Amanda | The Womens Room

Art, Culture & Craft, We Are ReadingFebruary 6, 2014

Felt Dogs by Mitsuki Hoshi

By Amanda

For anyone who doesn’t own a dog but would quite like one, a felt one could be a useful mid-way help. Easy to make and desperately cute, this how-to book will have you making a whole menagerie of pups by… Read More

Fashion & BeautyFebruary 5, 2014

Street shots, San Francisco-style

By Amanda

Last week, I was working in San Francisco and had the chance to observe how older women there dressed and snapped a few for inspiration. First is the super-stylish Emmanuelle Linard, who works for Trend Union, the forecasting site run… Read More

Fashion & BeautyFebruary 3, 2014

Face creams for menopausal skin, from REN

By Amanda

Being menopausal is sometimes a bit like reliving your teenage years, skin care wise. Forget anti ageing and anti wrinkle, what a lot of us want now is skincare that stops us breaking out in spots and dehydrating to the… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJanuary 30, 2014

Pepto-Bismal pink lipstick – would you?

By Amanda

I’m developing something of an obsession with older women in the fashion and beauty industry. First I got a real girl crush on Catherine Walsh, who is SVP at beauty behemoth Coty and looks just fabulous in every picture I… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJanuary 28, 2014

We Love: Rivet and Hide

By Amanda

*Update! Danny now has a shop! At 5 Windmill Street, Fitzrovia, London* While we were doing our Christmas pop up with Grenson’s, the lovely James and Florence, from Petalon Flowers introduced me to Danny Hodgson of Rivet and Hide, a… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJanuary 24, 2014

Style inspiration at EGG

By Amanda

I had completely forgotten about Egg, the tiny store in Kinnerton Street, Knightsbridge that punches well above its weight in terms of influence amongst fashion folk, considering its size. Then recently I saw my friend Lizzie looking amazing in a… Read More

Home & GardenJanuary 22, 2014

We love: The Secret Linen Store

By Amanda

This is interesting, The Secret Linen Store, a new bedlinen company launching entirely on line and aiming to produce top quality, nicely designed bedlinen at very good prices. We get daily emails here at TWR on new start ups and… Read More

Things We LoveJanuary 21, 2014

Perfume review: Coven by Andrea Maack

By Amanda

I’m mad about this new fragrance, Coven, from Reykjavik based perfumer Andrea Maack. I love Andrea, she’s a female artist, ridiculously talented for such a young person and has loads of attitude, not a combination you normally see in a… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJanuary 20, 2014

See this: Hello My Name Is Paul Smith (AKA In Praise Of Clutter)

By Amanda

January is turning out to be culture month for me, as I catch up on all the exhibitions I missed in the madness of Christmas. I would urge everybody with any interest in design or fashion to nip along to… Read More

Novels & Biogs, We Are ReadingJanuary 16, 2014

Love Nina, Despatches from Family Life by Nina Stibbe

By Amanda

This book is a fabulous antidote if you are having a miserable January, I’ve absolutely loved it and couldn’t put it down. It’s an easy read too, in a lovely open and fresh style that is both funny and touching.… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJanuary 16, 2014

See this: Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore!

By Amanda

I’d been tipped off about the Isabella Blow exhibition, Fashion Galore! being good and when I visited this week, it didn’t disappoint. I’d advise all fashion girls to take a quick trip over to Somerset House to see it before… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJanuary 14, 2014

Store tumblrs and Pinterest boards: dressing inspiration

By Amanda

Sometimes when I’m seeking inspiration for getting dressed, all I want are fabulous pictures to look at; no words, no ‘top tips’, no skinny 17 year olds wearing shorts and cropped tops, just pictures of women wearing outfits I could… Read More

Things We LoveJanuary 14, 2014

Perfume review: The Gold Collection by Boadicea The Victorious

By Amanda

I meant to mention this recently launched perfume range pre Christmas, but totally forgot. While not cheap, British fragrance brand Boadicea The Victorious is fast becoming one of my favourites. The Gold Collection is an addition to the luxury end… Read More

Novels & Biogs, We Are ReadingJanuary 11, 2014

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

By Amanda

There is much talk of slavery currently, with Steve McQueen’s extraordinary and hopefully Oscar winning film on the subject, but for those who can’t get to the film, there’s a revealing and moving book just out on the same subject… Read More

Art & CultureJanuary 10, 2014

Move over Tate: art sneaks onto the high street

By Amanda

An interesting thing is happening in London concerning contemporary art. Where previously we might flock to big museums such as Tate Modern to see work by our favourite artists, now it’s more likely that a gallery such as the Gagosian… Read More

Novels & Biogs, We Are ReadingJanuary 10, 2014

Plainsong by Kent Haruf

By Amanda

I was tipped off by my sister about this gentle, easy-paced story set in a small backwater town Colorado, it might be the perfect antidote to the January blues (or ‘greys’ as it should be called here in London, to… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJanuary 8, 2014

Stutterheim Raincoats for seriously wet weather

By Amanda

I appreciate it is NOT good to show off, but sometimes we are so far ahead on TWR that I feel we really HAVE to quietly point out our cleverness just a teeny bit. Ages ago (back in 2011) we… Read More

Things We LoveJanuary 8, 2014

Perfume review: London Rain Collection by Jo Malone

By Amanda

With a quirky sense of timing and an innate understanding of the British character, Jo Malone has brought out a collection of fragrances celebrating London Rain. It’s a Limited Edition collection and these tend to sell out fast, so we’re… Read More

Things We LoveJanuary 6, 2014

Hanro vests: sensible sale buying

By Amanda

I am now officially addicted to Hanro vests, they are the Rolls Royce of underwear. As well as being a dream to wear, they come in such pretty shapes that are often trimmed with lace and are seamless for extra… Read More

Home & GardenJanuary 6, 2014

More cocktails in 2014! Let’s start with Tipplesworth Travelling Cocktail Cases

By Amanda

We’re back! Happy New Year to you all, may it be a fun and full one. Regular readers will know we don’t do New Year’s Resolutions here on TWR, who has the time? And as someone older once said to… Read More

Art, Culture & Craft, We Are ReadingJanuary 5, 2014

Paintings by Eggert Petursson

By Amanda

I saw this gorgeous art book, Paintings, by Icelandic artist Eggert Petursson in Anthropologie before Christmas and fell in love with its textural, super-detailed and colourful depiction of Icelandic floral and fauna. This is Eggert’s latest book, released September 2013,… Read More

Things We LoveDecember 20, 2013

Chambray Breton top from MiH Jeans

By Amanda

Do you remember we wrote about MiH Jeans recently? We mentioned the excellent Breton tops (that sell out super-fast) that look very handy for a chic take on casual glamour were coming in for spring and the MiH team just… Read More

Out & AboutDecember 19, 2013

Go See This (quickly): The New Craftsmen Garage

By Amanda

Back in June, one of our readers Deborah Thomas tipped me off about The New Craftsmen Garage pop up store in Mayfair, where her lovely bags from Doe Leather were for sale. I managed to NOT go two or three… Read More

Things We LoveDecember 18, 2013

Notebooks and Cushions by Hargreaves Gervis

By Amanda

At our pop up Christmas Grenson’s Girls Gathering we were introduced to these gorgeous and very well priced notebooks and portfolios from Hargreaves Gervis. At £10, the hardback floral A4 note book has plain paper and comes in an assortment… Read More

Out & AboutDecember 17, 2013

The Twelve Days of Christmas -expressed in the medium of knitting

By Amanda

I know I’ve mentioned Creation Knits in Barnes before, but it keeps on getting better with its window displays, I really HAVE to show you what its done for this Christmas because I think it’s the best thing since the… Read More

Things We LoveDecember 16, 2013

Magnitone Pulsar skin cleansing and toning brush

By Amanda

If you’re looking at buying beauty products this Christmas, you’ll know that the facial cleansing brush is THE hot beauty gadget for this year. Jane wrote about brushes before, but I hadn’t ever tried them, so when Magnitone offered me… Read More

Out & AboutDecember 13, 2013

Grenson and The Women’s Room Christmas Pop Up, a sneak peek at the store

By Amanda

Not been to our Christmas pop up yet? Here’s what you are missing, it’s on until Saturday 14th December, and tonight (Friday) it’s late night shopping until 8.30pm. With Gin X G-Lab. What are you waiting for? At the Tim… Read More

Health & HappinessDecember 13, 2013

Jelly cubes, the most reliable nail strengthener we’ve found

By Amanda

When I was about 14, I suffered from terrible split nails, teenage hormones playing havoc with my attempts to grow them into anything other than flakey stumps. Someone told me to eat two jelly cubes a day for three months… Read More

Out & AboutDecember 11, 2013

The Women’s Room and Grenson’s Pop Up Christmas Shop

By Amanda

Tomorrow we open our first ever pop up Christmas shop with those fabulous people from Grenson’s Shoes. Today we will be bossing people around organising the layout of the store and making all the beautiful goods we have selected look… Read More

Home & GardenDecember 10, 2013

Christmas wreath inspiration: this year it’s all about green

By Amanda

I was working in New York last week and got the chance to look at some stores and what their clever visual merchandisers had done for holiday decorations. This year, it really is all about layered greens, with some really… Read More