'The Bitch is Back'

Well, I've always wanted to use that as a blog post title and guess what in part it is true. I am stone cold sober and on occasions one has been known to well....bitch!

My vacation is over, the petit garcon is back at school. I have no more excuses not to blog. However I have not been idle. My serious fashion post examining 'untouchable fashion idols' is still work in progress. I have lots of useful what to buy, how to make do posts to come too.

In addition to holidaying, playing tennis, badminton, swimming, making builders cups of tea and Grufflo snakes & ladders, I have been writing. It does mean I have decided that I am certainly not returning to styling as my day job. The break has been a revelation. I know I could also never return to working for a company. Even though my greatest regret is that I didn't jump ship from Elle magazine to a national daily - not that I was offered a job at one, more my youthful ignorance of exploiting connections and humble deferential nature in days gone by - I'm not going to try to become a hack. I have a hacks brain and a very creative one at that. As hard as it is going to be I am focused on just being a WRITER (if it is in capitals it feels like a contract).

Being a writer is quite lonely, so thank goodness for twitter, although this is more of a distraction at times, it does allow you a fun five minutes of often pointless contact with no one in particular and everyone. More of my writing will unfold shortly...get those Kindles at the ready!

For now I only have one further point to make, what is it with people and their made up work? How can you be model cum designer cum actress cum surfer cum property magnate! Or blogger cum editor cum photographer cum consultant cum stylist? Who knew that your job could change on a daily basis encompassing anything and everything. Does anyone say taxi driver cum cleaner cum locksmith - no! I rest my case. They don't because they have to hold down a proper job to earn an income. Look in any magazine and you will see a list of people with their job titles attributed to them. What is it with bloggers turned x or x turned blogger that makes for a fanciful attempt to create a role for themselves? What do you think? Don't worry this bitch is going to do a post on this subject...

'When I'm good, I'm very good. But when I'm bad I'm better.' Mae West

Happenings, mentions & counting down...

Busy week and a bit a head for Mrs MDS as it is count down to the 31st of March when I'm officially not a stylist and become purely a writer. Having said that a few people are still twisting my arm for some projects! I worked on Saturday for the last time. My client laughed as I did a quick jump for joy, she is quite sad as I am her own personal creative director. I was relaxed and wore the eBay See By Chloe top - although in Prada it looked really tame next to the glory of the Muiccia stripe. And in Valentino I basically looked like a dress down tramp!



Tonight I will be donning my beauty and skincare hat after teaching styling all day as I hot foot it to The Greyhound for 7:30pm at Kew Green for an Arbonne meeting. A lovely lady called Aldis is coming over from America to talk about the new Essentials products and the business in general. Of course I'm excited because I need all the help I can get to motivate me and help me with my new venture, which is supporting my writing.

Also my stylist friend Isobel will be running a NHJ Taste of Style evening on Monday 11 April, which I've promised to mention for her as she will be joined by the lovely Katie Allum, a great makeup artist who is now blogging and you can see her tutorials on her blog What Katie Loves.

And finally I've got all my clothes to sort out. I need to re-order my wardrobe, put some things on ebay and the rest to charity. Once I've completed this task I will feel ready for finishing my current script by July.

Come to Kew if you want to join me in my clean and green products crusade, treat yourself to an style evening out in April and mainly enjoy every minute this week as not long now until the clocks spring forward.

PS I'm dreadfully aware of Libya at the moment and what with Japan, all I can say is I'm blogging as normal as to some extent life does go on, but I do so mindful of the world events. I don't think just because this is a fashion/style blog it negates me from being able to acknowledge or be anxious of others suffering.

Correspondence Sunday

Since my decision to transfer all my creative endeavours to my writing, I decided that I also need to get organised. I've long been inspired by Fashion's Most Wanted being the queen of life laundry. Her ability to sort things out is wonderful and she does it in such style.

As well as having an organised home, I also wanted to undertake seemingly old fashioned correspondence. I've always admired the novelists and poets who wrote to friends and family leaving a trail of their thoughts and experiences on paper.

Writing a blog is good discipline, as is writing and editing my scripts, but somehow a letter requires more organisation of thoughts to convey pen to paper.

I'd recently gathered all my scatterings of postcards, stationery and cards in various places in the house and put them together in a box so I could begin to correspond. I started to make the effort last year and have a number of outstanding items to post which were interrupted by bad weather so they are on my to do list. I was amazed to find a box of Smythson cards and envelopes which I received years ago. I'd obviously been saving them for best but thought I'd better get on with using up.

The box containing envelopes and note cards

The note card with its shoe, bag & hat motif

My first Sunday Correspondence was a mix of writing with a practical bent to four companies that I've not heard from and think they must not have received my address changes of over 3 years ago! I'm sure they will be shocked to receive a beautiful card inside a premium quality envelope and all handwritten. I'm hoping that the Sir or Madam that opens it will feel the thrill of such paper quality and the detail of the card. Or more likely they'll think some dotty old lady is in the house!

What are your views on correspondence and hand written letters?

A crazy little thing called love

Why is it the moment you decide to stop doing something you are in demand. Suddenly this year could be the year for me styling wise. Yet despite the demand and the coos coming my way I'm sticking to my guns. It does mean I'm flat out work wise until the end of March, juggling bookings, styling and a couple of advertising shoots, not to mention some teaching and fashion articles to be written.

What is keeping me going is the knowledge that I'm going to be able to sit down and put pen to paper (figuratively speaking), that and the petit garcon going back to school. Come March I will be able to breath a sigh of relief. It does seem funny giving up something I love for something I love more. It has been like choosing between two men! I feel like writing is the bad boy option - opps.

Of course I will be mainly tip tapping on the old laptop keyboard but I do like a notebook to jot things down in as invariable I think of things on the go. Sometimes it is nice to go and sit in a location you could imagine a dialogue taking place and then a notebook is essential. My Sony Vaio isn't robust enough to haul around and I'd feel like a fraud or an IT geek.

When it comes to writing and fashion lists nothing beats my Tiffany Little Blue book but it was only available in the States and is no longer available. It is small and compact and perfect and kept it for best now to make it last a little bit longer.

My current buy is a Moleskin Large Squared Notebook I bought it in Waterstones Piccadilly (points make prizes - Waterstones card) it is for work for planning and note writing so is quite functional.

What I would really love and believe me I go and ogle them once in a while is the Hermes Grand Or Petit Modele notebooks - oh for a Ulysee notebook with a Gold Veau Togo leather cover.



Of course I wouldn't say no to a Smythson but I love their stationary more than their notebooks - crazy huh.