My perfect Christmas party outfit (as "chosen" by the children)

Last week I was approached by the Fort Shopping Park and asked if I would like to take part in their Christmas Style Challenge - but there was a twist....

The brief was that, in return for a £150 Gift Card to spend at the Fort, I would be styled in a Christmas outfit - chosen by my children. Initially I came out in a cold sweat at the suggestion but then I thought about it and figured that it couldn't be too bad. Could it?

So I set to work, asking them what they would put me in if they could choose. (Luckily two of them were still at school so they couldn't attend in person). But they come up with the following:

Christmas jumper

Comfortable but stylish

Sparkly, shiny, cool

Furry bag

Great flamingo impression huh?

But first, a little more about the Fort. It's located a few miles outside of Birmingham along the A38 near to that great Birmingham landmark - the Dunlop factory. Parking is free (big bonus), it's all on one level (again, big bonus) plus there's plenty of space to move about as it's outside. Sometimes I like shopping where I can see what the weather is doing, rather than being cooped up inside without any idea as to what is going on. There's a huge Primark, Boots, Debenhams, River Island, Next, New Look, H&M, Oasis and plenty of Sports Shops as well as places to eat.

So as to the shopping trip, I was accompanied by our youngest and her friend.  Both started off quite enthusiastically looking at the jewellery in H&M but their interest soon waned so I knew that I had to be quick.

I didn't tick the Christmas jumper box but I did tick the "bright jumper" box instead, with this gorgeous fuchsia pink jumper from River Island which was £38 - similar here. How that was going to work as part of a Christmas party outfit I wasn't quite sure - but that's the fun of making things up as you go along (and with having two 8 year olds in tow, one of whom was very grumpy - and it wasn't the friend!)

Then, in a totally random "these don't really work together at all but I like them" kind of way, I spotted this gorgeous pink faux fur bag, also from River Island, for £20. As a furry bag was on the list and as our daughter's friend stroked everything in sight that was furry, it was a done deal. But with a fuchsia pink jumper and a salmon pink bag, where next to take the outfit?

Well the answer was in the question. The next place to take the outfit was to NEXT where I came across this gorgeous black dipped hem skirt for £65. It's beautifully embellished, which you can see more clearly in the picture below. I liked it because a statement skirt is a fabulous addition to your wardrobe, it ticked the "comfortable" box and hopefully the "stylish" box too. Also I've never had a dipped hem skirt before and I liked this one because the front, although shorter, wasn't too short.

Then we came to the shoe part. I was definitely intending on ticking the "sparkly" box with these but everyone else had obviously had the same idea and there weren't any left in my size, so instead, having chucked fuchsia pink, salmon pink and fur at the skirt, I went the whole hog and threw some velvet and leopard at it too, in the form of these velvet leopard print shoes from River Island, (£35). I have to say that being velvet they are really soft and incredibly comfortable which if heels generally kill your feet after a few minutes, like they do mine, is a good thing.

So by now I was at £158 - ooops! But given that I still hadn't managed to fulfill the sparkly element of the brief, now wasn't the time to quit, despite the pleas of the eight year olds. So whilst buying the shoes, I also grabbed a pair of sparkly, frilly, ankle socks, similar here or here (£4). They're all the rage this year and I thought that it might be fun to see what they looked like with the whole outfit. So here they are!

So, there we go. One outfit for a Christmas party with input from the children but with the overall styling left to me and two eight year olds. At £162 I was £12 over my budget but I know that I will get a huge amount of wear out of everything that I chose, so I'm happy! I just need a Christmas party to go to now.

The sequin star jumper from Next - it's a beaut!

Every day is Christmas jumper day for me between now and well, about the end of January really, but for an all round super jumper that ticks the Christmas box without being too "Christmassy" this one could just be for you.  It's the sequin star sweater from Next (£32). Bob's your Uncle, Fanny's your aunt, job done - love it! (Just go down a size)

My pom pom has to be bright!

There's no doubt that over the past few years, bobble hats have come into their own and one of the best brands for them is the aptly named Bobbl. I've been looking at bobble hats for a while now and I was looking at (OK lusting after) the Bobbl ones the other day. However I just felt that the total price of £72 for the hat and the bobble, which can be bought separately, was more than my internal budget of "how much is an appropriate amount to spend on a bobble hat" allowed. But there's no denying that they are gorgeous! 

So then I got to thinking. Hmmmm. I had a grey cable knit beanie from the GAP and a skinny dip London pom pom key ring that I hadn't yet used, so I got my pliers out, de-constructed the key ring and sewed the pom pom to the hat. And hey presto, I had my pom pom. Obviously it's not quite as good as the bobbl ones but effectively it was free. So I'm happy to go with it for now. 

To create your own, you could go fort this cashmere ribbed beanie GAP (£23.96), which also comes in black...

....and put it with this pink split pom pom £6 from Skinny Dip London. Personally I like a faux fur bobble rather than a knitted one as I can't feeling it crashing around on the top of my head. It's just me. I'm a bit funny about things like that. Oh, and I like it to be bright! 

or this lilac split pom pom £6 from Skinny Dip London

Or there's this Next pom pom key ring which comes in plum, teal or orange (£6)

...and then you're pretty much there. There are cheaper beanies around of course, Primark, H&M, New Look etc will all have them. 

 And these were also contenders for a bobble hat purchase, had I decided to buy one...

Joules  pink bobble hat £19.95 - just look at that pom pom!

Joules yellow bobble hat (£19.95) - the colour is probably the nearest thing we're going to get to anything resembling sunshine right now! 

There's also a great one in Accessorize that's yellow and white Fair Isle with a yellow pom pom and John Lewis has some with writing on them - "Prosseco Ho Ho Ho" I think one says, plus there are a couple of others in the same range with slogans on them but I can't find them online. Sorry! Anyway, happy pom-pom-ing!

Styling "the Faces of the Fort" Campaign...

Way back in August, when the sun was shining and we were all heading off on our holidays, I was shopping for Winter clothes. I have worked with the Fort Shopping Park a couple of times now, either appearing in their previous campaigns, or styling their shoots, and it was great to be styling this shoot, which featured six of their staff members as the faces of their autumn/winter 2016 campaign - "Styled by the Faces of the Fort."

In the shot above from left to right there's , Jamil, a Sales Associate at River Island, Kennedy a Sales Associate at Schuh, Adrian, the Manager at Next, Tiffany, a Sales Associate at River Island, Adrian, Manager at Costa and Tiffany, a Sales Associate at the Perfume Shop.

The brief was to create two outfits for the campaign, one "Winter Warmers" and one "Christmas outfits". This top shot was the first of the two shots that we needed to capture and the outfits were styled to include different prints, textures, colours and trends. The additional photos are my out-takes!

Forgive me but I'm just going to concentrate on the girls' clothes for now! So Kennedy, who is second from the left, is really young, and quite a tomboy and I thought that trousers and a baseball jacket would be great for her but with a silky cropped cami and sparkly shoes for a bit of femininity too.

All of her outfit was from New Look, other than the shoes which were from Schuh  as follows :Crop trousers £19.99, Satin cami £9.99, Baseball jacket £39.99, heart choker £3.99, Glitter shoes £25.99

Demi, who is sitting down in the above shot is very pretty and elegant and loves sophisticated, feminine clothes. Her outfit is from River Island as follows: Blue Coat £75, Black pleather skirt £32, Black suede OTK boots £75, pale blue ribbed top £20. I really loved the blue coat in this outfit and the combination of the pleather skirt and OTK boots worked really well for her.

And finally Tiffany, who is on the far right is wearing an outfit from Warehouse and New Look. She loved the idea of print and layering so the dress and sleeveless coat combination worked well for her and as I'd used boots for Demi, the idea of these peep toe tie boots added something a little different. The details of Tiffany's outfit are as follows: Warehouse printed dress £55, new look sleeveless jacket £19.99, new look lace ups £24.99, new look filigree necklace £3.99

As well as being hard work, shoots are great fun and I love to see how people come to life in front of the camera and embrace it - once they've relaxed and got used to the whole idea. I'm convinced there's an inner star in most people and being styled and having hair and make-up done also helps with stepping off your own world for a day and entering a more glamourous one!

Because the shots were taken a while ago, some items may no longer be available at the Fort, or they may well be in the sale. The Christmas campaign will go live soon, so I'll bring you further shots and outfit ideas.

You can find the Fort at the following:

Visit the Fort website at www.thefort.co.uk 

Follow the Fort on Twitter @Fort_Shopping

Like the Fort on Facebook here www.facebook.com/FortShopping

A Wedding Outfit Without Heels!

I've always maintained that shoes can either make, or break, not only an outfit but also an entire wardrobe. A wardrobe full of gorgeous clothes can be killed dead in an instant with hideously frumpy shoes. Equally, adding a few pairs of the right shoes to even a very basic wardrobe can give it a whole new lease of life. And we're not even talking expensive shoes or high heels here but just ones that do a great job style wise.


Anyway, I digress slightly from the whole point of this post which is about pretty dresses and low heels. I have about four or five dresses tucked away - the above one from Reiss in Bicester included - that in previous years I've worn with high heels. Not really being one for heels anymore, I hadn't worn the dresses for a while. Then I thought what a shame that was and with a wedding to go to earlier in the week I decided just to go for it anyway and to wear the dress first of all with silver trainers for the mile or so walk to the ceremony...

...and then later with silver shoes from Topshop - similar here from Whistles (£136)

Now I know that it's hardly mind-blowing or a great discovery "Ooooh, let's wear some flatter shoes with pretty dresses so as to get more wear out of them" but the realisation that I'd found some shoes that I liked and that would do the job that I needed, meant that they opened up a whole new host of wardrobe possibilities. It also meant that I didn't have to wear trousers and flats (again) or compromise in some other way.  And that's what it's all about. Identifying the gaps and filling them so that you get the most out of your wardrobe - whether it's the right shoes, a top that's the right length to work with all of the skirts that you have, or a dress that you can style for many occasions.


You would be surprised at the number of ladies I work with who really only need a few bits adding here and there for their wardrobes suddenly to come together and be complete. Sometimes it seems like magic but really it's just a case of taking a good hard look at what you have and identifying what you need for things to slot into place.


So here's looking forward to the wedding party this coming weekend with another fancy pants dress and flatt(ish) shoes.


And as for a couple more options, so I know that these aren't exactly flat but they are gorgeous - and their block heel makes them more sturdy than others. They are £35 and they are from Next plus they also come in navy.

However if lower heeled and "of the moment" is what you're after, minus an ankle strap or a pointy toe which many would rather steer clear of, there's always the glove shoe from Next (£55) which come in this gorgeous rose gold.

Tomorrow I'll be back with more rose gold. But this time for the house. Until then, have a super bank holiday weekend. Beth x

Grey felt - one of my favourite fabrics of the season. From hats, to coats and shoes, I have it covered.

There's something about felt, particularly grey felt, which I find really appealing in a winter fabric. Not only is it heavy and warm but it feels luxurious and smart whatever its price tag - plus it doesn't crease. Now clearly I'm not wearing grey felt above but I am wearing a sort of camel felt, by virtue of this sleeveless coat from Warehouse (£69).

But anyway, back to grey felt. As you can see from the Pinterest images below, virtually every piece of clothing imaginable comes in grey felt - from hats (Fedoras are still a huge trend this season)...

....to coats and trousers...thanks Olivia, you're a beauty in your felt!

...to shoes...

And whilst out and about on my travels recently, I've come across these grey felt pieces.

First off, Next has this amazing grey brushed wrap skirt (£40) which is fabulous. Tapping into that whole wrap skirt look, which is having a massive revival this season, it feels much more expensive than its £40 price tag. That's one thing that I really do like about Next. Each season they have  a few pieces which are just so perfect that they look as if they have walked into the shop from somewhere else and jumped on a rack waiting to be found. (Sorry Next but you know what I mean!) With boots or Mary Janes it's a really versatile skirt. Wear it with a chunky roll neck or a finer fitted jumper and biker jacket and it's a really wardrobe work horse.

Zara has these wide leg trousers (£39.99) which I've had my eye on for a while. Whether they would quite work for me as trousers I'm not sure but I'm very tempted to buy them and have them made into midi length culottes as so far, I haven't managed to find any grey felt culottes that I like. Both Whistles and Cos have some but they're not quite right. These however, I can imagine working.

Completely impractical I will admit, but I've loved these Whistles felt sandals (£165) since I first saw them a few weeks ago. Worn with thick black tights, they would do a great job of giving some pieces in your wardrobe a kick up the butt - dragging them kicking and screaming into this season and all for the price of £165. Convinced? No, me neither. Maybe if they were £40 I would be.

And this is my latest find - a Primark bag (£18) within Selfridges which just makes the shopping experience a whole lot more pleasant. This bag is grey felt with black mock croc on it AND it's a back pack which is great for our Monday morning scooter rides to school when we have the following to carry: Rucksack, PE kit bag, swimming bag, flute. Yep, I often arrive in a hot and sweaty state having carried most of the bags whilst running alongside the scooter and this could help with that. How I'm not quite sure but in the interests of research, I'm prepared to give it a go.

Are you sharing the grey felt love or steering clear of it?  If you find any grey felt pieces on your travels, please do share them with me. I'm always on the look out for more!

Oh and before I forget, I've published a new vlog which you can watch here. So many women are wearing the wrong bra size and in this vlog I show you what to look for when fitting a bra yourself. It's not so much about the measurements (we all know how brands vary!) but more about how it should look, where it should sit and so on. I'll expand on it a little more tomorrow (if you'll excuse the pun!) x

The hunt for the perfect white jeans is on and has been for some time now.....any ideas anyone?

Today I just couldn't face the idea of jeans again, so I forced myself kicking and screaming into a dress and unsurprisingly, it wasn't all that bad. This Whistles denim dress has really wide sleeves so I'm limited as to what I can get over the top. With a trip to soft play planned (oh the joy) there was a risk that it could be cold and so it was all about the warmth and not the style. This Barcelona cardi from Boden stepped up to the mark though.

A couple of days ago I got some of my summer clothes out. I'm not quite sure why because there hasn't really been any suggestion that summer is on its way but you never know when it's about to appear and I would hate not to be prepared.

One of the items that I found, with some slight glee I have to admit, were some white flared jeans from H&M that I've had for about three or four years now. When the time is right, assuming that I like them when they're on, I will wear them. I also have some GAP skinny ones with rips in them but they irritate the wotsits out of me because they are too low rise and when I bend over they slide down my bum, which is not a good look on any level.

So what I am really after are some straight/boyfriend style white jeans. My search started a couple of weeks ago with the  Hush white boyfriend jeans (£75). I had high hopes of these but even when they were on their way I was given the heads up by a friend that the 8 were big and she wasn't wrong. They were really big on the waist, to the point that they were a bit slouchy around the crotch. Again, not a good look. The model can get away with it - less so on mere mortals!

Next I looked to GAP but they didn't have any in store, although they had these destructed boyfriend jeans online for £44.95. I like the shape of these but I'm not after rips (this time).

Topshop didn't have what I was after in store either but I do like the Moto Mom jeans (£40 online) and as I haven't tried any of those (well, not since I wore them when they were last trendy in 1989) I have ordered them. I figure that they could be good - or failing that, good for a laugh!

My other plan, which I have to admit failed spectacularly, was to buy some high rise H&M skinny jeans (£7.99) in a much bigger size than I would normally take, to see whether I could get some slouch into them. As I've eluded to, it didn't work. They didn't seem any wider on the legs so they kind of got stuck on my calves but then the waist stood out by about 4" and the crotch was around my knees. Again, not a good look. But had it worked they would have been a real coup. They're not online so I can't share them - sorry.

I love the fit of these from Seven but at £180 they're not going to be happening any time soon.

I've also checked out Whistles, Oasis, Jigsaw and Warehouse, just in case anyone was after some slightly slouchy white jeans too but they haven't come up with the goods (so far).

The Next relaxed skinny might be an option (£26) but I've just realised that they are distressed and so am I now too as I didn't want ripped ones. Well they're for the high jump before they've even been ordered.

So the hunt continues. If anyone has top tips on slightly slouchy boyfriend/straight jeans, please do share them!

Can I per(suede) you to come along for the fringing ride?

I've never really been a fan of fringing and I'm thinking very much no to these....(Zara £99.99)

But on the other hand I could quite easily be persuaded by these - they are much more subtle. Love the suede - such a big fabric for the season - and I'm always a sucker for a wooden heel...

and as for these, well they're pretty much a done deal. Lovely with pretty white dresses, lovely with flares, great with a boho style dress...

and as for this. Well this would integrate itself easily and seamlessly into my wardrobe...

 ...and this is just fun, fun, fun - and all wardrobes need a little bit of that from time to time!

1. Leather fringe t-bar black sandals Next £58

2. Leather fringe t-bar tan sandals Next £58

3. Blue fringe hobo bag Next £34

4. Fringe cross body bag Next £30

Are you with me or running to the hills at the thought of a little bit of fringing. If I can't tempt you with fringing, how about a tassel - or two??!!

5. Blue tassel bracelet Next £10

You know the saying that the apple never falls far from the tree? Well our youngest has been invited to take part in gym competition but has refused on the basis that....she doesn't like the leotard. As I started to roll my eyes in despair, I was suddenly struck by a memory of a little girl who refused, point blank, to even consider joining brownies because she didn't like the horrible brown outfit that they had to wear and as for the yellow neck thing. Yuk. Hmmm. Wonder who that might have been? Time to un-roll those eyes, if that's possible.

It's a good job that I didn't give up swearing for lent.....

Remember that I said learning to ski was made easier by the fact that I don't really have much choice in the matter? Scrap that. It's a load of twaddle.

All I can say is that it's a good job that I didn't give up swearing for lent. Or chocolate. If I had, I would have been one big fat failure about an hour into the day. This is a picture that I took yesterday whilst sitting outside a cafe after refusing, point blank, to ski any further. There was no discussion about the matter. By that stage the skiis were off and there was no way that they were going back on until I decided that I was ready to move (I should make it clear that this didn't hamper anyone else. I was very happy to be left alone and quite frankly I'm pretty sure that they were happy to leave me alone!)

The refusal had been preceded by a pretty spectacular fall down a slope which caused a less than dignified rant at myself, the slope concerned, the skis and anything else really. Mr SG might argue that it was also directed at him, although I think that I managed to communicate through the swearing that it wasn't. Anyway, today was another day and all that but it did take a few hours, a swim and some fizz  (plus the coke and mars bar above) to convince me that I really did want to give it another go. Grrrrrrrr.

Just to reassure you, I didn't go out wearing this Sweaty Betty headband but I did promise that I would share some looks and this definitely goes down as my Olivia Newton John "Let's get physical" impersonation from the 80's - well either that or Margot Leadbetter from the "Good Life."

Aside from that I'm wearing a Primark running jacket, Adidas half zip top which is slightly thicker and a GAP running top underneath. But today it was much colder so it only just about did the trick. Back to the sweatshirt tomorrow.

Now when it comes to the Apres ski look I have kept it very understated. There was a risk that I could have brought a whole load of clothes that were completely wrong so, knowing how I prefer to dress after a long day of exercise (albeit not skiing), I just stuck to comfort. I have seen many a pair of leather trousers, a leather mini, lots of pretty tops and nice dresses with heels but that's not for me this week. Instead I'm wearing Next harem leggings, the chunky roll neck jumper from Boden, Stan Smith trainers and my favourite star purse from GAP.

And whilst no-one would covet my Apres ski look, or my Nevica (throw back to the 90's from Sports Direct skiing gear), one of our party has admitted to having fanny pack envy - oh yes the 80's are still going strong in my wardrobe. It won't be long before the funk belt, the fingerless gloves and the frosted lipstick are making an appearance.