Tailormade

I was talking to the dress makers who do mending and adjustments for me. One is an African lady who makes bold, elaborate 'occasion' dresses for her compatriots, and her colleague is an English lady who makes Victorian costumes for the local Dickens' Festivals, so they know what they're doing. And they won't charge much for a made to measure Summer dress. Around £60-£100. I'd like to provide the fabric though, as my taste is a bit skewed. And so I stumbled across Spoonflower, where designers upload and sell their own designs. You can then choose a variety of different cottons and weights to suit. You can even create your own one-off custom design. Here are some of my favourites.

Feelin' Hot, Hot, Hot!

I've just found this D&G inspired chilli print dress by Own the Runway. You have to snap up the best Summer dresses when it's still freezing don't you? And guess what? There's an entire website devoted to Chilli shaped jewellery! Too matchy matchy? What the hell. I'm a hot Mama. I am also miserable on two meal replacement shakes a day. My aim is to feel happy in a sleeveless dress this Summer. Fed up of sweating in bolero style cardies.

Hiss

Helplessly in love with this newly re-issued Bulgari bag, with it's iconic snake head clasp. The sort of bag which belongs in a display cabinet. A cool grand. One day....

Cut price Karl

Another day, another affordable designer collaboration. Have just bought these 'pants' from the new Karl Lagerfeld collection at Net-a-Porter. God, this internet shopping is terrifyingly easy isn't it? I hope they fit. Being a 5"2 'pear', I'm wary of trousers. I won't style them like this though. Such ugly shoes! I imagine them with a tucked in white shirt, traditional courts and some 80's style costume jewellery. Incidentally, Net-a-Porter gives you a choice of posh branded or plain packaging, so you can sneak stuff in under your husband's nose. Genuis!
Update: They didn't quite fit. No doubt I am 'a little too fat'.

Cruising

Got this fruity cardie from Versace's new Cruise collection. Wanted some earrings and the charm bracelet too (check out the Versace logos on the strawberry!), but they'd already gone. Last time, the jewellery didn't interest me at all, but I'm loving the pretty detail on this new stuff. If I wait 2-3 months, these pieces will be reasonable on eBay. It's ignorant of the journos to say "the website's crashed". That just suits their way of talking. What's actually happening is that not everyone can shop at once, so you just have to keep refreshing. It's like trying to get through to Saturday Swap Shop! Anyway, that's it now folks! Donatella's done with us proles.

Fascinating

So glad to hear the ubiquitous fascinator will henceforth be banned from the Royal enclosure at Ascot: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-16607875

On the other hand, I hate any kind of style facism, and I can see why they've become so popular. If you still want to make like one of the lower orders, head to Fascination for some bespoke plumage.