The Fold's Autumn/Winter '13 Fashion Show

Sometimes as a result of being a stylist and running Style Guile, I am invited to fantastic events - events I never could have dreamed of attending a few years ago when working as a lawyer.

 

A few weeks ago now I was invited to the launch of The Fold's  Autumn/Winter 2013 collection.  The event was held at their fantastic showroom in Clerkenwell.  Some of you may remember the Fold featuring on Style Guile this time last year when I featured in a photo shoot that they were doing.

 

For those not familiar with the Fold, the brand was co-founded by Polly McMaster, who comes from a background of finance and accounting, and who has a PhD in Molecular Biology.  In her words "The Fold is about understanding a professional woman's needs in her daily life and trying to create a stylish contemporary wardrobe for them, but particularly focused around work." She also says "We really believe that being serious about work shouldn't compete with being interested in fashion."

 

So, just to give you a flavour of the event, here goes....

 

Lovely peonies - my favourite flowers of all times! Obviously it's nothing to do with the fact that they are pink!

 

In preparation for the guests, who also had an opportunity to shop the collection after the event.

The guests started to arrive, which resulted in us all starting to get a little nervous because not only had I been invited along, I had also been invited to "model" some pieces from the collection.  There were several of us - one model really was a model in the proper sense, in fact she was one of the original supermodels from the 1990's and had worked with Christie, Linda, Naomi and Cindy. I can confirm for sure that I was the shortest and widest of the models by a long way!

 

Here I am wearing the Le Marais long sleeve tunic in blush pink (£159) together with the Le Marais cropped black trousers (£159). The Fold are happy to make trousers to a bespoke length, should it be required.  

We were asked to take our own shoes along to the event and here I'm wearing my LK Bennett zebra print shoes from Bicester.

This outfit is the Brunswick dress in plum, which costs £225. Worn with a hat that was provided for the occasion, together with the Flinders Black Patent Belt (£65) which I love because it's so simple and elegant.

For my last outfit I wore the most beautiful dress, which is the navy winter Camelot. It hasn't yet been released but will be available in November, in time for Christmas. From it's length, to its neckline, to the navy fabric with a touch of sparkle in it, to the fit, the detailing - this dress is heavenly.

The Stratton top also comes in the sparkly fabric which again would be nice for Christmas, either with smarter trousers or with jeans.

You can see more images from The Fold's A/W '13 fashion show here. It's definitely worth taking a closer look at this season's collection - there are some beautifully elegant and stylish pieces.

Let's mix some Primark with some Whistles, Zara, All Saints and Mulberry to fight off the chill!

It really felt like the first day of winter today, which gave me the opportunity to wrap up warm.

 

I'm a big fan of lots of things - being warm is one of them, another is being comfortable and another is wearing "cheat" items - namely those pieces that look stylish and polished but which feel like the most comfortable PJs that I own.

 

When I'm styling clients I often say that the ideal is to feel as though you are wearing a onesie, whilst looking as if you are wearing something (anything!) much more stylish and sophisticated. It's definitely something to aim towards.

 

Here I'm wearing the Whistles Annabel jacket (£155) bought with the Grazia 25% discount. Our Selfridges didn't have it in the navy (shown below) which is probably just as well really as I could quite happily own both colours. It's boucle, which makes it soft, very warm and because of it's nice shape and styling, one of those cheat items I was talking about. Given the choice I would happily wear my fleecy dressing gown jacket for the entire winter - and behind closed doors frequently do - but it's not really acceptable in public, so this jacket is a much more acceptable alternative.

 

 

Underneath the jacket I wore an All Saints cashmere jumper, Whistles camo print scarf, Primark coated skinny jeans, Zara boots and Mulberry handbag. Cold weather - I'm ready and waiting for you!

One guaranteed way to make legs look longer and hips narrower....

One guaranteed way to make legs look longer and hips look narrower is to wear a high waisted, dark rinse, flared jean with heels. Tone those heels to the colour of your jeans and hey presto, you look like you are on stilts (not that I do here; in fact this shot doesn't demonstrate the point particularly well at all but I'm sure that you get my drift.)

So what is it all about then? Well the high waist on the jeans makes legs look as if they start higher up than they do, a dark rinse is instantly slimming, the width of the flare in comparison to the width of the hips and thighs makes them look narrower (which is why tapered trousers have the opposite effect), heels obviously add height and the whole trick of toning shoes to jeans continues the lines without interruption.

I bought the jeans that I am wearing in the Jaeger Boutique sale last summer. With the trend being for skinny and boyfriend jeans, flared jeans are quite hard to find on the High Street but now and again I really like wearing them - and it means that I still haven't had to wear tights! Mango has this pair for £39.99, which should do the trick.

The jumper is going to get a post of its own devoted to it and the statement necklace is an old Hobbs favourite.

A walk along the beach...

A weekend away with three friends in Dorset meant a capsule wardrobe of comfortable, practical pieces which I could layer and which I didn't mind getting mucky. I think that the emphasis was more on comfort than anything else. I seem to remember donning PJ bottoms at about 6pm on Saturday evening. 

 

Our Saturday started with a wander around the local town, progressed to lunch at a beach café after which we went for a walk along the beach. It was warm enough for me to go down to two layers - shocking, I know - hence the coat around my waist and the jumper around my shoulders.

 

Even if in scruffs I still like a bit of jewellery so on went the yellow necklace, which picked up the yellow in the jumper and also in the bag. The grey jeans, green parka and navy wellies (I have to be so careful with that word as it always auto-corrects to "willies") were a bit random but who cares - I was on holiday!!! I don't think that I did the whole wellies in the town thing - choosing to wear Zara ankle boots instead.

 

[The denim shirt was sold out online and I still can't find it although they were meant to have had new stock. Although I have seen the Parka in Zara, it's not on the site (it's a basic one) but I have included links to the ones they have. Mine is closest to the one on the top left of the link. Again the COS jeans are the nearest that I could find.]

 

Zara  Parka

New Look denim shirt

Primark jumper

Cos jeans

Joules Wellies

Cath Kidston bag

H&M necklace

 

Does anyone recognise those cliffs?!!

 

If there's one thing that I would like in my life right now...

If there's one thing that I would like in my life right now it's one - or maybe all four but that's a little greedy - of these cuffs from Jaeger (£65). I like jewellery to have something about it - whether it's smaller pieces layered together, or one more significant piece like this, if it doesn't make a statement, I don't really see the point in wearing it (sentimental pieces aside of course.)

The orange one is lovely and bright and would make a nice addition to a grey, navy or black outfit. It has enough about it to turn a very simple black jersey dress into something very stylish. I think that the orange is appropriate for the whole Halloween/pumpkin thing that will be going on soon. So that's the orange one sold to me!

I love the richness of this purple one for an evening out. Worn against a gold or black sparkly top, with black velvet skinny trousers and heels, it has quite a decadent feel about it. It reminds me of the berries that we saw when walking in Dorset this weekend - so that's a purple one sold to me too.

Now I know that not everyone likes their jewellery to stand out, so this subtle grey one would be perfect for those who don't like the idea of a bright orange one - and who prefer to know in their own minds that they have something lovely lurking under their sleeve, without advertising it to the world. I love this one for its simplicity - so that's the grey one sold too.

And the black one is just beautifully simple. I'm not really a head to toe black girl but for those who can pull it off, wearing a piece like this with their black outfit, especially with the gold detailing, can look uber chic. Not that it has to be worn with black of course. Yep, I wouldn't say no to one of these either.

What would you like in your life right now and why do I fear that I may regret asking that?!

Tapping into this season's fur trend with a Zara top

In about an hour I am going to be collected as a few of us are off on a girls' weekend away to Dorset - so apologies if this is unusually brief. Perhaps many of you will prefer it!

 

It was my plan to wear this outfit to travel down in but not only did I decide that most of it would be superfluous to requirements when it got down there but my trousers got soaked when I did the school pick up and clammy trousers are never good. 

 

Oh the trousers! I bumped into my husband briefly in town today and he looked at me and asked whether I was wearing new trousers. He would make a rubbish PI. Not only does he not look like Magnum, which is obviously a pre-requisite of being a PI, but his powers of observation are pants. The Cos trousers are pretty much on their last legs having been worn to death. Had he gone north by 10cm though and asked whether the blue and black, leopard print fur top (ie the really distinctive top that I was wearing) was new then yes, he would have been right.

 

So, there we have it: one fur fronted, leopard printed, short sleeved sweat from Zara, which I cannot now find anywhere on the site (rel details are 0909/236/800 and it's from the W&B collection for anyone interested) Zara boots, Cos trousers. I forgot to include the blue handbag which picked up the royal blue in the top but it was raining at the time.

As to how the outfit came about, having been running, I was late leaving for a meeting, so I opted for old faithful trousers, my new Zara boots (minus cardboard inserts) which I really like and just worked upwards. The top could have just as easily been a silk shirt, a sparkly knit or a striped top. Having half an outfit to think about when you are short of time is so much easier than thinking about a whole outfit!

I know it looks a bit mangy here but really it's not!

Possibly the only dress you will ever need

I first saw this dress whilst working yesterday and given that I was still thinking about it when I woke up this morning, I knew that I had to go and investigate further. The investigation soon turned into a purchase. Let me tell you more....

The Selma jersey dress from Whistles (£125 but there's still currently 25% off with Grazia) is all that I look for in a day dress - and more. It does have the slightly off putting word "body-con" in its title, which always strikes fear into my heart but whilst it's fitted, it's not one that cuts your circulation off, makes you turn blue and fall over.

I realise that I have written about Whistles a lot recently and whilst it's really strong this season I am objective about brands. When I was working last week we rejected a Whistles dress on the basis that it wasn't lined and was see through - come on Whistles, £145 for a see through dress? I don't think so.

So, where to start with this dress? It's machine washable at 30 degrees and has a wool content of 50% (so that's the warm box ticked). It has long sleeves, a good length (apart from the maxi dresses it is by far the longest length dress on the Whistles site.) It is also fully lined with a supportive under layer which not only holds you in but also gives a smooth line - and adds warmth, so that's a double tick on the warmth front.

This dress could be accessorised endlessly, and no doubt will be over the next few months, but for this post I wanted to show it to you in its "naked" state so that you can decide.

From this side shot it's possible to see the ruching at the waist, which is always a flattering detail, particularly as so many styles are hugely wide and loose this season - which is fine if it's a jumper and you can counteract it with a fitted skirt, or vice versa, or if you are very tall and can wear heels all day. Otherwise that shape isn't always so good.

 

Whilst I know it looks as though I'm doing a "push the boobs out" shot, it's just for the purpose of showing the exposed side zip, which I also really like as a detail.

Posting a photo of one's bottom is always a risky manoeuvre, and I must admit to forgetting the VB trick of bum clenching but there we go, it was the best I could manage whilst half way through cooking the dinner so please be gentle with me!

 

As an alternative, there's this Topshop dress at £35. It still has the ruching over the front and whilst it's flatter at the back, a client I was working with yesterday was telling me about the M&S slips she wears which are like a long vest, very fitted and give a smooth line - so one of those may sort out any bra strap/pant line issues.

Topshop also has it in this colour, which may hold more appeal to some. Lovely with bright yellow, hot pink, orange or black, it's another staple piece.

Me & Em has this double layered twist front jersey dress for £98, which I have included for those who have a curvier bust and who may appreciate the V-neck on this dress.

This Jigsaw dress £69 may appeal to more apple shaped ladies who don't necessarily want the ruching over the tummy (although don't discount it, it can work really well) and who instead prefer a looser fit - something which skims rather than clings but which nips back in at the hem to provide a nice silhouette.

The Whistles dress also comes in black - although I haven't seen it. I can't wait to play with this dress and to wear it for work, at the weekend and for evenings out - with heels, flats, boots, biker jackets, bright coats, pea coats, statement necklaces, printed scarves and sparkly scarves.  In fact I fear that this may be the end of Style Guile as from now on I will be wearing the same dress all winter. It may also be the end of my friendships as I will whiff a little too.

A fail safe outfit - a little like a two and a half minute fail safe Jamie Oliver recipe!

It's not rocket science but slightly battered jeans with heeled boots worn with a nicer top always works for me as an outfit. It's like a Jamie Oliver two and a half minute fail safe recipe - but it takes less than two and a half minutes to put together. I like to be comfortable and able to move around - and there's nothing worse than watching your every move in case you mark something that's dry clean only. So the combination of jeans that don't matter but a top that does (isn't that what aprons were invented for?) works on lots of different levels.  

 

Sometimes I go with sparkles on the top half, sometimes it's a Breton stripe and a statement necklace, sometimes it's a printed blouse or sometimes, as in this outfit, it's a particular colour combination that I like.

With yellow and grey being a favourite combination, I wore a sequin striped Whistles jumper with an H&M necklace, yellow Karen Millen cuff and a Warehouse grey jacket, which also has a sparkly thread running through it. 

 

So, that's one fail safe easy outfit. A whole "recipe" book of others might be good I think!

A school run outfit of Nike, Boden, Gap and All Saints to help with sore toes!

You may remember that I mentioned that I had somehow inadvertently ended up training for the Birmingham half marathon. Well last night saw us run 14 miles in preparation for it - just to be on the safe side. The reason that I tell you this is because it directly impacted on today's outfit.

 

My purple Nike trainers were the softest thing to wear against my slightly sore toes for the walk to school this morning. Feeling the need for warmth, comfort and the clothing equivalent of a hot stew, I also wore my Boden cashmere striped jumper together with skinny jeans and an All Saints mac. The thought of a clutch also appealed more than a handbag, so I used my snake print Marc Jacobs neon clutch instead. I have to admit that I am coming perilously close to buying a onesie to wear after the event (but don't tell anyone).  

 

Having done only a few long distance runs, I can't pretend to be an authority on them but through trial and error, and taking on board what others have said, I have found a few things that help in preparation. So for anyone interested, here goes:

• An hour's nap in the afternoon is a good plan (sneaky I know but I did our last 13 mile run after a six hour shopping day and that was really, really, hard);
• Carb loading on fresh white home baked rolls and butter an hour and half before running seems to work and it is also slightly indulgent;
• Jelly babies are good to nibble after about 10 miles and are a good distraction (but they make you really thirsty and your teeth feel horrible);
• Chatting on and off makes the time go much quicker (we tried to convince ourselves that we were in our local pub, which worked to an extent but certain things were missing ie alcohol);
• The Endomondo app is good for providing information of your speed for each km run, which oddly acts as a good motivator. It also enables you to see your speed as you are running. Naturally we concluded that it wasn't entirely accurate and that the signal failed somewhere along our tree dense route so that we were, in fact, actually faster than it gave us credit for;
• Running in trainers which don't have holes in the bottom of them is probably a good idea (well, how often are you meant to check the bottom of your trainers) and good running socks are worth their weight in gold.

If anyone else would like to share their tips I would love to hear them. Anything and everything is welcome! I would particularly like to know how to convince yourself that you are running at night time (which I much prefer) even though you are running in the morning. I'm thinking about wearing sunglasses but I'm not sure that it will work.

A masterclass in how to mix your prints.

With the other Mrs Goodrham visiting this weekend, it gave me an opportunity to feature someone else on the blog.  My sister in law, who is Venezuelan (half indigenous, half Trinidadian) had the pleasure of meeting my husband's brother 14 years ago now. What lucky ladies we are!

 

Yazury was wearing a fabulous outfit in which she had mixed the prints on her top half and on her bottom half. On her top half she had a pink leopard print F&F short sleeved blouse, whilst her Next jeans were a tonal damask print. Working in a trench, Office desert boots and a Jigsaw tote, she was the epitome of early autumn chic.

 

Apparently Yazury's outfit stemmed from the fact that when she was out with friends the other day, it was noted that she was wearing black, which wasn't like her. So she made up for it by introducing some colour and mixing her prints. Working from the same colour palette, and ensuring that the scale of the prints works together, is the best way of mixing prints successfully. I love how this outfit is interesting but also subtle.

With her Trinidadian heritage, Yazury has incredibly curly hair. About twice a year, she has a Brazilian Keratin treatment which makes her hair much easier to handle - especially during the damper winter months. It also reduces the time that it takes her to dry, and straighten her hair, from around an hour, to twenty minutes. The intricacies associated with long, curly hair, are clearly something with which I am not familiar - but for those who do have styling difficulties, I thought that this might be worth mentioning.

I'll stop wittering on about Whistles soon but first just let me show you this scarf....

Remember the Whistles terrazzo print scarf that I showed you yesterday? Well here I wore it for my final shopping day of the week. Whistles does some great prints each season and a scarf is a nice way to tap into those prints without having to spend a huge amount of money, whilst at the same time updating your wardrobe.

 

Often Whistles will do a shirt/top/skirt/dress and sometimes trousers in a print - so in a way the scarf is at the bottom of the food chain but that's fine with me. I'm not averse to scurrying around on the metaphorical sea bed of a brand! But it's hardly a hardship - I love scarves for the way that they can pull an outfit together in an instant.

 

I wore the scarf with a pale green cashmere All Saints jumper which I bought from an outlet store over the summer (which has now closed, boo!) navy Cos trousers, Zara boots and a Marc Jacobs bag. My husband bought the handbag for me as a present for our 10 year wedding anniversary which was nearly 4 years ago now. Now there's a thought - do you reckon 15 years deserves another handbag? I have nearly a year to plan. Heavens knows what he deserves....

Later on in the day I swapped the cashmere jumper for a pale pink Zara knit and the trousers for khaki green Next coated jeans - for a cooler (in the temperature sense) and slightly more relaxed look. Then I got into the school run, cooking dinner and doing the washing though so no snap of that outfit. Sorry!

Wishing you all a fantastic weekend!

Making friends happy with clothes - thanks to Whistles, Gap and Boden

My "day off" today started with an hour long session with the personal trainer I have been seeing over the summer and finished with an 8.5 mile run. Somehow I seem to have inadvertently ended up training for a half marathon. I don't quite know how it happened, and how you can "inadvertently" train for a half marathon is beyond me - but anyway there it is.

In between those activities, I nipped into town for an hour. As I arrived in the car park, lots of car alarms were going off. It was as if there was some huge announcement that the Lita leather jacket had come back into stock in Whistles but sadly that was not the case. I think that the car alarm situation could have been caused by the loud music from the car in front. It was ridiculous. Didn't the young man inside realise that I wanted to listen to Woman's Hour for goodness sake?

I had a great time in town, picking up pieces that friends and clients were after and then dropping them off. I think I'm slightly odd as I get a real high from finding the "unfindable"!

Before any of that happened though the Boden Patsy heels were delivered for a friend of mine. They have a great heel height and as she last bought something similar when she was pregnant with her son who is now 8, she is delighted.

I picked up the Whistles terrazzo scarf for a friend who was at work. The 25% Grazia discount voucher came in very handy, reducing it from £45 to £33. The colours are actually much prettier in real life. It has a very pale pink and an icy blue in it.

Now there's a whole story behind getting hold of the Whistles Lita leather biker jacket in grey. In a nutshell it goes like this: A friend of mine was after one but it was sold out online and in store. Liking a challenge, I offered to try and track one down for her. Whistles customer services (who were brilliant) advised that it was out of stock but that 7 units (not quite sure what that means) were due to go on the website at some point.

After dinner this evening I checked the Whistles site and there it was. I quickly stuck it in my basket and after a flurry of phone calls and texts to said friend, during which she gave me the online Grazia discount code (my voucher with the details on it was long gone.....) it was mine. Or hers. Or mine until she has run the half marathon and then she's allowed to have it. However up until that time I will no doubt try it on and pretend it's mine, just as our eldest does with my shoes when I'm out and I come home and find them in random places around the house. 

These GAP skinny mini camo trousers which are sold out on line but which were in the sale in our local store, are on their way to Newcastle to a friend up there who couldn't get hold of a pair locally.

These GAP true straight pants will be dropped off tomorrow to a client who lives locally. They didn't have her size when we shopped yesterday but did so today. They are an absolute favourite of mine at the moment. They are amazing for anyone who is after a pair of smart trousers, which can also be worn at the weekend. They are machine washable, made of 95% cotton and 5% elastane, come in black, navy and grey, cost £34.95 and whilst slim fitting aren't skinny, which means they are more up to date than a boot cut trouser but they aren't too skinny for work. The rise is good too. Have I raved enough? One pair of trousers won't suit every shape but these are definitely worth a look and just as good as the Reiss Paris trousers which are considerably more expensive.

So all in all a good day. I like making people happy by finding them things that they like. Did I pick up anything for myself on my trip? Yes, I fear I may have done so. But more about those pieces another day...

The last hurrah of the summer maybe? A Cos skirt, bare legs and nude sandals.

Submitting to opaque tights means that winter is on its way. My steadfast refusal to wear them whilst there is any chance of a warm day means that for the last few weeks I have been wearing a lot of trousers. However, with the unusually warm weather today, I wore a skirt with bare legs - quite possibly for the last time of the year.

 

 

My favourite high waisted Cos A-line skirt is useful all year round. The length is good for me with, our without, tights - and that's quite a rare skirt length to find. With nude shoes, a cream leather jacket and a Zara print blouse with gold skull buttons (subtle to the point that I didn't realise the buttons were skulls until after I had got it home) I was good for my day in the shops.

 

Skirts are finally taking centre stage this winter. After many seasons without a great choice of skirts in the shops, they are at last featuring more in the collections. Keep you eyes open for a post about the options available!

"& Other Stories" - the sister company of Cos and H&M - and what a nice sister she is!

A couple of weeks ago the opportunity finally presented itself for me to take a good wander around & Other Stories in London. A sister company of H&M and Cos, it was so different from what I had expected I can't even begin to explain it.  

 

I don't know why but for some reason I imagined it to be dark, foreboding and full of gothic pieces. My mis-conceptions must have sprung, I think, from a few of the pieces that I had seen in the press when it launched last year. However if I'd thought about it a little more, logic would have dictated that, being Swedish, it would be sleek, chic and bright.

 

I suppose it's a little dangerous to over-egg the pudding because just in the same way that I was pleasantly surprised by what I found, if I rave too much people may be disappointed on visiting.

 

Anyway, so here are some snaps that I took as I wandered around (sorry for the lack of links to these pieces) together with images, plus links, to some others that I like. So here goes:

 

& Other Stories had a really large range of shoes, boots and trainers from the classic to the quirky so if you're on the hunt for some footwear, it's worth adding to your list. I liked these because of their rich colour and the fact that they were a little different but still very "do-able".

 

 

There was definitely more colour than I expected to find. I loved the vibrant coral colour of this bag.

 

Silver boots for anyone who fancies anything a little futuristic. I think that these are very cool in a pixie boot kind of way!

Textured jumpers are a huge trend this season and the light and pretty colours on this jumper make a nice change from black or navy. It has a slight 80's look about it but as lots of things are just a re-hash of what has gone before, if we were put off by anything that we had seen before we would soon reach the stage where we didn't wear anything - or everything that we did wear would be very boring.

Hmmm, I'm not entirely sure about the neoprene look (it reminds me slightly of a kids' Superman dressing up outfit with the extra six pack padding) but variety is a good thing...

I love the print on these shoes, which is similar to the jumper. The appeal lies in the fact that the shoes have different prints on them. These would update a plain navy or purple dress really well and would look equally good with rolled up boyfriend jeans.

I know I've featured a lot of quilting recently....but here's some more. This jumper also comes in grey and a taupe colour. This navy one is hanging in my wardrobe, patiently waiting for a chilly day.

I love the print on this pretty handbag/purse.  & Other Stories is a treasure trove for little bits and bobs like this, plus make-up, jewellery and smellies. In fact it would be quite easy to get lost in there for a few hours - it's a great place for Christmas shopping.

I tried these mid calf boots (£95) in the navy - and they also come in black and brown. I loved the stack heel, together with the lighter coloured heel and sole. Definitely one for the list!

This long sweater (£55) is beautifully thick and chunky with a huge roll neck. There was also a lovely, oversized cardigan in the store with rounded shoulders - massively huge and warm which I loved but which would have been too heavy to carry, which was probably a good thing really!

Due to its structure, this triangle pleat skirt (£45) reminded me of a Cos piece. It's just a little different from the norm without being inaccessible.

And finally I could be very tempted by this wool bomber jacket (£125). I didn't particularly like them in the summer and the varsity ones are definitely too much of a statement but this one is quite understated. Plus it's navy which is always a winner.

The fact that the store was new helped with the whole shopping experience, which reminded me more of Anthropologie than it did Cos or H&M. In fact it definitely wasn't H&M like at all, which is a good thing because although there are some gems in there, it definitely doesn't offer a shopping "experience".  Well perhaps it does - but just not the kind we might like, especially when a collaboration with a new designer has just been launched (hold on to your hats (and everything else) for the stampede that will ensue during the Isabel Marant November launch). It's also a little less stark than Cos - more colour and print and softer around the edges. So anyway, in a nutshell, if you're in London and have a while to spare, I'd definitely recommend taking a trip there.