Designer Label Fashion

I got my February edition of Vogue through the post last week. You can subscribe to Vogue magazine here for only £29.70 a year, a saving of 30% on the cover price.

This latest edition has a fascinating feature on the nation’s sweetheart - how she has managed to stay immaculate and smiling through everything, with a husband who is super-successful, but not quite as interesting to us as she is. Yes, I’m talking about Samantha Cameron, political wife, mother of three, and of course creative director of Smythson. I do like her, mainly because she seems to wear a lot of Marc by Marc Jacobs (God I am so shallow).

Vogue also has a first look at the key pieces for Spring from top designers including Balenciaga, Jil Sander, and Donna Karan - we may be heading for a year of austerity but Spring fashion is soft and sensuous (and  - hurrah - unironed).

As a fellow Geordie, though not one as successful, well-groomed, thin or rich, I found the Cheryl Cole interview a great read too. I love a rags to riches story, and she is amusingly indiscreet about other celebs she’s met. The accompanying photo shoot is suitably glam, and she looks amazing. Her hair is less bouffant and more 1970s glamazon.

I was so engrossed I managed to read most of the Vogue issue in one go in the bath (and no, I didn’t have to remove the coal first).

You can subscribe to Vogue for a year for only £29.70 a year (12 issues), a saving of 30% on the cover price. Subscribe here.

Right, I’m off to feed my (fashionably-attired) wippet.

Subscribe to Harpers Bazaar magazine now for only £15 for the year - and enjoy some high fashion and luxury without moving off the sofa.

The yearly cover cost of Harpers Bazaar is £45.60 - so subscribe to Harpers and enjoy a discount of £30.60 (and with that saved £30 you’re over 20% of the way treating yourself to these heavily-reduced Alexander McQueen khaki and brown leather peep toe shoes with 5″ heels…)

Harpers Bazaar is aimed at the discerning & sophisticated woman. (That’s you, right?). So if you enjoy intelligent features & articles on top designer fashion & beauty trends:

And when you subscribe to Harpers Bazaar magazine, you’ll become a member of the Harper’s Bazaar “Bazaar VIP Club” - which means discounts, offers and treats for you every quarter.

Take out a Harpers Bazaar (previously Harper’s & Queen) magazine subscription for £15 a year now.

Enjoy cheap magazine subscriptions to:

• Harper’s Bazaar magazine. Online annual subscription £15. Annual cover cost £45.60.
• Cosmopolitan magazine (travel size). Online annual subscription £12. Annual cover cost £39.60.
• Esquire magazine. Online annual subscription £15. Annual cover cost £47.88.
• Zest magazine. Online annual subscription £15. Annual cover cost £39.60.
• She magazine. Online annual subscription £12. Annual cover cost £39.60.

Love hats? Then check out January 09’s Vogue for a lovely article by Daisy Garnett on the milliner Stephen Jones - who has been making hats for 30 years. I sometimes think that Vogue profiles can be a bit overly-gushing, but in this one Steven Jones does come across as someone you’d like to be your friend (and to make you a hat, obviously). My favourite quote from him is: “I just lived my life and turned it into a hat”.

Stephen Jones has spent the past few months co-curating a major exhibition (called, rather excitingly, Hats) that opens in the Victoria & Albert Museum in February 2009. it sounds like a must-visit for any millinery fans as up to 400 hats from 600BC to the present day.

Anyway, this sent me scurrying over to the Stephen Jones website to check out his current collection. The milliner has a main collection called ‘Stephen Jones’ Model Millinery - plus two diffusion lines called ‘Miss Jones’ and ‘JonesBoy’. His hat prices range from £100 to £1500.

My favourites are this hat made of buttons - which look like a crown of flowers from a distance - called Princess, from the Model Millinery Covent Garden A/W 2008 collection, and the gorgeous Limo, a shiny top hat with a pink rose, also from the Model Millinery Covent Garden A/W 2008 collection. You can view the whole Model Millinery collection here, and the Miss Jones and Jonesboy diffusion hat collections here.

I think having a hat made just for you is a bit of a rite of passage, I’m definitely going to get round to it at some point if only because I seem to have a big head (metaphorically and literally). I don’t look wierdly top heavy, but hats never seem to fit.

January Vogue also a very non-luvvy piece about Cate Blanchett who is featured in a Patrick Demarchelier shoot wearing Chloe and Lanvin. Plus there’s a string of pics of Cate looking suitably glam at various red carpet events. I have to say though, I went off her a bit when I read in the accompanying interview that she doesn’t like toast. I mean, who doesn’t like toast? Weird.

Still not sure what to get for your fashion-forward friends? Worried your credit crunch budget won’t stretch to the new non-It It Bag and your trendy friends will ditch you?

Or maybe you’re loaded but stay that way by being, well, a bit mean? (Don’t worry, we don’t judge here. We’ve given far too many fabulous presents in the past, to be delicately unwrapped and greeted with an “eh? Woz that?” to spend too much on anyone else).

Well we’ve found some classy designer gifts for you to wrap up super-glamorously (none of that free Guardian wrapping paper - at least use Vogue). Your friends will love them, and – even better – you get to save your money to treat yourself in the Net-a-Porter and Matches Fashion sales!

Books

Ah, books – so elegant, so timeless, so easy to wrap up.

I have just bought The Little Dictionary of Fashion: A Guide to Dress Sense for Every Woman by Christian Dior for one of my friends – it’s only £6.49 on Amazon and gives straight-talking advice on fashion and dressing well.

Magazines

You can’t go wrong with a subscription to style bible Harper’s Bazaar - a 12 month subscription is only £24.99 for 12 issues. Your fashionista friend will get to enjoy a monthly fashion fix without actually spending any money. (Copies of Harper’s Bazaar are also excellent for weighting down the recycling box if you have to leave it outside on a windy night - and it’s particularly good for hiding those emergency copies of Closer which are also nestling in there. Sadly, Grazia just isn’t hefty enough).

Accessories

For something a bit more special this sweet Mulberry miniature Bayswater bag keyring is just perfect at only £57.74. Personally I’d rather get the £57.74 and put it towards a full size Mulberry Bayswater, but if you have a rather annoying friend who keeps going on about their amazing high end fashion bargains you can at least shut them up by telling them you’ve got them a Mulberry bag for under sixty quid.

For some reason pendant necklaces always look more expensive than they are (unless you get your pendant necklace from Tiffany of course). This gorgeous Vivienne Westwood diamante orb necklace is £64 and it’s unusual enough to last many a season.

Pair it with this equally stunning turquoise Kenneth Jay Lane Dome cocktail ring for £63.62 – just don’t give it in a box or your recipient may think you’re proposing.

For some sexy gothic glamour get the woman (or man) in your life these Falke Rococo lacy tights for only £20. If you’re not sure if whether your pal has gothic tendencies, it isn’t hard to spot. Let’s face it, once a goth always a goth. It doesn’t matter how many designer outfits they have, it still comes out in the styling of a pixie boot, or a long black skirt, or some strange laced up thing. (No offence to any Goths out there – and my heyday was the 80s which also leaves an indelible mark on one’s fashion psyche so feel free to laugh at my secret love of a strapless green taffeta bubble dress).

These beautiful bird correspondence cards are £27 for 10 from Smythson – even I know that’s £2.70 per card but it may be the only way to guarantee yourself a thank you note. They actually have a section of gifts under £100 for those of us who would love but can’t afford the gorgeous Nancy (which stars at £775) or their Maze bag (also from £775) (which looks to me rather like a large chocolate). (Smythson does have great sales - though they tend to sell out online quickly. So get on their mailing list and watch for their emails like a hawk…)

Beauty

The genuine classics tend not to be expensive – Clarins Beauty Flash Balm is only £21.25 at Buy Cosmetics. So it’s cheaper than Botox and less trend-limiting than a wrinkle-hiding fringe. Apparently they sell 21 a minute (20 of those are to me). Your over-30s friend may not thank you when they first unwrap it – but they definitely will that morning when they wake up after only a few hours’ sleep and realise they can’t rely on youthful dewiness to get them through the day without scaring people. I’ve no idea how it works, but it just seems to tighten everything up, a bit like a fright (but at least you won’t look like one).

I realise that mention of Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream may elicit yawns of boredom – it is as well known a beauty classic as Clarins Beauty Flash Balm – but it is a classic because it works. Use it to moisturise lips skin and hands, for minor cuts and grazes… in short, it’s fab and it’s only £15.66 at Boots.

A Chanel lipstick (it has to be bright red) makes anyone feel pampered. In fact your friend will be wishing it didn’t last as long as it does so they have a reason to take it out and reapply once again. There is something about those interlocking Cs… and so much cheaper than a quilted 2.55 Chanel bag.