Amanda | The Womens Room

Home & GardenApril 29, 2016

Female Entrepreneurs You May Never Have Heard Of, and a DVD give-away

By Amanda

To celebrate the movie Joy coming out on DVD recently, the promoter sent through an interesting list of female entrepreneurs you almost definitely will never have heard of. I was fascinated, having just read the wonderful The Trouble With Women,… Read More

Out & AboutApril 29, 2016

Guest blog: Elena Bowes visits Casa Magazines

By Amanda

As UK retail sales slide again this month, I’m still pondering what it is we actually want from our shops today. Any retailer reading and wondering the same might do well to think about adding in a bit of ‘being… Read More

Fashion & BeautyApril 20, 2016

Almost Holiday Shopping

By Amanda

I am holiday for the next few days, somewhere warm and (hopefully) sunny where I will be taking a digital detox and switching off (apart from Instagram, obvs, which is now an extension of my brain). Jane will continue to… Read More

Fashion & Beauty, Out & AboutApril 18, 2016

A Big Moment for Lingerie: Undressed at The V&A and The Body Studio at Selfridges

By Amanda

Last week was quite a big week for lingerie and active/leisure/whateverwear, what with The V&A’s Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear exhibition opening, the brand new Body Studio retail space at Selfridges launching for all things active body related and… Read More

Out & AboutApril 15, 2016

Guest Blog: Elena Bowes visits Three Lives & Co in New York

By Amanda

Our regular guest blogger Elena Bowes has been out and about discovering hidden gems in New York for us, this week it’s Three Lives & Company, if you are visiting this year, be sure to bookmark this charming little store.… Read More

Fashion & BeautyApril 14, 2016

Fashion Regrets – Buys That Got Away

By Amanda

Do you have clothes that you almost bought? Perhaps a dress you fell in love with, but hesitated buying, only to find it sold out before you changed your mind? Or a pair of shoes that were beautiful but expensive… Read More

Home & GardenApril 12, 2016

An Excellent Kitchen Chair Cushion from Gudrun Sjödén

By Amanda

I’m not sure if it’s just me, but as I’ve got older, I have become less tolerant of an uncomfortable seat. As a teen I would only sit on the floor, or on the table, or anywhere I wasn’t supposed… Read More

Out & AboutApril 8, 2016

Guest Blog: Elena Bowes visits Tender Buttons

By Amanda

Guest blogger Elena Bowes went to New York’s Tender Buttons for us this month, I have never been in all the years I’ve been visiting NYC, but next visit, I’m heading straight over……If you’re visiting The Big Apple this year,… Read More

Fashion & BeautyApril 6, 2016

Shops Worth Leaving The House For: Dover Street Market

By Amanda

For me, a consumer who has always adored terrestrial shops, whose heart can beat faster at a beautifully arranged window display and who regularly organises retail safaris around new shopping areas of interest, I think things are looking bleak for… Read More

Art, Culture & Craft, We Are ReadingApril 4, 2016

Frida Kahlo, Life Portraits by Zena Alkayat and Nina Cosford

By Amanda

This is a delightful little biography; part illustration, part hand written assessment of Frida Kahlo’s life, all of which adds up to a very endearing and charming insight into one of our favourite women in art. The book’s illustrations are… Read More

Fashion & BeautyApril 4, 2016

A great swimsuit from The White Company

By Amanda

The White Company clothes are really stepping up a gear. You remember we mentioned they were worth a second look here, well I recently went to the Summer press day, where I spotted a great, well priced, one piece bathing… Read More

Health & HappinessMarch 30, 2016

Slow Spring Beauty With Amanda Saurin

By Amanda

Over Easter, the clocks went forward, giving us lighter evenings, blooming daffodils and a proper feeling of spring. Hurrah! I’ve been using Amanda Saurin’s gentle, flower based A.S Apothecary skin products since I discovered her last year. She lives by… Read More

Things We LoveMarch 29, 2016

The London Bag by Susannah Hunter

By Amanda

I’m a big Susannah Hunter fan, her bags have such charm and individuality and are all made in her busy basement below her Lambs Conduit Street store. You can’t get more artisan than that. The London bag is an … Read More

Fashion & BeautyMarch 29, 2016

India Amazon Fashion Week: Street Style Shots with Ishtailista

By Amanda

We had such a nice response to the Jaipur street style reports we ran recently, that when photographer Ishtailista mentioned he was going to India Amazon Fashion Week, I asked him to see if he could give us a flavour… Read More

Middle Aged MumMarch 23, 2016

Middleagemum.com : A Full House Again

By Amanda

Over the last couple of years, our household has become smaller, what with eldestson moving out and youngestson being at university for most of the time (although his summer term is only three weeks, WTF? Don’t get me started on… Read More

Fashion & Beauty, Health & HappinessMarch 21, 2016

Jo Fairley, Beauty Guru and The Perfume Society Founder, Tells Us How She Stays On Top Form

By Amanda

It’s National Fragrance Day today, so make sure you spritz a good dose of your favourite fragrance to celebrate. I recently interviewed Josephine Fairley, founder of Green & Black’s, award winning beauty writer and speaker and co founder of The… Read More

Food, We Are ReadingMarch 18, 2016

Clean Cakes by Henrietta Inman

By Amanda

I’m mostly ignoring the current food fad for ‘eating clean’, because I’m not really sure what the ‘clean’ means, but one thing I am very consciously doing is reducing the sugar in my diet. However, I am a cake lover,… Read More

Fashion & BeautyMarch 17, 2016

Posh Plimsoles: finally, I buy my summer trainers

By Amanda

So, finally, I’ve selected my summer trainers. After dicking about on the internet considerable research I’ve gone for a Mother black suede Eytys, with chunky off white wedges and no branding anywhere. They have cork inners, tough vulconised rubber flatform… Read More

Out & AboutMarch 15, 2016

Is SheBu the New Hackney? Our Shepherd’s Bush Safari

By Amanda

With all this talk of exciting East London, poor old West London can sometimes feel like a dull, country-living cousin always wearing the wrong clothes….Of course anyone who actually LIVES in West London knows better, I sometimes wonder if we… Read More

Things We LoveMarch 14, 2016

Amande Supple Skin Oil by L’Occitane

By Amanda

If you are a fan of almond smells, then this might be right up your street. L’Occitane’s Supple Skin Oil in almond is a deliciously light body oil made up of 50% almond oil, which absorbs fast and… Read More

Health & HappinessMarch 11, 2016

Romance And Air Miles: Mid-Life Love

By Amanda

One of our guest bloggers, cultural writer Elena Bowes, is doing a series of posts on New York stores, since although being based in London, she’s frequently in New York. When I asked why she was lucky enough to pop… Read More

Fashion & BeautyMarch 9, 2016

Slouch-appeal: the Tilda Swinton Shirt

By Amanda

I had a double whammy of Tilda over the weekend, I saw both A Bigger Splash and Hail Caesar! She is marvellous in both and her wardrobe (by Dior) in the former is extremely covetable, I shall never dress-down… Read More

Fashion & BeautyMarch 7, 2016

Kate Phelan Talks Sense On High Street Shopping, in The Guardian

By Amanda

Just in case you missed it, there was an excellent feature in The Guardian’s The Fashion (issue 6) this weekend, where Kate Phelan, as Topshop’s creative director, explained how she gets dressed, now she’s 50. Turns out, it’s pretty much… Read More

Out & AboutMarch 4, 2016

Iris Apfel does a car advert

By Amanda

Iris Apfel goes from strength to strength as a 90 plus style icon, fronting the new Citroen DS 3 car advert. I hate car adverts, particularly the ones you see at the cinema, which are either weird (looking at you… Read More

Fashion & BeautyMarch 3, 2016

The New Normal For 50 Plus Fashion

By Amanda

As regular readers know, we attended the first Fifty Plus fashion show held at London Fashion Week recently. What ever we feel about the ageist labels we’re still subjected too or the narrative that puts the focus on age rather… Read More

Health & Happiness, Out & AboutMarch 1, 2016

See This (quickly): The Timeless Shop

By Amanda

Over in the depths of Old Street Tube station, for just one week, is Timeless, a brilliant pop-up store which discusses female fertility, specifically egg freezing, via the medium of a beauty and fragrance brand. Anyone who has yet to… Read More

Things We LoveFebruary 29, 2016

Mother’s Day Inspiration: Jo Malone London’s Herb Garden Collection

By Amanda

If you are looking for inspiration for Mother’s Day, either to drop hints for yourself or for your own mum, then the new Herb Garden Cologne Collection is worth considering. Personally, the collection had me at the fantastic imagery, using… Read More

Home & GardenFebruary 26, 2016

Wafting, Filling and Spilling: Indoor Gardening with Nicola Sweeting

By Amanda

In the last of her excellent gardening posts, Nicola Sweeting tackles the type of botanics anyone can grow, indoor plants. And don’t forget, the Royal Academy has Painting The Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse for further inspiration, for those visiting… Read More

Fashion & BeautyFebruary 24, 2016

Two Piece Suede Dressing in Topshop

By Amanda

Back in the heady days of Fast Fashion, the approach of Fashion Week triggered my seasonal visit to Topshop. As a fashion insider, we got to know exactly when to rock up to the Oxford Street store to grab the… Read More

Health & HappinessFebruary 21, 2016

A Word From Jo Orr on Postpartum Psychosis

By Amanda

You may remember food blogger Jo Orr from her lovely Friday food guest-posts last year. She contacted us last week – Mental Health Week -on a subject she feels very strongly about, Postpartum Psychosis. Jo’s dad’s production company, Matchlight, made… Read More