Hello, as promised the charity sale starts today raising funds for Blood Cancer UK. It’s been over two years since I’ve done one so there’s a lot of stuff! I often get a few grumbles when I do this so I’d just like to point out that nobody who writes about clothes can ever wear all of the clothes they’re gifted. They’re often the compensation you’re given in return for featuring a brand on your site and I only ever work with brands that I genuinely respect. However my life isn’t glamorous enough to dress up every day of the week so some things that I’ve chosen for edits end up not being worn ..read more

Now that our minds are focused firmly towards better weather I’m bringing you another new season try-on today, this time focusing on new styles for spring from John Lewis. So let’s have a catch-up on what’s been going on there since I last covered them in October. As you probably know it’s all change at the top with the return of Peter Ruis as executive director. He first joined the store in 2005 and was responsible for the huge fashion turnaround that took place over the eight years that followed, introducing brands such as Whistles and Mango for the first time – and he also spearheaded the ..read more

And so it’s time for us to think about our spring wardrobes. Despite the weather’s grimmest efforts this weekend I’m convinced that we’re going to have a good summer this year – it may be wishful thinking because we’re remaining solidly in the UK but I’m sending it out there! Today I’m delighted to be looking at the new season drop from M&S. They’re a brand I haven’t focused on for a while – as you know that’s because there was a time when I felt their quality had dropped so I was interested to see what I’d find when they invited me to look at their new collection for SS24 and pull to ..read more

There are times when you settle into a flight home and wonder if you’ve even been away. And there are others where you’ve done so much that you feel as if you’ve completed an episode in the story of your life. That’s how our journey through the Valencia region of Spain was, even though we were only travelling for ten days it felt like a month (in a good way I should add!). In a short time we experienced so many different lifestyles and I could probably write quite a few blog posts about it but I only have time for one. So It’s a long post today I warn you – time to settle down with a pot of t ..read more

Meteorologically at least it’s time for Spring 24 – first thoughts about the trends. The buds are bursting, the birds are singing and the new collections are starting to drop. This winter feels as though it’s been a long one and although we still have a little way to go, I’ll be very glad to see the back of it. So today I’m looking at Boden’s new collection which has an opening offer of 15% off with code Q2Y6 (until 24th March). This time last year it was a very different launch and I know some of you were disappointed by the crop tops and short skirts that dominated the range. As always I’l ..read more

With it being Midlifechic’s 10th birthday a couple of weeks ago, I thought I’d delve into the stats to see what my most popular post has been and ever since I wrote it over five years ago, it’s been the one about finding the best bra for your breast shape. Of course it’s all a bit out of date now so I thought it was time for a refresh – after all there’s no point in moving on to new season clothes if your underpinnings aren’t right. The original post came from a really interesting day I spent at a lingerie event where lingerie experts taught me all about the different kinds of breast shapes ..read more

It’s a bit of a cornucopia today – I don’t know about you but I’m starting to feel the winter blues so I’m looking for spring wardrobe lifts that work now. Starting with clothes, I’m not ready to think about buying anything major yet in terms of outfits. The new collections won’t arrive for a while but having seen the trends and some of the retail previews, I have a good idea of what I’m hoping to wear this year. At the end of each season, I put future wardrobe notes in my calendar to remind myself what worked and what didn’t. For 1st March it’s saying ‘focus on light pieces with long sleeve ..read more

It feels as though the year is slowly opening its eyes doesn’t it? My grandma was an incurable romantic and she insisted that Valentine’s Day was the day when every bird found its mate. Obviously nature isn’t quite as well programmed as that but some are pairing off already – the owls in our garden have been busy for ages and now the herons on the canal are catching up. It does feel as if hope is there, even if it’s a few weeks yet until we change season – and as I type it’s snowing outside but we have both Pancake Day and Valentine’s Day next week and carbs and romance always make for a hap ..read more

We’ve made it to February my friends and a huge thank you for your enthusiastic response to the meet-up. Mal confiscated my phone on Friday evening to stop me thinking about it so I was over the moon to see that it had sold out on Saturday. For those who’ve asked, I’ve managed to add five more places, they’ve just gone live – link here. I’ll move back to the subject of clothes next week but today is another post about midlife – the time for trying out new things and edging out of your comfort zone. I think when you tip into the second half of your life you become increasingly aware of the mea ..read more

My goodness thank you so much for all of your input after last week’s post. If you haven’t been back to look at the comments on the tougher aspects of midlife and how to deal with them, do take a few minutes to read through them. They show that we’re living through it in a completely different way to the generations before us and so we’re having to work things out as we go along – but it’s helped me to feel that we’re in it together. Anyway it’s taking me longer than usual to respond to each one because each comment is so fascinating so it’s a shorter post today. I’m going to answer a questi ..read more