Going out - A hot pink and floral outfit by Ted Baker and John Lewis, with jewellery by Alice Stewart

 

 

John Lewis own brand crew cashmere crew neck jumper in Cerise (£69)

Ted Baker Oil Painting Skirt (£129) from John Lewis

Ted Baker T clasp clutch (£99)

The above three pieces formed one of the outfits at last week's Lifestyle Event at the Birmingham School of Jewellery. As I mentioned previously, I felt that it was important to keep the top half of the outfits relatively plain, so that the jewellery could really stand out - hence the John Lewis cerise cashmere jumper.

I chose to use jewellery from the designer and jewellery maker Alice Stewart for this outfit as I felt that her pieces, which are inspired by nature, complemented the floral skirt really well. Equally, on another occasion, the prettiness of the skirt could be contrasted with jewellery with spikes or skulls!

I loved the print and the shape of the Ted Baker skirt, which is really flattering on, especially for those with curvier hips. It works best if any top that is worn with it is fairly short, stopping at the waist to show off the narrowest part on the body. It has a great length to it for those who don't like skirts which are too short. Ted Baker has used this print on trousers, sweatshirts, dresses and tops this season so if a skirt isn't your thing but the print is, there may be something else in the range for you.

The texture and colour of the bag are fabulous. It is bright pink, textured leather and comes in a variety of colours. It's availability online seems to be limited at both the John Lewis and the Ted Baker site but I picked up the one I used from John Lewis only last week, so there are obviously some still in the stores.

As I mentioned, the jewellery for this outfit came from Alice Stewart Jewellery whose work has appeared in Vogue. Her gold blossom ring, shown below, is £89.

Alice studied 3D design, specialising in silversmithing and jewellery at Loughborough University. Her inspiration comes mainly from the beauty of the English countryside and parts of her work are satin finished as well as highly polished, to give a two tonal effect which brings the pieces to life.

These butterfly ear-rings are a real favourite of mine. It's partly because that, whilst they are drop ear-rings, the hoop on them makes them more wearable for the daytime (in my little mind at least), as does the fact that they aren't heavily jewelled. Alice's butterfly earrings cost £80 and since the event she has taken several orders for these, which are proving to be really popular.

Alice designs jewellery that is both enchanting and sophisticated and which takes itself from casual wear to special occasions.  Alice's gold blossom bangle, shown below, is £150.

I hope that I have quoted the above prices correctly but please check Alice's site for up to date prices. I don't want to get myself into any more hot water right now!

On the Run - Life Begins at 40 (Part 2)

Following on from yesterday's post, in which I looked at some of the items you could include to kick start your wardrobe, today it's the turn of accessories.

For lots of women, accessorising can be tricky.  I think it's really important to love your accessories and for them to make you feel special - because really they are the icing on the cake which is your outfit. It may take a few years to build up a collection of accessories that you like. Some may be inhereited, some coveted and bought in sales, some collected abroad, at vintage shops or immediately that you see them because you just fall in love with them and can't walk away without buying them.

We all have our views on what we can wear and what we like. Some ladies don't like the feel of necklaces and some don't like the feel of chunky bangles.  Others don't feel that they can wear belts and one client told me that the best thing about becoming dis-engaged was taking her ring off because she hated wearing it!

So, here are some items which I think do a great job of pulling your wardrobe, and an outfit, together:

A silk scarf, tied like the one above which is from Jaeger (reduced from £99 to £35) has a modern animal print.  Essentially neutral, it has coral and turquoise in it and will work well with lots of basic colours.  Larger light wool or linen scarves are also a good way of adding interest in to your wardrobe in terms of colour and print but without committing lots of money to them. My favourite shops for scarves are Mango, Zara, Oasis (they usually do a great silk one each season which goes into the sale) Lola Rose and John Lewis.

Sunglasses - the Queen of the sunnies has to be Victoria Beckham. Not only functional, they can give an outfit a whole new look - and also attitude! I can't bring myself to wear them other than on very hot days because I just don't feel right (see above)! Some can carry them off all year round and have that cool sophisticated look to go with them - I just feel as if I am playing dress up!

A statement necklace can bring the most simple outfits together.  What works for you as an individual will depend on lots of things, including bust size, length of neck, width of neck and so on. Some ladies don't like swapping their "proper" jewellery for costume jewellery so it could be a case of finding something which works with a necklace that you wear every day or finding a brand which does jewellery which isn't too "costumey." Stella and Dot, Coast, Hobbs, Jigsaw and Red Online are all good for jewellery - but there are hundreds of brands out there.

Statement cuffs are another way of adding sophistication to a simple outfit. Leather ones are great if they are likely to bash on a desk or if you have young children (Reiss has some nice ones).  Otherwise the bigger the better - if you like that kind of thing. The above one is from Jaeger again.

Bags are another great way of adding some style and colour to your outfit.  The shopper on the left is from Zara and costs £15.99.  The middle one, which is a bowling bag style and which will be a huge style next season, is from Orla Kiely and has been reduced from £380 to £247.  It also comes in several different colours.  The green tote is from Zara reduced from £59.99 to £49.99 it also comes in pink. Bicester is a fantastic place to get a designer bag at a good price. If it is something that you plan on keeping for years, the fact that it may already be a season out of date is neither here nor there.

As an alternative to the Orla Kiely bowling bag, Topshop has this cut out holdall bag for £42.

A final word - when it comes to belts, just keep an eye on their proportions. Wide ones can be hard to wear if you are short bodied or have a very curvy bust. Skinny ones tricky if you are very curvy. If your trousers fit well, a belt can be used as a lovely accessory, rather than as a necessity to keep your trousers up!