Outfit post: to see the DS Big Band

Ah, the Arc Theatre! No more will I be able to walk down there to watch films cheaply or hear great music for little money. Friday night was the Arc's last night as a theatre serving the general public, but at least they went out with a swing, as the last event was a performance by the DS Big Band.

I'd been uncertain what to wear. I considered my turquoise linen, and knew that if all else failed there was my trusty Heyday Fleur black roses, but those are both summer dresses and the night was bitterly cold and we had to walk about a mile to the theatre. On top of that, I wasn't sure how much time I'd have to change between getting home from work and heading out again, so went to work in an outfit that would do if I had to go straight out without changing – tweed trousers, my Such Flattering Puff Sleeves jumper (a late 1930s pattern reprinted in A Stitch in Time vol 1) and my new Miss L Fire Clara shoes. As luck would have it, I did get time to change and swapped the trousers and black wool coat for my tweed skirt suit. There's a brooch attached to the jumper, for a bit of sparkle when I take the jacket off.

I really like this outfit. Possibly the green of the jumper isn't an ideal pairing with the autumnal suit, but I liked it. A major thing for me is how much the shoes made the whole thing feel 'right'. I've never really been a 'shoe person', and it's only over the past few years that I've realised how much an appropriate pair can pick up an outfit. The two-tone brown sunrays on the toes of these made me smile every time I saw them, and they looked fantastic with the mixed brown, rust and black of the tweed. My legs look much better in them than they did when I wore stumpifying ankle boots with the suit. What's more, this was the first day I'd worn them and happily did a mile there and one back with no blisters.

And now I so need the perfect brown bag...