mothers on the verge

Is anyone else also starting to feel that fashion is becoming impossible for a still vaguely youthful thirty-something to pull off without looking utterly ridiculous? The faux peasant look I could cope with. 70s retro - fabulous. 50s prom queen - difficult with a flat chest and no waist to speak of but not insurmountable. The tunic top and skinny jeans thing - lovely low maintenance and even my stumpy little legs can (just about) cope with it. But what's with this nu-rave and 80's fabulous nonsense? It's like I'm stuck in a teenage time warp and it wasn't any great shakes the first time around. Neon coloured Katherine Hamnett -style logo tee's? With clashing leggings? The Aceeed smiley face as a logo of choice? Puffball and ra - ra skirts? Give me a break. And scarier still, I keep spotting the hair style of desire for my 12-year-old self - the rat's tail (which thankfully my parents, who I thought were so mean and square at the time, refused to allow on ...

I am in the midst of a dilemma. Admittedly, it's not much of a dilemma in the great scheme of things, nor is it causing me much in the way of sleepless nights (that honour goes to Alpha's snoring alongside the noctural adventures of the Small(er) One) but it is a dilemma nontheless. It's about jeans, you see. For years now I have been quite happy with basic Gap jeans. They are fairly cheap, come in a bigger range of styles, colours and sizes than anywhere else I can think of on the high street, and there are Gap stores everywhere, making a new purchase simple and fast. But recently my head is slowly but irreversibly being turned by all those swanky so-called designer jeans that have landed with a bang over the past few years - Seven, Citizens Of Humanity, True Religion, Sass & Bide, J Brand... ooh the list goes on and on and on... But the problem is that the very idea of paying between £150 and £200 for a pair of jeans seems somewhat decadent. There is, I think, someth...