The Womens Room

We love: Patty Hewes sunglasses (now available at Kurt Geiger)

Series 3 of Damages has now finished and middleagedad and I are bereft. Glenn Close as wickedly ruthless Patty Hewes has had us riveted to the screen for the last few weeks, mostly because of the storyline but also because she is a 40plus female in great clothes on TV and there are painfully few of those around.

Patty's neat pencil skirt suits (she's got a thing about beige) and wrappy casual cardis (cashmere, gotta be) make her look sexy and clever in a don't-mess-with-me way. In particular, we have LOVED her sunglasses, which she has stayed faithful to through all three series, so we got super excited last week when we discovered that Kurt Geiger has a pair that is really VERY similar for sale in its newly launched sunglass collection.

The new range is made by sunglass experts Cutler & Gross and the Sienna glasses are £160 (we liked the red ones too). If you think that's expensive you might like to know that at Victoria Beckham's newly relaunched summer 2010 sunglass press day a few weeks ago (she's now umm, designing them herself....), we were told that 'entry price' for Vicky's shades (that's the cheapest pair to you and me) is £170...you can pay £400 for her gold plated pair if you've got nothing better to do with your money.

Against that Kurt Geiger's look reasonable. All you need to do now is to practise the icey-cold New York lawyer stare.

Kurt Geiger's desert shoe boot is back

Anyone  wishing they had bought Kurt Geiger's desert shoe boot last season (we showed them on Sarah a while ago in the grey) might be interested to know that something very similar and just as nice is coming out in June in the pre collection for this autumn. They are called Scarpe, are from the Carvela range, cost £130 and come in black or camel, with the all important easy-to-walk-in crepe sole and heel.

I should warn you that you are likely to be bombarded with the shoe version of an aviator jacket this winter, featuring a bit of sheepskin folded seductively down from the ankle. They seem to be prominant in every retailer's collection. I am already planning the addition of the Shelley, below, at £150 from the same Carvela story, they look fabulous in either grey or brown and actually look a COMFORTABLE heel.

Middleagedmum.com: thanks Tracey

Sometimes my relationship with music is a bit like my friendships. 
When you first meet and know nothing about each other, it's exciting; there is so much to discover and learn. You get on really well, are full of anticipation and hope the relationship is going to last for many years. This lasts a few months and then you might back off a little bit, but want the first flush of excitment to turn into something more solid which which will endure in years to come. 

The older you get the more certain music has associations with different stages in your life and often when the artist or band have moved on, changed direction or gone off the rails, you can feel let down and like you've lost a part of your life, that meant a lot. It's rare that musicians that you loved in your 20's, will still be making music that resonates as strongly when you are in your 40's. There is nothing more disappointing to hear that one of your favourite old bands has reformed to make a new album, only to find they have a new 'electro' sound or have become 'conceptual'. Of course simple re-creating the past is equally sad. Maybe it's all about the lyrics.

Kate Bush was 19 when she wrote The Kick Inside, which I now find amazing. The lyrics on that album, resonated in a way that no other album ever will again. It was very much a part of my adolescence and helped me through much teenage angst. I still love every song on it (although it makes my teens cry - and not with joy!). I also love her new work, and although I don't my life is reflected in her lyrics any more, I still associate with lots of her emotions.

Tracey Thorn is another artist who has been with me through most of my adult life. I loved the Marine Girls and Everything but the Girl was the soundtrack to my college years (again my house mates cringed and called her depressing). When Tracey was lost in the child yearing years, so was I. I lost my passion for music for a while, I didn't have the energy. 

But now shes back with a new album, Love and its Opposite, and I have it on a loop. She hasn't let me down. She sings about marriage, divorce, children and growing older. My favourite song is Hormones, which has the opening line, 'yours are just kicking in and mine are just checking out'.  

Oh Tracey, thank you for sticking with me and providing the sound track to my life so far...... 

Follow Tracey on Twitter.

We love: Sunbury Park antiques fair (or Kempton Park to you and me)

Oh joy! Antique trimmings at Sunbury Antiques market at Kempton racecourse. Nothing makes our little creative hearts beat faster than a pile of vintage fabrics and trimmings to rummage through, particularly if they are a) cheap and b) have a story behind them.

We've talked about the (almost secret) Sunbury Antiques market before, but this was my first visit. I was there with TWR reader and regular visitor Dinah, who had a ruthless, methodical system for shopping the stalls so we didn't miss anything and got to the best dealers first (we were there at 6.30am.....and astonishingly even at this early hour the car park was FULL). She was an excellent guide and offered the wise tip of only buying something if you really, really love it. This stops you spending all your money before you've even left the entrance area (easy to do, believe me).

We browsed for nearly four hours (there are around 700 hundred stalls) stopping only for a scrummy bacon and egg toastie and reviving cup of tea (might be advisable to avoid the 'instant' cappuccino coffee that Dinah's sister Zoe bravely sipped at). The assortment of stuff on offer is extrordinary, I reckon this is the place all furniture, bric-a-brac and vintage clothing comes to at least once in its life. It's like a giant recycling project and if that helps you feel better about buying stuff (another excuse for the list 'it's ok, I'm recycling') then so be it.

My favourite stall was Andrew Hirst's wonderful collection of vintage habedashery items, from dusty rolls of grosgrain ribbon and bolts of duchess satin in gloriously faded colours to boxes full of old buttons, it was a joy to shop. I ended up buying cards full of silver ribbon, thread and ric-rac that Andrew had acquired from a recently closed embroidery factory in France that used to trim military and ecclesiastical uniforms (hence all the blingy metallics). He told the story of how he had bought almost all the stock as there was little chance of ever seeing this quality of ribbon and thread again -there is real gold and silver in the trims. Being a total sucker for any story told in a good way, I obviously HAD to buy, in BULK. The silver cotton reels were one pound each, the ric rac and silver ribbon worked out about 50 pence a metre.

He had a lot of gold trim too, which would look particularly impressive at Christmas time wrapped around presents (if you could bear to part with it, I don't think I'm going to be able to). Andrew is also at Portobello Market in London at stall 159 for those who can't make it to Sunbury.

Sunbury is such an adventure we would really advise readers nearby to go, particularly if you like markets and junky antiques. There's so much on offer you can't fail to find something you want to buy. The next market is Tuesday 8th June, for future dates check the Sunbury Park website.

We love: Whistles trousers

Trousers are having a bit of a fashion moment this Spring Summer.  And we are not talking about just any trousers. Oh no, we are talking peg legs harem pants, 70's wide legs and dropped crotches. 

If all these fashion terms fill you with horror and bring back horrible memories of teenage years spent in Slough, don't worry! There's no need to have sleepless nights about 'how to wear the must have summer trouser' (ok, we know you are actually too intelligent to really worry about it !!). We have the answer to all your problems, well actually, Whistles do.

We have to admit to being slightly biased when it comes to Whistles, as the lovely ladies who run it are very good friends of ours, but this season we have to say, (despite the fact they are our mates) we think Whistles have the best trouser range on the High St. They have managed to make all those fabulous fashion shapes really wearable, even for women over 35, even 45, oh God, go on then, I'll stick my neck out - even 55!! 

They have adapted the key fashion looks into lovely east to wear, flattering shapes. A lot of it it has to do with their use of fabrics. 100%silk, cotton and polyester, wool mix, jersey, and tencel mix, all create the perfect combination of quality and drape.

At first I had a bit of a shoe crisis when I bought the silk harem pants, as anything casual looked wrong and I simple can't wear high shoes when trying to have a life. But now that the weather has improved (slightly) clogs, wedges and jesus sandals all look perfect with them.

So check out the  Whistles Website or get yourself along to your local branch, where they seem to have more colourways and style options.
We can't wait for the Autumn Winter range, as believe us, they just keep getting better and better

Just what we need, a £30 million Louis Vuitton Maison

 
There's been much trumpeting in the press about the new luxury Louis Vuitton store opening today in London's Bond Street. TWR went for a quick pre opening tour and marvelled at the lacquered surfaces (Aniegre and Alfromosia wood), shiny shelves (gold titanium plated metal, honestly, that's what they said) and permenant art (including two Gilbert & George's, a Damien Hirst and a Jeff Koons to name just a few). Lovely, it's a little bling-y for my taste but really, you can't fault the quality.

But we felt a little uneasy about the bigger message this brand-behomoth is broadcasting. As I caught the tube home from the preview, the Evening Standard was full of news of the Government slicing services (and that means jobs) and trying to figure out how to cope with a £760 billion national debt. Somehow the idea of spending a couple of grand on a handbag made from 'exotic' leather (ground floor, next to a display of Princess Margarets' old suitcases) seems depressingly unrealistic.

I'm all for retailers investing in lovely destinations for us customers to enjoy -it's our loyalty dividend for buying if you like -but this feels a little Marie-Antoinette-let-them-eat-cake-ish to me. A point rather ironically reinforced on the first floor of the store -sorry- Maison, where stylist Katie Grand has curated an retrospective exhibition of mannequins wearing LV clothes from almost every season of Marc Jacobs' tenure as designer. It's not the exquisite designs -with their mink trims and embossed gold details- that catch the eye, it's the fact that each of the mannequins has a bag obscurring her head, making her blind to what's happening around her (alright I KNOW mannequins can't really see but you get my point here...). I can't help but think that Katie might have been trying to tell us something.

Anyway, do go and see the store if you are in the area, if only to see where they've spent the money. It wasn't on the flowers, which were beautifully simple and low key. They were our favourite thing in the shop.

 

new New Yorker: Summer drags on

Something weird happens to the streets of NYC when the sun comes out.  A giant drag queen descends from the sky and blows a puff of magic gas all over town. Helplessly, women of all ages succumb to this gas and turn out in gharish, sextastic outfits.

I noticed it a bit last summer but I thought it was just me being nasty. Now I know the truth. Just watch SATC2 and you will get the full picture. Attractive women transform themselves into ladyboys in NYC when the sun shines. Vivid frocks, slashed low at the front or short in the leg adorn every body-type. Disco brides in all-white ensembles queue up in my local Starbucks. There are Flamenco dancers on the Subway, Brazilian carnival queens on the bus. 

Summer is the ideal time to pick the locals and strangers apart. I am very definitely a stranger.  I can’t do summery, semi-professional clothes. I’ve just been up half the night trying to decide what to wear for a work meeting this week. I am either in Raggedy Annie cotton outfits or full-on-Ascot-formal. That is the sum total of the average British woman’s summer wardrobe. It would be very hard, boring and pricey to furnish oneself with the sort of full-on summer outfit required for the streets of NYC.  

Don’t get me started on the hair and make-up. New Yorkers must have access to a secret beauty glue that binds everything together in the melting humidity. A British Editor friend here shares my pain. She texted me one hot, rainy morning to say ‘Left home with a blow dry, now look like Andrew Neil’.  I was surprised because she belongs to a group I call, The Others. The Others dress in the same sort of outfits all year round. Apart from carefully arranged leisure activities in the Hamptons at the weekends, they never set foot outside. The Others hop from one air conditioned lux interior (remember him?) to the next, via an air conditioned limo. They never wear tights or coats in the winter and they always have cardigans and fur wraps in the summer. Seasonal dressing means nothing other than the odd pair of evening sandals or big ear rings. I thought my life here might be a bit like that. It’s not! 

We love: John Rocha's padded trench at Debenhams

This might sound a bit bonkers as a post- as I write, the sun is beating down on us and temperatures are hitting mediterranean heights- but this John Rocha padded trench from Designers at Debenhams for this autumn looks like something worth looking out for. It doesn't get into stores until August as it is officially a winter item, but the combination of the classic trench shape and the lightly padded Barbour-esque fabric is a winner in our eyes and is very trans-seasonal (is that a word?) as it is very light padding.

Trenches have had a 'fashion moment' over the last year, but any woman over 35 needs a classic trench as part of her wardrobe as they are terrifically smart -installing a Katherine Hepburn like glamour to something as mundane as a coat for rainy days and being tailored, they add structure to your outer layer, which is always a good thing when your outer lines are starting to 'soften', shall we say.

Because of the British weather you know it will be a good investment as it rains pretty much constantly here, and this one is £75, so not too bad at all. We like the length, not too long so it can be worn over jeans and will be easy in the car, it really does have the makings of a classic. While we are talking about John Rocha at Debenhams, it is worth mentioning that the whole range -which we saw at the autumn press day last week- looks pretty good, there are some very wearable items at reasonable prices, so pencil a date in the diary to visit when you start thinking about winter clothes.
 

Simple pleasures: saying thankyou

There really is nothing nicer than someone saying thank you. 
After hosting a family weekend recently, I received a mystery package in the post. I hadn't as far as I was aware ordered anything, nor had either of the teens. When I opened it, I found a little note saying thanks for a lovely weekend and the most stunning box of biscuits I have seen in a long time. Almost too nice to eat, although I did manage a few. 

I would have been happy with an email, but in these electronic times it was so nice to receive something real, especially something edible. I always mean to send a small gift after a particularly nice occasion, but a text is all I usually manage. From now on I am going to try harder, as small gifts are such a lovely simple pleasure.

Biscuiteers.com

TWR Streetstyle: Mary and Jessica

While out at aurumn press days last week, we came across two stylish MDs, Mary Homer (above), MD of Topshop and Jessica Seaton (below) MD of Toast. Both were wearing print tunic shaped dresses worn with coloured tights and cute necklaces and looked totally fab.

Mary was wearing a Topshop dress from the Unique range ( 'it's old' she told us, so last season then...), Topshop ballet flats, navy matt tights and a Stella McCartney duster coat, perfectly demonstrating how to do Hi-Lo dressing.

Jessica had on a Toast dress from next season, worn with two necklaces from this summer's range (we liked the yellow feathers) and blue tights. The colour combinations were just gorgeous, if you notice she has on lovely blue tights too.

We love tunic-style dresses and these two ladies demonstrate why, they look smart AND stylish, don't have to be messed about with and can take you anywhere. Recently we've been thinking about moving into trousers and skirts again, but looking at how great this dress look is, we're going to keep it going for a little while longer. And frankly, if the MDs of two of our favourite brands are wearing them, then who are we to argue?

 

Trend alert: one colour dressing

We are more than a little obsessed with Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned (wife of the new owner of Harrods), after reading about her in the Guardian this week. Her look is part Princess Grace, part Eddie Bouvier from Grey Gardens.

We love how she wears one colour from head to toe, and her turbans are more than a little Palm Springs. A look will be perfecting this summer. 

We also spotted head to toe colour on the catwalk (well the harbour front in St Tropez, to be really accurate) when Chanel showed their Spring/Summer cruise collection last week. We love the pastel colours, even on the toes!

Of course there is a danger of looking like you have just come off the golf course in Marbella, but to be honest, we find that kind of appealing. G & T anyone?

We love: Toast for Men

 

Piedmont jacket £285    Antique stripe shirt £79

In what can only be described as great news for middleagedads everywhere, Toast is launching a menswear range this autumn. Made up of clothes that are nicely stylish, but in a low-key-no-one-down-the-pub-will-laugh way, in sensible colours like coal, khaki, navy and black and reassuring fabrics like flannel, cord and denim. Nothing to scare the horses but lots to be hopeful about for those of us with partners who might still be stuck in a groove made some decades ago.

Actually it's just as hard for 35plus men as it is women to find interesting clothes to wear once they are abandoned by the high street, doubley so if you're on a tight budget. Admittedly there are men in their 40s and 50s who are perfectly happy with the way they look; they picked their style just after they turned 20 and see no reason to change, but increasingly, older men are taking non work clothes more seriously. Both our partners are pretty cool dressers (we like to think it's years of advice from us that's got them into shape) but even they sometimes struggle with where to go for clothes that are stylish but not designer prices.

Toast for men is designed (like the women's range, which we are fans of) by Toast founder Jamie Seaton, husband of Jessica (she's the MD) and dad of Rachel (who edits Toast Travels- more of this in a later post). Rachel told us her dad had wanted to do this for ages and absolutely loved doing the first collection. When we saw him at the press day he looked very smart in it,. The range is called it Amateur, which means 'a person who practises something for the love of it' (just like us then) which feels pretty genuine when you hear them speak so enthusiastically about it.

Prices start at £225 for relaxed tailored jackets, poplin shirts start at £79 and merino sweaters at just over £100, so not cheap, but you feel these might be the type of clothes that never wear out. As lovers of the Toast winceyette pyjamas for women, we are thrilled to see there's now a mens version too, very snuggly for winter nights. The range launches for the autumn season, around August time.

Chalk stripe jacket £295 and waistcoat £115

Chelsea boot £145 and flannel pyjamas £65

 

Something for the weekend: The Concise Dictionary of Dress

One of our mates, Joyce highly recommends we see The Concise Dictionary of Dress, both for the unique and inspiring installations and the chance to look round the fascinating Blythe House, the home of the V & A's vast archive collections of furniture, ceramics, glass, jewellery, textiles, fashion and fine arts. 

A unique collaboration between costume curator Judith Clark and psychoanalyst Adam Philips, the exhibition aims to re-describe clothing in emotional terms of anxiety, wish and desire, as defined by Adam Phillips. While Judith Clark has designed and assembled a series of installations around these themes. 

Check out Joyce's post on the fantastic Arts Thread Blog for a more in depth review.

The Concise Dictionary of Dress
Blythe House,
Blythe Road,
London W14

Tours of Blythe House run every 20 mins during open hours.
Wednesday – Friday: first tour 1pm, last tour 7.40pm.
Saturday and Sunday: first tour 11am last tour 5.40pm (Closed Monday and Tuesday). 

Places on the tours are strictly limited and tickets must be purchased in advance.

We love: Palm Springs style

This photo thanks to Wayneford's posterous

Anyone in need of design inspiration for the 35plus market would do well to grab a copy of French photographer Robert Doisneau's book Palm Springs 1960, out recently. The book is full of well-heeled ladies of a certain age exuding the sunshine glamour of the early 60s in Palm Springs. Tailored dress and jacket combos in shantung silk, printed cotton sundresses nipped in at the waist- worn with a cashmere cardi thrown over the shoulders and pearls and mink stoles worn with everything (it was to keep the chill off from the air conditioning units blasting out freezing air), they were a deeply glamourous lot.

What makes the pictures here so wonderful is how Doisneau captures the whacky element woven through the good taste, with elephant wicker handbags and bicycle hat pins, and that's before we get to the wild taste in sunglasses. It's Mad Men on steroids (or more likely valium I guess) and everyone looks as if they are having a wonderful time (in full make up, even in the pool). We don't really want to go back to living in the 60s but we can't help having a soft spot for the way things looked.

 
 

We love: Lubna Chowdhary

Womens Room reader Sarah, told us about Lubna Chowdhary, after she had been to her open studio in Dulwich last week. 

We immediately loved her beautiful hand crafted tiles, which combine traditional techniques with contemporary colour combinations and an amazing sense of texture and composition. Lubna's glazes are blended in her studio and fired numerous times to create the desired effect. She makes tiles for domestic or commercial clients for exterior or interior spaces, and clients are welcomed at her studio to discuss their needs.

An exclusive selection of tiles designed for Agnes Emery is available in the Emery and Cie shops in Paris, Antwerp and Brussels.

email or telephone 0208 769 1142 to arrange a visit.

We love: museum and gallery shops

 

Call us shallow, but sometimes, the most exciting time in a trip to an art gallery or museum is the moment we get to the shop. Museum shops have gone through a major make-over in the last few years and some of our favourite retail spots are now attached to major galleries, both London Tates are a good case in point (but we love the V&A shop too).

This weekend we popped along to Tate Britain to look at the Henry Moore exhibition and it was fab, we'd certainly recommend it. After pondering Moore's ability to sculpt beautifully curvy and very moving shapes out of giant blocks of stone we nipped into the  shop. There are two in Tate Britain, both are wonderful for browsing around and it's jolly easy to lose an hour picking up art books and selecting postcards of the gallery's work.

And then there's all the stationery. Always a sucker for a nice note book (we can justify this because we always have a note book on the go for work which makes it almost an essential purchase...) this weekend we spotted a lovely new addition to the range, an A5 size fabric bound hardback note book with a slot at the front into which you can slip your own postcard. This means you can personalise your note book rather nicely, either with an artistic selection from the cards on sale at the gallery, or with a photo you've got at home. I chose the shoe picture by Lisa Milroy, which seems very appropriate after my recent spending spree and Jane's post on Jesus sandals.

The book also has nice quality pages that appear plain on first glance, but have the faintest square dot grids incase you want to write notes in straight lines, or play battleships. There is also an envelope to hold loose bits of paper in at the back and at £7.95 (plus 50p for a postcard) it makes a great present. Sadly this does not seem to be online, so note it down for when you are next making a trip to The Tate or smart stationery shop.

We also loved the great planting in the Tate garden, willow striplings and black tulips, inspiring combo!
   
 

Style Icon: Sue Sylvester

Having never been sporty, I have horrible memories of sports lessons at school, where I always picked last for teams. I have also always loved a musical and have more than my fair share of GBF's (gay best friends), so the hit US tv series Glee, works for me on every level. 

The American comedy/musical drama set in Ohio, features a group of oddball teenagers who dont fit the usual Jock/cheerleader high school stereotypes, but are amazing singers, dancers and performers.Each episode is pure escapism and 'must see' tv, if you are a fan of over the top camp fantasy and love to champion the underdog.

The recent Madonna episode, saw scary PE teacher Sue Sylvester get a makeover from Kurt (my favourite character) and Mercedes, and recreated the iconic Madonna single,Vogue. As she usually only ever wears a tracksuit, it is a joy to behold. 

If you haven't yet tuned into Glee (what planet have you been on?) we suggest you get yourself the box set of the first series and start tuning into E4 on Mondays nights at 9pm. You won't regret it. 

TWR streetstyle: Angela

TWR caught up with Angela this week during an ELM sample sale, where she was frantically busy selling stuff. Angela can sell anything to anyone so it's not surprising that TWR had to fall back on a couple of the Useful Excuses for Explaining Away More Clothes rules to middleagedad later in the day.

Despite being like a whirling dervish, Angela remained very chic in her Elm black slimline trousers and neatly fitted jacket, made from that nice stretchy microfibre that is so comfortable to wear and never creases.The jacket sleeves are slightly flared too which look very femine. But what makes it really work as a modern look is the white, lace-less plimsoles she is wearing, in box-fresh white. Totally practical but also really cool looking. we love it.

We love: Our Patterned Hand

As you know we are big fans of fabric and haberdashery shops and are always on the look out for new and interesting places to add to our list of favourites. For a while now we have been bemoaning the fact that we have to travel into the West End to find any really nice fabric shops, and even then, the John Lewis fabric department has never really been the same since the refurbishment, when it moved upstairs. Why, in these days of craft and make do and mend, aren't there more local shops haberdashery shops (especially in London)?

On a recent visit to one of my favourite local shopping streets, Broadway Market, I was delighted to find, Our Patterned Hand, a new haberdashery and fabric shop. Owned by Leanne Finn-Davies, an ex pattern cutter in the fashion industry. Leanne has always loved fabric shops and like us realised the need for a local shop which sells all the essentials for sewing and making. After giving up the fashion industry when she had her two children, she was keen to open her own shop. Luckily her husband already owned the hugely popular cafe L'eau a la Bouche, in Broadway Market and was looking for bigger premisies, so she had the shop she needed. 

Our Patterned Hand had been open for two weeks and was buzzing when we visited. As well as stocking some really lovely fabrics, Leanne also supplies dyes, zips, needles and trims, in fact anything you possibly want to make your own clothes or furnishings. She also plans to offer classes in pattern cutting, customizing and sewing in the basement. 

We will definatley be visiting again and hope to see more shops like this opening in the future. 

Our Patterned hand
49 Broadway Market, 
London,E8 4PH

Shopping with experts: Accessorize lap top bags

Now this we totally LOVE, big time. TWR was at Accessorize's autumn 2010 press day yesterday and spotted this wonderfully glamourous laptop bag. We have long moaned about the lack of well priced and nicely designed laptop bags, the ones we've found tend to be either very 'techie-boy' orientated in shades of grey, grey and maybe black, or very expensive ones in ernestly good taste colours.

This silver embroidered butterfly bag shrieks 'buy me now!' although in fact it wont be in the shops until about August time (with the new autumn collection) at around £35. There's a couple of other designs in the range, an all over spriggy floral and a graphic Parisian themed one, but for us, the shiny butterfly stood out as a something to brighten up the dullest of office days.

We also loved the sequined Union Jack clutch bag, with its romantic floral embroidery hinting at a touch of vintage, again available from about Augustat about £35. Way to go, Accessorize!