Endurance or durability

 On Saturday night I went to my sister's 40th birthday party. Having saved up my money to get her a lovely present from Tiffany I had no money to splash out on an outfit so raided my wardrobe for an outfit. I selected my sparkly Isabella Oliver 365 Collection S/S11 dress and wore it with Primark faux spanx leggings and my Zara gold sparkly shoes. Of course I accessorised with my favourite Belle Fleur Stella and Dot ring and the black limited edition Chantilly lace cuff. I love how my Isabella Oliver dress is such a durable number.

I had to wear leggings as it was too cold to go without and actually I would have needed a fake tan but I rarely bother. My sister loves a spray tan whilst I'm more a pink blusher type gal. I recently read somewhere that leggings were a fashion faux pas. Luckily I'm made of stern stuff and always ignore such ridiculous proclamations. Over the years many a fashion editorial has tried to kill off Ugg boots, pashminas and gilet's but it seems paying folks just won't be told what to do!

 

 I did do my hair, hence a closer shot to show tonged curls!  It was a good fun evening in the pub next door to her house, it was hired out for the evening and full of us dancing to old school rave tunes and Take That. Not long after midnight I was totally danced out and found my duracell batteries had run out. Sadly I had to give up the ghost which meant saying goodbye to my parents who seemed to have more endurance than me (mortified) however Mr MDS has already bowed out and I found him asleep watching Match of the Day in my sister's house. Equally my parents live next door to my sister so they didn't have far to trot either.

The next day en route home we spied a gorgeous old Merc on the M40. Again its design has endured and it looked so beautiful. I think my wardrobe needs to be more of the durable and elegant kind. I still need to mix fashion items in but in a less overt way.

And a couple of days later I found my old Anya Hindmarch bag. Remember the craze to get one of these. I thought how timely I found it when I could appreciate the fact that 7 or more years later it was still a functioning useful bag which looked good.

I'll never be a second hand junkie or total thrift queen but slowly but suddenly with thoughtfulness and pausing...all my purchases and choices have durability or can endure fashions fickle peaks and troughs.

Marni Time!

It was fab! Whilst you are hitting that try again button let me share some items and scenes from last night's preview evening held by Vogue and GQ. And yes I have long been a detractor of the designer collaboration malarkey but since my heart belongs to Marni (if I had a little girl her name sadly would be Marni with Miuccia as a close second!) I knew nothing would stop me.

It was an absolute scrum. Teawithonesugarplease was right about 'elbows at the ready'. Of course I found that most uncivilised so tip toed and said 'excuse me' a lot which meant I failed to get in there and grab. I loved the collection and had my eye on 3 pieces and maybe another 2 but I only got one of my 3 the blue circle spot skirt. The coat went in a jiffy and actually I wasn't sad as it didn't grab me in the end. I love the skirt and whilst I did fancy the matching jacket I hesitated - fatal mistake- and it was gone! I fell for the sleeveless coat thing which I now love as it will be a keeper and utterly useful. There were two tops I could have should have got but again missed them in a blink of an eye so when I found a lonely top randomly hung in the Regent's street store I grabbed it and am glad of the colour.

Here are the photos of the evening and of my buys including the gorgeous shopping bags and my lovely press gift from Vogue a scarf and a notebook which Claire at Waceystyle gave to me as my bag didn't have it. You must visit her blog to see her amazing accessories swag!

 Marni dust bag for clothes - v thoughtful

 Obligatory self portrait with booty bag

 I really like this dress but honestly the material was too thin for me to wear it with confidence

 My skirt - it is a bit snug but that was the weird thing the dress was too big in size 10 but the skirt is slightly too small.

 Gorgeous colour to this top

And my favourite which isn't what I intended at all but this will work and dress up so many things!!

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

Bring it Back

At the end of London Fashion Week there was a photo call of Caroline Rush British Fashion Council Cheif Executive, Mary Katrantzou and Roksanda Ilincic, Natalie Massanet, head of Net-A-Porter, Anay Hindmarch plus the Vodafone Brand director all alongside Samantha Cameron, who is now calling upon home-grown designers to manufacture clothes in Britain. This should be great news but it isn't against the backdrop of the fact the most lauded show is always Burberry and we all know how Burberry decided to decimate the last of its manufacturing base in Britain to move abroad all in the name of profits before the bank crisis hit!

I have long waged a lone war against Burberry, if you enter Burberry in to my search box you will find mention after mention of why I don't shop there, take clients there or recommend them in any way after the closure of their Treorchy factory because it wasn't 'commerically viable' to keep it open. Please! This happened at a time when Burberry was boasting of 19% increase in sales with revenues of £135 million that year.

 

How are we going to bring back those lost years of expertise or people's life's ruined. You've only got to watch Stella to know the poverty levels and lack of job opportunities in the South Wales Valleys.

May be one day fashion will truly wake up to its hands in social responsibility that isn't about sham hollow words. Burberry are not alone, before them M&S managed to wipe out business after business whom they had lock in to contracts only to suddenly announce they were moving their manufacturing to Morocco and elsewhere. Until we have a proper shaming of all past practices and a true commitment to workers then there is nothing 'stunning' about calling upon anyone to manufacture clothes in the UK