....Perfect Pumps to Pound the Streets in!

Thanks to my lovely friend Jane for hinting* at me (*telling me) to get my arse in gear today at her birthday party by asking me what I did with the photos I took of her cool new pumps.....good question Jane.....still sat on my iphone.....that is until now.

So for the benefit of Jane and all the other ladies out there who like funky, flat, colourful pumps, here is my low down....

Jane's pair I that was coveting were a striking fuschia pink & silver combo from Fine Rogerson Footwear, Rose Street Edinburgh. (Jane did some major damage when she hit Rogerson's buying two other pairs also!!) She swears by the brand - Hispanitas - and they look so cool....

Thanks to a Twitter follow, I came across Tieks recently. These uber cool ballet pumps come folded-up and packed neatly into a cute turquoise box. I've never seen them in the UK so if anyone has a pair please give me a shout and let me know what they're like? They look lovely on the website. I'm loving the outragous neon orange ones!



A pump classic of choice for the Duchess of Cambridge is Pretty Ballerina. Like Tieks, they come in all colours and textures. I have an investment pair in black lace and I haven't regretted the hefty price tag I paid.

Finally Michael Kors do nice pumps (although confusingly called flats on their website). I have a lovely jewelled pair but they are on their last legs. Only because I have worn them so much though. So comfy and so cool at the same time. I've tried on the classic Fulton Moccasin in the new Multrees Walk shop in Edinburgh but alas they didn't have the comfort factor of my existing pair. Still nice though.



jx

NB Jane was 40 today! Happy Birthday Hen. Gotcha!!  Great party my dear xx

....Wedding Frocks That Rock!

It's wedding time of the year and last weekend I had my own family wedding to attend, that of FSF's little sister. Question was what to wear? We knew the venue would be fairly plush - take a look at Stubton Hall in Lincolnshire. Race was on to find that elusive frock to wear to the party.

Back in April, narrowed the frock down to choice of two: First was a peppermint coloured a-line dress called "Pepper" with really cute back detailing from Reiss (£159). The second was a Nicole Miller dress from Jane Davidson (£249) in cobalt blue. (Colour in link is navy version).

Drafted in FLS to make the final decision and although a lot more, I plucked for the Nicole Miller dress as it gave me an amazing siloutte and the colour really lifted my skin tone. The Reiss dress was nice but in many respects hid my figure and now that I've toned up after having the kids, I wanted something to show it off and be a bit more daring.

Next item to find was a jacket of some description. I nearly brought (also from Jane Davidson) a Goat off-white cropped jacket (more like a Bolero) but consensus was that it was ageing and again, trying to cover bingo wings when actually I have very toned arms. I almost decided not to buy a jacket but at the last minute found an amazing fitted, cropped jacket from Zara (£49.99). The controversial bit is that the jacket is WHITE!!! (Yes I committed the cardinal sin of wearing white on someone else's wedding day! Sod it I say, the jacket looked lovely and my mother-in-law did wear an entire cream outfit to my wedding).

Shoes were easy thanks to a 20% off weekend at M&S. Found some lovely coral peep toes and they were dead comfy all day.  Finally a beaded muticolour clutch to bring together all the colours - cobalt blue, coral, white from Zara (£39.99).

Here is the finished look, just sorry I haven't any more photos of the look at the minute.

Nicole Miller Dress, Zara Jacket

Coral Peep toes M&S, Zara clutch on table

NB I havent regretted buying the Nicole Miller dress as its such an investment piece and is really different. Will definitely get a lot more wear out of it. Thanks to the attentive staff of Jane Davidson who brought out the dress for me to try! jx

....Hungry Caterpillar Does Zara

In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf.

One Sunday morning the warm sun came up and pop! Out of the egg came a tiny, Zara loving caterpillar. She decided she needed a shopping spree!

On Monday she brought one china blue t-shirt...

On Tuesday she brought a white jacquared jacket...

On Wednesday she brought one pair of navy linen ankle length trousers...

On Thursday she brought a pair of pastel mint green stretch jeans...

On Friday she brought a multicoloured beaded clutch...

On Saturday she brought, one jungle print scarf, one don't forget to be awesome japanese style tee, one kids bow tie, anchor shirt and v-neck jumper.

That night she had to "fess" up to Hubby.


The next day was Sunday again. She returned one of the tops that didn't fit so well and felt much less guilty.

But she wasn't a rich Zara loving caterpillar anymore, no no, she was a broke caterpillar.

She kept the clothes unworn in her wardrobe for more than two weeks to think about them.  Then she  started to dress herself piece by piece, wiggled her way out of the house and....

She was a beautifully dressed butterfly.

jx

ps Absolutely loving Zara this SS13. What are your Zara buys this SS13?

NB No caterpillars were hurt during the making of this story.

....Mixing it up with Monochrome

A friend of mine recently brought a navy and cream (kind of ethnic) print monochrome dress from Gap. It's a lovely dress and ticks all the right boxes in terms of trends for SS13 but it also presents a dilemma. Sometimes monchrome needs a bit more va va voom to make it work.

Here's how we turned the dress from ordinary to extraordinary.

1. Belt to nip in waist and bright clashing bag to enhance the monochrome...

Belt Reiss, Bag Kate Spade

2. Peep toe heels pictured in navy (my friend had a pair of jade green heels to tie in with the bag which she wore to a Christening-perfect!)

Shoes Friend's own

3. The finished look. Think you'll agree my friend and the dress look amazing?

Dress Gap

jx

....This week Jo's Wearing Joseph

This post is really all thanks to Laura Craik at The Times Magazine as this week she was wearing Joseph.  Her article got me thinking. I was one of those aspiring Fashionista's in the 90's who also lusted after Joseph's perfect black bootcut trousers. As a teenager in the 90's, I didn't have the budget to buy them alas.

However, Joseph never dropped off my radar so when I had the wallet to match the price tags, I took the liberty of investing in a few of their classics.

I remember this outfit particularly. When I first saw it, it was displayed on the model in the Joseph shop window. I loved it just as it was and so went into the shop and brought exactly what I saw. In fact, the obi style belt had been so popular I ended up buying the one off the model in the window.

I haven't been able to wear the outfit for the past few years due to pregnancies but I'm glad I kept it. Feels good to be wearing it & Joseph again!

jx

ps A sneak around the Joseph website and there are a couple similar style blouses this season. Try Crepe De Chine Clarence blouse at £255 with a similar Nehru neckline. The notes say "slouchy and loose, streamline the look with a pair of slick skinny trousers." Looks like my white bootcut trousers fitted round the leg fit the bill then? Good choice BestDressedBabe!

Joseph obi metallic belt & long Nehru blouse

Joseph long Nehru blouse with fine metallic stripe

....Cosmic Costumes at ECA Fashion Show 13

In the final blog of my series on Edinburgh College of Art Fashion Show 2013, thought I'd give you a glimpse into the curious world of costume design. Oh boy, is that world cosmic and another planet! Definitely some amazing creative talent on display during this part of the show.

Here are my picks & interpretation....

Olivia Hulme was simply Ab Fab! 

Stacy Jansen's Tartan Maasai Warriors

Vogue party time with the 2nd Year ECA Mascots

2nd Year ECA Mascots 

Lady Gaga even made an entrance with The School for Scandal

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Looking forward to next years crowd already!

Good luck graduates

Jx

....Hats off to the Fashion & Textile Students

As promised, some more photos from the Edinburgh College of Art premiere that I attended yesterday. I thought I would use this blogpost to focus on some stunning accessorises - namely hats and bags.

Here we go with the 2nd Edit....

Caroline Nadzanja: New age Tuareg's

Caroline Nadzanja: Knitting a knitwear hat

Aisling Duffy: Pom-pom hattinators

Clare Baird: Super sizing metallic totes

Clare Baird: More supersized totes - imagine what you could fit in there?

jx

NB Costume next....

....New Designers on the (Edinburgh) Block!

Earlier today, aspiring fashion & textile designers graduated from Edinburgh College of Art by showcasing their collections. It's a prestigious event with the students hoping that a designer (or few) may snap them up for future employment.

So much to tell you, so here's some snaps to get us started. More to follow in the next few days.

Here's my 1st edit...

2nd Yr Fashion & Textiles: Sizzling colours

2nd Yr Fashion & Textiles: Wedges & wing-collars

Aisling Duffy: Pom-pom slippers, cut-work

Shauni Douglas: Tache-sporrans, sporran whips & trews

Laura-Jayne Nevin: Downy ducklings, intricate webs

Alanna Emmerton: Sport luxe, mesh, layers

Jennifer Alexander: Rave, zig-zag, smile

Lauren Smith: China blue, pattern cutting

jx

Which is your favourite?

NB: Costume, handbags, hats and more designers still to come....

....To-Wit To-Whoo in Tweed

Well, it seems there is a lot of tweed in the shops at the moment so I thought I'd share my favourite picks with you....

Starting with this beautiful Jigsaw multicolour tweed dress.

Personally I'd go for an elegant look at team with Prada sling backs and a classic 60's style jacket....

Shoes Prada, Jacket Hobbs

Also loving Jaeger Boutique's Emma Tweed jacket in bright green-and even better, it's on sale from £199 to £125! Don't let the colour scare you - it's very lifting. It has a pretty peplum style edge and a cute cross over pleat at the back.

If budgets are tighter and you like the spring yellow theme then Zara have a yellow tweed dress for £35.99-isn't cotton tweed a bit of an oxymoron though?

If your feeling brave & want to show off your pins, then Victoria Beckham has a pair of tweed twill shorts.

Finally, how could I do a post about tweed and not mention the now infamous Mulberry mint tweed coat with daisy buttons that Mrs C (Duchess of Cambridge for those who don't know my blog) wore earlier this week. Suffice to say its sold out but here's the picture of it for us all to admire anyway....

Jx

NB I also happen to own a Jigsaw Tweed jacket that is tres Channelesque! C'est Bon?

Jacket Jigsaw

....How to Wear a "Malcolm Mowat" Scarf

Following the success of my "How to..." series, I've linked up with Malcolm Mowat's to bring you round 2, "How to tie a Malcom Mowat Worsted Scarf...".  Through the powers of Twitter, I came across Malcolm Mowat's website and got in touch straight away because their spring scarves are just lovely. Kindly, Malcolm Mowat agreed for me to borrow the Fionn Spring Scarf so that I could bring you more fabulous ways to tie a scarf. There are two other scarves in the range as seen in the photo below.

Firstly a bit about the scarves....

Malcolm Mowat scarves are made from 100% pure worsted wool. If you didn't know, the wool has many great qualities such as fine, durable and lightweight.  Worsted wool is also a bit like leather in many respects because it becomes even softer with age. The scarves are priced at £35 which I think is excellent value for such high quality garments and for what would undoubtedly be an investment wardrobe piece.

Here we go again then.....

1. The "driving a classic car look" (with roof down of course!)

2. Reverse neck tie because its all about the BACK these days!

FRONT

BACK

Isn't the highland cow label funky?

3. The bag accessory knot

Bag, Anya Hindmarch

4. The belt

Hope you like my new variations (and the scarf of course)? Which is your favourite this time? Mine is the belt - look much nicer than a leather belt and driving a classic car - obviously weather dependent  that one though!

jx

NB Malcolm Mowat's scarves would look just as good on a man as they are very unisex in appeal. The website is pretty cool too with lots of amazing Scottish shots.