Weekends away.....

Today I was really hoping it was going to be cold, wet and windy. A bizarre request for August? Maybe for most but when you’re in the retail trade the seasons are so blurred we forget what month it is, as when the sun actually shines we usually have winter collections in store!

So the autumn deliveries have started and there was a moment of clarity in my life when I decided I wasn’t going to hanker after the sun. I was all for embracing autumn! So… waterproof jacket purchased, a very stylish Ilse Jacobsen one in pink if you don‘t mind … and it looks amazing with my Hudson Jeans and converse, great for windy days chasing children through muddy puddles, but what about something a little more “Towie” I thought.
Lo and behold through the door arrives my Olivia Rubin Autumn collection. Now…I am one for a bit of the glam when the moment takes me so I got to thinking about weekends away and what to pack on the all important winter weekend away. You know how I love to dream about my fantasy world… So, picture a cold November day, country house maybe, glass of wine by the fire, good book….

Ok, so mood set. We’re thinking cool glam, not party dress glam so as not to be impractical for those country walks…

Here it is… just landed on my doorstep was the Olivia Rubin bright red slouchy knit with a big ball of wool on the front, of course the matching scarf is a must, paired with the black Hudson Nico jeans and to top it off…the red Lulu Guinness weekend suitcase!! Well there’s no point in having the perfect weekend wear if you cant travel in style now is there??? That’s my wardrobe sorted, now I just need hubbi to sort the weekend!

Hailstones in Summer..

So, finally I got my new website www.toriswardrobe.com live! I’ve had my store The White Bicycle for 9 years now so it was about time I had a website to go with it. Great says you, but seriously, I started this process when I was pregnant with Seth, who was 4 last month!!! Don’t get me wrong, things weren’t really taken seriously until just before Christmas but finally we’re here and now I just have to learn how to use it.

Its weird, when I first mentioned to Andrew ( my wonderful hubbi ) that I was serious about an ecommerce site he kept asking me did I realise how much work there was. Well how much work can there be I thought?? Didn’t someone come in, take all the pics, write all the descriptions, pick out images, update images, resize photos and then do this for your every season??? Needless to say there was a few days of silence in our house while Andrew was deciding whether or not I was just pretending to be this stupid!! Looking back I find it all quite funny, Andrew on the other hand isn’t laughing just yet…but he will!!

So here we are with the summer season supposedly underway with bright skies and green fields…today we had hailstones! You know what though, its fine. I think by now we’re used to the unseasonal weather and being the troopers that we are we can be prepared for anything, which is probably why when I went to get myself a Part Two jacket (equipped with hood obviously) everyone else had beaten me to it and there was none left! How ironic that I’m looking at the stock all season and when I decide I’m ready for an item they’re all gone!

Looking around the store today I was deciding what would fit in well with my Summer wardrobe, (I am absolutely embracing my full summer collection next week.) I’m loving the understated 70’s tailoring, with feminine and masculine pieces sitting alongside each other, the perfect complement. Boho yet sharp it's definitely a season of contrasts. Blocks of classic black bring the look up to date with an edginess to the soft summer pastels.
What collection is complete without a little bit of black thrown into the mix? At least it doesn’t show up the rain stains.

Sophisticated and feminine all in one breath is a look totally made for the weekend….Just wish I was going a little further than work!!

hello spring....

Well…the new autumn winter buying is all done thankfully , so now I can relax and enjoy our journey into spring. The new colours and styles are in the shop finally and now the only problem left is deciding what lovely pieces I’m going to add to be already bulging wardrobe. That is one of the disadvantages of owning a clothing store…too many clothes! Yes, yes I can just hear you all saying. Well that’s a nice complaint isn’t it…and it is except that I have so many amazing things in my wardrobe and only so many days of the week or occasion to wear them!

My little sister does do quite well out of me…she’ll probably totally deny that…but again, there’s only so much one or even 2 people can wear, maybe I should have a sale of all my own past season things?

Regardless, I am so glad to have packed away the black polo necks and boots for another year and I cannot wait to see what lovely outfits I can pull together from this seasons lovely new collections.

I think I will again embrace the 70’s look which I loved last season as well… and all those lovely jewel tones which I wore instead of black, don’t put them away, keep them out and give them a new leash of life by mixing them with the pastel shades of this season, or even some printed capris if you’re feeling brave.

What else is new so far this season…Marni for H&M! I’ve always loved Marni and the fact there is now a few bits which are affordable. Well I like it even better now! The designer collaborations for the high street are fantastic and as I purchased my first Mary Katrantzou dress from her amazing collection for Topshop over the weekend I am feeling rather pleased with myself. Now I just need somewhere fun to wear it….Maybe my hubbi will have something lovely organised for Mothers Day or maybe just because he thinks I need somewhere lovely to wear my great new dress.
Ohh... now i need to go get my shoes sorted.....just in case!

So Christmas is well and truly over, I always love the mad run up, the overeating, the socialising and then it hits us smack, bang right in the mirror….its January and we cant fit into any of our clothes! Surely, that’s a sign of a good time had by all! What else is January for if not trying to shift that extra 6Ibs??


Onto Christmas then…well Santa did not bring me anything on my very long list of very expensive wish list items…not really a surprise! What I did get though was my lovely ipad2..I’m not really a gadget girl but I do love the lack of buttons on an ipad!!!

Being a mum at Christmas has to be one of the best things in the world, the excitement on the faces of Seth and Ella on Christmas morning kept me smiling all day…until bedtime that is when Seth asked, “mummy, Santa already brought me everything so what’s he going to bring me tonight??” …wishful thinking by a 3 year old I think! And yes, if you cast your minds back to the run up to Christmas we were flat out searching the country for the elusive “golden robot” on Seth’s Santa list, we didn’t get a gold one but his daddy picked up a black one with 2 gold arms on Christmas eve for £3.99. Perfect! So perfect, it’s lost already and he hasn’t even noticed, so I’m glad we stressed over it!!!!

Unlike all the lucky people out there…like my husband for example who has 2 weeks off at Christmas, I spend more time in work at Christmas than any other time of the year and come new year I am well and truly wrecked, this year being no exception as my brother and his fiancé came home from Australia to get married at the beginning of January…so my partying was destined to continue well into New Year!!!

I am more than ready then for the winter to end and the spring to begin, let the new deliveries start any time. I’m especially excited about our first delivery of Olivia Rubin with bright yellows and pinks colour palette its sure to put a smile on our faces and a hole in our pockets.

11 sleeps and still not organised..

So Christmas is only 11 sleeps away and as usual I’m not as organised as I always plan to be! Every year I say, “end of November and I'll have everything done”!   Yeah right, Christmas eve and I’ll still be thinking of what I didn’t buy! The problem is that working in retail we work nearly every hour there is coming up to the big day, and when everyone else is doing late night shopping, we’re doing late nights!

I spend my days gift wrapping for husbands to either pick up on Christmas eve or I’ll deliver it to their homes. I make it so easy for everyone but myself it seems!

On the other hand, perhaps I secretly leave some of it until the very end because I love the last minute bolt around the shops??   Nah, definitely not! I leave it because I have a lazy gene! I start off really well but then it reaches a stage where I feel I’ve done my bit for this year and that it is now up to my husband to do some….inevitably he won’t and I’ll be the one continuing to keep the economy propped up by spending too much as I’ve run out of time on Christmas eve!

Anyway, rant over! I have decided that the best thing about Christmas this year is having the kids be excited about Christmas, and at  age 2 and 3 they are starring in their very first nativity this Sunday...Seth is a shepherd and Ella is a donkey.  A goat would have been more appropriate for her as she stamps her foot a lot in temper, but I dont think there was much call for her stamping skills this year unfortunately.

 Seth has been asking for at least 2 weeks now “ is Santa coming tonight mummy?”  I can't wait until I can finally say yes to him as this is the first year he hasn't screamed in fright at the big man in the red suit….on the other hand though Santa has still not been able to find that golden robot which has been requested!! Will he forget about it when he sees everything else? I hope so, I don’t think I could cope with a 3 year olds broken heart!

Party frocks and Christmas Baubles....

Deck the halls…..fa la la la la….Tonight I’m going  home to start putting up my Christmas decs….I say start because generally it does take me at least 2 nights.   When I was pregnant with Seth, if I saw a decoration, tacky snowman, Christmas light…I bought it!  So now I have the task of  sorting  through what is a huge amount of some of the most hideous things you have ever seen ( I really should get rid, but I almost feel sentimental about them now ) and find all the tasteful, or acceptable untasteful things I bought when I wasn’t hormonal!!!

I love this time of year, we’re all more cheerful , with a few exceptions of course…for example a bah humbug type who I had in the store this morning. He wanted a scarf for his wife “ because she’s done nothing but nag about some hand dyed thing” she saw in the store last week. He wouldn’t even let me box and wrap it…too much of a hurry!!! Well…that’s just not what Christmas is about!!!!

It’s a month where we wrap up in cosy knits and big scarves but it’s the time of year which brings out a little bit of glam in all of us….yes even you boys, out buying the girls in your lives lovely sparkly gifts!!

I love party dresses, I love the furs to wrap round the party dresses (faux of course ), although I’m more likely to have on a leather jacket, I love the bling and the sparkle and I cant wait to get into my sparkly attire for the season…not that I’m going too far but I could even embrace the glam and get dressed up to do my tree and decorations this evening…be all sophisticated in my party wear with a glass of champagne in one hand and glass bauble in the other…. The way they do in the mags. Is that not what we all look like getting ready for Christmas???   Glass baubles and champagne…. Yeah, only if I lived someone else’s life… and as I’ve had another week of not winning the lottery I’ll just stick with my feather fairy decorations and the most garish orange sequin bauble which I let Seth choose last week… big mistake!!!!!

Party Girls and TuTu's...

So yesterday I hosted a birthday party for Ella Bella. She was 2 and totally unaware that people were there to celebrate with her and give her gifts and make a fuss of her….so why did I bother putting myself through it??

I baked a cake. Very nice even if I do say so, I cooked for close on 30 people, my husband did help with the cooking so I can't claim full ownership of that part , I even cleaned my house to the immaculate state that it so rarely is, and for what? Was the party really for Ella or was it to make me feel better that as a working mother I can host a child’s party, not get stressed about the mess (which there was a lot of ) and be prepared for the chaos that ultimately will ensue.

If I’m honest I think I really did do it for Ella and Seth. They had a fabulous time with all their friends and family…there were a few bust ups over toys but surely it would have been odd were that not the case…especially when Seth and his friend Lily took Ella’s new beauty set and did each others hair and were determined not to part with the hair dryer and lipstick for anything!! Nothing for  concern  unlike  the day when Ella and I were both wearing dresses and Seth asked to why he wasn't wearing one!!!

As the birthday girl, Ella exceeded herself by looking cuter than ever in the most fabulous tutu which I picked up at a market when we in Australia and as she flooted and scooted her way through the day I was left asking myself as I wiped the fresh cream from my new silk blouse which is now fit only for the rag box will I do it again for Seth’s birthday?

Answer…..Ask me again in April!!…

Now though I’m back into work mode trying to get flights sorted and appointments made for the buying season which will be upon us in no time….the only decisions there are which shows do I go to this year? I would love, love, love to do the New York show but can I really justify it? …. I’ll let you know later in the week when decisions have been made and flights have been booked!