Bit of an Old Classic

It turns out Frankies mum is a bit of an old classic....Saturday afternoon, end a of a long shoppy Chelsea day sitting in the sun, glass of bubbly, me, Anna, Frankie and my man.  Two very naughty french bulldogs, nipping at passers by, barking non stop ... mmm ...  Well of course, somewhat predictably, as they leave they spot Frank and fly at him, snapping, growling, biting, now i know Frankie is of a good temperament but this is getting somewhat out of hand, one at the head and the other one distinctly aiming at the rear, Anna is aiming a couple of gentle kicks, Rich is trying to ward them off with a chair whilst holding onto Frankie but nothing is deterring this little pair.  And that is when it happened, it was Maggie arising from the dead, Barbara Walkies Woodhouse thrown in for good measure, up I stood and in the loudest, poshest, firmest (picture the 'lady is not for turning'), voice trilled " Stop that you naughty (big maggie emphasis on the naughty)dog" as i thrust my bottega tote between its yapping jaws and Frank's nether regions.  And you know what it did.  Just like that.

Now sartorially speaking of course I love a classic, i mean give me a classic trench, a good tote, a classic shoulder bag, silk scarf, cashmere shawl, stripey tee, silk blouse, lace dress.  Easy pieces that are classic and eternal, and, of course, the things about the classics are that they work, they are easy and one has to particularly love them when they come with a twist, be that styling or the garment itself.

Introducing my first Sadie Harris trench, Saville Row silk/linen cloth, horn buttons and buckle and a fairly classic design - no need for more when the fabric says it all.  Paired with a high waisted classic camel flare and a fitted waistcoat with again horn buttons.  Its easy, moves well, above all, flattering and they are pieces that incorporate easily into other outfits.  

And if you would like to see my current inspiration sources i am on pinterest and tumbler - pinning and tumbling?? like mad.

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Sadie Harris, 3 piece trouser/trench suit, Ferragamo Sandals, Chanel Bag, Chloe Sunglasses

Fashion Marmite

Last night i watched this video about 40 plus style - now i have to add at this juncture that most of my friends are younger than me and the last thing we discuss is 40 plus style - as they wouldnt have a clue as to what i was going on about and i quite like to delude myself that i am all down with the kids ???  inwardly cringing ....   Having said that, just recently i am feeling the passing of time in oh so many ways.  Now i truly do  think there are things to celebrate when you get older, the ability to revel in ladylike tailoring - which i so love -  and it really isn't a young woman's game particularly - having said that - my god what a dirth there is - soooo boringly cut - hence the soon to be launched Sadie Harris.

Watching the video - and like most things i wasnt there with all of it - at present my figure hasnt changed much - it only ever changes according to what i eat or hormonal bloating and that hasnt changed for the last 30 years!  Hence if i want to feel good and for me that equates slim - i pretty much remain hungry with indulgent weekend breaks.  My choice and actually not one i strongly recommend.  I dont necessarily want to emulate a celebrity, i am not all about a heel, but i really do relate to the questioning that comes with age - should i wear it - am i too old - and the age old am i that mad old woman in the hat???

Last September we were showing at 100% design in Earls Court and i needed to pick up some shoes from Chloe - having bought a very yummy new blouse from them a week before i decided to honour my visit with wearing said yummy green blouse, camel trousers, a fab nude hat with rather dayglo orange and green band - knee high boots and chanel dark bag - well it felt good, somewhat elegant and off i trotted.  Chloe loved it, I was asked for a pic by a trendy young blogger, approached by older, extremely well preserved Chelsea gent and declared "stunning, such colour".  Well my sartorial head had swelled, not to mention my literal one and it was off to earls court to more compliments from a Made in Chelsea Jamie lookylikey, and a pretty young Swede, i mean this outfit was rocking - out i trot to wait for mr and waft off home on a sartorially successful cloud when i turn around and see 2, 30-something ladies from the cake and bake show, pulling the most disgusted amused faces in my direction - well at that moment i realised - i truly was fashion marmite and they were not liking it!!

So what do you do - become invisible, follow your own style, mix the two or just dress how you feel on the day?  How hard is it getting older as a woman - and is it all about just still feeling attractive and is that all about the other sex or not?  i dont have the answers but i know i ask the questions xx

And with a hat........

Detail shot - i dont think there is anything more " i am so pleased i am 40 plus plus than an hermes shawl" - how gorgeous - my new fave thing 

Sleeveless coat and trousers - a cornerstone in my spring/autumn Sadie Harris designs,

Chloe Blouse, Chanel Bag, Hermes Shawl and bangle, Hat Stetston, Shoes Miu Miu, New Ring - McQueen - thanks Mr xx

Sadie Harris

Sadie Harris is such a beautiful british name and it was the name of my maternal Grandmother.  The brand i am launching is one of tradition and heritage,  all British, made in England.  It speaks of stealth style with an edge.  My grandmother sums up these things for me - she was beautiful, strong, elegant and so very british from a bygone era - an era where womens lives where hard, especially in the North of England, but she lead hers with elegance and above all she loved life, playing the ukelele and starring in local productions.  She married in her early 40's and i think my mother was somewhat of a surprise, sadly she lost her husband when my mother was just 7.  She spent the last twenty years of her life in a mental home the only place for her with early onset alzheimers - i did not know her - i want to dedicate something to her so in some small way her life will live on.

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The first collection i am working on is entitled "A very British Summer".  I will be using traditional saville row fabrics,  they will meet feminine form, with 70's referencing.  They will be wearable, easy pieces that cater for our very own brand of weather - light weight tailoring, beautiful lace dresses with lightweight menswear inspired 3/4 coats,  pieces that interchange in soft muted colours with flashes of brights.  It is a collection that will be wearable across age groups with old fashioned couture detailing, and stealth sex appeal.  There will be an element of that old fashioned British 'boys love the girls, girls love the boys' ethos we do so very well.   For this first collection i am very much my own muse.

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In the meantime Frank and I are showcasing a design i worked on this winter.  I was definitely having an elegant turn and although i always love texture in my fabrics the colours were more muted and i used a lot of rich deep colours.   In this instance a teal blue alpaca wool for the jacket with a navy lace layered over teal cashmere for the skirt.  Playing with proportion the sleeves were shortened and a dramatic back cut was added to the jacket.  I am pleased with it - it was easy to wear and dress up or down.

Although the sun was shining, the colours were distorting as well as the texture so we moved to the shade

The back is really lovely and although the fabric is soft it is holding the shape well,  i always add a handy pocket!

The collar can be worn turned down but i like the shaping on the neck when up 

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And finally for all you Franky fans - he wasnt having much of it - but his bum was ..

In the beginning 

In the end

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Skirt and Jacket my own design, shoes YSL, bag Bottega Venneta, jumper Eric bompard, Bracelet Hermes (thanks again to Mr), Sunglasses Gucci - navy leather - loving the texture again xxx

Vogue.co.uk, street chic

Hello all from a freezing cold Sussex, snow falling, April!  Seriously - i would add to the snow falling, my nose dripping! Tooo much .......

I have a whole post prepared about my new brand which i will post next week when the man, frank and I have had time for some piccies.

In the meantime, on Tuesday on my way to Saville Row to see the most amazing fabrics, Holland and Sherry (but that is another whole new post), i bumped into the wonderful Dvora at Fashionistable who shoots for vogue, street chic amongst others and always gets my heart beating faster come fashion weeks, not to mention her blog posts.

Dvora has taken my pic before for vogue, during my blogging hiatus so i thought i would share both pics with you, wish you a very good weekend, its nearly here, and some warmer weather to those of us suffering freezing temps in the northern hemisphere xxx

I have to say i love this shot - thank you Dvora - for a better looky - you can see all the details really clearly - here's the link vogue.co.uk

and again, for the above shot the link is, vogue.co.uk, october 12

The outfits are both designed by me, and the first is very typical of what i am working at the moment - a lot of checks, british heritage fabrics, feminine with strong traditional tailoring influences.  

In both shots the shoes are Miu Miu, and the bags are respectively Miu Miu and Chanel, the hat is Borsolino and the shawl is MaxMara xx

Purpose, meaning and hope

The wonderful Tabitha of bourbon and pearls recently coined this phrase and it spoke volumes to me, i have been formulating what to do with myself over the last 9 months, since you last heard from me properly - life was very stressful workwise last year and to be fair, now that things are on a more even keel, it functions well without me - i no longer feel any great meaning or purpose from it, i will always do what i have to because it provides us with a good std of living but mr does a bloody brilliant job and it is more his baby - what was both of ours - really is now more his and he gets a lot of satisfaction from which is kind of the way it should be.

Which brings me back to me ....  As those of you will know from past posts i have been designing and working with a tailor for the last year, what you may not know is that post leaving school i attended fashion college and trained as a designer with pattern cutting and tailoring as skills - this was a long time ago but i did for my early 20's follow this path and then left it behind one way or another and life went a different way but i have always kept up the skills privately.

The last year has honed them, reminded me how things should be done and re-awakened my great love of design.  Hence i have invested a small fortune with amazon and re-visited a ton of skills with book after book.  The upshot is that this year i have been doing the construction and pattern cutting myself - and although it really hurts my brain - i find i can do it again.  It was suggested to me that i start a collection by various persons last year and this and then i arrived at the above mentioned post and everything that was processing for quite some time became a lot more clear and solid,  so i decided to to finally start a new business, build a brand and work on a collection - pheww!!  I have re-launched the blog to share and soundboard this journey, see the designs working in flesh and photo, thereby adapting and perfecting them and to record my thoughts and visions.

Next post i will be discussing the collection i am working on and the brand i want to build.

And the fact that as a well established business woman i see absolutely no way whatsoever of making a profit - this indeed is my stumbling block - business for love and not money - a whole new concept - who knows?? xxx

And as for Frankie - he will be back with some mr pics next week - bless! xx

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Hopefully those pics will be a little brighter - the sun was actually shining ....

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Trousers by me, coat Lanvin, hat bates. shoes miu miu, bag chanel, blouse chloe

Back ...........

Oh it has been forever but at long last, if there is anyone out there, i am back..... back for good??  Certainly for the foreseeable.  Mr two holidays (aka the man, the photographer, the other half and man on holiday) is off on another so i am afraid you will have to suffer my self portraiture.  The following are the ones i didn't cut head or foot off, i have a thumb print on the lense and cannot get the camera of the stand but they are here and i do have another set for next week - wahey!  Have a good week - here's hoping for spring......  Me pale, drawn ....... mr tanned, full of face...... are you spotting a trend of thought .... xxxxx

Cape - my design consisting of sleeveless coat, and detachable cape which then can function on its own - rather proud of this multi functionality, Trsrs also mine, blouse - chloe sale, hat bates of jermyn street, boots chanel soooooo love them, bag briefly seen bottega my xmas pressie of mr tanned and full of face - guess he's forgiven xx