Some lovely pieces from the High Street - sparkles, stripes, spots, sheer, denim and neon brights. Take your pick!

 

After my weekend working with the Touchwood Shopping Centre, I thought that I would bring you some photos of some of my favourite pieces, which I put together in (loose) themes in between presentations. Some of the clothes moved around in the breeze so I had to keep dashing to straighten them before running back to photograph them - so please excuse any wonkiness! I haven't linked to each piece but from left to right, I've listed the brands.

 

The QR code above was amazing. It was able to be scanned and went straight through to the Touchwood Look book. A really innovative piece of PR!

 

Pretty in (shades of ) pink

 

Next, French Connection (x2), Hobbs, Bravissimo, Office, River Island (bag)

 

Soft Citrus Sparkles

River Island, French Connection x3 and French Connection mules.

A type of monochrome

Next, Hobbs, French Connection x2, Bravissimo, French Connection mules

True Blue

French Connection, Hobbs, River Island, French Connection, Bravissimo, River Island (hat and bag) Office (cobalt shoes) Next (striped slippers)

Pale and interesting

GAP, French Connection, Hobbs, Next, River Island

Nineties throwback

All GAP other than jumper (French Connection) shoes and trainers (both Office)

Working Girl

Hobbs, French Connection, Phase Eight (dress and shoes underneath), Hobbs, Next, Office (blue and pink shoes), River Island (bag)

 Tropical prints

River Island, French Connection, River Island x2, Next, Office (pink, blue and green shoes) French Connection (mules)

Chic in White

Hobbs suit, River Island top and bag, Office shoes

I am hoping that there may be one or two pieces there to get you thinking about your spring/summer wardrobe, now that we finally have some sun. Ooh and there's a competition running at the moment, the prize being £250 to spend in Touchwood, which you can enter via their website. Don't let a small thing like distance put you off!

How to make a statement in a statement necklace - with a selection from Zara, River Island, Marni and J. Crew

The more I play around with clothes and accessories, the more I realise that certain things are pretty much guaranteed to elicit a response from people. I find this really interesting because it's almost as though humans are pre-programmed to respond to certain things in a similar way.  

 

Most often it's the colour of something that will bring about a comment. This is closely followed by whether something is sequinned or shiny. Other things that people comment on are if there's an unusual juxtaposition of pieces and of course handbags and shoes are always hot topics of conversation - but I suspect that's more of a girl thing than anything else!

 

When I added the coral necklace that I am wearing in the pic below to my outfit just prior to going out the other day, my sister in law commented how much it made a difference and how it took a Breton striped jumper to a whole different level. And that's what I really like about £12.99 purchases from H&M - and any other fairly inexpensive purchase - they can make all the difference.  

 

 

 

The photograph above features in the September edition of Essentials Magazine. The magazine contacted me to ask me whether I would mind the photograph featuring and next to the shot they have re-created the outfit. The funny thing was that I was wearing sunglasses because it was at this point in time that I was sporting my black eye (for anyone who doesn't know the story I chose the wrong time to become involved in a game of catch between our son and my husband.) Bad move.

 

On the basis of being asked to feature in Essentials, and because I'm fairly certain it would have been in part due to the necklace, I thought that I would do a round up of some necklaces that are available in stores at the moment. As the years go on, the choice gets even better so if these aren't for you, I'm sure that there are plenty that will be.

 

Kicking off with my old friend Zara I love the colours in this necklace which costs £19.99. The chartreuse colour looks great against a plain navy, black or grey jumper.

 

For something altogether more floral, Zara has this necklace for £29.99. Again, great for perking up a plain jumper, or a LBD for a night out.

Turquoise can look stunning, particularly on people with blue eyes and this necklace from Topshop (£35) would be fantastic for adding a splash of colour to an otherwise very simple outfit, making it very chic.

 

Another turquoise option is this Kate Spade necklace which I saw at Bicester yesterday - sorry, I can't remember the price but I think that it was around £70.  

 

A necklace with a ribbon tie, instead of a chain, like this one from River Island £12 is great for wearing underneath a collar on a plain blouse.  It's a brilliant way of giving a whole new look to a trusty wardrobe staple and the length can be altered to fit your own needs.

J Crew has a fantastic choice of statement necklaces. The colours in this floral necklace (£139.90) are so pretty I want to eat it. It's the kind of thing that would make me smile every time I wore it, which with it's bright and cheery colours, would be a lot.

The J Crew crystal fan necklace (£122.94) comes in the colour way shown below (soft pink) or warm orchid, which is slightly more autumnal. As the drop falls to more of a point, it is a good design for drawing the eye into the centre of the body, and down, which is really flattering.

Marni does beautiful jewellery. I took a quick look in Marni when I was at Bicester yesterday and they have some incredible pieces. They use resin and acrylic a lot in their distinctive designs which are reminiscent of times gone by. The necklace below is on sale at the Outnet  for £137.28

Many of the brands now do a selection of statement necklaces each season and some brands, like Whistles, will do the odd collaboration. I will often look to H&M first, along with Topshop, Oasis and River Island. Sometimes though it's more a case of not looking too hard but instead browsing shops on holiday and waiting for something to fling itself round your neck shouting "buy me, buy me." Then you know you're on to a winner.

Mum on the Run - on the beach

Firstly, thanks to you who have dropped me a line about Guernseys.  I love that you have fond memories of seeing your parents and grandparents wearing them.

What a beautiful day it was yesterday in Guernsey.  My sister plus myself and the two girls sat on the beach for the whole afternoon, having first visited town to buy a UV suit for the youngest and shorts for the eldest. Hard to believe how cold it is today, now we are home!

Remember I said that I had planned and packed three outfits for our trip - ice cream, nautical and layering? Well that went out of the window on the first day! I went for the "ice cream" look on day one ie, white shirt, pale pink jumper and jeans - but within a couple of hours was in possession of my new striped Guernsey so had ticked the nautical box too.  This left the layered look for yesterday but I concluded that the top I was going to wear was too nice for the beach so had to cobble something else together - and this was it.

Having only two pairs of jeans with me, I went for the kermit ones and then layered two shirts, one over the other and added a pink scarf from Mango.  From a practical perspective it was great - the right temperature, cotton next to my skin, the white lifted the denim shirt and the scarf added some colour. It wouldn't win any style awards but what I liked was that I was forced to try a different combination, namely layering two shirts (probably something which lot of you do all the time but something which I haven't really done up until now) - and trying something different is always a good thing.

I was grinning like an idiot as my sister was pulling a face at me.

This is part of the sandcastle that our youngest spent at least two hours making - collecting the shells etc and note the colour of the bucket and spade!

Today's outfit: White shirt Gap, denim shirt Next, green jeans River Island, scarf Mango, Converse, Cath Kidston bag. The M&S towels we were sitting on belonged to my Dad and are easily 30 years old!

Mum on the Run - Green jeans

I was so proud of myself today - not because I was up and out with the children early but because of where we went - the local leisure centre, complete with wave machine, water slides, toddler pool, grit on the floor, overflowing nappy bins and general grime. 

As I looked up at the showers shaped as toadstools in the toddler pool I though to myself "blimey, give my Mum a day in here with some hot water, rubber gloves and a scrubbing brush and the place would look so different."  She is the Queen of cleaning.  The children knew that it was their once yearly trip and they made the most of it.  In fairness because we were there early, it wasn't too busy and I managed to wait a whole ten minutes before I even looked at the clock to see if it was time to get out yet.  As I say, I was very proud of myself. 

The outfit consisted of my green River Island jeans, Next white T-shirt, Gap cardi, green converse and a Cath Kidston spotty bag.

I must confess that I haven't been brave enough to wear my green jeans with flats but I saw a friend of mine wear coloured jeans and flats so successfully at the weekend that I decided to give it a go.  OK so she is at least 2 inches taller than me so as long as I don't get too close to a mirror, or if I do squint when looking, I think that I can just about get away with them!

Mum on the Run - at the school fete

The morning started with our three year old being taught how to use a Nerf gun by her brother (including re-loading it) and taking great delight in shooting me with about 20 foam bullets.  Her skills know no bounds.  She is also in the process of conning the tooth fairy by putting her older sister's teeth under her pillow.  I think that she must have been watching the Apprentice on the quiet. 

For those of you who saw my twitter message this morning, you will know that today was the day of the school fete and that my significant contribution was to serve on the Chinese food stall.  As I felt a little under attack (what with that, being in charge of our own children plus their cousins - and because rain was forecast) I was planning on wearing combats - which I thought seemed appropriate.  However my plans changed and I decided to go for the green jeans, stripey top and Cos swing cardi.  Fortunately I also took a denim shirt with me, which I put on when the temperature dropped below 10 degrees. 

Amazingly all went well at the school fete - our youngest wasn't thrown from Suzie the donkey, the kids didn't trash the inside of the fire engine, I probably haven't guessed correctly the weight of the chocolate cake (but then I am not sure that I want it anyway given that half the school has handled - and probably sneezed over - it.)  We are now settling down to the mean cocktails which my South American sister in law has made.  Bliss!

Mum on the Run - The first day of our holidays!

We had an early start today down to Southampton airport - gosh I love that place!  it is staffed by really friendly local people who make travelling such a pleasure.  We were met by an elderly gentleman with a big grey beard who showed us where to park and the lady at the check in let me check in all the bags and sort out the boarding passes even though strictly she shouldn't have as my husband was busy parking the car.  I can't imagine either of those things happening in Gatwick.  I have been flying out of Southampton for years - even when it was nothing but a hut.  It has gone a bit swish now but you will still find the odd bird flying around in there.

Anyway, a holiday demands the odd new item of clothing and I picked these jeans up when I was in River Island on Friday.  I had written off red and pink as being too bright but these, I can handle. In all honesty I was probably partly seduced by the fact that I could get into a size 8 Super Skinny jean in there, whereas in Topshop the other week, I couldn't even get a size 10 past my calves.  However, I also liked the colour and decided that they weren't too green that I was going to be called frog legs by our children.  

Given the colour of the jeans, I concluded that they needed a neutral colour - either black, navy or white so I went for navy - but will try white next time.  Oh and just in case you wondered, they are really comfortable.  When I am at home I will style them differently but for this week, practicality is the order of the day.

On arrival at our destination we headed to one of our favourite cafes for crab sandwiches and have just had crab linguine for dinner - so you will be pleased to know that the crab consumption is high.  Oh and we have done our first session of body boarding and it was fab.  Cold, but fab!