Swans

I love a designer collaboration on the high street and September sees umpteen of them arriving in stores.

One I was particularly looking forward to seeing was the Clements Ribeiro range for Evans.

Clements Ribeiro are known for their gorgeous, eclectic prints and use of colour, so I was excited to see how this would translate onto the high street. There are some gorgeous pieces in the Swan collection for Evans and even if you don’t usually wear a size 14 or above, I’m sure a few of the frocks would look great belted.

These are my favourites...
 

Pansy print trousers - £45
which look great teamed with the clashing print top

Salome print dress - £65

Lace Grace dress - £95

 

Floral print Wisteria 21 dress - £75

Battling my Boden Prejudices

My weekly Ocado shop included a free Boden catalogue this past week (I don’t think it’s possible to have a more middle-class opening sentence than this!).

I was mid toss into the recycling bin when Mr W snatched it off me to have a quick flick through. I sneered about frumpy, mumsy Boden clobber and firmly told him that it would hold no interest for me...whilst Mr W flicked through each page saying ‘you’d wear that’...‘and that’...‘and you own something like that already’.

Much to my chagrin it turns out I’ve either morphed into a frumpy, mumsy Boden type...or my shopping prejudices have been shattered!

I always repeat my mantra here on Edna about shopping everywhere and always being open to shops that you don’t think would necessarily appeal to you because treasures can be found anywhere. And yet, I turned my nose up about Boden and when Mr W had the audacity to suggest I blog about Boden, I almost collapsed in horror on the floor!

But I’ve had a stern word with myself, looked at the catalogue again and had a proper look online and have to concede that there are some beautiful clothes and lots that really appeal to me. I think like everything to do with how we dress, it’s all about how you style it. Even something from Topshop can be turned into a frumpfest courtesy of bad styling.

So it seems I could be a Boden customer at some point in the future...shopping wonders will never cease!

Boiled wool coat - £149

Smart knitted coat - £145

Scoop tunic dress - £79

Smocked tunic dress - £79

Effortless suede boots - £129

Sixties skirt - £39

Skinny jeans in gunpowder cord - £49

Richmond bag in tan leopard - £69

Suede brogues in dark navy - £110

My Boden prejudice never extended to the children’s range. I’ve always been enamoured with their clothes for little ones and tend to have a look at sales time. Laney May owns a gorgeous stripy summer dress from there, courtesy of her Aunty Cathie. These are some of my current favourites...

Pretty jersey dress - £16

Stripy dress - £26

Quilted jacket - £22

p.s. unfortunately the images aren’t great and don’t really do the clothes justice...it seemed to be impossible to get large photos off the site.

Shopping abstinence & lots of lusting

I've taken a vow of abstinence. After a few shopping splurges over the summer and the realisation that I physically cannot fit anything else into my wardrobe, I've vowed not to buy anything else for the rest of the year. Although there's one exception to this vow. If I sell anything on Ebay, I can use that money to buy something new. But otherwise, my purse stays shut!

I'm hoping that if I stick to this resolution, come the January sales I can treat myself to a couple of special pieces.

So there are likely to be a lot of 'lust items' on Edna, as I try and resist the urge to hit the high street. This is my current lust item which I spotted in the last issue of Elle.

 

It's from River Island but I can't seem to find it on its site yet. I love mixtures of texture - in this case leather and tweed. River Island also has a rather nice khaki and fake leather jacket on its site too. Alas, instead of buying either of these, I'm going to have a look at my wardrobe and see how I can create a few outfits mixing fabrics and textures.

Goodbye summer, hello new shoes

New season shoes have been entering the shops, I think as they give up on the idea that we'll actually have a summer and pack away the sandals.

These are some of my favourites in the shops right now...as usual, there seems to be a lot of studding, glitter and animal print amongst them.

Next tassel point loafers - £30

Aldo Rise Preen Giffee shoes – £67.50 (down from £135)

River Island red platform ankle boots - £85 (which I love but would never be able to walk in)

Dune Lyton leopard print shoes - £65

Asos Laguna suede ballet flat with metallic heel – £38

Massimo Dutti glitter toe court shoes – £89.95

F Troupe tiger print wedges – £58 (down from £145)

Topshop Krush studded patent flats - £65

Topshop Millicent stud back boots – £40

Clarks Medal Charm boots in dark blue - £69.99

Asos Hello heeled sandals - £50 – possibly the best party shoes ever! Not that I'd make it to a party in them without paying for a driver to take me there...but just looking at them makes me want to go to one!

Leopard print in the office

Mr W finally got the camera out last week...so here are some long promised outfit shots.

I went to Beijing recently with work...my first trip away from Laney May and my first business trip in a long time.

I faffed around for a long time beforehand trying to decide what to wear! I'm definitely out of practice and couldn't decide what would be smart enough but still retain a sense of me and my style.

Mr W had to intervene when I tried to pair a leopard print dress with some rubber, multi-strap, bubble gum scented (!) Vivienne Westwood for Melissa high, high heels. I think he may have had a point when he said they didn't quite convey the 'should be taken seriously businesswoman' look I was aiming for!

But it can be tough to get the balance right. I really don't want to go down the route of neutral skirt suit with dull accessories.

Eventually, I opted for a simple navy dress, bought recently in a Cos sale, teamed with slightly heeled leopard print ballet pumps and some chunky jewellery from Lola Rose.

So serious, classic navy, with a chic shoe style but the print gives it all a bit more character.

My gorgeous Topshop sale leopard print
ballet pumps...I think bought for around £20!

Chunky Lola Rose ring, which I seem to wear almost every day

And I also opted for yet more leopard print, with this Twiggy for M&S blue and grey leopard print dress (featured on Edna when I was gearing up to going back to work).

I know I'm probably the wrong demographic for the Twiggy range but I'm definitely of the opinion of shopping everywhere and anywhere and buying what you love and what suits you. And I love this dress! The colours tone down the leopard print, along with the on-the-knee length, and make it a little more sedate and serious meeting appropriate.

I again wore it with the chunky Lola Rose jewellery. And in this photo I am wearing the dress with my beloved, new black wedge multi-strap sandals from Clarks (again which have made an appearance on Edna already). For my Beijing meetings, I opted for some navy, multi-texture, high heeled Mary Jane shoes instead...a bit more toned down!

My new, beloved strappy wedge sandals from Clarks

Do you wear leopard print at work? How do you wear it to keep it professional and suitable for the office?

Edna's end of sales round-up

Mr W has promised me that tomorrow night we’ll get the camera out and do a few outfit shots. I have to confess to ‘enhancing’ my work wardrobe over recent months, so I've a few new things I want to show you!

I’m home alone this evening, so instead of modelling the new additions to my wardrobe (and there are some beauties!), I thought I’d do a round-up of my favourite end of sales offerings.

I could honestly just include most of the Mary Portas range at House of Fraser, as the sale there is immense. But I’m going to do a separate Mary Portas blog over the next week or so, as that’s where I’ve done most of my purchasing!

There are some great sales on the high street right now...and these have all caught my eye...

M&S Limited Collection animal print elliptical hem dress - £24 down from £45 (looks better in the flesh than online)

Oasis scarf print trousers - £27 down from £65

And the shirt that I was lusting after in Oasis is down to £35 from £60

Zara piped fantasy cardigan - £39.99 down from £79.99

Clarks La Wesley - £35.99 down from £89.99

Other Clarks favourites are also on sale, including the La Peep shoes from the Mary range and the gorgeous surf gala sandals which I'd never have bothered with just seeing them in store but my sister had them and they look amazing on (and I now own them too!)

Lulu Guinness enamel lips/lipstick necklace - £22.50 down from £75

Lulu Guinness confetti print large Annabel handbag - £88.50 down from £295

Vivienne Westwood for Melissa skyscraper court shoe - £75 down from £128

Mary Portas no brainer dress in red, purple or black - £40 down from £135

Mary Portas pleat front dress - £45 down from £150

Mary Portas jersey wrap slinkly drape dress - £66 down from £220

p.s. my little girl, Laney May, turned one last week. One! I'm still stunned that we've reached the one year anniversary already. We had a lovely little party...and I celebrated in one of my new Mary Portas for House of Fraser dresses. Here I am, with a hint of the dress, with my lovely friend Lisa (in a gorgeous feather print frock).

Shopping & cats eyes

I've had so much to blog about this month and absolutely no time. I need to dig out my camera and do a few outfit shots, as I've treated myself to a couple of visits to the shops!

I finally got to visit the Mary Portas shop in House of Fraser last week, which was amazing! I'm going to blog properly about it when I have time because it was such a great experience...and I got some serious bargains!

It's definitely worth having a look online...or visiting a store if you're in the vicinity. The reductions are amazing - dresses down from £150 to £45, trousers down from £85 to £25.50, scarves down from £50 to £15.

In the meantime, I'm going to show you another lust item for June...something which is definitely not a bargain, and I would not buy full price. But it still doesn't stop me lusting after them.

Irregular Choice High Jinx sunglasses - £85

I love the quirkiness of these cats eye sunglasses and can just imagine wearing them with a really simple outfit.

As much as I love them, I'll not be opening my purse. I can't justify spending that amount of money on quirky sunglasses...and anyway, I've already spent my pennies with Mary Portas!