Designer Label Fashion

Over the knee boots and thigh boots are this season’s biggest boot trend, so wear them with panache and be guaranteed new season fashion Brownie points (and probably a lot of stares in Waitrose).

Thigh high boots can be tricky to pull off - literally and figuratively. A flat black suede over the knee boot over your favourite skinny jeans would be a good way to ease yourself into this trend, though the coolest way to wear thigh boots - without bringing to mind the old Dolly Parton quote “it takes a lot of money to look this cheap” - is with a flirty pair of city shorts and black or coloured opaques.

Best designer bargain for over the knee boots?  It has to be the Stella McCartney boots, below, for an amazingly reasonable £275 - that’s only £137.50 per boot! (Skint? Sarah’s money saving tip - buy a pair, split with a friend, and hop.)

Check out our favourite over the knee boots and thigh high boots from Rupert Sanderson, Chloe, Lanvin and Stella McCartney, below.

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The new Preen collection is hitting all the right style notes. Featuring leather, biker jackets (knitted!), and an update on the Preen Power dress which takes it crash bang into A/W 09, the Preen collection is very new season but also is recognisably Preen.

The new version of the Preen Power Dress is black and white, in a funky and suitably autumnal extra-large hound tooth check. Clingy in all the right places (ie pretty much everywhere), with a sexy full length zip down the back, this Preen Power Dress will turn heads wherever you go. Preen Power Dress, £745.

Bear in mind that though colour-wise it is autum-winter, coverage-wise it most definitely isn’t. So unless you are (a) from Newcastle or (b) under 25, you’ll want a decent cover-up. This knitted grey Preen biker jacket for the body-con fans or this long cable-knit Preen cardigan would do the job just fine.

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Leather is big news this season, and every woman should have a cute leather skirt. This Preen shrunken leather skirt has some cute detailing (an exposed gold zip down the front and ribbed pockets on each side of the hips), and is super-versatile. Preen shrunken leather skirt, £350.

Dress it up for evenings or wear with this season’s funky ankle boots for day.  (Wearing it with this season’s thigh high boots might be a bit too Band of Gold though).

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Now for my favourites… these fab Preen leather trousers with… quilted knees! They also have a button fastening and zip fly, and exposed gold zips at the front of the ankles. 100% Leather 65% Acrylic 29% Polyamide 6% Elastane. Please note, only the front of the trousers is leather. Preen leather trousers with quilted knees, £500.

I have never seen quilted knees on anything before until this season, now they seem to be popping up everywhere. Isn’t it lovely how fashion has gone all comfy - cosy knits, 80s nostalgia and now quilted knees, presumably to make kneeling a bit more comfortable? No, I don’t want to know why you’re kneeling down while wearing just tight leather Preen pants. No, stop it. No! <puts fingers in ears and sings tralalala>

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For these and more of Preen’s new collection, visit Browns Fashion.

I have new best handbags like Lily Allen has new best friends. Not for me the classic but slightly battered black quilted Chanel, handed down from mother to daughter to granddaughter, only leaving the family to be sent off for a brush up and revamp every generation (do they end up like the old broom - “I’ve had this broom for 25 years, and in that time it’s had five new heads and five new handles”?).

No, I flit from bag to bag, and designer to designer, as my mood and my outfit takes me. (Sarah’s money saving tip: it may sound like I spend a fortune on designer bags - I don’t, as I see one I love, then swoon over it for a couple of days wondering whether to buy it and live on beans for  two months, by which time I have got bored with that bag and moved on to the next one. And so the cycle continues, without ever disturbing my bank account while leaving me feeling smug at my bag-related ontrendness.)

Anyway my current bag crush is this pretty plaid Derby Yasmin large tote bag from Vivienne Westwood Accessories - with a green, purple and pink plaid pattern, and over the arm carry handles, this large tote also has gold orb studs on the base and the handles. The tote is lined with an orb print fabric and there is a phone pouch and zipped pocket. Vivienne Westwood large plaid tote is £333 and measure 40cm by 33cm by 18cm. Buy it now at My Wardrobe.

This pretty and colourful Vivienne Westwood Accessories plaid bag also makes a change from the admittedly stylish but (whisper it) rather gloomy designer bags currently doing the rounds - black, grey, tan, brown, with the occasional splash of purple or red. (Note to bag designers - we know autumn during a recession is dull and miserable, we don’t need you reminding us).

Okay, I have admitted it now. But I don’t want a cure - oh no, not when there are tops like this metallic sequin zip front top from Dries Van Noten in the shops.

How 80s is it though, on a scale where 1 is a touch of new Romantic frilliness and 10 is an extra from Fame? Duh, an 11, I think. Metallic - tick. Blouson style with a thick waistband - tick. Sleeveless/cap sleeved - tick. It even has a zip front (tick, tick, tick, tick, tick).

This Dries Van Noten top is £1,075 - I’ve no idea what that is in 1980s money, but I imagine you could have probably bought a house with it. Still, it is sort of a bargain - buy it now, wear it for one season, then you can wear it and wear it and wear it again to really get your money’s worth (admittedly at 15-year intervals, each time the 1980s comes back into fashion. So it would help if you come from a family of rich, fashion-conscious nonogenarians).

You can if you like do what Browns Fashion suggest and wear with some on trend cropped satin trousers and those super-sexy black platform stillies. Personally I think all it needs is a pair of black ski pants, some silver lurex leg warmers and - of course - some rollerboots (come on, shoulder pads and day-glo are back, the rollerdisco can’t be far behind).

I am slightly confused on the colour - the Browns website says it is bronze, but it looks silver to me, sadly I don’t have a spare £1,075 to order it and find out.

Secret Sales are having another designer jeans event - with fabulous styles and amazing discounts off the RRP from Superfine, Sass and Bide, True Religion, LTB, DVB Jeans, Diesel, Tommy Hilfiger and more. As wih all Secret Sales designer sales event,s this is a time limited offer - it started this morning and is due to end at 11pm on Tuesday 15 September 2009.

These designer jeans have great discounts off the RRP - such as Victoria Beckham Mid Blue Distressed Skinny Flare Jeans with an RRP of £350, only £53 in the Secret Sales designer jeans event. So check the designer jeans deals out now, or see below for my favourites.

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Sass and Bide hit the spot last winter with their Black Rats liquid leggings, which were seen on all the best legs for months. Now they’ve done it again with some fabulous ruched Black Rats leggings, for Autumn 09. Go for black or bronze, and tone down slightly by wearing with a baggy T or tank top. I have to say, I still prefer the black ruched Black Rats, as the bronze ones are a bit too R2D2 for my liking.

These black PVC ruched Sass and Bide Black Rats leggings have visible elasticated panels on each side. Banded elasticated waist, 7.5 inch rise, 31 inch inside leg and 9 inch ankle opening when laid flat. 94% polyester, 6% elastane. Sass and Bide black ruched pvc Black Rats leggings £130.

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The bronze Sass and Bide ruched Black Rats leggings also have visible elasticated panels on each side. Banded elasticated waist, 7.5 inch rise, 31 inch inside leg and 9 inch ankle opening when laid flat. 94% polyester, 6% elastane. Sass and Bide bronze ruched Black Rats leggings, £141.

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For a less shiny look, check out the non-glossy ruched Sass & Bide Black Rats, also in black.Only £93 from My Wardrobe.

After years of being embarrassed by our teenage photos, and laughed at for our early initiation into fingerless gloves, shoulder pads and bubble perms, we children of the eighties are finally - finally - having the last laugh, sartorially speaking at least. As the 1980s are back, and we don’t mean ironically.

Or we would be having the last laugh if we had actually kept any of our original ’80s fashions. If you binned anything remotely ’80s glam when grunge appeared, you’ll have to join those youngsters (you know, anyone born after 1975) and form an orderly queue for a “re-imagined” homage to 80s designer chic.

But the good news is, you can start channelling the trend for only £12 thanks to designer website My Wardrobe - who are selling Jonathan Aston lace footless tights/leggings for only £12. Last seen on Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan, these black lace leggings will update your denim skirt or minidress with some A/W designer kudos in one go.

We tihnk these patterned black lace leggings are a fabulous way to add some on trend designer glam for a pittance - and far better than the money saving fashion tips we got in the ’80s recession (yes, we really were advised to use sanitary towels as shoulder pads. And no, we didn’t try it).

It may feel like it’s been autumn for ever already, but now it is September we have every excuse to start shopping for new season cashmere.

And Pure Collection - the cashmere specialists - are offering a 10% discount off their new season cashmere, plus free returns. Just visit the Pure Collection website where your offer code will be automatically applied.

Worried about the ethics of cashmere? Pure Collection now source 100% of their cashmere from goats that are raised in a sustainable way. Pure Collection is the only brand that uses 100% sustainable cashmere.

Why buy luxury cashmere? Cashmere is great for autumn - it is fine and thin, so perfect for layering, and it really keeps you warm (if it can keep a cashmere goat in the mountains warm, it can keep the chills at bay from Glasgow to London). With this season’s new colours, you can enjoy on trend cosiness in the knowledge that you’ve bought a winter woollie that you can keep on bringing out of the wardrobe for years to come (as the more you wash cashmere, the cuddlier and cosier and softer it gets).

Visit Pure Collection now for 10 percent off their autumn cashmere range, and free returns.

On these hot suummer nights, if you’re going to slip into something more comfortable then make sure it is some glamorous luxury lingerie from Myla.

The Myla summer sale is now on - which means up to 50% off gorgeous Myla lingerie, including camisoles, bras, hipsters, thongs, suspender belts, shorts, chemises and more - and if you like to keep active, there’s also 20% off Myla toys…

The Myla summer sale runs until at least the end of July 2009 but hurry as these lingerie discounts are sure to be popular.

Visit Myla now for up to 50% off lingerie and up to 20% off toys, or see below for our favourites.

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White is always a summer favourite - well, until you try to go anywhere and you realise just how grubby the UK is. But white does look gorgeous on a sunny day, especially against a pair of tanned legs or arms, and it’s great for lifting the spirits.

Browns Fashion have selected a gorgeous array of whites so you can choose what fits with your lifestyle. A brilliant white top may be best if you have to sit on mucky public transport each morning, and if head to toe white is just too much for you then break it up with an acid bright top or even a long neutral cardigan. And if you really can’t wear white clothes (that means anyone with children) then check out a fab pair of white shoes or a white bag (I appreciate that for anyone who got into fashion in the 1980s this opens up a whole new can of sartorial fashion worms).

So give white a go. You might have to lay off the Nutella when you wear it, and stick to white wine rather than red, and avoid any tomato-based sources, or curries with tumeric in them - but fashion has always demanded a few sacrifices… and at least if you can’t eat, you’ll be thin!

And if your heart sinks when you see another “White is back for summer!” article, fear not - as according to Browns, black is back for Autumn/Winter.

Visit Browns Fashion for a whole array of stunning white designer fashion, or see below for my favourites - from Christian Louboutin, Balenciaga, Dries van Noten, Fendi and Azzedine Alaia.

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