Going out - A hot pink and floral outfit by Ted Baker and John Lewis, with jewellery by Alice Stewart

 

 

John Lewis own brand crew cashmere crew neck jumper in Cerise (£69)

Ted Baker Oil Painting Skirt (£129) from John Lewis

Ted Baker T clasp clutch (£99)

The above three pieces formed one of the outfits at last week's Lifestyle Event at the Birmingham School of Jewellery. As I mentioned previously, I felt that it was important to keep the top half of the outfits relatively plain, so that the jewellery could really stand out - hence the John Lewis cerise cashmere jumper.

I chose to use jewellery from the designer and jewellery maker Alice Stewart for this outfit as I felt that her pieces, which are inspired by nature, complemented the floral skirt really well. Equally, on another occasion, the prettiness of the skirt could be contrasted with jewellery with spikes or skulls!

I loved the print and the shape of the Ted Baker skirt, which is really flattering on, especially for those with curvier hips. It works best if any top that is worn with it is fairly short, stopping at the waist to show off the narrowest part on the body. It has a great length to it for those who don't like skirts which are too short. Ted Baker has used this print on trousers, sweatshirts, dresses and tops this season so if a skirt isn't your thing but the print is, there may be something else in the range for you.

The texture and colour of the bag are fabulous. It is bright pink, textured leather and comes in a variety of colours. It's availability online seems to be limited at both the John Lewis and the Ted Baker site but I picked up the one I used from John Lewis only last week, so there are obviously some still in the stores.

As I mentioned, the jewellery for this outfit came from Alice Stewart Jewellery whose work has appeared in Vogue. Her gold blossom ring, shown below, is £89.

Alice studied 3D design, specialising in silversmithing and jewellery at Loughborough University. Her inspiration comes mainly from the beauty of the English countryside and parts of her work are satin finished as well as highly polished, to give a two tonal effect which brings the pieces to life.

These butterfly ear-rings are a real favourite of mine. It's partly because that, whilst they are drop ear-rings, the hoop on them makes them more wearable for the daytime (in my little mind at least), as does the fact that they aren't heavily jewelled. Alice's butterfly earrings cost £80 and since the event she has taken several orders for these, which are proving to be really popular.

Alice designs jewellery that is both enchanting and sophisticated and which takes itself from casual wear to special occasions.  Alice's gold blossom bangle, shown below, is £150.

I hope that I have quoted the above prices correctly but please check Alice's site for up to date prices. I don't want to get myself into any more hot water right now!

A current lust have - thanks to Ted Baker!

I think it's fair to say that as the colder weather approaches, I become slightly obsessed with knitwear. I'm a four layer kind of girl from September onwards. The layers take the form of:

 

 a vest;

a cotton long sleeved top;

a light knit;

a jacket, coat, or a chunky cardi.

 

This jumper, which I fell in love with today at Ted Baker would be perfect for the third, or "light knit" layer. I like that layer to have something interesting about it - whether it be its colour, the fact that it is striped, printed, has a sequin detail, or an interesting neckline. Chances are that some of it will be on display, either when you take your coat or jacket off, or when it peeps through the front of an open chunky cardi.

 

 

 

This jumper appealed to me for a number of reasons:

 

First, it has neon pink on it (always a bonus in my book);

It has grey on it which is a good wardrobe staple colour, which also goes well with the neon pink;

The colours remind me of angel cake, a version of neopolitan ice cream and battenburg cake (though you can keep the battenburg because I don't like marzipan) all of which remind me of the summer and WARM weather.

 

Will it be coming to a wardrobe near me anytime soon? Probably not because at £99 it's more than I feel that I could/should/ought to pay for a jumper but it's one to keep my eye on for later in the season when the sales are around. I  like having a few of those little numbers up my sleeve which I can track like a stockbroker tracks the market. When the time is right I will sell....or buy.

Mum on the Run - Loving leather (jackets that is....)

There's always the danger that when you spend a lot of time searching for something, the end result never quite lives up to your expectations. Sometimes the bar is raised just too high and (in this case) the piece of clothing just can't compete with the blood, sweat and toil put into finding it. Especially when the piece in question is a replacement piece. In fact, I wonder whether I should even begin the search now at all?

 

I don't know about anyone else but sometimes the thrill of spotting something, falling in love with it, buying it on the spot and realising that it was just what you were looking for but hadn't realised it, can't be beaten. Which is exactly what happened with my first cream leather biker jacket. So now I really know not to bother taking the search any further. The bar has now just gone from being the lowest of the asymmetric bars to the highest one. I'm doomed to failure.

 

However, many of you have commented on my cream leather jacket - Oasis in the sale for just over £100 - so in the name of research I will continue. It's also starting to look a little tired and having had it cleaned, at pretty much half of its cost, I am debating where to go with it next. I know that I went through this whole debacle about a year ago now and I didn't replace it then. The nearest I got to doing so was an All Saints one in Bicester but the fit wasn't right.

 

For those who haven't tried a leather jacket before I do think that they have their place. For a start they are warm. I often layer a Boden cropped cashmere cardi under mine so it adds another layer of warmth without being visible. They are work just as well with jeans as with dresses, as well as over evening outfits.

 

Reiss arguably does the best leather jackets on the High Street. They always have a good selection of styles and colours and sometimes they can be found in Bicester at a reduced price. Having said that, the Reiss stores are much better than they used to be at having sales. They didn't ever do mid-season sales, or one off promotions but that has changed recently.

 

This Kara jacket from Reiss costs £350. Reiss also has an ice blue, a cornflower blue and a red leather jacket, for anyone who is after a coloured one. I like it probably as much as any other but the price is a sticking point...

 

  

 

Please excuse the photo of the Hanni leather jacket from Ted Baker (£359). I like the no fuss approach of this jacket but sometimes a little detailing is needed to break up the expanse of leather across one's chest!

The leather peplum jacket from Oasis (£175) is a better price but I wonder whether it may be taking the detailing to the extreme. I am not quite convinced that the combination of the peplum, the sleeve detail, the tabs at the back, the detail across the shoulders at the back and what looks like quite a shiny finish is a winning combo.

 

The collarless quilted leather biker from Warehouse (£165) is a better price and a nice soft grey colour. The absence of a collar is great for those who don't want a lot of faff going on around the neckline -added to which it's one less thing to get grubby.  Personally I think that it looks better on the model than in the main picture, so it may be one of those that's worth trying on.

Looking to Oasis again, this colourblock leather biker jacket (£160) may hit the mark for those looking for something pale but interesting. They also have a nice drape waterfall jacket (£140) - which suit some shapes more than the biker style - and a suede biker jacket (£100) both of which can be found here 

This biker jacket from Baukjen (£369) also comes in cobalt blue. The style is great but I'm not sure that the colour is quite what I am after. Maybe it's a little bit too far down the brown, as opposed to the neutral, route.

For something slightly different, the sail leather biker jacket from All Saints (£398) is a really lovely colour. It's really versatile and might be a good alternative to a cream one, now that the cream bar has been set so high.

There are of course many other brands that do great leather, as well as specialist leather shops and ebay, for great finds. This is just a quick whizz through what is available now and which can be bought with relative ease for most - in terms of geography at least.

Pretty dresses, pencil skirts, jackets and coats from the glamourous Langley Collection by Ted Baker

For anyone looking for a dress or an outfit for a special occasion, there's a new kid on the block in the form of Langley by Ted Baker.

 

I found it residing in Selfridges, separately to the mainline Ted Baker collection. In the words of the brochure which accompanies the collection "Mixing a touch of 1950s glamour with a show stopping twist, Ted's SS13 Langley collection stars sleek silhouettes alongside chic statement pieces that simply radiate drama and a supporting cast of pretty spring styles." 

 

 

Included within the collection are sleek trouser suits, pencil skirts, simple blouses, short suits as well as pretty floaty dresses, well cut jackets, coats and full length evening dresses. The collection shows baroque prints, pastels, lace, silks and embroidery.

For some reason, the Langley Collection doesn't have a section of its own on the Ted Baker website which I think is a bit of a shame as it's nice to view a new collection all in one place. Instead the dresses are to be found amongst the dresses in the mainline collection.

The price point of the Langley Collection is higher than the mainline collection, with some of the dresses coming in at between £300 and £400 but then equally some of the coats and jackets aren't as expensive as I would have expected, so it's not to be written off immediately.

There's one collection, the Swan Collection, which I don't think is stocked anywhere else in the country.  This is a bit of a coup for us, the second/third/fourth cousin to London, Leeds and Manchester when it comes to shopping!

I really like the neat style of this jacket. It has simple, clean lines with a slight peplum shape and the button detailing draws the eye into the waist.

I really like the two dresses below. They are so pretty!

And this is one of those jackets that would look equally great with a pretty dress as with scruffy jeans - so it could be worth the investment as it has masses of wearability.

The coat below also comes in black and is actually much more appealing in real life than on a hanger. It's a fantastic piece for anyone attending a wedding at this time of year as it will add the warmth without compromising on style.

Here you can see the detailing on the two black full length dresses in the collection, which are both just that little bit special.

So I will leave you to have a wander through the collection at your leisure. With wedding season approaching, it might just have what you are looking for. I love the idea of a whole row of adult bridesmaids in different dresses from the collection. Stunning!

On the Run - An outfit of Zara, Clarks and Ted Baker for a day in the shops

With the eldest two away for a few days, it was left to our 4 year old to take today's photo. If she had refused, I had it in mind to train those daft fish to do something useful but luckily she complied.

It has been a really busy week so far as I did a Wardrobe on Monday and a full day shop today. I have  a further half day shop tomorrow and a full day shop on Friday.  All the ladies I work with are really lovely though and all have interesting and varied life experiences so we always have a great, if tiring, time. To anyone who is waiting to hear from me - I will get to you I promise, just as soon as I can.

Today I wore the Zara trousers that I featured here. I always find that lighter trousers are a little more difficult to wear and require some styling, which is why I put them with a longer Zara cardi (for a little bottom coverage) and heels (for a touch of leg lengthening).  The top I wore was the Ted Baker one which I also wore here. 

As with an outfit that I wore the other day, it was a slightly different colour palette for me than usual but it was nice for a change and the sun came out so really, what more could a girl want? (Other than shoes which don't blister, as mine did, which would be a start!)

Mum on the Run - A stripy jumper dress

The day started out a lot smarter than it ended up. I had a meeting with a hotel in the City Centre and so I started off with black trousers, silk shirt, black blazer and heels.  Knowing that I didn't want to be too dressed up when I collected the children later on, I took some spare clothes with me to change into. Apologies at this stage to anyone who saw me getting changed in my car whilst parked in the Waitrose car park. Anyway, off came the silk shirt, black blazer and high heels and on went the stripy jumper dress and flats.  Ah, that was more like it! I love my new jumper dress - I know that it is too big but it is so comfortable and I can wear it as a dress with wedges, with flats, with trousers and flats, with a leopard print belt, with a sparkly scarf -it's just so versatile and at £14.99 it just had to be.

Anyway, now that all three are at home having finished school, what are they doing?  Well, having come home to a lunch seriously lacking in nutrition - actually one hasn't even eaten yet so he really is lacking in nutrition - they are now watching dvds of course - a whole afternoon's worth. How bad is that on the first day of their holidays? 

I used to do exciting things like take them to the cinema, or bowling, or out for lunch (together with the rest of the school) but I have given up.  All those bags, woodwork objects and waiting to be served - it all got a bit much. Plus they are all whacked so Blockbuster it was this morning and I can highly recommend it.  The youngest chose Tangled, or Rapunzel or, as she calls it "Buckpunzel" - and yes, you do have to be careful how you pronounce that one - especially in public. Her swearing vocabulary is already much larger than it should be for a three year old and I don't think that we really need to add to it.

So, that's us sorted for the afternoon - well until they appear for some highly questionable snack, which I will grant, just for today. They think that they have got off lightly. What they don't realise is that I am spending the afternoon typing up lists of jobs for them to do whilst on holiday - there will be daily jobs and weekly jobs, some they may earn pocket money for but most they won't. They think that the witch on Buckpunzel is bad?  They ain't seen nothing yet!

Outfit: Trousers Ted Baker, Jumper dress H&M, Shoes Dune  

Mum on the Run - A sunny Saturday

I love Saturdays. When I wake up there's an expectation that the sun will be shining, that (somehow) peace and serenity will settle on the house and that we will live a day of harmony - oh, and that a perfect tapas style lunch will appear which we will all sit down and eat together. 

I have a feeling that we may get part of the way there today.  Our eldest is away and as much as we love her (and her highly amusing school report), she does have an amazing capacity to wind her brother up.  We have now reached the stage that the fighting between those two is so legendary that our youngest, who is starting school in September, has asked me "When I get home from school, do I have to have a fight?"

The only thing that makes me wonder whether I am aiming a little too high is the theory that my husband put to the test last night, which went like this:

• Juice based cocktails don't make you drunk, because they have juice in them;
• Juice based cocktails are good for colds - because they have juice in them;

Yep, you can guess what he was drinking last night.  Given that he didn't get up until mid-day today, I wonder whether he was wrong.  I couldn't possibly comment whether it was a cold or a hangover which kept him in bed for so long but my loyalty to him would have to say that it was a cold (together with the fact that he might read this at some stage and get grumpy if I insinuated that he had a hangover).

So, the outfit was simple, a Ted Baker cream top and navy trousers together with the sparkly flats.  It got a bit hot later on when I was playing table tennis so I swapped it all for a dress but that's another story.

Mum on the Run- Summer Dresses

Today was an odd day.  The BBC were in the house filiming for the "Doctors" series and so there was a murder in our kitchen - they always seem to film odd story lines in our house - affairs, STD's, murders - you name it, we've had it.

The fact that they were filming meant that we couldn't get back in until 6.30pm which would have been fine, other than the fact that my husband was knocked off his bike first thing this morning.  He was OK, a bit battered about, but it turned into a bit of a long and stressful day and at the end of it, I didn't feel like smiling for a photo.  So, instead here are some of the pretty dresses that I spotted whilst in the shops yesterday. 

The top one is from Ted Baker and is just really simple but pretty and great for those who are straight up and down and who don't have much of a bust.  The second dress is from Reiss - very Marilyn Monroe, in a lovely colour and it also comes in a bright green too - great for curvy figures.  The third dress is also from Reiss and must be their take on a Victoria Beckham dress.  The length is good and the colour is very this season.  The flared skirt is great for those pear shaped ladies who need a bit of assistance in disguising their hips.  So all in all, the shops aren't doing too badly for us ladies at the moment when it comes to occasion dresses.  Have a lovely weekend.

Mum on the Run - Modern day smart

Sorry for the lack of picture yesterday.  I was at home with our son who had been up in the night with a bug, so neither of us were looking particularly pretty!

Today I had a meeting with some lovely people.  I am so lucky with the people that I meet in this job.  Some of the people in my last job were lovely too but many of them were in prison having done not very nice things to other people which made it a bit difficult to ring them up for a chat. 

I decided to go to today's meeting a little bit "suited and booted" but in a more modern and less corporate way.  So, I put some black slim leg trousers from Ted Baker with a black Gap jacket, Alexander McQueen top, grey Reiss shoes and Mulberry bag.

Mum on the Run - Day 2 Spring work wear: cropped trousers and a silk shirt

Today I have gone for a silk ruffled shirt, slim cotton cropped trousers and patent high heels.  Being natural fibres, silk and cotton work well when it is warmer. I have added the coral belt to break up the "black and greyness" of it all.  A black blazer would be a nice addition to make the outfit smarter.  Alternatively the trousers could be dressed down with ballet flats, a plain white shirt and a piece of knitwear.

If slim fitting trousers don't suit your shape, you could swap them for a pair of wide black leg trousers - it's probably best to avoid the classic court shoe with a wide trouser but rather go for a stacked heel or a wedge instead.

Trousers Ted Baker, Shirt and shoes LK Bennett, Belt Joules, Bag Mulberry

Mum on the Run day 22 - Colour pop!

Today was another shopping day - just finishing off for a style party that I am doing on Friday night.  The shops are a whole different ball game, even compared to last week.  There are lots of lovely things out there!

I wore my comfortable Oasis boots together with skinny navy blue trousers from Cos.  I also layered two long sleeved tops - a breton one from Jigsaw (which I think are better than the Petit Bateau ones despite what the fashionistas say!) and a cowl necked one over the top, from Cos.  I finished off with a fake fur coat, bright pink gloves and my favourite item - my pink spotty bag bought for me by my hubby.  Top marks Mr G!

I felt cosy all day, comfortable on my feet and the gloves added a nice splash of colour to an otherwise fairly plain outfit.

Outfit: Boots Oasis, Trousers Cos, Striped top Jigsaw, Navy top Cos, Coat H&M, Gloves M&S, Bag Ted Baker

Mum on the Run Day 15 - Sports Luxe

Today I was shopping for an event that I am doing for the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce next Tuesday lunchtime.  I knew that I would be shopping for a good few hours so needed to be sure that I could be both quick on my feet but also comfortable. 

I am not a big fan of sweatshirts or plain t-shirts - but I really liked this Ted Baker one - which is half way between the two.  I see it as more of a "nod " to the sports luxe trend than the full on works.  I have put it with my navy peg leg trousers and heeled ankle boots.  The addition of a pea coat and my bright red bag saw me sorted for the day.

Outfit: Trousers Topshop, Sweatshirt Ted Baker, Boots Oasis.