My latest obsession

For those of you who follow my blog or maybe just read about my B12 deficiency, you will have read my confession that I am currently addicted to the television programme Scandal. I only started watching it a little over a week ago and I have managed to watch both Season 1 and 2. Thank goodness Season 3 started airing in the UK (Thursday 31st July ).

Its not just the plot lines that I love to follow or that Shonda Rhimes is a tv genius. I am a massive fan of Grey's Anatomy as well. Its just I seem to have developed an obsession with Kerry Washington's wardrobe and makeup. Lyn Paolo who style's Miss Washington for the show, can work for me anytime I win the lottery and I doubt even then I would ever be able to afford her skills.

Olivia Pope, (the character Kerry plays if you haven't seen the show) looks flawless at all times. Lounging around in her apartment drinking wine and eating popcorn she wears silk lounge pants with co-ordinating camisole vest and cashmere hoody / hooded cardigan. The closest I get to that kind of perfection on a lounging about the house on a day like today is a pair of battered old yoga pants and a fraying t-shirt that I will not throw away because it is too comfortable.

A visit to see the President of the United states she is dressed in gorgeous 3/4 length sleeve coats, perfectly tailored trousers and co-ordinated jackets. Olivia Pope is not high fashion she is old school fashion, she is stylish, demure and classy. She wears the kind of outfits I can only drool over while I watch her on the TV screen.

My obsession with what Kerry Washington wears whilst acting in Scandal is getting a little strange. I have never seen someone dress so perfectly and not one outfit where I have wanted to shout at the TV screen "what are you wearing?" Its just bizarre. Its not a girl crush I am just in awe at the beautiful wardrobe. The understated makeup, the perfectly manicured fingernails, the confidence, the beauty. Ok I admit it does sound like I have a crush on her.

It is the kind of style and fashion I can only aspire to. Nothing in my wardrobe would come even close to the effortless elegance played out before me. Its quite gutting really. Olivia Popes wardrobe is mainly from Max Mara and Dior but plenty of other fabulous designers have also been featured such as McQueen and Prada.

I have always liked fashion as a teenager. I never wore the "in" thing, I knew the "in" thing that all my friends were wearing was at least one season behind, the designers runway shows. You could say I never played the high street fashion game.

In my family you wore things that were practical and that would last. When you buy items that are practical and will last it means you choose carefully. You don't pick what is in fashion now because in three months your contemporaries will be wearing the next "hot" thing. I bought things that would last and would form part of my wardrobe for not months but years.

I never had the budget for clothes afforded to the cast of Scandal but I bought wisely. I never bought cheap clothes that would form part of my year round wardrobe. I bought cheap t-shirts but not so cheap that they were see through or not wash well, cheap jeans as long as the cut was flattering for my figure and the occasional cheap item that I just couldn't resist. I liked my fashion to be classic not frumpy and definitely not fussy. 

My signature was funky shoes. I was never really one for high heels unless you could guarantee that at some point in the day / evening I would be able to sit down. High heeled shoes have always been absolute torture to me. So I liked my funky shoes that were the complete opposite of what everyone else was wearing.

My fashion bible at the time was a book called "More Dash Than Cash" which gave great advice to anyone who wanted to appear they had money / dress well with just a few key pieces in their wardrobe. I had vogue on subscription and I would often top up my high end fashion fix with Harpers and Tatler. 

I grew up during the age of the supermodels. These girls were thin but didnt look anorexic, they had curves and boobs unlike the waifs that followed after them. I think my obsession with fashion started to wane when heroin chic took over. The girls were just so impossibly thin, Cindy, Naomi, Christy, Linda and Claudia were almost attainable. The waifs were just a step too far.

My flirtation with fashion ended when life was too busy for me to care too much. Even though I let my shoe and clothes obsession go, I never left the house looking anything less than perfect. My hair was always freshly washed and I wore a full face of makeup even during the summer months if I was stepping outside the house. A far cry from what passes as presentable these days.

I still appreciate good fashion / style, so I sit in anticipation of what Olivia Pope will be wearing next. I can only dream of having a life like that or a wardrobe that gorgeous. Most of my days are spent deciding whether I will shower or get dressed or if I am being adventurous maybe both.

Somewhere in this journey I just stopped caring about what people thought of how I looked and started being comfortable. Three dogs and black wool trousers, hell black anything just doesn't go, unless you like the dog hair look. I don't wear white because you can guarantee before leaving the house I will have spilt something down myself or a muddy / dirty dog will have jumped up on me.

Its been so long since I have worn makeup on a regular basis that the feel of it on my skin is alien to me. Comfort is my main priority these days and if I'm not comfortable I don't wear it.

My skin has changed considerably since getting sick. My skin was sensitive before but now its uber sensitive. I have to stick with brands I know won't cause allergic reactions that will take days to subside. My skin has always been dry but its much worse now. Where as I could get away with moisturising once possibly twice a day it now needs regular attention. If I am planning to wear makeup my skin takes days to prepare because makeup dries it out so badly. I can't wear any makeup with added moisture in because my face just looks like an oil slick after a few hours. You can see why I rarely bother it's just not fun anymore.

Clothes are now boringly practical, easy to wash and take care of. They also need to be easy to take on and off. My main item of clothing is jeans whatever the season. Jeans and a jumper, jeans and a t-shirt its easy, practical and hardwearing. There is nothing classic or elegant about my wardrobe. Another mainstay are my yoga pants. I own one skirt and one dress. I don't do dresses or skirts I never really have. I wore them a lot  in the early 1990's when I was told I looked like a plain clothes police officer. Then after that I ditched the whole skirt thing as plain clothes police officer was not the look I was going for. I would say my look now is probably slob at worst barely put together at best.

So Scandal fills that void in my life. To be able to adore the clothes and not having the hassle of trying to put the look together myself. It works for me.

Not my favourite looks but some great examples of the wardrobe

How sad I found a website that shows every one of her looks in Scandal! From slide 62 onwards are some of my favourite looks

Some of the "cheaper" pieces of Max Mara! I maybe at a push could afford a jumper! The coats are things of beauty.