Pump shoes, comfortable jeans and a good handbag – all a busy mum needs!

The problem for busy mums who want to look good is time and practicality. But you can still look cool and fashionable while rushing about taking your kids to and from school while addressing all their needs!

The best thing is to invest in a couple of pairs of skinny jeans, well fitting jacket and cool long sleeved shirts, topped with a long warm cashmere cardigan or cashmere jumper. You can definitely combine comfort and glamour – just make sure you make the right choices!

Flat shoes, preferably ballerina pumps are the choice for busy mums as they are great for all situations. In the summer you can get away with flip flops but now is the time for pumps which are so chic!

If you want a change from jeans why not try a pleated skirt or comfortable wide-leg trousers, finished off with a great belt and a full sleeved wool cardigan? All perfect for busy mums who more than anything else

perhaps need to have a nice capacious bag, leather bags and suede bags being good choices, to hold their children’s numerous odds and ends, snacks, lunchboxes and toys. You can shop for a really good bag online. Spoilt for choice there are ranges of good leather and suede bags with numerous pockets to suit busy mums.

Bag of the week at £240 – a long term investment - is one of Stella McCartney’s collection  for LeSportsac, ecological, cool and with wonderful cleverly concealed compartments to carry those baby accessories, bottles, nappies and stuff for the bigger ones too!  Who said a busy mum can’t be practical and still look good?

This autumn, British accessory brand Jimmy Choo will bring its international glamour and covetable shoes and bags to selected H&M stores.

The collection will be available from November 14 in around 200 stores across the world. It is the first time that H&M is collaborating with an accessories brand, and to celebrate Jimmy Choo will extend its design vision for this collection to women’s clothing to complement the accessories. Further exciting news is that this collaboration includes a men’s collection of shoes, bags and accessories.

“We are privileged to be among the fashion greats who have been affiliated with H&M so far, and to be designing a collection appealing to fashion savvy, street smart women, and to be including some great pieces for men, too. Jimmy Choo will bring to H&M a sophisticated, fashion forward, accessible and glamorous collection – the perfect party pieces to buy now and then wear out that night!” Tamara Mellon, Founder and President, Jimmy Choo.

“We adore Jimmy Choo’s shoes and bags. They are glamorous and sexy, and they add instant style to the simplest of outfits. I like the way we have worked with clothes to accessorize the shoes and bags rather than the other way around. This collaboration is particularly exciting because it’s our first shoe designer collection. It’s a joy to be able to offer top end designer shoes and bags of excellent quality to our customers.” Margareta van den Bosch, creative advisor, H&M.

Since its launch in 1996, Jimmy Choo has been such a phenomenal success that the brand name has become part of popular culture – say the words “Jimmy Choo”, and you know you mean shoes. In Hollywood, Jimmy Choo shoes have become a red-carpet essential, and have been worn at the Oscars by winners such as Cate Blanchett, Halle Berry and Hilary Swank among many other actresses. The famous Jimmy Choo shoes will be at the heart of the exclusive collection for H&M, but there’s more. Jimmy Choo has also become well known for its bags, and for H&M there will be a whole range of accessories to complete the look.

BizRate

I have gone giddy with excitement; it seems that there is a God because after much praying to the heavens, Irregular Choice has opened its first dedicated store on Carnaby Street. In my country, in my town, not far from where I live. Today is the best day ever!

For some, it will be a little over the top and those people who are firm advocates of shoes from Clarks will definitely hate them but, to me, they are sensational works of art that my feet adore. According to reports the store looks like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory when you step inside. Even better!

If that’s not the best news you have had all day, let me whisper this… the online store also has a 50% discount on some designs. Yes, ladies, Christmas has indeed come early.

The new boot arrivals are fascinating, with quirky heels, colourful designs and mad patterns all ensuring that you will be the epitome of women’s fashion. I’m in love with the peep show boots.

The heatherette wrap me up style is very out there, but frankly, I don’t want every single thing I own to run the risk of being exactly the same as my neighbours’. I am going to celebrate my independence, my quirkiness and my personality by representing myself in the style of a shoe.

I have exceptionally thin legs with absolutely no shape to them. Straight up and down, it’s not a good look. Especially when it comes to wearing flat shoes. They just plain don’t suit me, but being only 5ft 5, it’s hard to resign yourself to a life of excruciating pain and an endless investment of party feet in soles.

When ballet style pumps came back into fashion, I was distraught. Wearing them with a skirt I looked small and flat. Not to be outdone by this inexplicable fashion trend and wanting to be a part of it, I searched for a solution. Then like a light from above, skinny jeans came in … ballet pumps don’t look half bad with skinny jeans. The moment I realised that, I went out and bought every type of ballet shoe I could lay my hands on.

Still very much in style and in comfort, you can take advantage of this never-ending statement and still get some gorgeous designs. If you aren’t vertically challenged like me, they really are the epitome of versatility. Jewelled versions, multi-coloured styles, block colour, whatever takes your fancy there is pair out there for you! They’re also cheap enough that you can afford to take advantage and get a few pairs.

Be a little wary though, some people are not blessed with the most well supported ankles and heels and with a high in step you will be able to see the gap at the sides. If you have been used to squeezing yourself into high heels since you were a teenager, switching to flat shoes might leave you in just as much pain! Ease yourself in gently, it’s definitely worth it.

Although I found www.fashionstyleyou.co.uk is quite confusing to navigate your way around, they do make a very good statement in their review on boots! I went shopping today especially for a pair of ladies shoes suitable for winter weather, having spent yesterday on my clothes and shoes recycling now that summer has gone. Yes I know you didn’t notice that it was here in the first place, but I have to break it to you that now it’s dark at 6.30pm and there’s a bit of a Christmassy feel to the air outside.

Anyway, I digress. Having been a big fan of knee high boots most of my life, I went in search of some of the new in season funky ankle variety. This website reviewed boots from a new company called Hotter. Now call me ridiculous but frankly, they remind me of something you would find in Clarks. Either that or they are the NHS range of corrective footwear. I apologise profusely if you own a pair but seriously… even my Gran wouldn’t be seen dead in them! Just because its getting colder doesn’t mean that you have to let your standards slip.

Personally, I think Ugg boots are the way forward. Please don’t make the mistake of buying replica Ugg boots, because you won’t fool anyone! Uggs are warm, comfortable, can be dressed up or down and you won’t even notice you are wearing them, when you have spent the last 4 hours trudging endlessly around the shops for that perfect Christmas present for Auntie Gladys.

Writing about shoes in a fashion blog is very dangerous territory for me. If I donated all the money I spend on shoes every year, I could wipe out poverty and third world debt in one fell swoop.

Shoes define me as a person. Look into my wardrobe and you will find unique designs, out of the ordinary soles and frankly heels to die for. My collection of shoes is the only thing my friends are really jealous of. Very Sex And The City! Although I must admit, whenever I watch that programme I have to fight the urge to go shoe shopping immediately.

At 14, my first Saturday job was at a shoe shop in the high street and ever since that moment the first thing I notice about anyone is their feet, or more importantly what is between their feet and the pavement.

My absolute favourite make of ladies shoes is Irregular Choice. The designs are just so different from anything else out there. I can regularly be found surfing their site to see what’s new when I should be writing my fashion blog. I already own the courtesan emblem flower court. They had pictures of pixies on the soles and it took me months to bring myself to wear them on anything more coarse than a deep shag pile Axminster, let alone an actual tarmac.

I am in the process of adding to my shoe fund and saving up for another couple of pairs to add to my collection: the teddy bear courts and unicorn tie ones. Seriously, it’s shoe heaven.

You would be forgiven for a certain feeling for jazz of late, a hop-skippety-flick down the street, a mini-rendition of Singin’ in the Rain, although the hint of an Indian summer hopefully means more singin’ and less rain. The best way to celebrate is with your feet, and there are some prize offerings to be had. Jonathan Kelsey for Mulberry has given the jazz shoe a modern update in patent or bright fuchsia suede for the all singing all dancing price of £325. Go to Office for high street alternatives, though bargain of the week has to be the Dorothy Perkins pewter leather jazz pump reduced from £28 to £15.

Masculine shoe fashions were stamped all over London Fashion Week, with the jazz pump or lace up brogues snapped on off-duty models and fashion people. The arch rival to the 6” platform – what relief that comfortable shoes are ‘in’ for a change. Karl Lagerfeld was onto brogues a long time ago for Chanel, and Natalia V. was one of the first to pair the lace-ups with everything from frou-frou party dresses to shifts and minis.

The daintier jazz shoe is more forgiving than the brogue, so choose wisely because the nod to masculine doesn’t want to be butch. They still need to look like ladies shoes I tried on a pair the other day and felt less fashion fabulous and more Charlie Chaplin, which I’d imagine is taking it too far.

As I was eating my scrambled eggs and leafing through Grazia I nearly choked on the price of a pair of shoes in Olivia Richardson’s Lust List. The Head of Fashion at Liberty picked a pair of made-to-order Nicolas Kirkwood shoes but in a rich purple. If you’re out of touch with your inner dominatrix, now’s your chance to do some damage, but at £4,700 - yes four thousand and seven hundred pounds – these babies will ruin your finances and render you incapable of going back to ‘vanilla’ shoes again. ‘Vanilla’ means normal as opposed to kinky in S&M speak. Keep up with women’s fashion advice lingo girls.
These are not shoes, they are statements of intent. These shoes will eat your ballerina pumps for breakfast. Kirkwood studied fine art at Central Saint Martins and shoemaking at the Cordwainers before starting his own shoe collection from his home. “I’ve always been interested in structure, in very linear shapes,” he said. “Whether it’s furniture or accessories or whatever, I love things that have a practicality to them.” I hope he doesn’t mean practical in the popping-to-the-shops-for-a-pint-of milk sense – not the women’s fashion advice I’m after – but I get that these are purposeful and solid rather than whimsical and flouncy. No embellishments, no diamante. You know where you are with these, which at £4,700 is just as well ‘cos I wouldn’t be going anywhere but round my sitting room. Ahh, now I get what he means by practical …

As soon as the sun starts coming out, around March, you can better your bottom dollar, I have got my long suffering boyfriend back into the loft to pull down my ‘Summer Wardrobe’, consisting of ladies skirts (including two rather questionable denim skirts), tee-shirts and sunglasses. Most importantly, however, it’s the perfect opportunity to slide my tootsies back into my flip flops. If it wasn’t for fear of Reynaud’s syndrome, I would wear them all year round.

Flip flops are the cheapest possible form of footwear and without doubt the most comfortable. If I didn’t have such a professional job, I would be tempted to wear them to the office with one of my more flattering ladies skirts all year round.

My flips flops are the low end of the expense scale. Made of rubber. I have had them so long now, I am considering employing a ‘no-win no-fee’ solicitor all year round as the bottom of them are now devoid of grip they have developed into slicks, which causes no end of catastrophes on tiled floors!

I have tried upgrading them, particularly as every year high street stores displayed all manner of jewelled beauties, and even though, I admit to buying something more contemporary each year, bottom line is, nothing beats my plasticy rubbery ones. Proper flip flops or thongs as my Australian friend refers to them as, are just too rigid, they have no bend at all, making it virtually impossible to descend stairs without running the risk of tumbling to the bottom. If I persevered I am sure they would soften up and replace my old faithfuls but frankly, I don’t have the time.

It’s such a shame that flip flops aren’t more acceptable in restaurants, churches and at funerals and its even an bigger disappointment that if you were going on a first date you couldn’t just chuck them on but there we are, society judges us about what is suitable occasion wear and weather dictates if you can get away with having your perfectly pedicured feet on full display.

So as the summer draws to a close, it’s not just the sun and my denim skirts I will miss, it’s also the ability to get ready and be out the door in under five seconds flat thanks to my trusty flip flops.

I’m standing opposite my best friend who looks like she got dressed in the dark.  As I give her the slow up and down, the one every woman gives to other women, I imagined her looking in the mirror this morning and thinking “I look fantastic”.

I can’t help but notice that her skinny jeans look like they have been painted on and are so tight they have managed to push all excess skin to the top, giving her what can only be described as a “muffin top”. We are meeting for lunch and as she takes a seat, the jeans seem to descend slightly and her bottom and bright pink thong poke out the top!  I suppress a snigger as the old adage “somewhere to park your bike” springs into my mind.

What is wrong with dressing for your shape?  Finding a style that suits you and more importantly sticking to it!  Why do we all succumb to the images portrayed in the magazines that feature a super slim model wearing the exact same outfit that we all know is pulled in and safety pinned up to the max behind her!

Learning to dress for your shape can revolutionise how you feel about yourself.  Does my friend feel comfortable, no way! I can tell by the fact she’s turning blue, that she is holding her stomach in.  It’s about time people realised that fashion is meant to make YOU look great, not the other way around.  Not that I’m not guilty of buying something because it’s the trend at the moment, but I know deep down that there are some items that I really shouldn’t bother with.  I’m classed as a pear shape, small up top with a bulbous bottom. The clothes I choose have been well researched and I know I look and feel great in them. I wear dark colours around my middle with lighter colours up top and I avoid short jackets like the plague and I never, ever go out in anything under a 3 ½ inch heel.  Of course, I can no longer run properly but it’s a small price to pay.