Thank you Mr McQueen

I am all booted up for winter. Thankfully I still have a couple of pairs of full length zip up boots from the marvellous Duo which are fine for everyday wear. If you haven't shopped with Duo before then I highly recommend them for the best fitting footwear available.

To supplement these I was looking for something in an Ugg type stylee. I well remember stomping about with freezing feet all last January and very nearly succumbed then to the Mucluk look. And when I saw this Moray Sky style in Clarks last month I absolutely fell for them.

I can tell you that they are a dream to wear, warm and comfortable, plus the elasticated button at the side means they are most accomodating to the chunky calf. I know fashion editors groan at the sight of these type of boots but they really are a wonderful triumph of comfort over style. Even on the most miserable day you feel like you are walking about in your slippers and its a strain to put anything else on your feet.

However, I have also purchased something a little bit more aethestically pleasing in the shape of these shoeboots which are part of the Autograph range from Marks & Spencer 

These come in a wide fit and are, considering the height and spindly heel, actually pretty comfortable to wear. Unlike most purchasers, I suspect, I also chose these boots as an ideal style to show off my hand knitted socks which I will wear proudly peeking out betwixt the cuff and the bottom of my jeans and or leggings (but never jeggings (shudder)).

I think that my new shoeboots are a distant, well-behaved cousin of this notorious Alexander McQueen design oft seen on the feet of Lady Gaga and other hobbling celebs 

Obviously these are a lot more extreme, but the contrast between the chunky platform toe and the stiletto heel is still there and this helps to flatter the leg giving an illusion of lengthening and while walking about I can imangine myself as some sort of forest dwelling creature, daintly stepping about amongst the undergrowth. Or something equally daft. So you see practicality and fantasy in the same post.

H&M Hopeful & Maddening

H+M are now selling clothes online, following in the footsteps of Gap and Zara, there must be some sort of critical mass thing going on here.

The range to buy includes their BiB  line which was a very welcome presence when it pioneered plus size fashion on the high street about 20 years ago. But unfortunately they seem to have been selling EXACTLY the same clothes all that time. Thanks, but I have plenty of black and white vests and I'm just grand for voluminous kahki parkas. Occasionally though you find something pretty like this leopard print cardi which I think I'll buy

Visit hm.com

Of more interest to me is the completly unannounced information that h+m's mainline range is now available up to size 24, at least online and in some only some items. For example in this very celine-esque knitted dress which is just calling to me with its comfort-wear shawl-collar

Visit hm.com

Bloggers may also wish to note that h&m's web site has a friendly link by each garment allowing you to copy the HTML for the image direct to your own site. This is an excellent idea which I wish more retailers would use instead of having tricksy flash images which are a nightmare to copy.

So while that's all good and positive I need to have a moan about my local branch of h&m in Glasgow. I popped in last night to have a quick look at what was available in the BiB section only to find that it had disappeared. When I asked I was told that all the stock had been moved out to another branch further out of the city centre as it was selling better there.  This is just maddening, I mean would h+m move all their leggings to another location if they were selling better elsewhere?  Sometimes I think stores should just erect a sign at the door that reads "FAT CUSTOMERS NOT WELCOME HERE" it would save all the time and effort searching for something that we might just want to give them our cash for.

Joe Browns for Simply Be

I've just had a look at the new autumn range that mail order company Joe Brown has produced for SimplyBe and I think its pretty fantastic.

For a start there is lots of it, not just one or two tops. This range includes some very covetable boots, accessories and lingerie and clothing ranges over six pages. The sizing goes from UK size 14-32 which is pretty unusual for such a fashion forward collection, the pricing is mid-range high street (£80 for a coat, £45 for jeans).

But mainly and most of all I like it because the clothes are gorgeous, there is so much in the range that I would wear that I cannot make up my mind what I should order.

I need some jeans just now and quite fancy these , just the right amount of slouch

This Coat is certainly an impact piece, imagine wearing it on bonfire night (I'm still not really getting this minimalist camel thing am I?)

And although its way, way out of season I love that this pin-up girl bikini is available to buy should I suddenly need to take a trip to Hawaii

My only gripe about this range is perhaps a political one. Joe Brown have a perfectly serviceable website  which sells many of the same clothes, stopping off at size 20. Why don't they sell the plus sizes to everyone there?

Frilling stuff

So, I've been reading everywhere that sleek, minimalism is the look of the season and camel is the only colour to be seen in. There is also a definite nip in the air which is good for me as I get to cover up all my extremities. Bearing all this in mind see below my latest purchase for Autumn.

I wanted to get something to mark this weekend's trip to London and alas I did not make it to Selfridges new Shoe Gallery, nor a chance to see the full Beth Ditto collection at Evans Marble Arch flagship. I also had a faint hope of visiting either Beige Plus or Wall London, but in the end my only shopping spree happened within the confines of Luton Airport.

Which brought me to this frilly, sleeveless top from Monsoon. I can't make up my mind whether it qualifies as suitable for workwear or purely weekend casual. But still I quite like the silliness of it and I'm looking forward to wearing it. Even if that happens only once.

Sweater Girl

I loves me a sweater dress, they are like the dressing equivalent of comfort food; tactile, warm and comfortable to wear. I look forward to autumn coming around every year so that I  get to try a new one and then I can pair it with my favourite pair of Duo boots, a good pair of black opaque tights and I'm sorted.
This year's model is a beauty. You can tell how much I love it because I'm prepared to post a picture of myself wearing it. Yes dear readers that's me in the pic below, not Elle Macpherson, do not adjust your screens.

This is called the Little Black Knit Dress and is from Planet who fearlessly sell online and instore in a generous range of sizes from 6-20. One of the things that prompted me to take a photo of me wearing the dress rather than just reproduce the image on the website is that it is difficult to pick up detail on black clothes. The dress has a "waterfall" detail at the front which is, well a bit sexy. You still can't really see it here though, maybe it shows better in this candid changing room shot.

I will of course be wearing this dress with appropriate underpinnings in order to maintain a smooth silhouette, in this case my favoured option is Scupltz tights, also available from Planet and a ladylike black slip underneath to stop static cling.

A dress like this will be ideal to show off some bold accessories and I'll be on the hunt for a good necklace to wear with it. Maybe a subject for a future post.

Spot the Difference

See if you can spot the difference between these two rather elegant , workaday pairs of black trousers

Struggling? Well the pair on the left is an image from the new Gap.eu website which finally allows Gap lovers the chance to buy their full range online in the UK. The pair on the right is from the US site Gap.com These are exactly the same trousers but sizing on the UK site only goes up as far as (US size) 14, roughly a UK size 18, while on the US site sizing goes up to a 20, which is the equivalent of a UK size 24.

Can anyone explain the reason for this disparity to me? Is it madness, rudeness, negligence, ignorance or stupidity on the part of the retailer?  These are exactly the same trousers people, made in the same factory. Pah!   

I contacted Gap.eu's customer service about this issue and recieved the following response. Its hardly an explanation.

"We appreciate the time you've taken to contact us about our current size selections at gap.eu.  Unfortunately, we do 
not know when we will be offering additional sizes in the future. We sincerely apologize for any disappointment this may cause."

I would ask anyone who take the time to read this post and agrees that this policy is unfair leaves a quick message on their website. Things will only change if they can be persuaded that public opinion is against them,

Blog Recommendation: Clothes on Film

As a bit of a departure from my usual posts I thought I'd draw your attention to a wonderful blog I've just discovered courtesy of The Guardian Guide. Clothes on Film is part reportage, part review of Screen Style and Identity. In recent posts it has provided an exclusive interview with Jeffrey Kurland on the clothes for Inception,  a preview of George Clooney's new movie (which I was excited to find is directed by Anton Corbijn) and best of all some fantastic archive material reassessed, like considering Audrey Hepburn in Jeans. Just look at this marvellous shot taken from her 1966 rom com Two for the Road, wouldn't you just have loved to be her best friend?