My love affair........

With River Island has been rekindled.......

I just had to share these items with you, they represent 4 of our Spring/Summer trends this season and how exciting that they can all be found under one roof....easy shopping.

If you want a little bit of the folk look this season, this gorgeous dress is just perfect with a pair of casual flip flops

I just loved this fringe dress, how feminine and incredibly sexy. Perfect for the day or evening, on a beach or a special occassion......beautiful

I'm loving the polka dot, structured dress, perfect for an hour glass or slender/athlectic body shape. I'd team this with a red patent platform to go for a stunning, yet simply chic look

I am going to be a real turmoil this season as I just love the Peter Pan collar too, so beautiful and in my mind quite vintage and twee all wrapped into one. I love when different fabrics are played with on garments so I love the injection of lace in this collar & cuffs 

So, which one is your favourite?

lots of love
Lisa

One Stop Style Shop

I sat down on Friday night completley exhausted, and that is putting it politely!

I looked back over my week and realised I did the following, does it sound familiar?

Monday- School run, work, collected 1 child at 3pm, the other at 4pm. Then homework, tea and take 1 child to Brownies at 6pm and the other to Beavers at 6.30pm and of course I had to pick them up as hubby was still on the M4!

Tuesday - School run, work, collected 1 child at 3pm, the other at 4pm. Then homework, tea and a calmer evening

Wednesday - School run, work, collected 4 children at 3pm, tea for all, friends children collected at 6pm so then on with the homework and a calmer evening

Thursday - School run,work, collected 1 child and friend at 4pm, the other one had gone to a friend about 12 miles away. Tea for the boys, then had to pick Maisie up at 6pm. Got home about 6.45pm.

Friday - School run, a train up to QVC for my exciting meeting, 1 child off to friends before she went to Stagecoach and then collected Tom at 4.15 from rugby.
Then back in the car to collect Maisie at 7.30pm as hubby was still at work!

In between all the above I managed to do the washing, ironing, food shopping, make sure my big boy was ok with his golf, make sure my mum was ok and get all the lunches ready for the next day and walk my gorgeous rottweiler. O'h and spend some quality time with my husband, yeah right!!

It just got me thinking....if everyones life is as busy as mine and I have a feeling it is, then getting dressed, applying make up, clothes shopping, getting a haircut, keeping fit & healthy and generally looking after or making time for ourselves needs to be made really easy.

That's why I will be introducing my 'One Stop Style shop' very shortly.

Ladies, I love what I do and I want to teach you everything I know so that I can make your life a little easier when it comes to what you wear, how you look and more importantly how you feel about yourself

keep your eyes peeled

Love
Lisa

The No Underwire Bra revolution

Ok, so surveys have been done and it is always found that the majority of women are wearing the wrong size bra, some don't actually know what size they are.

In my opinion if you get the scaffolding right then the clothes you wear over will sit so much better. Wearing the right size bra and style will lift the boobs and make you look thinner around the tummy area......honestly

But, I am also very aware that finding the right bra is not always that easy, it must not feel like your being restricted around your back area not should it dig in under the arms which is why it is sometimes hard to decide underwired or non underwired.

In Femail in the Daily Mail today I am so please to finally hear Ultimo are set to lauch their new non underwired.

Its Dreamwire bra is said to provide all the lift of an underwire, with non of the discomfort. It will cost £24 and goes on sale at the end of this month.

I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Lots of love

Lisa

Are you in the Style rut?

Two thirds of women are stuck in a style rut, a survey of 2000 women has revealed

Two thirds of British women are stuck in a style rut because they lack the confidence to change their image, it has emerged.

1. An average woman has had their current hairstyle for a staggering six years and 153 days,while nearly half have had the same hair style since they were a teenager.

2. 60% feel they never changed the way they dress or do their makeup.

3.Over a third fear they won’t be able to pull off an image change, with many worried about how their partner might respond or whether other women would judge them.

The results show that many women suffer from a very real lack of confidence when it comes to changing the way they look.

Remington's Marketing Director, Nikki McReynolds

4.One in ten women think their current look is great but have stuck with it for years because it’s what they and their friends and family are used to

5.A third of ladies described their dress sense as ‘comfy’

6. A quarter described their dress sense as 'conservative'

7. Many are convinced image plays a big part when it comes to success- a quarter of the study thought they had been held back in life by a lack of confidence to change their look, either for a job interview or date.

The survey conducted by Remington showed the results show that many women suffer from a very real lack of confidence when it comes to changing the way they look.

For me, I really can see where these results are coming from but what is lovely is that I know the lessons I teach really do make a difference and can be life changing.
Changes to your image do not have to be done all at once, changing your image or style is a road you travel and the steps you take can be as small or as large as you want them to be.
For me, the journey has to be fun

What better result for me is to see a lady smiling back at herself in a mirror......none.

I firmly promote that if you look good you more importantly feel great, confidence really does come from feeling good about yourself.

Answer me this.........How good do you feel walking out your front door if you know you look good?

Is it the time in your life you made some little changes?



Lots of love
Lisa

De-clutter your wardrobe

I have got a really cool tip to help you de-clutter your wardrobe.

Start by placing the hanger of all the garments you have not worn for a period of 3 months in one direction ( wrong way )

For all the garments you wear, wash and iron place them on the hanger around the other way( right way ), each time you wear a garment place the hanger back in your wardrobe the right way. 

After a period of say 3 months check to see how many hangers are facing the wrong way, these will be the garments that you don't wear for whatever reason and these are the items that can potentially be removed from your wardrobe.

Obviously you have to take into account special occasion items ie; party dresses, seasonal garments etc

This is a great easy exercise to truly identify what you don't wear in your wardrobe.

Let me know how you get on

Lots of love

Lisa

The vultures were out

I've just come back from a shopping centre and I don't think I've closed my mouth yet or recovered from a being pushed and shoved in every direction.

I don't think I have ever seen sale shopping like this, there were ladies pushing and shoving to get to the items they wanted. I even saw 1 lady take a pair of shoes out of another ladies hand, really.......do you really need that pair of shoes that badly?

I've had my eye on a pair of shoes for a while now and I was lucky to find a pair in my size for £6.00, yes you did read right £6.00 but would I of fought my way to them.....absolutely not!

I have always said that shopping at sale time is only a benefit if you find something a) that is an investment piece and b) you really wanted it ( like my shoes ) and I firmly believe this.

So, when you shoppers of today finally prise yourself away from the shops and get home, take a look and see of what you purchased today how much did you really want or how much you brought because it was cheaper than the original price.

I'm off to have a very strong cup of tea to ease my pain!!!

Love

Lisa

Dotty P we love you

I was on a mooching mission today to check out what the high street is doing in a way of getting out their new stock in a mass of sale items.


Dorothy Perkins took me by surprise with not only a very organised store but great collections


This dress is gorgeous and I can tell you my photo does not do it justice, the colour is electric blue and the fabric is soft and enjoyable. Great panelling detail and a lovely gold zip fastening at the back.

This parka style coat grabbed my eye, it is light, waterproof, a stunning deep marine blue and fabulous tie to accentuate any waist. A great throw on for the school run or on the tube.

And, one item you cannot be without is the shopping bag. I love the 2 tone colour of this one. It surprisingly found its way home with me today. Great to inject a little bit of a 'must have' into my new SS12 wardrobe ( or at least that is what I will be telling hubby!! )

I dare you to take a trip to Dorothy Perkins, I think you will be impressed

Love

Lisa

H & M's Customer Service experience

For those of you who know me I am passionate about what I do and how I can really make a difference to lives just by teaching both ladies and men in how to dress their body shape and how to understand the high street. I do know it can be daunting.

I have always been a firm believer that the high street stores are 'missing a trick' with their customer service experience and I have never been afraid of saying it!

It didn't fall on deaf ears when I met with the amazing store manager of H & M, The Oracle, Reading before Christmas. She is the most amazing woman, an on fire Irish lady with the drive and passion for her store like I have never seen.

So, today saw the 1st training session of the staff in H & M, The Oracle in how to dress both the woman and male body shapes with the new collections in store. I also touched on how ladies want that special customer service experience where as men want to just buy.
Have you ever known a man want to 'mooch' on their day off?!

I know from the ladies and men I see that they love the fact I can pull together new outfits and teach them in how to dress their body shape. We put this theory to the test this morning with a lovely young lady pushing a pram and just browsing around the store. I asked her if I could help her in anyway and she said 'how lovely' and look relieved for some guidance.
I showed her garments to suit her body shape and in line with what she was looking for, she went off to the changing room armed with an array of garments.I was told later she bought all the items.

This is a great result for both the customer who experienced a new & value add customer service and the high street who benefited from additional sales ( which they so badly need now )

For H & M, Reading they are now the only high street store who is offering this service......FANTASTIC. The plan is to roll this training out to more H & M stores in the UK, boy I'm going to be busy!

How can you now not afford to go into H & M, The Oracle, Reading and experience this wonderful new service.

I would love to hear from you, do you think is a great service now being pioneered by
H & M, would you like to see other high street stores adopt this training for their staff?

lots of love
Lisa

Simple,stunning style

How was your day my hubby said to me at 7.00pm tonight when he walked in from work. I had to actually stop for a moment and think....what did I not do today.

My day started at 6.45pm when my 7 year old twins climb into bed for a cup of tea ( I've taught them well ), they don't go back to school until tomorrow so we had 1 more non-rushed morning.

After watching the news on Daybreak it was time for the day to really begin, I shower and wash my hair whilst Tom and Maisie ( the twins ) fight over whether to watch Ben 10 or Good Luck Charlie, it always ends up in a row which I need to calm down with dripping wet hair and a towel nearly falling round my ankles.

Next job was to choose what to wear which is simple for me as I have a very well organised capsule wardrobe to suit both my personality and lifestyle. Like me, any woman needs her wardrobe to work for her, not against her.
I chose a pair of great black cotton stretch skinnes ( Leigh ) from Top Shop and teamed it with a Karen Millen black and blue ribbed roll neck with stunning popper detail on the shoulders. I added a black leather belt with a large chrome buckle to add interest to my outfit. And to finish the look I added a lovely navy sparkle necklace I picked up from Fabulous jewellery just before Christmas.

After breakfast we decided to brave the wind and rain and head for Tesco's to get the school lunch shopping, not my brightest idea as it's an open air car park. I added a pair of black knee high leather biker boots from Gabor and a grey knitted hat so my hair would stay straight!! Have you ever tried to carry an umbrella whilst holding the hands of 2 children?

I returned home a little like I had been blown through a bush backwards but still looking put together!
The afternoon was taken up with making bath bombs, bouncy balls, a magicians wand and invisible ink, did you get the idea the kids got science kits for Christmas?!
Oh' I almost forgot I managed to get washed and dried 2 loads of washing, hoover both upstairs and down and take down the Christmas decorations!

I even managed to do a little bit of work, I made a couple of calls, sent a few emails and secured a great prize for my Vitality show competition

I then looked at the clock....it was time for tea. So whilst the kids decided to run off the pent up energy they had stored all afternoon with a game of bounce the new bouncy balls as high as they could I started the tea. Only to hear that ever fateful word........MUM! The bouncy ball had knocked over my candle and my lovely cappaccino lounge walls were now covered in bright blue solid wax!!!!! Operation clean up was called into action.

So, my darling husband my day was ok. But one thing I was rest assured my outfit had stayed the test of time all day, it had coped with everything I threw at it today and at 7.00pm it still looked just as good as when I first put it on 11 hours earlier. Even my make up looked great, thanks to a great primer and wonderful mineral make up from Bare Escentuals I certainly didn't look like I felt.........absolutely KNACKERED!!

Style does not have to be complicated, keep it simple and make it work for your personality and lifestyle.

lots of love
Lisa

The Perfect jeans

Does this picture look familiar?

Do you have the perfect pair of jeans that you just love?

or

Do you experience the following problems with your jeans;

The waist is too big and gaps needing you to wear a belt

The waist fits perfectly but the jeans bag under your bottom

You'd love to wear skinny jeans but you feel you look like a funnel

You end up with the 'muffin top'

If you are like many women who have jeans as a staple garment in your wardrobe then it is so important that they fit well and look fabulous, having the perfect pair of jeans for your body shape makes all the difference.

Jeans are the most amazing garment which can be dressed up or dressed down and are now seen being worn not only in the daytime for a casual look but at work or for an evening out.

I have partnered with Donna Ida again to bring you my 'Jeans only shopping experience'. Donna's boutique in Westfield, Shepherds Bush carries a briliant range of both brands ( James, 7 For all man kind, MIH, Mother, Paige and many others ) and styles ( Bootcut, Skinny, Flare, Cigarette, bootcut ) and I can promise you I will find you the perfect jeans, just for you.

This photo is one of my favourite and is only 1 wall of Donna's boutique, now tell me that you won't be able to find your perfect jeans!!!

My next Jeans shopping experience is Friday 27th January, 10.30am to 1.30pm at Westifeld Shepherds Bush

Book early as numbers are limited, simply drop me an email or give me a call

Cost £50.00

Lots of love

Lisa

07887 802700

info@lisatalbot.co.uk