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!

Fill your cup

Staffed by writers, musicians, graphic designers, Teacup has been rocking the Northern Quarter with its home brewed creative juice for the past 7 years. I meet clients there to chat wardrobes, have munched on poached eggs surrounded by  friends, and even treated a  family member to some cake and I have been known to hang out there Hans Solo and read a magazine whilst enjoying the tasty tea shaped treats.

Cake. CAKE!!!!

Scrolling back through my twitter feed, I tweet about tea a lot, especially where Teacup is concerned. What I love is their rock solid branding; their online identity matches your experience inside. Tweet them up and you get back such response as “Holla!” and “bloggy blog blog blog” – the marketing and SM lady Bex has distilled the Teacup atmosphere with her online wordsmithery and tweets it out loud and proud. In a quarter of the city where every street contains at least 2 tea/coffee drinking establishments, Teacup has carved out its niche, put down roots and turned on the oven,

“In this area everyone has something to offer but we try do what we do consistently well. We are polite and welcoming.”

Never a truer word spoken, Zoe, General Manager. Not to mention the CAKE. And the roots are spreading – with pop-up shops springing up in the Market Restaurant there are lots of plans afoot. Is Teacup expanding I hear you cry? Whisper it – yes. But where? Couldn't tell ya but at least you know what you are going to get when Teacup opens its doors in other locations around Manchester: tea, cake and awesomeness. They use the best quality ingredients, Fairtrade and locally sourced where possible and all the food is prepared in house. So high is the demand to wear the brown t-shirt of Teacup that people drop in homemade cakes instead of a written CV. 

When the Pussy Riot ladies were arrested in Russia, Teacup was the location for a fundraiser for them, “it was a fantastic night, really interesting,” with debating and a live band. This kind of behaviour typifies the brand, reflecting the times. And I couldn’t complete the blog post without a ‘holla!’ to the inventive 50 Shades of Earl grey menu that Teacup got going on!

Teacup, I salute you. 

Swish Leeds

SWISH, Swap, Wear, Love

Team Swish with the staff of Armani Exchange at the Corn Exchange, Leeds.

They came, they saw, they swished! 

On Thursday 19th September The Corn Exchange in Leeds was transformed into the first of its kind swishing event - over 75 women came, swished, networked, ate, drank and had FUN. With volunteers from Batley School of Fashion, food from the very lovely Masterchef finalist Tom Rennolds (@TomRennolds) and fashion from Manor Drive Dress Agency, Phase 8 and Topshop the night was awesome. 

The next SWISH LEEDS March 27th 2014 so get the date in your diary!