An update

So, I haven't posted in a while, and here's why:



Aaargh! Quell horreur! Because of our home loan application, we had to temporarily cancel all of our credit cards. It also means that I've been pretty preoccupied with signing the hundreds of nearly identical documents that come with this house-buying racket. Sigh. I was so naive going into this process! I had no idea how much was involved. Settlement is in two weeks, and the sigh of relief I breathe when this is all over will be so strong that it may drastically alter global weather patterns. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I was pretty sad to cut up the cards.

I have, however, managed to pick up a couple of things in the last week:



A work top. It's actually pretty cute, the sleeves have a nifty twist detail that gives it that little kick of chic that I like to look out for. It's a cherry colour throughout - the flash has made it look a little ombre, but that isn't the case.



Not one but two pairs of shoes. I utterly ruined my favourite pair of Repetto ballet flats on the day of the Great Perth Storm (you might have seen me walking through the knee-deep floodwaters of Subiaco if you checked the news that night) but Cult Status hasn't had my size in to replace them. Boo! Luckily these onces from Wittner are just as supple and comfortable, so they will happily hold the place of the Repettos for the time being.

I also found a really nice pair of all-leather pumps in Wittner at the same time. Checklist?

• 100% leather throughout?
• No platform?
• Toweringly high stilleto heels?
• Red sole?

OK, so they're not Louboutins, but they're damned nice all the same and I'm happy to welcome them to my wardrobe and cross them off my wishlist. Thanks, Wittner, for a nice shoe-flavoured diversion. (By the way, they have SUPER CUTE animal print ankle boots at the moment that I totes would have bought if I wasn't already leaving with two pairs of shoes. Get 'em while they're hot.)

*****

So I need some style advice. I'm in a bit of a rut lately, style-wise. I work in a plant lab, so I need to wear long pants that can take a bit of a beating, and flat closed shoes every day. Over time I've refined this into a denim-and-ballet-flats uniform which serves me very well (and doesn't get me asked if I'm interviewing elsewhere - the standard of dress in labs is not particularly professional, so tailored pants are viewed with suspicion.) This works really well for me and I'm pretty happy with it.

HOWEVER. This five-year reliance on denim has me at a point now where I don't actually know how to put together a casual (or even smart casual) outfit that doesn't involve jeans. I don't know how it happened, but somewhere along the line my wardrobe developed a big gap between the jeans section and the church and dinner dresses section. So I need some advice. What should a girl who is fairly insecure about her legs (what I'm trying to say is no miniskirts please, or superskinny pants) buy for the bottom half of her body to fill this gap? I'm thinking casual pants or skirts but I have genuinely no idea where to start. What happened to me? All ideas welcome, keeping in mind my general wardrobe direction of Parisian ballerina. I did see a few things in the last couple issues of Shop Til You Drop that I like, namely a velvet skirt and a leather skirt. So that's a start. But I'm still pretty stumped so fire away with the suggestions if you've got 'em.

I need a stylist.