Surprise designer focus

Surprise being the key word given my level of cynicism of celebs from whatever background turned designer. Granted I bought a silver maxi skirt from Kate Moss's first ever Topshop venture all those years ago. It was my one and only purchase and a very good one at that. However, I like to think that is more my discerning nature...

Which brings me on first to Victoria Beckham, (this post isn't about her) I'm a sucker for some reason I love her lines and I really like her. In that time honoured expression 'I really get her'. We couldn't be more un- alike. Moi, blonde and curvy - her, brunette and well thin as a thin thing. Which all in all is a big build up to me enthusing about Winter Kate.

If I was to say I was determined to 'hate' (petit garcon uses this word a lot of late as in 'Mummy I hate you' when I refuse him Jammy Dodgers for breakfast) the Winter Kate line designed by Nicole Richie along with her House of Harlow stuff, I'm sure I'd be in a bracket with a lot of other people.

Yet, it is 'ruddy' good as we Brits say. I like the understated flamboyance of both lines. There is a 30s/70s vibe (cliché I know) which comes through and I'm never sure if it is a hang over from the Rachel Zoe days or it is truly her own style and input. I'm going with the latter although acknowledging the former imparted 'knowledge'.

My favourite is the Dixie Tunic which flies against the force of minimalism but would turn heads without much effort. The sleeves billow out and you do need proper shoulders to carry this item otherwise the fit isn't great. All the items have lovely patterns and cuts which honestly amazes me. It all the things you would have hoped the Kate Moss collections at Topshop promised to be or would have been.

Ditsy Tunic £167 my-wardrobe

Winter Kate is also available on the 3rd floor at Selfridges, London.

Simples

Everyone is following fast on the Phoebe Philo factor. Now ASOS never scared to bandwagon anything, thank goodness, are hot on her heels. Literally, or should that be figuratively, they are tugging at her leather skirt with ASOS WHITE.

A line dedicated to the shrine of minimalism (for minimalism read Philo) and a nod to every favourite fashion editors trend. Don't say what, say get me x, y and z in the bag now!

ASOS WHITE Silk Organza High Collar Blouse £60

Fund raiser purchases.

Having stuck to my resolution about not spending money on clothes etc. I knew I needed a wardrobe top up somehow without breaking into my MA survival funds. I've been working my wardrobe quite well so any item I felt served no further purpose was put on ebay.

Two good things happened as a result of this. Firstly I breathed new space and fresh organisation into my closet. Secondly I got to shop for me! I compiled my fantasy wish list - you know it only reads like a Net-A-Porter or my-wardrobe.com editorial script - then I went on a high street reality check and made a proper list. Which consisted of a pair of trousers, day dress, going out dress, skirt, top, earrings, belt and sandals/shoes. My hit list shops were narrowed to items in Zara, Topshop, Reiss and Cos.

Luckily for me Mr MDS bought me the coveted belt from Reiss as a Valentine present. It is a gorgeous dusky pink patent number with a gold buckle detail.

I tried on my lusted after items and then thought about it for a day before I purchased. I decided to get the Zara items as they would go quicker than the Cos ones - it is a retailing fact, merchandise moves quickly in Zara. And also I got two pairs of earrings in Dorothy Perkins as its cheaper than Topshop but I still get 10% student discount!

Zara (Chloe-esque) blue cotton trousers £25.90

Zara (quite YSL 70s vibe) Orange Dress £69.90

Dorothy Perkins faux gold dangly numbers £7 and silve butterfly hoops £4 (- 10% discount £9.90 in total)

I have to confess this small retail therapy indulgence felt good!

High Street pick of the week

I give you the scenario - 3 stylists in a room critiquing a wannabee stylist on her choice of item. It was so a winner because all three of us instead of talking through and evaluating the whole outfit , were, where are they from and how much do they cost? This was after earlier dissing(can't believe I'm using this word) harem pants, in the sense they are quite difficult to wear, so, we were agog at this offering by Warehouse which offers a water downed harem, combined with an almost structured tailored trousers meets a pair of shorts and it works!





Recycled Silk Hareem Pant £60 Warehouse

Kitchen pickers...

...wear big knickers! I had a boyfriend who said this to me once, so I chucked him. One boyfriend surprised me with a tickets to an Elton John concert. I had no choice but to join in - I only found out when we were at Wembley. I chucked him too; geez sorry if anyone is an Elton John fan but when I found myself waving arms in lieu of a lighter at Daniel I knew I needed drugs and not the man next to me!

However, clothes have always been my drug of choice and so far my resolution to not buy clothes for a year is working. Now, lets face facts here! My resolution is due to many an overspend over many a year on little bags of joy and treats of the retail variety. I would like to pretend it was a holier than thou ban, in search of inner redemption or learning but truth be told I can't afford to buy anything other than my college books, travel fares and pay for petit garcon's nursery fees. Had I been a better saver well...

But I am nothing less than resourceful. When Mr MDS came home and mentioned that someone at his work had been praising my rocky road crunch bars to someone in HR who requested a taster I sprang into action - look either I'll get a nice pressie from the said work place for supplying them in goodies or hubbie will get a gold star and potentially a reward. My reward will be an item from Cos and I won't have broken in to my account. Now who's wearing the knickers hey!

PS it also allows for me to add a picture of Nigella - the rocky road recipe creator. When I met her in real life I could not get over her beauty, seriously I was smitten.

PPS. Mind you is it just me or do you think Sally Hawkins of the Golden Globes Best Actress in Musical/Comedy could do with eating a few of Nigella's meals? How scrawny is she?

Retail weakspots!

Now I don't want to be a doom monger but it has to be said that troubled times are ahead for clothing retailers. The high street and the designers are going to face a tough time if they get it wrong. Women aren't going to stop shopping for clothes but being more selective is going to have an impact. All out more, more, more isn't going to be an option either due to moral choice, lack of funds or a sense of saving. I'm unsure which designer houses are going to be impacted but we'll have more of an idea of this after Q3 next year (June, July, August 2009).

On the high street there are clear indicators already. USC are already in administration with a rescue package underway which won't necessarily prevent the inevitable.
Sadly it includes the wonderful shop at Maison Bertaux.
Many stores have failed to change their customer experience (service, ambiance etc.) or their stock. A proliferation of the high street hasn't helped with the low to high end all competing for the same customers.

Sir Phillip Green is the key person and he seems to have the upper hand with Topshop and Dorothy Perkins. Dotty Ps will suffer but I suspect he has a business model to overcome any downturn. Primark is going to continue to provide that fast cheap fashion fix.

My predictions for wobbles and even the end in the UK high street are:
Jane Norman
Vestry
Morgan
Karen Millen
Whistles
All Saints
Debenhams
Ted Baker (women's)
even New Look

Taking a battering will undoubtedly be M&S
Oasis and French Connection will be put under strain as will Kew and Jigsaw. Plus John Lewis and House of Fraser in their clothing retail, they both carry the same concessions with a few exceptions.

Gosh that's quite a lot. Who do you think will bite the bullet or reign supreme?

images BBCi

PS The breaking news that greeted me this morning was the collapse of Morgan the french retail chain with 33 stores in the UK ... and I'd written this two days earlier opps!

Bear with me

It snowed overnight for the first time in October in London for 70 years. Yes I woke up to a smattering of snow and a very cold day. Then I had lectures from 11 to 5 and if that wasn't enough I got home to my next film to view, Marlene Dietrich in Morocco and December's issue of Easy Living! Can you believe it a) London was like a Dickins novel today and b)I had my first bah humbug moment. I love Christmas but I never want it to start until the 1st day of December.

I want to enjoy Halloween and Bonfire night first, then a bit of a rest before the full assault of festiveness.

Mind you there is a lovely festive sequin skirt by Pink Soda Boutique in December's Easy Living, if I wasn't feeling so grumpy and poor I'd cheer myself up with some retail therapy.

I'll be cheery again before next post and for those of you who missed BBC2's British Style Genius then here's the iplayer link. Now this is an interesting one - very aspirational in terms of the petite bourgeoisie aiming to be bourgeois, very Bourdieu indeed!