Girlynomics™ the hard times edition

Girlynomics™ has been a long project of Mrs MDS. Why over two years ago the Girlynomics book had an agent. Then the crash happened, the agent got very interested in Asian literature and Girlynomics languished at Curtis Brown with not a sausage. Anyway times have changed and after a couple of years things have got worse. I would happily admit to be not very focused on Girlynomics or actually being as make do as I used to be but change is a foot. The fact of the matter is that hard times are upon Mrs MDS and now is the time for action. I have a couple of people nagging me to rewrite and complete Girlynomics - which I will do but first I need to get back on the wagon of making do - BIG STYLE.

I assessed my finances (not good), my earning potential (not good) the chances of addressing either (not good). I weighed this against my creative freedom (very good), the well being of the petit garcon (excellent) and the potential of writing (very good). All in all my income is pretty rubbish but I have a marvellous opportunity to finish my writing projects. Focus is in hand and to be continued.

Anyway I realised the enormity of my responsibility to deliver lots against zero! I am truly going to have to make do. Of course the moment reality hit the old brain cells kicked in. Well in fairness they kicked in at Sainsburys on Saturday when Mr MDS called me with a request for some cheap gym socks. I actually ventured into the world of Tu. I got the socks and I spied some wedge sandals for me. Now what enabled me to make the purchase was points. Points make prizes. In the world of Girlynomics there can be no compromise one has to buy things practically for free or go without.

I have never bought anything from a supermarket before except useful clothes for the petit garcon. I confess I have been a bit of a snob until now, about supermarket clothes. But needs must and I needed some shoes for my lovely palazzo pants. My nectar points which I normally save until Christmas were spent but I have some very useful wedges for the summer and I will be making do with everything else in my wardrobe.

Just to show that the palzzo pants are to the ground and cover the shoe!

High Street Pick of the Week - The 2011 Style File

One of the many similarities between the 30s & 70s is the prevalence of long sleeve dresses in chiffon.

Chiffon is a material much beloved of these two eras. And no one is exploiting the 70s better than River Island on the high street at the moment. Their revival of the iconic Chelsea Girl brand, well iconic if you were someone who needed fashion in the mid to late 70s and early 80s. That and Snob.

a wonderful archive image from Chelsea Girl

In fact so proud are River Island of their heritage, they have moved on from selling a few Chelsea Girl bags and revived the ethos of the past. However what they are doing best is their Seventies Girl selection of garments and this dress in particular





I have no price, it isn't on the website but the stockist number to call is 0208 991 4904. Maybe the River Island press office will let me know. It is a wonderful example of an all year round dress that will see you through many an occasion. Good old River Island or is that Chelsea Girl!

PS I'm worried this dress is sold out but least think of it as a reintroduction to some great pieces at River Island you didn't think existed!

Let's go large

Spring is here. No longer does one have to think can I pack my deepest darkest winter clothes away.

This wonderful burst of sunshine puts me in the mood to dance, skip and well frankly not blog! It is almost as if one needs to savour every moment of this sunshine. Our bodies are craving the natural vitamin D.

Kick off your boots and put on the biggest hat you can find in celebration that the sun is out.

Marc Jacobs

Alberta Ferretti

Caroline Herrera

Choose sophistication with a dash of glam!

After what seems like an age but is barely a week I find myself retrospectively examining what sort of fashion stylist I was! I think is partly due to the Christophe Decarnin departure from Balmain. Whilst his leaving isn't unexpected given he has been unwell, it also reflects a move away from the what I would call 'euro trash' style of design. I cannot honestly think of one item from Balmain I admired or coveted. My view of Balmain was it was worn by women with more money than sense and mainly those in their 50s on a yacht off the coast of Monaco. Of course I am very opinionated but this was fairly useful in gaining private clients who needed directional advice!

Private clients of a particular income and status like to be well advised and those who are younger hard working women in the banking industry from Eastern Europe and Russia need to avoid the 'euro trash' stereotyping. And of course they are young women so don't want to become grande dames of the Aramani or Lauren school of style - yet.

American fashion house Milly has been a god send in respect of bearing the perfect blend of Park Lane Princess with some flair and at a decent price. Okay we are not talking much change out of £300 or £500 here for an item but in comparison to some the items are eminently affordable and have that key factor - longevity.

Just in case you think Milly is all work and no play well here are a few images from the Spring/Summer 11 collection to inspire you will I go off and write a film script....

Eggs from Poland via Etsy

The wonderful aspect of blogging is the element of chance. Chance meetings, comments and finds. Recently my Feminism & Ageing post drew in different readers and invariably comments. Because I'm a polite bunny I always make every effort to visit the commentators blog.

Bozena Wojtaszek was one such blogger I visited to return the compliment of a read and comment. In doing so I stumbled across a beautifully textile blog called The Textile Cuisine. Bozena also has an Etsy shop
The shop has some delightful items especially for Easter and I really couldn't resist some eggs. I took some photos on my iPhone with ordinary camera and a couple of Hipstamatic ones.

back view of textile eggs

front view of textile eggs

The quality is extraordinarily and they are gorgeous items for decorating ones home at Easter. If I was a buyer at a department store or interior or furnishing shop I'd be snapping up her work.

Back fat facts! Biting the bullet..

I've had an interesting day mainly to do with breasts. It seems that breasts are upper most in my thoughts and deeds.

It is just I read through the comments of Bra-Gate and the lovely Pearl of Fashion Pearls of Wisdom made me laugh so much with her comment, this bit specifically:

'But what I hate even more than no bra is too tight across the back bra- its like back muffin tops all over. I had this debate last time I went for a bra fitting the woman insisted the correct size was the one giving me back rolls - I said look love I dont care what you think is a correct fit but this looks ridiculous, and got the size bigger.'

Did you know that once you've had the right bra fitted, your back works better and the muscles and cells in your back will adjust. This mean the rolls of fat will go. Firstly the muscle works better so by working it your posture improves and this helps the rolls to go because you're not standing so badly. Then the bra stretches so after a while at the back it isn't so firm and starts sitting away from the body. This is why bra's only really last for six months!

My advice is go with the correctly fitted bra, suck it up ref back fat and it will sort itself out quite quickly!

But if you are very worried then swimming or rowing as a cardio exercise will help and specific weight training exercises can improve back posture and therefore the distribution of fat.

And no I'm not going to show any images of back fat as we are too harsh on ourselves as it is!!

Also different brands of bras suit different body shapes or breast shapes and if you are a 30" back in one you might be a 32" in another - always get fitted properly. My favourite place is Selfridges but around the country there are great independent lingerie specialist, Rigby & Pellar, Bravissimo and John Lewis or Debenhams. Don't go to M&S - worse bra fitters in land (sorry but true)

I don't have a favourite bra make as the products change all the time although I keep meaning to get a bullet bra from What Katie Did. My favourite bra colour is fuchsia pink! What is yours?

Harlow Bullet bra L6027 in vintage peach £29.50

Bra-gate

Making do is of course a favourite occupation of mine. Of course I'm a complete urbanite and make no pretence otherwise. Yes, we have a small patch in the garden where we grow things instead of an interesting water feature or bamboo but mainly we go to the shops for our products.

I'm no stranger to farming or living off the land as we had a family farm. It was a typical feature of many a Welsh family. One of the family members ran the farm and the rest mucked in as required. I spent many a season helping with lambing or hay making as a child. It was one of the things I missed most when we moved to England and inevitably when my uncle died the farm was sold off as no one those days could have given up their urban job to manage a small holding. Contrary to the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall school of country cottages shot beautifully by Channel 4, farms or small holdings can be quite dirty affairs most of the year and only get a bit of a spruce up and clean in the summer months.

I was reminded of all this whilst watching Superscrimpers on Channel 4 last Wednesday night. It was a mix bag of a programme. I felt the wit and charm of Mrs Moneypenny's FT column didn't translate well to tv not least as her pink coat and orange hat alongside a slightly shrill voice was a bit scary. I love Lady Lesley's madcap sterling stomping through the countryside chucking chickens back over fences. She gave a wonderful recipe of nettle pasta and it was great stuff. Except, and rightly or wrongly, I was most put off by one outfit that suggested no bra was being worn or a really ill fitting one. I have an abject horror of braless or ill fitting bras. Braless with a a double AA cup i.e. almost flat chested is passable, any thing else is too much. Of course there are garments that require no bra but ever vigil I have an array of items that support or disguise this fact.

Good support is crucial for breast tissue to prevent sagging and damage to what is essentially just fat. Anyway I digress, what ensued can only be describes as bra-gate. Of course I was on twitter whilst viewing, it is a bit of a must these days. And invariably I made a comment!

My first and only comment on Lady Lesley was perhaps she should sell a chicken and buy a decent bra. I think a few people felt the same way, tsh us urbanites hey!

A day or two later I got a tweet from Lady Lesley (great isn't it) under her farm's twitter name @trallwmfarm - which stated 'Lady Lesley has a bra but more importantly the sanctuary animals get fed'. Well naughty old me quipped back 'well i'm heartily pleased the animals are fed but am also keen on puppies being kept in place correctly'.

Since then I've had a couple of mean tweets but nothing that doesn't amuse me. What amuses me most is the stupidity of people on twitter. You can look at the account and see who they follow and when it was set up. Now there is a twitter account called @Nickynoodles33 who follows @trallwmfarm and is mainly operating to pick on Katie Price and ..'er me!

No stranger to investigative journalism, although the last time I did any decent stuff would have been at the behest of a newsdesk editor when I was training, I thought I should do some digging, which is very easy due to the friend of the lazy Goggle. Lady Lesley herself is no stranger to controversy and attacking. There is a hilarious account of her action against the former Cheif Constable of Dyfed Powys police. Lady Lesley is a maverick and a very entertaining one at that. She obviously does pour her heart and soul in to her sanctuary and I'm sure she could do with donations which can be made here

Lady Lesley upon being cleared of trespassing and I rest my case re:bra
image: BBCWales

Lady Lesley is an interesting character and does to some extent court controversy and likes to fight the establishment. I have no views on this at all as it does take all sorts and I can't wait to get some nettles and make that pasta.

However, Channel 4 needs to exercise some restraint over its programme participants or give them some guidance regarding 'media exposure'. It is important not to conduct petty or spiteful behaviour or encourage others to do so. I did not attack Lady Lesley or what she does. Pointing out bra issues isn't a crime. I understand it might seem rude and would happily concede that point but in fairness twitter is fair game for some quips of this nature. I would stand by telling anyone about bra matters and whilst I don't point this out to all and sundry, one becomes a fair target on a tv programme, after all one is choosing the limelight and all that comes with it. There is a lot of evidence that public appearances can draw comments. I love how people get so shirty with blogs and twitter. Somehow the idea that the review or views aren't in print in a regional or national paper/broadcaster seems to give licence to spite or vitriol. Seriously people need to get over themselves.

Will I watch Superscimpers again, maybe. Would I say the same again, probably.

Weekending

My first weekend off for what seems ages! Usually the weekend requires work, some prep or research. Juggling work and family has been a fine art. Now when Friday comes I know I'm free!

Friday night was a venture in to a world I have never entered, that of school parents and a fund raising quiz evening. I suspected I was a tad over dressed as usual with my Gap dress which I belted, my lovely Michael Kors boots purchased in Bergdorf Goodman in 2007 and my crazy green poncho which I love, plus a clutch from Red magazine's Red Direct bought in 2001. Excuse me hastily taken photo but since I will be light on things style wise I feel the need to beef up the blog with my outfits! What disturbs me the most is the ever present slippers. When I loaded the picture up I realised I take my slippers off and leave them in exactly the same place every time. I didn't know I did this until teawithonesugarplease pointed this out.



It was an absolute shame I'd already committed to being on a quiz team as this meant I missed out on a wonderful gathering and truly stylish event at Mrs Jones Emporium. It was very hard to stick to my principles of good manners as I so wanted to go and when I saw the photos and read the review I was sick but not in an urban cool way!

Saturday was quiet, no manic dashing or rushing around. I managed to even see my mother to give her a present for Mothers Day before she and my dad rocked off to a party in Bristol. Taking the train first class from London and making sure they had their lunch before they went did suggest they weren't truly going 'large' even if their invite was a hells angels motif for someone's 50th.

I returned home to find a jubilant Mr MDS as his beloved West Ham were winning against Manchester Utd. It didn't last, it never does! I placed my bag on the hallway bench next to his scarf in an attempt to hide it so not to remind him of the pain of defeat where there had been so much hope. My bag is a 2003 or 2004 (I really can't remember which one) Gucci number I always use it for the Spring as it is a beautiful tan colour and has amazing stitching detail and a great retro Gucci logo aka the Mr Tom Ford era. I loved Gucci then, it seems so long ago now. I do hope Mr Ford gets Dior as he is a brilliant pillager of archives and I mean that in a good way.

My freedom inspired me to be completely impromptu and have some friends round for supper. We made pizzas and put out olives, salmon, lemons & artichokes for snacks plus French bread with olive oil & balsamic dip. I was very adventurous in Waitrose and selected a English wine - Chapel Down Flint Dry We were all pleasantly surprised and also very good as one bottle between four was enough. Ginger beer or lemonade was the other option!




Then before I knew it Mothering Sunday was upon me. My lovely little petit garcon was so angelic when he he said 'happy mother's day' and gave me a kiss.


A photo of him after swimming proving that kids loved to be swaddle forever until they grow out of it!

My day has started well with Eggs Florentine which I first ate in Balthazar in New York. It is my favourite place to eat. I love that it is coming to London but my heart will forever belong to Spring Street. My present was the wonderful Balthazar cook book. It made me smile as my first visit there was for Sunday brunch and there was a huge queue. A table for 5 was out of the question but my friend's husband worked for a very important organisation. He made the effort to appraise the Maitre 'De in a very nice way of our visitors status and must have flashed his very important status thing. We were outside while all this was going on. He came out and said no go, too long a wait so slightly forlorn we walked along Spring St away from Balthazar. Less than 3 minutes later just as we were crossing the road, the Maitre 'De walked in a quick fashion and shouted 'turn your toushes around'. Of course we did and in such a way as if it were an every day occurrence. I was barely able to surpress my glee as we glided past the queue wondering who on earth we were to get such preferential treatment. The sweetest Eggs Florentine ever!

High Street Pick of the Week - The 2011 Style File

Continuing with the theme of building a wardrobe based on clothes which draw upon the 1930s and 1970s, it would be remiss not to pull out an item from the Biba collection exclusive to House of Fraser. Regardless of your views on appropriation or attempting to recreate the iconic Biba, the collection yields wearable and gorgeous individual items to mix with your other garments. I would say head to toe Biba would look, shall we say,.. a little try hard. Don't even think of passing it off as ironic!

The Biba Panther print blouse is reduced to £52 It would work well with your new flared jeans or a skirt or wide leg trousers. The panther print makes me think of Wallis Simpson's jewellery or should I refer to her as the Duchess of Windsor, either or the blouse will be a useful addition for now and for years to come.

Apologies for small image but it wasn't available on my press images account and House of Fraser have (they are not the only ones) not thought about making images off their website easily accessible and useful for fashion bloggers.

Going Underground

Given it is the 1st of April I wish I was amusing you all with a prank, but I've been suitably bereft of any good ideas for the last few weeks as I've stumbled and stomped in equal measure towards the end of my job. Why even the other day I found myself almost booking a styling job for May. It was on the tip of my tongue to say yes but I managed to haul myself back.

I have until July to finish the first draft of my film script and have many 'jobs' to do around the house. My to do list is lengthy and tackle it I must! It feels odd not to have to think about something else other than the day to day. On the one hand I have the petit garcon mapping out a new career for me as a dinner lady. He so wants me to be in his school a day or two a week like other mums. And on the other I really really fancy a wander round some galleries and museums plus a shop or two. I can't remember a time when I look at clothes merely for pleasure.

It does feel all a bit different if someone had told me a year ago I'd be turning up to a quiz night at the school on a Friday night instead of an event or party in town I'd have choked on my Martini. Yet, here I am. I have no idea where this is all going to end but already a few people are asking me for my creative ideas rather than booking me as a jobbing stylist.

Surprisingly it does feel quite 'punk rock' (for those who watched Lucy in Disguise). Almost bold to be free, to not give a fig for status, money or anything. When I was little one of my favourite songs was The Jam's Going Underground they seemed so angry but right and I loved the energy but didn't get it. I would jump up and down in the living room and laugh. I felt so free then too, so excuse me whilst I re-enact it...