Sunday, 14 October 2018

Smart look, supermarket style

Over-45s style blogger Gail Hanlon in forest green and mustard stripe dress from Sainsbury's, mustard pull-on ankle boots, also Sainsbury's, and green ribbed tights

I was doing the shopping at Sainsbury's and couldn't help noticing the clothing aisles were full of new arrivals. Plenty of on-trend colours; a decent looking leather jacket; good looking coats.
I grabbed this ponte dress, £22, in autumn's most popular forest green, with a mustard stripe, and was very taken by the soft pull-on mustard ankle boots, £25. It's an outfit I'd be quite happy to wear to work.

I'm fully aware that there's a whole argument raging about not buying "fast fashion", but a lot of people can't afford to splurge on luxury items which will last, and not everyone has the time to go to charity shops.

Some of the supermarket buys I've made over the years have lasted a long time. I have a couple of skirt and jumper combos from Sainsbury's that I wear at home every winter. And frankly, buying designer or "quality" clothes can be problematic in itself. I was appalled to read that Burberry literally throw away thousands of pounds worth of stock every season, because they don't want to see it being sold cheaply and compromising their brand (I think they subsequently did a U -turn, not surprisingly). And a lot of the cashmere we buy is not always ethically sourced.

To do my bit for the planet clothes-wise, I buy quite a bit of secondhand on eBay and I'd love to find more in charity shops. I choose my fast fashion haunts very carefully because I care about the workers at the other end of the supply chain, and Sainsbury's ethical trading policy is here.

Over 45 year old woman in knee length forest green and mustard stripe dress, cross-the-body-bag and mustard ankle boots in a look for AW18

I added ribbed green tights - probably too warm for this time of year, it was still 23 degrees in London yesterday, a showstopper citrine ring and a green leather cross-the-body bag from Uterque (AW17).

Citrine ring and green cross-the-body bag outfit detail

Although it was warm and sunny yesterday (albeit windy) it's raining today so I was forced to take pictures indoors.

Posed in a home office, a work outfit from supermarket Sainsbury's: forest green and mustard dress worn with mustard ankle boots and a green cross-the-body bag

What are your views on fast fashion? Are you consciously trying to do less of it? Would you like Is This Mutton? to feature more buys from eBay and charity shops? I'd be interested to hear your views in the comments below.

haring this post with #CreativeMondays at Claire Justine, On Mondays we Link Up with Glass of Glam; #Anything Goes at My Random Musings, #ShoeandTell at Style Nudge; #IwillwearwhatIlike at Not Dressed as Lamb, Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style; Style with a Smile at Stylesplash; Turning Heads Tuesday at Elegantly Dressed and Stylish, #SpreadTheKindness at Shelbee on the Edge, Chic&Stylish at Mummabstylish, Top of the World Style at High Latitude Style, Fancy Friday at Nancy's Fashion Style. Fabulous Friday at A Pocketful of Polka Dots, #Weekend Wear at Threads for Thomas Thursday Moda.at Elegance and Mommyhood.

Join me on Wednesday for the #WowOnWednesday link up. I'll be talking about nootropics: supplements that may improve cognitive function, particularly memory, creativity or motivation.

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