The Women's Room | Daily Life and Style Inspiration

Novels & Biogs, We Are ReadingAugust 25, 2014

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

By Jane

Set in 1922 , in a genteel Camberwell villa, bereft of brothers, husband and servants due to the war, Mrs Wary and her daughter Frances are obliged to take in lodgers to make ends meet. Enter Lilian and Leonard Barber,… Read More

Things We LoveAugust 25, 2014

Betty & Walter chocolate

By Jane

I don’t know about you but I’m something of a snob when it comes to chocolate. Forget boring old Cadbury and Nestle (they taste like a gross combination of fat and sugar to me) over the last few years I… Read More

UncategorizedAugust 25, 2014

Shoespiration: Monk straps and En Brogue

By Jane

Having briefly dabbled with a heel when I was 14 and trying to gain entry to the Over 21 night Tiffanys nightclub in Hull, I soon realised that A. height has nothing to do with deception and B. high heels… Read More

Home & GardenAugust 22, 2014

Pattern Makers, Thinkers and Being Kind, with Starch Green

By Amanda

Today’s guest post is by our regular contributor and intrepid explorer of interesting people and crafts, Julia Little. Whether it’s a marriage or partnership, being together for half a lifetime or more is a challenge. I’m not sure what the… Read More

Things We LoveAugust 21, 2014

Gudrun Sjoden’s Elefant T Shirt for Ivory For Elephants

By Amanda

Gudrun Sjoden’s new AW14 collection is putting the protection of African elephants at its heart, to the extent that for every Elefant Top she sells, she will donate £5 to the anti ivory poaching charity Ivory For Elephants. As… Read More

Fashion & BeautyAugust 21, 2014

Daphne Guinness has an Evening in Space

By Jane

And has sex with a pink alien – and quite frankly why not. The 47 year old (go Daphne) artist and heiress has released a mesmerising, if slightly insane music video directed by David LaChapelle Evening in Space was produced… Read More

Fashion & BeautyAugust 20, 2014

Older models, another success: Angelica Huston for Gap

By Amanda

I mentioned earlier this month about how big brands were starting to use older models in their all important September advertising, well looks who turned up in the Gap campaign… The awesome Angelica Huston. The adverts, entitled Dress Normal, are… Read More

Out & AboutAugust 19, 2014

See this: Horst Photographer of Style

By Jane

Starting on September the 6th, the V&A will hold a retrospective of the work of Horst P. Horst (1906-99), one of the 20th century’s greatest fashion photographers. In a career that spanned six decades, Horst photographed the work of couturiers… Read More

Fashion & BeautyAugust 18, 2014

How to buy the best jeans, with Jean Stories

By Amanda

Oh, Jeans Stories, you are a clever idea, I wish I’d thought of you. Instead two clever American girls, Jane Herman Bishop and Florence Kane got there before me. Both Jane and Florence are denim experts who have practically invented… Read More

Novels & Biogs, We Are ReadingAugust 18, 2014

Completion by Tim Walker

By Amanda

After a few books from this summer’s must-read list had turned out to be non-starters, I was delighted to tuck into Completion by Tim Walker, a feast for anyone with a taste for a character-driven book set in many authors’… Read More

Health & HappinessAugust 16, 2014

Weekend Woman: Jo Pavey

By Amanda

There could only be one Weekend Woman this week, the amazing Jo Pavey, who has won a gold medal in the 10,000 metres at the European Championships this week. Every report of this tremendous win -her first gold in 17… Read More

Things We LoveAugust 16, 2014

We love: Yves Saint Laurent La Laque Couture Les Graines

By Amanda

OR leather-look nails to you and me. I’ve not been into the whole ‘nail art’ thing, I’ve admired it from afar and am truly amazed by the detail and colours around, but I’m just not sure it’s my style to… Read More

Fashion & BeautyAugust 15, 2014

Buy this: Glamglow face mask

By Jane

If you are a beauty junkie or teenager you will almost probably have heard of GlamGlow. But if like me you can take or leave the beauty pages/blogs/Vlogs and reviews, it may well have passed you by. I’m informed by… Read More

Home & GardenAugust 14, 2014

Rachel Vosper, candle chandler

By Amanda

This week I think I’m going to give everything up and become a candle chandler, and it’s all Rachel Vosper’s fault (above) Rachel invited us to a morning of candle making at her cute Kinnerton Street artisan workshop and store… Read More

Fashion & BeautyAugust 13, 2014

How to wear: Culottes

By Jane

So culottes are a “thing” again and I’m not going to lie, this is a tricky one particularly if you are short like me. But there is a certain amount of liberation in a culotte and if you can get… Read More

Things We LoveAugust 12, 2014

Perfume review: Papillon perfumery

By Amanda

One of the great advantages of hanging out with people who REALLY know what they are talking about is that you get to learn about good stuff. At our Scent Salon, Odette Toilette introduced us to Papillon Perfumery, a brand… Read More

Fashion & BeautyAugust 12, 2014

Me and my fashionable mum, with a bit of help from Jaeger

By Amanda

Is it me or -hold on tightly to something -are we grown up women actually becoming fashionable? I’ve returned from my holidays to discover we are everywhere in the September editions of the glossies, it’s quite unnerving. Not only is… Read More

Middle Aged MumAugust 11, 2014

Middleagedmum.com: Electrical shops

By Jane

As I have said many times, I am not a fan of shopping unless it is for antiques in remote corners of the world, Duane Reade in New York, European hardware shops, farmers markets or clothes shopping in Marni. I… Read More

Home & GardenAugust 9, 2014

Weekend Woman: Jenny Eclair

By Amanda

Jenny Eclair makes us laugh like drains on twitter and any other medium she makes a noise on. She’s a joyously realistic, super-observant, occasionally grumpy voice being properly funny about what it is to be a woman today. Nothing makes… Read More

Fashion & BeautyAugust 8, 2014

Purple make up – would you?

By Amanda

I’m away this week, so today we have a guest blog from lovely Amy Dicketts. I was about to ditch a couple of the purple make up samples (this next season’s hottest shade, it’s as if the 70s never went… Read More

Out & AboutAugust 6, 2014

See this: The Corner Shop

By Jane

It’s not every day I come across a shop that fills me with utter joy, as shopping generally leaves me cold (unless it’s Marni of course). But imagine a shop that stirs memories, makes you smile and leaves you feeling… Read More

Home & GardenAugust 6, 2014

A special treat for stationery geeks, the extraordinary Paul Antonio, scribe

By Amanda

Today’s post is for the stationery geeks and anyone who yearns for the scratchy sound of pen on paper and whose heart beats a little faster when they receive a beautiful hand written letter. Have you noticed how little you… Read More

Fashion & BeautyAugust 5, 2014

Trend Alert: Midi Skirts

By Jane

Banish all thoughts of the 70’s and bad memories of A line denim skirts with giant wooden wedges and super skinny ribs sweaters, the midi skirt is back, but not as you know it. The new midi is sophisticated and… Read More

Home & GardenAugust 4, 2014

The total joy of fabulous smelling linen, with the White Company

By Amanda

My love of fragrance is not restricted to the perfume you spray on yourself, I am equally obsessed with smell in the home and in particular, making everything tediously domestic such as washing liquids, floor cleaners and bedlinen smell delicious… Read More

Middle Aged MumAugust 2, 2014

Middleaged mum.com: How to change a toilet roll

By Jane

This popped up on my Facebook feed the other day and its genius. Frustrated dad Will Reid used social media to post the first in a series of instructional videos to help his teenagers with their life. It’s such a… Read More

Novels & Biogs, We Are ReadingAugust 2, 2014

If I Knew You Were Going To Be This Beautiful I Never Would Have Let You Go by Judy Chicurel

By Amanda

This is a fabulous read, one that took me right back to the days of teenage love-crushes and desperately wanting to be a grown up, but scared of going too fast. I had nothing in common with Katie, the heroine… Read More

Out & AboutAugust 1, 2014

See this: Finding Vivian Maier

By Jane

Remember we told you about Vivian Maier back in September last year. A career nanny who secretly took over 100,000 photographs and earned a posthumous reputation as one of America’s most insightful street photographers. The film about her fascinating life… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJuly 31, 2014

One dress to buy from Gap

By Amanda

Just a quick extra post today to mention this extremely good indigo floral jacquard dress from Gap. Just ignore me if you’ve done all your summer dress buying, but if you have a need for a hard working mid summer… Read More

EventsJuly 31, 2014

Here’s what happened at our Scent Salon with Aesop and Odette Toilette

By Amanda

For the perfume enthusiasts amongst you who couldn’t make our scent salon, here’s a quick peak at what we got up to in the Aesop store last week with Odette Toilette (in pink, above). On what could have been the… Read More

Things We LoveJuly 30, 2014

Buy this: Wild Mint and Mandarin Scrub from Neom

By Jane

It’s a tricky time for beauty brands, as every week there seems to be a new ‘authentic/artisan/organic/specially created’ product launch and there are many elements required to make them stand out in an over saturated market place. Recently I was… Read More