....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....