The Women's Room | Daily Life and Style Inspiration

Out & AboutAugust 16, 2010

We Love: The Pound shop

By The Womens Room

Design collective Household and illustrator Sarah Melin, came up with the perfect way to create the ultimate low cost, high quality shopping experience. They set up the Pound Shop in Hoxton East London for a week last April, selling original… Read More

Health & Happiness, We Are ReadingAugust 15, 2010

Dressing Your Truth by Carol Tuttle

By The Womens Room

Carol Tuttle I was once told by someone (can’t remember who) that Self Help books were a little like cocaine, the first hit is always the best, after that you’re always trying to recreate the joy of the first exposure.… Read More

Home & GardenAugust 14, 2010

Readers kitchens: Eleanor from Lake Waramaug Connecticut

By The Womens Room

Eleanor is not in fact a reader of TWR, but Sarah who is renting her house for the summer is, and I feel sure if Eleanor was not 100 years old and living in an old peoples home in Florida,… Read More

Fashion & BeautyAugust 13, 2010

We love: Toast Travels

By The Womens Room

Now we're back from holiday and seriously thinking about winter clothes, it's good to see Toast's early autumn collection is online for us to pick over. Nice things have happened to the Toast website, you can now look at the… Read More

Out & AboutAugust 12, 2010

Some more bikes: Stateside style

By The Womens Room

Not quite as sophisticated as the fabulous bicycles Amanda has been snapping in Italy, the bikes I have seen in the catskills and Connecticut are a little more hippie/retro inspired, but lovely nonetheless.… Read More

Health & HappinessAugust 11, 2010

The vintage bride’s big day

By The Womens Room

You may remember a while ago we wrote about My Vintage Vows, a sweet blog by our friend Jo (she’s too young to be considered a TWR clan member) recording her attempts to stage her wedding in pure vintage style.… Read More

Out & AboutAugust 10, 2010

Simple pleasures: American style

By The Womens Room

Fresh food and flowers are a simple pleasure in any country, but somehow on holiday they seem even more lovely. Maybe it's because we have the time to really look and appreciate them. While in Connecticut I was delighted to… Read More

Fashion & BeautyAugust 9, 2010

TWR beauty: Miller Harris- good enough for the White House

By The Womens Room

Just before our holiday, I went to the Miller Harris press launch of its Christmas gift ideas and while we have been away the brand has hit the headlines because Samantha Cameron gave the Obamas a few of the scented… Read More

Out & AboutAugust 8, 2010

TWR on holiday: Kate’s Lazy Meadow

By The Womens Room

Part two of our US holiday has taken us upstate in New York to the Catskills. An often overlooked area associated with hippies and Hicksville, which over the past couple of years has been attracting artists and musicians escaping Manhattan… Read More

Fashion & Beauty, Out & AboutAugust 7, 2010

Just a few more pictures of bicycles….

By The Womens Room

Oh my, the Italians love their bikes. Not only are the men mad on cycling up into the mountains Tour de France style (complete with v tight bright lycra kit) on state of the art machines every weekend, but the… Read More

Out & AboutAugust 6, 2010

New York: mobile food

By The Womens Room

Wandering the streets of Manhattan, one is overwhelmed with the sounds and the smells of the city. In the last couple of years the smells have been getting more and more enticing as street food ups its game and food… Read More

Fashion & BeautyAugust 5, 2010

Sun dressing, Italian style

By The Womens Room

I've seen some great examples of stylish dressing-for-extreme-heat while here in Italy, many of which successfully challenge the rules on length/sleeveless/cleavage and bling often associated with older women. This very glamourous woman above looked stunning in her mini and cropped… Read More

Out & AboutAugust 4, 2010

Middleagedmum.com: Empire State of Mind

By The Womens Room

While Amanda has been experiencing life in Italy for the last couple of weeks, middleagedad and I have left Middleaged Towers far behind and gone Stateside. The last time we spent any length of time here was over 20 years… Read More

Fashion & BeautyAugust 3, 2010

Style icon: Caroline of Monaco… plus DIVAS in Lucca

By The Womens Room

Amanda is still in Lucca, where I went to the brilliant DIVAS photographic exhibition by the (apparently VERY famous) King of Paparazzi (his words not mine) Rino Barillari. He took many of the now familiar 'pap' shots of Sophia Loren,… Read More

Fashion & BeautyAugust 2, 2010

Biker chic in Woodstock

By The Womens Room

Cycling in the US hasn't quite taken off in the same way as it has in Europe and I didn't spot many glamorous older women riding round the streets of Manhattan. While out and about in the Catskills however I… Read More

Fashion & BeautyAugust 1, 2010

Holiday product tests: La Clarée

By The Womens Room

We’ve only just begun to test beauty products here at TWR so we are not experts, but we do come at it from an ‘only comment if we’ve used it’ angle which means we’re not just reading the press releases.… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJuly 31, 2010

Call us shallow but: We SO want one of these

By The Womens Room

Call me glamorous, but I have been seen carrying my lap top round in a Wholefoods canvas bag. I know it's not a good look but I have never been able to find the perfect lap top bag. They are… Read More

Fashion & BeautyJuly 30, 2010

Chic cycling in Lucca, Italy

By The Womens Room

Everyone cycles in the walled city of Lucca, in Tuscany, young and old go about about their daily business on two wheels rather than four. Italian women are so chic, even when bombing around on bikes, I've been trying to… Read More

Home & GardenJuly 29, 2010

We are reading: My Prescription for Anti-Depressive Living

By The Womens Room

There really is nothing like a gay man to cheer you up. When ever we're feeling down, a quick phone call to our GBF lifts our mood instantly. Camp, bitchy and funny, with a fabulous sense of style, are just… Read More

Home & GardenJuly 28, 2010

Cherry tree rental, update

By The Womens Room

Do you remember last year when we talked about Cherry tree rental ? Well Amanda and her sister rented a tree this year, for £40 between us and above is a picture of some of the 20 kilo plus haul we… Read More

Out & AboutJuly 27, 2010

See this: Alice Neel at the Whitechapel

By The Womens Room

Influential painter Alice Neel (18900-1984) was known for her portraits of famous people, as well as those on the fringes of mainstream society. A self proclaimed 'collector of souls' she painted friends, family and neighbours in Spanish Harlem, showing their… Read More

Home & GardenJuly 26, 2010

Shakitinis at Maria Bonfante’s coffee shop, Mantova

By The Womens Room

This is Maria (left), her daughter and (we think) her sister, in the coffee and sweet shop they run in Mantova, Northern Italy. It is not much to look at from the outside (see below) but it hums with life… Read More

Novels & Biogs, We Are ReadingJuly 25, 2010

What to read by the pool this summer: part 2

By The Womens Room

Here's part two of our essentail summer reading list, let us know if you have any more favourites, let us know about them? The Hand That First Held Mine – Maggie O'Farrell We loved Maggie O'Farrell's The Vanishing Act of Esme… Read More

Out & AboutJuly 24, 2010

The Lemon Houses of Lake Garda

By The Womens Room

Amanda has moved to Lake Garda to stay at the magnificent Villa Feltrinelli (SO much more on this in a later post…) where the edges of the south west side of the lake are peppered with the remains of lemonaia,… Read More

Novels & Biogs, We Are ReadingJuly 23, 2010

What to read by the pool this summer: part 1

By The Womens Room

As Amanda already mentioned we are lucky enough to both be away on holiday for three weeks, Amanda in Italy and me in America. Of course we are still blogging and in between doing usual holiday things, we will no… Read More

Health & Happiness, Home & GardenJuly 22, 2010

TWR on holiday: The Principe, Forte Dei Marmi

By The Womens Room

Amanda is staying in a brand new hotel here in Forte dei Marmi, it's only been open for 10 days and is causing a stir of interest in the small town, as they don't like 'new' much here, rightly… Read More

Home & GardenJuly 21, 2010

We love: the ultimate UK beach hut

By The Womens Room

We are now in full on holiday mode and after Amanda's post yesterday, have serious beach hut envy. I have talked of my love beach huts before and have aspirations to spend my old age brewing tea in a Southwold… Read More

Health & Happiness, Home & GardenJuly 20, 2010

TWR on holiday: Forte dei Marmi, Italy

By The Womens Room

This week Jane and I start reporting from our holiday destinations as we attempt to ‘blog on the go’ while we are Ladies On Tour, so to speak. We are keeping our fingers crossed that all works smoothly as internet… Read More

Home & GardenJuly 19, 2010

We love: Summerill & Bishop

By The Womens Room

Summerill & Bishop has been well established in London's Clarendon Cross since 1994. A bit like a Provencal country house filled with hand crafted earthenware, glassware, kitchen ware and natural home products, we love the combination of functional and beautiful,… Read More

Out & AboutJuly 18, 2010

See this: Ernesto Neto’s The Edges of the World

By The Womens Room

When you walk into Ernesto Neto's exhibition at the Hayward Gallery on London's Southbank centre, you can't help but think you've walked into a room full of coloured tights. His tent like structures seem to be made out of lots… Read More