I know it's not even summer yet, but in the fashion world this means it's time to turn our thoughts on what to wear for the cooler autumn months.
One of New Looks AW11 theme is the Northern Tribe featuring those snuggle up knits in dominant winter wonderland white with a splash of rifle green. mustard and moss to provide the warmer hues.
Ear muffs £5.99, thick knit roll neck £24.99
Faux fur linings, padded gilets and brushed checks provide the cosy feel against the winter chill.
Soft parka jacket with faux shearling £49.99, worn hre with t-shirt £4.99, skinny jeans £21.99, tartan socks £4.99and red bow block heels £27.99
Above image left to right:
Short knit jumper with tassle detail £22.99 and cape pocket mini skirt £22.99
Checked hooded shirt £19.99, thin knit jumper £24.99, necklace £4.99 and skinny jeans £21.99
Woolly hat £7.99, thin knit jumper £24.99 and cord shorts £17.99
New Look takes inspiration from the 60's for their Modernist Collection fused with a masculine twist of tomboy undertones.
Above image -Left to right: Satin pleat front bow blouse £22.99 teamed with block panelled skinny trousers £24.99; chunky knit scarf £12.99 over a sheer blouse £19.99 and pintuck tailored trousers £22.99; shirt £22.99, gold clock necklace £5.99 and scallop edge tie shorts £19.99
The colour palette is clean and crsip neutrals with bold highlights of scarlet and cobalt..
Key looks are the contrast panels and collars - either in colour or fabric.
Stop the traffic in faux fur hat £8.99, black sheer shirt with leather detailing £21.99 and scarlet high-waist trousers £22
More than a nod to the London sixties scene is the bowler hat £9.99; crisp white shirt £21.99; bold print shift dress £19.99; scarlet cape £34.99; socks £2.99 and block heel ankle boots £34.99.
One of their key items are the coats and this black mid length coat with leather sleeves is no exception £59.99.
Carry on the panelling with these cropped skinny trousers with leather panel £28.99 and add a slash of cobalt colour with this block sleeved top £19.99
For the colder days go for the maxi trench £49.99 and woolly hat £5.99. Here teamed with loafer heels £24.99 and watch £12.99.
Or just wear bright coloured tights £2.99 to brighten those grey days and match with the block print dress £29.99. Accessorised with patent clasp bag £12.99 and patent court shoes £24.99
Fashion Fringe was created by Colin McDowell (fashion historian and Sunday Times Style Contributor) in partnership with IMG Fashion in order to find and nurture undiscovered British fashion designers.
And this year the three finalists are:
Fyodor Golan
Design duo half Latvian and half Russion Fyodor Podgornijs who attended the distinguished Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp; and Israeli Golan Frydman who gained a BA from Intsituto Marangoni, London.
Painting is their inspiration creating shapes and proprtions.
Heidi Leung
Born in Singapore but brought up in Californian, Heidi graduated from Central St Martins in July 2010.
Her inspiration is a tough facade concealing an inner softness.
Nabil El-Nayal
Fortunately to be snapped up by Harrods online, Nabil's designs include a cape made from voluminous layers of sheer silk chiffon with an oversized Elizabethan style ruffle collar.
El-Nayal trained at the Royal College of Art and has previously won the British Fashion Council MA Scholarship.
This year www.very.co.uk were the sponsors of Fashion Fringe
The three finalists will now spend time working on their collections to be showcaseed at London Fashion Week.
The Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW) hosted their 6th annual Beauty Awards this year at the Intercontinental London Park Lane.
This year there were no brands that ran away with multiple awards, the most was two.
Lanolips took ‘Best New Skincare Treatment Product-mass’ for their 101 Ointment , a 100% natural lip balm containing ultra pure medical grade lanolin; Dr Organic took ‘Best New Everyday FacialSkincare Product-mass’ for their Organic Rose Otto Facial Serum and both came joint winners for ‘Best New Brand-mass’
Other brands that came away with 2 awards were:
Balance Me received the ‘Best New Bath and Body Product-prestige’ for their Rose Otto Body Wash and ‘Best New Certified Organic Skincare Product’ for their Super Oil with Juniper and Bergamot.
Liz Earle received the ‘Best New Haircare/Styling Product-prestige’ for their Naturally Active Haircare Botanical Shine Shampoo and ‘Best British brand’ for their Naturally Active Skincare. All their Naturally Active Skincare products use the best quality natural ingredients.
Chanel took ‘Best New Make-up Product-Eyes or Lips-prestige’ for their Rouge Coco Hydrating Crème Lip Colour
and ‘Best New Men’s Fragrance-prestige’ for their Bleu De Chanel EDT
Elizabeth Arden glowed when they were awarded ‘Best New Self Tan or Suncare Product’ for their Eight Hour Cream Sun Defense for Face SPF 50 and
‘Best Iconic Beauty Product’ for their much loved Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant.
Batiste coloured dry shampoo took the Best New Haircare/Styling/Colouring Product – Mass category award last year and this year it was the turn of Batiste Dry Shampoo Fresh – just proving we love our time saving dry shampoos.
All For Eve, the stand-alone beauty and fashion brand set up to raise funds and awareness for The Eve Appeal charity, won ‘Best New Hand and Nail Care Product’ for their Swarovski Crystal Nail File. Here is the chance to not only purchase the best nail file but also help ovarian cancer research
Other awards were as follows:
Filling the air with fragrance was Chloe Love Chloe for Best Women’s Fragrance
Best Classic Beauty Product-Mass category went to Bio-Oil, a specialist skincare product that helps improve the appearance of scars, stretch marks and uneven skin tone.
Fluttering their long eyelashes with excitement were RapidLash who won Best New Make-up Product-Mass for their Eyelash Enhancing Serum.
Well we won’t tell you what Nars was doing when they won the Best New Make-up Product-Prestige for their Cosmetic Orgasm Illuminator
Best New Bath & Body Product –mass went to The Sanctuary Ultra Rich Body Butter
Smiling whilst keeping the wrinkles at bay were Clarins who won Best New Everyday Facial Skincare Product for their Multi-active Day Early Wrinkle Correction Cream
Eyes wide open were Estee lauder when they won Best New Skincare Treatment Product for their Advanced Night Repair Eye Synchronized Complex
Emma Hardie were gleefully amazed when they won Best New Brand for their Amazing Face.
And for the Best Classics Beauty Product – Eve Lom came clean with their Cleanser
Not forgetting the guys:
Nivea for Men Q10 Revitalising Gel took the Best New Men’s Grooming Product- Mass category.
For the Prestige category of Best Men’s Grooming Product, it was Shiseido for Men Skin Empowering Cream.
Best New Men’s Fragrance: Chanel Bleu De Chanel EDT.
The main sponsor of the awards was SuperDrug www.superdrug.com and Joanna Page from the hit comedy series 'Gavin and Stacey' was all smiles as the new face of Superdrug
New Look 's AW11 has many themes this season and the brightest one of all is:
ELECTRIC LADY
We're still looking towards the 1970's for inspiration but this time it's all about glamour and luxury with faux fur trims, sexy satins and lace.There's high splits, backless tops and plunging v-necklines.
Colour palette is deep reds, evergreens, nudes and jewel colours.
No demure knee length dress and wide brim hat can disguise this scarlet woman with her plunging neckline.
Hat £12.99 Dress £24.99
Shocking! This sweet hot pink midi dress may have a high neck but the cutaway reveals another plunging neckline. £29.99. Multi chain necklace £6.99, Block heel bow shoes £27.99
The maxi is here to stay another season and this time it goes all seductive with block mesh detailing front and back £34.99. Thin chain necklace £6.99. wide brim hat £12.99. Lace up shoe boot with snake panel £24.99
A coy looking mid length skater skirt £19.99 and belt £8.99 shines when through teamed with the satin cutout top £19.99 and leather boots £74.99. The ruffle collar blouse £22.99 is a sheer delight with wide leg trousers £24.99, belt £4.99, patent loafer heels £24.99 and multi hoop earrings £5.99
If you don't like flare trousers, there's always the sheer flare blouse £22.99 teamed here with a gold hooped necklace £6.99. Skinny jeans £21.99, ribbon tie shoes £27.99, ring £5.99
Left to right.
Roll neck jumper £18.99, Faux fur collared coat £59.99, Multi link belt £4.99.,
Bow neck coat £49.99, sequin dress £39.99.
Peter Pan collar jacket £44.99
Ankle boots £34.99 Tights £2.99
On June 18th BRUT is holding a military fitness test at Duke of York's Barracks, Chelsea, London with the charity ‘Help for Heroes’ to raise money.
The fitness test will be :
A 1.5 mile run
2 minutes of sit ups
2 minutes of press ups
Easy peasy hey?
Also this isn't just for the men, so ladies get yourselves down there and show the men how it's done!
It's open to anyone over 18 and they promise it's not that difficult.
Pay £10 to take part and then raise as much sponsorship as you can. ALL money will go straight to Help for Heroes, who provide support to wounded servicemen and women.
If you think you have got the bottle, then join one of the four start times of 10am, 12pm, 2pm and 4pm. Show Brut what you’ve got and have a bit of fun at the same time!
After studying Fashion Design at the University of East London and graduating in 2007, British born Simon Christopher Waller started designing at John Richmond. Now he has taken that large scary leap and created his own brand Christopher Waller which was launched in July 2010.
His new brand’s philosophy is:
’To provide effortless sophistication to women on a day-to-day basis blurring the transition from day to night with clean and flattering silhouettes enabling subtle detailing to shine through.’
And this certainly showed through with his AW10 debut collection which was a mix of silks, wools and jerseys in minimalistic chic tailoring injected with an effortless laid back wearablility.
For the SS11 collection, Waller has taken his inspiration from the minimalist artists of the late 50’s and 60’s who rejected outside influences such as politics, religion, symbolism etc as the only means to create art. They chose to strip their work to the pure basics where colours, lines, shapes and textures were used sparingly and didn’t express the moods and feelings of the artist, but relied on the viewer to appreciate the object in its simplicity as just a beautiful piece of art.
Waller has carried this minimalism in to his cut and colour palette, proving you don’t need to rely on frills, bows and bright colour ways to create beautiful statement garments. The fluid fabrics of silk, jersey and finely woven wool he uses ensures the simple tailored cut is not harsh and gives a soft luxurious feel to the whole collection.
However Waller does add a touch of texture with his silk panelling on the jersey and wool pieces.
The main colour palette is black with accents of bold block colouring in muted earth tones of slate, stone, aubergine and dusty pink.
Highlights of the collection include a deconstructed fine wool box blazer in a muted block colour of slate with silk black cuffs, pockets and lapels; and a jersey T-dress with a taped silk seam.
Summary: A chic and minimalistic classic soft tailored look with a laid-back sporty twist
Baffled by bikinis? Frustrated with frills? Frump to Funky's Karen Grace guides pear-shapes, inverted triangles, hourglass figures and skinny-minnies through the confusing world of swimwear to arrive at every woman's perfect style and fit.
Choosing the right swimwear, you have to consider your body shape. Because you're exposing a lot of flesh, so you want to enhance your assets and hide your imperfections.
You also have to consider whether you're going to be active, doing water sports, water skiing, surfing, swimming, or you're just going to be relaxing on the beach. Now, if you're going to be active a swimsuit is the best, something with a racer back, like this, which will actually make sure that the straps don't slip off. So, if you're going to do a lot of water skiing or surfing, something like that would be quite good. Now, what it does, it's very tight-fitting so the water doesn't drag when you swim in it. But it's not really good for the larger woman, especially if she's got quite a large bust. Because it will flatten the bust and not give a very good shape. It will be quite boxy.
So, the larger woman needs to have something with still a lot of Lycra in, but with an actual cup. And this one is really good because it has an actual integrated bra inside so it gives quite a lot of support and the back is quite high because it's alright having an underwired swimsuit, but if the back is low, there's still not a lot of support. You could actually slip out in the front underneath the underwiring. So with the back, it makes sure that you're secured. This one does have separate bra straps as well for extra security. This also, if you have a larger tummy or have other imperfections that you want to conceal, it does have additional panels inside which brings your tummy in even more. This is great for swimming for the larger woman but also if you're just relaxing on the beach, it gives you a good shape.
The other swimsuit is a bandeau swimsuit which has no straps and goes straight across the top. Even if you've got underwiring, there's not much support in this. So, it's not really a good swimsuit for active water sports. It's more for relaxing on the beach. And also, it's quite good because it'll give you an even suntan line here because there's no straps. It's good for the pear-shaped woman because it brings more of the attention here. A bandeau top like this actually broadens your shoulders, so then it will balance out your shoulders with your wider hips.
What it isn't really good for is for the inverted triangle woman where she either has broad shoulders or she is top-heavy and she's got slim hips because it will bring more attention here, make the shoulders look broader and it brings more attention at the top. But for the pear-shaped woman, it's much better. The more detail on the top also brings the eye upwards.
If you don't want to go down the bikini route, and you don't want a swimsuit - you can always go for the tankini. This is good for concealing the tummy area and the Lycra - if there's plenty of Lycra in the fabric - will support the tummy.
Now, going on to bikinis, if you've a small frame, if your bust, your hips and your waist, there's not much difference, then a tiny bikini is ideal because it'll bring more attention to your slimmer legs and your pert bottom.
This is good for the pear-shaped because it has more detail on the top and less detail, plainer bottom. The little frilly skirt actually camouflages the hips so a little detail like that is okay. But if you're pear-shaped, always go for the plainer bottom.
If you're an inverted triangle shape where your bust is wider or broader on the shoulders and slim on the hips, you need to go for a plain top and then have patterned bottoms. The more pattern and the more buckles and frills you have on the bottom will actually detract away from your broad shoulders. So, that's quite a good look.
You can actually have the same - this is the same matching top - but that's probably for the hourglass figure where the hips and the bust are roughly the same.
For the larger busted lady, always go for the underwiring. It gives more support. And try to go for thicker straps as well which will give more support.
For AW11, New Look travelled back in time to the 1920's for their Limited Edition inspiration.
The key look is the flapper dress which is modernised with geometric beading and scalloped edges. Above is the deco beaded lime dress and the scallop hem beaded teal blue dress. Both at £74.99
Also metallic gold and bronze take centre stage as the cut is kept simple and the accesories are pared down.
Definitely a glamorous era.
We know the Royal Wedding has come and gone, but we're loving this Harrod's Royal Wedding cake decorated by perfumer Ormonde Jayne and thought you might too.
Harrods chose 17 designers to decorate a cake each to celebrate the Royal Wedding and we think this is the most patriotic with its theme based on the British flag topped with a golden icing crown.
www.ormondejayne.com
Ormonde Terrace was probably one of the most fragrantly scented streets when Linda J Pilkington used her own home there as a perfume lab and created the Ormonde Jayne perfumes.
Since then she has come a long way changing her humble settings to that of the opulent Harrods Perfume Hall and her own two London boutiques with their striking black lacquered interiors. However some things haven’t changed - each product is still created by Linda and the bottling and packaging is still by hand but now in her British workshop rather than in her home.
All 12 fragrances in handy purse sprays
From this passion for perfumery and perfection, Linda was not content to just create her 12 luxurious fragrances, but wanted to ensure her customers discovered and went away with the right Ormonde Jayne fragrance for them. And so Perfume Portraits was created.
Perfume Portraits can take from a quick 5 minutes to a longer more leisurely 45 minutes depending on how many questions and how much time you have.
At the beginning she will ask a few questions such as: what other perfume brands you already love and which ones your hate, do you like soaking in the bath or prefer to shower, do you like scented candles, do you usually carry your perfume around with you, and are you looking for a perfume for a the evening, daytime or for the summer etc.
Now you may ask how are these questions pertinent? Well she keeps a profile for you ,so if your loved one decides to pop in to buy you a gift, she can not only recommend the right scent but also the right product.
Black laquered secret drawer containing the 21 oils
The next stage is where Linda introduces you to the scents of individual raw ingredients in the form of oils and which can make an Ormonde Jayne perfume. Advising you not to think of them as an actual perfume but to just concentrate on the smell and say whether you liked or didn’t like it.
After smelling about 15 of the 21 oils I’d only said I’d like two so far (vanilla and freesia). Panicking , and wondering how she was going to find any perfume for me , never mind my perfect perfume , I toyed with the idea of saying I liked the next one. Alas I couldn’t even smell anything. Luckily I came clean and Linda advised it was Ambroxan which you either could or couldn’t smell. Relieved my sense of smell hadn’t totally packed in, I was just a bit sad that I wasn’t one of the perfume elite who could smell it.
After going through all the oils, Linda then chose 3 of her perfumes, spraying 2 on my arms and 1 on herself. We talked whilst they settled. One I instantly loved (Ta’if) but the others were too intense. Although happy with my new favourite perfume and amazed that she found it so easily, I still kept smelling the other fragrance (Tolu) on my arm. Apparently Tolu does take a while to settle. It definitely did take a while, but after a few hours, I was surprised to find I loved the smell – Super Perfumer Linda had done it again!
But as an impatient, want everything now, now, now kinda girl, the love at first smell Ta’if is the one for me. I loved its instant top notes of pink pepper, saffron and dates and still loved it as it settled down with the heart notes of rose oil, freesia, orange flower absolute and jasmine plus the lingering base notes of broom and amber.
Karen from Frumpy to Funky, an image consultancy firm, gives helpful tips on how to choose a one piece swimsuit for several different body types.
Beach Style: How To Choose One Piece Swimwear
Now, I'm going to talk to you about how to choose a one piece swimwear. It gives more coverage than a bikini and it can flatter your assets and it can camouflage your imperfections. So, you do need to get it right.
Take for instance this bandeau swimsuit. It's great for the pear shape because it brings all the attention to the top. But it's not good for the inverted triangle, which is when you have broad shoulders or a larger bust and slim hips, because it broadens the shoulders and brings all the detail attention here. But for pear shapes, it's a great style.
Now for the larger busted lady, you really do need to have underwired cups because it supports the bust and it gives a better shape. Lots of Lycra as well, if you have a tummy that you want to hold in, if you get a swimsuit, one piece, with lots of Lycra, that gives you more of a waist as well. This one has an integrated bra which is excellent for the larger busted lady, it gives extra support and also it has a high back for extra support. If you have a low back and it's still underwired, it will still give you some support but you can be prone to actually fall out of the underwired cup. The straps here are thicker again giving more support and it's good for the broad shouldered lady because it actually breaks the shoulder up and makes them look smaller.
Now, if you have a skinny or a boyish frame, wearing patterns is good because it adds bulk. If you don't want to wear patterned or you don't want to wear an underwire, have more attention where you want the emphasis. This is here around the bust area so we actually create a fuller bust. You can also have it down here if you want to have more attention on the hips. So, wherever you want to have the attention, have the frills and bows.
And if you're a serious swimmer, then this one piece suit's excellent. It's more streamlined silhouette, it's good for less drag in the water for the serious swimmers and also, it has the all important racer-back which keeps the straps in place so they're not going to be falling off you while you're active in the water.
For AW11, Sticky Fingers takes its inspiration from Paris' left bank mixed with the fun of 1970's Studio 54.
Main colour palette is sophisticated chic with midnight blue,
snow white, grey marl and
camel whilst the accents of....
.....ruby red and....
.....sapphire blue make the collection sparkle.
The key trend is the colbalt blue sheer organza trench coat. May not keep you dry in the rain but you'll still look striking when wet. And people can still see your party dress underneath!!
Feminine pussy bow blouses (loving the lace print effect on this ruby red blouse) and silk shirts are worn with classic pencil skirts, peg trousers and....
.....shift dresses.
Chanel inspired boucle jackets are dressed down with jeans
whilst the matching boucle dress is glamourised with an embellished jewelled neckline and faux fur stole.
And the cute 60's inspired a line mini dress is given a Parisian chic make over with small ruffles around the neck, sleeves and hemline.
