caping

One thing has become pretty clear this week and that's the onset of Autumn. Three days of solid, sheet rain and some brooding black clouds have brought a chill to the air and earlier in the week I made a trip to 'The Cupboard Upstairs' which now houses rather a nice collection of coats. This is thanks to buying them out of season and then over the course of Summer forgetting that I even owned them. 

I was struck with a sense of cosy smugness when I was reunited with this camel raincape I bought from eBay and had subsequently forgotten. So much for all of that cooing over the Asos cape when this was hanging upstairs in all it's £9 glory. Did I mention it's reversible with a waterproof layer inside and camel fleece on the outside? And it has a hood? This might explain why I felt like a child who had been dressed for practical purpose by their parents when I wore it for drinks and bowling with friends. But I secretly quite liked that. 

One of the downsides that comes with wearing a cape however is the handbag question. I tried carrying a tote swag bag style (just to really go the whole hog with feeling like a child dressed as a Superhero). I also managed to wear my usual handbag on my shoulder without the strap getting in the way but this just felt silly. There are always clutch bags but they don't seem daytime appropriate and I'm now thinking that going without a bag is a sensible option and actually quite liberating. I remember reading an article by Jess Carter-Morely in Vogue a year or so back in which she challenged herself to do Fashion Week bagless. Naturally, I don't have a personal assistant to carry my necessities like she did but I remember her emphasising the importance of pockets and how it feels rather nice to have a few of the essentials nestled deep down inside them with your arms free. And you know what you do with free arms? That's right, you swing them as you marvel at just how superb you feel without a bag and why didn't ou try this bafore and then- 'o-oh shit, I left my make up bag at home..'