Honey got a pair of brogues last year.  When he showed me his purchase, I must admit I squealed.  I have a thing for brogues.  I got my very first pair in the 6th grade.  I wore them out that year, but I haven’t lost my love for them.   But back to Honey.

So, he got his first pair of brogues last year–they are cognac colored.  He’s been loving ‘em.  Not only that, he’s been secretly (or so I think) liking the fact that his coworkers and countless strangers compliment him on his shoes.

He loved those shoes until we went to London.  You see, it rained in London….though I don’t think that’s unusual.  When it rained, Honey’s brogues would get soaked down to his socks.  And who likes wet socks?  Certainly not Honey who automatically assumed that his brogues were of faulty construction.

Unfortunately, I had to edumacate him in the history of brogues.  The shoes were originally constructed in the late 16th century with Irish and Scottish peat bog workers in mind.  The perforation were made to allow water to drain from the shoes as the wearers trudged through bogs….So it would seem that while brogues have been adopted into mainstream culture the perforations still very much serve their purpose of allowing water to pass through the shoes.  After my little lesson, Honey still didn’t appreciate the fact that his favorite shoes didn’t stand up to the rain.  He’s less of a brogue lover now….but I haven’t lost my love of them.

I don’t think the Brits minded their feet getting wet while wearing brogues though since you couldn’t walk for 10 minutes in London without spying someone wearing a pair.  The same was true in Paris where I took the above picture.  Though I should mention that the first photo is from last month during our trip to Europe.  The last photo was taken last September during Fashion Week.

With the warmer weather heading, I’ve started thinking more about my summer whites.  I’ve finally hemmed a pair of white jeans to the right length.  I prefer my pants to be Steve Urkel length. And my favorite white dress I purchased from a little vintage shop in South Africa has been faithfully hand washed waiting for the opportunity to be worn.

Though, I must say that Bostonians have been wearing their whites all winter and spring long.  And when wearing white, my favorite thing is to wear it with a bright color such as this green vintage cape that Arrolyn is wearing.  Black will play down color pairing but white makes  colors all the brighter.

Arrolyn owns a consignment shop in New London, New Hampshire.  If you’re ever by her way, check out her shop, Go Lightly (yup, Go Lightly as in Holly Golightly).

Hope you had a restful weekend!

Since we did quite a bit of cooking on Saturday Honey and I treated ourselves to brunch at Hamersley’s.  And that’s where we ran into Alyssa and her family.  The clan had gone out to celebrate a graduation (not Alyssa’s).  Love this breezy number that Alyssa is wearing, it’s simple yet sophisticated enough for a casual brunch.

I spent much of the weekend being quite the domestic.  There was baking, cooking weeding/gardening, and spending time with my young niece.   I did have time to go into town for a bit of style hunting though, so the whole weekend was not lost.   Hope you had a good weekend!

A few days into our trip to London, we turned on the telly to check the weather.  We were tickled to find that it was to rain across the whole country.  The US is so big that I don’t ever remember seeing the same weather reflected across the whole country.

Needless to say it rained the whole time we were there except for a few hours here and there.  Our trip reminded me of living in Brussels.  The summer I lived there, it rained the whooooole time.  Who knew summers are extremely wet in Brussels? In Brussels, every now and then the sun would play hide and seek with us for 30 minutes to 1 hour.  But sure enough, once the tease was over, the rain would come back.  The same was more or less true in London.  As such, it was a good idea to always keep an umbrella handy.

We’re now home!  But I am missing London.  It’s always fun to see how other cities dress.  Certain cities have a distinct style, I call it a sartorial accent.  You see its inhabitants, and you know exactly where you are.

We were able to make a quick jaunt to Paris during our visit and let me tell you seeing the London and Paris in a short 48 hour period cemented in my mind how different the people in each city dress. In London, it was very much about sweaters that reach mid-thigh such as the one in this photo or about the olive parka for both men women–young and old.  In Paris, brogues were quite the rage (more on that later).

I took this one photo in London while in Islington on our way to dinner.  Happy Monday!  Hope you had a relaxing weekend.

We’re in London!  And finally after a few days here, we have internet. In some ways, I’m grateful to our hotel because after all, while you’re on vacation, the last thing you want to do is to be tied to your phone or social media, which sadly, I often am.  I didn’t realize how much I refer to my phone (and computer) until I no longer could.  I daresay, the separation makes for more enjoyable time off.

Honey and I ran into Emma on Saturday while at Brixton Village for brunch.  It was such a treat to sit, enjoy the sun and watch the stylish British world go by.  It didn’t hurt either that the food thus far in our trip has been delicious.

More later. Toodles!

I ran into Hannah last week while off to a meeting.  I asked whether or not her bow came with her blouse.  Apparently it did not, she merely used a piece of ribbon lying around as an accessory.  What a great idea.  I have a black gros grain ribbon that came with my wedding dress—well, my wedding dress was really a cocktail dress.  Since I haven’t done much with that ribbon, I may just use it to accessorize one of my blouses.  Now I just have to learn how to tie a bow properly.  I’m absolutely hopeless on that front.