Amanda | The Womens Room

Fashion & BeautyJanuary 19, 2012

Chic ladies at Hammersmith Vintage Fair January 2012

By Amanda

At the first Hammersmith Vintage sale for 2012, there was an abundance of ladies looking very chic, despite the cold and we snapped and chatted to a few of them (yes, we’re getting a bit braver with our street style… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJanuary 18, 2012

Handwritten by Tanya Sarne

By Amanda

Last week we were very privileged to sit in on the autumn buy for zelfa.net, a new ecommerce site aimed at chic ladies of 35plus (more about this on a later post). We were at Handwritten by Tanya Sarne, which… Read More

Fashion, We Are ReadingJanuary 18, 2012

Culture Chanel directed by Jean-Louis Froment

By Amanda

This one is for readers who are building up their own personal fashion library and Chanel geeks only. The hefty and a tad pricey Culture Chanel, Directed by Jean-Louis Froment, published by Abrams Books at £140, is a visual… Read More

Things We LoveJanuary 17, 2012

Jo Malone Vitamin E moisturising day cream

By Amanda

Jane and I were treated to a pot of this newly launched Jo Malone Vitamin E moisturiser day cream before Christmas to trial. It’s just gorgeous. I have no idea if it’s doing my skin any good (I’ve been using… Read More

Home & GardenJanuary 15, 2012

American Stuffers, Xtreme Taxidermy and pet preservation

By Amanda

I was alerted to the spectacularly entertaining American Stuffers, A Show About Pet Preservation (Animal Planet) by @BelgianWaffling and @Randallwrites, both of whom tweeted about it this week. It’s a show about taxidermy, well to be truthful it’s a show… Read More

Health & HappinessJanuary 13, 2012

Philips RéAura skin laser: no pain, no gain

By Amanda

I have been using a laser on my skin as part of my beauty routine for the last few months, a proper, Philips super advanced, Fraxel technology laser, the sort you might find in a really serious dermatologists. I know… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJanuary 11, 2012

Bright and cheerful sale buys to work into your spring wardrobe

By Amanda

Didn’t you just love the beautiful prints and cheerful colours on Jane’s Mary Katrantzou post? I have vowed to wear more beautiful colours this year, certainly during the dull months of Jan and Feb, so scanning the sale from the… Read More

Home & Garden, Out & AboutJanuary 9, 2012

Sipsmith gin in Hammersmith

By Amanda

Gin is having something of a moment in the spotlight, with lots of small artisan distilleries popping up all over the place creating hand crafted gins lovingly distilled in copper stills. There was an excellent Radio 4 programme on the… Read More

Home & GardenJanuary 7, 2012

New word for ‘waste not want not’: mottainai

By Amanda

I’m still in ‘Japanese make do and mend’ mode (after Monday’s post on Kintsugi) and have another recycle-y word for you, Mottainai, which is Japanese for ‘waste not, want not’ or the beauty of respectful reuse of fabrics until… Read More

Fashion, We Are ReadingJanuary 6, 2012

Stylists, New Fashion Visionaries by Katie Baron

By Amanda

Heads up on this lovely looking book, it’s not out until early Feb 2012, but it is going to be a fabulous one to have on your coffee table. We have to fess-up here and say we know young Katie,… Read More

Novels & Biogs, We Are ReadingJanuary 5, 2012

London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins

By Amanda

I heard this being reviewed on the Radio 4 book club programme recently, when all the reviewers loved it. I am only half way through it but love it enough to happily recommend you read it too. Fabulous characters, brilliant… Read More

Home & GardenJanuary 5, 2012

New word for ‘make do and mend’: Kintsugi

By Amanda

New Kintsugi, gold repair from Humade on Vimeo. This could be the year we all look a bit more seriously at fixing stuff rather than throwing things away and buying new. Typically for such an artistic people, the Japanese have… Read More

Out & AboutJanuary 3, 2012

More dancing in 2012! at Drink Shop Dance

By Amanda

Should we make New Year’s resolutions (best not to, I find, you only end up being disappointed) then we would definitely want to dance more in 2012. Dancing is joyous, fun and even counts as exercise so we should do… Read More

Novels & Biogs, We Are ReadingJanuary 2, 2012

As Always, Julia edited by Joan Reardon

By Amanda

You may have enough cookery books, but do you have enough cookery biographies? They are often JUST as exciting I think, and this compilation of letters between Julia Child (US cooking guru) and Avis Devoto, her literary mentor, during the… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJanuary 1, 2012

Carry-overs and dogs: my favourite pieces of clothing from 2011

By Amanda

Happy New Year to you all! We had a lovely break, hope you did too. When I worked as a merchandiser I would spend the week between Christmas and New Year studying the story behind the ‘dogs’ (bad sellers) and… Read More

Home & GardenDecember 26, 2011

We’re on our holidays…..back January 1st

By Amanda

We are on our Christmas holiday break, we will be back on January 1st with more fun and nonsense. J&A… Read More

Out & AboutDecember 24, 2011

A bit of culture for the holiday break.

By Amanda

Don’t you love your relatives? You look forward for ages to them coming to stay and then as soon as they arrive you can’t wait for them to go. If you are enduring enjoying a family Christmas this year you… Read More

Home & GardenDecember 22, 2011

Your Christmas Cocktail

By Amanda

It has been the Year of the Cocktail for me this year, it must be an age thing. Half way through the year I gave up wine completely because it was making me feel awful and I swapped to (mostly)… Read More

Things We LoveDecember 21, 2011

Dr Oetker’s gold balls

By Amanda

Just in case you are running short on ideas for decorating puddings at Christmas, I can recommend Dr Oetker’s soft gold pearly balls. They are perfect for throwing over trifles, cupcakes or Pavlova, see above and looking suitably festive. They… Read More

Out & AboutDecember 20, 2011

Hailo Black Cab app: digital hailing for the party season

By Amanda

Here’s another useful app for anyone who struggles to hail a black cab during busy periods (ie when it rains) or argues with their other half as to the BEST place in the road to stand to hail one. Hailo,… Read More

Fashion & BeautyDecember 18, 2011

The Scent Selector: a new perfume app from Roja Dove

By Amanda

Attention perfume nerds, this one is for you. The perfume guru Roja Dove has come out with a clever app to help you when you get to the Duty Free beauty hall, get overwhelmed and everything you’ve ever read about… Read More

Health & HappinessDecember 16, 2011

Dear Santa, my fantasy Christmas wish list

By Amanda

Dear Santa, this year I’ve got everything I need thanks, but in case you are considering making my dreams really come true, here are a few fantasy ideas: Another son, but this one must be gay As you know Santa,… Read More

Things We LoveDecember 14, 2011

Labour And Wait’s Christmas red parcel string

By Amanda

Sometimes a pile of beautifully wrapped presents is as good as it gets on Christmas morning….I’ve had more than one instance of wishing I’d never actually opened the parcel up (last year’s foot massage/warmer springs to mind). There’s something so… Read More

Home & GardenDecember 14, 2011

Dressing your door – Christmas wreath photo round up

By Amanda

The Christmas wreath on the door is the domestic equivalent of the holiday shop window so this week I swapped my usual retail observations for front doors. There are some lovely ones around, from the huge and beautiful (Knightsbridge -things… Read More

Home & GardenDecember 12, 2011

Martha Moments: wrapped amaryllis bulbs for Christmas

By Amanda

I was in Amsterdam last week for a flying visit and spotted these lovely Christmas-wrapped amaryllis bulbs. Now, the Dutch know a thing or two about bulbs, as we all know, but I think this is the first time I’ve… Read More

Home & GardenDecember 10, 2011

Scented Narcissi for Christmas from the Isles of Scilly

By Amanda

We are indebted to TWR reader Cilla for tipping us off about the Scented Narcissi company from The Scilly Isles, which is one of her favourite places on Earth. When our family went (on her recommendation) we felt like we’d… Read More

Out & AboutDecember 10, 2011

Singing and Shopping (traffic free!) in Oxford Street

By Amanda

This weekend, Oxford Street, the Bond Streets (Old and New) and Regent Street are traffic free…something you might appreciate if you are a London shopper or a visitor for the day. As part of our sponsored post from Monday, when… Read More

Fashion & BeautyDecember 8, 2011

Designer Red Cross for Christmas bargains

By Amanda

We got such a nice response off you all for the post we did on the Red Cross Vintage store that we thought we’d mention the charity also runs an equally impressive designer shop just off London’s King’s Road. We… Read More

Out & AboutDecember 6, 2011

Christmas at Tobias And The Angel

By Amanda

In our series of Shops We’s Like To Move Into, Tobias And The Angel must come close to the top of the list, it’s even got a bed and a kitchen. Angel Hughes rules the space like a craftwork queen… Read More

Health & HappinessDecember 4, 2011

Camila Batmanghelidjh from Kids Company talks to The Women’s Room

By Amanda

Remember when we wrote about Camila Batmanghelidjh after the riots? Well the nice people at American Express and the New West End Company asked if we’d like to meet her this week, mostly so we could ‘big up’ the American… Read More