Dress Of The Day with Angela

 The Green Next top The sleeves are a light 100% cotton. Sleeve Buttons Ten little buttons on each sleeve. That's twenty on the sleeves alone. Neck Buttons Eight buttons on the neck. Total 28 buttons. The ones on the neck have button holes. The ones on the neck are decorative. Size 16. The top is comfortable because of the wide arms, which are thin cotton, but narrow to knitted cuffs elegantly fastened with numrous small green buttons.

  Next green top worn by Angela Lansbury. Photo taken and edited by Angela Lansbury. Buttons - a big number Eight covered buttons, neat green to match the colour of the top. Ten more tiny buttons on each sleeve  Total 28. No spares. Size and Shape Next clothes are for the next generation, no longer teens, nor early twenties, so they should be designed for fuller figures. Also, not so absurd, more elegant. Next Size  Size 16. That copes with larger or changing weight. Flattering Design The design is flattering but practical. The knitted cuffs, and drawn in waist add to the illusion of curves and daintiness. But the stretchy bust and hips, and the ballooning upper arms, cover any overweight parts of the wearer. The sleeve design, leg of mutton sleeves, dates back to the 1800s. Next Shops My nearest Next shop is in Harrow.  How come they are so successful? They go back a long way, before you and I were born. A successful women's wear business merged with menswear and ad...

Next tee-shirt embellished with sequins. Worn by Angela Lansbury. Photo by Trevor Sharot. The Printed Text Printed On The Tee shirt The Next tee-shirt on a table top so you can see the design more clearly. The letters spell out MERRY, a word we associate with the Christmas season because of the phrase used in songs. We wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. God rest ye merry gentleman is in a Christmas carol. The same goodwill message appears on Christmas cards and on greeting cards, Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Perhaps that was why I got it reasonably priced. I bought it on Ebay for under ten pounds, despite the fact that it has lovely sequins, seems smart.  Is it tacky? the annoying way it splits the word merry into ME RR Y. Other Next tee-shirts have the text split up to make a short message or word in large letters fill two columns down the front. On mine the back is plain. Me? Why I Bought Sequins On The Tee-Shirt I bought the Next top for the sequins. I had...

Inspiring Sequin Embellishment I saw a silver sequin skirt in Marks & Spencer in the sale. I don't think silver flatters me, although I tend to wear silver jewellery which is less expensive to buy. I loved the sequin roses and wanted to do the same on other garments. The roses were made up of different sizes of sequin. Buying sequins I went online and looked for sequins.  You could buy huge quantities of one size of sequin at a high price. Fine, if you intended to use a lot, for a long time. But beyond my budget. However, I bought a small packet of mixed sequins. Postage Costs - Extra or Free The postage is the killer. The postage can cost ore than the product. So I looked for free postage. Often the free postage was on larger quantities or higher priced products. Time Sewing Sequins I then decided that the time taken to create the pattern of the rose, and sew each sequin on, was too time consuming. Indigo Moon Sequin Clothes My Indigo Moon clothes had many patches of sequins. ...

  Season Xmas jumper with santa, snowmen and trees. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Her sister bought it for her this eye-catching seasonal jumper one Xmas. It comes out every year. The pattern is green trees, red Santa hats, white snowmen - with fluffy white. Plus the sparkles. Seasonal Knitting Pattern Ideas If you are a knitter, or have a knitting machine, or a friend who knits, you could copy the idea of a row of green trees, or a row of white snowmen, or a row or red Santa hats, on a neutral colour background. Or just one big tree, or three in a row, or a triangle of three trees. They could be small like on this jumper, or one large one. or one left and one right, or three in a horizontal or vertical line. Sequins and Braids Add some rows of sequins. I find sequins fiddly and tedious to sew on. You could buy a braid of sequins.  Sew horizontal lines, or a frame for your design, oblong or oval, or heart shape. Add Pearl buttons or Brooches Another idea is to add pearl buttons, f...

  Angela Lansbury, author, wearing blue and green dress of the day 790. Photo by Trevor Sharot. Copyright. Brand Top From Next. Made in India. Size UK 8 P  (Petite, it says on the washing label.) Europe zize 36. Colour Two shades of blue green, deep dusky blue, turquoise, black, white, cream and brown.  Decoration Sequins inside some of the flower patterns,, on three large flowers on the front, and one on the back. .  Source Bought second hand from St Luke's Hospice shop. Hair band Turquoise green ribbon, tied in a bow. Probably from a chocolate box. Skirt/dress Double layer green sleeveless dress. Blue Jacket,  Cape blazer style. Bought from Shein in their sale. A Chinese company. Chinese sizing. Small. 3XL, and nowhere near close enough to do up at the front. I added two blue ribbons to pull it in at the waist to stop it slipping off my shoulders. That was not enough. I added another pair of ties, gold rope, handles removed from a small shop's paper gift bag. ...

The black Broderie Anglaise Dress I met a girl in the lift. She was wearing a striking black broderie anglaise dress, with the holes outlined in white. I thought it was very pretty.  But this was a good outfit for the office. The black is a colour which does not show the dirt and biro marks. White is jolly and relieves the otherwise funereal black. I asked her where she bought it. She said in Chinatown in Singapore. The cost was about 40 Singapore dollars.  The dress looked even better when I was standing beside her and could see only the sleeves. She has a white watch strap and white shoes.  The black of the dress echoes her black hair. And even her phone! For absolute perfection, find a white tote back instead of the cream, although the pattern on the cream tote back is leaves which slightly match the theme of the dress holes which are circles, scallops and what look like double ears or double leaves.  The Red Broderie Anglaise I was inspired to wear my red broderi...

Angela in red Chinese New Year outfit, dress of the day number 579. Photo selfie by Angela. Edited by Angela on Samsung phone using filter posterize. the filter added colour to the background.  I wanted  to wear red for Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year is so called in China, Singapore and other countries or cities with large Chinese populations. It is also known as Spring Festival, and Lunar New Year. Red is the auspicious or lucky colour. Everything is red. Red lanterns. Red packets with gifts for children and unmarried adults. I selected a red and white broderie anglaise dress. This was bright red, with a slight contrast of white, broderie anglaise, suitable for smart casual day wear. However, it was not smart enough for the evening.  To make it more festive for the evening, I added a lacey, red sequined bolero. Then a red scarf with small silver dots. My first selfie taken with my phone captured only from my bust upwards. Angela wearing red outfit, dress of the day 5...

 Yesterday, I lost. Today, I won. Yesterday, my online purchase of a posture support garment was not a success. However, today I am all smiles. My grass green skirt from Tu Woman goes perfectly with my orange top. Orange and green outfit. Photo by Angela Lansbury. The Vibrant Green Skirt I bought a green broderie anglaise skirt on ebay. I love it. I immediately tried it on with my orange broderie anglaise top. The orange of the top offsets the green of the skirt. Wow. What a wonderful combination.  I already liked the orange broderie Anglaise blouse, but - but what? But it was sold as off-the-shoulder, with spaghetti straps. that did not feel or look right. The elastic pulled on the top of my arms.  I wanted to wear it with the sleeves on the shoulder. But then the neck gaps. Should I wear it the way it was supposed to be worn? No. I am not on the beach. (Despite the hot summer weather in London, and the hot weather in Singapore, the USA and worldwide.) I can't wait to we...

Red eyelet dress 443. Selfie by Angela. Photo taken on a timer. The mobile phone was propped up on a work surface. I found this dress on eBay when I was searching for eyelet dresses. I prefer the old term, broderie anglaise, but eyelet is quicker to type.  I looked for red. I have white broderie anglaise already. My friend in Singapore wore a red broderie anglaise, then a blue one and I thought the fabric looked terrific on her. I love the colour red. Red, red, red! I was happily wearing a red dress at a toastmaster International lunchtime meeting at a business in Singapore. I thought I looked just right. The president of the club sidled up to me. With a sly smile, he asked, 'May I ask you a personal question?' I went hot and cold all over. What was he going to ask!  What had I done wrong? Did I smell funny? Was I showing my slip, or bra strap, or visible panty line? Were my shoes down at heel? Did I have a stain on my dress? Was my hair fly-away, badly cut? Did I stand round-...

 I used to wonder why a company would choose a different brand name. Surely, if you buy from Marks & Spencer, or Sainsbury's, or Primark, that label tells you enough. Then I found out why they change brand names.  Some of these companies sell worldwide, although you might find more stores in their home country.  Update July 24 2023 Not only to they have different names for clothes for men, women, and children, sometimes for teens, for classic and modern, for businesslike and for sexy/disco wear, for luxury three piece lined clothes with double stitching and spare buttons for mother of the brides which are dry clean only, and for skimpy, light crop tops you can wash in a machine or wash by hand. For example Asda - George H & M (Swedish) Levi Strauss & Co - Levis (started in the USA) Mango - Violeta, Mango Teen (Spanish, in Turkey and worldwide) Morrison's - Nutmeg (UK) Next - F & F Primark - Atmosphere Sainsbury's - Tu Brands The same company could have dif...

Champagne look. Angela. Photo by Trevor Sharot. Dress of the Day 73. Smile with Angela. White blouse with double boat neck collar edged with black satin ribbon. Brand Dorothy Perkins. Skirt  Black acetate skirt from Next, showing black lace hem of sleeveless slip from Marks & Spencer.  Accessories Gilt but no guilt Champagne glasses spectacles.  Copy of Decanter magazine.  Bottle of yellow Santa Marta Limoncello D'Italia with real lemons, product of Italy, distributed in the UK. Comments and captions please.   My friend Linda S replied on Facebook, That puts a sparkle in your eyes for drinks in the house.  Oh the English language. In the house is not on the house. In the house means inside. On the house means free, on the tab or bill of the house.

  Angela is wearing an orange top from Next. The plain style stretchy orange t-shirt outfit is enhanced and varied by the addition of a neckline.  The circular neck in black and orange was the waist cut from a child's garment. The brand is Reebok. (Made in Cambodia.) Next Clothing and Lifestyle Company I looked up Next in Wikipedia and was I surprised! fascinating account. First the company's origin's date back yonks. Secondly, they are worldwide and bigger than Marks & Spencer. Thirdly lots of interesting information about the legality of delivery charges on goods returned within seven days and living wages. The past is the past, nonetheless, extremely interesting. Brands Wiki has list of brands with links to the company. Under fitness wear brands I noticed Adidas, Converse, Everlast, Lacoste, Nike, Puma, Reebok, Slazenger, Speedo, Under Armour, and many more.  Next changed their logo from all upper case. that enables you to date photos of shops and shopping centres,...