I haven't posted an outfit for a while - time hasn't really permitted it, which is ridiculous as clearly I am still getting dressed on a daily basis. I think that the starts have been earlier than usual and when I get home I am so desperate to get into my Cath K pj's that I just chuck everything off in a heap.

This photo was taken a few days ago, when the rain stopped briefly.  I am wearing a lace Mango skirt with a bright Boden lightweight jumper and Jigsaw shoe boots.  The lace skirt is stretchy so very comfortable and the knit kept me cosy. You can find similar skirts at Great Plains, Jigsaw and Boden - and Mango has a black one in stock at the moment but it is quite a bit shorter. 

Whilst on the subject of Mango, I was in there today with a lovely lady during a Shopping Day.  We concluded that the jeans would probably fit a lady who was 6ft tall, or thereabouts, so, for all of you tall ladies who find it difficult to find jeans to fit, Mango may just have the answer. The Martina style is great too, a very dark wash and very wide at the bottom, they make legs look as if they go on forever.

Like most of you no doubt, I have had a fantastically busy week this week so haven't had chance to blog much, or for that matter look at other blogs.  The article in Grazia magazine that 33 pieces = the perfect wardrobe has probably been discussed to death - but I'm going to talk about it anyway.

Apparently, according to April Glassborrow, head of womenswear buying at Harvey Nichols:  A woman needs a capsule wardrobe of everyday hereos which should be updated with key pieces each season.  It should also be updated with a key piece each season and be kept organised to save time when getting ready.

I don't think that many would dispute that - unless we were meant to buy them all from HN and then our Wardrobes may have 3, instead of 33 pieces in them.

So, what are the 33 pieces we should have in our Wardrobe? 

10 tops - 2 silk shirts, 1 breton top, 1 grey and 1 white T-shirt, 1 great white shirt, 1 silk vest, 1 trophy top, 1 cashmere knit and 1 lightweight knit

10 bottoms - 3 jeans, 3 skirts, 3 trousers and 1 every wardroe needs one pair of leather pants (I personally prefer the idea of leather trousers to leather pants but even then I am not convinced!)

2 bags - 1 great day bag, 1 clutch

3 jackets - 1 leather, 1 trans-seasonal and 1 jazzy (leopard, sequinned or printed offering work to bar glitz)

3 dresses - 1 cocktail, 1 structured power and 1 shirtdress

5 shoes - 1 ankle boot, 1 black stiletto, 1 nude stiletto, 1 fancy shoe, 1 daily flat

The most amazing fact about all of this is that apparently it is possible to get 3,090 outfits out of this little lot. Really?  Is anyone out there able to tell me in simple terms what mathematical formula is used to arrive at this number - not that I am disputing it - I am just not sure how the number is arrived at.

For what it's worth, I think that the above article is great. It's a fantastic starting point from which to work. Personally I wouldn't have the white or grey t's but would include other tops instead. Others might choose more jeans and less dresses, the possibilities are endless. 

I once read an article in Red magazine along the same lines where I am sure that the magic number of pieces was 38 - so not far off this one. I carefully cut it out and was determined to keep it safe somewhere - which I did, kind of. It's in one of about ten files stuffed full of articles from magazines and I can't, for the life of me, find it. So, in referring to it in on the here, whilst it's not exactly original material, it will make it easy for me to find for furture reference and hopefully for you too.

After a bit of an enforced leave of abscence from blogging, it's nice to be back! Hope to see you tomorrow.