“Oh no I’m not!” I had a (junior) school jumper that I wore until I was in my 30’s if you need an example. After the last post with the picture of me in a bikini you know this heading may be somewhat of an exaggeration. I promise no more of those (unless of course I’m sunning myself somewhere exotic in the next year…). The picture used for this header is scary enough. Actually, George is still getting rid of clothes he wore to school so maybe it’s an inheritable condition. If you want to see a real follower of fashion, then maybe a blog post sometime later will be of John’s shirts (I’m not sure fashionable is the word I should be using, but you cannot unforget them once you’ve seen them!). Of course for the next year they will be in Musto gear with no thinking involved.

So how am I getting on with my planning? You saw the suitcase I’ll be taking along, in Post 30 last month. Not a lot of room for up to one month’s clothing and other supplies. My secret weapon is Natasha Musson, my “wardrobe consultant and stylist”. So if I’m not stylish blame her. (Well maybe not, it depends if I wear what she tells me to). If you want to look her up here’s her website: http://www.natashamusson.co.uk/

What you get after a consultation is a little book full of photos for each event, day or whatever so you do not pack more than you need.

In the Sunday Times a few weeks ago there was an article about packing for who you want to be, rather than who you are. In my mind I’m Audrey Hepburn, in my body I’m one of those Beryl Cook ladies: https://www.berylcookprints.co.uk/beryl-cook-shop/

Natasha came along a few weeks ago and we went though my wardrobe with Uruguay and Cape Town in mind. I’ve booked my flights and hotels for these stops. The good news is that these two places will be relatively warm when I’m there (October and November). I said I don’t need anything ultra smart, just tee-shirts and shorts. Natasha wasn’t having any of this, she said I’d want to get changed and feel different in the evenings. Once we’d gone through all the clothes and thrown out the ones with holes, stains etc. we made a list of what was missing (tee-shirts, smarter shorts and trousers) then headed off to Bath for a shopping spree. The other great thing is that Natasha knows where to go so you (a) don’t spend time trawling all the shops and (b) only buy what you need (mostly). Those of you who know me will know how much I hate shopping. Here’s one of my new outfits to look out for:

The other great thing we bought were packing cubes. I’d not come across them but George has so maybe you have too. They enable you to squash, no sorry, carefully pack items of clothing into separate small containers (mesh on one side so you can see what’s inside) then pack these into your case. They work!

As I’m on fashion, I may as well give a plug to another Unicef CV31 supporter. Melinda Scarborough also has a husband on the boat. She is an accomplished silversmith and is making beautiful hallmarked pendants and earrings of the Clipper yacht, with a contribution to Unicef for each sale. I have to confess that I’ve bought one for each of the girls in our family, including me!

This is from Lindy’s Facebook entry: There will be two sizes of necklace: Large (a statement piece!) with 28 inch chain at £139 and a medium size with 18 inch chain at £89 and earrings at £39. Plus p&p at cost. 20% of each sale will go to the Unicef fund. These will be hallmarked at the London Assay Office which is 2 miles from the start of the race. If you are interested in having one made for you or would like more information please email me at mel@msj.org.uk

Look out for us wearing them at St Katherine’s Dock. I’m sure you’ve all fallen asleep by now with me wittering on about items with very little direct Clipper involvement. Next time I hope to get onto our VHF course, so that will be a complete contrast.

And, just in case you thought I’d forgotten about the HATS, here’s George modelling one. Looking at this photo, my outfit above does at least reflect the Musto colour of the foulies. Not necessarily the image I was thinking of!