At a time when high street footfall is down and online spending is up, retailers are focusing on the customer’s in-store experience. Say hello, then, to The Shop at Bluebird, Covent Garden. The recently opened design emporium in a former Grade II listed carriage hall. Long a tourist hotspot, Covent Garden has been transformed into aRead more
Being an advocate of Gentlewoman Style and faff-free dressing , the trouser suit’s on-going popularity doesn’t half please me. From Dietrich to Denueve, Hepburn to Huston (Katherine and Anjelica), some of my favourite women of style and substance just happen to be trouser suit enthusiasts, too. As a youngster, I can remember thinking I was the bee’s kneesRead more
It’s not quite as quick and easy to give your garden a fresh look as it is to update an outfit, but if you approach it like wearing an old favourite (your existing garden) with different accessories, you can achieve a new focus, says Adrienne Wype r at Chelsea Flower Show. Complementary colours As you mayRead more
Now that was a moment. I’m supposed to be writing another post but instead I’m faffing around with GIFs. And still enjoying the feel-good mood generated by Saturday’s boundary-pushing, diversity-embracing Royal Wedding. I’m not a royalist but we’ve had so much miserable news over the last couple of years, it really did feel likeRead more
Sorry, not sorry, I’m just NOT dying to go grey quite yet! – says beauty and lifestyle journalist and author Jo Glanville-Blackburn (Jo GB). At 53, you’d think that maybe, like so many of my friends and colleagues who have turned their back on colour and gone grey for ease, convenience, better value and, may I say, rather supreme style,Read more
Field jacket, cords and brogues – no, I’m not heading off to Chipping Norton (and if I was it would be to throw non-Farrow & Ball paint over the Shed of Shame ). This outfit is intended to say spring, not Sloane . The baby pink cords are from Swedish label The Cords & Co , whose womens – and menswear offerings are madeRead more
Meet the Positivity Panel. A team of experts gathered together to encourage women to be active and #GetMore positivity into life. You may recognize the fashion expert for this project, ahem, standing next to Davina McCall in the middle. Ryvita has partnered with Davina and Cancer Research UK to empower women and encourage healthy living (through the CRUK live events inRead more
Having been a Lycra-and-leather-clad fashion student in the 1980s, I’ve always had a fondness for Azzedine Alaia’s work. Oh those joyful black and white images of supermodels wearing his figure-hugging designs, always so sexy and cool. A new exhibition Azzedine Alaia: The Couturier opens at the Design Museum today. And it’s spectacular. There’s such a wonderfulRead more
Platforms, pimped-up sneakers, furkenstocks ; I’ve never been a fan of pantomime shoes. There’s nothing wrong with a little razzle dazzle , no one wants their basics to look basic , but keeping the silhouette sleek, simple and streamlined wins every time. And paying up to £700 for a pair of high-end designer trainers is ridiculous and revolting; to me, sneaker style shouldRead more
This video of Adrian Piper dancing in Alexanderplatz is just glorious. The 69-year-old artist and philosopher with a PhD from Harvard was born in New York and now lives in Berlin. An exhibition celebrating over 50-years of Piper’s work, A Synthesis of Intuitions 1965 – 2016, is currently on at MoMA, New York (until July 22) and moves toRead more