Amanda | The Womens Room

Health & Happiness, We Are ReadingJanuary 14, 2009

Just Me by Sheila Hancock

By Amanda

Being stylish isn’t always about looking fabulous, sometimes it’s about being fabulous too. Sheila Hancock is certainly well turned out at 75 with great poise, but it is her wonderfully no-bullshit, I’m-far-from-perfect-but-I’m-trying attitude that makes her such a wise bird.… Read More

We Are ReadingJanuary 12, 2009

The Disciples by James Mollison

By Amanda

We are indebted to Word, middleagedad’s favourite middleagemagazine, for bringing The Disciples, a glorious new book by photographer James Mollison to our attention. Never before has a book brought together the fashion passion of middleagemum with the music obsessions of… Read More

Health & Happiness, We Are ReadingJanuary 10, 2009

How to Meet a Man After Forty and Other Midlife Dilemmas Solved by Shane Watson

By Amanda

This could do with having a plain brown wrapper as the slightly misleading title on Shane Watson’s new book needed explaining when it arrived in our house, “It’s for research, honestly”. Middleagedad.com looked alarmed. In fact it’s not the observations… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJanuary 8, 2009

Style Icon: Mrs Exeter

By Amanda

photo UK Vogue From 1949-65 UK Vogue ran a regular style column from Mrs Exeter, a fictional character who dispensed advice for women ‘of a certain age’ (she told us she was ‘fifty-odd’) who were keen to stay fashionable… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJanuary 6, 2009

Don’t spend, sew! (and style)

By Amanda

At the beginning of every season, The Women’s Room does a personal wardrobe edit (yes this is anally retentive, but we work in fashion remember, we like this sort of thing) where all clothes passed their prime are sent to… Read More

Home & GardenJanuary 4, 2009

Don’t spend, Sow!

By Amanda

Gardening, said a mate, is just like John Lewis, something you really only appreciate when you reach 40. Gardeners know just how fabulous it feels to grow flowers and veg from seed, it teaches us patience and an afternoon spent… Read More

Health & HappinessJanuary 2, 2009

Simple pleasures: beach walks

By Amanda

After the excesses of the last week a walk on a blustery beach is the perfect holiday hangover cure. The Women’s Room can recommend the beaches of The Scilly Isles, where the weather has been windy but warm… Read More

Food, We Are ReadingDecember 31, 2008

Milk by Anne Medelson

By Amanda

I could start a library with my cookery book collection and a quick look on the Amazon bestsellers list shows that 6 of the top 20 best selling books over Christmas were cookery books, so I’m not the only one… Read More

Fashion & BeautyDecember 29, 2008

Shopping with experts: our Sale mantra

By Amanda

This year it’s going to be hard to resist the sales since retailers are slashing starting prices by the sort of discounts we expect to see at the end of sales to clear the last dregs of stocks. Opening prices… Read More

Health & HappinessDecember 27, 2008

We love: glitter tulips

By Amanda

Wickedly, one of our favourite Christmas games is to find the worst taste christmas presents and giggle shamelessly over the incredible bad taste of the sender. This is of course politically and morally incorrect on every level and not to… Read More

Health & HappinessDecember 25, 2008

A Christmas message

By Amanda

A very merry Christmas to all our readers today. For those stuck with giant turkeys that refuse to stay stuffed, neighbours that simply wont take the hint and leave, irritating relatives that you're SURE you didn't invite, uselss and… Read More

Fashion & BeautyDecember 23, 2008

We love: Hand-me-Downs from Howies

By Amanda

As we are all now Simplifying (see previous post) and buying fewer, but more beautiful things, we were thrilled to see that Howies, the active casual wear brand, has come up with a lovely idea based on making beautiful… Read More

Fashion & BeautyDecember 21, 2008

Christmas party dressing

By Amanda

DVF tunic dress was £360, n0w £174 DVF party dress was £275 now £178 DVF2007 Vintage buy It seems to us that trying to look effortlessly gorgeous during Christmas is a task we could do… Read More

Out & AboutDecember 19, 2008

Shopping with experts: teenage hotspots in New York

By Amanda

Having visited some cracking New York stores last week, the Women’s Room thought it would be useful to list a couple of good-to-know-about ones, should any of our readers be visiting with grumpy teenagers in tow. The… Read More

Fashion & BeautyDecember 17, 2008

Style Icon: Nancy Shevell does New York Chic

By Amanda

Visiting New York last week gave us the opportunity to take a close look at how our American sisters tackle the subject of style for older women. There’s a certain type of polished, groomed elegance that (admittedly wealthy) New Yorkers… Read More

Fashion & BeautyDecember 15, 2008

We love: Anthropologie

By Amanda

This week the Women’s Room has been in New York discussing retail. Although the dollar is depressingly low against the pound, American retailers are busy slashing prices in order to get their own folk to part with their bucks,… Read More

Home & GardenDecember 13, 2008

Martha moments: drying roses in the Aga

By Amanda

An impossibly smug posting here for all Aga owners (sorry). I discovered today that the warming (or simmering in the two door version) oven on my Aga dries roses to perfection. Cut the rose heads off the stems before… Read More

Health & Happiness, We Are ReadingDecember 11, 2008

I Feel Bad ABout My Neck by Nora Ephron

By Amanda

Sharply funny and wickedly observant Nora Ephron is a writer that we love at The Women’s Room. She wrote the script for Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry met Sally as well as the novel behind the film Heartburn. But… Read More

Food, Home & Garden, We Are ReadingDecember 9, 2008

The Kitchen Revolution

By Amanda

Being busy working women with families to feed, we are always looking for short cuts to brilliant meals here at The Women’s Room and consequently got very excited when one of our readers from deepest darkest Wales (thanks Lindsey)… Read More

Home & GardenDecember 7, 2008

The Women’s Room Christmas cake: ready to ice!

By Amanda

For those of you making the Christmas cake, we are ready to ice! You may have your own preferred Christmas ritual for decorating your cake. Some families have plastic snowmen and Santa figures which are carefully stored away to… Read More

Home & GardenDecember 5, 2008

The Women’s Room Christmas cake: time for the brandy

By Amanda

If you’re making the Women’s Room Christmas cake, it’s time to feed the Christmas cake with a slug of brandy or rum. Unwrap the base of the cake with care and poke a few holes – five should… Read More

Fashion & BeautyDecember 3, 2008

Cosmetic surgery: just say no?

By Amanda

Picture-fanpix.com Great article in Times2 on Monday by Caitlin Moran, who writes wittily about how, at a recent funeral she was horrified by the amount of eminent 40-plus women who had clearly had cosmetic surgery. Far from looking good,… Read More

Fashion & BeautyDecember 1, 2008

We love: Marks & Spencer

By Amanda

Our current fav Limited dress from M&S, tops stores only This week The Women’s Room was given a preview of the new Portfolio range from Marks & Spencer, aimed at 40plus women and out in March 2009. Hurrah to M&S… Read More

Home & GardenNovember 29, 2008

The Women’s Room Christmas cake: time to cook

By Amanda

Ok, time to make the cake. Take the fruit out of the fridge an hour before you need it, so it reaches room temperature and turn on the oven to 150c, gas 2. Prepare the cake tin as instructed on previous… Read More

Home & GardenNovember 29, 2008

Simple Pleasures: It’s official, I’m a Simplifier

By Amanda

Thanks to Moschino for this picture of its wIndow display News today from the esteemed Harvard Business School, which states that us boomers (people born between 1945 -1964) are keen to simplify our lives because we have too much… Read More

Home & GardenNovember 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

By Amanda

The Women’s Room would like to wish all its American readers a happy Thanksgiving. May all your turkeys and pumpkin pies be large and tasty. Thanksgiving also gives us the chance to talk about one of our favourite… Read More

Home & GardenNovember 25, 2008

The Women’s Room Christmas cake:prepare the tin

By Amanda

Have you remembered to stir the soaking Christmas cake fruit? It should be plumping up nicely by now and smelling faintly Christmasy. The fruit can be used after 24 hours soaking but a superior cake is the result of… Read More

Fashion & BeautyNovember 23, 2008

Old is Gold, says the Sunday Times

By Amanda

The Sunday Times today is full of stylish women over 40. Really, it is. Amazing eh? Well not to us, obviously, we know how talented and fabulous we are, but it is a pleasant change to see that the leading… Read More

Home & GardenNovember 23, 2008

The Women’s Room Christmas cake: begining

By Amanda

This is our very favourite Christmas cake recipe, picked up from one of those Waitrose recipe cards a few years ago now, but the best one we’ve ever come across. And we know our cake here at the Women’s Room.… Read More

Fashion & BeautyNovember 21, 2008

Style Icon (not): Barbie at 50

By Amanda

We’re not quite sure what the opposite of style icon would be, but Barbie is definitely it. Astonishingly, the plastic princess has reached the age of 50 without a wrinkle or fat roll and has taken, according to… Read More