COMFY CULOTTES

Comfort is key but let’s be honest we still want to feel good in a great outfit and my one staple piece for comfort and style? Culottes.

Culottes are my essential at the moment as you can team them up with basically any style of top and they are so comfy but give you that smart edge. Smart but comfortable = perfection!

I spend a lot of time travelling around on trains and tubes and often have my extremely heavy makeup kit with me. The last thing I want to be doing is trying to re arrange my outfit or worrying about it riding up or looking a mess so I find it really important to feel confident in my outfit whilst turning up to jobs. Meeting new people and working on new projects is nerve wracking enough on its own without having the added stress of what I look like.

So back to culottes. They’re kinda like shorts, kinda like trousers, and definitely the most comfortable thing you’ll ever put on (well, to my knowledge anyway!) But let’s face it, they’re not the easiest thing to pull off (unless you’re an eight foot model with legs like a giraffe).

 Anyway, here’s a few tips on how to pull them off this season, with a few pics from me.

You want to make sure you get the right leg length and width as some come in a wider leg and others a longer leg. They also come in a variety of materials; jersey, silk, patterned  – just about every option available!

You don’t want them to swamp your figure, so my general rule of thumb is the shorter you are, choose a pair that skim over your hips and thighs – the less fabric the better and a narrow width, and pair them with heels to give you some height. If you’re lucky enough to have height on your side, you can get away with flat shoes and wider fitting culottes.  

Dress them up with a shirt or blouse and heels, or pair with a jumper and wedges – the choice is endless. A blazer will always smarten a pair up too.

Don’t be afraid to experiment; be bold with fabrics and colours and most of all, enjoy!!

Culottes - here

Shirt - here

Watch - here

Bag - here

Here are a few of my top AW15 culottes





FONTHILL ROAD

We all have that one place that we rarely visit but love it because you always come home with a bargain…. or 5!! 

My mum is from London as so she knows all the little places to grab a bargain and Fonthill Road is one of my favourites, one of the best-kept secrets of bargain-hunting ladies of North London. It’s no ‘up street shopping centre’; in fact it’s far from that and instead is a little street with individual shops down each side. A lot of the shops are full of evening dresses, wedding dresses and suits but there are a lot of fashion shops where you can grab yourself a bargain if you don’t mind spending a bit of time going through rails and seeing what’s on offer. 

Fonthill Road is just behind Finsbury Park train station and off Seven Sisters Road. Lots of shops sell factory-outlet clothing to the trade and general public at ridiculously low prices. Outfits come from all over the globe; Italy, Spain, France, Turkey and India. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of the stuff is rubbish, but some of the shops have items which are from high street stores like Topshop and River Island but the label is cut out. The dresses are DRESSES – not exactly the outfit that someone would wear for a supermarket shop (although they do have some cheap, more casual attire) and there are bargains to be had if you look properly. Bridesmaids, people desperate for a new wedding outfit are out in force at Fonthill Road, and it doesn’t disappoint; I reckon most people if searching properly can get a bargain! 

Jumpsuit - Fonthill Road here

Watch - Olivia Burton here

Shoes - Primark