The Cardi in your Closet-How Many Do You Have? (and the 8 best places to find your next one)

The cardi, or cardigan, is I’m sure one of your most worn pieces of clothing, whether cashmere, cotton, silk or a mixture and slung over your favourite little black dress or worn with jeans over a brilliant white shirt. Whenever I travel I have three that always go with me, black I’m afraid; my short black cashmere cardigan, sequinned cardigan for evenings and long cashmere waterfall cardigan which I can wear as a jacket. I wouldn’t go anywhere without them.

Hopefully you’re a bit more colourful than I am which let’s face it wouldn’t be difficult (although I do admit to having sand, pale blush and peach versions in my wardrobe) and I’m sure I saw a red one once although it seems to have disappeared. Oh and I have an indispensible leopard print version as well.

So bearing in mind you’re bound to be buying your next one this season, and whether or not you’re as colour minimalist as I am, here are my 8 favourites from the new collections, and each one will lead you to a different store where inevitably you can find something in black as well……….

Shoe Repairs. Recently I had several puppies. I still have one, and as you may have gathered two occasionally, my little escapee. Unfortunately on one occasion they got out and managed to have a good chomp on the heels of two of my favourite pairs of shoes, one black, one python print. So inevitably I did my research and found the following; www.fcrepairs.co.uk. You send your shoes off to them and hey presto they come back pretty well as good as new. The black pair is back. The python pair has just gone off. I hope you won’t need them but if you do………………………………………………

Patisserie Valerie-Celebration Cakes and Birthday Cakes and the Perfect Chocolate Mousse

If you’re one of those people whose always in a rush, likes to entertain and doesn’t mind serving a bought pud that not only looks wonderful but tastes so as well then Patisserie Valerie is the place to take a look at. Their fruit tart, white and dark chocolate mousse, decorated cheesecake and assorted gateaux are some of the best you can buy. After all, if you’ve slaved at work and then slaved over a hot stove for your first and main courses why shouldn’t you relax from then on?

These are definitely not inexpensive options, however for any ‘grown-up’ dinner or celebration they’re just about perfect, and as one who has given up making a pud when serving a birthday or any other kind of celebration cake (as no one ever piles their plate with both) and one who has tasted what Patisserie Valerie can produce - not everything, I promise, and not very recently - this is an excellent time saving solution.

Their cakes include white and dark chocolate mousse, a luscious strawberry tart, a Black Forest gateau and a fresh fruit cheesecake, amongst many more. Be warned, the pictures are really beautiful and inspire instant hunger. Then in their Celebration Cakes there’s the Double Chocolate Delight Celebration Cake which goes up to a whopping 16” plus several more.

Be warned you can order your cake online (giving 24 hours notice) and then have to go and pick it up in one of their stores, of which there are many.

If you decide to go the home grown route and make your own you might like to try one of my all time favourites Delia Smith’s chocolate mousse. It won’t look anything like the above, but I’ve never known this chocolate mousse recipe fail……….I always cover it in a layer of whipped cream with grated chocolate on top. It’s very quick and easy to make and I certainly have never had any left over.

I’m now feeling extremely hungry, particularly as the daughter has just asked me to send over (scan and email) Delia’s lasagne recipe, which of course is online. Lasagne to start and chocolate mousse to follow? O dear!

Just over 3 days left to sign up to our £150 jewellery gift voucher prize - you’ll find our other competitions here as well.

How Not to Wear Short Jackets-Should you or Shouldn’t You?

I was standing on my local station platform yesterday morning and spotted a women, all in black (as I was) wearing a short sparkly tweed jacket that ended just above her hips, worn with jeans. There were, in fact, an amazing number of style disasters on the platform yesterday morning for some reason but this one seriously caught my eye as something not to do.

It really doesn’t matter what’s in fashion or not. What you wear should be a reflection of a) your style and equally b) what suits you. Short jackets only suit certain people and anything above a size 12 has to be considered very carefully as they can have the effect of cutting you in half and making you look shorter and wider. If it’s tight and you want to wear it done up it may well do you no favours at all.

So the next time you fall in love with a short jacket, sparkly or not, tweed or not, designer or not think very carefully.

Size 10/12 or lower and you probably don’t need to worry, but it depends on your height. Anything over that and make sure that there are no er……….bumps showing.

Don’t wear a short jacket with tight jeans if you have a large behind and definitely don’t do it up. You run the risk of looking frumpy, bumpy or worse.

Make sure when buying that you take a good look from the back before flashing the plastic. Preferably ask an honest friend what they think. If in doubt don’t.

If you’re trying to make a short jacket work double time with jeans, and you’re not the right shape for this look, don’t. Keep your short jacket to wear undone with a skirt and wear something longer, such as a modern trench, or short wool coat, with jeans. If it’s belted leave undone.

I’m a great believer, as someone who has recently gone from a size 14+ to a size 10 and 5’2” tall in streamlining your look. It tends to make you look both slimmer and taller. So dresses can be wonderful, and longer jackets, and slim coats. Incidentally I had a comment the other day on why I’m happy to tell the world about my height. Why would that worry me? The best things come in small packages, don’t they???

Don't forget to sign up for our Jewellery Competition at www.thesiteguide.com - you have until midnight on Tuesday March 1st!

Which LK Bennett are you? -Ladylike or Follower of Fashion

LK Bennett - I’ve always thought of LK Bennett as very ladylike - you know, with that sort of feminine and slightly ‘Sloaney’ appeal that a certain woman of a certain age loves to go for. Having had three kids at school and having had to go to numerous summer end of term lunches and prize givings on more than one occasion I’ve seen the LK Bennett dress, clutch or shoes du jour on more than one woman at the same event (several times). Looking slightly miffed. As you would.

What started off as a ladylike shoe emporium has come of age now but you do have to decide which LK Bennett you are. Are you the original shopper who really still wants a classique style? Or do you like high quality, good value, modern but not fashion-victim clothes and accessories that will last for more than a season but are still moving towards on trend?

You can come back at me and say that my classic collection (below) is on trend, with it’s navy and white striped cardigan, bow neck blouse (hate that word), floral print dress and lower heels (I’m not sure that one works) but essentially the pieces in the top row are ‘wear anywhere I know what’s going on’ modern and those below belong to someone different. I’d happily wear that lace embellished dress to my next smart dinner, step out in the python heels, sling the red bag over my arm and slip on the gorgeous nude suede coat but would not be able to wear any of these below. So I ask again. Which LK Bennett are you? Do you Know?

LK Bennett is now Site of the Week at thesiteguide.com to give you time to browse and decide………….let me know.

The daughter is on her way down from Edinburgh next week for a few days so I am instructed to book hair appointments, salon appointments, dentists and other joys. It appears I am suddenly relegated to the role of secretary. Any mother of a 20 year old daughter will know exactly how that feels. Getting ready to hide under my desk……………….again.

Shimmer in Sultry Summer Sequins from the New Collections-Sequinned Dresses, Tops and Jackets

If you thought that sequins were just for Christmas you can put that right behind you as there are sequins appearing just about everywhere this spring, embellishing everything from sequinned dresses to tops, jackets and cardigans, handbags and hats.

Full-on sequins aren’t easy to wear, they’ll show off every lump and bump and definitely don’t necessarily flatter, however worn carefully they can bring a subtle shimmer to a summer dress, a little sparkle to a chic cardigan or a stylish trim to an everyday tote. Here’s a taste of what’s on offer right now.

Without question my favourite is the Vanessa Bruno tote, spotted in taupe in Paris last week and instantly coveted. Too much to pay for a tote? Almost certainly - but for an instantly recognizable piece of statement designer class such as this one simply has to make exceptions, surely? Oh dear…………………………………………….

Win a £150 Gift Voucher for Designer Fashion Jewellery from Accessories Online in our ‘flash’ competition-choose from Butler & Wilson, DRYBERG/KERN, Tatty Devine, Kenneth Jay Lane and many more

Accessories Online offers designer fashion jewellery, watches and accessories from a number of designers you’re bound to have heard of, such as Butler & Wilson, DRYBERG/KERN, Tatty Devine, Karen Millen, Kenneth Jay Lane, Alex Monroe and many more.

You can win a £150 Gift Voucher for Accessories Online in our first ‘flash’ competition (‘flash’ because we won’t give you any warning and it’ll only last a very short time) which has just started, and will end on Tuesday March 1st at midnight. To enter sign up on the home page at www.thesiteguide.com and send an email to me at [email protected] with ‘jewellery prize’ in the subject line.

Here are just some of the items you can find at Accessories Online;

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French Connection Spring 2011- 6 ’Must-Have’s’ to Buy Now from a sequin cardigan to a peplum dress

French Connection is a brand where I always have a dilemma. It’s really younger than me (!) more expensive than I would expect for a ‘high street’ brand but there’s always something in every collection that I covet.

This season is no exception and may turn out to be more difficult to resist than usual. There are several pieces that would fit into just about anyone’s wardrobe and give a nod, without going too far, to current fashion trends such as sequins, peplums, stripes and lace and of course not forgetting to mention this season’s return……………the body. At French Connection this will set you back £27 whereas an almost identical designer version can be more than double.

The peplum dress has, unsurprisingly, sold out in most sizes (although there is a black version), so if you find something you really like I’d advise you go for it straight away.

Just back from Paris and a visit to my 3rd restaurant - Le Dome………but more about that tomorrow.

L’Arpege in Paris and Ten of the Best Little Black Dresses from the Spring Collections

Yesterday evening I was invited to what must surely be one of the best restaurants in Paris, Alain Passard’s L’Arpege. With it’s minimalist, elegant decor and incredible food it was a wonderful experience. If you have a chance - go.

There was a surprise birthday party going on while I was there for around two dozen guests. What was interesting, amusing but not surprising was that every single one of the extremely chic women in the party was wearing black. Beaded black, embroidered black, ruched black, sleeveless black, and diamante buttoned black but all black and all at a perfect just-above-the-knee length. The room was a sea of stylish black dresses on women of varying ages. I’m thankful to be able to say that, although I wasn’t part of that group, I was wearing one of my favourite lbds as well.

So the question is, bearing in mind we all collect ‘the little black dress’, for Spring 2011 which will you be adding to your wardrobe? I’ve chosen my ten favourites from online boutiques and stores such as Net-a-Porter, Matches, My Wardrobe and Selfridges plus Karen Millen and Coast, so bypass all the colour out there, make your choice and don’t miss out on an opportunity of adding a new favourite to your collection that you know you’ll wear over and over again.

Personally the Max Mara (No 2 in the top row) and Temperley (No 4 in the same row) are my favourites. Which are yours?

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