Well I’m writing this on my phone as the computer is still not working! Back to Leamington tomorrow!

My family are very disappointed in me and think I should revise my blog name to 1 Newfrock 4 me! But my weakness was not just the dress , it was the event. I will look at the dress and remember the Cotswolds and that staycation day in the year of Covid. Hopefully next year I will be wearing it in Spain where it really belongs.

I am so missing Spain and all that colour now. A few years ago I alerted a friend to a theme for her Monday’s article in a National newspaper. In Spain ladies of a certain age are to be seen dining out together often. Whatever age they are they are elegantly and brightly attired. No cagoules , shorts , lands end trousers and trainers. Of course the weather makes all the difference. However it still seems unnecessary to me to wear that British uniform of the older generation.

This is the dress , it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary but just me and in the sale too!!!

I am going to have to admit I have bought one dress this year, and I blame my lovely sister in law. Last week I joined my brother and my sister in law in the Cotswolds for the day. Fiona and I have spent the last ten years holidaying in Spain every Summer ,

Our routine on our hols always involves some retail therapy. So we had decided we would have a spot of therapy in Broadway. So Fiona guided me to a shopping arcade, and then to a dress she had already spied, and declared it was just me and not only that but it was in the sale. Well it was just me ,in the sale and perfect for future holidays in Spain together. Enough reasons to justify a purchase .So that was that, I erred . But when we sat down for a cuppa of tea and cake, we reminisced on our wonderful holidays in Spain and we declared that we would back next year and I would be wearing that dress and remember our Covid year and the circumstances of when I bought that dress . So our day together wasn’t the same as our holidays in Spain but a good day despite.

Which returns me to one of my themes that clothes aren’t just about clothes, they are diary records of our lives . Where one was on that particular day, the time of the year and who with and the pleasure of the day out and reason for buying that spontaneous purchase. And of course the historical time line. So different to sitting on the internet and purchasing on line.

Well this blog has taken ages to write as letters go missing and the cursor moves around so it keeps having to be rested and then restarted!! So back to Western computers next week and not sure if I’ll have it back for the following week.

Hoping iPad works now otherwise they promise me a new one! More about this dress on Monday week 33!

Short blog on my phone as I pad being repaired. Last week I visited Leamington shopping centre for the first time and I wasn’t tempted into any clothes shops. A few were in a queue for H and M but it all looked pretty forlorn. Lots of sales too. It’s going to change things for sure. People just aren’t buying in the volume they used too.

Human rights coalition says cotton produced in camps in Xinjiang region finds its way into one in five products worldwide
— Read on www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jul/23/virtually-entire-fashion-industry-complicit-in-uighur-forced-labour-say-rights-groups-china

This maybe a very short blog, as this iPad is still playing up and Western computers in Leamington is finally open again. It will be my first visit to any shops other than food ( or Kenilworth book shop). I won’t be visiting any clothes shops whilst there . H and M has always been a favourite but will I ever go again after the Guardian article that I include ?. It’s not just H and M , both designer and high street shops are complicit.

When the computer is mended I’ll write some more. So frustrating at the moment as it takes days to write a few lines.

A short post this week for all those who would have been married this year, if not for Covid. Saturday 18 th July would have been our dear friends Alan and Kathryn’s, son Richard’s wedding to Robyn. A wedding was to take place in Alan and Kathryn’s beautiful garden . I had two dresses lined up for the occasion depending on the weather. One I had worn once before for an occasion with our friends, would they remember? I generally do remember just because I’m interested and I was taught as a child that events were excuses for new outfits, indeed it was considered bad manners to wear the same outfit again. Now that we are being encouraged to recycle, wear vintage and look after our environment I’m sure these rules don’t apply.

Colour seems to be a resounding theme in my blogs. If the sun comes out in the Uk and we have a heatwave that is when people throw their uniform of jeans and jumpers and T-shirts out. Suddenly people are more varied and colourful in their attire, which is also reflected in how they behave. People are cheerful, and there is a real party atmosphere.

So clothes reflect how we feel too. I always notice when I go to London, the standard attire of black interspersed occasionally by colour. We all know that standard etiquette on tubes is to not make eye contact or smile. I always think that people are either miserable or rude. What a difference a bit of colour and a smile makes to the world.

Which brings me on to clothes and mental health. A few years ago I was in a very dark place for a couple of months. Then I didn’t care what I wore, just tracky bottoms and jumpers and nothing colourful as I didn’t want to be noticed by anyone, reflecting my mood of the time. On the occasions I did go out, I avoided meeting with anyone I knew until I was able to face life again and return to the world of colour.

Last week a lovely friend who also loves colour and refuses to blend in, insisted on giving me a dress she had bought from a charity shop.

Clothes tell our story. They are a lifelong journey into acquiring our identity, a visual diary of our lives.

The other weekend my daughter in law suggested that as i couldn’t buy new clothes I could attend an event where I swopped clothes. Apparently you can take your unwanted preloved ( 2nd hand clothes) and swop them with someone else’s preloved items. When Kate told me, I held my hands up in horror and declared that I didn’t have clothes I could part with to swop. I very rarely get rid of clothes unless they are worn out, completely out of date, or a mistake. Generally they get demoted from best to ordinary to work.

When we moved house I did have a clear out because I had to and to this day I’m still regretting parting with some items unless I remember the reason why.

The fact is I can generally remember where I was, who I was with, and when I bought an item. Clothes are a diary of my life . When I’ve visited other countries I’ve often bought something while there. When I got my cancer diagnosis Simon and I went for a coffee afterwards, and dropped into Lilac Rose in Leamington. I tried on a green winter coat and was asked to model it for their instagram site which I did. Despite encouragement I refused the buy the coat, even though it suited me. Six weeks later having had my operation, and received the results, that coat was still waiting for me in my size ( there were only 2 left), so of course I bought it . I knew then I would be able to go out in it as I wasn’t going to have chemotherapy. Will I ever part with that coat ? Probably not , I’ll still be wearing it when I’m eighty if I can.