Mum on the Run: Spring tops - printed tops

This is the last in my series of posts about spring tops. So far I have covered grey marl tops (one with lace, one brighter) stripes and a colour block knit with an interesting design at the back. Today I am covering printed tops.

The thing about prints is that they are incredibly subjective. People seem to know immediately whether they like a particular print or not. Some people like florals, some like geometrics, some like safari, some like retro - the list goes on.  Paisley is huge this season - as confirmed by Stella McCartney in the press today when pictured with some of the Olympic Athletes who were wearing her designs.

The tops that I am wearing above and below are both from Cos and I liked them for the same reasons that I liked the other spring tops I have shown this week - they are just a little bit different.  For a start, they both button down the back. The one above has many different colours in it whilst the one below is more muted in that it is coral and cream. They are both a fairly relaxed fit which, provided they are worn with a fitted trouser, or bottom half in general, works OK - and it's nice not to have to worry about what your tummy/love handles are up to. They can jiggle away to their heart's delight away from view! The style isn't going to suit every body shape but the idea is to keep a look out for tops which are a little different and which have some unusual detail. That should be their attraction - not their detraction (I know that's not a proper word but you know what I mean.)

So, as to the news for the day. I found out that Style Guile has been short-listed in the Style category for the BritMums blog award - which I am very exited about.  Thank you to all of you who nominated me in the first instance - I am very grateful. I had concluded, when standing in the bank sorting out my husband's Euros for his skiing trip, that I hadn't been shortlisted, so it was nice to get home and find out that I had.  It is possible to vote for Style Guile by clicking on the badge to the right of the page. If you did have a spare moment to vote, and you like the blog enough, that would be fantastic.

I forgot to mention that I was on the radio yesterday.  I was asked to speak about "Mantyhose" - which are tights for men.  They come in different prints - stripes, stars and so on.  The presenter was taking the mick out of them so much before I even got on air that there was only one way that interview was going to go.  I have to say, it was very amusing though.  I wonder whether between us we have done as much damage to the brand as my husband has by wearing his Jack Wills hoodie.  Probably almost but not quite.

On the Run: Spring tops - a fine knit with a difference

So far this week I have looked at two different grey marl tops for spring and also some stripes.  Today it's the turn of the colour block fine knit.  This one is from M&S Limited Collection and costs £29.50.  My aim was to bring you some tops that were a little bit different and I think that this one ticks the boxes on that score.  This is the front......

and this is the back....

As you can see it is open at the back which gives a great opportunity to introduce an additional colour by way of bright vest (Topshop is always good for these and they do them with wide straps so that bra straps are hidden) or a print or some stripes.  Or if you have the figure of Kate Moss you could just not wear anything at all - but I won't be going down that particular road.

In the above photograph I am wearing the top with some M&S purple chinos which at £25 are a great price and also their pink slingbacks.

I am so pleased that I am going to have my hair cut tomorrow.  It has turned into a mushroom head and needs sorting out.  Last time I went I told the hairdresser that I had turned into a Beatle - as in one of the Beatles with a bowl head hair do. He looked at me oddly and afterwards I realised that he probably wasn't old enough to know who the Beatles were and instead thought that I was saying that I looked like a beetle.  I think tomorrow I'll just keep quiet.

On the Run: Spring tops - Stripes, but not as you know them!

I couldn't do a post about spring tops without including some stripes as they are so fresh and spring like.  Personally I love stripes but they are not everyone's cup of tea. Some people say that they can't "do" stripes but really though it's all about how you wear them.  If you take a look at the above top, you can see that the stripes around my waist are closer together than the ones further up - the effect of which is to define my waist, making it look smaller.  There are all sorts of tricks that stripes can play on the eye so it's worth trying a few things on to see how they look.  There are lots of stripes in the shops at the moment but they aren't all horizontal - some are vertical, some diagonal and some tops have a combination. There is a great one that I would like to show you from Marks and Spencer but it is currently at the bottom of one of these:

....the bags which are packed in preparation for tonight's style party which I am so looking forward to and for which I have had great fun shopping. Fond as I am of Marks and Spencer, trying to find things on their website can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack - so I will take a photo of it for you at another time.

The top that I am wearing is in fact a cardigan that I have on back to front as I preferred it that way round.  It was from H and M and cost the vast sum of £7.99. For those of you old enough to remember them, it reminded me of pacers! It could be worn either way around and layered under something (a denim shirt) over something (long sleeved cotton top) and put with all manner of plain bottoms - or even printed if you were feeling brave.  For the price I think it's a cracking little number to have in your wardrobe.

On the Run: Spring Tops: more grey marl!

Yesterday I started a feature which I am going to run for the rest of the week. It is designed to show you some spring tops which have a little something extra about them, whether in terms of colour, design, print or styling.  With the warmer weather approaching, we are getting ready to cast aside our heavier knitwear but we still need a little warmth in our clothes. 

Yesterday I featured a grey cotton knit from M&S, as shown below.  We are often told that grey marl is the way forward if we want a hugely versatile top in our Wardrobe. Whilst I don't necessarily disagree, I do think that grey can be a hard colour to wear and so I particularly liked this one from the Limited Collection at M&S which had some lace across it - adding a little something in terms of breaking up the "greyness" but without taking away any of its versatility.

My second top is also a grey sweat/knit but this one has a printed front and a scoop at the back.  There is no doubt that the addition of these features take away from its versatility but it would still work well with trousers and jeans - probably more of the 7/8th length or skinny variety rather than bootcut jeans but possibly both. In some ways the scoop at the back makes it an attractive proposition  as a bit of coverage in the bottom area can be a good thing!

This top is from Cos and is available for £45. It won't be everyone's cup of tea but I like the mix of the bright yellow and neon pink and it's certainly falls into the category of being a little bit different.

The shoes that I am wearing are from the Limited Collection range at M&S and cost £25. I quite fancied a slingback for a change and they weren't too much of a financial commitment for a first foray. (Nor are they too high - which is also nice!)

The Kreativ Blogger Award

Oooh, how exciting to be given an award! The Kreativ Blogger award is received from other bloggers who like your blog and in my case, I am very grateful to Poppy's Style for sending the award my way.  Poppy's Style writes about fashion, family, friends and fun - an English lady living in the US, she shares her life there with us.

I like the whole concept of these "inter-blogging" awards, not only because it's nice to know that people like your blog but it's also nice to be able to award it to others whose blogs you like. Whilst I often drop someone an email if I like their blog, an award is a good way of acknowledging publicly that you like a blog's content and it also directs other bloggers their way too.

So, having thanked Poppy's Style, I now have to try and comply with the rules of the award, which I hope I manage to do and which are as follows:

• Thank the award giver and link back to them in their post (I am hopeful that this has worked!)
• Copy the award and post it (think I have that one sussed too)
• Tell readers seven things about yourself (oh hec - I don't think I have anything that interesting to tell!)
• Award multiple others and tell them about the award (reckon I can manage that - fingers crossed)

So here goes with my seven things:

1. I am left handed but none of our children are (boo!)
2. I did ballet until I was 18, at which point I was the only one left in the class. Everyone else was too cool for ballet - not me!
3. I used to play the violin so badly that the cat would run out of the house!
4. I have a wonderful husband and we make a great team, something which I appreciate more and more every day; 
5. When I get an idea in my head I am a formidable force. My husband has taken to giving me "projects" to keep me out of mischief!
6. Our children have made me more tired, more cross, more scared (when they are ill) and sadder (when they are upset) than anything, or anyone, ever could - but they have brought me more joy, happiness and laughter than anything, or anyone, ever could and I am so proud of them all;
7. My Mum is fab. x

Here are the others to whom I wish to give the award - please drop by their blogs and say hi:

http://anne-heartandsoul.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.theonlinestylist.co.uk/
http://nottinghillgirl.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.lottiesinteriors.blogspot.co.uk/
http://thatsnotmyage.blogspot.co.uk/

iStylista - Your Online Personal Stylist

For those of you who have been reading Style Guile for a while now, you may remember that I wrote a post a while ago about "iStylista" - Your Online Personal Stylist. 

Just to re-cap, iStylista is run by Chantelle Znideric, an award winning personal stylist. Chantelle founded iStylista in 2007 as a result of a desire to offer personal shopping and professional style advice to women anywhere in the world, at the click of a button.

From the consumers point of view, iStylista can be utilised in three way. First, by entering your details, it is possible to download your very own personal style guide, tailor made to take account of your bodyshape, colouring, height - everything really! The guides are fantastic, very detailed and a real reference point for the future.

Secondly, by completing an online style profile, the team of stylists at iStylista will pre-select pieces for your specific requirements which can then be purchased on line or direct from the stores.

Thirdly, if you would like enlist the service of a Personal Stylist to help you re-vamp your Wardrobe, shop for a specific occasion, create a capsule wardrobe or for any other styling requirement, you can use iStylista's global personal stylist directory to find a stylist in your area, who will also be happy to provide a free fifteen minute telephone consultation. And yes, it does include me!

So if you have a spare few minutes during your lunch break and would like to utilise the services of a personal shopper from the comfort of your desk,  it could be well worth dropping by iStylista to familiarise yourself with the site and to see how it can benefit you.

Happy shopping!

On the Run: Spring tops - Grey Marl

I have decided to do a series of posts this week on tops for spring.  Personally I think that tops can be quite tricky. Finding ones that have some interest about them whether by way of their shape, colour, print, fabric, or design, can be challenging.  There are plenty of t-shirts and long sleeve t's available but not only are they a teensy bit dull, they can also cling in the wrong places or alternatively if too big, can cover any hint of a shape. Shirts are OK but can be a bit corporate and boxy and generally they need ironing. Arggh! So finding something that is pretty but warm and a little different as I say, can be tricky.

Popular opinion is that we should all have a grey marl sweat top amongst the tops that we own and that it will be our saviour in any given situation.  Whilst I don't necessarily disagree, flat grey can be hard to wear.  However I quite like this Limited Collection pure cotton grey striped jumper which is quite cheeky and at £29.50 is a good price.  The fact that the grey is broken up with the cream lace makes it easier for my fair (OK, pasty!) complexion to carry off. 

The shoes are from Clarks and are called Trilby Hat.  They cost £44.99 and also come in yellow and red. I have to say that they are very comfortable and I quite like them because they are fairly covered up and not too "naked" if you know what I mean. True, they are fairly chunky but that is definitely a good thing for those with slightly heavier legs as they can make them look slimmer whereas dainty shoes just create an imbalance.  Remember when there was that whole Rachel Zoe look going on in the states when the waifs carrying the huge bags looked small enough to fit in them?  Well with chunkier shoes it's that kind of idea but not quite so extreme.

 
Just as an aside, you can see from the above photo how the short top makes my legs look longer than they are.  Raising the waist will have that effect.  It is possible to achieve the same effect with a dress by layering a short bright jacket, or a bolero, over a dark dress - quite a nice trick with a work dress if you also add some heels.

Speaking of heels, they were something that I was not wearing at 4pm this afternoon when doing a substitute ballet lesson at home with our youngest, as she was unable to attend her proper lesson. To stop her tears I had to pretend to be a rabbit leaping around the kitchen, finding a carrot, pulling it out of the ground and then eating it.  This expanded into me being an elephant, giraffe and finally a hippo rolling in the mud.  At least she found it funny 

On the Run - Some Sunday Fun at the Wedding Show

The first thing that I did this morning when I woke up was to go and show our eldest my Harry Styles quiff.  Whenever I see him on TV I am aghast at the ridiculousness of his hair do - really, it could have featured on Dynasty in the 80's. So, the last laugh was on me when one of my Mother's Day presents just happened to be - a poster of Harry himself, which is now proudly displayed on the wall of my work room.

After a lovely family breakfast the eldest and I headed off to the wedding show, where we got into trouble for taking photographs - it's all to do with copyright and the NEC being worried that people will nip home and in the whisker of a gnats whatsits whip up a copy wedding dress and sell it. Had they ever witnessed my sewing skills that really wouldn't have been a concern of theirs. I am challenged by the name tapes so copying a wedding dress would be way beyond my capabilities. Anyway, when we saw the above image we couldn't help but take a photo of it. Oh what rebels we are!

For anyone who loves retro sweets - or just the look of them, this was an amazing stand...

and if you love flying saucers in particular, just take a look at this... Should you like the look of them for your wedding, they were by "Candy Girls" who you can find on facebook at "Candy Girls Tables"

I really took the photograph below for my husband as I knew that it would appeal to his sense of humour.  There was a stall advertising a hog roast but for obvious reasons real piggies (dead or alive) weren't allowed in the NEC. However stuffed toy pigges - well that was a different matter entirely.

I have to say that some of the wedding dresses were more Fat Gypsy Wedding than I would have liked.  From a stylist's and a personal perspective, there seems to be so little choice out there.  The majority were off the shoulder, lots of big skirts, ruffles and very fussy.  There were few with sleeves or simple lines.  See what I mean?!!! I am hoping that you will let me off this week from "Sunday Best" and that the dress below will count instead. I think that I might be pushing it there though!

However, there was one stand run by Silk of Lichfield (www.SilkBrides.com) and they had some really stylish dresses, such as this 30's inspired one below...

and this lovely simple 1950's inspired dress.  If you happen to be a bride over a certain age, weight, or bust size, or even if you just don't want to follow current trends in bridal wear, your options are fairly limited at the moment so it's worth starting your research early if you want something which will really work well for you.

We had a great day out, lots of fun and laughs and we are soon off to Pizza Express to round off a lovely Mother's Day - famous last words!

On the Run - Some Serious Saturday Style!

Today my lovely friend, Vicky, came to visit me and kindly agreed to let me take a photograph of her for Style Guile.  I met Vicky the first day that I started work in Birmingham in 1995 and we had many, many great lunchtime shopping expeditions before she eventually moved to Newcastle about nine years ago. However, we still meet a couple of times a year in Leeds for a shopping/eating/chatting day out and I look forward to those days so much.  Fortunately we have one coming up in May, so we are both very excited.

Vicky has the most incredible Wardrobe and is the Queen of Chic! She has a fabulous knack of mixing designer with high street and always looks totally polished and amazing.  She is an accomplished sale shopper and has a great eye not only for a bargain but also fantastic pieces.  She always has a very clear idea of what suits and what she is looking for and she doesn't settle for second best - if it's not exactly what she is after, it stays on the shelf.

The beautiful bag  that Vicky had with her today was from Patrick Cox but she also told me about a new site she has discovered from which she recently bought an orange leather bag for £40. Last summer she bought a linen suit for work from Primark and swapped the buttons for some John Lewis ones and I can imagine that she looked stunning in it. Her shoe collection is pretty impressive too and today she told me about her new Michael Kors ballerinas and also some pretty Dune flats too. 

Tomorrow I will be bringing you "Sunday Best" from the Wedding Show - I am very excited about going as I love weddings.  As our eldest was at our wedding, 9 months old and with a virus so crying constantly, I would love to get married again - to my husband, naturally!

Vicky's outfit today was:

Skinny side zipped jeans - Reiss
Top - Newcastle Boutique
Cardi - White Company
Shoes - Can't remember!
Bag - Patrick Cox
Scarf - Malene Birger

On the Run - Hobbs spotty dress

Having worn stripes yesterday, today it was the turn of some spots.  I was out at a lunch networking event and thought that I would trial run this Bryony dress from Hobbs, which I hadn't worn before.  I like the fact that it is a bit flippy but modest in terms of its length and the fact that it has sleeves.   It is also lined which adds a bit of warmth.  Unusually for Hobbs it's quite a snug fit for its size.

To stop it from being too formal I wore my cream leather jacket and, as I was walking to the venue, I put it with some red patent ballet pumps, and my pink Mulberry handbag. All was well with the outfit, other than my tights which kept wrinkling around my ankles, Nora Batty style - so chic!

Lunch was great - held at our local Italian Restaurant and it gave me a chance to catch up with my friend Caroline, who owns Caroline's Cake Company. She makes the most fantastic, utterly divine cakes, both in terms of design and taste.  If you want to take a look at her magical creations you can do so here  Living around the corner from her has a distinct advantage as quite often a tin arrives on our door step with some tasty morsels in it.

I went to bed far too late last night so I am running out of steam and as it's nearly time for the second Coronation Street I shall sign off now and wish you all a fab Friday night!

On the Run - If you're going to wear stripes, they may as well be bold....

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday as I spent a large proportion of the day with a headache and the rest of it at our daughter's school watching her dance production (with an even bigger headache) but a very proud one, if there is such a thing.  As the Queen of headaches it might actually help me to give them characters - they spend so long with me - but that's all getting a bit too much like voices in the head so perhaps I'll stop that line of thought before it goes any further.

This evening I have been at a swishing party. Yes, that's right, SWISHING.  It was held at the children's school and it was really very good.  I was open minded about the whole idea of clothes swapping but not really sure how it would operate from a logistical point of view. However I was pleasantly surprised with how it all went.  The ladies were very chatty, got involved, listened to what I had to say (something I'm not used to at home) and all went home happy. Later it was back to school to collect the eldest thus completing my marathon evening of six round trips for the evening.

This outfit was the one that I wore yesterday. I am not really sure how I decided upon it.  It probably stemmed from the need to find something different to wear every day!  I do like my H&M jumper dress though. I know it's too big but I like the relaxed feel of it and with heels it just styles it up a little bit.

Yesterday's outfit was:

H&M jumper dress (there were similar in GAP last week)
M&S tights, Jigsaw shoe boots

Special thanks to ten year old Lily for the photo!

If you would still like to "Like" my outfit for the Easy Living Magazine competition, you can do so by following this link http://www.facebook.com/EasyLivingUK#!/photo.php?fbid=340703882632950&set=a.337285469641458.68306.129074297129244&type=1&theater

On the Run - The Topshop pink brogues get their first spring outing

When the sun finally came out in Birmingham yesterday, I decided that there was only one thing to do and that was to cast aside some winter layers.

I'm not one for revealing all to the world at the first sight of the sun - oh no, it has to be very hot for me to do that and I wouldn't inflict myself on anyone without a certain amount of preparation - but I do like to lighten it all up a little when the sun shines.  I do this by swapping my winter coat for a trench, moving away from woollen scarves, wearing less heavy knitwear and changing my boots for something more spring like. Of course tomorrow it may be snowing so those winter items are never too far away!

I have been looking for some pink brogues for a while now - it must be at least a week - and this pair from Topshop fitted the bill.  I am a sucker for patent so they always were going to grab my attention.  It's always a risk ordering on line but I was fairly confident that they would work for me and anyway, the in store returns policy is so good that it wouldn't have mattered if they hadn't.

Whilst I am unlikely to wear these with a dress (wrong shaped legs but I'm not complaining) others will and for me, they are great with skinny jeans and trousers.  I really hate being restricted by the footwear I am wearing and these will enable me to skip about to my heart's content - like a spring lamb.  Oh, OK, maybe that's taking it a bit far but you know what I mean. I fear that my back may also be telling me to take it easy on the heels so flat shoes are perhaps something I should be wearing a little more often but I shall deny ever having made that statement if I am cross examined on it.

Here's a closer pic of the brogues and you can get hold of a pair by clicking here

This was my second attempt at some pink brogues, my first attempt having not worked too well.  They were an example of an online purchase which didn't quite go to plan, only because the colour wasn't the same in reality as online.  They were more of a ballet shoe pink than a baby pink, so had to be returned to Office but again as they could be returned in store it wasn't a problem.  At the sale price of £20, had they worked they would have been a great buy.

When I sent the pic of me in the Topshop brogues to Easy Living Magazine they responded that they thought they were "cute", which I much preferred to the "practical" and "sensible" considerations which prompted my to buy them in the first place!

Speaking of Easy Living Magazine, I really would love to try and win the schoolrunway competition that they are running this month.  So, if you felt able to "Like" my picture by clicking right here I would be very grateful. It may mean that I get a chance to appear in Easy Living Magazine, which is a very exciting prospect and I know that it would make my Mum very proud and give her something to tell the neighbours!

Calling all fashionistas and bargainistas - Buy My Wardrobe is coming to Birmingham!

I just wanted to thank the team over at Buy My Wardrobe for the lovely blog post they have written about me in advance of the Buy My Wardrobe event being held on Saturday 14th April at Nuvo Bar in Birmingham - the first time that such an event has been held outside of London. You can read what they have to say here

I am delighted, and very excited, to have been asked to be the stylist at the event, which is a role normally undertaken by the Nicky Hambleton-Jones style academy at the London events.

The event promises to be a real treat - not only in terms of what will be on offer to buy but also because the event is being held at one of Birmingham's premier bars - Nuvo bar - where there will be a live pianist, champagne, lunch and afternoon tea being served. 

As to the concept, Buy My Wardrobe was launched in 2008 as a fashion recyling event.  At these events there are those ladies who go to sell pre-owned  items and those who go to buy a designer piece at an affordable price.  I guess that some may do both, which is even better.

For those ladies who are selling, the items should be of top end high street, or designer, quality.  A Buy My Wardrobe event is the perfect chance to part with those items which may no longer fit, which were perhaps an impulse buy or pieces with which you may just simply have fallen out of love. And let's face it ladies, we all have at least a few such items in our Wardrobe. Those ridiculously high shoes which can only be worn for an hour, those expensive jeans which are now too tight, those "I must buy it, it's in the sale dress" which never really suited your shape or fitted you properly.  Well now is the time to part with those guilt gremlins which serve to hide in your Wardrobe and then haunt you whenever you open it!

The event provides a fantastic opportunity to part with those items, whilst earning a few pennies with which to buy some new items.  After all, there's no point having those items sitting in your Wardrobe when they could be earning some money for you and working hard for someone else - and let's face it, that is their purpose in life! 

There are only 20 places available for ladies who are selling with each place costing £100.  Selling a few designer items would easily cover this cost but if it is more the case that you, together with a few friends, have a number of top end high street items with which you would like to part, there's always the option for you to share the cost of the stall and divide the proceeds - may be spending them on some different items or a girls' night out.  It wouldn't be necessary for each of you to sell that much for the figures to make sense.

For those attending the event in the hope of securing an amazing purchase at a discounted price, I am sure that you won't be disappointed.  Birmingham is a place for fashionistas and bargainistas so I have no doubt that there will be some amazing pieces on offer and that tickets will sell quickly, as they do for the London events. This is a great opportunity to own a designer item for a fraction of the price.

VIP tickets cost £20 each and permit entry within the first hour of the event, which is between 12pm and 1pm.  Subsequent tickets are priced at £5 and permit entry after 1pm.  Tickets are available through Eventbrite: http://buymywardrobe-birmingham-apr2012.eventbrite.com/

For anyone who would like assistance in selecting items, ensuring that they don't make a mistake when buying, of if you would simply like guidance on your body shape, what styles of clothing will suit you and the trends for the season, I am offering 30 minute styling sessions at a cost of £20.  These may be booked with me direct at style@bethgoodrham.com but places are limited so that's just something to bear in mind if you are thinking of booking a session with me.

I am really looking forward to the event which is a real coup for Birmingham and I look forward to seeing you there.  Please do come and say hello!

On the Run - Weekend Wear for a Trip Away

Although I may not have participated in "Sunday Best" this week, leaving that duty to someone far more glamourous, it was always my intention when I started Style Guile that I would share as many outfits as I could with you - including the good, the bad and the ugly.  None of us finds it too difficult to flounce around in a lovely dress and heels but it's the day to day attire which proves more challenging in so many ways.

We were away in Wales this weekend, where we have a much more "outdoorsy" existence than we have at home - lots of walks along the beach, lighting fires and pottering around outside, just faffing really.

For me, there are two approaches to packing.  First, take a capsule wardrobe and work out what to wear as each day comes, knowing that everything will work together. The risk with this approach is that it ends up being less capsule wardrobe and more entire wardrobe, as it can be hard to know where to stop - and you can still be grabbing items as you rush out of the door (says she, speaking from experience!) Second, take specific outfits for each day.  The latter option is the much braver one as there is either little, or no, room for maneouvre. Having said that, it can also be much quicker to get dressed in the morning as one's options are so limited.

I took the second approach this weekend and packed two distinct outfits - one for Saturday and one for Sunday.  The things that I had to bear in mind were the temperature, the need for practicality taking account of the beach/playing with fire/eating ice cream/wandering around the local town activities and the fact that I was likely to be wearing wellies on at least one of the days - so wide leg or boot cut jeans weren't an option.

The Saturday outfit (above) had a dark blue theme of skinny jeans and a shirt dress with accents of pink from a long sleeved top, belt, coat and pink Campers.

For the Sunday outfit I went down the grey and peach route with grey skinny jeans, two grey long sleeved tops, peach/pink jumper, grey and peach scarf.  It was just a bonus that the F&F at Tesco wellies matched - even I'm not that sad! 

So, there we have it. Essential every day weekend wear which allowed me to do all of the things that I wanted to do without worrying about my clothes or worrying what to wear because I had no choice in the matter!

What I Wore:

Saturday outfit: Gap jeans, Cos pink top and navy shirt dress, Hobbs pink belt, Camper shoes, Selfridges coat;

Sunday outfit: Grey Cos jeans, one grey Jigsaw and one grey French Connection top, Mango scarf and jumper, F&F wellies

Sunday Best - With a very special guest - HRH Libby!

As you can see, I am having a week off from "Sunday Best" this week as I am away in Wales and I can promise you, there will be nothing "Best" about my outfit today.  In fact, it probably won't even qualify as an "outfit" at all.

Instead my lovely friend Libby has agreed (or she will do when I tell her!) that I may use some images from the Style Event the other week. 

This was our bit of fun - a "Kate" outfit as Libby has lovely long Kate like hair.  This was Libby's most dressed up outfit of the evening - a little wedding like we thought.   She wore a Zara tulip dress, which is similar in design to the Zara lantern dress which the Duchess of Cambridge wore to an event not too long ago.  We put it with a cream coat, bejwelled heels (not very Kate really but we liked them) and a clutch, also from Zara. I understand from top sources (Libby) that the coat made an appearance on Lorraine this week. 

Libby in action on the red carpet....blurred but I like this shot..

Walking very elegantly indeed - mind those heels!

And here are the items from Zara, although for some reason the bag isn't available on line.  I'm not sure that the Zara site does either the dress, or the coat, justice if I'm honest but others may disagree. The dress is a much prettier pink than it appears on line and the coat is much prettier.

Tulip dress £69.99

Coat £99.99

Shoes £69.99

And finally, in a very regal pose!

On the Run - A China Blue Printed Cos Dress

It's probably fairly obvious by now that I have a bit of a thing about Cos. Not everything is for me but I love it when I spot something in there which I am unsure as to how it might look when on. Even if it does turn out to be a disaster I still find it fun. This was one such dress (hopefully without the disaster element!)  I loved the print, the stiff fabric and the inverted pleat in the centre back.  The high neck and elbow length sleeves were right up my street but despite its simple design, I still wasn't sure how it might all come together (or not!)

Without the belt (see below) it is very trapeze like in shape - fitted on the shoulders then flaring out in a rather triangular like fashion.  I really liked it that way and concluded that it would be a fab dress to wear for a Mother's Day lunch out when pudding really would be the order of the day!

However, when belted, as above, it took on a completely different feel -  more fitted and more formal than without the belt.  The belt that I have used here is a wide blue belt from Reiss in almost exactly the same shade of blue as the dress.

I then swapped the belt for a pink skinny one from Hobbs, which I think makes it slightly less dressy than the blue belt but slightly more dressy than without a belt at all.

Obviously the shape isn't for everyone and I really need to wear heels with it to make it work as best it can but I like it and it is nice to find something different out there.

I am away for the weekend so will try to post tomorrow from the Welsh mountains. I am not sure how successful I will be but if nothing appears, it's not for the want of trying. Have a great weekend.

On the Run - Marni at H&M plus a little more COS

I was going to try and pass this slightly blurry photograph off as being one of me - but it's not, so that would be cheating. Instead it is my friend, Sue, who I persuaded to let me photograph because she looked so amazing in these Cos trousers.  I had spotted these trousers in Cos a few days earlier but was styling someone so, on the rail they remained although I did manage to take a sneaky photo of them first.  Anyway, when Sue turned up in the very same trousers a few days later I twisted her arm and she agreed to let me take a photo of her.  How amazing does she look?

I found our youngest mugging her three year old friend for her sparkly shoes today.  On the way out of school our terror had discarded her shoes and was walking along the path in her tights, trying to persude her friend to swap her beautiful silver party shoes for her own scuffed school shoes.  Not suprisingly her friend wasn't having any of it.  I cannot possibly imagine where she gets her like for sparkly shoes from.

I had the unfortunate experience today of witnessing the stampede in H&M for the Marni pieces. I just happened to be in town early and went into H&M to take a look at the collection. It was all sectioned off with everything beautifully laid out.  Then the barriers were opened for the first lot of wrist band wearing neanderthals and the place was trashed in seconds - it was like one of those documentaries where you see a swarm of locusts descend on a crop and destroy it within seconds. 

There was meant to be a strict policy of only one of each item being able to be purchased but the assistants didn't have a chance of being able to enforce that policy.  I have to say that I have never seen anything like it and it sickened me.  It had nothing to do with a lover of Marni being able to treat themselves to a piece at an affordable price and everything to do with greed.  I suspect that half of the items will be on ebay now being sold at a massive profit.

The above photo was taken about 10 seconds after the barriers had gone down so it looks relatively calm. I didn't think that I had better post the one taken a few seconds later with a chap holding so many boxes of necklaces that he could barely stand up.

I think that I have possibly mentioned before that I have entered an Easy Living Magazine competition, the winner of which gets to appear in the Magazine.  I hadn't initially realised but votes, in the form of "Likes" on the Easy Living facebook page are required. The competition involves posting a picture of an outfit worn on the school run.  The outfit with the most "Likes" wins. If any of you felt able to go in and "Like" one of my outfits I would be really grateful. Following this link should take you to the Easy Living facebook page where it's possible to scroll down and find a pic of the yellow skirt outfit I was wearing yesterday - http://www.facebook.com/EasyLivingUK Thank you so much and sorry to ask for your help once again. There are a couple of other outfits further down if you feel inclined to scroll any futher!

On the Run - How to wear neon (in a nutshell, with everything else toned down)

Nice photo of the loo eh?  What do you think that feng-shui experts would say about that?  It was just too rainy today to expect anyone to stand outside whilst photographing me so the mirror had to do it for me instead.

I was talking to my sister on the phone the other day and she informed me that she was ripping up some A-level essays that she had found.  Having read them she didn't recognise them as being her work at all and she concluded that she had been clever - once. 

The same thing happened with me yesterday, but to a lesser extent, when I was looking back at some posts that I had written in April last year.  I don't remember writing them at all but I actually found them quite useful.  They covered such things as dresses with sleeves in them, shoes offering moderate coverage and shoe which didn't show your toes - for those who don't particularly like their toes.  I plan to repeat the posts this year when I have a little more time - so keep your eyes open.  I have started doing my research already.

If you are a reader of Red Magazine, you might be interested to read an article featuring Amanda Start, the Online Stylist I first got in touch with Amanda in August 2010 as a result of a feature in which she appeared in Woman & Home magazine.  It was as a result of that article I started my blog. We finally met in January at the Marie Claire blog and twitter awards where she received a Highly Commended in the twitter category.  It was lovely to meet her after all her help.  Amanda looks great in the feature about her local boutique, Stanwells and it definitely worth taking a look at their lovely website too.

So, as to today's outfit. I can't wear this skirt too often but when I do, people often say that they like it - I still believe that it comes down to people liking a bit of colour. I went into Cos today to see whether they had any left at the end of the sale but they didn't and do you know where they go - the charity shops! Cos couldn't tell me which ones but it's quite possible that you might find a bright yellow skirt in a charity shop near you.  As to the neon skirt, the bright colour lends itself to white and then either black or navy, just to bring all back into line. I wore it with my black loafers which are very old but very comfortable, which is great for when I am walking around town.

I worked with a lovely client today and she bought me some flowers which was so kind of her. She kept the shoes I was talking about yesterday and is happy for me to let me show them to you all so here they are....

They are fab - real Cinderella shoes. Totally full on bling but not too high and they also come in coral, yellow, lilac and black I think. Here's a link to them so that you can take a closer look http://www.kurtgeiger.com/brands/carvela-kurt-geiger/anna-1.html Enjoy!

On the Run - Quite a lot of Cos today

 
Just to set the scene - I am sat on the loo (lid down) typing this with my feet balanced on our daughter's Ikea stool so that the lap top doesn't fall on to the floor.  And why am I in the bathroom?  I am partaking of that irritating six weekly task of eradicating the grey from my hair. I don't really like to use the word eradicate actually - it reminds me of a case I worked on in my previous career where there was a plot by two people to "eradicate" a man.  This was successfully achieved by shooting him four times. Nice. Anyway the chemical cocktail should soon eradicate these little blighters and at least I am using my time wisely in multi-tasking.

We have this toaster made by Dualit which is totally rubbish (I was going to call it Dual(sh)it but I took legal advice and was advised not to so I haven't). It doesn't ever switch itself off but instead nukes the toast. I have filled the kitchen with dense black smoke more times than I care to remember. We also have a lovely stainless steel bin but the lid on the rim has broken so that doesn't work properly and nor does the computer.   The computer chair, which I also like, has a great big crack in it.  But can I break the green tea pot which I bought in 1995?  Can I flip.  Even breaking the lid would be a start as you can't really use a teapot successfully without a lid but will that break either?  Of course it won't.  We're not really a disposable kind of family - replacing things just for the sake of it, which is why we have a house full of things which don't quite work but which aren't quite broken enough to part with...and a bright green teapot.

I am not quite sure where all of this is leading but I think it's towards the point that...oh flip, I have just checked the clock and I had better rinse my hair so that I avoid doing an impression of Paul McCartney with his plum hues. OK, sorted now - so the point is that, when it comes to clothes, it's never the things that you don't like that get trashed but always the dry clean/most expensive/gift from a loved one type of item that cops it. Do you remember hearing about how VB took her new crocodile skin bag to the pub on Christmas day and how one of her boys blew a candle out, covering it in wax in the process - well it's that kind of thing. Whilst I don't agree with the concept of a crocodile skin bag, I can identify with the pain of a brand new item being trashed. Maybe the answer is never to have anything new and then it can't be an issue. Oh what twaddle.

Because I did a hero post yesteday you were spared my witterings - hence the double dose today!  Yesterday I spent a couple of very pleasant hours shopping for a client who has some events coming up.  Oh the joy of wandering around House of Fraser choosing things that I thought would work for her. I have some fab shoes but can't really show them to you yet.  She is coming round tomorrow for me to style her so I may be able to show them to you later on in the day.

...after this shot was taken I then went to the shoe department and acquired another large pink bag, with four pairs of shoes in it. I think I nearly got knocked off my feet about five times whilst walking back to the car but having said that I probably took out about 15 shoppers so the odds were in my favour.

Today I was helping a lady with a design for her wedding dress, as she has some concerns with it. I am confident that it will all turn out well for her and that she will look beautiful on her big day.

So tomorrow I am hoping to bring you a few styles of shoes which I have seen and like but for now I will leave you with this thought...


                                                           

 Today's outfit top - Cos skirt and jumper, Red patent KG shoes

Previous day's outfit - Benetton skirt, Jigsaw shoe boots, House of Fraser pink bags