Out & About | The Womens Room

Fashion & Beauty, Out & AboutJune 21, 2017

Perfume: A Sensory Journey Through Contemporary Scent at Somerset House

By Amanda

Exciting news for perfume fans, Somerset House is hosting a wonderful exhibition looking at ten key contemporary scents and why they are important. Regular readers will know that I launched a fragrance website We Wear Perfume a while back due… Read More

Out & AboutJune 19, 2017

Middlegagemum.com: Maybe its because I’m a Londoner

By Jane

What better way to counteract the hatred generated by terrorists and extremists than to get together with ones community on a hot summers day. One year on from the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox, my neighbourhood, ate, drank, danced,… Read More

Fashion & Beauty, Out & AboutJune 16, 2017

Older Models At Evans Bikes

By Amanda

Well done Evans Cycles on using this image of a stylish grown up woman – Anne, apparently- on their A Match Made In Evans advertising. Good to see. I’m a keen urban cyclist, although I rarely do distances longer than… Read More

Art & Culture, Out & AboutJune 7, 2017

Art, Style and Sewing at the Venice Biennale 2017

By Amanda

When I’ve been to the Venice Biennale in previous years, I’ve always observed a glamorous mix of both art and style. This year, not so much on the style front. The art was as thought provoking as always but I… Read More

Art & Culture, Out & AboutMay 29, 2017

Guest Blogger Elena Bowes: Art-y Weekend Outside New York, New Canaan and Beyond

By Amanda

Guest blogger Elena Bowes is turning into our roving art reporter this month, do read her recent post on art in New York if you are planning a trip soon. Today she’s ventured further afield for more cultural kicks. New… Read More

Art & Culture, Out & AboutMay 15, 2017

Guest Blogger Elena Bowes: Pacing Manhattan

By Amanda

Our roving reporter Elena Bowes has just got back from another of her trips to New York, where she’s been busy visiting (mostly) art shows currently on in the city. Here’s how she got along. I just got back from… Read More

Art & Culture, Out & AboutMay 11, 2017

London Craft Week: Date Alert for 2018

By Amanda

Did you go to London Craft Week last week? There were some wonderful events and inspiring workshops hosted by designers and retailers all over the capital. Over the last few years this spring celebration has seen craft elevated in status… Read More

Fashion & Beauty, Out & AboutMay 5, 2017

The Love-Child Shoe from Grenson and Persephone Books

By Amanda

As if to torture me on my year of buying nothing new, Grenson has collaborated with Persephone Books to create a delightful printed Derby that is the perfect smart summer shoe. Not only is it available in the softest of… Read More

Fashion & Beauty, Out & AboutApril 28, 2017

Swedish Style: Gudrun Sjödén and Josef Frank at The Fashion and Textile Museum

By Amanda

The lovely, all-inclusive Swedish designer Gudrun Sjödén has a small exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsay, which is well worth popping into. Regular readers may remember my fabulous trip to Gudrun’s 40 years of Fashion exhibition in… Read More

Out & AboutApril 24, 2017

Made in Margate: What to see & do

By Jane

Since buying a house in Margate (and the ongoing media obsession) I have been inundated with requests for recommendations for visiting DFLs and beyond. So, to avoid repeating myself on a regular basis, here is my guide to some things… Read More

Art & Culture, Out & AboutMarch 29, 2017

See this: Entangled, Threads & Making

By Jane

Over the last couple of years you may have read about how British coastal towns are enjoying a revival and in particular how Margate is the new Shoreditch!! Anyone who has visited Margate will know this isn’t true (thank God)… Read More

Fashion & Beauty, Out & AboutMarch 27, 2017

A New Beauty Destination For Middleagedad: Beast

By Amanda

Men’s grooming, as you will all know by now, has changed beyond all recognition over the last decade. Blame it on the metrosexual (a word I hardly ever hear nowadays) of the mid 2000s, since their emergence, men are taking… Read More

Out & AboutMarch 13, 2017

Flower Making at VV Rouleaux

By Amanda

The world has gone mad for events and workshops, everywhere you look someone is encouraging you to sign up to learn about this or make that. It’s all about ‘experience’ now, not just shopping or product. Which, frankly, couldn’t have… Read More

Home & Garden, Out & AboutFebruary 17, 2017

Gardening Magazines, Dig Delve, Burberry and Henry Moore

By Amanda

Gardening Magazine round-up January and February are the ‘months of hope’ for gardeners, we spend all our time reading seed catalogues, bookmarked web pages on fancy new perennials and imagining that THIS YEAR will be the one where not one… Read More

Art & Culture, Out & AboutFebruary 13, 2017

Vanessa Bell and Patti Smith at Dulwich Picture Gallery

By Amanda

Attention Bloomsbury fans, there is a really wonderful exhibition of over 100 of Vanessa Bell’s paintings, photographs and designs at the Dulwich Picture Gallery currently, which must not be missed. It is Vanessa Bell’s first ever solo exhibition, and it… Read More

Out & AboutFebruary 3, 2017

Guest Blogger Elena Bowes: The Best Apps That New Yorkers Love

By Amanda

Our regular guest blogger Elena is making a big life change for 2017, she’s (semi) moving to New York, where no one does anything without checking an app first. But which ones to use? She shares her tips on the… Read More

Out & AboutJanuary 30, 2017

Women who get s..t done: Elizabeth Warren

By Jane

The first in a new series of posts about women we admire – not for the way they look – but for what they do. As I get older, I’m increasingly intolerant of women who are revered for the way… Read More

Art & Culture, Out & AboutJanuary 25, 2017

A Glorious Textile Holiday With Selvedge Magazine.

By Amanda

If you are planning your summer holiday and want something a little more interesting than just toasting on a beach (although wouldn’t a bit of heat right now be great?), can we point you to our friends at Selvedge Magazine,… Read More

Out & AboutJanuary 10, 2017

Time to take action: Women’s March on London

By Jane

It was hard not to feel disillusioned by the events of 2016, as the politics of fear and division have come to the fore in a terrifying show of strength from men who have no place in the civilised world.… Read More

Art & Culture, Out & AboutDecember 12, 2016

Lives, Loves and Loss at Fenton House, with Traces London

By Amanda

My absolute favourite way to experience historical houses is when they put you in an immersive, imaginary, day-in-the-life-of kind of way. You may have been to Denis Severs House, where the multi-sensory aspect is done magnificently; as you enter each… Read More

Home & Garden, Out & AboutDecember 2, 2016

Violet And The Vicarage: The Best Way To Spend A Weekend

By Amanda

A word of warning before we start, this is a very photo-heavy post, mostly because the Violet And The Vicarage weekend course I went on recently is about photography….and cake. I’ve long been a fan of both the stylish photographer… Read More

Art & Culture, Out & About, UncategorizedNovember 25, 2016

See this: How to Date a Feminist

By Jane

Apologies to non London readers as this is a very local post – but Samantha Ellis’ passionate and hilarious romantic comedy How to Date Feminist is back by popular demand at the Arcola Theatre – and well worth seeing. ‘A … Read More

Home & Garden, Out & AboutOctober 24, 2016

Guest Blogger Elena Bowes: Surviving Your Child’s 18th Birthday Party

By Amanda

For anyone who is thinking about planning a party for your offspring, our guest blogger Elena Bowes has a few words of advice… Be honest. Who actually looks forward to hosting their child’s 18th birthday party? We’ve all heard the… Read More

Art & Culture, Out & AboutOctober 12, 2016

Wool week and the wool BnB

By Jane

Who knew there was a UK Wool Week? “I did” I can hear all you knitters cry! Well I didn’t and to to be honest wool hasn’t really been on my radar for a while, either as a consumer or… Read More

Fashion & Beauty, Out & AboutOctober 5, 2016

Makers House with Burberry, And Pop Up Fatigue

By Amanda

For those who live in London, had plenty of time on their hands and didn’t have to actually work for a living, the extraordinarily large catalogue of events and shows that surrounded the two weeks of London Fashion Week and… Read More

Art & Culture, Out & AboutSeptember 30, 2016

Guest Blogger Elena Bowes: Carmen Herrera – 101 And Going Strong

By Amanda

Our intrepid guest blogger, Elena Bowes, has visited the Whitney’s exhibition in New York, on Carmen Herrara, one of the oldest living women artists still working. Still painting – and taking a small scotch after lunch – daily, Carmen is… Read More

Fashion & Beauty, Out & AboutSeptember 12, 2016

Hudson’s Hill Store, A Little Bit Of Retail Heaven In Greensboro

By Amanda

My stay in North Carolina was hedged with some trepidation, due to recent state issues on LGBT. Should I have followed Bruce’s example and not go? But you don’t learn about stuff unless you travel and how better to experience… Read More

Art & Culture, Out & AboutSeptember 6, 2016

Top five things to do in Berlin

By Jane

Berlin is a laid back, creative city, rich in culture and thought provoking history. The wide streets, filled with cyclists and non aggressive drivers, huge apartments and green spaces, made me question how impossible London has become, as ridiculous property… Read More

Art & Culture, Home & Garden, Out & AboutSeptember 5, 2016

Guest Blog: Elena Bowes visits Brooklyn Botanic Gardens

By Amanda

Part of my recent summer break was spent in New York, where I went to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, tipped off about it by our regular guest blogger, travel writer Elena Bowes. It was a treat to visit, as she… Read More

Art & Culture, Out & AboutSeptember 1, 2016

The Elsewhere Project in Greensboro North Carolina

By Amanda

We are back! Hope your summer was good and you didn’t miss us too much. For part of our summer break, I ended up in Greensboro, North Carolina, because Middleagedad had an Artist in Residence spot for five weeks at… Read More