Hi,
Another Friday, another blog post! 🙂
Comfort & Joy
A few days back I happened to fall upon the article What does the tightness of our clothes say about our emotions? which chimed given my love of winter, hygge (“who guh“), and leaning into my I’m-not-mesh-I’m-wrapped-up-nicely-thank-you nature.
Being a 50 something bloke, you’ll not be seeing me in sports leggings, skinnies*, or a fitted top – not with my ‘shape’. Apparently lumpy is still a shape, just not a smooth one!😉But, with the cold comes the need to layer appropriately and as the doggos need a walk & a sniff every day, keeping warm in the sharper late Autumn breeze is welcome.
[ * At least, not in bloke mode, but Chams isn’t a blokey Thursday 🙂 Oh, there’s me in leggings 🙄]
So it is that I’ve been wearing bodysuits and opaques to add in a layer of warmth, and as the article suggests, there’s a comfort in feeling just right – just right in terms of no unwelcome cold air against my skin, and the wrapped up cosiness of it too.
Does this chime with you or do you prefer loose clothing? I wonder how much of this is just a me thing or is it part of a neurodiversity thing as well? Mrs J bought me a weighted blanket last year and that’s…. reassuring?… to lie under on a night.
A rare trip to town
Being a part time part-timer – in the working sense that I’ve every other Friday off – today was both cleaning and shopping day. Okay, truth be told I’d done by chores earlier in the week, so I had time to pop into Nottingham.
I was a bit undecided because – well, other than I’m easily confused and/or prone to overthink – I felt a bit guilty about buying myself something before Christmas. But, hey, it’s my day off and the chores are done, so why not live a little?
So it was I made my way to the big Boots, or given the demolision of the old Broadmarsh Centre, perhaps the only ‘big Boots’ in the city centre. I had my eye on getting some better undereye concealer.
As I was invited to take a seat, the cosemetics expert went through a few options and techniques. Bless her, she said that she didn’t want to sell me something that wouldn’t work, as it was going to be down to the application as much as the product. Well, more of that sage wisdom and customer service please! 😊
So it seems for me, with my undead undereye shadows and milk-bottle white celtic hues 😉, the current option is to go for primer, a darker concealer with good coverage, and a light resettling of a secondary concealer to blend in. All of that done with ring finger and post-warming/blending on the back of my hand. We shall see should I get chance for a test run pre Xmas Do 🤞It might give me chance to try the Urban Decay eyeshadow pallette, and fixing spray out too.
Xmas Stuff
Talking of Christmas, I’ve only a week to go before I finish work for the year. Yes, I am very much looking forward to a long break, time with the Ever Lovely Mrs J, and taking it easy over the festive period.
There’s the faff of getting the tree ready, but I am hopeful Child 2.0 will lend their artistic skills to making that look nice. As to the family, I think it’ll be a quiet one – which is good in my book (so Mrs J isn’t tired out and C2 isn’t overwhelmed) – given elderly parents and Wee Man having moved out. I’m hoping he may pop in for Xmas Eve or the big day itself. We shall see! 🤞
Despite the Ever Lovely Mrs agreeing and I agreed that we don’t want much, I have bought a few things 😏 I was going to say nothing too expensive, but things certainly seem to have gone up since last year. Perhaps it’s a good thing our family isn’t too focused on material stuff. Books, food, and quiet time, yes, other stuff, not to much.
Mind you, I did buy some new heels for the Chams Xmas Party. Not quite in Black Friday, but the New Look ones I bought in the sale last year are a little too big, so not comfortable. Luckily, should the new ones – Dreampairs, if you’re curious – not work out, I’ve got until mid January to return them, so that takes the pressure off. Given the delivery time, I opted to for a mid heel version and a zip-at-the-back kitten heel. The latter are a little too low, so I think they will be going back at some point.
Dress-wise, I’ll be going back to the lace number which – post weight loss, yay! – is a better fit. Failing that, I will go back to velvet seperates to mix & match an outfit together.
Signing off…
A few days left until the holiday and the Chams Xmas Do to look forward to as well. Reasons to be cheeful ❤️
L x
Definitely layers in this weather. As many practicable in this weather, at least in bloke mode. Currently a t-shirt and two jumpers. On Thursday, while huddled in a coat and scarf at the bus stop, I was astonished to watch a guy walking down the street in a singlet. Granted, he put a coat on when he reached the bus stop, but still…
In non-bloke mode, shapewear takes care of some of this, though more problematic in summer.
Good luck with the new heels. Dream Pairs also do some nice mid heel Mary Janes in wide 8, so thanks for that link.
Wondering why your Xmas tree fairy (elf? goblin?) is using a mallet to put up the Xmas tree decorations.
Yes to layers and given the current drizzle, probably a removable waterproof set for head, body, and leg as well. Just, be careful with anything flappy in strong wind, it’s only safe for Mary Poppins to fly off on a commute 😉
Yeah, I saw a gent in shorts today, although his top half was well wrapped up. Oh, and of late, I’ve been seeing a very cool older lady go by on an escooter. She was absolutely rocking a mad set of bright wellies against a tweed skirt and zipped up duvet coat. You go, girl ✊
I’ve bought some shoes from Dreampairs before but the sizing is tricky. I think going up a size helps. But, I’m trying to buy shoes second hand (Vinted) as there’s a good range of affordable and well-made brands.
So, the Xmas Goblin has the stick for getting around. It serves extra features of:
I read the Guardian article and, to be completely honest, I thought it was a bit daft. People wear tight/loose clothing mainly because (a) it’s in fashion (b) there’s not a lot of choice in the shops (c) they can’t afford a tailored outfit and get off-the-rack items in the nearest size that the shop happens to stock at the time they are in the shop (d) it wasn’t tight/loose when they first got it but is now. People throughout history have worn what they could rather than the fashion catalogue ideal of their era because of supply issues and cost. Psychology comes into it only once you have few material (pun intended) concerns.
I wear items that are close fitting usually as an underlayer, with something looser on top. This ensures maximum warmth. For a trans woman like me it is, I’ll agree, a psychological issue also, but that’s because being able to feel the clothes on me and know they are feminine is a constant reminder of who I am even if the world around me doesn’t acknowledge it.
I hope the countdown to the Chams party and the nice long Christmas break is a mood booster as well as the events themselves.
That Christmas goblin, it strikes me (puns aplenty tonight!), is not holding a hammer but something that I haven’t seen in decades but was certainly real in my childhood: a corncob pipe. Not that I had one, but the adults did. And goblins, obviously.
Sue x
I’m with you in that the article did feel a bit of a reach at times. My brain wanted to say ‘stretch’ but I’m not sure that’s helpful. All that aside, I do think there’s an element of psychological comfort to be found. Now, if that’s because – for folk like you and I – that fitted items tend to be from the femme end of the fashion options, well, there’s probably a PhD research study to be found 🙂
Yes, I think the long break will be a key part this festive period. Hopefully it’ll help sooth out act rushing around and reduce the pace a little. Slow cooked rather than fast-not-quite-food.
As to the pipe, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a corn cob pipe in the real world. Back in the 80s, my uncle smoked a pipe, and the smoke didn’t stink quite as bad as cigarettes.
Might the goblin stick, if not a pipe, be a mixture croquet mallet? 🙂
Here’s an idea for a Christmas Quiz at the Chams Xmas Party:
What Is the Goblin Holding?
Some suitable prizes could be magicked up, no doubt, for Correct Identification, Wittiest Answer, Something You Didn’t Know About Goblin Lore …
Sue x
Knowing the Chams folk, a disclaimer to keep it work safe may be required! 😁