Fashion & Beauty | The Womens Room

Fashion & BeautyJuly 21, 2014

Summer (and autumn-launch) perfume review

By Amanda

It’s ALL about perfume this week on TWR, what with our Scent Salon happening tomorrow with Odette Toilette and Aesop…(are you coming?) Over the last few months I’ve inhaled more fragrance than is probably good for a girl. The number… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJuly 17, 2014

Wet weather protection perfection with Protected Species

By Amanda

I have been mightily impressed with some new rain wear that came my way recently. The nice people at Protected Species (Iove the name) sent me one of their parka rain coats to try, to demonstrate the London based design… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJune 23, 2014

Dressing for summer: a few sale florals to buy at Hobbs

By Amanda

What is it with Hobbs at the moment? Every time I pop into one of its London stores I find something else I want to buy. Having not been in one for years, now I am on smiling terms… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJune 17, 2014

Dressing for summer: the perfect kimono jacket

By Amanda

Kimono jackets -currently having a moment in the fashion sun – are the perfect menopausal summer jacket, just look at all that ventilation on the sleeves! Plenty of room for a cooling summer breeze to bring down your hot flush … Read More

Fashion & BeautyJune 16, 2014

Dressing for summer: the sequin skirt

By Jane

A pencil skirt is a thing of great beauty and believe it or not, can suit almost anyone if styled in the right way. As bums are officially now a “thing” (thanks Kim Kardashian – at least you have done… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJune 9, 2014

Designer watch: Sofie D’Hoore

By Amanda

I’ve got another girl crush, this time on the grown up Belgian designer Sofie D’Hoore. Sofie started her design company in 1992, previously she was a…dentist. That’s not a job-swap you write very often. But it does help you understand… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJune 5, 2014

At Last! The perfect T shirt from The White T-Shirt Co.

By Amanda

Penny Jones, the founder of the White T-Shirt Co made contact with us recently to let us know that she was in business again, having closed her company in 2010 because her organic yarn supplier closed and she was reluctant… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJune 4, 2014

Unique Style Platform: A new trends service for the fashion industry

By Jane

Six months ago I decided that just for once, instead of talking about what I’d like to do with my life, I should actually get on and do it. I’d spent many months thinking the only way I was ever… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJune 3, 2014

FitFlops, no longer a style free zone

By Amanda

So FitFlops, until recently I wouldn’t have thought to go near them, as I was under the impression they were a style free zone. I know, I know, friends have told me they are marvellously comfortable, brilliant for walking over… Read More

Fashion & BeautyMay 28, 2014

Marks & Spencer, an update on AW14 and a few things to buy for summer

By Amanda

We know you -like us- have strong feelings on M&S, so just while the weather is a bit wintery (I was going to do a post on summer dresses but I’ll save that until I’m not sat here wrapped in… Read More

Fashion & BeautyMay 27, 2014

Are you Kaftan ready?

By Jane

It’s that time of year when our inbox starts filling up with helpful emails from PR’s tasking “are you bikini ready?” and “do you have the perfect beach body?” The temptation to reply to these inane emails and tell them… Read More

Fashion & Beauty, Home & GardenMay 26, 2014

Talking cashmere and moths with Angela Bell from Queene & Belle

By Amanda

I’ve all but given up buying cashmere due to moth issues here at the Barnes division of TWR, which is a shame because there are lovely sweaters around to tempt me, such as these delicious ones (below) from cashmere expert… Read More

Fashion & BeautyMay 23, 2014

Wedding dressing dilemmas

By Jane

It’s that time of year when young people start getting married (are they insane?) and we are required to pull out all the stops, outfit wise. Personally, I find nothing more stressful than pulling together a “dressed up” look. A … Read More

Fashion & BeautyMay 20, 2014

What Jo Fairley did next: The Perfume Society

By Amanda

When beauty guru Jo Fairley does something new, it’s worth checking it out. Jo, you may remember, was responsible for launching Green & Black and The Beauty Bible, as well as being an award winning beauty journalist. Now, together with… Read More

Fashion & BeautyMay 15, 2014

Middle-aged dad’s guide to summer dressing

By Jane

As the weather begins to warm up (she says optimistically) and our thoughts turn to summer dressing, I thought it might be time for a few words of advice for the men in our lives, on how to approach the… Read More

Fashion & BeautyMay 9, 2014

A couple of nice dresses to buy from John Lewis

By Amanda

I am indebted to DisneyRollerGirl for highlighting the Antoni & Alison dresses that have been designed for John Lewis to celebrate the retailer’s 150th anniversary. Sadly by the time I clicked on the links on her post, most of the… Read More

Fashion & BeautyMay 7, 2014

Five things you need to know about the Met Ball

By Jane

Well you don’t actually need to know anything about the Met Ball as I’m sure you have more interesting/important things to think about today. But just in case you happen to be going to a red carpet event in the… Read More

Fashion & BeautyMay 6, 2014

Gudrun Sjödén’s 40 years in fashion

By Amanda

In contrast to the more familiar melancholic vibe we sometimes associate with Sweden, the designer Gudrun Sjödén is about as cheerful an individual as it’s possible to meet, which comes over loud and clear in her clothes designs. She is… Read More

Fashion & Beauty, Out & AboutMay 2, 2014

Jigsaw’s Duke Street Emporium- a great grown up store to shop

By Amanda

Jigsaw has opened a really lovely new store near Selfridges, on Duke Street, just far enough off Oxford Street to have that calmer, more boutique-y vibe that’s more preferable to shop. We’ve been quite excited about Jigsaw getting a revamp,… Read More

Fashion & BeautyApril 30, 2014

An update on the classic white shirt, from Hobbs

By Amanda

I can’t speak for the rest of the country’s Hobbs stores, but the Covent Garden flagship has been recently refurbished and it’s now good to shop. It’s very open and light, with clothes laid out on beautiful leather topped tables… Read More

Fashion & BeautyApril 29, 2014

Iris Apfel gets dressed for Matisse

By Jane

Octogenarian Iris Apfel shares her love of Matisse and how her style has been inspired by his work. I want to live in her Palm Beach home, arrange things all day and try on lots of outfits! The Matisse Cut-Outs… Read More

Fashion & BeautyApril 24, 2014

Fashion Revolution, Who Made Your Clothes?

By Amanda

Today is the first anniversary of the Rana Plaza catastrophe in Bangladesh, when 1,133 people, mostly women, died while making clothes for western fashion brands, many of whom didn’t even realise their clothes were being made in such unsafe, sub-human… Read More

Fashion & BeautyApril 22, 2014

Checks and stripes with Boden, Hobbs and COS

By Amanda

There’s something about spring that makes me want to wear a nautical stripe, this year the feeling’s been heightened by having seen the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition. JPG has always done stripes brilliantly well, the above couture silk stripe gown… Read More

Fashion & BeautyApril 17, 2014

The new retail: Clicks then bricks?

By Jane

Something we have been interested in for a while, is the concept of creating a brand that starts with an online audience, who eventually turn into customers. Could this be the way forward for successful blogs who have created a… Read More

Fashion & Beauty, Out & AboutApril 10, 2014

See this: The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier

By Amanda

Attention fashion people, sewers, fans of consumer culture and arty-folk. The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier, From Sidewalk to Catwalk at the Barbican is a MUST SEE exhibition. Beautifully executed, extensive (around 165 garments), socially ahead of its time… Read More

Fashion & BeautyApril 9, 2014

The Alchemist’s Dressing Table by Lauren Davies

By Jane

For her final 2013 RCA MA project, Lauren Davies created a collection of analog tools for the production of natural cosmetics at home, inspired by beautiful ancient rituals and the transformative powers of alchemy. “I believe this could be the… Read More

Fashion & BeautyApril 4, 2014

Out of Reach clothing, from sizest Zara

By Amanda

Oh Zara! How we would LOVE to love you, but you make it so hard to when you only seem to want to sell to skinny people. I went shopping researching for blogposts in Zara this week and was, as… Read More

Fashion & BeautyApril 3, 2014

Beauty finds at Paks and Superdrug

By Jane

Teen daughter and I love nothing more than to poke around a Chemists or beauty department on a Saturday afternoon. We love searching out the hero products that are relatively unknown, usually cheap and have the potential to change our… Read More

Fashion & BeautyMarch 31, 2014

Two things to buy from Topshop (whenever they arrive)

By Amanda

Occasionally, when I’m flipping through magazines or browsing blogs for inspiration, I get the clothes equivalent of ‘love at first sight’. My heart pounds, I feel my blood racing at flight speed through my veins and I come over all… Read More

Fashion & BeautyMarch 27, 2014

Christina Strutt’s new Cabbages and Roses store – complete with fairy skirts

By Amanda

Christina Strutt has been at the helm of her home and fashion brand Cabbages & Roses for 14 years, sailing, at times, through rocky waters. We’ve always been big fans and despite a few set-backs along the way – “I’m… Read More