Category: Dear Diary

So, it’s very cold and I’ve already eaten far too much chocolate. This means that it’s DEFINTELY Christmas time.

I posted photos of my Christmas tree/bunch of twigs back at the beginning of December, and I wanted to see yours! I’m still surprised by the number of people not having a tree, even when I was at university I always had my teeny tiny tree, but then, I’m a massive big kid about Christmas and I start celebrating somewhere around the end of November.

To whip up a bit of Christmas spirit, here’s the photos. From fans of Retro Chick on Facebook and on Twitter and other bloggers who left their links.

The Co Ordinated Trees

Wendy and Michelle both had amazing co ordinated trees, in purple for Michelle and Green for Wendy who had a white tree as a child and bought this one for a bit of Christmas nostalgia

The Traditional Trees

Sarah, Fiona, Anita and Jo have all gone for gorgeous traditional trees.

The Crazy Trees

Kate decorated her white tree with super bright tinsel and beads, while Vince has a vintage 1960s tree.

The Bloggers Trees

Finally Blogging lovelies Lady Lunacy, Paige Turner and Sugar and Spice all showed me their blog posts featuring their Christmas Trees.

Christmas isn’t over yet people, in fact it hasn’t even begun. So if your tree isn’t up yet you can still share it with the world when it is! Add a link to the comments at the bottom. If I get enough more I might even do another post before Christmas.

Now, have some mulled wine and soak up the Christmas spirit!

In case you didn’t already know, this was my first season with a Press Pass at London Fashion Week. Lack of organisation, lack of confidence and a lack of belief that I would get approved for a pass in the first place meant that in the end I decided to attend just the Saturday with the intention of checking out the exhibition, soaking up the atmosphere, and generally getting a feel for what London Fashion Week means without completely killing myself.

This meant I had to turn down a couple of invitations, for other days, but some last minute emails and a bit of begging and borrowing from Reena at Fashion Daydreams meant I bagged an invite to the Louise Gray and Cooperative Designs presentation and the Bryce D’anice Aime catwalk show at Fashion Scout.

I was hellish nervous beforehand. To be honest I’m probably that kind of person anyway, but London Fashion Week (or any Fashion Week) has a gloss of glamour and in crowd, air kissy, bitchy girl judgement about it which had me in a heightened state of awareness about everything I put on that morning. Not wanting to stand out too much (I’m such a wallflower) I stuck to black tights and jacket with a short black and beige silk dress.

Arriving at Somerset House alone to pick up my Press Pass and get to the Louise Gray presentation I felt 2 things:

• Fear – I had NO CLUE where I was going, there were signs and maps, but they meant nothing to me
• Excitement – The atmosphere really was amazing.

Suffice to say I managed to find “Registration and Fast Trak” at the back of the Courtyard behind the Catwalk Space and swapped my print out email for an exciting press pass to wear round my neck

Essentially Fashion Week is a huge trade show. Two years ago I somehow ended up at the National House Builders Exhibition in Birmingham (don’t ask) and I spent the day walking round stands while PR reps attempted to give me leaflets, mouse mats, mugs and keyrings. Fashion Week is basically the same, but with less mouse mats and mugs (shame)

Focus is often on the Catwalk shows, with their glamour, mystique and front row celebrity, but there is A LOT more to see, even if you’re a blogger or buyer with a focus on more affordable fashion this is definitely a place to find out about labels and designers you might otherwise miss.

So, as a Fashion Week First Timer these are the tips that I will take forward with me next season:

• Wear flat shoes

There are 2 types of people at London Fashion Week. The ones that want to take photos and the ones that want their photo taken. If you are one of the former then no one gives a crap what you look like except you, so you might as well be comfortable. If you must wear heels then at least take flats with you so that when you are stood at the front of a queue for a show that is running 45 minutes late and the clipboard Nazis are running up and down ushering more important people straight to the front of the line you won’t be tempted to cry/sit on the floor/kill them with your stylishly spiky heels.

• Take a big bag

If you are a blogger there is a lot of potentially useful information you can collect and you’ll need a bag to put it in. Look Books, Press Packs, copies of Drapers, free chocolate (thanks Oxfam) they’re all big and heavy and need somewhere to live. They did give you a LFW Tote Bag when you registered, except I somehow missed out as I went to Fast Trak and to start with everything was in my handbag (my Lulu Guinness City Tote, why not try and win your own ;o) ). I did grab a tote later on, which brings me to my next tip.

• Ask for help

There are people dressed in black, generally hovering around the info signs. They are wearing big badges that say “HELP” (or something like that). Oddly enough they are there to help and when you ask them a question what they do NOT do is fix you with a withering stare like you don’t belong. They tell you what you need to know, and then they smile. Weird.

• Take plenty of Business Cards

Seriously, I took about 10 (I mean, who gives a crap about me?) and I’d run out by lunch time. The PRs on the exhibition stands are there to make contacts just as much as you are, and they want your details, make sure you have them to give.

• Look at the Exhibition

Like I said, the Catwalks have the glamour, but not only is the exhibition stuffed with useful new discoveries, but each stand tends to be manned by PR people, and they don’t only represent one client. Making contacts here, even if that specific stand isn’t of massive relevance to you, could really benefit you in the future.

• Be yourself

Some people are arses who will demonstrate not the slightest bit of interest in discussing their product or design with you. Some of them are lovely, friendly, open people who want to chat with you about life, let you admire their shoes, try on their hats and form useful business relationships. Don’t try and impress the first kind, they’re not worth it, they’ve already read your badge and decided you’re not important enough to talk to. Their loss.

• Don’t buy lunch at Somerset House

This salad cost £5.25 (Yes, I’m a Blogger, I’m allowed to photograph my lunch). There are cheaper and yummier places round the corner.

Yesterday afternoon I dragged myself into rain sodden London for a rather pleasant afternoon tea at the Met Bar with 7 other Fashion Bloggers. Lulu Guinness is embracing this new exciting world of social media and blogging in a way that makes me wish all designers were as switched on and would treat me to afternoon tea and Bellinis more often.

If you’d like you can join her on both Facebook and Twitter.

The event was due to be hosted by Lulu herself, but unfortunately due to personal reasons she was unable to be there. Keeping us entertained and encouraging us to communicate without the security of a computer screen between us was therefore left to various members of her PR team, who did a fabulous job.

The tea is inspired by her Spring Summer 2010 collection, which is being exhibited in the Metropolitan during London Fashion Week and features gorgeous candy coloured cakes and biscuits decorated with tiny Cameos, oversized flowers and Pollyanna clutches inspired by Lulu’s designs. I hesitate to call them healthy as nothing so yummy can possibly be healthy but they ARE low fat, and the breadless sandwiches, particularly the roast beef, make me sad I can’t eat like this everyday.

I would tell you more about the menu but sadly I wasn’t listening properly to the polite man who told us all about it as, along with everyone else, I was too busy cooing over the beautiful cakes and taking photos of my food in classic blogger style.

My particular fight for cake (conducted very politely) was with Rachael from Fur Coat, No Knickers, and Nicky from My Fashion Life who were just as lovely and scrumptious as the cakes, despite the wet weather.

Things I learnt yesterday include:

• Fashion Bloggers obviously differ from your stereotypical Fashionista, much cake was eaten and doggy bags taken home.

• The Met Bar is just a fairly swanky hotel bar, and not, as exciting and debauched as I thought it would be when it opened in the mid 90s and was full of clebs (maybe they save the debauchery for after the bloggers have left?).

• The Waitresses at the Met Bar have splits in the back of their skirts that come dangerously close to places skirt splits shouldn’t go.

• I really don’t like rain.

• I do like cake. And Bellinis. And Lulu Guinness Lips Clutches

The Afternoon De-Light menu is available from 3-6pm Mon-Sat 14th-26th September.
It costs £24 per person with a pot of tea or fruit infusion.
Reservations are required: 020 7447 4757.
For more information, click here.

This weekend I went to a friends Hen Party, which included a Burlesque Lesson in the afternoon. I have to say I absolutely loooved the Burlesque lesson, despite the outfit traumas it gave me!

Burlesque lessons naturally come in many variations, from those aimed at established burlesque artists looking to improve their craft, to group lessons for beginners, or what I went to, which was specifically aimed at hen parties who want to dip their toe into the world of burlesque, have a little fun, and leave with a simple but sexy routine to show off to anyone they’re brave enough to show!

The lesson was around 1 1/2 hours long and took place in the Langley, Covent Garden.

To begin a bag of belts, boas and gloves was provided and we had a bit of a dressing up session, followed by a photo session. The photos didn’t come out too great on my camera in the darkened bar, but you get the idea!

Once the photos were done we were shown a few basics and given a few tips, without a history lesson,  on the idea of Burlesque as a seduction. Teasing and titillating rather than giving it all away for free.

Working on posing, we were advised to think about our “character” were we super minxy vixens or cutesy Betty Boo types? After a few practice goes at throwing impromptu poses to the music, we lanched into a routine. This was taught in handy bite sized chunks, with a walk through followed by setting it to music, then running the routine through from the top with musical accompaniment. This meant along with some shouted instructions it was easy even for those with not a rhythmic bone in their body to learn.

There were no complicated high kicks or splits, and the only things that came off were the things we put on in the dressing up session – gloves, belts and boas.

After an hour and a half of sexy strutting and wiggling our, erm, boas. We finished the session with a final “performance” which was recorded for posterity on video (sadly not mine, so you can’t see it here, even if you wanted to!)

The Bride to be was given a copy of the music on CD to take away as a souvenir, though no mention has yet been made of using this to recreate our seduction routine at the wedding reception…..

I don’t feel I’m quite ready to hit the stage as a Burlesque star just yet, but it’s certainly given me a fun taster and it’s a fab idea for a hen or birthday party, a little bit different and a lot of fun.

If you fancy booking your own party ours was run by Deborah Chapman through London Hen

 

Header photo by cryptdang

When you have no money, whatever the reason, it’s easy to resign yourself to a life of 10p Supermarket noodles, (economy) beans on (economy) toast and endless sit com repeats on TV.

But it doesn’t need to be that way.

Redundancy, lack of availability of credit, falling interest rates for savers and rising interest rates on credit cards and loans they’re all pretty depressing, which makes me think it’s more important than ever to have some fun and frivolity and maximise the potential of the money you DO have to spend!

My top 5 tips to have fun with no money

• Maximise your Wardrobe

Every time the new seasons styles hit the shop it’s easy to get depressed and feel deprived of the opportunity to shop. Well what if you could shop for free? Check your area for swishing parties or throw your own, and don’t forget online options like What’s Mine is Yours.

Take the time to check out Charity Shops, if there’s one you pass every day then take 10 minutes to pop in and check it out, you might be surprised what you can find, even if it’s just a fabulous scarf or a new leather belt.

• Go Old School
  

Just because you can buy coffee for £3 at Starbucks doesn’t mean you can’t go out with a flask and read the papers in the park, and sandwiches wrapped in plastic are no where near as nice as ones you made yourself and wrapped in greasepaper. Wrapping and packing them nicely will mean that you don’t feel in the slightest bit deprived. Spend your savings on a cute lunch box to carry it in like this toadstool print

• Eat out

Eating out is one of the first things you give up when the money runs out, and the restaurants know that, which is why this is a great time to look for bargains. Many of the big chain restaurants have endless deals and special offers for customers, it’s just a matter of finding them. Specific restaurants that often email out vouchers to people on their mailing list include Cafe Rouge, La Tasca and Wagamama . You can also try searching voucher code sites for deals

• Get paid to Shop

Be nice wouldn’t it? Well there are plenty of places that will either literally or technically pay you to shop, which you can then spend on frivolities. Don’t forget to use your loyalty cards, you’ll always need food, soap, shampoo, underwear, petrol and other essentials, so make use of loyalty card schemes like Boots Advantage Card and Nectar Card to make sure you earn your points to spend on fun stuff.

• Quality not Quantity

Shop carefully and you’ll never have to live off noodles and beans. If you can, go to the Supermarket at the times they’re most likely to put out their reductions, at mine it seems to be about 4pm. Stock up on reductions of decent stuff and don’t forget you can freeze it! Make use of the Delicatessen counter as well, it might well work out cheaper to buy 100g of decent mature cheddar to use in a recipe than it does to buy one of those huge yellow rubber blocks of economy cheese.

Take up “old fashioned” hobbies that are increasing in popularity, like baking, not only do you get an afternoon of entertainment, but you also get a great batch of cupcakes to eat at the end of it!

The same goes when you’re buying beauty products. Look for Multi buys, introductory offers and sales and stock up when you can.