The Wardrobe Angel Interview

I'd forgotten about this interview (cos I'm just so famous, not) but Matt Turner's wizardry laced questions actually got to the depths of The Wardrobe Angel, what's important to me and what goes on in and around The Wardrobe Angel.

Check out my bitchy resting face!!!

What to wear when you meet a new baby

Over the past few years family (sister and cousins) and various friend have given birth to babies. I'm never hugely comfortable holding a new born but give it a few weeks and I'll happily pop round for a cuddle. After looking a bunch of babies nestling (not so comfortably) in the crook of my arm I thought I would write about what to actually wear when you meet a new baby and what to take:

1. AVOID WEARING JEWELLERY. You'll end up taking it off in preparation for the cuddle with the baby and then forget about it giving the new parents the job of posting it back to you which, let's face it, they could do without. 

2. WEAR SOMETHING SOFT. I know this might sound obvious but hear me out. Babies have only been here a short while and they deserve the softest landing space we can provide. Choose natural, breathable and soft fabrics which brings you comfortably to cotton and that's always a winner. Plus it's easy to wash should the new baby mark out their territory on you, if you know what I mean. I would avoid anything that sheds, mohair in particular. This can easily shed on a baby's face and be really irritating for them. 

3. GIVE EMBELLISHMENTS A WIDE BERTH. Babies..move. They snuggle and wiggle and catch you unaware. Bearing this is mind go for a plain fronted top, jumper or shirt; all together safer given babies propensity for trying to seek out a boob for some milk. 

4. TAKE A BIG BAG. Babies seem to need a lot of 'stuff' and if you rock up with two or three bags it will only add to the mess. Take a big enough bag for the present for the baby, your stuff (obviously) and food for the parents. Then keep all your items in one place - you can see in the photos my leather jacket draped on top of my bag - and just makes for a smoother visit (read: handy if you need to leave in a hurry when the baby turns the colour of beetroot and screams.)

5. BRING FOOD. I'll never forget Bryony Gordon's Telegraph column after the birth of her daughter shaming the people who, when dropping in for a visit/baby cuddle, ate her food, rather than bring her food. See item number 1 on the list in terms of jobs new parents don't need and add 'buy your lunch'. 

I met this strapping little lad, Charlie, this week. I wore my H&M midi skirt, Gap soft denim shirt and Topshop skater shoes. 

Don't look entirely comfortable here, do I?!

Bag and coat ahoy! Tidy times!

Christmas Baubles Part deux!

So we've had caring for pearls, now we have caring for sterling silver! 

Open air/oxygen and humidity encourages Sterling Silver to tarnish, therefore, avoid just leaving your jewellery lying around when you’re not wearing them.  To slow down the tarnishing process and reduce the risk of scratching against other jewellery, always put the pieces into their own jewellery bag and store in an air-tight cool dry place. 

Extra tip – for the best results, pop into a little plastic bag too for extra O2 protection! 

Sterling Silver, stored properly, can be worn often and with minimal cleaning required making it very easy to care for.  Silver polishing cloths are impregnated with jewellery cleaner and are an excellent choice for cleaning your Sterling Silver jewellery.  If you wear the items daily, Dee and Gee Designs highly recommends that you just ‘buff’ clean them every day to keep them sparkling!  These polishing cloths are inexpensive, widely available and very easy to use and it‘s a good idea to have one cleaning cloth for gold and one for silver!

Avoid Silver/Gold Plated Jewellery

One of the reasons Dee and Gee Designs only uses precious metals e.g. Sterling Silver, is that whilst plated metals maybe cheaper, there is a huge difference in quality between real sterling silver and silver/gold plated jewellery/components.  For example, silver plated merely has a very thin layer of silver bonded to a base metal, such as brass or copper, which is less durable. Even with little wear or use, the layer wears off quite quickly revealing the unsightly base metal.  Sterling Silver, however, has a more attractive colour and shine as well as the ability to last a lifetime.   When purchasing Sterling Silver jewellery, look out for a hallmark i.e. it should be stamped 'sterling silver' or '925'.

A little care invested in your jewellery pays off in the long run!!

Dee and Gee Designs is an exciting luxury brand focused on bridging the gap between designer and high street.  Their collections, all named after family members, are classical with a contemporary twist and distinctive look and style. Check out their website by clicking here!

Christmas Baubles

Fed up with tarnished and scratched jewellery? Well, you’re not alone. A question the Wardrobe 

Angel gets asked regularly is‘how are you supposed to look after your jewellery?’ So, I decided to find out and get some advice and tips from GillianTinney who owns 

Yorkshire based Dee and Gee Designs selling luxurious yet affordable jewellery made from

precious metals, stones and pearls sourced from all around the world. 

“When we get ready to go out, there’s a tendency to spray on our perfume and put the finishing touches to our hair at the end,”says Gillian. “The trouble is direct contact with liquids and 

aerosols, including perfume, insect repellent, creams, makeup and hairspray, can really affect the 

quality and condition of pearls, precious metals etc, so really need to be avoided. We realised a lot of people don't know how to care for their jewellery so we included a little 'Care and Cleaning' card as standard with each item purchased as well as having a page on our website (click here to be transported!) dedicated to jewellery cleaning. "The simplest advice I can give anyone, " Gillian explains, "is jewellery should be the last on and first off as it makes an amazing difference. Also there are slight differences in how to care for you pearls and precious metal jewellery."

Gillian's top tips for Caring for Pearls:

Before putting on your pearls make sure your body cream, perfume, hairspray have all 'dried' first. To remove natural body oils prior to putting your pearls away, just gently wipe them using a soft lint-free cloth. If dirty, use a lightly dampened lint-free cloth. Always make sure they are air dried before storing though. 

NEVER clean your pearls:

• Using an ultrasonic cleaning machine
• In solutions that contain ammonia or harsh detergents
• Using an abrasive cleaner or by rubbing them with an abrasive cloth. 

You have been warned!! One of the reasons Dee and Gee Designs places all of their pieces in their very own jewellery bag is that jewellery, particularly pearls, should be stored separately as they can get scratched. Store your pearls in their own slot in your jewellery box. If you don't have a jewellery box then store them in a small drawer. 

If you are thinking about Christmas presents then I can highly recommend Dee and Gee Designs: they bridge the gap between high street and designer jewellery so effortlessly and are classical with a contemporary twist. 

Next up: looking after Sterling Silver!!

Cate Wood Collections

This year I am going to buy a house (big dreams!) and in January I went to look at a few. In one of the houses I discovered the fantastic Cate Wood and the house search was temporarily forgotten. This talented jewellery designer and creator handcrafts pieces which are ornate with a modern vintage inspired feel. Leather, horsehair and vintage items are reclaimed and repurposed from car boot sales, markets, charity shops and eBay to create bespoke pieces. As Cate so rightly puts it “The design is dictated by what materials are available.” Talk about upcycling!

Necklaces, bracelets, earrings and trinkets abound on her website and there is also an option to personalise some of the products. My personal favourites are the bracelets: stackable, they are a ready-made wrist full of festival accessories, a calling card for summer times. Durable and long-wearing, Cate has just started a range of alternative christening bracelets made to stand the test of time.

After school Cate went to Batley Art College and studied Surface Pattern Design and then went on to study Fashion and Textile Design at Manchester University, graduating in 1992. During a career break which was supposed to encompass a worldwide yearlong travelling spree, the best intentions were scuppered when Cate happened upon Brazil: the rest of the world could wait. After falling head over heels in love with the city, she returned to the UK full of passion and started Saving Face jewellery. Three years later and Cate Wood Collections was born.

Just under a year old, the brand has already picked up a motley crew of devoted fans (just check her Facebook Page for positively bubbling comments on her work) and Cate’s work is now stocked in selected galleries and shops. The icing on the creative cake is that Cate also does commissions so please contact her directly if you have something specific in mind.

Before I left I ordered a Tally, a Button it Up and a two elliptical friendships bracelets. Can’t wait to get them worn in before the summer! 



Cate Wood Collections: for more information click here

Skills That Pay the Bills, Jewellery Style...

I came across Stephanie Hamer’s contemporary jewellery at a networking lunch in February when I was sat across from a lady wearing an intricate yet solid statement necklace. Turns out it was Stephanie’s Mum, Patricia. The geometric shapes of the necklace had a real fluidity about them which fascinated me, so I badgered her for an interview. One Tuesday morning in late Feb I climbed the stairs to her studio flat and over a brew (are you seeing the pattern with all my interviewees? A brew is non-negotiable) she told me about her burgeoning jewellery business.

Originally an aficionado of Myspace (I checked, it does still exist!) Stephanie was using Fimo to create from a young age but began her career in earnest selling jewellery made of shrinking plastic to friends when she was 17 and contemplating Maths A-Level. She soon dropped that, choosing Computing, Graphic Design, 3D Design and Physics instead. Her academic history has taken her to Oldham, Sheffield and finally to Manchester on a two year FdA Jewellery & Applied Arts course at Manchester Metropolitan University,

 “It’s funny how you can take one road and it still leads you back to where you originally left off – the Computing and Graphic Design A-levels have really influenced my most recent work.”

Her most recent collection was born out of her final project at university for which she received a distinction. The necklace I saw at the networking event was an example of this work: laser cut jewellery which is striking, modern and fun.  With individual commissions aplenty and exhibits in art galleries you would be forgiven for thinking Stephanie is a very talented one-trick pony - not so. She has a quiet passion for her work that has manifest itself in not one but two businesses: she has her own eBay shop and has had since 2006, where she sells laser cut jewellery with more of a pop culture feel.

Her 6 years of online trading demonstrate her ability to move with the times and adapt accordingly. With Sunday Girl Accessories she not only has to be trend aware, but hyper aware of what her customers (mostly teenagers) want hanging off their necks: Harry Potter and One Direction symbols, dogs, bikes, their own names …the list goes on. Stephanie makes them in any colour requested and offers a fully customisable friendly service (I was a bit tempted to get a ‘Wardrobe Angel’ necklace. In green and black. Obvs.)

I think in this day and age it’s easy to believe everything we are told: there are no jobs for graduates, it’s getting harder and harder to earn a living, the economy is in tatters. All doom and gloom? Stephanie has realised her “skills that pay the bills” may not be everyone’s cup of tea but by diversifying her product range, marketing each accordingly and implementing a pricing strategy which compliments both ends of her market she is niching herself in a way that opens opportunities to her, rather than putting all her eggs in one necklace, so to speak.  So what does the future hold?

“I want to keep working for myself. My jewellery is always evolving, I am finding out new things all the time. I can see myself taking a more household route in the future – maybe into furniture and artwork.”

Not only is she generally awesome, makes a great brew and owns her own laser cutter, she has a hamburger phone. An actual hamburger phone. Old school cool. What’s not to love?

Here's her website if you want a gander: http://www.stephaniehamer.co.uk/