The Wardrobe Angel goes to Denham

The Personal Shopping Suite at Denham, Leeds. Just as good as it looks!!

Shopping for denim can be an all encompassing nightmare - I have tried on many a pair of jeans in my lifetime and have settled on Topshop Jamie jeans as my go-to. Rue the day when they change or get rid of the style! There are so many factors that strike fear into the hearts of many a client when it comes to trying and buying jeans - the sizing varies so much from store to store, the "give" factor (fit fine in the shop then after 1 wash bag at the knee or give you a drop at the crotch) and the price to name but a few. So last week when I had the the almighty pleasure of a guided tour round the new Denham shop in Leeds I was a little sceptical - yet another denim brand promising the earth in terms of fit and quality? But I needn't have worried - the Denham crew have thought of everything to lay that denim shaped fear to rest.

Firstly they have a handy personal shopping suite which you can book in advance. That suite is then filled to the brim with Denham stock for you to try. Plus there are drinks and snacks on hand should shopping fatigue hit.

Secondly the staff are passionate, So unbelievable passionate. I don't think I have ever chatted about denim in such depth for so long before. They LOVE the stuff and their customer service is impeccable. I tried on some of the Needle jeans whilst I was there and before I even opened my mouth to say which size I was a pair of jeans was handed to me IN MY SIZE - man, they size you up good and proper! Plus they do in-store alterations so no trekking to the tailor with jeans in hand.

Thirdly it's not just denim at Denham: coats, jackets, jumpers, accessories and jewellery are on offer. Admittedly a lot of the jewellery is scissor shaped (the company logo) so unless you are a die hard fan I don't think you'd buy it but the stock is a capsule collection of wardrobe basics. A couple of pieces caught my eye - a wicked animal print jumper (the Nomad jersey) and a bomber jacket (Flight Boro Wool jacket) both had my name and signature style written all over them. You're looking at around £110 for a jumper so the equivalent would be Zoe Karrsen in terms of price. Plus the shop has a modern vintage feel with vintage trunks and succulents strewn on white tiled backdrops.

The brand originated in Amsterdam in 2008 and this store is the only stand alone store in the UK (talk about exclusivity). The products are infused with a passion for denim and an obsession with scissors - each pair of jeans has a pair of scissors sewn onto the back comprised of 691 chain stitches. As The Wardrobe Angel I only recommend shops and products which I would buy and use myself: Denham jeans are one of those products. The Needle jeans I tried on are high waisted skinnies - the Denham equivalent to Jamie jeans and I loved them - soft, stretchy fabric which sit high and shapes your bum - WIN.


Til next time...

The Wardrobe Angel

How to Shop on Black Friday

I'm not sure whose image this it - please let me know if this is your image and I'll attribute it!

We all love a craze, a band wagon to jump on - snap bands and Swatch watches in the 80's, grunge and Nirvana in the 90's and Trinny & Susanna telling us What Not To Wear in the noughties. Over the past few years us Brits have opened up our arms and embraced Halloween with a fervour that frankly didn't exist when I was a kid (I distinctly remember a couple of teenage lads trying their luck at "trick or treating" with just their hoods pulled up for a costume and my Dad telling them where to go in no uncertain terms.) And I think Black Friday is just that - a trend, a craze, an awkward phase in our shopping history. Black Friday has been a 'thing' in the UK for about 5 years but this year some retailers have gallantly bowed out of the Black Friday retail race including Asda, John Lewis, Oasis and Mothercare.

I was in the Trafford Centre doing a Personal Shop on Monday and there was already plenty of 'Black Friday' merchandising tickets on clothes. Many retailers manufacture items especially for Black Friday - think of these items as the less well designed, less well made, cheaper cousins of what's already on the shop floor. All I'm saying is:

don't be swayed by what deal you THINK you are getting ...

If you are shopping this Black Friday plan ahead and do your research: better deals may be available online verses what's instore. And ask yourself this:

1. Do you really need it? Or do you just want it? 
2. If it wasn't on offer would you still desire it as much? Are you panic buying?
3. Can you afford it? 
4. Is it essential?

Take care out there this Black Friday - shopping can bring out the worst in people!

Til next time...x

The Wardrobe Angel

Wearing someone's misery

I first saw the link to the shopper finds 'cry for help' label sewn into £10 Primark dress article on Facebook last night. Have you seen it? It's really disturbing. Rebecca Gallagher found this hand-stitched label in her Primark dress:

Hand-stitched label in Primark dress

She phoned Primark for an explanation, was on hold for 15 minutes then cut off. A PR disaster all round then for the high street giant. Articles have popped up like this one on the Huffington Post website (click here for the article) advising people how to shop ethically from eBay, charity shops and vintage boutiques. Harriet Bignall, a writer for the Independent, has said she will continue to shop from bargain retailers because she can't afford to shop ethically (click here for the article).


And this is where we need to have wider demystifying conversation. People need to know that 'ethical' 'sustainable' 'recycling' and 'upcycling' aren't dirty words co-opted by hippies wearing tie-dye. That when you chop up a pair of jeans into shorts for your holiday you just upcycled - it's that easy. That vintage stuff might smell a wee bit but it's a way to really stand out from the crowd and it isn't that expensive to buy. And thanks to Channel 4 and Dawn O' Porter for demonstrating this on prime time TV last night with This Old Thing. 

I haven't shopped from Primark for years. I never take clients there on a personal shopping trip or recommend a client buy anything from there either. The brand just doesn't sit right with me. Why? Because when you buy something from there you are literally wearing someone's misery: long hours, low pay, bad conditions. And how can you feel good about what you are wearing when you know that? 

Baukjen, you beauty

My phone pinged with a message yesterday morning. As I looked at the screen I smiled an ear to ear grin. This was the kind of message that makes my job as The Wardrobe Angel feel AWESOME. It was a photo message from a client of her wearing one of the dresses I had recommended to her on her follow up Shopping List. It was early and she was dressed to give a presentation that day.  She felt “AMAZING.”

This is what makes me different from other image consultants and stylists, one of my USP’s if you will (the other is eBay but we’ll cover that in another post). It’s all very well saying to clients “this style of dress will really suit you” or “you need some find some trousers in this style” when odds are the client has neither time nor shopping fervour to go out and find them. A lot of my clients are pushed for time and/or have never had much success with shopping and that’s why they have called me in the first place.  They want answers:  how to organise their wardrobe and style themselves, how to save time getting dressed and make money from the items they no longer wear. What they don’t want are more futile shopping trips and wasted money on ‘meh’ purchases. 

After I have sorted a wardrobe and ascertained the ‘gaps’, I put my knowledge and expertise to work to fill them for the client. That’s why I included the Shopping List as part of the Sort, Style and Sell service (click here for more information). I do all the leg work – checking sizing, availability, seeing if I can get them a discount. Then I send them the Shopping List via email. This is done in tandem alongside a Pinterest board so they can see how their new wardrobe will fit together.

So back to the dress which made my client feel “AMAZING.” Which one was it? The Baukjen Jersey Drape dress. It is double layered so it “holds and contours the figure” which translates as YOU DON’T NEED SHAPEWEAR. My client vouched for this, the rest of her message said 

“The material is thick and wraps around, sucking me in. I have a presentation this morning and it feels great!”

Job well done, Baukjen!

Work Wardrobe Masterclass

I had a client last week who was shifting gears in her career and needed her wardrobe to reflect a certain level of wealth. However, the wealth of the people she would be interacting with wasn't reflected in her new wage packet - whatever we bought on her Personal Shop had to earn its place in her wardrobe. BIG TIME. I love a challenge like this because it means taking items that the client already owns and combining them with new items to make them work harder. I call this service a Half & Half - half wardrobe clearing and sorting so I know what we have in the wardrobe to work with, then hitting the shops to fill the gaps.

Here are 3 of the items we purchased - an Autograph top and necklace  from Marks & Spencer and the Adrianne Dress from Whistles.

The Autograph top is trans-seasonal and hugely versatile: my client can wear it with jeans at the weekend and with 7/8 trousers for work. The print doesn't tie it specifically to one season and the construction makes it look a lot more expensive than it is.

The Adrianne dress is £95 - not cheap - but this dress will double up as a summer dress out of work worn with flats, and works under a jacket for work as well. For my client I teamed it with a pair of block heels so she could run around all day but still get the benefit from a heel. I am a huge fan of Whistles. During my first year of self-employment as The Wardrobe Angel I had part-time job there and fell for the brand. Known as a "bridge brand" (a brand which sits between High Street and Designer brands - think top end High Street. Another example is Reiss), Whistles may seem expensive but their clothes last and last. Plus they have a high re-sale value on eBay! Get thee to Whistles!