Lust Item of December

The sales have already started in some quarters...unfortunately not yet in those where I have an interest. I'm obsessively checking Topshop in the hope that the dalmatian print ballet pumps I featured as October’s lust item of the month have been reduced. If they ever do get a price chop, I’d even be tempted to get them in leopard print too.

I’ve also got my eye on a new sweater that is also getting a daily check...and is December’s lust item!

It’s from a range by Sophie Hulme for Asos

I can’t afford Sophie Hulme full price, so a little collaboration with the high street is always appealing. But at the moment, £65 for a sweater is still a bit steep for me.

I love the androgynous style of Sophie Hulme’s clothing but also that they’re made feminine by all of the little details – sequins, mixing fabrics and textures, bows. I think on the high street Cos is very similar – simple pieces, no unnecessary flounces or frippery but with detailing that stops the pieces being dull.

Like this sweater.

It has a masculine feel to it - chunky and quite sensible, it looks like it would keep you warm – but the close fit, the sequins and the navy colouring makes it chic and feminine...and lustworthy.

I keep picturing myself in an outfit that channels this look from Alexa Chung.

Photo from the Daily Telegraph

Something floaty on the bottom and chunky and sensible on the top.

So fingers crossed the sales gods smile on me and the sweater gets the price chop soon.

Bluezoo for Babies

Sorry for the silence over the past couple of weeks. Turns out looking after a baby is pretty exhausting and time-consuming!

And so much of any spare time I have at the moment is now spent researching Christmas presents. I cannot tell you how excited I am about Christmas this year. I can barely contain myself most years...so Laney May’s first Christmas is making me almost faint with excitement!

I thought I’d blog a photo of Laney May and I on a recent outing. We sampled a bit of culture...Laney May saw her first Rembrandt...though she was far more interested in eating my hand!

I still feel a bit weird about posting photos of my little baby on the internet...probably just new mum paranoia...but I felt ok with this one.

My outfit consists of Asos coloured chinos, Zara grey blazer, Henry Holland for Debenhams star print shirt, black Sonia Rykiel for H&M gilet and Urban Outfitters hat.

Laney May is wearing a hand-knitted sweater with hood and pom-pom ears, made by one of her lovely grandmothers (thanks mum!). She already has a knitwear collection that makes me green with envy!

Her dress, which you can just see, is from a brilliant range at Debenhams called Bluezoo and comes with matching leggings, which she isn’t wearing (the tights are lovely brown cable-knit ones from H&M).

I keep saying I’m not going to turn Edna into a baby blog but given I have a little one who is taking up quite a bit of my time, I figure it’s ok if she sneaks onto Edna once in a while! So, here is my round-up of my favourite pieces from the Bluezoo range. It really does have great pieces, which are cute but also stylish and original and don’t look too ‘baby girl in her baby pink glory’!

Having said that about pink, I’m not averse to a sprinkling of pink in Laney May’s wardrobe! Pink dress & striped top - £9.10-£9.80 (down from £13-£14)

Orange top & denim dress - £14.40-£15.30 (down from £16-£17)

Blue birdie dress set (15.30-£16.20 (down from £17-£18)

Pink flower dress & white top set - £14.40-£15.30 (from £16-£17)

Orange rabbit print knit dress - £11.40-£12 (down from £19-£20) – possibly going to end up under the Christmas tree this year!

And a bit of festive kitsch if you fancy dressing up your little one for the festive season but would rather avoid the santa/elf/reindeer outfits! Cream and red deer dress - £13.30-£14 (down from £19-£20)

Finally Shopping Cos Online

One of my favourite stores has recently entered the wonderful world of online retail. For so long Cos had a rather arty website, where you could just about see some of the clothes being sold in store that season, but there wasn’t any chance of making a purchase. Which was a bit of a shame given it has such a limited high street presence too...so unless you lived in London, Cos was inaccessible (in the UK at least).

And the fashionable delights you've been missing!

I love Cos mainly for work wear...but work wear for when I want to try and look like a chic, uber-professional businesswoman...who deserves a promotion!

The clothes can be deceptively simple and the colour palettes are often neutral – lots of black, navy, grey and camel – but the detailing makes them move from classic to chic and modern. They do a great exposed zip, lots of draping, mixing fabrics like wool and leather in one piece, interesting cuts and it’s all really great quality for the high street at very reasonable prices. These aren’t clothes that are going to fall to pieces after a few wears...or that you will tire of because they’re so of the moment. They’re clothes that you’ll wear season-in, season-out and look much more expensive than they actually are.

If you haven’t been able to shop at Cos before, seriously visit it online.

These are some of my favourite pieces...though I did realise that I was saving huge numbers of pieces for the blog as I could happily buy most of their stock!

Back pleat opera coat - €135

Crossover camel wool coat - €175

Twisted jersey dress - €69

V-neck crossover dress - €49

Leather pocket dress - €89

Zip waist wool dress - €135

Top with draped sides - €35

Wool collar top - €69

Puff sleeve jumper - €49

 

Leather sleeve cardigan - €125 (I think my favourite piece)

 

Woven front jersey top – - €39

Saved by Chinos

When I was pregnant I didn’t really think very much about putting on weight and my body changing shape...other than the obvious bump protruding out front. I was still able to wear lots of my dresses and just bought more stretchy jersey dresses in a size or so bigger than normal.

But I think I may have deluded myself over how much my body was changing and how I’d look once the bump disappeared!

Almost four months later, it feels very odd to look in the mirror and see a different shaped woman looking back at me.

I don’t feel negative about it all – the changes have been for a wonderful reason – but it has taken a while to adjust. My whole ‘nine months to grow my baby; nine months to change back’ relaxed ethos now just sounds a bit trite. I’m just not quite as ok with the changes as I thought I would be.

I have bigger hips, legs, arms...and especially breasts! And I don’t feel very sexy with my new bigger chest; it’s more a bosomy, matronly look!

Not only have I had to adjust my wardrobe so that I can easily breast-feed – ruling out most of my dresses – but I’m also having to learn how to dress a different body shape.

I’ve been learning how to dress this new shape, in a way that works for feeding my baby, doesn’t look mumsy (my worst nightmare), is practical given the various fluids my baby deposits on me each day (hence silk banished to the back of my wardrobe) and all this while still retaining my own style.

And my Asos coloured chinos have been my saviour!

They have a relaxed fit but the bright colour adds a bit of character (the thought of them in classic beige sends a chill down my spine!). I’ve been living in them and have them in green too.

This outfit was worn on an afternoon out with Mr W and little Laney May to Spitalfields market. I felt comfortable, had easy breast-access and everything can be chucked in the washing machine. But I didn’t feel mumsy...I felt like me, who now happens to have a baby, is a bit bigger and has to get her tits out on a regular basis!

Asos raspberry pink chinos, striped top from Oasis, grey Zara blazer, grey patent leather Clarks desert boots, heart print scarf (bought on a previous visit to Spitalfields but I can’t remember the name of the shop), hat from Urban Outfitters and the belt was a present.

Lust item...of the month

Before my summer blog holiday, I featured some Topshop shoes on Edna that had taken my fancy. Amongst them were a couple of low-heeled ballet pumps that were so chic but the heart-print and red patent leather added a little bit of quirky character.

I’ve totally fallen in love with that style of shoe – they are flat enough to mean you can wear them all day long, day-in, day-out, but also the slight heel makes them feel a little more ladylike and a bit Parisian chic. I dream about wearing them with ankle-skimming trousers, or skinny jeans...or slightly modish with a shift dress.

I’ve managed to resist the urge to buy a pair (even though my lovely friend Lisa bought a pair of the heart-print ballet pumps for £10 in the Topshop sale and flaunted them in front of me!)...but I’m not sure I can resist Topshop’s latest incarnation...the Dalmatian print.
 

Dalmatian print heeled ballet pumps - £42

Dalmatian prints are everywhere this season...mainly because of the Topshop Unique A/W 11 Dalmatian covered collection.
 

I don’t think I’d go too crazy with the print and can’t imagine myself in a Dalmatian print coat...but a little on my feet would work a treat.

New season spots

Polka dots are like stripes and leopard print...never really out of fashion but every couple of seasons having their moment in the sun. Autumn/Winter 2011 seems to be one of those moments, mainly due to the amazing Marc Jacobs collection, which was spot heaven.

Photos: Style.com

I love all three of these classic prints and really don’t care whether they’re in fashion or not, they look great at any time. The only benefit to any of them being back in the limelight is that there's more choice on the high street. You also see new and interesting ways to style them, such as the clashing colours and head-to-toe looks at Marc Jacobs.

Some of my favourite spots on the high street right now...

Topshop teardrop spot blouse - £38

Topshop oversize spot t-shirt - £32

Warehouse pleated spot skirt - £25 (down from £50)

Motel Indiana spots scoop neck chiffon dress - £52

Darling spot frill mini dress - £55

Bolongaro Trevor Mikhail polka dot playsuit - £66 (down from £165)

Zara polka dot blouse - £29.99 And in turquoise.

Mango spot combi-dress - £54.90

M&S sheer spot tights - £12
 

Red Herring black printed polka dot jumpsuit - £42 (featured on Gok Wan this week and looked lovely)

A mini treat from Vivienne Westwood

My 10 week old daughter already owns a pair of Vivienne Westwood shoes. I don't even have a pair, so the decision to get her some before me chaffed a little! But when I saw this pair of Vivienne Westwood Melissa mini shoes...and that they were in the sale on Hervia, down from £60 to £18, I couldn't resist buying them for her.

She'll have to wait until she's about 18 months old before they'll fit her...but it'll be worth the wait to see her looking very cute in them.

I'd hoped to post a link to where you can buy them on Hervia but they don't seem to be on sale any more, even at full price. This link shows the range of shoes that were on sale over the past year.

I promise my Edna blog won't become totally dominated by baby attire...but as I have had a baby, a bit more will start to slip in...though I'll try to make sure it's stylish and not awash with baby pink!

Monsoon hits amongst the misses

I’ve blogged before about Monsoon and the fact that it can be very hit and miss. I find a lot of the clothing unflattering – lengths are either not short or long enough, patterns are more market-stall hippy fodder than Marni-esque and it generally just fails to excite me.

But, there are hits amongst the misses and I always keep an eye on what they have in stock...especially the Fusion range. I love the heart print dress shown below and want it in my wardrobe now.
 

These are some of my current Monsoon favourites...

Fusion Alioth heart print dress - £60

Fusion Hyrdrus dress - £80 (very Oscar de la Renta...I love it!)

Fusion Beba embellished top - £40

Jenny spot dress - £95

Grania denim dress - £55

Fusion Ursa blouse - £45

Hailey pattern dress - £60

Collar up

I love collars. I’m much more of a fan of a nice, collared neckline than anything plunging. I probably have more white shirts in my wardrobe than any other single item of clothing...my favourite of which is a very sharp, starchy Karl Lagerfeld for H&M shirt, which is now very old and at risk of dying on me, so I only dig it out about once a year for uber meetings.

I think the structure of a collar works amazingly with the softness of a dress, or the contrast of a shirt with a floaty skirt, or a loose, flowing blouse with a bit of unexpected severity in a collar.

The peter pan collar is a sort of middle ground, with the roundness of the collar softening it and making it a little more feminine.

My collar inspiration...and probably one of the reasons we now have so many of them on the high street...is Alexa Chung.

I think there can be a risk with a peter pan collar of looking like a girl-woman who puts daisies in her hair in the park and likes skipping because she’s so ‘quirky’! I think the peter pan collar on short, wispy floral dresses can be great up to a certain age...or if that really is your style and it reflects your character...but it definitely doesn’t reflect mine or look good on a slightly grumpy 34 year old!

But given the massive choice now on the high street, there really is a mountain of collars to choose from...including buying collars themselves, so you can collar-up your existing outfits.

These are some of my favourites...which I think work minus daisies and skipping!

Asos double layer lace collar - £12

Asos leather peter pan collar - £15

Asos parachute print peter pan collar shirt - £35

Topshop black clover print peter pan collar blouse - £38

Warehouse peter pan embellished collar top - £38

Pins & Needles spot collar top - £40

Monsoon Fusion Eris sleeveless top - £40

Max C peter pan collar tunic - £42

Sparkle & Fade faux leather trim shirt - £45

Oasis collar jacquard dress - £65

Whistles leopard collar lace shift dress - £175. This is way out of my price range...and probably not something that would get a lot of wear given my social outings at the moment tend to be at lunchtime and involve trying to get a breast out...but I adore everything about this dress. The navy tones down the lace and makes it chic with the leopard print. Definitely a lust item!