Nina Naustdal is celebrating a strong, sexy silhouette with the hourglass shape as a starting point.
The Nina Naustdal London Fashion Week Couture Collection was brought to the catwalk of Le Peep Boutique, One Hundred & Forty One, Park Lane, on Tuesday 24th February 2015
showcasing her Couture Spring/Summer 2015 collection and RTW Gold and Black Autumn/Winter 2015 collections.
Show-stopping demure-length gowns with elegant embellishment held the VIP audience in its thrall, enriching wardrobes both day and night, running the gamut from barely-there glimmer to sumptuous sparkle, offering up a rich feast for the eyes.
Floor-length gowns injecting eveningwear with a sultry, film-noir glamour, heavily embellished pieces taking on a new aptness for the day, casting off their traditional after-hours associations.
Revitalising kicks of block colour, Nina offers an antidote to winter’s darkest hour with top-to-toe primaries offering an edgy take on statement dressing.
She creates a new dimension to black – fashion’s default colour – thanks to some crafty textural trickery.
Artful detailing added a touch of classical grace, dresses drenched in embroidery, taking the traditional notions of opulence to brilliant extremes.
Equestrian-style jackets heightened with luxe glamour, architectural structuring, doubling the impact with lace-on-lace layering.
This glorious collection offered a wonderful juxtapositioning of colour, bold and painterly with will-ó-the-wisp fabrics in beautifully billowing layers,
taking shimmer into darker territory, lending a dangerous glamour to couture spring/summer and ready-to-wear autumn/winter.
Emphasis shifted to the waist, as a curvaceous, sexy new shape dominated, flashes of acid colour and the most desirable sharp and sour tones.
It doesn’t get more fashion-forward than this…Nina offered a show-stopping celebration of the female form.
Electric violinist, Linzi Stoppard, pleased the VIP audience with a dazzling performance… intoxicating classical rhythms from her Swarovski-laden bridge violin.
Nina Naustdal was born in Oslo and fell in love with fashion and design from an early age when she was inspired by her Grandma’s work as a seamstress. She represented Norway at athletics in Track and Field until the age of 18 before studying fashion design at Esmod.
Having moved to the UK and become a mother to three children, as well as seven Chihuahuas, Nina launched her own eponymous brand in May 2011, opened her first Boutique on Walton Street, and now works by appointment only from her new showroom in Chelsea, SW3.
Nina is passionate about Couture and loves creating dresses that are feminine, special and unique. Her life philosophy is based around the premise that is ‘Normal is Boring’ and that is reflected in her designs as she takes inspiration from precious stones to create collections that feature glamorous cocktail dresses and gowns in fluid, jewel-toned Italian silks glittering with hundreds of individually hand-applied Swarovski crystals as well as hand picked exclusive fabrics sourced from all over the world.
Nina’s new Ready-To-Wear collection includes colourful prints in feminine shapes for everyday wear and her new range of bridal wear is elegant, distinctive and very far from boring!
All Nina’s pieces are made in her London atelier so that she can personally oversee every stage of production and ensure that each piece is finished to the highest quality and that the dresses are perfectly cut to compliment her clients.
About Le Peep Boutique…
Le Peep Boutique, a members club, restaurant, cocktail bar and night club, inspired by the glamour and theatre of 1920s Paris, located on Park Lane Mayfair.
Release date: 23 March 2015 Lead Tracks:
Lost Talent
Only Listen
Two Feet in a Crowd
Formed in Bristol in 2013, melodic hardcore/punk band Milo’s Planes began as a duo of Joe Sherrin (guitar, vocals and bass) and Harry Sherrin (drums and backing vocals). After recording their first album they were joined by Charlie Horne (bass and backing vocals) who was a natural fit, sharing a love of Wire, Fugazi, Leatherface, Lync, Rites of Spring, early Modest Mouse and Pavement.
Priding themselves on their DIY approach to their music, the trio record and produce all their tracks themselves on a sixteen track in Harry’s bedroom.
Joe’s guitar playing is influenced heavily by the nineties emo/post hardcore band Lync; he uses a off-beat tunings as a means to create interesting chords.
The band have earned support slots for Eagulls, Skaters, Traams, Electric Eel Shock and their hero Mike Watt, who made a cameo appearance in their music video for ‘Two Feet In a Crowd’.
‘Aural Palate Cleaning Exercises’ has been a labour of love with Joe spending months re-ordering track listings, carefully editing exact track lengths, dropping songs and adding piano interludes/snippets of radio samples to make it flow as one complete piece.
Of the subject matter, Joe says largely focuses on his experiences within soul destroying, bureaucratic admin jobs and the seemingly endless supply of bizarrely ordinary characters that can only be found within these roles. He explains “A large part of the fun I have writing lyrics is studying the mundane to the point where tiny details can be unearthed, exposed as real concerns and then exaggerated upon maniacally as a way for me to express the true feelings of frantic despair I feel sitting at a desk for 8 hours of my day. Being pretentious I would say a running theme of the album is using language as a means to disguise tiny, nit-picky & personal matters as universally angry subjects worth shouting about.”
In between ‘A Letter In Confidence’ and ‘Interlude 2’ is a hidden track; a shortened acoustic version of an earlier track – this was a concious effort to end the album in what Joe describes as a “dissonance of feedback which quickly resolves into something pretty & melancholy, with the album’s final words (“I have good intentions, but I never know why”) a statement intended to summarize the whole album.”
The brief was to get myself to Trafalgar Square at 11:45 on Friday 27th February, find the 8’ high teapot and share a cup of Rosie Lee with former Dragon’s Den star, Theo Paphitis and some of his celebrity friends, all in the name of Comic Relief’s bi-annual Red Nose Day being held on Friday 13th March 2015.
On what was possibly the warmest day of the year so far, a crowd gathered, donning red noses, handed out by a pair of bananas… well, two bubbly members of Ryman staff dressed as bananas, mingling and giggling in the bright sunshine – I lost count of the number of selfies that were being taken around me, celebrities and the public posing together, all in the name of the Comic Relief charity. Matt Cardle, Lauren Goodger, Jake Wood, Helen Lederer, Nick Moran and Paul Bradley graciously took time out to raise awareness for Comic Relief and Red Nose Day 2015. Theo brought along the Boux Avenue Range Rover, all blinged-up, surrounded by a bevvy of TOWIE fans just itching to lick the bonnet.
Born-organiser and self-confessed shopkeeper,Theo Paphitis, shepherded his celebrity friends and warmly invited the public to grab a cup of tea (courtesy of PG Tips, served by www.coopersbeansandleaves.com from their quirky little three wheeled mobile coffee van) and chat … and chat we did.
Jake Wood (aka Max Branning – EastEnders) told me about his time on Strictly Come Dancing – a sharp learning curve when you’ve never danced before, but under the wing of professional dancer, Janette Manrara, Jake proved that he has a natural talent for Ballroom and Latin dancing – borne out through many spectacular hip-gyrating Salsas and Rumbas, taking him through to the nail-biting #SCD semi-finals. Jake explained to me that he is now mentoring Anna Kennedy, a mother from Uxbridge who set up schools and support for people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders and will be a contestant on a very special edition of the hit BBC series Strictly Come Dancing.
Mrs Kennedy, 54, set up Hillingdon Manor School in Harlington Road in 1999 after struggling to find suitable education for her two autistic sons and will partner Robin Windsor on the BBC 1 show, mentored by Jake and Janette. Anna, who has received an OBE for services to special needs education, will be one of six ‘everyday heroes’ taking part in The People’s Strictly for Comic Relief. The five-part series will see all the regular Strictly faces, including judges Anton du Beke, Darcey Bussell, Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman, and hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
Jake paid tribute to the BBC, explaining the behind-the-scenes activities that go into putting a series together, along with intense training and the rush of adrenaline when performing, the format is unlike any other. I asked if he is going to continue dancing and he answered “My children loved seeing me dance in Strictly and I think they’d have something to say if I stopped now!”
When the kettle came off the boil and the teapot ran dry, we moved inside to the Trafalgar Hotel where I sat down with Theo Paphitis, Chairman of Ryman, Chairman and Owner of Robert Dyas and Boux Avenue, also sitting on the Commercial and Technology board for Comic Relief.
CDTT: Thank you for the interview, Theo! So, tell me, how did #TeaWithTheo come about?
TP: Well, I’m a director of Comic Relief, for a start, I’ve been involved with them for many years, I’ve been to many of the projects around the world that we fund to see where the money is spent that the great British public donate to and that it’s spent properly and well. I’ve been involved with it with my businesses for a number of years, both Ryman and Robert Dyas, both convenience shops involved with our communities so there’s real great enthusiasm in those six weeks leading up to Comic Relief where it gives our colleagues the opportunity to interact with our customers, have a bit of fun, be a bit silly, come off the tracks a little bit and come away from the mundane part of life and raise millions and millions of pounds, which we do every year for the charity, and help others, so it really is win-win all round.
CDTT: A great collaboration Theo, as you say, win-win. You mentioned Boux Avenue, this is a brand that’s relatively new to me.
TP: Where do you live?
CDTT: Norwich.
TP: Ah, we have a shop in Norwich, in Chapelfield. Really, Boux Avenue was probably the biggest single reason I stopped Dragon’s Den… that, and Robert Dyas, because I started Boux Avenue. And when we started Boux Avenue, we took a clean piece of paper and I said if I wanted to create an international lingerie company and I’ve got nothing at the moment, how would it be? So we designed a shop, opened a few shops to test it, created and designed the product, and we’ve been going for three years now. We’ve got 25 stores in the UK, 10 overseas already, we’re now turning over a lot of money as a business, it’s become an international brand and it’s taken a lot of my time with a lot of people involved, an international team and we’re very excited about it. In the middle of a recession, we started a retail business aimed at an international market…
CDTT: …and it worked.
TP: And it worked.
CDTT: You did an interview back in 2011 and quoted that you were going on the search for ‘Boux’, did you find her?
TP: Boux… a little French woman we met on a family holiday in Monaco, she was cute and lovely and epitomised what we had in mind for the brand.
CDTT: Well, Shane and I are going to Monaco this year, so we’ll look out for her! With my fashion editor hat on now, your style and dress sense is very elegant… do you have a stylist or does Mrs P choose your clothes?
TP: I have had a stylist for a programme I appeared on, but I dress myself – Man at Dunhill!
CDTT: (Both laugh) And do you have any acquisitions or business opportunities in the pipeline that you can tell me about?
TP: Well, Boux Avenue is growing internationally, any day now I’m going to sign a contract on another large international deal which we’ll probably announce within the next ten days, Robert Dyas is growing, Ryman is growing, we’re always on the look out for other things. We’ve had a great Christmas, a great retail year, and we’re all passionate about what we do, we all love shop-keeping, if you look on my Twitter, I’m the ‘shopkeeper’, that’s what I do. I’d give up television and everything else, but I couldn’t give up shop-keeping.
CDTT: So the reason you left Dragons Den was because the new businesses were in their infancy and you needed to give more time to ‘shop-keeping’.
TP: Yes, and Boux had launched, I risked a lot of money in that, I had to get that right and also it wasn’t fair to everybody else, my diary was becoming rubbish and the filming weeks made things very tight. I had such a marvellous time (on Dragons Den) and the BBC get knocked and knocked and knocked but actually, as I learnt about television and learnt how brilliant the BBC are, I became more appreciative of what they do… people don’t realise how good they are. So I had a wonderful time in my eight years on Dragon’s Den and it was a wrench to leave, it really was a wrench.
CDTT: I think the public miss you not being there sitting next to Peter.
TP: Well, Deborah (Meaden) has my seat now but the BBC were very generous giving me a year off television to get my businesses established and they kindly backed me, and a year to the day, they called and offered me a slot on The One Show, which is great fun. I’m back into the swing of things now that Boux is established, and Robert Dyas has gone from a difficult loss-making business to a very profitable business. So what’s new? I’ll tell you what’s new, I’m back on TV, that’s what’s new.
CDTT: So, to round things off, the person that really makes me laugh is Lee Evans, he hits my comedy button, who hits yours?
TP: Morecambe and Wise always made me laugh, David Jason, but now… and Mrs P is really going to slap me for saying this, Lemon, Keith Lemon! He cracks me up!
CDTT: And who is Mrs P’s favourite?
TP: Miranda! Miranda actually said “Theo Paphitis is my fantasy man” in one episode… my Twitter feed went mad (laughing).
CDTT: Thank you so much Theo, a fabulous interview!
TP: Lovely to meet you, enjoy your cruise and Monaco… and if you see Boux, say hello!
After the interview, I came to the conclusion this successful entrepreneur really does have a USP … a ‘Unique Spirited Person’ with a nose for business and an eye for the opportunity – plus he makes a jolly good cup of builders slosh!
Watch the Snotty Professor teapot being eased into place!
Time for tea with Theo and his celebrity friends:
Matt Cardle
Appearing at Wrexposure Music Festival on 4th April 2015 – www.wrexposure.com/
@LaurenGoodger – www.laurensway.com – promoting her range of tan, lip, hair and eyelash products, wearing a camel–coloured coat from Cherry Drop Clothing:
Best known playing Nigel Bates EastEnders, now Elliot Hope in Holby City
Helen Lederer
Losing It is the hilarious debut from Helen Lederer, one of the UK’s favourite comediennes, a ‘mid-lit’ book (apparently somewhere between chick-lit and grey-lit!)
Nick Moran
Appearing in ‘Twelve Angry Men’ at the Garrick Theatre, London, until March 15;nimaxtheatres.com/Garrick
OWN YOUR OWN RED NOSE DAY TEAPOT!
The porcelain Red Nose Day teapot featuring the Snotty Professor costs £4.99 from Robert Dyas or from the online shop, with at least £2.25 from each sale going to Comic Relief.
Through his appearances on Dragons’ Den, Theo has advised many young entrepreneurs and invested in several innovative businesses and brands. The Paphitis Charitable Trust distributes all of his fees from TV appearances, speeches and his book to causes close to his heart and charities associated with children. In early 2009 Theo was appointed patron for Skillsmart Retail, the Sector Skills Council for Retail, which is committed to driving up skills levels in the industry. His special areas of responsibility are as the Retail Apprentices’ Champion and for the new National Skills Academy for Retail. In summer 2009 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Middlesex. Theo lives in Surrey with his wife Debbie. They have five children and three grandchildren.
Ryman – www.ryman.co.uk
Ryman is a UK stationery retail company with over 230 outlets nationwide in the UK. The website and stores provide a wide range of stationery and office supplies for homes and businesses. Theo acquired Ryman in 1995. He introduced the Ryman Direct mail ordercatalogue in 1996, the Ryman website in 1998 and has turned Ryman into a successful and profitable business comprising 232 stores with a turnover of more than £120m.
Robert Dyas – www.robertdyas.co.uk
Robert Dyas is a UK retailer founded in London in 1872. The website and stores provide ranges of housewares, small electrical appliances, gardening products, kitchenwares, DIY, and consumer electronics throughout 96 stores, mainly in Greater London and South East England.
Boux Avenue – www.bouxavenue.com
Boux Avenue Ltd. is a chain of lingerie stores based in the United Kingdom. Boux Avenue launched in the spring of 2011 initially opening six stores across the United Kingdom. All the stores are located in shopping centres across the region, including Bluewater (Kent), Lakeside (Essex), St. Davids (Cardiff), Trafford Centre (Manchester), Meadowhall Centre (Sheffield) and Buchanan Galleries (Glasgow). In March 2012, a seventh store in Birmingham’s Bullring opened. In September 2014, an eighth store opened in Brighton’s Churchill Square shopping centre. The store boasts an original selling layout for the UK shopper by displaying the majority of its products in drawers as opposed to hanging rails and stands.
www.coopersbeansandleaves.com
With their quirky little three wheeled mobile coffee van, Coopers Beans and Leaves brings you high quality gourmet coffees including Lattes, Cappuccinos, Americanos, to name but a few, also offering a large range of Organic Fairtrade Clipper Teas, (always adding to the range), the “best” hot chocolate, Chai, Lynch’s Hot Apple & Schmoo Milkshakes, along with a delicious selection of home-made cakes and goodies. #TeaWithTheo event images courtesy Shane Finn www.visual-devotion.co.uk@VisualDevotion
We are huge fans of Chris Evans, Michelle Monaghan & Aubrey Plaza at Frost, so you can imagine our excitement for new offbeat romantic comedy Playing it Cool.
Playing it Cool is this generation’s ‘Swingers’ meets ‘500 Days of Summer’, a fresh and quirky story of a slight pretentious man, our ‘narrator’ (Evans), who falls for an unlikely girl, ‘her’ (Monaghan), and will stop at nothing to get her even after realizing she is already in a relationship. Like a young ‘Walter Mitty’, it tells the story of a quarter-life crisis amidst figuring out who you are and what your destiny holds.
In Playing it Cool unrequited love motivates a guy to write about his experiences…
Directed by Justin Reardon, Playing it Cool is from a screenplay by Chris Shafer and Paul Vicknair, from Wonderland Sound & Vision and Voltage Films.
Playing it Cool will be available on VOD from March 2nd 2015.
2015 is the year of Mexico in the UK and to celebrate there is a wonderful and vibrant pop up Mexico exhibition which opened yesterday in Potters Fields. I went along to take in the culture and the fun experience.
As I headed towards Potters Field I heard beautiful Mexican music and already saw the bright colours and statues. There were crowds everywhere. The exhibition had certainly caught the attention of Londoners who were having lots of fun. There was a huge queue at the Wahaca truck for burritos and nachos. But it is not all food, statues and music. There is an immersive pop-up pavilion in London’s South Bank. It is a multi-media experience and is not just educational but also tons of fun. You learn all about Mexico through state-of-the-art innovation, using cutting-edge modern technology. Best of all, it’s free!
Inside the dome is a very cool colourful car, clothes, the opportunity to experience Mexico City, lots of art and lots of other immersive media. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable. I had a great time and I learned a lot. I definitely want to head to Mexico now. It has made its way onto my bucket list as it is so beautiful. Mexico has a lot going for it.
2015 marks the beginning of an exciting collaboration between Mexico and the United Kingdom. For twelve months, the two countries will create new connections in the areas of culture, arts, education, science, innovation, trade and investment. There will be a series of events taking place across the UK, all of which are designed to address the preconceptions people have about Mexico. Mexico is not about mariachi, tacos and guacamole anymore.This is all about the modern and contemporary Mexico that has everything to offer: wonderful culture, great food, nature and art. In fact, Mexico is the only nation to have its cuisine designated by UNESCO as of Intangible Heritage of Humanity so after checking out the exhibition enjoy some great food by acclaimed Mexican restaurant, Wahaca.
If you don’t live in London, don’t worry, you won’t miss out. Later in the year the dome will be travelling north to Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. This is a great day out for all of the family. Pop along before it closes on the 12th March.
The dome is open to the general public: 26th Feb – 12th March, Potters Field Park next to City Hall, 10am – 8pm. Entry is free.
The Cuddledry is something that immediately caught my eye. Reason? Because it is so damn cute. It would take a hard person indeed to look at the pictures of the cute baby wrapped in this towel and not go ‘aw’. But we can’t be worn over on cuteness alone (mostly). Does it work? Is it convenient? Read on…
First of all, it looks good. It is obviously high quality. It is very soft and feels great. Perfect for baby’s skin. If you don’t already know what the Cuddledry is; it is an apron style towel that lets you dry your baby hands free. This is not to be underestimated. Anything that stops you dropping your baby is a good thing. The baby bath towel also keeps you dry and it has a hood which makes baby look adorable and keeps the water away from baby’s skin and hair. We love this apron towel. It makes life with a newborn significantly easier. A brilliant, yet simple invention.
Made with natural bamboo fibre and pure cotton, the Cuddledry is much softer than a normal towel, and stays that way after washing – ideal for snuggling and drying your little one’s soft skin.
Cuddledry designers, Helen Wooldridge and Polly Marsh, were inspired to create the Cuddledry after they and their husbands struggled at bath time with slippery babies, and realising this was a challenge every new parent faces:
“We asked hundreds of parents and found that mums and dads everywhere battle with baby towels held awkwardly under their chin, or in their teeth, or put crying babies onto towels on cold bathroom floors, to get over the need for an extra hand to hold the towel at bath time,” explains Polly Marsh, one of Cuddledry’s creators. “It is of course impossible to safely lift a baby without two hands, but you also somehow have to hold a towel and wrap them in it!”
“Cuddledry have thought of everything, it clips around the neck to free up your arms for picking up your bubba and drying them in a flash, before you know it baby is all snuggled up in the cuddly side. Fantastic invention, why didn’t I think of it first” – Zoe Ball
“I’m so glad my mum bought a Cuddledry for me, it’s the best thing anyone can buy for a new parent.” Denise Van Outen
Helen and Polly were asked by the BBC to take the Cuddledry apron towel onto Dragons Den. They amazed the dragons by turning down three offers of investment. Since the show, the entrepreneurial duo has secured private investment and the business has expanded beyond all expectations. The Cuddledry is now used by tens of thousands of parents, endorsed by celebrities and recommended by midwives and maternity nurses worldwide. It has won over 40 prestigious awards and is recommended again and again as the number 1 baby bath-time essential.
The Cuddledry apron is available to buy for £29.99 here or from Boots.com, John Lewis.com, JoJoMamanBebe.com and Mothercare.com as well as the Cuddledry website www.cuddledry.com
It may break the rules, but daytime glitz is all the rage and real stones have never been so cutting-edge.
On Saturday evening, Jennifer Klein launched her debut ‘Diamonds are Forever’ 2015 collection at the Meursault, Kensington, a heady mix of the finest jewellery on a catwalk presentation produced by Oliver Morris and played out to a huddle of well-heeled, glossy VIP guests who were treated to drinks and canapés whilst deliberating on their purchases, direct from the catwalk. Alex B, a vision of elegance, compered the evening, taking the audience through the collection at an absorbable pace.
Jennifer’s use of fashion colours rather than traditional hues make this exclusive collection as appealing as a sweet shop – fashion accessories to be indulged in.
This is great news for the woman who loves to wear real jewellery. The last few years the girlie, quasi-Bohemian aesthetic has been fun but it didn’t give us the opportunity to dazzle – real gemstones instead of paste is what suits fashion’s money-conscious new mood … and Jennifer Klein is running with it.
Aimed at a design-conscious clientele, far from the hushed, carpeted atmosphere of the old-fashioned jeweller as you can imagine, Jennifer’s collection is giving real jewellery a modish twist, it’s as though all the sugariness of the past few years has unleashed in each of us the deep desire to behave like a woman of the world, instead of a slip of a girl.
Jennifer Klein has rationalised the reinstatement of the pearl necklace, considering all the baggage it once carried with it of dowager duchesses, maiden aunts and women who wear taffeta gowns to the opera. The return to real jewellery is about being grown-up, chic, womanly. It’s a step up in sophistication and it’s a step up in significance because a necklace intricately defined with real stones is, by definition, less throwaway than, say, a £5 bead choker from Top Shop.
Real gems are now being worn by a younger generation of women, no longer saved for special occasions, but worn with the season’s wardrobe – just as all those rules about only wearing sequins in the evening dissolved in a flurry of spangled T-shirts, the idea of what jewellery you can wear and when is changing.
The catwalk featured black leather and silk necklaces, 4 stone detail embellishments incorporating Tibetan turquoise, quartz druzy, white agate and amethyst, Swarovski crystals and 18 carat gold plate, double freshwater pearl
and black druzy. Cuffs adorned with semi-precious bi-colour gemstones surrounded by tumbled ametrine and crystal on genuine snakeskin bands… each piece, due to their inherent characteristics, unique and unmatched.
Each beautiful adornment is sensibly priced, earrings are approximately £150 per pair, necklaces, approximately £380 and cuffs around £175.
A Latin-themed dance show inspired by the sophistication of Jennifer Klein’s luxury jewellery debut collection was presented by international championship dancers, Florent and Diana – superior dancing from a couple who are taking London Fashion Week 2015 by storm, leaving the audience spellbound after a breath-taking performance.
Please view the beautiful promotional video featuring the jewellery of Jennifer Klein:
About Jennifer Klein…
London, Paris, New York and Spain were the backdrops and influences growing up with a mother who was a model and an International fashion tycoon for a father. Jennifer began her 14 year career in beauty as a professional makeup artist working with prestigious brands such as MAC, Laura Mercier, Space NK and Shu Uemura.
Along with her fashion and beauty editorial background, she has also worked within corporate PR and media. As well as styling commercial fashion shoots in Spain, London and New York, Jennifer is a model who has also worked with a great portfolio of International clients including Spanish Hola!, Vogue España, Marie-Claire, Tatler and Now! magazine.
Having identified a gap in the market where fashion, beauty and lifestyle are synthesised within one brand. My A-Dress Book under one dynamic platform, is the first part of this vision.
About My Secret Dressing Room…
YOUR INFINITE WARDROBE
They say you are what you wear… Although I am sure you will agree it is not always easy to find the right outfit for every occasion! Then again, the idea of continually wearing the same outfit can quickly lose the appeal, and additionally you are really eager to keep up with trends without spending a fortune. Well, we have the answer! My Secret Dressing Room is an infinite wardrobe, where women like you, share dresses, bags, shoes and fabulous accessories.
RENTING IS EASY, QUICK AND SECURE
Once registered, you can browse the infinite wardrobe for your perfect outfit. You are able to ask the Secret Stylists for specific information and advice on the fashion items. When you have selected the perfect fashion item/s, you then choose a suitable time and location for delivery and collection. The chosen items can be delivered directly to your home or place of work. After your fashion item hire, you will be encouraged to give feedback on the fashion items and the SecretStylists. Your opinion is important in allowing the secret community to flourish while providing the opportunity for SecretFans to select their dream outfits.
HIRING OUT YOUR FASHION ITEMS IS EASY AND ENJOYABLE
Becoming a ‘Secret Stylist’ is very easy, and above all, totally enjoyable! Simply register on the website, book your free photo shoot, and select the dresses and accessories you would like to add to your virtual wardrobe. On completion, you will be invited to meet our team, where you can star in your own private photo shoot, all managed by our fashion professionals. (If preferred, we are happy to organise our own model ) Once the fashion items are loaded onto the website, you can decide the hire price for your items alongside your own brief description of each piece – perhaps telling the story detailing the event and experience of them. When a lady chooses her perfect outfit from your wardrobe, our personal courier service will collect and deliver them directly to her, allowing her fashion fantasy to become a reality!
On Monday the 23rd February MPs voted on whether to amend the serious crime bill to make abortion based on foetal gender a crime. MPs ultimately rejected the amendment to the bill from Fiona Bruce. But was it the right decision?
Sex selective abortion is only one thing: gendercide. This brilliant article on gendercide in The Economist states the shocking fact that at least 100 million girls have been killed. It will be much more now, the article was written five years ago, but it has always stayed with me. I always thought sex selective abortion was a problem in China and India, I had no idea that it was also problem in Britain. And lets be clear: it is a problem, and a growing one.
I tend to be wary of amendments to abortion rights. In the US more and more bills are passed to take away a women’s right to her own reproductive future. History also proves that it doesn’t matter if abortion is legal or not, women will still have them. Legalisation means less maternal deaths. I am pro-choice even though I would never have an abortion myself. A woman’s body belongs to herself, not the government. But what about gendercide? Which is a very real crime.
As I write this I am 35 weeks pregnant with a boy. When we told people the sex of our child I was shocked at the sexism. I was told congratulations for having a boy. I was even told it is ‘better to have a boy’. Why? Usually no reason was given. Or a fluster of babbling that made no coherent sense. I was supposed to feel proud that my body was making a boy, as if by making a daughter I would somehow have failed. What makes a boys life more important than a girls? It’s a good question, if only so we can address and dismantle it. If there is pressure for a white, British, non-religious female to have a boy, can you imagine how much pressure a woman from another culture would feel?
Feminists widely criticised the amendment. Bryony Gordon spoke out against it. Rebecca Schiller wrote an amazing article on it but I think they are both wrong. Should gendercide be illegal? Yes. Schiller says “This is not about whether sex-selective abortion is right. This is about a woman deciding what happens to her body throughout her life and valuing her as the key protagonist in these decisions across her lifetime.” She makes a good point, but if that decision is to kill a baby girl then it is not okay. The Telegraph did an amazing expose on doctors agreeing to do sex selective abortions.
Lisa Hallgarten, chair of Voice for Choice, said: “We urge MPs from all political parties to oppose this dangerous amendment. This is the wrong piece of legislation to address the issue of son-preference and gender discrimination and could disadvantage the very women it claims to be helping. “If passed, this amendment would seriously undermine abortion law and provision in this country, which is clearly the intention of its proposer Fiona Bruce MP.” Some feminist may be up in arms but what is more anti-feminist than a girl being aborted just because of her gender? One way to fix this is the gender of the child not being revealed until the abortion limit has passed.
Women’s reproductive rights have been hard won and should always be protected but the truth is sex selective abortions are becoming more common in Britain. Christina Odone wrote a great piece in The Telegraph and stated that ‘We should be up in arms at the thought of would-be parents deciding that girls are not worth conceiving. In a country where the culling of baby seals brings out street protests, the culling of baby girls is happening without a murmur.” We must defend the rights of girls. In the womb and out. Labour MP Yvette CooperMP has said that the practice of aborting a foetus simply based on their sex is already illegal, but more must be done to enforce it. Over one million girls are lost every year to gendercide. Something must be done about it. We must show that a girls life is just as important as a boys.
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or from Boots.com, John Lewis.com, JoJoMamanBebe.com and Mothercare.com as well as the Cuddledry website www.cuddledry.com
