I’ve been using Lancôme’s Définicils High Definition Mascara for years, but recently switched to Yves Saint Laurent Volume Effet Faux Cils Babydoll Mascara. I was shopping in Sephora with a friend and realized I needed mascara. I asked a sales assistant which non-waterproof version she thought was best, and she recommended YSL’s Babydoll Mascara. 

I decided to give it a bash and I’m pleased that I did. I prefer it to the Lancôme mascara I was using before. The magic lies in the soft rubber bristle brush, which applies the mascara a lot more evenly and smoothly than conventional mascara brushes with hard bristles. Wow. I love this mascara. 

I also bought an eyelash curler for nostalgic reasons more than anything else. It takes me back to my Mum’s makeup drawer in the ‘70s, which was the last time I used an eyelash curler. I was seven or eight at the time and now, 35 years later, I have one that looks exactly the same. With the memories of my late Mum fading a little, it is very special to get a little reminder of her every time I open my makeup drawer.

I am a huge supporter of wearing most wardrobe items regularly instead of saving them for special occasions. After all, clothes, footwear and accessories were bought to be worn, and the only way to whittle down their cost per wear to nothing is to wear the heck out of them. So when my clients ask me, “I love this top, but when will I wear it?” More often than not, my reply is, “Every day.” To which they frequently reply, “Every day? That top is too special to wear every day!” I smile and say, “But you are special, and life is too short to save wardrobe pieces for special occasions.” 

That said, I absolutely do ration the wear of certain wardrobe items. Not because they are pricey, dressy, delicate or impractical, but because it will be hard to replace them. Items like this currently in my wardrobe include  my white Anne Fontaine shirts, black Tokyo suit, jodhpur jeans, cream patent booties, cream go-go boots, cream Jil Sander skirt, grey pinstripe Theory suit, pink Joseph man coat, and Alice & Olivia black wide leg trousers.

Some of these are better-end items, but that’s not why they are on the list. Some of them, like my cream booties and the go-go boots, were actually quite inexpensive. It’s that these pieces are one of a kind or hard to replace. In many cases they are items that need to be pristine in order to work in my outfits.

By wearing and laundering these items regularly, I would wear them out. So I deliberately wear them less often to keep them pristine. This takes discipline on my part because I would love to have them in more regular rotation.

Do you ration the wearability of some of your wardrobe items? If so, why are you saving them? Or do you wear the heck out of them anyway?

For this outfit I am ignoring fashion trends for the day and doing my own thing. Yes, this it resembles a costume, and yes, I’m comfortable wearing it downtown, going about my day in a busy city. Horse riding was at the centre of my life when I competed in dressage shows many years ago, so I feel right at home in a classic equestrian outfit. 

Apart from the neon clutch that I bought last year, the rest of the items here are between three and six years old. But the green specs are brand new, and I’ve added a new shade of watermelon-toned lipstick instead of wearing my usual nude lippie. I like the effect of a deeper pink with the sour green against the dark and harsh backdrop of the black turtleneck and grey jacket. 

The outfit is all about showcasing the equestrian jacket (I wore it previously with chartreuse, denim and moto boots.) It’s the most beautifully made piece in my wardrobe and a true modern classic. It’s not on trend, but has a high longevity factor and is therefore very much in style. It’s stitched and finished immaculately. Although I’m not that fond of grey, the warmth of the chestnut elbow patches and buttons made me fall in love with the piece. And as long as I style the grey in ways that make me feel happy and alive, I love this jacket. 

The curved hem, peplum, back pleat and tie of the jacket, make the silhouette quite dramatic, which means that a simplified support act is a good way to go. A basic turtleneck and skinnies tucked into boots is one way of providing a subtle backdrop to the topper.

A black column of colour (e.g. wearing black skinnies with these boots and turtleneck) would have been the easiest and most slimming option. And many would prefer that combination. But it was not my cup of tea because wearing lots of black and grey in one outfit makes me unhappy. And since white jodhpurs are the choice of bottom when competing in a classic dressage competition, I hauled out my white skinnies.

The high contrast white jeans do create horizontally cutting lines across the otherwise dark outfit, both at the hip and the top of the boots. Plus my flat riding boots do little to elongate my leg line, especially since they hit me a few inches below my knee. Proportions would be more conventionally flattering with a pair of black skinnies and over-the-knee boots, thereby accentuating the vertical integrity of the outfit. Yet, it’s the white jeans that make me like the outfit because they’re bright, less conservative and more interesting. So I happily forego a little conventional figure flattery in order to increase my happiness factor. 

The sporty neon clutch adds a modern touch and extra spot of colour to the classic look. Silver watch and wedding ring are all I need in the jewellery department. Now excuse me while I hop into my little red car, and not onto my horse. 

Often something we publish here on the blog leads to conversations in the forum. We thought it would be great to make those connections explicit, so we have added a new feature that allows members to easily create a forum post that references a blog post. I’m going to illustrate how it works using this particular post as an example.

If you are logged in right now, then right below the post you will see a button that says “Start a Conversation in the Forum”.

If you click that button it will open the posting form, which will be identical to the one you’ve used before, except for a reference to my blog post at the top. That reference is a blue box that contains a link to my post. It looks like this:

When you submit the form, this blue box with the reference to my blog post will also appear at the top of your forum post. Other people can easily access the post that you are referencing to see the context of what you were writing about.

I have followed exactly this procedure to start a conversation in the forum that references this blog post. So now you should see my post listed below, under the heading “Conversations about this post in the forum”, in a box that looks like this: 

That’s all there is to it. The benefit is that people reading the blog will discover interesting continuations of the discussion that happen in the forum.

One important point: none of this has any effect on the existing commenting system. As before, you can add comments below. In fact, that is probably the way most people will want to add their thoughts. But if you are a member and you want to start an offshoot of the discussion in the forum, please enjoy this feature. If you aren’t a member, we hope it’s a useful way to find those interesting discussions.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or give the new feature a test run and start a forum discussion about this post. If you have any technical issues, there is always the technical support area if you’re a member, or the contact form if you’re not.