The Beautiful Isabi Scarf

This post has been a long time coming - I apologise profusely to the lovely Aggie who contacted me initially, thank you for your patience.  The main reason being I wanted to wear this stunning scarf before I shared it with you but we've been having some great weather!  It was a little cooler today so was the perfect opportunity for a light weight scarf.  I was approached by Isabi and had a browse around their website only to stumble across this beauty.  What lured me in was that it was made from cotton and silk.  Yes, I harp on about fibre compositions a lot, but hey, this is my blog and I'll harp on if I want to.  It feels amazing on and is so soft and comfortable around my neck.  I love that the print is subtle enough to blend with other prints but not plain so that it gets lost.  Oh and the colour palette is right up my street. 

Wearing it loosely draped around my neck

Wearing a little more snuggly 

How gorgeous is this print!

Having never received from them before, I was most excited about the presentation as well.  It's all those little touches for me, making my shopping experience a pleasurable one so that I want to recommend them and go back for more.  The scarf was wrapped in tissue then in a sturdy box that had a print design all over the inside.  It arrived in pristine condition, not thrown around and creased, it was a pleasure to receive and open.  

What a lovely gift this would make!  How easy is this to order and get it sent straight to the recipient if you are a little late and short of time?  They also have a fuss free, simple collection of clothing and jewellery.  Pop on over and have a look.

Thank you again Isabi, I look forward to many more wears out of my beautiful scarf.  

NB Unfortunately this design has sold out but there are other equally fabulous ones - especially this silk blend one with more blue tones.

New Shoes!

I think I may have mentioned before that when I buy shoes, I do tend to buy a few pairs at once.....they are like buses for me!  When I met my friends near Swindon the other week, we popped to the outlet centre, literally for a couple of hours (I really don't need that long to get my fix sometimes).  My friend dragged me into Hobbs only to find their shoes ridiculously reduced.  All leather (you know me and well made leather shoes) both of the below were £159 down to £25 and £29 - bargain!

I have a slight shopping problem in that I do tend to buy based on quality at a damn good price - not necessarily on need.  I am working on this but it does please me somewhat when a 'unnecessary purchase' is worn straight away.  I had a meeting and most of my court shoes are dark so these snake skin effect ones were absolutely perfect.  They bought together the black from the trousers and the cream from the top.  

Top; Sandro
Bag; Balenciaga
Trousers; Topshop
Shoes; Hobbs

I love the detail on this Sandro top (another Bicester Village find) and it's 100% silk

I don't take the best photo, I pretty much can't stand posing for them so after my dear father in law took about 30 (I'm not joking) the one above was the best of a bad bunch - completely the models fault I hasten to add.  So I dashed upstairs to try and get a better one where I don't have to smile at the camera, I'm far more relaxed that way. 

The out-takes are pretty bad, I really am no model and can't keep still for long, the snaps come out a lot like below......

I am yet to wear the second pair (please find me an occasion soon life!) but when I tried them on in the shop I had my loose fit jeans on and they even worked with those despite being a fairly formal shoe. 

I dread to think what these two will be like in years to come.

Last and by no means least, these little bobby dazzlers.  All leather (in and out, honest), rose gold, so comfy, £12 from Primark.  Get there quickly!

The One About The Bows

I had a lovely afternoon out with some girlfriends last week, we were so fortunate with the weather and met up for Afternoon Tea (and a little light shopping!).  I didn't want to overdress so opted for my loose jeans then dug out an old top that I nearly got rid of in my clear out recently.  It wasn't a style top I would normally purchase as isn't very long in the body and just sat on the hips but it worked perfectly with these jeans.  

Top; Holister
Belt; Alice Temperley
Jeans; Gap
Bag; Prada
Sunglasses; Prada
Shoes' Bally Switzerland

I decided on my favourite court shoes from Bally Switzerland but then as the shoes and back of the top had black bows on I added my bow belt as well!  

I know I've mentioned the Dior Nail Glow before (Sue, I owe you, it's a life saver!) but haven't shown you the effect.  It makes your whites white and your pinks pink!  This was literally one quick coat as I jumped in the car, allowing it time to dry whilst I drove. 

The Gap Order

I promised I would share my orders with you after I went through a slump of  being un-inspired. Well, mmmm.  Gap.  The high waisted jean on me - Simon Cowell eat your heart out.  Yes, just in case you were wondering, they did go back.

I've always loved a turn up on a trouser (and sleeves, I am forever rolling them up) so thought I'd try a light grey with a large turn up.  After looking back at the pictures, they don't actually look as bad as they did in the flesh.  They had this acid wash all over them and they were just a little bit too cool for school for me.

Then another too cool for school style, the ripped effect.  As these were £24.99 I thought I'd give them a whirl and they were the same 'Straight Cut' as a pair I'd bought earlier in the year and really enjoy wearing.  My only concern was my original pair have got very loose, so I ordered two sizes. This was the larger size.  They were ok.

However I felt the size down fitted better, although a little tighter, they would perhaps wear better after a few washes and not loosen too much.

I do find it really frustrating that stores have such different prices online.  When I went to return the jeans, the ones I wanted to keep were £12.99 in store!  Nearly half the price than what they were online.  So I returned the lot and bought them back again at the reduced price.  That was after I got a talking to by the manager who said it's not normally allowed but would do as a good will gesture. Well I am so stubborn, had they not have done I would have walked away on principle. Anyway, rant over, I got them at the price I wanted to pay!

The Plan

I get a lot of people asking me about the name of my blog and business.  To be really honest, it just happened, a long, long time ago.  I knew I wanted to work in retail/fashion but back in my early twenties, I didn't really have much of a plan.  My middle name is Rose and the Glam bit just came to me one night.  So that's where the name came from.  What was I actually going to do?  Well that wasn't so easy.  I wanted to write (as I can talk a lot and sometimes I feel like I'm being listened to more when I put pen to paper).  I also desperately wanted to work with clothes.  I spent a long time working in Buying, it worked at the time but I knew the travel and hours weren't for me long term, plus I wanted a family.  Along came the first daughter, then number two.  School runs commenced and with my husband being the bread winner, working long hours and being an hour away from home, corporate life wasn't going to work for me anymore.

The original plan in-between having the children somewhere was to write a little, style a little (I decided to go to London College of Fashion and do a course on it) and sell a little.  The writing started with the blog back in 2010 (with a very brief, random post here).  Then after being successful at the auditions/interviews for Mary Portas as a Stylist when she was opening her first range in House of Fraser, I knew that styling was where I wanted to be.  However to cut a long story short, I didn't accept and after my second child I decided to 'wing it' all on my own.  It's been nearly two years now and although I'd say the road hasn't been an easy one, it is so worth it.  I love the freedom of working one on one with clients, writing my blog, working with brands who want to be featured on my blog and being invited to press days.  Variety really is the spice of life for me.  

The only area I have 'neglected' (for want of a better word) was the selling side.  I am forever finding amazing bargains and wanted to be able to buy and sell on with a small amount of profit for me but still a huge saving for my customer.  One of the main reasons for not doing it yet is having that initial capital to start with.  I do dabble on and off with eBay but we aren't talking large amounts here.  If however I did have some investment money sat there, I would definitely be buying everything I knew was a steal.  When this was all a dream many years ago, I didn't even think about a business loan or a mentor as no one mentioned anything like this to me.  That is where I feel it's changed now, there is help out there.  Virgin Start Up is a non-profit, government backed loan scheme to help young entrepreneurs get on with their dreams.  There is also a mentor and free business advice.  It's not a decision to take lightly, but if you do have a business plan, it's something that may just help you on your way a lot quicker than if you didn't have any backing.  So where does this leave me?  Well, for now, I am very content with the clients I have and the writing I do.  Maybe in the next few years when the youngest starts school I will re-think and maybe venture down the shop route but for now, I will carry on as I am.

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Bicester Village (again!)

If you are local to Bicester Village (or just fancy a trip) and are rather partial to savings on designer clobber, head to the village now as further mark downs are happening.  Rupert Sanderson had huge savings, and even more if you bought two pairs.  I was so tempted by these lovelies but the right foot had been tried on and over stretched so much the gap bothered me a lot when stood up.

There were some great little gifts as well.  Fendi and Valentino anyone?

Yep, £15 for a Fendi purse mirror!

Valentino rockstud python bracelet, I couldn't leave it behind.  £180 down to £46

More rockstuds, £530 down to £340

I stopped at the bracelet, this was somewhere in the hundreds!

The village also has the British Designers Collective shop at the moment.  I loved the Etre Cecile sweater below.  

£110 down to £65

These Nicholas Kirkwood shoes were pretty special.  

£670 down to £335

In the BDC shop, so many fantastic pieces.  My selfie below!

Bag & Sunglasses; Prada
Top; Zara
Jeans; Gap
Shoes: French Sole

The Zara Order

So the shopping mojo is definitely on it's way back - yippee!  It all started with a very cheap top but I'll get to that, first up - what went back.  I know I'm harping on but I really think Zara offer an amazing delivery service for online shoppers.  Free over £50, get's to you pretty much within 48 hours then free courier to your door to pick it up.  This time round though I was near a store so decided to return there.  The sales assistant whizzed them through the scanner, said she didn't need my card and that it was all done remotely, then within half an hour I received an email to say my return had been received and funds will be reimbursed - brilliant!  

Enough of the praise, back to what went back.  I didn't plan on it all working, so my little clothing budget wasn't going to be blown in Zara but it's always great to try things.  I loved the look of this jumpsuit, the colour was great for every day, it looked like a comfortable fabric - but the sizing, wow how out could it be.  This was an XS and it was huge.  I am petite but this was honestly more like a Medium in size.  I know they are supposed to be worn loose but this was more like a sack (although oddly enough the photo's don't make it look as huge as it was).  I still like it and would recommend but beware, it does come up large so size down.

I had high hopes for this top.  I had seen it in store but not in my size.  I was looking for something smarter than a t-shirt but not too formal.  This again came up large and was really none-descript when on.  It almost felt like the fabric was too heavy for the design.  

Trousers how you pain me!  I loved these, especially the bright colour but they didn't sit right on me and I felt I would be tugging them up all the time (shot on the right to demonstrate!).  However Jane has these and they look amazing on her.  

Then finally came the £7.99 top that I loved.  Cotton, breton stripe, sleeveless and high neck - all the combinations I like on my frame.  It's one of those items you put on and think yep, I like it, I'm wearing it, so I did, straight away!  

We were off to London to the Science museum for the day so I opted for my Onitsuka Tiger trainers for comfort, skinny jeans from Topshop and what's turning out to be one of my favourite pieces of cashmere from Boden.  

Then just because I was feeling happy with a purchase after all the no's, I popped on a chained M&S necklace to glam it up a little!

My favourite perfume was splashed on and easy nails with Dior Glow (thanks Sue), I was set for the day.  

Oh and I dug out my old Gucci messenger bag which I haven't used in years.  I really enjoyed using it that day even though I feel I have moved on from the monogram style now.

Have you made any cheap purchases recently that have made you want to make an effort - or is it just the weather that seems to be helping?!?!  Please stay sunshine, you make everything feel alright! 

The Victoria Beckham Top

I mentioned a few posts ago that my lovely sister had found me a Victoria Beckham top in her local TK Maxx in Dublin.  It made it's way to me, then back to her unfortunately.  It just wasn't me.  I know it isn't meant to be worn with a torn jeans (!) but that aside, it was very long in the body and the colour washed me out.  It did feel luxurious though, and at approximately £50 for a VB piece, if I had loved it on, it would have stayed.  Also it was very well made, I wouldn't expect anything less!

I have always been a Mrs Beckham fan, even in the Spice Girls.  I love how immaculate she is, that she really makes an effort.  I know she isn't a lot of peoples cup of tea but she is mine and on my wish list is a piece from her collections.  When I was in Harrods last week I saw the below by VB.  Just the right balance between soft and hard leather for everyday wear.  A great, functional, versatile design and colour way, with a long strap and option to use as a clutch.  I am saving!