The Mad Men bag

I had to go up to our London office in Pimlico for a meeting yesterday and on the walk back to the station came across a messy little vintage shop selling items in aid of Romanian children. After a short nose around I clapped eyes on this amazing leather Harrods bag and knew that it had to be mine. At £16, it didn't even take much justifying. Straight from the late Fifties/early Sixties, it wouldn't look out of place in the office of Mad Men's Stirling Cooper. Perhaps it used to belong to a real-life Joan or Peggy...

How brands should work with fashion bloggers

As well as creating content for a number of high-street fashion brands, I manage social media activity and blogger outreach.

Bloggers are the new fashion influencers and every brand wants a piece of the action, but many are going about it the wrong way, not doing their research and taking a patronising approach. Traditional, blanket PR doesn't work with this new model of press and when agencies and PR teams get it wrong, bloggers have no qualms about ripping them to shreds.

It's great to get opinion straight from the horse's mouth, so when I met the lovely Laetitia from top fashion blog Mademoisellerobot.com the other week, I was so interested in what she had to say on the subject I commissioned her to write a post on best practice for my agency's external blog. Essential reading for anyone involved in the fashion blogesphere.

Debenhams to trial size 16 mannequins

The news
Debenhams will trial size 16 mannequins in its shop windows to gain feedback from customers.

Like most UK retailers, the department store currently uses size 10 mannequins in all its window displays. However the majority of women in the UK are either a 14 or 16 and 42% of sales in the store come from clothes in these sizes.

Signage next to the mannequins, which will be wearing the recently launched Principles by Ben de Lisi range, will ask customers 'I'm a size 16, do you want to see more of me?'

Debenhams head of creative, Mark Stevens said: "We are proud to offer a broad and varied choice for women of all ages, shapes and sizes in store. So we thought we should reflect this in our window displays. If it's popular with customers we would love to roll it out."

The comment
While it will be heartening to see more realistically-sized mannequins on the high street, Principles is considered a 'plus-size clothing' brand and therefore such mannequins 'plus-size' mannequins. But if the average clothing size in the UK is 14/16, how is this 'plus' anything? What it means is plus the fashion industry norm, but such norms bear very little relation to the real world.

By trialing such a scheme on a 'plus-size' brand, Debenhams are instantly making their move a minority one, and one that other retailers will be able to ignore on the basis that they do not sell themselves as catering specifically for this market.

If a major fashion-led brand such as Topshop, for example, acknowledged the fact that only the minority of UK women are size 10 or below and used more representative size 12-14 mannequins, it may make a difference.

But for now those two repeatedly misused words, 'plus-size', will pigeon-hole yet another change in the right direction.

IMAGE by Flickr user Photo Monkey

Tried and tested - cheek highlighters

Lip and Cheek Stain
The Body Shop
£9.50
This magic wand was a little different to the other two products, giving a rich rose tint rather than a translucent shimmery finish. Despite giving a healthy glow, I found the product a little sticky. On the lips it achieves a deep but natural shade, although tastes a little strange and needs an overcoat of Vaseline to prevent drying out the lips.
Verdict: Handbag essential

Beat the Blues
Me Me Me
£4.50
From the new celeb cosmetic range for Superdrug, this highlighter gives a nice shimmer but takes a little longer to blend than Benefit's High Beam due to a more watery consistency. The brush is also quite thin but the product is an affordable alternative to High Beam and would be great for everyday use.
Verdict: Everyday use

High Beam
Benefit
£17.50
One of Benefit's best-sellers, High Beam sells itself as the 'make up artists' secret' and certainly gives a professional finish. The thick brush gives an even coverage which only takes a couple of dabs to blend. While it's expensive, the quality consistency means you need only use a couple of dots each time.
Verdict: Save for nights out

Budget brides for Bitchbuzz.com

Yes, I'm still banging on about my up-coming nuptuals...a piece I wrote on 'top tips for brides of a budget' is on bitchbuzz.com now. Check it out!

Swishing proper

I've been to several clothes swaps or 'swishes' at friend's places over the last couple of years and have held a few of my own. However, this weekend saw Brighon host its first official swishing event, and far from the 'throw it all in and get rummaging' approach I'm used to, swishing proper is a very structured affair.

Clothes were registered by a points system on arrival, from five and ten points for small and large high-street items, to 30 and 60 points for vintage and designer pieces respectively.

Once everyone had swapped their clothes for tokens, a stylist gave a raffle winner a colour consultation, talking us through why certain colours suited her and why others didn't. To be honest nobody’s heart was really in it – there were rails of clothes for the taking and we were like children in a sweet shop, salavating – but her insights were interesting and she didn't talk for too long.

At the start of the swap we had 20 minutes to try on items we liked. Points were pinned to the clothes and, personally, I think the organisers may have planned on a bit of pricking to stop us getting too carried away.

After we'd given back the items to be re-ordered (many things had ended up on the floor) a nutritionist hurried through something about the Equinox – seriously, no one was listening at this point – and the swap was officially opened to the vultures.

The first minute of the swapping frenzy wasn’t pretty - short of sticking pins in each others eyes, the swishers were prepared to do whatever they had to to get what they wanted. Nobody got everything they'd had their eye on - some pieces, especially a Cambridge stripe Topshop blazer, were very popular - but everybody seemed pleased with their loot.

On the way out tokens were tallied with swaps to make sure everything added up and I’d managed to bag a flower print summer dress, floral maxi, polka dot dress and a sequin bolero.

I'm not usually a fan of organised fun, but rules and structure are needed when free clothes are on offer and I can’t wait till the next official swish!

The thing about Pattie...

I've been a little bit obsessed (okay, a lot obsessed at times) with The Beatles since I was about eight, and of all the women associated with the individual members, and of all the models of the 1960s in general, Pattie Boyd stands out as the ultimate style icon.

Her look was understated and natural, away from the staged magazine shoots, and she managed to seem cute and innocent and sexy and seductive all at the same time.

I love her hair, I love her clothes and I love her story: Wife to two of the biggest names in music, muse, model and photographer - what a life. Yes, I have a bit of a 'thing' about Pattie...

The white stuff

Forget the LBD, this season it's all about the LWD, or Little White Dress. As collections focus in on all things pretty, a short white sun dress is a must-have item for spring/summer, with designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Versace and Gucci among the many to show their take on the classic piece.

I'm of the persuasion that if you're going to do something, you may as well go all out, which is why Chanel's collection of ultra-feminine prairie-style LWDs are my favourite of the season. Lagerfeld's tongue-in-cheek 'roll in the hay' themed show framed the collection perfectly and showed us that we must accessorise the trend with wooden wedges and flowers in our hair.

Of course, few of us are lucky enough to be able to snap up a 'darling piece of Chanel', so here are three more affordable gems from the high-street.

Topshop, £45
New Look, £28
Lipsy, £50

Click for second-hand clothes

In a previous life I wrote about my second-hand clothes obsession for an ethical living site called Morethanliving. Having sung the praises of charity shops and car-boot sales, I turned my attention to shopping online (great for those who aren't too keen on the rummaging part) and wrote a guide to some of the top second-hand clothes sites.

Sadly, Morethanliving will soon be doing a disappearing act, so I thought I'd give this handy guide one last hoorah. Get it while it's hot. Hoorah!