And the final outfit for the West Midlands Women of the Year Awards was.....

 

The Topshop jumpsuit!

You may remember from my last post, that I was trying (and failing miserably) to decide what to wear to last night's West Midlands Women of the Year Awards, which Justice Williams MBE had invited me to co-host with her. Having discounted several options, I decided to give up. Also I had spent so long writing about it, I had run out of time. Luckily for my husband he was away overnight - in fact I haven't really seen him all week so I couldn't ask for his opinion. Hmmm, I'm starting to smell a rat.

Then, when I woke up yesterday morning, I'd received a facebook message from a friend saying that she liked the Topshop jumpsuit. So, after getting out of the shower, with a towel still wrapped round my head and minus any lighting because I didn't want to wake our youngest who had crept into bed with me, I pulled it back on, glanced in a very dark mirror and thought "Yep, that will do" before pulling it back off again, getting dressed and leaving the house at 7.15am to take our son to the station. So in the end it was a pretty quick decision after all.

 

The awards ceremony was a lovely affair. It was fantastic to see some familiar faces and to meet new people too. Some of the recipients of the awards had had amazing and emotional journeys, suffering great personal tragedy along the way. Needless to say, as well as much joy, there were also a lot of tears. Veronica Kumeta of Ladies Fighting Breast Cancer was awarded the Inspirational Woman of the Year Award and Georgina Moseley of Help Harry Help Others was awarded the West Midlands Woman of the Year Award.  

 

Justice Williams MBE, who is the founder of the awards, is a truly inspirational woman with a huge amount of energy, passion and integrity. In her own words, "Instead of getting a law degree, I got myself a criminal record".  Whilst in her early twenties, Justice was sentenced to a short time in prison and whilst there, she spent time in the library, looking for jobs so that she could make something of herself when she got out. On her release she volunteered at a local youth group and in 2004 she set up her own initiative to help disadvantaged youths set up their own businesses. In 2008 she became the youngest black woman to get an MBE.  After becoming a Red Magazine's Hot Woman of 2010, she felt that the women of the West Midlands deserved an awards ceremony of their own, hence last night's event.

 

Emma from fashionmommy also deserves a special mention. She was awarded the Fashion Blogger of the year award, which was a fantastic achievement. Unfortunately due to her young son being poorly she wasn't able to make it to collect her award, however it will no doubt be winging its way to her soon.

 

And of course no awards ceremony, which honoured women, would be complete without cakes!

What to wear to a black tie "Out of Africa" party? Hec, I have no idea!

The minute I saw the invitation I knew that it wasn't going to be easy. What does one wear to a combined 50th and 21st black tie birthday party which is held by an eminent QC at a Manor house, the theme of which is "Out of Africa"?

 

The thoughts that went through my head were along the lines of: "Shorts might be nice but I'll be surrounded by 21 year olds so won't go there. It would be easier to be a man as I could just wear a printed bow tie. Does the "Out of Africa" reference mean as in the film or "Out of Africa" as in a cultural sense?" Not knowing any other guests, it wasn't as easy as making a quick call to try and get a handle on what others thought, so really I was flying solo. In essence this meant playing it safe, giving a nod to theme in something that I was happy to wear again and in which I wouldn't feel too conspicuous. Equally as Mr G has known the host for over 20 years, I felt that that it was important to embrace the theme.

 

After the invitation had arrived, I spent an evening trawling the internet to see what I could come up with for an "Out of Africa" (as in the film) outfit but it proved a little tricky to fit it in with the black tie theme and there was a danger of falling wide of the mark. Having decided to adopt the animal print approach, I concluded that Karen Millen was probably the "go to" brand for something animal print inspired. With a two hour slot at Bicester that weekend off I went.

Karen Millen certainly had a good choice of animal print inspired pieces and I picked up these black trousers, reduced from £120 to £30 within 10 minutes of arriving.  In all honesty I perhaps wouldn't have chosen these trousers had I not got the party to go to but I can see myself wearing them in the future with black winter boots and an oversized jumper. The fit was also good too - close but comfortable!

This little fella was an accessory I picked up having arrived at the party. Issues of animal cruelty aside, I kept having to push to one side thoughts of how he may look as a pair of shoes, or a handbag and wondering whether his skin might be big enough for both. Perhaps that would be a bit matchy matchy though.....

As to the shoes, these too were bought at Bicester, from LK Bennett in the sale. They were reduced from £295 to £95 so clearly not the cheapest shoes in the world but definitely ones that I will wear again.

Doing double print with the shoes and trousers was again not quite me - especially given that they were animal prints - but as it was all black and white and given that it was a themed party, albeit a smart one, I figured that it was OK and only mildly OTT.

The black blazer is a very old one from the GAP and I also wore a yellow and diamond cuff from Karen Millen and a Topshop necklace. With Mr G in his zebra print bow tie, we were quite well co-ordinated - not in a Posh and Becks matching leather trousers and leather jackets kind of way I hasten to add, nor in a Kate and Wills matching African headdress kind of way - but more in a George and Mildred kind of way.

 

As an aside, you know how at a Halloween party you might tell the children that you were serving witches eyeballs, frogs legs and bat wings to eat? Well when we were asked whether we wanted to eat zebra, springbok, python or crocodile, I thought they meant that it was all really chicken or steak. It wasn't. All I can say is that the Pavlova was delicious!

 

Whilst the sun is still shining, let's look at some bright things courtesey of Topshop, Karen Millen, LK Bennett and Boden

Today we visited the beautiful Channel Island of Herm, where we headed to Shell Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world - well in my opinion at least!

 

 

 

 

Given that it was warm enough for even me to don my bikini and go for a swim, I can't quite bring myself to write about darker colours so with that in mind, today I am looking at all things bright and beautiful. 

 

Keeping with the sunshine theme, and with all things beautiful, there's this neon necklace from Topshop. At £70 it's way up there on the higher priced side of costume jewellery but it would put a smile on anyone's face.

 

If I'm going to have to think about next season, I'm happy to think about this Topshop fluffy boyfriend coat (£89). The bright colour is cheery and the fluffy texture is a huge trend for the season. There will be lots of fur gilets, fur coats, fluffy jumpers and warm, textured pieces, which is great for when it gets colder (ssshhhh).

I found this hot pink sequinned cardigan in Karen Millen at Bicester a couple of weeks ago. I loved it but couldn't justify its existence in my wardrobe, so it may still be there. Not only would this go with brighter coloured pieces for now but it would also work well with black and grey in the winter, or with it being so fitted, with one of the fuller circle style skirts that are starting to appear in the shops.

These lovely bright yellow shoes were in L.K. Bennett at Bicester. The staff there are really great at sending things out if anyone likes them enough to think about buying them. They don't give a refund though - just a credit note. These would look lovely with a smart, slim leg black trouser suit for work, or with ankle length jeans and an oversized grey jumper or sweatshirt, perhaps with the Topshop necklace above, for a more casual look.  These aren't the Sledge shoes, which are the highest the LK Bennett do but either the Shiloh, Sabira, Sybila or Sabrina (how confusing?) and which are lower and easier to walk around in.

For a brighter trouser, Boden has these skinny cropped jeans for £49. I think that it's nice to keep a bit of tanned ankle on show for as long as possible. We're not quite ready for the full length jeans/socks/boots look just yet. They come in a range of colours....

...to include these pink ones too. Personally I would wear them with white, black, navy or grey on top to keep it simple but I have been known to mix two brighter colours together if in the right mood!

If the idea of bright trousers or a bright coat are too much to contemplate, a bright bag is a nice option. These were £75 from Marni at Bicester and come in this great range of colours. If Bicester is a bit too far away, I really like the Canonbury clutch from Boden as an alternative which cost £59.

I hope that you like these choices and that wherever you may be, the sun is shining!

Holiday packing - the why's, how's and why on earth?

Tomorrow we go away to Guernsey, for our final break of the summer. It's a while since I have done a post on packing but I always like taking a look to see what other people pack for their holidays and adopting (or adapting) their tips and tricks to make things easier.

 

For the beach/pool (I could be being ambitious here) I have a boy leg swimsuit from Seafolly. For similar, take a look here.  I also have Crew sunglasses and my bargain Asda hat, which is similar to one that I saw in Liberty a while back now. A bit of tactical ruching on a swimming costume, combined with a lower leg can make for an easier piece to wear on the beach than some I can think of.

 

I have a selection of tops which include two printed, one lace, one long sleeved, one striped, one sequinned and one neon. I like a wide variety of tops, largely to counteract the limited selection of bottoms that I take with me.

Experience has taught me that if I'm warm, I'm comfy and that if I'm comfy, I'm not grumpy. Well, that's the theory at least. So I have packed four jumpers - plus a cardi for travelling. Even I shouldn't be cold then.

From top left to right I have a coral H&M sweatshirt, mint cashmere jumper from All Saints, new Boden striped cashmere jumper and a black jumper from Zara which is a chunky cotton knit, slightly A-line with a zip up the back and pleats around the neckline.

As I mentioned, I have a simple selection of bottoms - 2x Gap jeans, 1x Joules skirt and also a pair of cut-offs. That's all that I will need for trips to the beach and to neighbouring islands.

 

We have one fancy pants event, which is my Dad's 70th birthday. It's being held at a Manor house on the island and is an evening event - but a fairly informal one. As part of it will be held outside, a flimsy little number won't do for me so I've opted for Jigsaw trousers (down to £79 from £139 in the sale) a Whistles sparkly jumper and Mango shoes.

 

 

This photo gives a better idea of the print on the trousers. I'm also going to wear a new bangle/cuff that I bought in the Karen Millen sale at the weekend. I felt that the bright yellow and diamonds would add a nice splash of colour to the outfit.

 

Are four bags excessive? Perhaps, especially when I'm only taking four pairs of jeans/skirts/shorts but here's how it works. The snake print bag holds the travel documents, which go in the Cath Kidston boat print bag, which I use as a handbag. To get around the limit of one piece of hand luggage, the Cath Kidston handbag goes into the larger Cath Kidston  bag which also holds my laptop and that counts as my hand luggage for the aeroplane. The striped bag is a beach bag into which the snake print bag goes with purse/keys/phone in it when I go on the beach. See, it all makes perfect sense!

As well as a good selection of tops and bags, I like a good selection of cuffs, so in addition to the Karen Millen one I also have the ones below, from left to right top row - Cochinelle, Cath Kidston, Tory Burch, Cath Kidston, Tokyo Jane and La La Rocks. To save on the weight restrictions I could well be wearing them all at once. Which gets me thinking, between us we have 10 wrists. Time to go and get some more to add to the collection.

I always find it really interesting to see what people use for skincare, hair care, make-up and nails.  I'm not sure but I think that I probably travel pretty light in that regard. Here's what I have:

Skincare - Boots face wipes, Estee Lauder advanced night cream (which I use in the daytime at the moment too) and Estee Lauder advanced night repair eye cream.

Hair care - VO5 styling wax.

Make-up

Bobbi Brown pot rouge for lips and cheeks in pale pink
Bobbi Brown lipstick in Wild Rose (more for the evening)
Clinique Chubby stick in curvy candy (daytime)
Maybelline "the falsies" volume express (fantastic mascara, I love it!)
Maybelline master smoky eye pencil in navy.

Boots nail polish remover pads and stay perfect nail colour in Me! Me! Me!

And here's one thing that I will NOT be taking with me. I saw it in H&M the other day in the maternity section. Imagine sporting that on your bump. Brilliant!

Karen Millen's transformation - so far the signs are good!

Probably like many of you, I had the new Karen Millen Autumn Winter 13 "lookbook" drop through my door today (photos interspersed below). More accurately it should be referred to as the Autumn Winter 13 campaign, with portraits by David Bailey.

 

Inside it says that "Karen Millen is transforming." So the next obvious question to me was "into what?" But that's not a question that seems to be addressed. Rather it is a case of talking about the coming together of Karen Millen and David Bailey and their creative journey. I still haven't got to the nub of what the changes are really all about - although I have an idea and some hopes of my own as Karen Millen hasn't had a good overhaul for many years.

 

 

Unlike Reiss and Whistles, brands that are comparable with Karen Millen price wise, I'm not really convinced that Karen Millen has ever found its style niche on the High Street. Or maybe it has but maybe it doesn't want to inhabit that particular niche any more. 

 

Whilst there's no doubting that previous collections did have some great staple pieces, I quite often felt that it was just a bit too try hard - a little short, a little too tight, a bit heavy on the animal print, a ruffle too far and quite often something perfect would be ruined when I turned it around and it was laced up at the back. I suppose it's always felt a bit trussed up, as though it needed to kick back and relax a bit more.

 

 

It's odd that my path with Karen Millen should cross again so soon. When I recently started to think about what to wear to an upcoming 50th birthday party, the theme of which is "Out of Africa" (more about that after the event) Karen Millen was the store that really sprang to mind as having animal print pieces that would fit the bill. However is that what you would really want for your brand? For it to be the go to store for something animal print, slightly theatrical and a little OTT, to wear to a themed birthday party?

 

So, as to the "transformation" I particularly like this jacket which is from the new collection.

 

 

Whilst in the Karen Millen at Bicester at the weekend, I took a photograph of this jacket which is very similar. As I recall I think that it was about £130 and the sizing was quite snug. They did seem to have a good selection of stock though so it may be worth making enquiries for anyone who likes it enough to pursue it further - which I am now wishing I had done!

 

 

 

So, what do we think ladies?  Do we think that Karen Millen is due for an overhaul and if so, what do we hope to see. One thing is for sure, as you can see from these shots, plaid is going to be everywhere this winter and this dress could be a good place to start.

 

 

 Checked dress (£175)