We're Good Enough: No Resolutions Needed

Dear friends. Welcome to 2022, and the second Is This Mutton post of the year. What? You missed the first?  Catch it in the link-up below.

Today we're looking at fashion trends -  quick ways to update your wardrobe;  why I don't make New Year's Resolutions, and what you can expect from Is This Mutton going forward.

Fashion Trends for the Year:  Color of the Year 

You may have seen that the Pantone Color of the Year is Very Peri. To quote from the spiel:  "Encompassing the qualities of the blues, yet at the same time possessing a violet-red undertone, PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri displays a spritely, joyous attitude and dynamic presence that encourages courageous creativity and imaginative expression."

 

Kettlewell Colours is using Very Peri as the basis for its Colour of the Month Challenge over at the Facebook group. While it doesn't have Very Peri in its arsenal of hundreds of colours  (it has been developed brand new by Pantone), their nearest equivalent is Heliotrope.  Heliotrope can be worn by all seasons except winter  (bummer!).  But for winters, or others who don't have any heliotrope, any purples can be substituted.

As I'm on the lighter side of winter, and look best in the brighter, lighter colours of the palette, I may be OK in heliotrope. I've ordered a short tie wrap so we'll see!

As the year progresses, we'll start to see Very Peri being introduced throughout fashion and soft furnishings. Sometimes this takes a long time:  colours for a fashion collection are fixed more than a year in advance.

Fashion Trends and Quick Updates for Your Wardrobe

For spring 2022, Vogue has a guide to 10 trends that define the season. I'm not very excited about these: most of them are best adopted by those under 30! 

• Mini skirt suits (the mini skirt is back big-time)
• "Solar power" colors like yellow, orange, gold. This is a bit scary to me as there's only 1 yellow in the winter palette and no orange or gold
• Having a dramatic back to your outfit, with tails or a train (!)
• The torso as fashion’s new erogenous zone: probably one for the middle-aged among us to ignore
• Grecian draping: this one is far more appropriate for the middle-aged - flattering, and not revealing any midriffs
• Trenches, but with a twist:  spattered with paint, or with a cut-out back
• Tactile tops:  popcorn tops and fluff will be back  (personally, I didn't know they'd been around)
• Transparent:  wearing a transparent layer over your underwear. I won't be trying this ladies.

Fortunately the Sunday Times has some more sensible advice on what's trendy now:

• Wide legged trousers
• A tank top / vest over a shirt
• Chunky loafers
• Knitted dresses that have some interesting detail: a belt, or cut-out turtleneck
• A modern midi in a hue like burnt orange or grey
• Supersized shirts

If, like me, you're on a clothes diet  (I am determined not to buy anything until the Kettlewell spring range comes out), there are ways to add a bit of sass.  Cheap fashion jewellery is one way. I like to pore over the Asos website to see what's trending.

The list above has the necessary ingredients for a great outfit. I'm sure most of us have got a pair of wide legged trousers:  I have a pair from the early 90s. Wear a long shirt, add a tank top/vest  (knit your own?) and slip into a pair of loafers.  Et voila. You can get extra points by plucking your eyebrows so they are very narrow - a look that was last around in the 1980s. Many of us already have narrow eyebrows because they never grew back, so job done! 

We're Good Enough

I'm glad to see articles in Grazia and The Times urging us to stop coming up with resolutions where we try to be a better version of ourselves. Slimmer! Fitter! More abstemious. More more....

The trouble with resolutions is that they always come from a place of saying we need to improve ourselves. At the worst time of the year. 

I firmly believe we should practice more kindness to ourselves. We are  good enough! We don't need to fix ourselves.

2022 Plans

I'm not making any big plans. I'm going with the flow.  There's still uncertainty about what's happening to my company - it's in the process of being bought by a US firm, and there are regulatory investigations which are delaying proceedings.  Will they keep me, or make me redundant? Big unknown.

And after two years of a pandemic, I don't feel like booking out my calendar months in advance, like I used to.  There have been too many disappointments.  Our July holiday (postponed from 2020 and 2021) is in the diary;  nothing else is. I'm going to embrace spontaneity.

There are a few things I want to do more of: becoming more environmentally conscious, and phasing out most of my cleaning supplies and toilet rolls for greener varieties. I also want to do more stretching and relaxation with yoga and gong baths. 

As far as the blog is concerned, I'm going to get more organized, and try to provide more of the content that performs best:  namely, articles where there's advice on how to style things, how to wear the right colors and shapes, and so on - and using "real women".  

When I say get more organized, last year was the first time I didn't use a blog calendar. I was winging it most of the time.  Sometimes I was frantically writing a post for Wednesday late on a Tuesday evening.  Not good at all. Having a calendar means I document ideas, get the emails out to solicit inputs, and have substitute posts ready if something doesn't go to plan. 

For my work To Do lists, I have a lovely pale pink planner with gold lettering from Fraser and Parsley. (I wasn't feeling great when the pic was taken - you can see from my eyes - but had numerous negative tests!). 

 For my blog To Do lists, I have the amusingly titled planner below.

 

Fitness & Diet

My main dilemma is going be around walking versus the gym.  I've got so used to walking every morning that I fret when I don't.  If I'm not out for a walk, and I'm working (a slave to the PC), the Fitbit shows by the end of the end of the day that I probably burned a paltrey 1400 calories. Total.  That in itself is enough to compel me to put the boots on. 

But I've also re-joined a gym with the intention of doing more for my flexibility - yoga, Pilates,  and having high intensity training options. 

I keep booking classes but then cancelling them because I go out for a walk instead.  Working full-time, doing a walk and going to the gym, on the same day, isn't tenable.  So I need to strike a happy balance.

Diet-wise, I am so glad I did the boot camp back in November. So far I have kept the weight off, and my goal is maintenance. I'm relaxed knowing I have the tools to do it. Intermittent fasting and low carbs is what works for me. Interestingly, I read about a new book just out called The Diet Whisperer which uses the same philosophy. 

Word of the Year #WOTY

I've been agonizing about what word to choose. Over thinking it! I was afraid that if I chose a word like "bold" or "brave" I wouldn't be able to deliver on it. Those words suggest action and doing things outside the comfort zone, and I don't have a lot of spare time in which to do many wild activities.  So I'm going with a gentle word:  Be Kind.  It means being kind to others, but also being kind to myself. I'm inclined to be a perfectionist, and criticising myself for doing anything like sitting reading after a hard week  (when I should be cleaning, or walking!). So I plan to be kinder to myself as well.  

The #7DaySkirtChallenge

A few of us are having fun on Instagram with the 7 day skirt challenge.  Here are the skirts I wore on Monday and Tuesday.  I'll show my favourite outfit from the other ladies taking part in next week's post. 

For day 1 I wore my pre-loved Vivienne Westwood skirt: I was so thrilled to find this a few years ago - it belonged to Carol Vorderman!  I added a faux fur tippet for drama, from Kettlewell;  lacy tights and biker boots (M&S) plus a neon pink cashmere cardigan from Boden.

For day two, the slightly unusual combination of purple and dark green, mixing two different purples.  Geri skirt in ganzi purple, jewel lobelia merino scarf and alpine green Rachel jacket, all by Kettlewell.

Sharing this post with: On Mondays We Link Up at Glass of Glam, Top of the World Style at High Latitude Style, Chic & Stylish at Mummabstylish, #SpreadTheKindness at Shelbee on the Edge, #AnythingGoes at My Random Musings, Thursday Moda at Elegance and Mommyhood, Turning Heads Tuesday at Elegantly Dressed and Stylish,  Style with a Smile  at Stylesplash, TFF at Doused in Pink, Lizzie in Lace Confident Twosday at IDoDeclaire, Rena at Fine Whatever, Fabulous Fridays at Lucy Bertoldi, #Neverendingstyle at The Grey Brunette #TheWednesdayLinkUp at Claire Justine, Fancy Friday at Nancy's Fashion Style, Happiness is Homemade at Life as a Leo Wife Weekday Wear Link-Up at Away from the Blue Sunday Showcase with Chez Mireille and Elegance and Mommyhood  (first Sunday of the month), Stylish Monday (first Monday of the month) with Ask Suzanne Bell 

Now it's time for #WowOnWednesday, the weekly link-up where readers find new blogs to read, and bloggers find new readers.

READERS' FAVOURITES IN 2021

Sharing joint honours of having being readers' favourites 9 times in 2021 are:

Laurie from Vanity and Me

and Penny from Frugal Fashion Shopper.

They were followed by Suzy from the Grey Brunette and Rena from Fine Whatever.

Take a bow ladies!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the link-up in 2021. I really appreciate your support. And a big thanks to readers who took the trouble to read the posts and leave comments.  Blogging can be a lonely business, and knowing we have readers who appreciate what we do makes it worthwhile.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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