Frump to Fab 2018 - Fabulous Dahhhhlings

moneyistooshorttomention

Starting to flash around new costume jewellery I've recently bought these days - so was out yesterday with a new noticeable necklace on and ditto pair of earrings. My big sunglasses on and a new pair of footwear. Spotted husband of a friend doing a bit of a doubletake across the street as he waved a greeting to me in passing and had found yesterday that I was getting several mini encounters with people passing as positively as I was used to having some years back.

Don't know if that was because I'm "trying harder" these days bit by bit or because of feeling more confident because of "trying harder". Maybe I can come out of Invisibility Zone and get some more positive reactions - as I was used to a while back:cool:

Thinks...maybe even in a back of beyond town like this it might be worth making the effort a bit more - if I'm going to get the more "positive" reactions I was used to in the past (for whatever reason). :cool:

maman

That's a great post money . It's hard to know which comes first, a bit chicken and egg? Really I think it's about feeling good about yourself. I recognise and remember that invisible feeling. I think that's probably why I joined the thread way back when LL started it because she was feeling much the same but for different reasons.

Glad to hear you've been well enough to enjoy your weekend Sugarbaby . Your family really put a big effort into your celebrations especially to make sure that the younger ones feel loved and cared for.:)

We've had a great weekend at the wedding anniversary party of DH's cousin. Met some nice people, some new, some old acquaintances. It went from lunch yesterday to lunch today. I think I got the fabbing just right. Smart casual (jeans and a bright jumper) for the lunches and last night I wore the animal print jumpsuit for the anniversary dinner. My SIL told me today it was understated as it has very simple lines, floaty fabric, but the animal print makes it interesting. I chose not to tell her it came from the CS and I made it unfussy by cutting off the silly Per Una sleeves! I wore it to one of DH's birthday meals too so as of today it's about £4 cost per wear! :rotfl:

lessonlearned

Good morning lovely ladies

Great post Money. See fabbing does work. Not quite sure how, like Manan says not quite sure whether it’s chicken or egg but all I know is it works. I call it the “circle of virtue”.

We all know that feeling low, sad and lethargic, not caring, giving up, becoming invisible is all part of a downward spiral and ends up becoming a self perpetuating vicious circle.

So somehow we have to break the circle. And I think “fabbing” is the answer. We can take simple practical steps, such as a a bit of TLC, better self care, a bit more self respect and gradually we turn the tide of neglect and apathy. We begin to rediscover our energy and vitality and it shows. I think this iswhat people are responding to. It’s not just that we look better but we give off positive vibes. We radiate an energy that people find attractive.

I know that in the early days of this thread some people thought it seemed somehow shallow and vain to care about ones appearance but I genuinely believe that fabbing is more about self respect than mere vanity. I genuinely cant see the virtue in self neglect.

And of course the pay off is that if we take a bit of care then we feel better physically and emotionally. Our health often improves. We get a confidence boost and our self esteem grows. What’s not to like.

And of course we enjoy those compliments and admiring glances - why not. Who wants to be invisible, ignored and taken for granted.

Maman. Sounds like you had a lovely weekend. Loving the outfits. I’m having lunch with a friend today - my casual look at the moment is pretty much the same. Nice jeans and a fine knit sweater. Im doing well with Sainsburys jeans at the moment. They seem to be a really good fit and really quite flattering. As an hour glass shape with long legs I used to struggle a bit with jeans and trousers - some are too short and some are too large round the waist but I seem to have found the right cut.

It’s time for a little moan. Lol. Nightwear. What is it with nightwear. I don’t want tasteless logos and dubious slogans on my nightwear. I don’t want “cutesy” either - I am not a prepubescent. I don’t want old lady nighties either. I want grown up glamour.

I have been looking for months. I finally bought some pjs from Asda on Saturday. Not sure about the fabric so just bought one pair to try. Not quite what I’m looking for but the nightwear situation was beginning to get a bit desperate. I would have been ashamed to have been seen if I had to go Into hospital. Lol.

I also bought a lightweight forest green boucle crombie style coat. Perfect for in between seasons when a heavy winter coat is too much but a coatigan or trenchcoat isn’t quite warm enough.

Sugarbaby. Glad to see you are feeling better and are up and about again. Your family celebrations sound lovely.

lessonlearned

Ooops nearly lost my post. Still typing on my phone. Hopefully I’ll get broadband set up on Wednesday. They are hopefully delivering the box today.

moneyistooshorttomention

Agreed nightwear is a bit of a problem to find something stylish. It does seem to be the case of "making the best of a bad job" re choices available. I definitely don't want either "old lady" style or "girly" myself.

On recent trip to home city - I bought the best I could find style-wise and that meant Marks & Spencers (:( - due to their quality downgrade in recent years) and I've just got to hope they'll last me a reasonable length of time. So I got two maxi length/short sleeve nightdresses in "Breton stripe" type pattern - one in grey, one green. Also bought a below knee length dress type thing from the "lounge at home" range of sorta nightdress type thing with hood (for comfort lounging round - but still looks reasonably like a dress in case of callers). I am NOT going to buy a onesie ever:eek:

I have realised another thing I need in order not to just keeping heading "down" is I'm going to have to have reasonably frequent visits to my home city. That will be when I do most of my clothes shopping (as there is very little choice here - though I have managed to buy 2 modern casual style cardigans from one shop here recently that has some Seasalt and similar clothes). I also need The Buzz - the sense of "lots of things happening" and umpteen choices as to what to do each day/umpteen places to eat out (and probably a new one or two amongst them)/the general feeling of a pretty prosperous city and "freedom of speech" (I "stocked up" too on the chance to know everyone would agree with my basic viewpoints - rather than telling me I'm wrong for having some of them). I think that was a lot of the "confidence boost" - not having to "watch my tongue" for a few days and knowing others basically had the same viewpoints as myself.

It felt Very Very Quiet here when I came back here after Buzzing Around for some days - and I have to spend some days telling myself "I'm not at risk of fracking or over-development or having to breathe polluted air" here as the counterbalance to not having "Buzyness and prosperity and no language issues".

So I shall go back as often as I can to "keep my Energy and confidence up" and Shop for England LOL.

I think it's going to be a double whammy thing - of making More Effort re my appearance on the one hand and having Home Visits as frequently as I can (for the Buzyness and reassurance I am perfectly normal:rotfl:) on the other hand.

Today's effort will be getting a "proper" hairdryer - ie one I can better style my hair with (with the nozzle thingie and differing heats/cold air blast/etc). I've been using a very basic travel hairdryer for years - so I'm now going to have a "posh" one with all the trimmings.

moneyistooshorttomention

LL - quick thought re those Sainsburys jeans.

When you say you are "hourglass" - do you mean that your bust and hips are same size?

I know my own bust and hips are the same size and my "proper size" (I'm gradually working my way back towards being) is 36 bust/26 waist/36 hips. That is a figure I was perfectly happy with/will be perfectly happy with again once I get it back. I would describe myself as hourglass I guess???

Hence clarifying - as I'm wondering whether Sainsburys jeans would be the correct "shape" for me too? I'm most definitely not pear-shaped or "big backside shape" (my backside is pretty flat and that's okay with me).

EDIT; Just checked to see - and the nearest shape woman to me in the public eye I can think of is that (when I'm my proper size) I've got a similar shape to Princess Diana (but 1-2 sizes bigger - ie bigger bust basically). I'm much shorter than her too. Guess that's me on the shift dresses then as a style that would suit me LOL. She's down as being "label" size 8 - I'm expecting to need label size 12 for my top half and label size 8-10 for my bottom half once I can get back to normal size.

lessonlearned

Yes hour glass is where hips and bust are the same size, with a waist differential of around 10 to 12,inches.

The Sainsbury’s jeans I’m currently liking are straight leg, fitted at the hip and thigh. They have 2% elastane so a nice bit of stretch and yet a good fit at the waist. In the past I was forever having to hitch jeans up at the waist because they were too loose. Wearing a belt made no difference. There is style number 132181082 if that helps.

Southern-Girl

Hi Ladies
Could you tell me what you mean by "label size"
I always go by the size on the label - but am unsure if I'm missing something/should be doing something else?

Thanks

moneyistooshorttomention

By the phrase "label size" I mean the size it says on the label.

The size it says on the label will not be the true size - because vanity-sizing of clothes has happened in recent years and thus the "label size" will say that the item of clothing is a size or two smaller than it really is.

For instance - back in the 1970s Evans Outsize clothes range started at real size 16. The shop chain got renamed to Evans instead and their clothes size still start at the same size - but size 16 is now called "size 14".

REAL CLOTHES SIZES (ie 1970s sizes)
Size 10 = 32 bust, 34 hips
Size 12 = 34 bust, 26 waist, 36 hips
Size 14 = 36 bust, 27 waist, 38 hips

VANITY CLOTHES SIZES (ie "label size") OF THE 2010's
size 10 = 34 bust, 27 waist, 37 hips
size 12 = 36 bust, 29 waist, 39 hips
size 14 = 38 bust, 31 waist, 41 hips

So the older clothes in my wardrobe are sized in real sizes and say they are size 14. When I get back to the exact same size again - I will need to buy size 12 label size tops and size 8 or size 10 label size bottoms.

maman

I've had the Sainsbury's straight legs too and they're very good. SIL was wearing a pair yesterday on my recommendation. I've now moved to skinnies but still have a pair of Tu for knocking about in.:)


I'll happily join in the moan about nightwear!:D


I'm not a pyjama fan for bedtime although I've got a nice pair from White Stuff for lounging. What I like is a long, strappy chemise in a plain, natural fabric. I have two from M&S, one grey and one black. They're in a fine jersey type fabric, like a long camisole IYSWIM. I like something that wraps round my knees so I don't want very short and I certainly don't want logos and pictures of cats or cartoon characters and I loathe prickly, synthetic fabrics. But guess what? M&S in their wisdom discontinued them.:( So I've got two very old favourites and a couple of others which were the closest I could get from Primark and BHS (so there's a clue to how old). I have got a glamorous black silk too but I don't wear that too often as washing isn't that simple. So I just keep looking whenever I'm browsing.:(


Glad you're getting your broadband fixed LL. Hope everything runs smoothly.


Having a bit of a catch up day after being away over the weekend. It's glorious here so washing is out although may have to finish off in the drier late afternoon.


I've done all my basic fabbing: shower, creaming, blow dry etc. I'm not going out but it feels good. Will ring now (while I remember) and make podiatrist appointment.:)