Autumn/ Winter Coat Trend Alert & Style Guidance 2009

This trend has real substance, it oozes confidence, poise and strength and is so accessible. As with many trends you have to believe in what your wearing to carry it off.I love and welcome the trend for necklaces worn over coats for many reasons as in image three, trench worn with long necklace, hot off the Burberry catwalk. A coat is usually our biggest investment of the season, so it is great to be given permission to adorn them in new and innovative ways, with different accessories which can inspire a whole range of exciting new looks. A necklace worn over a coat can have regal connotations, think the Elizabethan period , or equally help to achieve a dynamic folklore look, using vibrant colors.Important points to remember when choosing the right necklace is to balance the proportions of the necklace with the neckline of your coat. A collarless fitted coat dictates you wear your necklace high just over the collar line, if your coat has a big collar and is fitted at the waist you need to wear long layers of necklaces or one long strand that hangs at the navel.If you decided to channel this hot trend this autumn, I would love to see a picture, post one in if you want it to feature on the site.

P.S it goes without saying hooded coats in particular parkas are a no go area when it comes to this trend!

Sharon x

Martin Chester T-shirts designs for life

Hi there,

its great to be back! I wanted to share these two gorgeous T-shirt designs by graphic designer Martin Chester of Design Jack, as I feel its time to provide a little Style inspiration for all the men out there! As a Style Consultant I'm always on the look out for unique pieces of clothing that wont date and are easy pieces to wear. These dynamic T-shirt designs are perfect, bright colours are flattering against most skin tones.Powerful themes of wind power and the animal kingdom, showcase spirituality, energy and strength in a dynamic display of the natural world and will continue to be a constant feature in couture clothing and the high street.

Martin Chester is a accomplished graphic designer,whose company Design Jack is based in Edinburgh, the first T-shirt which features here, is In The Glory Of The Beest, the second T-shirt is entitled Wind power Is Beautiful Baby which he says is a celebration of the elegant technology of the wind turbine.

Ruche Tribe women do it better!

Today I'm going to show you how you can turn the eternal folksy style dial up a notch, to a new look with real bite, Tribal glam, by enlisting the help of my friends at Ruche so essentially extended the wearabilty of your Summer wardrobe. Starting at the bottom of the page, when building a new look I believe one of the easiest ways is to start with your footwear. So hence I had to choose these gorgeous eco gladiator sandals by Rocket dog for Ruche, which work well with my favourite piece in their collection the Anacaona aztec chiffon dress, these talenter feather earrings and the bamboo large wooden tote This look is Tribal Glam at is best and if your looking for a slick dinner party look with attitude or special occasion look this has to be it!

Tribal Glam look number two, consists of this Kaleidoscope of fresh floral colours in this Silk Peony embodied tube dress, worn with multi coloured hoop earrings, Kohala wooden rock bracelet and Gerbradaisy hobo bag in cheddar, you have to buy this if only to announce its name at parties, what a name!
My Glam Tribal look number three, features Ruches Bristle brush strokes dress, so hot from the runway inspired looks, its still smoking! Wear with these purrfect acrylic Bengal cat earrings, gold frosted bracelet or maybe not, there might not be one left for me and this elegant Bamboo large wooden tote. All at Ruche.

Hope you have enjoyed the chance to super size your chic with my mini master class in Tribal Glam, till next time.

Sharon x

My top womens wear pieces to take on holiday this summer

As you can probably tell I have been bitten by the holiday bug, I'm due to go to Devon see top picture next Monday in my little caravan for a week, yay! I had to include a knitted ice cream sundae being a Stylist, just in case you were wondering . To celebrate I decided to round up some of my favourite holiday finds, the criteria was great value for money, quality and style, clothes and accessories that pack easily and help you feel a little Marilyn! For shoes you must check out M&S, the value is incredible, with lots of really chic styles in the limited range at just £15.00 such as the black patent slides featured here. I also loved their nautical inspired swimsuit really flattering for pear shapes, their stunning Zandra Rhodes for M&S swimsuit in fusion colours and their diamond tribal halter neck beach cover up. Bodens stripey slip on pumps in sunshine yellow and denim blue are over £40.00 but superb quality and you will wear them to death, see also their red shirt dress, wear over wide leg trousers till your tan emerges. See also Bodens cute floral shorts, gorgeous pink stripey toweling dress, reversible floppy floral hat at just £15.00 and floral shopper, I love their prints. I couldn't leave you hippy chics out, so my next stop had to be rokit, their acidic vintage floral dress is great for olive beauties and their pastel floaty floral dress would suit paler creamy complexions, with the added bonus that if you snap it up quickly, nobody else will be wearing your dress. They could both easily transition from day to evening wear, giving great value for money and flexibility! I had to include two of my favourite straw bags from the rokit collection, the pastel flowers white straw shopper is so meltingly sweet and would work really well with the pastel dress featured. The tribal graphic straw would look stunning with the red shirt dress featured and black slides or denim pumps. The texture of the tribal straw is very forgiving and will allow you to wear with practically any bright, deep or neutral shades as long as you stick to clean lines.My two favourite nautically inspired pieces are this lovely fresh cotton rucksack which will never date and this silk ruffle off the shoulder top from Principles also in the sale.

Sharon x

The 80's continues to be a strong fashion story in 2009

Agnes embraces 80s chic and you should too, it is one of the most fun decades filled with jelly bean sandals, Rar rar skirts, net, wearing jumpers as dresses, huge earrings, big hair and much, much more.Surprisingly this trend has real substance for all it pantomime and big theatrical looks, strong sculptural lines can be very flattering for most body shapes.

Sharon x

Your very own piece of Cherry Lane

One of my favourite films is Mary Poppins,I love the scene where she reaches into her carpet bag and coolly unpacks her lamp.Woven rugs to me have always exuded mystery and magic. So today when sales frenzy has probably reached every corner of the globe (I know that globes don't have corners,but isn't it a fun expression to use?) I decided to feature what I think are probably the most breath taking bags on earth, from carpetbags.

Loretta's Story (the company founder) has very humble beginnings, in 1974, she moved from London to Bury St Edmund's in Suffolk.With the aim of helping set up charitable organisation Green Desserts,which was interested in raising funds to help with the refertilisation of dessert wasteland.During this time, she enjoyed visiting dead stock auctions where she would bid for a variety of bric a brac, she would purchase anything that caught her eye particularly old mirrors and remnants of old Persian carpet.

It was during this time that members of the charity asked if she had any ideas for items that could be sold at the May Horse Fair to raise money for the charities work.Keen to contribute, she was inspired to make some bags using the the remnants of the carpet she had collected and a old treadle sewing machine her friend had given her.Following a disappointed day at the fair, Loretta undeterred decided to take her bags to London to sell to Harrods and Liberty,they sold immediately. A week later repeat orders came flooding in from both stores,the rest is history.

Today they use copies of images of Persian rugs printed onto heavy duty cotton as it has been increasingly difficult to source old pieces of carpet,the bags themselves are still hand crafted individually and sold online, in London and in Loretta's shop in Cambridge shire. Visit carpetbags to see more of the companies beautiful designs. These bags really do live up to the concept of a bag for life, as once bitten forever smitten!
Sharon x

Bags of Tribal Style!

Hi again, this week I'm flying the flag for Fair Trade accessories and in particular Fairtade in Nepal, I am lucky enough to have family out there, so thought I would do my bit to raise awareness of some of the really chic pieces you can now pick up when on line.

I hope like these two great looks I have put together, the first shows how you can transform a romantic Tribal look, to a stronger sexier look and the second look shows how Tribal can be really elegant, without a hint of Boho or Grunge in sight.

This earthy gold and ochre Nepalese Fairtade woven hemp bag in a classical style would great when worn with either the Om Marni silver Nepalese Fair trade bracelet or this lovely Heart Twill red seed handmade bracelet by Suzanne Cambell at Jungle Berry that doesn't use any toxic dyes as it relies on the seeds natural colour for impact. For an even stronger look,wear the Om Marni bracel and is stunning Nepalese Fair trade red glass bead necklace, wear with brown gladiator sandals.

Look number two, shows how to build a elegant Tribal feel, that looks really sophisticated, little sister beware, this look could be worn day or night. This Lipsy dress offer a vibrant Tribal pattern with a flattering forties cut, sheer genius.Wear with Sunset Orange raw silk bag from Fair trade company Nepalese Creations, these beautifully fluid solid silver earrings from Welsh Company La Jewelry, which use locally sourced silver and this silver and garnet holes bracelet again Fairtade from Nepal. All combine to make temperatures soar!

See you soon

Sharon x