New season's winners at LK Bennett

LK Bennett, a British Icon, a firm favourite with Kate Middleton, good quality, expensive but classic. These are words that I would of used to describe the high street chain for the past few years. I have a number of clients who I will shop in LK Bennett with them due to their work attire or when clients have occasions such as ascot, weddings and christenings it will be on my list to look at. Until now I have never thought of them as fashion forward, classic yes, beautifully cut yes, modern sometimes…but today after a personal shopping trip with a client my head has been turned!

Their new AW19 collection had me excited at every turn and every dress. The client did buy 2 dresses from the collection and after we parted ways I had to go back and try some on myself. Here are my top picks from the new collection…

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Leopard print cotton dress, £295

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Bright green tie neck dress, £325

The same style also comes in bright red and in 2 other prints

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Navy pleated dress, £250

The same style comes in bright purple too

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This gingham shirt dress is sold out online but you can find it in stores -

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These 2 beautiful bags also caught my eye…

what i'm going to be wearing from my wardrobe in Autumn

I think it’s time to face it. Summer isn’t coming back.

While the calendar may well still say summer, one quick glimpse out of your window will tell you that meteorologically, we're far from it. But rather than dwell, I am looking forward to the new season’s styling and dressing in fresh new ways, taking the opportunity to maximise what is in my wardrobe whilst we go through the transitional period before the cold temperatures hit us.

Whilst the first drops from the high streets and designers can give us a good indication of what is going to be popular this Autumn it’s also worth looking back to previous seasons and seeing what you can continue wearing but just in a different way. The trends are full of florals, checks, leather, lots of sparkle, puffy sleeves and fancy ruffles. Looking at that list I know I own something from all of those categories so I am going to show you how I am going to style them for this coming season to inspire you to dig into your wardrobe and re-style.

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The big styling trends for AW19

SHOULDERS

I’ve always loved a big puffy shoulder, some shoulder detailing and pleating at the shoulder - it gives some height to your outfit and adds some style to your tops, jackets and dresses. This Autumn is the return of the shoulder and the high street already has a few of them online, this would be by top tip to buy now and wear all Autumn before the weather changes to having to wear knitwear.

Here is how I am styling my current wardrobe puffy shoulder items -

Here are some new items to buy now -

Puff shoulder blouse, £65, & other stories

Ruffled denim blouse, £29.99, Zara

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LEATHER / FAKE LEATHER

Top of my Autumn wish list is a leather shirt (or shacket) which I will tuck into skirts, put over dresses and wear casually with jeans. In the meantime I will be pulling out these fake leather culotte’s that are a couple of years old from ASOS and wearing them more casually rather than just for evening as that is what I have tended to do in the past.

See how I will be styling them below -

Here are some new items to buy now -

Burgundy PU shorts, £32, Topshop

Faux leather shirt, £29.99, Zara

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CHECKS

Let’s face it we all have a check shirt lurking in the back of our wardrobes which we tend to pull out every Autumn and wear it with jeans. This season will see another load of checks out there from ginghams to windowpane checks and Prince of Wales checks. I brought a fab coat from Warehouse in the Winter sale that I will no doubt be wearing alot this Autumn, and this check shirt from Zara which is years old will be styled up over dresses in the coming weeks.

Here is how I am styling my check shirt -

Here are some new items to buy now -

Check oversized shirt, £49.99, Zara

Faux Sherling collar plaid coat, £120, &other stories

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FLORALS

My Winter jumpers are currently packed away so I know that when they come out I will be wearing them over these dresses with tights and boots into the cold weather. For now I will be adding layers and high tops so I can stripe or keep warm depending on what the weather will do.

Here is how I will be styling my floral dresses -

Here are some new floral dresses to buy now -

Jenna Floral dress, £120.00, Ghost at John Lewis & Partners

Rae dress, Lily & Lionel, £220, from The Dressing Room

It's been a spotty kind of week

This week has been a mixed bag of weather, a mixed bag of activities now that the kids are off school and work has slowed up for the summer holidays and a mixed bag of life stuff happening too. What hasn’t been a mixed bag has been my outfits as this week, having got a bit bored of the temperamental weather, I decided to stick to a theme - SPOTS.

Some outfits are styled for evening and some for daytime. I have tried to use lots of my accessories that I own to use colour in my outfits. Accessories are key when it comes to building your own style and styling your outfits, starting with a good base of shoes and bags and then building on earrings, hair accessories, sunglasses and necklaces will all come with time. Some pieces I have owned for 10 years, others have been newer purchases for events this summer, sale purchases or gifts for my birthday.

So this is what my week looked like in outfits…

THE Zara spotty dress. I have dressed this up for evening using magenta pink that is from my colour palette (Winter), that I religiously stick to. Using accessories to make this monotone dress have some style personality.

Shoes from Topshop (sale)

Hairband from Maison Archives London

Bag from &other stories (Last year) - similar here

This outfit was also for the evening, but I had worn the skirt with a plain white tank top in the daytime as was a warmer day, so for the evening I added the yellow clutch bag from Whistles (sale) and my office sandals that I got last year but I give to so many clients because they are so comfy.

Skirt from & other stories

White tee from H&M (old)

Clutch bag from Whistles (sale)

Sandals from office

This was a day outfit, out with the kids on a sunny day to the park. The spot tank top is from Topshop and one of the oldest things I have in my wardrobe. It is quite short so I can wear it out with jeans but I can also tuck it in. I like to add a hairband when I am wearing this skirt as it gives it more attitude, the denim skirt is old from &Other Stories.

Denim skirt from & other stories, similar here

Spot tank top from Topshop (old)

Sandals from &other stories last year, but they have got them out again here

Red clutch from Kate Spade (present)

Embellished hairband from Anthropologie last year, similar here

Sunglasses from Mulberry

This last outfit was a daytime one, one where I went for lunch with a friend so I dressed up a bit. If I wanted to wear this out with the kids I would of put my white stan smith trainers on, changed my bag to a bigger one and perhaps thrown a jacket over the top too. Alot of these pieces are old from my wardrobe, but stand the test of time.

Bag from See by Chloe at My Theresa

Spot shirt from Zara (old)

Fake leather culottes from ASOS (old)

Leopard print sandals from Whistles (very old!)

Life Magazine - Hertfordshire July 2019

Read my latest article in Life Magazine, Hertfordshire edition, covering Harpenden, St. Albans, Radlett, Hadley Wood and Hertford. Pick up a copy locally or read here online (p80) - https://issuu.com/fishmedia/docs/life_mags_herts_july19/80