Pale old lady legs all the way!

They do but it's a cropped tee x

Glad you like it, there are more black outfits to come xx

I agree with Steff that layering up black really makes it interesting. Sadly, I'm not even doing that!

It's not embarrassing at all! Hey, you're talking to the 41 year old who's scared of the freakin' dark! Talking to people about yourself in that way is buttock-clenching, there's no doubt about it. It's damn hard. I'm the same in social situations, and rather prefer to avoid them if I can. Hence the reason you will rarely find me at blogger events. But some times taking the plunge can be as rewarding as it is painful. Moving from London to an entire different country is a huge deal, but it doesn't mean that because you did that that you're not allowed to be phased by others things that seem smaller in comparison.

I was able to wear them immediately without socks. They are quite quilted on the inside. I was going to get them resoled to protect the leather sole from wearing down further.

New Balenciaga shoes? VERY comfy, but sad to report the sole wore down at the toe after only half an hour of light wear. Major sad face.

Wow that really IS moving outside of your comfort zone! Well done to you!

I'm thrilled you're putting your illustration online! Well done!! As a blogger, I fully understand the horror of posting something of yourself online, in my case photos of myself, and it sure does teach you to deal with feedback - bad feedback, good feedback and, usually in my case, little or no feedback - which all helps thicken your skin. Putting yourself out there in the world is scary, at any age! But it really does create opportunities that might not have otherwise presented themselves to you.

Clair I fully agree that it is about choice, but it's about informed choice, not blind consumption without realising the human and environmental cost of shopping cheaply, in particular. But the hard truth is we live in a world with poverty and shops like Primark allow many poor UK families to cloth themselves and their children. If Primark was around when I was a kid that's where my mum and dad would have shopped since we were very poor. However, the people in that situation are not as many as the people who simply want to buy more rather than better, and if you educate those people that this comes at a price and they still choose to do it, then fair enough because, yes, that's their choice. But it's an informed choice at least. Ideally, the fashion business, and not just cheap fashion, would focus less on profit on more on fair wages and better working conditions for factory workers. Primark alone made £298 million in profit this fiscal year.

Ha yeah my extra weight definitely has changed the way clothes fit me. I now know what sausage meat feels like!

I haven't actually worn the boots on the blog actually! I have no idea why!

I do wear high street, but I chose my high street based on what I know I'm going to be wearing a year down the line. I feel incredibly cheated when it falls apart sooner. Do I answer to my whims of an occasion? Yes of course I do, but that comes from having such a changeable style. But I tend to keep my clothes for a long time, and anything that ends up being sold or in the charity shop is because it doesn't fit me any longer or because I've bought a higher-end version. My Balenciaga boots will breath life into my whole wardrobe and I can wear things differently from before. One well considered purchase has changed my whole wardrobe.

I am so tempted to try Mindens but have heard many mixed reviews about them. I think you really need to re-learn pointe when you wear them as the shank functions so differently to normal pointe shoes. A girl in class wears them and they do look really nice.