Take it off, take it all off

The scramble is on for you Christmas money folks. Go get yours! Current offers:

Warehouse 20% off till November 28
Code: FRIEND09/TREAT09
Best buy: Embellished tunic top


House of Fraser Brand event 25% off 26-27 November
In store and online

Evans 20% off everything till November 30
Online only
Best buy: All over sequin tunic

Browns fashion 20% off A/W 09 collections 26-28 November
In store and Online

Faith shoes up to 50% off selected new seasons styles
Limited period, no dates
Best buy: Somely biker boot
And the granddaddy of them all - The Angels Uniform Sale
Pick up uniform vintage pieces from film or screen

Best buy: Military beltAdmission fee: £5 per person

Items for sale will be charged at a fixed rate per item:

£20 each for all coats, tunics or blouson jackets
£20 each for helmets
£10 each for trousers or breeches
£10 each for caps
£5 each for small pieces of equipment
£10 each for medium pieces of equipment
£20 for a combined set of equipment

Date/Time: November 28, 8.30am – 5pm

Venue: Angels Warehouse
1st Floor, 3 Boundary Road
East Lane Business Park
Wembley HA9 7ND

More details

Fine jewelry with bite

I'm picky when it comes to spending proper money on jewelry. I like it to be chunky and/or unusual. I'm not a huge fan of diamonds - for the obvious and myriad other reasons. I don't usually do gold either. Too brash, too shiny, too shouty. That doesn't leave room for much.

So it's rather refreshing to be introduced to the twisted works of Bittersweets NY, who do jewelry in silver and gold and diamonds but also have a sense of humour and the macabre.

Bite me! - Vamp rings and hinged vamp pendants

I heart you. No, really. - Beating heart charm

Monkey see, monkey do - monkey skull pendant

Creepy! - gold and silver maggot charms and silver worm bracelet

For those who want something really one of kind they also do a custom service.

Junk junky

There are few pleasures in life to me than finding a huge junk shop and then foraging for hours, just ferrting about, looking at stuff, imagining who might have used it before. A packed to the rafters junk shop to pass hours is almost a invitation to meditate. A personal journey away from the humdrum routine to a place of wonder and magic.

I visit good junk shops when I have the chance, and I do it early and preferably alone. But until this very minute I had never thought that the junk shop experience could be experienced online. That is, until I got an email introducing me to the delights of Supermarket Sarah. And I have to say it's instant love.

The site is a mess of random items/bits of tat/desireables from clothing to accessories, vintage to contemporary, works of art and bric a brac all flung together in the most delightful and pleasing way. It's almost as good as a real-life rummage. Fantastic.

It get's better from December 1 to 15, Supermarket Sarah is setting up shop in the east end for Christmas shopping extravaganza. All that stuff just waiting to be touched, rummaged through and meditated over. Punters will be provided with golden trolleys (huzzah!) and shown around by freindly shop assistants.
I'll be off to the launch of Dec 1, where I hope to picking up something ridiculous by Fred Butler, like this rocket bra. Fear not, I will report back on all the kitschy glory.

Supermarket Sarah Christmas Extravaganza at Poke, 4th Floor, Biscuit Building, 10 Redchurch Street, E2 7DD. Open by appointment, 9.30am to 6.30pm.

If you can't make it down there you can still get the full virtual junk shop experience on the website.

Happy trails!

So I've become a bit of a cycling fanatic in the past year. I've gone from the now infamous white pumps incident to actual daily commutes to work and travels on my bike at weekends. I'm really loving it. Even though the weather is considerably shittier than it was when I started in March, it's one thing that I've kept with.

There are a couple of reasons for this. Obvious one is, I have lost a tonne of weight. Over a stone. Which is great and I feel a lot fitter and healthier for it. The other thing is that once I got the hang of riding on the open road with crazy white van man trying to murder me at every turn, I found it to be a convenient and reliable way to get around. Beats London Transport hands down and not having to rely on anything but my own two legs is strangely liberating.

It seems to me that in the time I've started cycling there are also a lot more other cyclists on the roads and some of them are even more aggressive than your average white van man. Still, I suppose there's a certain safety in numbers.

As you can imagine, practical cycling wear and fashion are not exactly a match made in heaven. We can't all be wafting about with vintage bikes, heels, circle skirts and baskets. Some of us have to be somewhere. Quickly. This involves sweat, swearing, crazy hi-vis coats and wind proof, waterproof gear. Cycling has turned me into a slob. I'm a cycle slob, I admit it, okay? But I'm beginning to see the a way through the morass of double layered tights, cut off shorts and old t-shirts.

It's time to smarten up my act and get myself a cycling outfit that is both functional and fashionable a tall order I know. But it seems, from a quick bit of research, that there's a lot more of that sort of thing about these days from the incredibly high tech to the down right kookie.
Here are some of my favourites:

Sugoi Tatu arm warmers colour or black and white - £24 at Girls Run Too
Spin suit - £99 at Sweaty Betty
Pasha merino wool hoodie - $160 at Chrome
Recharge Compression Top - £52.27 at Compress Yourself (yes, you heard me, that is the name of the shop)
Gore bike wear shoe covers - £19.99 at Evans Cycles
No balls halter tank - £39, halter crop - £37
Bern Barker hard hat - £44.99, Knog Love 'n' Hate gloves - £29.99 at Cycle Chic

They're exclusive, I'm excited

Okay, I'm excited. I'm frequently excited so no news there but ask me why. Why am I excited? Well I'm excited because I've been invited to the fashion press preview of Vonrosen. They're sending a car and everything!

Vonrosen is new label from Berlin launching soon in the UK, that is so exclusive you can't look at their online shop without a password. As far as I can tell from the limited views on the website, the clothes are superluxe, neutral, paired down classics. They only sell online and they only sell to people they chose to sell to.
It's an interesting concept, this level exclusivity, especially in the current economic climate. It's either sheer genius or doomed to failure. Still you have to admire the detail that has been paid to marketing the product from the password protected online shop to the carefully thought out packaging (which has already won two red dot design awards) to the personalisation of clothing with an oval insignia, hand engraved with each customer’s monogram.

Of course, it could all be a case of smoke being blown up my nether regions but with all this mystery, intruigue and suspense, I am hooked. I can't wait to see what it's all about.

There's a lot you can do with Cotton... Apparently

The thing about celebrity and the money and fame it brings, is that people will keep knocking on your door offering you new ways to use your advantage to sell things. If you're smart, you choose wisely. You only get involved with projects that you know for sure that you can do (or pay some poor sap to do for you) and you leave the rest well alone.

But sometimes, you start to think you can do anything and that's when things go awry. Case in point: Fearne Cotton has just designed her first ever clothing collection. Now I may be wrong, but I think it looks shit. Not only does it look cheap, tatty and dated but it's also wildly and optimistically overpriced.

Take a look for yourselves:
Frankly, I've seen better stuff at BHS. The clothes are ill-fitting and boring. They make her look like a Mouseketeers reject. They don't even fit in with her edgy, rock chick image, so why do this?

There's moral to this story: stick to what you do well. Fearne Cotton, great at presenting on telly, pants at designing clothing. End of.

Fringed benefits

As I mentioned in my outfit of the week post earlier this week, the High Street is teeming with fringe at the moment. Fringing, tassles - call them what you will - those dangly strips of silliness seem to be beckoning from every shop window on everything from bags to clothes to shoes.

I love the sense of movement created by fringe. You wear a fringed item and it immediately feels like you added another dimension to yourself almost hyper-real. Like you are your own stop action movie or an animation of yourself.

I love the fringing on this waistcoat from ASOS precisely for this reason. You can't get the full effect from these images but if you watch the catwalk video on the site, what I mean becomes obvious. And here is another fab pair of leggings from Topshop, this time with added tassles. I also love how the added fringing around the neck of this vest from Urban Outfitters makes it a two in one piece of clothing with jewelry attached. Accessory problems solved.

There's also plenty of fringeing going on at foot level. My favourites so far are these Suede peeptoe boots from Oli that remind me of old cowboys and Indians movies. There's something of the squaw about them. I think they'll look great with tanned bare legs.I bought the fringed, studded limited edition ankle boots from New Look because I was simply powerless to resist. They just looked so lovely on and comfortable too, considering the height. I haven't made up my mind what to wear with them yet but I think could add some edge to short summer dresses, and interest to denim shorts and a t-shirt.

I'm going to start calling peeptoe boots, summer boots because that's essentially what they are. They're wildy impractical for winter and if they were closed toed then they'd seem a little overwrought for sunny days. Somehow, however, we've managed to have another invention thrust upon us that it is neither boot nor sandal but something in between. I'm not complaining because I quite like the idea of them.

I've deliberately not included tassled bags in here as they are too numerous to mention and Tor of Fabfrocks has already done a brilliant piece on them. Check out the plethora of tassled arm candy on her blog.

I want it now! Topshop rainbow brief case, £35

I have long held the opinion that no matter how much you may like what you do for a living, some days work is just... work. And it's a non-stop, angsty, stressy slog that starts the moment you leave the house and join the general flow of drones until you get back home again. It's doubly annoying in the winter when you have to get out of your bed in darkness and return in darkness. So depressing.

So yay! for springtime and also this lovely rainbow brief case, which should bring on an instant personal ray of sunshine that'll combat any work related dreariness with it's cheerful, colourful presence.

So bright and colourful is it, that I am convinced it was actually made in a factory in the mythical land of Oz. Could it have magic powers to immediately make you bolder, brainier and more loving of your fellow man? Who cares? It's gorge.

Make your legs smile

I know that leggings get a bad rep, especially patterned leggings. But I think that's because people sometimes people take them a little too seriously and let their body hang ups get in the way of a little playtime.
These variously patterned leggings I saw on the Topshop site brought a smile to my face, precisely because they're ridiculous but in a good way. They're like cheerful wallpaper for your legs, meant to be worn with levity and sense of fun.

I honestly can't think of of anything I'd like better this spring than to wear a pair of these to cheer my legs up and get them ready for baring in the summer. Can you?

Outfit of the week 31/03/09

Hark! What's that sound? Why, it's the sound of distant jungle rhythms that herald this week's outfit. Yep, helped along by Louis Vuitton and that atrocious grass skirt confection last seen on Madonna, the high street has gone tribal... again. But this time it's all aztec patterns and fringe-y sandals.

So, on to our outfit:The dress is suprisingly restrained, considering but I immediately put that right with a few more "literal" accessories. You've got your fringeing and your beading - shoes, necklace; you've got your wood - bangle; you've got your marvellous, bright aztec pattern - clutch; and just in case anyone misses the point, I've chucked in these funky little zebra stud earrings.

You are Cinderella and you shall go to the jungle ball, dammit! I'm calling this one "jungle boogie".

Details:

Dress, River Island
Shoes, Topshop
Clutch, New Look
Earrings and necklace, Accessorize
Wooden bangle, Dorothy Perkins

Nothing but the Irregular

I know I have had occasion to rag on Irregular Choice for being a little, shall we say, over-imaginative with their style. But, let's face it, their shoes are never dull or boring. This exhuberance appeals more than it repels.

So imagine my unbridled joy when I found out that they now have an online store. That means pile upon pile of pictures of shoes like this, all available to buy:Aren't those multi-pastel coloured booties in the middle just the most adorable things you've ever clapped eyes on. Like fairy cakes. For your feet. Mmmm!

And, as if the very heavens conspire to make my joy complete, they've recently opened a physical store on Carnaby Street (off Oxford Street in London). What's that high pitched sound you hear? Why, it's my gleeful girlie squeals of sheer delight. "Wee!"

*Note to add: Here's a link to the UK store.

This garment will save your life... Kinda

Okay, the verdict is in, I finally dragged myself into town to pick up some Uniqlo Heat Tech long sleeved tees and... They work! I wore two layered under my New Look plaid shirt yesterday and I was so toasty warm, I didn't even need to wear my coat.

I hate being cold, so this is fantastic news for me. As an added bonus, the material is thin and stretchy and the neckline is the perfect scoop neck - not too high, not too low. You could probably get away with layering about three pieces and you wouldn't need a jumper or cardigan.

You hear about these "miracle" garments from time to time and they are mostly disappointing but this time, the hype is true. My only quibble at the moment is that there don't seem to be that many bright colours in store. I'm hoping that they'll do some sort of Pantene colourways project like they did with the Cashmere last year. Oh and the product could be cheaper. If they were £5 a pop, I'd buy one in every colour.

The good news is, you can get 10% per cent of all orders online till 31 December by using this voucher code UNIQLOXMAS10 at checkout.

Buy a little Faith

Faith shoes offer: Get 30% of full price and a further 10% off sale price shoes from today, Thursday, 27 November till Sunday, 30 November.

I can always rely upon Faith shoes to throw up a least a few covetable items every year. Their designer range, is especially want-worthy. So it's woohoo! all round because they've also got an offer on this week.

Check out some of the beauties they have in store right now, if you don't believe me.

Get these booties
These booties from Finsk are guaranteed to get you noticed.
Going Solo
Exceedingly good looking shoes from the Faith Solo range. Do the tomboy look in the multi-panelled, stack heel, brogues or go ultra glam in these faux-skin, strappy platforms

Calling all red-heads
Major colour trend this season and always a head turner, red rules. This structured clutch is a ruby red to be treasured, while the high shine of these patent lipstick red lace-ups will dress up a little black goth number perfectly.
Vintage diva
If you like the vintage look, then you'll be getting a pretty sweet deal with these darling black t-bars with gold strap detail. check out the cute star cutout.
To get 30% off enter promo code XMASFRIENDS3008 at checkout
To get 10% off enter promo code XMASFRIENDS1008 at checkout

Jigsaw finally joins the e-tail party

I read on Catwalk Queen, yesterday that Jigsaw have launched their e-tail website. Better late than never, I thought, and went to have a look. It came as a bit of a shock however, to find how country sloane-ey and mimsie everything looked. It's a bit disappointingly blah.

Jigsaw is one of those brands that I almost never shop at, so maybe they never were my style. But I'd always thought of them as being on a par with Riess and Whistles - slightly upmarket, better quality togs for discerning gals with a bit more money. Guess I was wrong. Here, they come across as more Marks and Spencer classics. (Click on images to enlarge).



Was it ever thus or have they just lost the plot?

Offers

Upside of the credit crunch, the shops keep taking money off their stuff in order to get us to buy. Take advantage if you can of the following offers:

20% off at Oasis online till Friday. Use promo code:CHRISTMASOFFER2008. Buy this gorgeous Wanderlust statement necklace.

25% off at House of Fraser from Midnight tonight till Friday.

Buy these fabulous Bertie lace heels.

20% off everything at Evans till Friday. Buy this outstanding purple check mohair coat with neck tie.

Enjoy!

Swarming with studs

Do you ever have those moments when you notice something for the first time and then it seems to be everywhere? Like red cars. Or Christmas novelty ties. Well yesterday, I slept blissfully unaware of studs and awoke this morning to studs everywhere. They're on shoes, on boots, on jackets, on bags... Everywhere I look it's studallover.

I like studded black accessories in particular because they can really toughen an otherwise girly outfit. Ideal for breathing new life into your summer dress.

Belt, Oli Fusion; bowling bag, Oli; tassled bag, River Island; clutch, Star by Julien MacDonald; patent bag, French Connection

Just throw your dress over a black poloneck and shiny leggings and add any or a combo of these studded lovelies and suddenly you are so punk.

Tassled boots, River Island; knee boots, Full Circle; Shboots, Peacocks;

flats, Miss Selfridge; courts, All Saints

Alternatively wear one of those studded dresses with simple accessories and a boyfriend cardigan and see how fresh it looks.

Shorts, Topshop; sequin dress, Warehouse; biker jacket, Monsoon; bomber jacket, Lipsy; black dress, River Island

Watch this space

I've never been a huge fan of watches as fashion accessory. I have one watch. I've had it for years. It's got a chunky leather strap, which - I try to tell myself - makes my man's wrists look dainty, and it tells the time. That's about all I need from a watch.

So I'm baffled by my sudden hankering after some rather novelty-esque watches in the past 24 hours. Must be that Christmas feeling.

For starters, Swatch, purveyors of fine novelty watches for the fashion obsessed have only gone and done a whole collection of watch designs inspired by Bond villains. I have to say, it's brilliant. I mean, it's not like I'd be buying one myself, but for die hard Bond fans, they'd be hard to resist. They are also a perfect no brainer Christmas gift for the Bond-geek in your life.

My favourites are the Dr No (fantastic retro styling), Baron Samedi, Xenia Onatopp (I know) Franz Sanchez and Le Chifre. But for maximum bling points, it's got to be the shiny, gold plated insanity of the Goldfinger inspired, Odd Job. Diabolical fun. Check them out here. You can also take the online quiz to find out which villain you're most like.

If you like your wrist candy a bit more pop-py then feast your eyes on the candy red loveliness of Betsey Johnson's red bow bangle watch, available on ASOS. It's ridiculous yet divine.It's pure plastic pleasure perfection. It appeals to everything in me that wants to gorge on toffee apples, while lounging in bath full of pink feathers, sipping a baby bottle of pink champagne with one of those bendy straws that go round your eyes like glasses. So, so wrong.

Oasis gets all arty farty

Not really sure how this has managed to slip under the radar but Oasis has done a design collaboration with some students from the Royal College of Art and produced a little capsule collection of quite covetable items.

The collab is a result of a competition run by Oasis. The brief: to design a modern and feminine collection. The winning collection ‘Raven’ was designed by MA students Liam Evans, Clare McLachlan and Alison Dunlop, who each won a cash prize of £1000.

The collection is pretty much what you'd expect from art students. The shapes are simple but versatile with satisfying, richly detailed prints and an austere geometric approach to accessories.

My favourites from the collection are the accessories: a simple suede squishy bag with patent leather trim, articulated, geometric leather cuff and studded shoe boots with a snazzy red patent heel.
I'm also liking the graphic printed, silk, multi-purpose printed skirt/dress and a graphic top.

The Raven collection is available at Oasis now. The six runners from the competition will form a Designer Collective which will go into stores from February 2009.

Baby it's cold outside

If there's one thing I think we can all agree on, it is that summer has ended and England is cold, cold, cold. Which means outfits at least three layers thick and big winter coats. Layering is fun but the weight of all those winter woollies does tend to wear you down.

Which is why I'm kinda excited to hear about a new innovation in winter wear from Uniqlo. Apparently, they've developed a high tech fibre to make clothes that are not only sheer but also keep you warm. So you can throw on the layers with abandon and let the clothing do all the work. Genius.

To launch the new product and mark the 1st anniversary of the Uniqlo flagship store in London, Uniqlo will be giving away 4000 goody packs containing this wonder wear, tomorrow (November 20) from 10am till 9pm.

Uniqlo bods dressed in silver jumpsuits and carrying portable thermograph scanners will give you an on-the-spot thermal scans and, if they think you've got a chill, they'll give you a goody bag.

If you're in the general area, it might be worth a look see.

Matalan wows for Spring/Summer 09

I was invited to the launch of the SS09 range at Matalan today and I bring you glad tidings of great joy.

Matalan is one of those high street gems that offer affordable fashion and good value for money. They're like a classier version of Primark. The only problem is their shops tend to be tucked away in shopping centres at the back of beyond. Getting to a Matalan near you can often be a mission and you're not guaranteed that all the stock you wanted will be at the shop you're at.

So you'll be pleased to hear the good news that, finally, finally, Matalan will be open for business online next year. Joy! They won't be offering full stock straight away but even if just favourites are available to buy online, it'll be a start.

So, what about the collection? It looks great. I forgot my camera to bring my camera, so I can't show you photos of some of the shoes and clothes I saw, and some aren't available in the look book. I hope to gets some more images later. However, I can say that the clothes look high quality but the costs are minimal.

An average item will set you back about £20. I'm especially liking the shoes, which range around £16-£20.

Remember those beautiful studded sandals from Burberry which were all the rage last year and the popular copies by Topshop? Well Matalan have got in on the act for next summer. Also on my list are ruffle-front, three strap Mary Janes; strappy, zip detail gladiators; and, stone the crows, they've only gone and done a copy of those black and white, Balenciaga gladiator sandals.

I'll do a best buys post later on this week.