Ted Baker’s latest collection – My Favourite piece

Posted on September 29, 2012 by fashion-mommy

I’ve fallen in love with a dress, a dream of a dress that has a divine, mystical feel to it. The sort of dress that Mila Kunis or Carey Mulligan would look just amazing in, standing out on the red carpet full of cookie cutter pretty dresses. This dress is the perfect, standout Christmas party piece – it would stand out in a room fall of sequins with the sheer beauty of the design and the originality of the print. The dress is the Peera dress, and it is part of the latest range, the Langley Collection, from Ted Baker.

Peera dress – coming soon – click to visit Ted Baker

The Peera dress combines a traditional bustier style bodice that resembles a traditional formal evening gown. With the tie bow detail on the waistband, you could be forgiven for expecting a black taffeta skirt to complete the look. Instead what you get is a mystical fairy tale, complete with a beautiful unicorn and botanical prints in muted shades of pink and yellow. The full, flowing skirt is almost floor sweeping, giving the whole look a majestic presence. This dress is just so beautiful, you can’t help but fall in love with it, and I think it will be the total standout look of the new collection.

This dress doe not look the sort of piece you would buy from a High Street Brand, instead imagine what would happen if Peter Pilotto’s digital, celestial prints were merged with those famous and now iconic Stella McCartney Horse prints from a few seasons ago. But there is more to this dress than just an exquisite print. The bodice would both help to create and enhance curves, whilst the maxi skirt means that this is perfect for those who want to embrace the full length and fabulous, and also for those who prefer longer skirts due to not liking their knees, ankles etc.

The Peera dress will be hitting stores very soon – I expect to see Katherine Jenkins first in the queue!

Have you put on a Peplum yet?

Posted on September 28, 2012 by fashion-mommy

The peplum is nothing new in fashion, but it might have taken you a while to try it out! If you’re anything like me then the strange new silhouette might have seemed a little intimidating at first, but once you try it out you’ll realise it’s the best thing in the world!

Everyone from Rihanna to Kate Middleton is catching on to the waist enhancing power of the peplum; it creates a waist for boyish figures and hides bloated stomachs if you’re having an off-day. Peplum dresses in particular create a great hourglass silhouette and look sophisticated as well as on trend – my favourite is the paisley-style printed dress below, you might not believe me yet but paisley is making a serious comeback!

The best way to style these is with minimal jewellery; keep it simple and let the dress make the statement for you. As well as being easy on the eye they’re easy to throw on and create a glamorous outfit without the expense!

You can’t walk through a shop right now without stumbling over these peplum pieces, they’re everywhere on the high street so I’ve chosen a few of my favourites from Quiz – they’ve got the biggest variety of peplum dresses I’ve seen so far and a huge variety of printed to choose from if you want to make sure you stand out from the crowd!

If you’re not the dress type then try out the peplum tops that are everywhere right now too; depending on your office dress code they look great for work or you can dress them down with jeans for the daytime. They’re surprisingly versatile for such a strange trend and a worthwhile investment if you struggle with putting outfits together in a hurry.

The dresses shown above are available here (from left to right)

White Lace

Paisley-style Print

Black Glitter

Aztec Print

Neutral & Gold

Selfridges Homewares Sale – find your Domestic Goddess

Posted on September 28, 2012 by fashion-mommy

Nobody would ever accuse me of being a goddess of domesticity, I can hardly find my way around a can opener, could burn water, and only watch cookery programmes so I can shout things at the telly like ‘Who has all that in their cupboards?’ or ‘What is All Spice?’ or even ‘Ghost Chilli – are they making this up?’ But even with all this in mind, I do love a gorgeous kitchen that is just gleaming with gorgeous appliances. Which is why I totally love the current Selfridges homewares sale. This is full of the sorts of fantastic appliances that could be classed as design classics, with famous names like Kitchen Aid and Le Creuset all making an appearance.

There are glorious 1950s retro style objects, brightly coloured instruments that will make any kitchen look like Bree Van De Kamp’s haven of domesticity and the sorts of food mixers that make you drool during the Great British Bake Off (when you’re not drooling over Paul Hollywood of course). This is a sale that will tempt even those who claim to hate anything to do with cooking. If I had a kitchen full of these appliances, I would even be tempted to invest in a cookery book – and that is really saying something.

Favourite items