The story so far...

Many people have been in touch to find out what I'm up to nowadays...

I'm so happy to say i'm still in the world of style and fashion just with a little 'tweak' to the direction.

I opened Pretty Fox in October 2014, based in the heart of Disley village, filled with gorgeous, stylish, yet affodable fashion.

Using all the principles that I applied and taught during my years styling to fill the boutique with clothes, shoes and accessories that work hard in your wardrobe, but that also look stylish and flattering.

Come and give us a visit...

Pretty Fox
8 Market Street
Disley
SK12 2AA

01663 765529

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Phase Eight Bloggers Challenge

I'm a huge fan of Phase Eight and it's a go to brand for me when shopping with clients. So when I spotted this competition  to create the ultimate party outfit I thought I would join in the fun.

Phase Eight say they specialise in dresses and I agree however their tops are fabulous figure fixers and I'm loving their coat collection this year.

So here's my complete look...

Do you like?

I have chosen the Twinkle Jumpsuit as an alternative to a dress and I really like the sparkle detail and the draping trousers of this one.

Not everyone likes to expose their arms and us girls often feel the chill so I added the Paula Tuxedo Jacket. Not only is it a great staple item that you can wear so many different ways you will also be able to wear it throughout the different seasons too.

Then for the bling - how gorgeous is this beaded clutch! And I'm loving this rope style necklace just to 'edge' up the look.

Of course no festive outfit would be complete without statement party shoes. I have selected the Edina T Bar Shoes because as well as going brilliantly with the outfit, generally platforms and chunkier heels tend to be comfier and this girl is never happier than when combining practical and gorgeous! Also who wants cold feet when nipping between cocktail bars?

I want my clothes to work hard for me and I think this outfit does just that. You can wear it bar hopping with the girls or a romantic evening meal. A glamorous house party or whilst throwing some moves on the dance floor.

So what do you think? Do you like my party look? 

Retail therapy? Apparently not...

Do you shop for fun? When you're feeling low and need a pick me up? Or are you a necessity shopper only venturing out when the need calls?

Us women are not so happy whilst shopping it seems with a recent survey by Marisota revealing one in five women have cried whilst clothes shopping.

A third of the 2,000 polled hate clothes shopping. Eight out of ten said they would enjoy it more if they were thinner and ten per cent cry about being too skinny, and it appears weddings are the most dreaded event to have to shop for.

I hear moans about shopping all the time and experience it sometimes myself with poorly lit and dirty changing rooms and snooty sales staff (also mentioned in the survey). Women also can feel overwhelmed with choice or feel there is nothing for them at all and wander round for hours and come home empty handed and deflated.

Body image and shape are also a huge part in some women's dissatisfaction when shopping and the survey reports one in ten said they feel embarrassed asking for their size. But for some people they purely just don't like to shop. I dislike food shopping, no matter how nice the store is, the staff or the general experience, it's just not something I relish.

Many people are turning to online retailers for their shopping needs. As well as the detriment to the high street, the problems people find with shopping are still there. Body shape issues, not knowing what to look for, overwhelming choice are still factors. So many times I have seen unworn clothes in wardrobes that have been bought online and then not returned.

These are some of the reasons why people turn to me and utilise my shopping services, particularly my virtual shopping service. A number of looks, inspirations and suggestions are sent to you - think personal shopping without the changing rooms. All the choices are completely personal to you and are based on your budget, lifestyle and body shape. Many existing clients use this as a seasonal top up or if they need to shop for a special occasion. And it's great for the people that are too far afield to employ me for a personal shop (Skype and Facetime are great tools for this).

Give me a call (07980 789602) if you don't like shopping and I will happily point you in the right direction to improve your shopping experience and just for reading this blog, quote this blog piece and you can take £10.00 of the price of the Virtual Shop.

What do you like about shopping? Have you ever had a 'melt down' whilst shopping that you would be willing to share?

Bag Servant - a search engine with a difference

I was recently approached by the lovely Lenka from Bag Servant to choose my nomination for Bag of the Month. Every month they bring together a selection of fashion industry insiders to nominate a bag for selection. You can vote for your favourite here and enter the competition to win £300 worth of Jane Goodchild bags.

Bag Servant is THE place for any handbag junkies out there.  Featuring bags from top designers to high street brands via retailers you trust.  Bag Servant are the only search engine devoted to handbags, with a free concierge service, lots of fashion advise and inspiration to help you find your perfect piece of arm candy.

They make bag shopping really easy with options to search by type, shape, brand, colour, occasion and the fun personality option.

There are 12 personalities to choose from, from Miss Practical (the Sunday Girl mooching through life) to the Glamourpuss (the femme fatale who loves to make an entrance). My chosen bag was selected for the Chic Yummy Mummy (being mum has never been sexier).

If then after looking through the 9,844 bag options you still haven't found what you're looking for you can utilise the free handbag concierge service. They will assist you with finding a bag that matches something you have seen, they will get in touch with retailers or manufacturers on your behalf or even just give you personalised help and advise when looking for your next bag purchase.

So what bag personality are you? Do you regularly change your bag, or do you stick to an old faithful?

What's one of the easiest ways to look your best?

I've been meaning to write this post for a while but other things kept cropping up and it just got moved down the list, which ties in well with this post, because in terms of dressing and looking stylish people often neglect their underwear and make other things a priority - just as I have with this post.

You see underwear is such an important element to looking good and how we feel about our outfit. Just imagine you have found the perfect dress, it hugs you in all the right places, the colour is perfect and you can wear it a multitude of ways, but then you put it on... your knickers are digging into your hips giving you ridges around your sides, your bum has lines down each cheek showing exactly where your underwear lies.  You're wearing your "comfy bra" which also happens to be an unpleasant shade of grey, the strap keeps slipping down and you may as well not be wearing it at all for all the support it is offering.  That perfect dress seems less than a perfect outfit now don't you think?

I can not tell you how many times I have hoicked the straps of a client to show her how much better a top or dress will look with the correct fitting bra and how often I hear "oh this is my comfy one, - I wear it all the time" arghhhh!

You see a lot of people don't realise the right fitting, and also the right style, of underwear can achieve a  lot of the things that people want from their clothes i.e. look taller, slimmer, bigger/smaller bust, flatter tum etc etc.

I'm going to talk about this a lot more in forthcoming posts, in fact I could dedicate a whole blog to it. Have you ever committed any underwear crimes and fancy sharing your experiences here?

The most important dress - part 2

A few days ago I blogged about getting married and of course THE DRESS.

Well my very good friend and I (more about her later) have since been shopping. I would like to say it was a pleasant experience but in the most part it wasn't..

We had both been looking forward to our day out for a couple of weeks. We had booked appointments with a few boutiques (which is a necessity) decided on where we were having lunch and booked the day off our day jobs.

Katie, my shopping companion, is the friend I shop with. She gives a good opinion and is one of the few people who has got the stamina to shop with me, she is also on the cusp of bridezilla and since her wedding 2 years ago has had wedding withdrawals. It was my duty as a good friend to take her along.

So the first shop we were told to pull out all the dresses that we liked to try on. Faced with 2 walls of white dresses, we started ploughing through. Now nothing wrong at this point, just a feeling of being rushed. Every dress I put on the lady said how amazing it looked, now I have a problem with that. While they were all lovely, and none of them looked bad, it was obvious that some of them were not right for me. Well after our hour, which a large proportion was spent stood around while the owner answered the phone, the next client came in and my time was up. See ya then.

So en route to our next shop we decided to double check the time of the appointment "oh you are coming in today?", "Erm yes! have you double booked us?". Turns out we were not exactly in the book, but it was OK she would let us come down. Thanks, you're so kind. It was raining, we turned up at the time she requested. "I'm busy at the moment, wait outside - I'll be 5 minutes, there's a cafe down the road if you want to wait there". It was raining, we had just come from a cafe, we were discussing how customer service did not seem a priority.

To counter these 2 boutiques, Timeless Bride in Poynton was a completely different experience. Michelle sat down with me, after offering me a drink, asked me about my likes and dislikes, what my wedding was going to be like and then started to show me her stock. We chose a few to try on to start to see what direction we would end up going. One of the things I liked about Michelle, was she was honest, if something wasn't right she would say and also the reason why. It was a lovely experience and so far my favourite dress is one I tried on that day.

I often shop for outfits for guests for weddings and mothers of the bride and groom, but my experience of wedding dress shopping is limited. I am wondering what my other experiences will be like. I spend a lot of my time shopping and have great relationships with local independents and I know that their levels of customer service is a million times better than I experienced in the first 2 shops AND they're not flogging dresses for £1k+. As far as I'm concerned if you go into the business of wedding dress sales, you're not just selling a dress your selling an experience. If you go to a beauty salon, they don't just slap some cream on you, they pamper you and ensure you have a lovely time. Choosing your dress is an important part of planning your wedding and will form part of your wedding memory and some shops it seems would do well to remember this.

What are your experiences of wedding dress shopping? How many did you try on before you found the one? I'll keep you posted on the progress...

The most important dress of my life?

I'm so excited to say that on Saturday I'm dress shopping, not for a client but for me.

And this dress has got to be special. You see after the kids, the mortgage, the pets, the extension, the new kitchen etc etc, we are finally getting married.

So the dress (I want to keep roughly on the blog's topic although some wedding talk may sneak in). What do I want from my dress? Well I have curves and hey I'm ok with that, but I need the dress to flatter them. I want the dress that represents me and not a 'brides costume' and obviously I want to feel amazing in it and of course for Mr Style to like it.

There is something niggling away at me though, and here's my conundrum. Wedding dresses cost a fortune, they don't go with anything else in your wardrobe and (in theory) you will wear it for a day and then never wear it again. This goes against pretty much everything I believe clothes should be and after all we are talking about a dress.

Don't get me wrong, I am lusting after a few dresses that would make the bank manager's eyes water and I want to feel special, but hundred of pounds on a dress? - oh who am I kidding, Mr Style won't read this - thousands of pounds on a dress! There's no getting away from the fact that weddings are a dear do.

So what style do you think I'll go for? What was your wedding dress like or if you're not married what's your dream dress like?

I'll keep you posted on the dress hunt.