmere cardigan from Boden and pink sandals with silver block heels from Topshop. Bag from Asos, sunglasses Ray-Ban, necklace Topshop.
For an evening prom in the park, a cashmere cropped cardi is ideal along with block heeled sandals and your favourite sunglasses

Black and white gingham goes with anything, and fuchsia pink is always a striking colour to choose. Pair it with a white clutch and block heeled pink sandals.
I saw one of the younger bloggers wearing Converse with her gingham skirt, so I thought I'd try it. To be honest this is a look that will never really work on me because my legs are not slender enough. I'm wearing another item which has more than proved its value this summer, my white denim jacket* from Bonmarché, and some long gold chains.
Create a more casual, edgier look to your gingham skirt by adding pristine Converse and a white denim jacket
Sharing this post with Patti at Not Dead Yet Style, Catherine at Not Dressed as Lamb, Creative Mondays at Claire Justine, Emma at Style Splash and Nicole at High Latitude Style.

Disclosures: any gifted items are marked *. My editorial is always objective.

FOR MORE MUTTON


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Thursday 20 July 2017

Look younger with better posture

Age is no barrier to having great posture. Just look at actresses Felicity Kendal, Joanna Lumley and Cherie Lunghi

What do these fantastic ladies - actresses Felicity Kendal, (left) Joanna Lumley and Cherie Lunghi (right) have in common?

Excellent posture.

I think all three ladies have either danced or practiced Pilates most of their lives, and it shows.
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Monday 17 July 2017

Styling a floral skirt

Make sure your floral skirts look contemporary by adding an up-to-date top, maybe with statement sleeves or off-the-shoulder. Is This Mutton? styles a colourful Boden floral skirt
I love Boden's floral cotton skirts and have several. They're great for easy summer dressing. But on the over-45s they can look a little old-fashioned. You'll see any number of elderly ladies wearing floral skirts, albeit probably not from Boden, along with flat sandals and a plain white t-shirt or sleeveless top.

To make sure your floral skirt looks contemporary, choose a top with the latest look, whether it's asymmetrical, off-the-shoulder or featuring statement sleeves. Then have fun with your accessories, particularly shoes.

I highlighted the blue colour in the skirt with my accessories and the red colour with my top. Cinching my waist works for my shape - I'm using a blue belt which was known as "the Gok Wan" when he had that TV show telling women what to wear. When he gave larger ladies makeovers, they were inevitably hiding themselves under loose clothes and he always told them this made them look larger, and recommended these partially elasticated belts.  It's very true. The necklace was another of my great Etsy buys - I love that site!
Statement sleeves, a waist cinching belt and a stunning glass necklace bring drama to a Boden floral skirt. As featured on Is This Mutton?
 This Virginia Creeper will soon be a sight to behold when it goes red in the autumn.
Choose one of the colours to highlight in a floral skirt and use it for  your accessories.

Cinching your waist really works with a skirt that hasn't got a very defined waist. This one is part leather, part elasticated.

Close-up of Is This Mutton's Gail Hanlon in an article showing how to style a floral skirt to give it a contemporary edge
 The lippy is by Boots No 7, Soft Paprika.
Molly Hanlon, the cat owned by Is This Mutton's Gail Hanlon
The photographer's assistant, Molly, faithfully following me around.

Outfit Details

Skirt, Boden (past season) - check out their lovely Richmond skirts here. Red top, F&F at Tesco. Denim wedges, Marks and Spencer, past season. Cobalt necklace, Sacred Cake at Etsy. Clutch, Accessorize. Belt: Julian Carter, buy here.

Sharing this post with Patti at Not Dead Yet Style, Catherine at Not Dressed as Lamb, Jess at Elegantly Dressed and Stylish, Emma at Style Splash. Dawn Lucy at Fashion Should Be Fun, Fabulous Friday at A Pocketful of Polka Dots and Fancy Friday at Nancy's Fashion Style.


Coming next on Is This Mutton?

Monday: More ways with a gingham skirt
Wednesday: How to fake flawless skin
Friday: Remember these summer fashions from 20, 30 years ago?

For More Mutton

Don't miss a post -  follow my blog on Bloglovin and receive a weekly email on my updates. You'll love "shoe of the day" on the Is This Mutton? Facebook page. And check out the Is This Mutton? Pinterest boards, including boards on other bloggers in fab outfits plus jewellery, hairstyles and fashion picks. Is This Mutton? is also on Twitter. 



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Friday 14 July 2017

Lose weight with the Diet Plate

The Diet Plate and cereal bowl shown on a dining room table. Copyright: Gail Hanlon
With more than one in four of us trying to lose weight most of the time, it's a growing market for the diet industry to make money out of our misery.
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Wednesday 12 July 2017

Mutton's Choice Cuts: Sean Bean and More

Prepare to be surprised, amused or annoyed by Mutton's Choice Cuts, the random thoughts of Is This Mutton's Gail Hanlon
Welcome to another edition of Mutton's Choice Cuts. This month I'm talking about Sean Bean, "forbidden words" that we shouldn't use in job interviews, and a formula for a Kathy Reichs book.
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Monday 10 July 2017

Chic dresses for the office

Gail Hanlon from Is This Mutton? in red skater dress and red Golf car in an article on chic, quirky dresses for the workplace
Office dressing is a hard thing to get right. Depending on the culture and style of the office in question, you might feel like a round peg in a square hole. Or you might wear clothes that don't suit you in order to feel part of the tribe, or give yourself more gravitas.

I recently shared a photo of me for Nancy and Shelbee's Bad Buys Book, where they feature outfits that just didn't work.  For me it was a plain navy blue dress , the type that many of us wear in the office when we need to impress. Everything about that dreary dress makes me despair. I knew I could have added bright pink accessories, but I also knew it would still look like that boring navy blue dress. View that post here.

For me, office wear needs to be a little quirky and "me." In the hi-tech multinational world I'm used to, men are still the majority and they have adopted a uniform of sorts by mostly wearing unfashionable jeans and t-shirts or polo shirts with logos - and not fashionable logos, usually logos of suppliers or their own company.

The women either wear what they like or adopt a similar uniform.

I like to wear knee-length print skirts (usually from Boden) with tops that have some interest - a Peter Pan collar or fancy buttons - and a jacket for customer meetings or a cropped cashmere cardi for normal work days, with some interesting jewellery and wedge or block heeled shoes.

Sometimes, if it's a very early start, I might pull on a plain black outfit - trousers or jeans and a top - and add some accessories: a statement necklace, metallic belt or boots.  And occasionally, a dress is called for: particularly when I am going to an agency meeting in central London,  and most of the women at the ad or PR agency are millennials.

A dress like "the dreary" would not be at all appropriate:  I want a quirky dress, something with little details that made it a bit fun:  buttons, collar, a splash of colour.
Red skater dress with gold buttons from Marks and Spencer, summer 2017: ideal workplace outfit when you want to feel confident. Worn by Gail Hanlon, over 40s blogger from Is This Mutton.com
This contrasting edge button skater dress from Marks and Spencer ticks all the boxes. It looks a little quirky, it's a flattering shape and it's red, a colour that instantly gives you confidence. It goes nicely with my red car for an extra touch of "wham!" I like the gold buttons on the shoulder and the "pocket" detail on the waist. I don't feel I need to add much in the way of accessories.
Image featuring a red skater dress from Is This Mutton's article on finding dresses with a litttle quirkiness for the office.
Meanwhile this dress from Next appeals because of the coloured panels in the skirt. These give the dress a little uniqueness and present several opportunities for different colours of accessories. I opted for a yellow felt flower corsage and yellow and white bag to pick out the yellow stripes, but there are also red , white and blue.

The dress is the wrong shape for me unless I cinch the waist. Shapeless shift shapes do nothing for me and tend to make me look wider unless I add a belt. It's perhaps a little shorter than I like, but lately I've been thinking that slightly above the knee is hardly a felony is it?
Gail Hanlon from Is This Mutton? in a black panel pleat dress from Next in an article on how over-40s women can look individualistic in the office
Gail Hanlon, blogger from Is This Mutton.com, adds yellow and silver accessories to a black panel pleat dress from Next to add some individuality for a cool workplace outfit.

Over 40s women looking for chic dresses to wear in the office can find a dress like this from Next and add accessories that echo one of the colours in the panel pleats. Article from Is This Mutton? featuring a dress from Next

Details of the Outfits 


Red dress, Marks and Spencer, £39.50. Also in blue and black. Crystal block heeled sandals, Dune, last year
Black pleat panel dress, Next, £50 (sold out). Yellow flower felt brooch, Crafty Jo Designs at Etsy. Bag, Marks and Spencer, last year. Silver belt, Madeleine (old).

Disclosure: no items were gifted.

For more office wear, visit my posts here here and here.

This Week on Is This Mutton?


Wednesday: Mutton's Choice Cuts

Friday: Lose weight with the Diet Plate

Monday (17 July): Styling a floral skirt

For More Mutton

Don't miss a post -  follow my blog on Bloglovin and receive a weekly email on my updates. You'll love "shoe of the day" on the Is This Mutton? Facebook page. And check out the Is This Mutton? Pinterest boards, including boards on other bloggers in fab outfits plus jewellery, hairstyles and fashion picks.


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Friday 7 July 2017

Can you lose your double chin with this face mask?

The ChinUp mask components. It's claimed you will lose at least two centimetres around the chin and jawline.
It takes a bit of effort to get rid of a double chin. Dieting and/or exercising the face or, for faster results, liposuction or Coolsculpting.

But now an intriguing product called ChinUp Mask claims to provide instant, visible results in 30 minutes that last on average 2-3 days.
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Tuesday 4 July 2017

The fabulous Ruby, birthstone for July

The colours of rubies vary from deep pink to red and they look stunning in groups, as shown in this image from Gemporia

Researching this post I was surprised to find very few generic photos of rubies available. Rubies are one of the most expensive gemstones in the world, and perhaps that's why we don't see them so often. Their rarity, then, makes them all the more special. 
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Monday 3 July 2017

#5 Over 50 Challenge: 50 Shades of Monochromatic

A monochromatic outfit - all white - for summer, shown by Is This Mutton's Gail Hanlon. Different textures from lace, pearls, leather and denim create interest.The July challenge to our fab collective of over-50s fashion bloggers was 50 Shades of Monochromatic. I chose to style an all-white outfit. When I'm on holiday I always save a white outfit for the last day when I have a light tan, so the photos were taken "on location" by Mr Mutton in Kassandra Bay Resort & Spa, Skiathos, Greek Islands.
White looks great with a tan and against a blue sky, as Is This Mutton's Gail Hanlon shows in this shot for the 5 Over 50 Challenge: Monochrome.
I was keen to mix different textures of white - lace, leather, denim, pearls - and paired my Boden white jeans, now £40 in the sale, with a white lace panel blouse from Mango which has lovely floaty sleeves.

It was a bit too see-through for my taste  (I didn't want to go the whole hog of "50 Shades!") so I wore a Pure Collection camisole underneath. Finished off with white sandals with perspex heels  (M&S Autograph, last year), white bow bag from Asos and large pearls. Plus my pearly white nail polish, Happy Anniversary by OPI.
White is a great choice for a summer outfit particularly if you have a tan - mix your textures to create interest. Gail Hanlon from Is This Mutton? is wearing a lacy blouse from Mango, white jeans from Boden, chunky pearls, leather sandals and white  pearly nail polish

White can come in many shades and textures: lace, pearls, cotton, leather. Combine the textures and shades to create an outfit with impact for summer.
Close-up showing the lace detail of the top.
Now let's see what my four cohorts came up with.
Showing how stylish monochrome can be, Vanity and Me blogger Laurie is elegant in pale pink
Laurie from Vanity and Me is a master at using monochromatic, and is a picture of elegance and sophistication in her blush and white tones. I love the feminine drapiness of the skirt and the accessories she has chosen. 
Showing how you can have fun with black and white and pattern mixing, Anna Parkes from Anna's Island Style in gingham, check trousers and a fun circles umbrella
Anna from Anna's Island Style  was the only one to go for the black and white option with her funky trews and shoes, gingham top and circles umbrella. Superb pattern mixing! I love the black and white frame to her sunglasses.
Monochrome can mean different shades of one colour as blogger Jacqui Berry shows with her zingy yellow outfit and accessories
Jacqui from Mummabstylish is delivering a blast of colour with her gorgeous citrus lemon, all the more stunning for being photographed in a field of rape seed.
Ashley from Lazy Daisy Jones shows us several different colours in her interpretation of the 5 Over 50 Challenge: Monochromatic, including this all-white version.
Ashley from Lazy Daisy Jones  also chose white as her monochromatic choice, with a lacy top and belted trousers, and beige sandals. She tried other colours too including yellow and black. 

For the outfit details make sure to visit each of the blogs!

Check out the previous #5Over50 Challenges for May and June.

There's also a Pinterest board showing what we wore for the various challenges. 

Sharing this post with Catherine at Not Dressed as Lamb, Patti at Not Dead Yet Style, Emma at Style Splash, Claire Justine and Jess at Elegantly Dressed and Stylish.

What would your interpretation of the challenge be?

Don't miss your next helping of Mutton!

Don't miss a post -  follow my blog on Bloglovin and receive a weekly email on my updates. You'll love "shoe of the day" on the Is This Mutton? Facebook page. And check out the Is This Mutton? Pinterest boards, including boards on other bloggers in fab outfits plus jewellery, hairstyles and fashion picks.








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Saturday 1 July 2017

June Beauty Review

Quite a few products to discuss this month! Had a nice haul from deluxe French brand Darphin - and found a really GREAT blue mascara which you may have overlooked, thinking it's for teenagers.
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