The long wait has finally come to an end. For all fashionistas out there who patiently have been counting the days for the past couple of months, the Kate Moss collection enters Topshops around the country tomorrow. And you need to make sure you set your alarm early as many doors will be unlocked already at 7am.
If you are lucky enough to live in London you better skip the afterwork glass of wine tonight and head down to Oxford Circus to join the queue as the flagship store will commence selling at 8pm today!� In fact, you probably need to take the afternoon off to get a chance to a piece of action.
And they are certainly expecting a better turnout than H&M across the road received when launching Madonna’s collection earlier this spring. Neither the security guards nor the barriers were really needed for the few people who eagerly turned up before opening-time. I almost felt a little bit sorry for Madonna who’s collection didn’t quite reach as high on the popularity-scale as hoped for.
Topshop however, is expecting it to be the fashionista pilgrimage of the year… or even bigger… of the century perhaps. They will let customers in to the shop in groups of 100. You will then be given a colour wristband which is valid for 20 minutes which is how long you have to get your piece of Kate’s designs before you are kicked out. Or rather pieces. No way would you leave with only one thing in your bag if you have spent the evening queueing outside!?

I have tried and tested the word all day and can’t quite decide how it sounds and feels. I am actually talking about vintage fashion. The latest news in the world of fashion according to people in the know, vintage fashion should from now on be referred to as ‘archive fashion’ or just simply second hand, reports Grazia magazine this week.
For somebody like myself who sometimes struggle to tell the difference between vintage and second hand it will not make much of a difference what it is called. ‘Recycled fashion’ would be a more appropriate word in these green-orientated days. It might not have that luxury ring to it but it sound much more environmentally friendly. Then again, judging from what we saw on London Fashion Week in February, recycled fashion does actually exist but in a whole different meaning… dresses made from old plastic bags or other amazing creations made from ‘old’ clothes. Not sure if I could use the word archive on this occasion.

Smock dress, shift dress, maxi dress, shirt dress, wrap-dress, tunic. Bell- shaped, A-line, tulip, balloon, fishtail, long, short, wide, narrow. The list is never ending. And that is only referring to the style. Then there is the choice of fabric, colour, pattern & prints. Oh, my God it is so much fun being a woman and having all this choice. Only wish I had a never-ending cash flow too.
I am of course talking about dresses and skirts. The most important item to have a few of or at least one, in your wardrobe this season . You can wear them on their own, over leggings, over jeans or trousers so even if you are not an overly ‘dressy’ person it can still be done.
What I find really thrilling is the fact that you can be as girlie and feminine as you want. And the boys love it. Well, at least my husband does. Finally girls are proper girls again…feminine, girlie, sexy and and with a bit of leg showing. I am saying this with slight exaggeration and hope that I will not come across too many offended fellow women.�
And no, we may not all be Twiggys or Marilyn Monroes but that doesn’t matter. It is how you feel, isn’t it?
Growing up my mother often put me and my younger sister in matching dresses, often homemade. I think that is quite cute and I will no doubt have matching dresses for my two little girls too over the years. I would love them to be homemade. Sewing is a hobby of mine and I quite often have this vision of fabulous creations in gorgeous fabric. Sadly the finished work never quite seem to match the image I had in my head when eagerly buying the fabric.

Fresh in to our warehouse this week was a pair of properly high waisted trousers from Firetrap. Check them out on the product-page or Get the look page.
They are absolutely fabulous. Not only is the fabric light for summer but the detailing on the trousers look great with a long line of small buttons on the front. The cut is wide so could be worn a bit slouchy with a shirt and flat shoes for a chic mannish look OR you could put something a bit sleeker up top and a pair of high heels for an ultra sexy female look.
Did we think that we would ever be wearing high waisted trousers again? Yes, I think we did. Hipsters are great but definitely not forever.
I appreciate that we haven’t yet gone back quite that far but my earliest memory of high waisted trousers was probably around 1985. I remember shopping for jeans with my friend Petra at JC, the ultimate Swedish jeans store. I think we settled for a pair of Levi’s 534 (if I can remember the style-no correctly) each in a slightly faded blue colour. Thinking back now, they really didn’t fit very well. I wonder what the sales assistant in the shop actually thought about our purchase. Did he see the potential or was he just being very polite when telling us how good they looked.
Anyway, well home we got the sewing machines out in order to go from straight leg to skinny leg from the knee down. Next we took the length up to that attractive just above the ankle length to fit over our boots. Finally, the 10” too wide waistline was sorted by using a wide leather belt tightly (as tight as possible) secured around the waist resulting in folds of excess fabric gathering, adding inches to the waistline. Especially as the well shoulder-padded sweatshirt was safely tucked in to the trousers too. That was the look and God did we look good!!? In addition to that we displayed a slightly permed and hair-sprayed hairdo, blue eyeliner and light pink lipstick. That was the 80’s and I am so glad we were there. That is only one great memory of many from the era of leg-warmers, perms, stilettos, big plastic earrings, Bananarama and Fame.
So the high waisted trouser is back. This time in a slightly more sophisticated version worn in a more sophisticated way. The high waist is far more flattering on the female body than the lower hipster style so I am saluting its return and am glad that I no longer have to worry about my hips hanging over the edge of my jeans.

Last week I wrote a little piece ‘Spring is in the air’. This week that already seems to be very outdated news indeed. Spring seems to have come and gone again in the space of a couple of weeks. Whilst last week I was worried about getting my white legs out for airing, this week it is just impossible to keep them hidden away, white or not.

Whilst last week I did a check of my wardrobe as I realised that once the winter-warmers were put away there wasn’t quite enough choice for lovely spring-days, this week I am digging my summer-wardrobe out faster than the speed of light.

Another label we are very proud to present to you. Out of Xile is already a familiar label with our customers in Diva Totnes and we hope that our online-customers will feel the same. We have hand-picked three items from their collection as a little starter. Three beautiful items which make a gorgeous outfit for a special occasion or you could wear the jacket with a pair of jeans to add a feminine touch for a more casual day out and about. We promise to add more pieces to the website as time goes by.

I have got that spring feeling. As soon as the sun comes out it just grabs you. It is impossible not to feel good, happy and ‘springy’. I am normally not an unhappy or miserable person but the sun really does put you in a good mood instantly. And it is free. Whilst most things in life have a price, this sunny feel-good feeling is free of charge. The only thing which might just dampen your happy mood a little bit on a day like today and which is exactly what happened to me today, is the constant clothing-problem. What to wear???