Babar goes Shopping

Learning how to stand out in a crowd!

Unfortunately I seem to be regressing. I've consumed two greedily large bowls of yummy wholewheat pasta and parmesan in two days topped with absolutely no exercise - no kidding I covered less than 500 steps yesterday and I only managed this as I had to go to the supermarket for said parmesan. The supermarket, for my sins, is literally just around the corner from our flat, but in this vile but traditional Bank Holiday weather, the convenience is truly HEAVEN SENT.

So yesterday was my first total rest day in about three weeks - weird but sooooo nice. Instead of ploding the streets in the rain or battling up mountains etc, I had loads of fun doing absolutely nothing except hanging out with my flatmates, moulding my butt to the sofa and watching TV!!!! SUBLIME. That was until beloved flatmates tried to increase my fear threshold by watching scary TV - namely Criminal Minds – this should be retitled "psychotic craziness." as I had to resort to watching behind a cushion in the manner of a trembling twelve year old girl much to my flatmates' great amusement.

Today I continued the Bank Holiday procrastination theme and decided to ignore the incomplete essay and presentation and take myself clothes shopping instead. To be honest this is NOT a favourite pastime of mine - shopping isn't fun when your budget is fairly limiting and your body shape just has you praying that you can just find something where the zip will do up!

So today's mission was finding an Interview Outfit that will have prospective employers convinced that I'm worth doubling my salary just by sashaying into the room with a l'Oreal swish of my hair. A girl can dream!! (Happily my current work outfits are becoming a bit too baggy to be considered interview fabulous – that is, so long as my penchant for overeating pasta doesn’t continue.)

So after trawling Oxford Street at a fast lick – walking slowly just prolongs the shopping agony – I came up with two options.

a) “Miss Penelope”

Normally I’m not a fan of LK Bennett as it’s just a bit too prim and proper for my taste but the illuminating neon colours of their summer range had my heart racing so despite the heart wrenching price tags I just had to try on – LK Bennett’s Shimmer Dress teamed with their pink Reeba Jacket. After gently persuading myself that £400 was a little steep for an outfit that I hope will be too big for me in six-eight weeks if all goes to plan, I kept looking.

b) “The Task Master”

This is essentially a variation on the previous theme but a much more affordable option – though I’m still trying to decide if it makes me look a little too severe/ 80s has-been. I actually already have this dress in a UK size 16 but it’s now too big on me (believe me the fit of this dress is superbe although it doesn't look like much on the hanger), so it’s great to be able to rebuy this firm favourite in a smaller size. Woohoo!

So I've teamed this old favourite with a new and slightly unusual jacket – which I like primarily as it doesn’t have to be buttoned up and thus avoids adding extra bulk to my already bulky midriff.

Best of all, the outfit including accessories and shape control tights came in at a very reasonable £99. Plus I can pretty much guarantee that no-one else will have resorted to good old M+S, so it should be a fairly original option.

Fingers crossed my chosen ensemble will still fit come Friday – this week is going to be my biggest challenge so far as I’m away from home all week so won’t be able to rely on my daily walks to and from work and my SuperChick sessions to keep me on the straight and narrow.

Check back later this week to see if I manage to keep the training wheels falling off completely. x