Something I threw on...

I'm often asked about what to wear based on a more womanly shape. In some respect retailers are beginning to do something about it and let's be clear I'm not talking about size, I'm talking about shape. For too long the debate has been about size and weight. In truth neither are the issue, it is how you dress to suit you. One of my dearest friends who is renowned sports instructor - I don't like to say fitness as it doesn't cover her superior knowledge - always makes me laugh because if you get all bored with your clothes her answer is to say 'lose weight clothes always look better on then'.


In part this is true, mainly because fashion is all about the sinewy. Yet the supermodels aka Helen Christian, Cindy Crawford etc where all quite Amazonian. Tall with breasts, hips and bums. Sometimes I do get quite shocked when a 16 year old model confides that someone suggested she should lose weight. All because her legs were deemed a bit big around the top of the thigh. Luckily she was just looking for me to agree with her because it was a complete nonsense. She has a good head on her and wants to get her A levels before committing further to modelling.

But mainly it is our decision making in buying clothes that is more problematic than shape. I will agree that sizing of clothes is an issue when it comes to cut and availability. Other than designer clothes (believe me haute couture and sometimes ready to wear will do any size for the right price) high street cuts can be a minefield to negotiate.

You know the scenario, you've had kids, you are juggling home/work/school/activities/social life and the thought of shopping for clothes fills you with dread.

What you need is a dose of Nigella. I make no apologies of my love of Nigella. She is the most beautiful woman I've ever met in real life and I've met a bevvy of beauties. Her beauty is there on the outside but shines from the inside as well. I could gush for hours.

Portrait of Nigella Lawson by Jillian Edelstein. Exhibted in and available in postcard form as above from Roast Restaurant

My other dearest friend and godmother to the petit garcon worked at the BBC and always remarked of Nigella 'she's a big girl'. When I met her I couldn't comprehend why she'd been described in such a way. Compared to my friend, yes Nigella is taller, wider and fuller, but whilst the rest of the TV broadcasters lot often look like lollipops on sticks, she looked all woman.

Nigella wore, what is now deemed the Mad Men-esque look before Matthew Weiner had even written the first word. My only beef with her has been that denim jacket someone made her wear for one of her cooking series. And if I might be so bold, methinks Sophie Dahl has tried to emulate the look in her conversion to cookery.

Put simply the Nigella look is formulaic.

Good dress and nice shoes. If good dress is shift style then add good cardigan. Make sure your hair is wonderfully groomed and well maintained, plus flawless skin with enough make up to enhance. Maybe one piece or two of fine jewellery.

The essential ingredient is hair - as it is with Anna Wintour. For Anna Wintour read Nigella Lawson but on a smaller scale.

This is the classic Nigella look and truly it is timeless. You just have to know it is what suits best, and ignore trends (again ditto Anna). Confidence is 9/10ths of the law in clothes wearing!

Essential item the cardigan in merino wool or cashmere. Have in different colours and slightly differing cuts.

Boden Cashmere Cropped Cardigan available in 9 colours £89.00

Essential item, the shift dress. Again have in differing cuts, an a-line version is a must. Never any longer than knee length. Black is an easy option but colour and print work wonders too.

Jaeger sleeveless jersey dress £125

Essential item number 3, a good shoe. For evening and occasions wear a good court shoe. For day and weekend substitute with knee length boots or flat pumps/courts. Even at night some sexy suede knee length boots would look fab. Make sure they are tight and well made. Cute not clumpy.

LK Bennett Monica Court Shoe £185

Why I won't be going to Fashion Night Out

I wrote a Fashion Night Out piece for an on-line 'zine a few months ago and I was really looking forward to it. It was such fun last year why would I not want to schlep around the West End again in search of champagne and canapes. My Liberty Manolo Blahnik pop up shop invite sits at the top of the pile and I really did intend to go for a Chanel manicure in a new limited edition Khaki.However a year on my carefree nature seems a world away. This is the first week of petit garcon going to school. Yes my little baby is now a young school boy! Last week I still thought I'd be hotfooting it out to Liberty, I even began to make arrangements 'to meet'. Then the BBC brought Mad Men forward and so that hits the HD screen at 10pm. I stilled continued to think I'd rush back to sit down and view the new series by 10pm, I couldn't bare not to wait any longer.

But after only two days of taking him to school I cannot bear to leave him even to the capable hands of Mr MDS. I'm too focused on him being completely settled and a proper home from school routine until bed at 7pm.





Forgive me Mr Blahnik and the rest I couldn't possibly leave such a bundle of joy. I'm sure you won't miss me but I would be missing my little boy.

Interview outfit on a budget

What with Messers Cameron and Clegg pulling on the purse strings and those interviews getting harder to grab, a good interview look for the more traditional and professional sectors is a must. Then comes problemo deux, what to buy without wasting too much money.

Bearing in mind preferences, I've gone with a trouser/blouse combination or a dress look. The look is based on a pair of shoes from M&S, because these are so reasonably priced. I've kept the rest of the items as low as possible and offered readily available supermarket options if possible as a really budget option. The benefit of this outfit is, it is for your interviews only but if you nail the interview then it becomes your work outfit, job done!

Portfolio Round Toe Mid Heel Court in Black Mix £45

Limited Collection Snake Print High Heels in Black £35

Your choice of shoes affect how you style the selection of dresses. If you go with the court shoe then choose a cardigan with the shift dress and the snake print ones will lend more towards a jacket. I'll provide some options after the dress choices.

Sleeveless Chevron Belted Dress M&S £35

The supermarket alternative is from Tesco and it is a F&F tailored dress available in grey or black at an introductory offer of £22.
If you would prefer a colour then go for this M&S one in green at £45

If you prefer the snake print high heels with a shift dress then keep the look edgy with this Rivet detail cardi from ASOS at £30


Or this kimono style jacket from Topshop £45
I know it is a print but it has texture and will set you apart from the crowd. The real problem is when you look to buy a jacket under say £50, they can really look cheap. The grade of material says cheap. So, better to feel confident in something that looks the business but a bit more flamboyant than cheap tat.

If you going all Mad Men on me and grabbing those courts then a nice short proper cardi will do the trick. At £18 these two below from Dorothy Perkins offer great value and the choice just depends on personal preference! But go for a black one with a coloured shift dress.

Burgundy cotton button cardi

Magenta heart button cardi

Then the trousers ...

Gap perfect trousers £35

If you go with the snake skin heels then wear with ASOS twist front blouse £32 available in 3 colours but I would only choose the oyster or green for an interview.

With the courts I would wear the trousers with a boxy double breasted jacket like this blue mix one from ...yep.. M&S at £35 wear done up with a cami underneath. Add a brooch to liven it up.

Hard as I tried, lots of the supermarket items were lacking but there is no harm in looking when you are doing your groceries. I saw good pencil skirts in Sainsbury from £5 to £15 (shocking I know but needs must). All the above are for guidance to keep you focused on a simple but effective look. You will need a small bag too. Keep it neat like this one again from M&S but you could find something similar in a charity shop if you want to keep the cost down.

Maxi,Midi,Mini - let there be lace

You've got the a-line/leather skirt (tick). You've got the right length, this season Celine-esque trousers (tick) and you're reusing your white shirt. But maybe you fancy another top to keep the Celine love in going strong. Oh well then it is a lace top.

For the max effect go grab yourself some Celine in Harvey Nicks, Harrods, Selfridges, Dover Street Market or in the House of Fraser at Westfield. It will set you back some £729 (gulp).

Then in the mid range and very reasonable it is too, this lacey delight from Reiss at £65.

Finally if your budget is stretched then for £39.50 the M&S Limited Collection is giving you this neat number.
Although even though they were using the same model for all their photos it wouldn't have hurt to have put her hair back in a sleek side or back to nape bun...and have lost the pointless necklace for this one shot. Just saying so you know.

Forward Planning thanks to V&A

I'm loathed to think about it but Christmas is coming. Don't worry there'll be no baubles and sleigh bell jingles on this blog, however I'm going to try and get all my present shopping done each month so I don't do my lastminute.com dash to Fortnum and Mason followed by Harvey Nicks. I think everyone might be getting sick of my Christmas hampers offerings of food, drink and skin care. Mind you the chilli popcorn I found in Fortnums was a winner.

Most of my buying will be on-line so I'm starting with the V&A. It has a great on-line shop. Lots of cute items mixed with some expensive numbers I'm ignoring.

Mind you I'm already compiling my own Christmas letter to Santa - see below!

Pink Petals Fascinator £65

White crochet gloves £10

Black Sequin Turban headband £55

Chanel Paradoxal winner

I did the random generator thingy and it choose number 3! Number 3 in the comment box was Vintage Vixen - so email me at kate.battrick@gmail.com so I can post to you xx

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 3

High Street Pick of the Week

Not truly a high st pick and not something I'd do normally. Yes, yes, okay I've picked something from Boden. Look before you judge me, I've drunk 2 glasses of wine the night before to pluck up the courage.

It is like this... the catalogue arrived through the door and I opened page one and was won over. Then I looked through the rest of it and was bored, relieved and under whelmed. Yes I realise Johnnie Boden will never ask me to style his 'collection' and there will be no press freebies blah blah blah bit whateves..

This is it...it said Mad Men to me and I would like to point out that I've watched it from the off and I'm very excited because series 4 kicks off in the UK on the 9th of September. Whilst no one can escape the Mad Men vibe these days it isn't often that I use the words, Boden + trend + fashion + Mad Men + love it, all in one sentence. Probably never again and I might live to regret it anyway - you know the wine, the feeling of yes all is well with the world, even Boden. Bring on LFW I obviously need some edge.

Meanwhile I give you middle England's version of Mad Men. Personally I'd go for red or black.



At £75 it is a bit pricey but Boden does generally deliver on quality.

UPDATE: Well folks I spoke to the lovely helpful call centre peeps and guess what this dress was available as pre-order (who knew Boden were getting all pre-order on us) and sold out which would be fine but they are not restocking due to such long lead in time from their overseas manufacturers. Folks today is Sept 4th! This item is the first garment in the catalogue, women want it That's Not My Age alerted me to the problem and she would have looked a wow in the green dress. I want it in red and I never want Boden things except for the petit garcon who looks adorable in them. Come on Johnnie this is not good, it smacks of inefficiency and poor decision making not Boden.

Old news sinking in.. the Lanvin love in

Twitter was awash, or all of a witter, yesterday with the exciting news that Lanvin will be the next designer collaboration for H&M. It seemed many in the fashion world were sitting down in chairs with the enormity of it all.
The fateful day will be November 23rd. I say fateful because I for one cannot imagine camping out on Oxford St or anywhere to get my mitts on a piece. Seriously, I haven't the stamina or the lifestyle that will allow such folly. So I know I won't be snagging a piece of Lanvin on the high street because the petit garcon will need his porridge and school tie straightened before we hop on the bus.

Practicalities and future disappointments aside, what a ruddy good coup! Lanvin is probably the most inaccessible of the design houses when you pit budget against availability. My love of Chanel is satisfied realistically with modest nail varnish purchases. My favourite house is Prada so I do push the boat out here once in a while. My most recent buy was 6 years after my last. In general Lanvin stays the right side of luxury although it is slowly but surely spreading its wings. With an e-store coming on line soon and new store opening in Madison Avenue, New York, Lanvin is building an empire on solid foundations laid down by the wonderful Alber Elbaz.

I really do like the fact he is spreading the dream and I hope I will be suitably impressed even if I won't be abandoning my mothering duties (though sorely tempted) to camp outside H&M. I'll be having nightmares of disappointment instead.

Who would you abandon your offspring/dog/granny for a H&M designer collaboration?

Simple

I found three images from the 67th Venice Film Fesitval which kicked off yesterday. The Venice Film Festival takes place on the Lido an 11km long sandbank opposite Venice. It has cars on it, which Venice doesn't have and about 20,000 residents. You get there by ferry, water taxi and a ferry/car transporter or your own private boat.

What struck me about the images I selected, amongst the array of Jessica Alba, Natalie Portman and Quentin Tarantino, was the simplicity of the festival ambassador Italian actresses, Isabella Ragonese's outfit. White shirt, black pencil skirt, black tie and black high court shoes. Even her hair and make up were simple.


The weather and backdrop of the Adriatic sea certainly helped the Associated Press photos taken on the eve of the film festival but the stylish simplicity of the outfit is a complete antidote to the usual photo calls of Hollywood actress done up to the nines in the latest designer garb.

I'm sure Isabella's garments were of good stock but latest and fashion would not make any byline. It reminds me of those funny ads, compare the meerkat.com or compare the market.com - simple. The look is a case in 'compile a stylish outfit' or 'compile a catwalk/designer outfit'. I think such a choice is a timely reminder that style and fashion isn't always magazine or editorial driven or has to be designer, designer, designer - now someone is going to pop up and tell me it is D&G!

Something I threw on...

...I know that no one outside of Notting Hill is going to forgo the handiness of jeans and boots for the school run, so, with this in mind I thought I'd have to re-create this look with a more feminine and contemporary overtone.There are three keys items to purchase to work with your current jeans, tops, coats and boots.

The first it this shirt from M&S, a Limited Collection Long Sleeve Floral top at £29.50.


The second is a knitted sleeveless cowl top £32 from Topshop. The cowl detail is important because it works with all bust sizes. You can wear it done up, undone and even on its own with vest top underneath and a skinny belt over it.



The third is probably the one most of you will worry about but it is bang on trend as they like to say and adds a wow factor when it comes to the necessary and ubiquitous 'car' cardigan. Topshop again, it is the knitted Fairisle long cardigan £55


For £116.50 you've got three separates to mix and match which will work with existing wardrobe items. Clashing the floral and fairisle will be a serious style injection to boot.