Sale stuff

There are quite a few nice items for sale on my Stella & Dot website which I'm highlighting as I have a friend who has hosted a trunk show (in UK English jewellery party) for a charity she recently did a Capital to Coast bike ride for.

If you fancy splashing some cash on sale stuff or any of the range then do use this link to put the items against her show and raise more funds for her efforts - trunk show link.

Here are some of my top picks.

A great bargain is this versatile and stunning Sierra Necklace down from £130 to £78

Gorgeous! Cora Chandelier Earrings down from £55 to 38.50

For that easy boho look (when the sun shines!) Rio Chandelier Earrings Silver down from £32 to £24

Virtual Trunk Show

On June 4th one person will be a lucky winner of free jewellery and 40% off discounts as I will be drawing out of a hat, all the names of people who have bought on Stella & Dot from my Virtual Mystery Hostess Trunk show 

This trunk show is open to anyone in the UK, Canada or the US. The prize fund currently stands at £50 or the equivalent in dollars. The most popular item so far is the Elizabeth bracelet which retails for £26, the year our Lizzie was born and costs £2.95 to ship/post. The lovely Florabel who lives in California emailed me today to say she had received hers!

Place any order on my Stella & Dot website between now and June the 3rd and you will be in with a chance to win free jewellery from the lovely Stella & Dot range as featured in Vogue, Grazia etc.

Queen Bee...

  ....of the fashion industry is a close call for me. There are a few big contenders. Past notables are Coco Chanel and Diana Veerland. Present heavy weights are Miuccia Prada and Anna Wintour.

With the exception of Yves Saint Laurent and Valentino I am always drawn to the female players of the fashion industry, they seem to have all the drive and passion. I know fashion favourites come and go DVF is a good example of a career gone and back again. I admire Phoebe Philo tons and have a soft spot for Stella but Anna is my queen fashion bee.

Am I the only person to love the Devil Wears Prada for all the wrong reasons. As a caricature of Ms Wintour,the book only lead me to admire her more not least because she turned up years later for the film premier wearing Prada. My favourite moment in the September Issue is her meeting with Stefano Pilati and her concern over his collection 'it is a lot of black' and guess who has been proved right!

Such is her precision she steers away from being an obvious fashionista preferring her signature style of hair, dressing and shoes. Yes those Manolo Blahnik's! (Just to remind you Pearl)

I always view the shoe situation as Anna being a bit of a Make Do Style girl at heart. She knows the value of wearing comfy heels and not getting distracted by anything 'it' status.

 

Anyway I love Anna and so when I found out she had specifically requested this necklace for her after its inclusion in Vogue, I jumped for joy as I have one too!

Stella & Dot Bianca Tassel Necklace £120

Dear Germany (UK & US)

This blog is interrupted to promote my new day job. Well its one of my 3 day jobs, as a freelancer I think if push came to shove I would do anything. I have long recognised the value of earning and juggling work when you can get it. However when you have children this isn't as straightforward. It was fine when Mr MDS had a less demanding job and the petit garcon wasn't as school I worked pretty much as I'd always done except the production companies I worked for got really hit in 2008 and 2009 by the banking crisis. Adverts weren't recommissioned so quickly and music videos got more low budget than they already were. I still had some retail client but that has changed drastically and I no longer do any personal styling work except for the odd wardrobe.. I've always had an affinity with organising wardrobes seeing as the fashion cupboard was my first job.

Luckily I still get commissioned to write a few fashion pages for magazine otherwise I would have no funds. What I never knew about myself when I longed not to work and spend days lolling around reading books and watching films, was that I would loathe having nothing to do. I couldn't abide not to have a project or means of earning income. Even if I won the lottery big style I would have to do something, I would certainly do voluntary work.

Basically what I'm saying is if you or you know someone who lives in this country, the United States or Germany who would like to earn their own income by selling jewellery as an independent retailer (called independent stylist to sex it up!) then please contact me- my details are here

Essentially I am an independent Stella and Dot stylist and am building a team of people who like me need and want to earn their own income. It requires determination and effort but it is fun and more importantly it is jewellery - nobody gets hurt! I love the fact I can do as I please with no one to answer to other than myself but also grab some motivation if I need it. It is a joy to wear the jewellery and I like the social nature of it. I've never worked in sales but have always had to sell in stories, concepts or my services. The step change to selling products is fine.

Stella and Dot is poised to launch in Germany soon so it is an amazing opportunity to get in early and set up your own low cost business with immediate returns.

Guilt and Glitz

Once upon a time my blog was a once a day even twice a day posting affair. Much like the heady days of a new romance I was all consumed. Now the relationship is in its 6th year oh boy have the bad habits set in. Wearing pjs or worse to write a new post. Unkempt hair, no make up, failing to shave my legs and chipped nails! Yes I have fallen victim to blogging sloth. I promise I will make it up to you. Why I feel so guilty I'm even going to the Louis Vuitton press day this week so I can bring you the goods and low down on the A/W12 collection. People I don't need to go! My fashion page writing for magazines is high street only, true I might reference designer collections but other than on my blog or when I enter the world of academic discourse I don't really have anything to do with designer collections.

Having said that I will enjoy myself, it will be wonderful to see the items up close and personal in a way I haven't for years so make the effort I will. It will seem absurd that I will be thinking about and planning tips on A/W wear in March whilst enjoying sunshine an heat in London town. But such is the nature of fashion. And of course I can do some fantasy shopping and be inspired.

Inspiration is key to ones personal style and since I've become petit garcon's personal assistant I have worked hard not to fall into a world of bland and banal day to day dressing. I avoid school run cliches in the most part and today was no exception. I wore a Marni for H&M top with a Topshop jumpsuit and my Prada shoes. I will tweet the look as I'm posting in a rush (again bad relationship habits syndrome). I also finished the look with my favourite Belle Fleur ring and a new item the Odette cuff.

Odette Cuff  £85 at Kate Battrick's Stella & Dot web site

I showcase my jewellery every day to inspire the other mums who are quite grateful for school playground style advice. Today's tip to one mum resulted in her spending 70p on squash and a cake for petit garcon as I didn't have my purse in the school playground due to a fund raising effort by the PTA thing (it isn't called the PTA at ours). I'm happy to dispense advice and wear looks that help them to make the effort too. It makes up for my changing role and my Stella and Dot work makes up an income I would have otherwise lost. There are always shifts and compromises to make as a woman especially when you have children. I don't have the life of a person who can give their all to their career and circumstance and choice are the reasons why.

But I do have my little bit of glitz in life to keep me contented. So I will make the most of the press day and I will continue to dress up and keep the style glitz alive on whatever level. Right off to brush my hair and add lippie xx

Mothering Sunday gifts are go!

I'm a big fan of Mothering Sunday or Mother's Days as the commercial cards like to call it. It fascinates me that we have it this month as per the old school Church Lenten calendar, although the majority of us celebrate it as a secular movement to be nice to our mothers. For the Christian Churches of all denominations it was a date to celebrate the 'Mother church' and it fell in date as the same month as the Romans used to worship the goddess Cybele in their Hilaria festival which was basically a good excuse for a feast and it still is!

What to get your mother hey! I say dispense with flowers and chocolates and go for gold. Or at least silver or leather. If you are Claudia Kitten and your mother is Mrs Fab then you know she would appreciate this item:

Pyramid Double Wrap Bracelet £45 Stella & Dot

Off course she may be more sedate and less rock chic in her outlook and maybe it is a nice brooch she requires. This one is fabulous on it own on a jacket, coat or dress and can even be a companion to the La Coco jet faceted necklace in black.

Vintage Starburst Brooch £40

La Coco Jet Faceted Necklace in black £40 (currently £33.75)

There are lots of other options and these drop earrings are a particular favourite of mothers - I have had a few wishlists passed my way!!

Serenity Small Drop earrings in aqua or lapis £29

High Street Pick of the Week

With spring definitely in the air I had a bit of a floral feeling for this weeks selection. I haven't seen any flowers peeking through the ground but I'm hopeful it won't be long. Wear with skinny jeans of any colour and this week I've suggested an accessory too.

ZARA Floral print t-shirt £19.99

Stella & Dot Pyramid double wrap bracelet £45

LFW it is a Wrap at Reiss

Last night I was invited to the end of London Fashion week party at Reiss's flagship store. Whilst I quite happily miss a show I'm too much of a party girl to miss a party. Even though my party days are really quite behind me! It was a perfect party plenty of booze if you wanted it, some good sounds and a crowd. I like it when stores open for fun.

 Stylist Isobel Kershaw with her new Michael Kors bag purchased in NYC, she loves it! I accessoriesed her with the Stella & Dot Leona Pendant necklace

 Moi with my fav Stella & Dot pieces the Valentina earrings and the Waverly 3 way bag, the limited edition Black Chantilly Lace cuff and my little bit of Kate Moss the £40 Belle Fleur ring

 Gorgeous new shoes in a coral which isn't shown to full effect in this photo - sorry!

 The obligatory self portrait shot with Isobel included and you can see the Belle Fleur ring in this one

Beautiful blouse, it is actually a darker blue in real life but my flash has lightened it.

How I loved this jumper (want!)

The lovely shop assistant Rochelle working hard clearing drinks and looking stunning in new season Reiss clobber.

Not yet in store but I also loved this Reiss print top

Dressing it up - Valentine's

 I know some folks think it is commercial tosh but there is something endearing about expressing love in all forms even on just one day. We embrace Valentine's in our house with gusto. Why the petit garcon sent 3 cards. Two in the post and one I delivered by hand. There must be something in the act of generosity as he did receive one card and it brought him so much joy.

Given the financial constraints many of us are adjusting to and experiencing I'm sure we were not alone in staying in. But that was no reason not to dress up and create an intimate setting. It was typical fayre as Mr MDS was cooking steak, bearnaise sauce, a posh lettuce and chunky chips. Desert was ice cream and raspberries. No flower, chocolates or pink fizz but we had a nice bottle of red. I was treated to my earrings which was very nice of him an much appreciated.

 H&M conscious collection dress, M&S tights, shoes from a shop in Copenhagen in 2003, earrings Valentina from Stella&Dot

 

 Self portrait of the earrings!

 The table was dressed up in a bistro style but I added our Tiffany candlesticks to give a touch of class for the dinner for two...ahem except halfway through a little gooseberry appeared. And of course as we love him so much we were soft and let him stay and gave him a bowl of ice cream. Spreading the love.

Cupids 7 Glorious Gifts - V for Valentina

I'm a simple girl hence my favourite option for a Valentines gift - yes I have dropped major hints to Mr MDS- is the Valentina earrings. What is not to love about the word Valentine or Valentina or Valentino.

 

Valentina Chandelier Earrings £35 Stella & Dot