The Women's Room | Daily Life and Style Inspiration

Out & AboutDecember 5, 2012

Donate Your warmth: Bowowows Christmas Cracker

By Jane

If you live in East London and are a dog lover, you might want to get yourself and your pooch down to the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club on Saturday, where there’s a unique charity event happening. Bowowow’s Canine Christmas… Read More

Fashion & BeautyDecember 4, 2012

Vintage style at Blue Linen

By Amanda

When I am half way through my interview with Su Mason, co owner of Blue Linen, a vintage clothing and linen seller I met at Hammersmith Vintage Fair, she almost makes me snort my tea across her kitchen table by… Read More

Home & GardenDecember 3, 2012

All I want for Christmas: Books

By Jane

A new cookery book is a little like getting a brand new notebook (remember the thrill of the first page of a new school book), with its crisp, clean pages full of hope and potential to start afresh. Leafing through… Read More

Home & GardenDecember 2, 2012

A stylish Christmas Star from John Kostick

By Amanda

If-like me-you buy one or two investment Christmas baubles for your tree every year, a small consolation of ageing is that by the time your kids become teenagers you find you’ve accumulated an impressive (if slightly eclectic) collection, to the… Read More

Health & HappinessDecember 1, 2012

Christmas parties: is it worth it?

By Jane

This has to be my favourite Christmas advert yet – in these days of social networking, the day after shame is magnified beyond anything we could have imagined in our younger days. When it comes to nights out, especially at… Read More

Novels & Biogs, We Are ReadingNovember 30, 2012

Instructions For A Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell

By Amanda

This is the very first Maggie O’ Farrell book I’ve read, and it wont be the last, this is a book I would put into the ‘don’t want the bus/train journey to end because I don’t want to stop reading… Read More

Things We LoveNovember 30, 2012

Odette Toilette – Pot Pourri Blend #1

By Jane

Pot pourri has had a bad press for the last few years, as we tend to think of it on the same level as in car air fresheners and Ambi Pur plug ins. One of our favourite olfactors Odette Toilette… Read More

Out & AboutNovember 30, 2012

We love: Paperplain Letterpress personalised printing

By Amanda

There’s a lot of similarity between stationery and fashion. Both are about the appreciation of beautiful textures and surface details, clever design and a sense of beauty. OK, so it might seem a long stretch from a designer-of-the-year Stella McCartney… Read More

Home & GardenNovember 29, 2012

Best Christmas Crackers

By Jane

It seems even crackers have trends these days and gone are the days when you can simply pop into M & S and pick up a box without thinking – well you still can obvs, but that wouldn’t be much… Read More

Health & HappinessNovember 28, 2012

Give as you Live: guilt free Christmas shopping

By Amanda

As you reach for the mouse to do all your Christmas shopping this year (internet shopping is about the only growth area in retail right now) can we suggest you download the Give as you Live charity donation idea? It’s… Read More

Fashion & BeautyNovember 27, 2012

All I want for Christmas

By Jane

Running around buying everyones else’s Christmas presents usually means you have no idea when someone asks “what do you want for Christmas?” Family members and long term partners often need a little help when it comes to choosing the right… Read More

Art & CultureNovember 26, 2012

See this: Kate MccGwire’s LURE exhibition at All Visual Arts

By Amanda

Over at the All Visual Arts gallery (fast becoming my favourite gallery in London) there is a new exhibition LURE, by artist Kate MccGwire. My taste in art leans towards the romantically beautiful, with a touch of macabre taxidermy thrown… Read More

Fashion & BeautyNovember 25, 2012

Style icon: Grace Coddington

By Jane

This week Grace Coddington creative director of US Vogue came to London to promote her book, Grace: A Memoir. We went along to Browns to join the queue of journalists and bloggers clutching copies of the orange book, to meet… Read More

Things We LoveNovember 24, 2012

Martha Stewart does Christmas Wrapping at Staples

By Amanda

For those of you who found yourselves spoiled for choice with the Martha Stewart for Staples stationery collection earlier this year, bad news. There’s more. And it’s Christmas themed. If you haven’t found it yet, the label and paper range… Read More

Health & HappinessNovember 24, 2012

A Tale Of Two Gadgets at Philips

By Amanda

As Christmas approaches and you start to get ideas about what you might like from Santa, some of you might be thinking about asking for some of the new laser light gadgets turning up everywhere (beauty is heavily into gadgets… Read More

UncategorizedNovember 24, 2012

Something for the weekend: West End VIP Day

By Amanda

Just in case you are thinking of starting your Christmas shopping this weekend and you live near London, it’s car free day today, Saturday 24th November, in the centre of town. Also there are a number of special offers,… Read More

Home & GardenNovember 23, 2012

Christmas candle inspiration

By Jane

It’s never too early to start thinking about table decorations (remember this does not make us shallow or ridiculous) and as Amanda pointed out earlier in the week, making things is actually good for our health. This simple idea from… Read More

Out & AboutNovember 22, 2012

Angela Flanders new store and Aqua Alba perfume

By Amanda

While we are on the subject of women achieving success in the world, one of our favourite female perfumers, Angela Flanders, has got a new shop in an extremely cute space in Artillery Passage, which is a Dickensian-style, history-soaked backwater… Read More

Things We LoveNovember 21, 2012

A Right Royal Christmas Fairy

By Amanda

Actually, she’s not so much a Christmas fairy as a Diamond Jubilee Christmas princess, as maker Dinah Nicholson has named each one of the limited edition of 50 fairies after royal princesses and queens from history. The 50 ‘girls’ are… Read More

Health & HappinessNovember 21, 2012

How do we re-define feminism for the 21st Century?

By Jane

As the mother of a teenage daughter I struggle with her reluctance to call herself a feminist. When questioned on education, equality, women’s rights, abortion, equal pay, women bishops etc etc, she wholeheartedly agrees with everything I say. But when… Read More

Health & HappinessNovember 20, 2012

The Women’s Room explains how to avoid Christmas stress: knit! (or sew)

By Amanda

Over the past month I have been to a number of craft fairs and at all of them I was reminded of how so many of us love to make things. We may be as busy as heck but we… Read More

Things We LoveNovember 19, 2012

Marks & Spencer’s new Flatter-Me arm wear

By Amanda

You may remember we wrote about Mary Portas’s excellent idea Armery back here. Well, not surprisingly we’re seeing similar product popping up elsewhere, including this new Flatter-Me arm wear top from M&S. Our issue with Armery was the problem with… Read More

Home & GardenNovember 19, 2012

All I want for Christmas: dog lovers

By Jane

The first in our series of posts bringing you interesting and alternative ideas for Christmas presents, today we look at a subject after my own heart – dogs. If like me, you are ridiculously soppy and treat your dog like… Read More

Health & HappinessNovember 18, 2012

The Women’s Room V The Women’s Room.org.uk

By Amanda

So after two long weeks of frustration, confusion and sleepless night, Jane and I are unable to do anything about the fact that another site and twitter name has been set up as The Women’s Room. We asked politely by… Read More

We Are ReadingNovember 17, 2012

Homemade, Christmas and Festive decorations by Ros Badger and Elspeth Thompson

By Jane

If you are starting to think about what theme you are going for this Christmas at home (what do you mean you don’t have one – are you insane?) This new book by our favorite knitwear designer and stylist, Ros… Read More

Art & CultureNovember 17, 2012

See this: Amour

By Jane

Michael Haneke’s new film, looks at the effects of ageing and dementia on a happily married couple and is probably not one to see if you are feeling down. Following the decline of an octogenarian musician after a stroke, she… Read More

Things We LoveNovember 16, 2012

Perfume review: new smells from Grossmith

By Amanda

Good to see the Grossmith perfume house (we wrote about it here) doing so well since its relaunch. Co-re-founders Amanda and Simon Brookes have worked their socks off to bring the historic perfume brand into current times and now have… Read More

Fashion & BeautyNovember 16, 2012

Catsuit /Jumpsuit update…

By Amanda

In an update to this morning’s post on catsuits/jumpsuits, I tried on a really lovely one this morning in Topshop Oxford Circus (had a breakfast meeting close by, honest) from the Unique range. Under the influence of ex Vogue-er Kate… Read More

Fashion & BeautyNovember 16, 2012

Fantasy Coats and Catsuits with Moka

By Amanda

I know, I know, you’re going to look at that title and say ‘Catsuits? has Amanda lost her mind?’, but honestly team, if you can wear trousers, then a catsuit could be a brilliant and practical solution for party wear.… Read More

Fashion & BeautyNovember 15, 2012

Martin Margiela for H&M

By Jane

Not being a massive fan of shopping meant that preparing for the H&M Martin Margiela collaboration was tricky. Little did I realise I needed to seriously plan ahead, work out a strategy and have a contingency plan. For Marni at… Read More