Embroidered Swallows and Gem-Encrusted Jeans

I’m thrilled to be sharing this blog post at last, after an unexpected break from blogging, which became much longer than I ever anticipated. Thank you so much to those of you who got in touch to ask how I am. Please rest assured I’ve been all right. I truly appreciate your concern. Since the start of this year, I’ve received very sad news regarding several people I knew. These were unconnected things, that happened to occur in a short space of time. Even though I was not affected as directly as some others by these events, I still find myself reflecting and thinking about those who are going through hard times, and coping with a significant loss. In recent weeks, I’ve been online less often than usual, and my days have been taken up with work, chores and other everyday necessities. 

This situation, combined with frequent bad weather, meant that taking outfit pictures was put on the back burner for a while. I tried to capture some outfit photos on two earlier occasions, with mixed results. I take my own pictures, and I get so jumpy whenever anyone walks by, or if a big dog starts heading for my tripod. I’m a nervous wreck half the time! But last weekend I was able to get outside and have a more successful photo session with fewer interruptions, which came as a relief. Now I’m really happy to return to blogging and give it the attention it deserves, and keen to get back in touch with everyone. Although it seems frivolous to some, fashion is something which genuinely makes me happy and cheers me up, when other aspects of life are far from perfect.  

Moving on to the all-important outfit details. The top I’m wearing is brand new and features a striking pair of embroidered swallows, and is from Joy. In keeping with the red and blue swallows, I wore new jeans by Joe Browns, with red and blue floral embroidery covering the front pockets. The embroidery is encrusted with little gemstones in the centre of the flowers. I didn’t realise just how intricate the embroidery is, and I was even more impressed when my jeans arrived and I saw them in person. Amazingly, they fitted me just right, apart from the leg length being too long, which I expected. I saved a lot of money on these jeans, by getting them from Amazon, which had them for much less than other websites I’d looked at, and they've gone down in price even more since then. But the alteration itself was quite pricey, so that negated the saving! However, I’m really happy with these jeans, and it’s such a rarity for me to find embellished jeans in a dark wash that fit me well on the waist and leg, so it was definitely worth it. I’ve been waiting ages for a pair of jeans like this to come along, and I can’t recommend them enough. They definitely flatter a curvier shape and being a pear shape myself, I was thrilled with the fit.

When I first saw the swallow-print top on a mannequin in the shop window, I loved it but I assumed the top would be too short for me, as I always wear slightly longer tops and nothing too cropped on my upper half. But I went back later that week and tried it on, and I’m so glad I did. The shorter length of the top is ideal for showing off the embroidery on the jeans. I’m so glad I didn’t miss out on this top. Also, the top looked really familiar, and I realised it’s a dead ringer for the Stella McCartney Lorinda swallow embroidered bomber jacket from several years ago, which was beautiful and looked like this.

What do you think of this outfit? How do you feel about embellishment on otherwise casual pieces? Please let me know in the comments below. It’s always lovely to hear from you.

Lots of love Saba xx

Now to the Goths, as swift as swallow flies;

There to dispose this treasure in mine arms,

And secretly to greet the empress' friends.

                                                  -  Titus Andronicus, Shakespeare

Jumper - Joy

Jeans - Amazon

Jacket - similar

Trainers - similar

Tiger stud earrings - similar