Amanda | The Womens Room

Art & Culture, Out & AboutAugust 20, 2015

The perfect place for R&R in London: The Wellcome Reading Room and Restaurant

By Amanda

For anyone who finds themselves in need of R&R while on the tourist (or any other type of) trail in London over the holiday season, can I recommend the recently refurbished Wellcome Foundation’s Reading Room and attached restaurant? It is… Read More

Things We LoveAugust 18, 2015

Bank Holiday cocktail kit with Funkin Cocktails

By Amanda

I was sent a box of Funkin Cocktails last week and very jolly they looked too. Twentysomethingsons showed an interest as soon as I took each colourful carton out of the box….They were accompanied by a beautiful silk scarf by… Read More

Out & AboutAugust 18, 2015

Guest Post: Deconstructing The French Pharmacy

By Amanda

Our lovely regular guest blogger Juliette Chisholm, lives in France and has kindly volunteered to deconstruct the joys of the French pharmacy for anyone heading to France for their holidays. I for one am thinking of heading there for a… Read More

Fashion & BeautyAugust 12, 2015

A few long lasting summer jackets to consider

By Amanda

It’s been a glorious summer so far for not really needing a jacket. Well, at least it has been in lily-livered London, where we are protected from more bracing weather-patterns, but I’m off to Wales this weekend where I know… Read More

Things We LoveAugust 10, 2015

The Beauty Papers

By Amanda

Attention beauty fans, there is a simply delicious new biannual beauty magazine just out called The Beauty Papers, which hopes to ‘take the chains off’ beauty imagery, leaving behind the ‘pseudo glamour masquerading as beauty’ we’re normally subjected to by… Read More

Fashion & BeautyAugust 10, 2015

Perfume review: 4160 Tuesdays, with Sarah McCartney

By Amanda

‘Project Perfume’, which has been keeping me as busy as a Labour Party leadership candidate for months, is nearly ready for launch. Exciting! Well, it is if you like perfume. It’ll be run by me (Amanda) as a sister blog… Read More

Fashion & BeautyAugust 7, 2015

Transitional Trouser Lust

By Amanda

A quick post to inform you of some terrific trousers from Whistles. I’ve loved my wide leg denim trousers from the brand (these ones) and last week I saw someone wearing a pair of cut off orange trousers with frayed… Read More

Fashion & BeautyAugust 6, 2015

How to extend the life of your sundress

By Amanda

I saw this wonderfully dressed woman, above, on the train when it was hot and she looked immaculate despite the searing heat and being mid-commute on a London train. She kindly allowed me to take her picture while I admired… Read More

Health & Happiness, Middle Aged MumAugust 4, 2015

Middleagemum.com: making it through the menopause

By Amanda

There I was, quietly getting on with menopausal life, dressing in easy-to-whip-off layers, learning how to count to 150 before calmly putting down the kitchen knife and not murdering one of my offspring for putting his coffee cup on top… Read More

Fashion & Beauty, Health & HappinessJuly 31, 2015

Natural skin care with a botanist bent : AS Apothecary

By Amanda

When I first started emailing Amanda Saurin, founder of the niche AS Apothecary natural skincare brand, I realised I wanted her life. On our first exchange she’d had just got back in from picking roses at Glyndebourne (where she has… Read More

Fashion & Beauty, Out & AboutJuly 30, 2015

Iris, The Film, is out

By Amanda

Remember we mentioned there was a film coming on Iris Apfel by Albert Maysles? Well it opens this week in the UK, we saw the preview recently and LOVED it. We all know Iris can dress, but the film shows… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJuly 28, 2015

The O Wow! Brush, by way of India Knight’s beauty advice

By Amanda

I bought this Cailyn Cosmetics O Wow! brush after St India Of Knight (as Belgian Waffle so brilliantly calls her) wrote about it in her Sunday Times beauty column. It is for applying foundation/ tinted moisturisers/ mineral powder and blusher… Read More

Health & HappinessJuly 24, 2015

How to be a grown up: books to help you cope with mid-life

By Amanda

Before we started TWR, there was very little written help on what it was like moving from your 30s and 40s into ‘middle’ age, or what ever we’re calling that feeling of realising you are a proper grown up. Where… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJuly 23, 2015

Respect Your Elders, a film by Simone Rocha on Nowness

By Amanda

Here’s a lovely short film to watch by designer Simone Rocha and Nowness, on a touching pastel-coloured tribute to Hong Kong’s older stylish ladies. Having made a collection based on her Chinese grandmother’s style, ‘Respect Your Elders’, this is a… Read More

Home & Garden, We Are ReadingJuly 21, 2015

Companion To Scented Plants by Stephen Lacey

By Amanda

While on holiday I re did a bit of my garden and wanted to put in only plants that flowered and smelled fabulous. This book was on the review pile and became my sole reference for what to plant. It… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJuly 20, 2015

The perfect transitional trainer – from adidas via Marni

By Amanda

Now we’ve returned from our Summer hols, in the fashion world, all thoughts naturally turn to winter clothes. As cashmere sweaters and coats start to hit the rails our inboxes are full of Christmas in July emails from PRs wanting… Read More

Out & AboutJuly 7, 2015

Summer Holidays at The Women’s Room

By Amanda

It’s summer holiday time here at TWR, Jane and I are off on our annual summer break for a bit of R&R, we’re back with you on Monday 20th July. Although TBH we’re never that far away from you, we’ll… Read More

Out & AboutJuly 6, 2015

Guest Blogger Jane Brocket: Shingle and Chips, A Short Guide To Aldeburgh

By Amanda

We are thrilled to have Jane Brocket guest blogging today, she’s still on her Grand Provincial Tour around Britain’s towns and cities, gathering information for more of her delightful Pocket Brocket guides. Today she’s looking at Aldeburgh. Flat marshes, shingle… Read More

Home & GardenJuly 3, 2015

Guest Food Blogger Jo Orr: Cool Food for Hot days

By Amanda

Food for the heat this week, with our guest food blogger Jo Orr It’s such a pleasure when the idea you have in your head actually translates into reality. I was lying in tangled sheets this morning, cursing the fact… Read More

Things We LoveJuly 2, 2015

Perfume review: Alaïa by Alaïa

By Amanda

It’s hard to believe this is Azzedine Alaïa’s first ever perfume in a world where every designer jumps on the money making fragrance bandwagon. But Alaïa isn’t your average designer, he doesn’t play by the rules and prefers to work… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJuly 2, 2015

Fabulous sun dresses that don’t cost the Earth

By Amanda

Sooo, here we are at that point in our British summer when it is properly, hellishly hot -yesterday was the hottest day recorded in July EVER. You discover you have nothing in your wardrobe that looks remotely like it would… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJune 30, 2015

New designer crush: Rachel Comey

By Amanda

Attention womenfolk, there’s a terrific womenswear designer – fairly new to the UK – to take note of, her name is Rachel Comey. We met Rachel, who is from the US and has a strong following amongst the cool arty… Read More

Novels & Biogs, We Are ReadingJune 26, 2015

Girl In A Band by Kim Gordon

By Amanda

I love stories of girls in bands, maybe I really want a bit of rock & roll in my life…and Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon has written one that is better than most. Fessing up, I’m not much of a Sonic… Read More

Home & GardenJune 26, 2015

Guest Food Blogger Jo Orr: Herbilicious!

By Amanda

it’s all about herbs this week with guest food blogger Jo Orr At this time of year herbs are at their lush best, so I thought I’d share a couple of recipes that put herbs front and centre- a Tabbouleh… Read More

Art & Culture, Fashion & BeautyJune 24, 2015

Barbara Hepworth, Tate Britain, Jaeger and Margaret Howell

By Amanda

As regular readers will know, Dame Barbara Hepworth is one of our art heros and we’ve written about her influence on us before here. Now the rest of the world is catching on to her brilliance, with Tate Britain’s major… Read More

Home & GardenJune 22, 2015

New Magazine Crush: Cherry Bombe

By Amanda

We are indebted to our roving food and craft reporter Julia Little for bringing the fabulous Cherry Bombe magazine to our attention. Who said magazines were dying? There’s been a rush of fabulous ones to the bookshelves over the last… Read More

Novels & Biogs, We Are ReadingJune 18, 2015

The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild

By Amanda

I was tipped off about this great book by the excellent Lee Randall, who reviewed it on her blog A History of my Life in 100 Objects. Lee writes a far more informed review than I ever could, but I… Read More

Home & GardenJune 18, 2015

Urban gardening, Tokyo style

By Amanda

One of the best things when visiting Japan for me is admiring the urban gardens. Tokyo is very ‘space challenged’ with apartments, shops and restaurants often much smaller in footprint than we are used to in Europe or America. But… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJune 16, 2015

Street Style Shots for Grown Up Women: Tokyo Trends

By Amanda

Last week in Tokyo, while twentysomethingsons and middleagedad went to the baseball, I nipped out to take a few street style shots of Japanese grown up women -and a couple of men -couldn’t resist these cute boys above. As well… Read More

Out & AboutJune 9, 2015

Visiting Japan. Back next week….

By Amanda

I’m in Japan this week, so Jane is manning the helm while I swan off for a holiday. I’m back next week with some Japanese grown up style street shots, tales of the Tokyo fish market (above) and a few… Read More