So, back to Iceland and the lovely Elm, a group of three Icelandic women, Erna, Lisbet and Matthildur (hence the name) who are ‘women designing for women’ and selling rather well now in the UK. The clothes have been brought to our attention by ex Liberty womenswear buyer Angela Quaintrell, who was so impressed with the range she decided to help sell it.
Angela spent over 25 years at Liberty, buying and selling designer clothes to women who wanted interesting clothes that made them look good, often helping them find a style they had no idea they had. We have a lot of respect for her opinion; she is an expert older woman as far as fashion is concerned and we love an expert here at The Women’s Room.
Elm works well because the three women designers understand what women want, claims Angela, “They think about it a lot, what works for women. They are great at making curvy women look incredibly sexy because they understand you need to pull in the shape at the right points to look feminine”.
We love the stretchy microfibre fabric that looks useful in the wide leg trousers and softly tailored jackets, this is a brilliant fabric that works hard and never creases, it is a constant in Elm’s ranges and together with the grown up jersey dresses in gorgeous shapes, look as if they would be worn constantly.
It’s so refreshing to discover a label that understands you can still look alluring without flashing dramatic amounts of flesh. A cleverly cut piece of jersey can look a lot sexier than skin tight plunging stretch on anyone over 35.
We fell in love with the pintucked Chiffon shirt, above, which manages to look pirate/Victorian/demure/gorgeous all at the same time. Prices start at £35 for T shirts, £130 for a jersey dress and £195 for the tailored trouser. Liberty sells the range in London, but check the website for some good out of London boutiques too.
Since we had Angela’s attention for five minutes, we also asked her about how she managed to look so incredibly glamorous all the time. What were her top three tips for looking fabulous after 40? (Angela is in her early 60s). She says
- Hairs and nails! I’ve had my hair done every week for the last 25 years by Andre at Michelaljohn. A great cut works wonders. I have my nails done about every three weeks.
- Experiment with your look, when I was at Liberty we used to make customers try on clothes they would have never thought of, it really works and stops you getting stuck in a rut.
- Planning, I never get out of bed without knowing what I’m going to wear. It makes for a more considered look.
So nice