The Prince of Wales Check (Glen Plaid) Blazer Trend #iwillwearwhatilike

Of all the new trends this AW17, this has to be the one I’ve been hankering after the most: the Prince of Wales (or Glen plaid) blazer.

It may well be all over Instagram at the moment, but you know what? It’s not in real life. I haven’t seen ONE person wearing one where I live.

Actually that’s not entirely true – I did see a rather eccentrically-dressed lady in my town’s high street wearing one a few weeks ago. She was probably in her 60s or 70s and the rest of her outfit was… interesting (let’s be polite and call her style “bag lady chic”), so I don’t think she was the type to be wearing her PoW check blazer in order to keep up with AW17 trends to be honest. But her blazer was spot-on – I almost wanted Keith to stop the car so I could run out and ask to buy it from her. I’d tried so many by that point and not found The One… what can I say, I was desperate!

Luckily I did find The One after three failed attempts to order a check blazer online. Each one was either too long, too short, not the right colour and/or not the right fit. The one you see here, my friends, was the Goldilocks of Prince of Wales check blazers from Zara. It had just a little brown in it to make it a warm colour (as opposed to cold grey) – much more my preference.

And of course while I was on the Zara website I happened to see other things (damn these sites that have beautiful large imagery!) – I also got The World’s Softest Sweatshirt Ever Ever while I was there. It’s not easy to see but this blush pink sweatshirt has grey fur cuffs.

That’s GREY FUR CUFFS, people. =le sigh=

I was wearing them pulled out from my blazer sleeves but they’d slipped back inside for the first few photos: scroll down to see them peeking (pulled) out. It’s a simple detail but also one that gives you great styling options (and think of all those three-quarter sleeve coats that leave your wrists cold… problem solved).

SHOP THE LOOK:

I have to insert a HUGE apology here about this stunning bag: I nabbed the last one from Mango. Yes, that was me… I’d signed up for email alerts to notifications for when it’d be back in stock (anyone else think that is a WONDROUS use of modern technology and the interwebs?) and missed it twice – I was NOT going to miss it a third time. Tip: Mango always send email alerts about back-in-stock items at about 7:30 to 8:00, so check your emails that time each day and ACT FAST. I’d missed the PoW check blazer I’d had my eye on from Mango several times that way, but as it turns out I love the one I got from Zara much more in the end.

So I thought Mango could just DO ONE with their check blazer, serves them right.

(No sorry scrap that, Mango, I was kidding!! Still love you…)

So you can get the same Mango shopper bag in blue, black and white stripes or a similar one from Debenhams with warmer colours. I did my best.

Finally – the black and leopard suede boots! They were actually gifted to me by Finery earlier this year so I assumed that of course they wouldn’t still be available… I was wrong! At the time of writing they’re available in all sizes. I always get loads of compliments about them when I wear them (they’re very comfy too) so they come highly recommended.

I wonder if Madame Bag Lady Chic would like them too…?

Do add your outfits to this week’s link up – and if you’ve added a link to here or my button to your post you may be featured next week!

HAVE YOU SUCCUMBED TO THE PRINCE OF WALES CHECK BLAZER TREND – OR ARE YOU SICK OF SEEING IT? TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS OR TWEET ME @NOTLAMB!

Blazer: Zara
Sweatshirt: Zara
Jeans: Marks & Spencer
Bag: Mango (still available in black, white and blue or I like this one)
Boots: Finery c/o
Sunglasses: Mango (in and out of stock – try these if out of stock)
Poppy brooch: M&S

OTHER PRINCE OF WALES CHECK BLAZERS TO TRY:

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Thank you for joining the #iwillwearwhatilike link up! This started as a campaign on Instagram in August 2015 where women over 30 wore everything on a journalist’s list of “inappropriate” items for 30+ women (including leopard print, short dresses and oversized sunglasses. Yes, really). It was so popular that I decided to carry it on weekly where women of all ages link up their fabulous style, never mind what anyone tells them not to wear!

The link up goes live every Monday at 3pm UK time and will stay open for a week. Whilst the original article was of course aimed at the 30+, you can be ANY age to link up. The only criteria is that you’re wearing whatever you damn well like!

An InLinkz Link-up

Linking up etiquette…

CLICK HERE to read the rules of linking up (and to grab the #iwillwearwhatilike button). Basically it’s just good manners to link back to here – to leave a comment is even nicer!