Bee Satisfied

Last week I had three different style advice requests off friends which were all very satisfying to address. My style file contained in my brain is the most amazing thing I possess. It works so quickly I feel I have style mega bytes contained inside. Yet when it comes to other matters my brain seems the most clumsy, stagnant thing ever, 'does not compute' seems to be a relevant mode of operation when it comes to remembering all teh school activities and other things.

I've made great progress over the years and don't seem as prone to losing all my possessions as I used to. Why my parents ever gave me responsibility of childhood toys, photos and other items is beyond me. Move by move I've managed to inadvertently lose or misplace or forget to collect all manner of items. This does actually make me sad but I'm just about making peace with myself for my vast incompetence in this area.

Whilst I'm not a hoarder I do need to smarten my act up on how to store items and keep them safe. I always need to declutter as I fail to sort out items even such as the post on a daily or weekly basis. You can come to me for style advice but don't think about life laundry matters! I finally managed to finish Girlynomics and this has freed me up to attend to the home. It really does need finishing off. We've only managed to properly decorate the living room and we have been here for 4 years. It is the age old issue of time and money.


Something that I've always tended to and put in some graft is the garden. Despite the old testament rainfall and flooding we've been having the garden is coming alive and can be attended to.The birds and bees plus a few snails are setting down roots at MDS gardens. I couldn't snap my little friend the Robin (he is too shy but he comes everyday and he has a favourite place for his food) nor the playful go getting Blue tits but they actually leave a lot of droppings as evidence! There is also another bird (don't know what it is) who loves our garden for worms. I'm finding a great deal of satisfaction in the wildlife activity and my growing plants.

  I had 3 bees buzzing around in the garden

 I had to avoid stepping on this snail & I called him Sarkosy in honour of the fact today was the French Presidential Elections. He was lucky my friend wasn't around as he is southern French and would have examined him to assess his edible potential.

 I picked a handful of mint to make mint tea which I love and in my garden it is free compared to £1.85 in Carluccios

As well as cooking Sunday lunch which was roast chicken followed by rhubarb crumble, the rhubarb was from the garden too, I oven roasted some tomatoes that no one was eating and left them to cool in the oven. I just ad herbs and olive oil and they are nearly the same as sun dried ones!

 

Having had an extremely satisfying weekend of pottering, I must take a deep breath and make the coming month of May my sort the house out month!

Petit Chocolate Style

It is not often you hear the phrase 'we had a fun day out with River Island' and rightly so because it would suggest we were a family of shopperholics. Back to River Island  - it was the Chelsea Girl of my youth, when it was the go to shop on the high street once you'd managed to wrangle your way out of M&S and C&A and Clarks shoes. Apart from the occasional outing to Fenwick to get a nice outfit I mainly hung around in jeans and t-shirts from Chelsea Girl, Gola trainers and an Adidas hoodie. It was all so simple then!

Now River Island is still delivering the goods for the younger market, although I still think River Island is always worth a look for shoes, and is also entering the field of kids wear. Hence why I and the petit garcon had a fun day out. It was choctastic heaven. The lovely PR team had invited the young models for the kidswear campaign and some press and bloggers children. I had just filed a piece on their swimwear and was pleased to meet the helpful team. I just love this River Island Pacha swimsuit.

Petit garcon and I lazed around in the morning before hot footing it into central London to River Island press offices. It was a cold miserable day but that was completely forgotten as the joy unfolded. I lost the garcon to a world of making chocolate, face painting and an entertainer with balloons. I actually did pig out a little on the chocolate handed round but tell me who can resist especially when it was all Green & Blacks!

 Lots of preparation before getting stuck in!

                                                                                             Petit garcon loved the flamingos used in the campaign shoot -a boy after his mothers heart

  

  A selection of the boys wear - petit garcon choose an 'outfit'

 

 

 Some great girls clothes too!

I was really impressed with the clothes, the design and the quality. For boys the items are a great addition to the high street in respect of choice and price. My favourite the boys yellow New York t-shirt retails at £6.00.  In London the children's clothes are at the River Island shops in Brent Cross and Westfield at Stratford. The range will be available at selected River Island's across the UK.

Finally the petit garcon received his spoils and happily modelled them straight away.

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.

High St Pick of the Week

Just because I'm going through a black phase doesn't mean I'm giving up my two other great style loves stripes and sequins. In my world one can never have too much of either.

And it seems I'm not alone in the sequin department as the UK goes crazy, yes crazy (and rightly so) for the sequin jacket. I sadly missed not one but two invites to see the collection (people my diary is full a month in advance). The disappointment in not going to the first and actually seeing Twiggy in the flesh was enormous. Cynic that I am over model/designer collaborations, I, to borrow a phrase, luff this 11/10.

Twiggy is styled impeccably. Women of  a certain age take note, do not, I repeat, do not miss this opportunity to embrace style. Drop the floral dresses and the Per Una offerings - sorry M&S but nothing will ever convince me that range should be allowed - and get with the Twiggy collection.

At £79, the sequin jacket is a bold choice but is versatile enough to wear day or night. By day put on a stripy with jeans and flats, then move it up a gear at night changing the stripy tee for a block colour top, add a statement necklace or earrings, push the sleeves up and add high heels.

This image doesn't really do the jacket justice, as it makes it loo too rigid whereas Twiggy wears it in a more fluid fashion, but nip to M&S to take a peek or look at it online.  Enjoy the images of Twiggy and the collection although I do think avoid the animal and big daisy print dress and tops like the plague, they are veering into Per Una territory.

Style Steal

I love the aesthetics of Jil Sander, Marni and Prada. Away from the main collection they show at fashion weeks they have an array of staples which give you that sharp pulled together stylish look. However in the words of Take Me Out 'no lighty'. Of course I love their dresses and much more, but I can't put or keep my light on since I do not have the funds for such sculptural treasures.

But thank goodness for COS which can always be relied upon to create a dress of structural significance that gives you that Prada black dress look without the funds.

Cos Fold Front Dress £69

Back to Black 1.

After my last post proclaiming my parring down and style shift to black, the sorting out has begun. As per usual I've listed on eBay and will be dropping off other stuff to a local dress agency. I decluttered the rest to friends and a local man who buys textiles by the kilo. My wardrobe is a leaner machine. It isn't entirely black as there are some things I cannot bear to part with or I wear them a lot. It is mostly devoid of pattern and colour though.

My good work on this paid off last night when Mr MDS surprised me with a night out. Our first of the year. We have been so good and apart from taking the petit garcon to see JLS at the O2 Sports Relief concert and treating him to Giraffe, we've not spent a penny. I was quite pleased as it meant I could give my new sandals an airing despite it tipping down with rain. We decided to drive and park outside the place saving us money on public transport and drink. Parking was free and the only potential obstacle was Fulham v Chelsea but as it was Putney was fine to drive through and we finished our meal before the end of the match so got back through Putney before the crowds poured into the streets.

My sandal purchase was due to a style steal post I did back in February. I made the classic mistake of not getting something I thought really ticked my personal preference box at a great price right at that moment. Again I was being good and not spending money I didn't have. My ebay sales suddenly realised some funds and I tried in vain to get the sandals in London. But thanks to the power of twitter combined with the fact @marksandspencer is a really well managed twitter account I engaged in a very productive tweetathon which resulted in a couple of calls to M&S stores in Bath and Bristol as we were there for the Easter weekend.

At first a complete blank was drawn and both Bath and the Bristol Broadmead store advised me that they didn't have a pair. I completely appreciated the fact the system doesn't always reflect the actual on the floor stock usually due to 48 hours delays. I pushed my failed last ditched attempt to the back of my mind and thanked @marksandspencer for their help despite the outcome. Then halfway down the M4 I got a call from the Broadmead store to say they'd found a pair and they were put by for me. On Easter Monday on the way home I ran into the branch whilst Mr MDS waited in the car to get the £39.50 sandals. Now who says Twitter is just a social network in cyber space hey?! At the orders desk a lady was ordering some items so I waited patiently for probably only 5 mins and conscious of Mr MDS waiting piped up would someone be able to serve me as we were on the way back to London. Well the lady who was ordering (who I thought was a customer) said to me 'is it the sandals?' of course I replied somewhat taken aback 'yes'. Well a lovely conversation then ensued with me and Margaret (her name) because she had found them for me. She told me how busy they had been and she been given the message and the first person she'd sent out on the floor hadn't found them but she knew they were in the store so went and looked. Not only that she was genuinely pleased to met me and see the person who'd wanted the goods. It was truly delightful, of course the other staff were slightly bemused by our conversation but all I can say is that Margaret is a truly wonderful person who works at M&S in Bristol. I also know what bedding she was ordering too. All thanks to the power of Twitter!

 The M&S sandal haul en route back up the M4

Anyway I wore the sandals with an all black outfit for our diner date and as per Mrs Fabs and Too Many Shoes request to show my all black outfits I hastily snapped what I was wearing (badly of course!)

 The look - black jacket, black satin trousers, black top - actually all H&M, the tux jacket I have had for 7 years now, the trousers were from the Conscious Collection and the top is just a run of the mill number with a cowl neck

 The sandals

 The top and trousers

 The statement earrings

And I thought Faux Fuchsia would appreciate this simple flower arrangement on the table. Sorry for sharing my olive stones!

A Simple Shift

I often have style epiphanies but they tend to be fairly low key, subtle shifts when needed but last week I had a seismic shift one. Three things happened. The first was quite a fab one. I was just about to enter the Louis Vuitton offices for a press day. I'm an early bird as I trained under someone at a magazine who was strict about punctuality and speed. The trick was to plan the press day viewing like clockwork and finish by 1pm at latest. This meant a 10 to 15 minute allocation. So I wasn't surprised that my 10:20 arrival was beaten by the Elle team who were exiting for next appointment. And very swish they looked too. It was the black. Even on what was a sunny day the black looked uber stylish and chic. More Parisian and Milanese than London.  This small chance meeting moment stuck in my head. I have a wonderful visual filing system in my head. The looks, the light at that moment and the swishness of it all are logged.

The second incident was at a jewellery trunk show I was doing that same evening in a splendid location. I met lots of lovely people but I'm beginning to find a trait, people who are invited to a person's house for a jewellery party who don't buy. This makes no odds to me whatsoever as there are always sales but it does make a big difference to the person hosting the event. That person has made the effort to share their home, wine and food. If you come you should at least buy one item at the cheapest price if need be even as a gift for a forthcoming birthday or just in case. Anyway I had a guest, who didn't buy, telling me about every item of jewellery she was wearing, mainly Tiffany (fyi) and she just put me off a certain look and style. I won't bore you with her look and style but I sort of file it under the try hard yummy mummy Net-A-Porter/boutique look. In short contrived btu a contrived that says 'I'm wealthy and bored'.

So there I was pedalling my wares, trying to earn a crust because I'll always have to and I had some trout pout woman boring me with her slim wrist issues. Then I realised I had contributed to this ruddy look/lifestyle. All those years of shop edits, fashion styling and personal styling and I had contributed to this look, her aspirations and shopping habits. At that moment I knew something had to change for me and I realised as I mentally recalled the Elle team image I was going back to black.

At university to keep in credit and not spend money I had a uniform which was black. A brief flirtation with colour ended when running my clothes stall ended as I could no longer store my jumble sales finds in the entertainment offices cupboard. I sold up all my stock and I stuck to my black uniform. The only items which were colour was a purple velvet dress from High St Kensington market and a grey vintage dress from a vintage shop in the Netherlands. My accessories were plastic Spanish fiesta earrings in lots of different colours. I based my whole look on Audrey Hepburn's beatnik look in Funny Face and Nico from The Velvet Underground. I recalled this simple fact and thought actually I'm in that place again. My career is on hold indefinitely,I cannot go and work in a magazine or office due to circumstances of Mr MDS's work and my own making, a young child. We are not in a position whereby I don't need to earn and actually I like earning so simplifying my clothing habits is a simple solution and a great style shift.

I'm in the midst of selling off as much as I can. I'm keeping a few pieces of colour I truly love, garments I would never part with and the rest is going. I'm sticking to black,white and grey with navy as another option when it comes to clothes and that is it. It feels uplifting and frees me from so many trappings. Such a simple option and for me back to black is where it is at!

The Soft Pleat Dress £109 Isabella Oliver 365 Collection

Uniqlo Extra Light Crew Neck Half Sleeve Cardigan £19.99

Black Raw Edge Leather Sandals £27.99 New Look

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

High Street Pick of the Week

Having had the worst cold for an absolute age, years in fact, I was tempted to do a review of Kleenex tissues versus Cath Kidston pocket ones (left over Christmas stocking fillers for family and friends) and the joys of Benylin original. Instead I give you the joys of printed trousers.

I know it is all about floral pants/trousers but I am not a convert to this trend. I like to see it on others but not on me. I have nearly succumbed on many an occasion but always pull back. However this week in the name of style advice I tried on a pair of printed (note not floral) trousers in H&M. I felt okay in them and if I was going on a girls night out I think I would wear them as my statement piece and feel nicely fashion forward but I would not venture an outing in them with Mr MDS who would think I had given up making the effort and snuck out wearing my pyjamas. Of course they are not Pjs!! They are sartorial elegance de jour.

My preference is for a print other than floral and these are cheap and a lovely colour for the S/S12 season and will be exceedingly useful in a Mediterranean or hot holiday destination if you couldn't face an outing in them on these shores.

Wear with high heels and a metallic top for evening and a white t-shirt and flats for day.

Patterned trousers £14.99 H&M

A good old fashioned staple

I'm about to sort out my wardrobe and change everything around to a spring summer focus. I fold my most obvious winter items up and put them neatly above my everyday clothes as I don't like to pack them away in case I need something. It isn't that much that goes above as most of my clothes are trans season and work all year round except for the obvious like heavy coats and winter jumpers. I like to layer and use scarves as much as possible without killing a look so most items work all year round.

I was reminded of this the other day whilst compiling an Isabella Oliver 365 Collection wishlist on the district line en route to Wimbledon. I love the mix of useful items they produce and season designs. My favourite item has to be the black jersey shirt. Simple yet effective when it comes to style stakes.

 Essential Jersey Shirt £69 Isabella Oliver 365 Collection

This season I would wear it with white skinny jeans and strappy flats. Plus I would be tempted to don a headscarf and over sized sunglasses to make like Jackie O.