Is anyone else a bit, well, dazzled by some of the clothes in the shops this spring? The big, splashy prints, the yellows and the electric blues are all very well if you’re 16, but for those of us who won’t see 30 (OK, or 40) again, it’s all a bit too in your face; I don’t want to blend into the background, but I don’t want clothes that scream ‘look at me’ either.
If, like me, you’re looking for something a bit more chic and timeless, I don’t think you can go far wrong with black and white in your wardrobe as the warmer seasons approach. We often think of black as a winter colour, but unlike summer’s brights, black looks great whether you have a tan or not, and of course it’s slimming too, which somehow feels even more important in summer, when there’s more of you on show. The perfect partner to black is always white and nude tones look great too.
Well-cut black linen trousers are a great alternative to the winter ones that most of us live in from September to May, while a sleeveless black shift dress is blissfully cool, yet still looks as though you mean business. At the weekend, a fitted black waistcoat instantly updates the classic white T-shirt and jeans combination, while a chic black sundress in crisp cotton is summer’s version of the classic little black dress, brilliantly easy to dress up or down for anything from a barbecue to a drinks party. And if you’re planning a holiday wardrobe, why not make it easy on yourself? Pack a capsule collection in black and white, and you won’t waste a second of your holiday wondering what to wear.

This really has to be the most useful, essential item in a ladies wardrobe in the cold winter months. A good black coat will not only go with everything but it wont show the dirt either! How often have you got in or out of the car or train and looked down to find a long muddy line on your lovely coloured coat. Get a black one and you wont need to worry – simply wipe off the mark and carry on as normal.

There are three styles tips on your winter coat in black that might help you. The trick is though, get the style right. If you are tall, you can easily wear a longer black coat. This military style Great Plain black coat is smart, warm and looks great with long black boots. It was £125 but its in the sale at only £62.50. Just click on this picture and take a look for yourself.

If on the other hand you are looking for a shorter style ladies winter coat or jacket, our Savoy Jacket by Great Plains as pictured below is a real steal at only £60. This short black jacket is very easy to wear, looks great with smart trousers or jeans. This style of jacket is particularly good for ladies who are more petite in height and will give the impression of length to your overall outfit.

If you are looking for a basically black coat but with a little added colour, have a look at the Abbey Coat by Great Plains. This swing coat style is very flattering because it is not fitted and will make your legs look longer and slimmer. Another great bargain down from £110 to only £66. Click on the picture and take a closer look with the zoom.

It’s official, fashion’s perennial favourite becomes a spring summer staple. You just can’t go wrong with a monochrome capsule wardrobe. Worn as separates or combined in striking prints, springs bold black and feminine white not only are a marriage made in heaven, but they are sure to look elegant, sophisticated and very chic.

Latest catwalk reports from some of the biggest glossy magazines like Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and In Style confirm this mini trend is official. Monochrome is big on the runway for all the top designers like Chanel, Moschino, Celine, Prada and Yves Saint Laurent. Top tip on how to wear Black in this summer – flash plenty of skin so that black pieces don’t look too heavy, and mix textures like silk with linen.

Keep a look out for the beginning of our spring/summer range of stunning monochromo, prints and styles in black and white coming very soon.

In the meantime, if you are looking for a great bargain, our winter sale is still on – click here to see  black dresses, black trousers, black knitwear, Coats

We bought into Helene Berman Collection for the first time this season and we are absolutely thrilled with the reaction. Inspiration for Helene’s collections is often drawn from classic cinema style icons, such as Catherine Deneuve in Belle de Jour and Grace Kelly in High Society. Helene designs every piece in the collection and she remains the perfectionist that will accept nothing but the very best in terms of design and quality. The collection remains unique, in that to this day it is produced wholly in the UK using the best factories and technicians available. Fabrics are sourced from the world’s finest mills in France, Italy and Spain. Helene attends the Premier Vision fabric fair in Paris twice a year in order to personally select the world’s best and newest fabrics from exclusive mills.

Click on this image to see her collection.

(Direct translation from the Spanish edition of Vogue October 2009)

Have you ever stopped to count how many black garments are in your closet? If you answer average, 41% of the total should be black, and should have 3 pairs of black jeans, 3 shirts, 6 dresses, 6 sweaters, 12 t-shirts and skirts, 5 pairs of trousers and 12 pairs of shoes and boots. That is, at least, which concludes a study in a british newspaper whose results encouraged the English Janey Marshall to create last year, the online store dedicated only to clothes of that colour, basicallyblack. com.

As Janey Marshall said  : “Let’s face it, we do not know any woman who do not like black clothes. ” A cast of women as stylish as influential in various sectors of the fashion help us to delve into why this dark devotion. “The colour black is discreet, timeless, has class and is a safe choice, both to give a picture as classical avant-garde, ” says the Belgian designer Ann Demeulemeester.  Spanish ForAmaya Arzuaga, “its elegant, more simple than other colours and it is easier to combine. “It is the colour of the models excellence, we usually take for the casting because its stylish and its neutral “, says the top Sheila Marquez. The young director of the Fashion Museum in Antwerp, Kaat Debo, adds a key observation:  “Just look at figures like Kate Moss, the Olsen twins, Victoria Beckham, Erin Wasson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Diane Kruger and Carine Roitfeld, editor of Vogue Paris. Today, black is associated the fashionistas more than ever, perhaps because it supports better geometric silhouettes wide shoulder pad that both are carried, by rising designers such as Alexander Wang, Christophe Decarnin (Balmain) and Rick Owen  “I think that 85% of my clothing is black.  If I carry a very special dress, I like the total look, if that is easier, combined with supplements of other colour, “  says Amaya Arzuaga. Sheila Marquez estimated 70% of your closet may be black:  “There are many basics like a blazer, a cap, a minidress, a jacket biker, some boots, sports kit.  Martina Klein, the model also ensures that she receives many more flattering pictures when sh is in black:  “In principle I like more colours and prints, but I’ve learned to ignore that my first instinct because experience has shown me that black gives me more strength. In winter I wear black almost every day and in summer, I save that for the night! “

Its no wonder that almost all designers use black as their base colour season after season, like the shops. “Always offer black, because it is versatile and eternally chic. Undoubtedly it is a commercial colour. Even designers who have not submitted it on the catwalk include it relentlessly in their collections for stores, ” says Kaat Debo, who has been documenting on the subject for an exhibition opening in 2010 dedicated to black in the museum she runs.

So is it true? Are we obsessed with the colour black when it comes to our clothes?

Humans need to carry things, so bags have been around for centuries. The first documented bags were crude affairs indeed, made of leather with a drawstring top. Over time, handbags became fashion accessories and different styles gained and declined in popularity. There are some fashions, though, that become “classics” and are popular regardless of what else is trendy at the moment. The evening clutch bag is one such item, and it is a long way from those original, crude, drawstring bags.

Near the end of the 17th century, in Paris, fashionable folk began carrying reticules, or small bags that were designed to either hang from the waist or wrist. The reticule was the first genesis of the evening clutch bag. They were small, just large enough to carry essential toilet items, and also made of materials such as velvet or silk. Reticules were beaded, embroidered, tasseled and decorated in just about every way imaginable.

Sometimes style dictated that the bag coordinate with the wearer’s outfit, and at other times it was deemed fashionable for the bag to stand out from, or even clash with, the wearer’s other clothes. In the early part of the 19th century, though, the small evening bag began to resemble what we now recognize as the evening clutch bag more closely. At that time, it was considered important for the bag to match the outfit.

Before mass manufacturing was common, most ladies made their own hand bags, or had them made. The people who carried them were wealthy enough to afford the fine materials, beautiful beads and delicate lace that were used to make and decorate them. It wasn’t until later in the 19th century that nice handbags were available at prices reasonable enough that most women could afford them.

During the 1930s evening bags were designed in envelope or pouch styles and were elegant. Clasps were jeweled, bags were made of lovely materials from suede to silk. Attention was also given to the inside of the bags and they were lined and had compartments and space for everything a lady might need to carry on a night out.

The rise and fall of the handbag is related to current clothing styles. When looser, baggier clothes that allow for pockets are in style, handbags are less necessary. When more form-fitting slimmer styles are popular, so are handbags. This relationship may explain why the evening clutch bag is a classic style that has remained popular through the decades. Evening dress for women usually does not include room for pockets.

Although the clutch has remained a staple of evening wear since the beginning of the 19th century, its popularity as a trendy fashion accessory has come and gone. During the 1980s the clutch reached new heights in popularity, partly thanks to various television shows and partly thanks to fashions of the time. As always, the fashion faded over the next decade, but is now enjoying a resurgence popularity.

One of the most practical of all this fall’s most popular fashions is a soft, black shawl. Black shawls seem to be everywhere this year. This is a trend you can feel free to embrace because black shawls are both stylish and useful. Shawls, particularly when in black, create a sleek silhouette that is extremely flattering to people of all body types.

You do not need to be concerned if your wardrobe is up to date as long as you have a new black shawl in your closet. Today’s shawls are more than a vintage throw-back. They have new, modern designs that will not overpower you or make you look bulky. Black shawls should make you look slimmer and be far less bulky than a coat. Wear a shawl with dark jeans for a city feel or wear it with a pencil skirt for a unique take on traditional office attire. Black shawls are great in offices that demand business attire and keep the heat low. You will look professional and be comfortable enough to be productive. Even if you do not work in a traditional office environment, a black shawl is still appropriate for you to wear to work. Because of black shawl can be dressed up and dressed down, when you pair it with some denim jeans, you can wear it even on casual Friday.

It can be hard to pull out the heavy winter wear when fall has scarcely begun. If you are simply not quite ready for the arrival of winter, a black shawl can be an excellent transition piece. When you do not want to wear a bulky coat but risk feeling autumn’s chill, select a shawl instead. You will not be chilly under the shawl’s coziness. If the day turns out to be much warmer than you had expected, it is a simple thing to remove the shawl and tuck it into a purse.

Wearing your coat indoors can be bulky and annoying. When you go to a crowded movie, you have to leave your coat over the back seat of your chair. It can be impossible to get comfortable when your coat is wadded up behind your upper back. Likewise, when you attend a gathering with friends during the winter months, if the location is cold you have to choose between looking awkward and feeling miserable. Wearing your coat indoors while others are not wearing winter wear can make you stand out, in a negative way. However, suffering from the chill all during a gathering can prevent you from having a good time. Purchasing a fashionable black shawl can solve your fashion dilemmas. Because a black shawl is both fashionable and warm, you can wear it indoors and not feel out of place. At a movie, you can easily stash it away by your side because it is so much smaller than a coat. When you purchase a black shawl, you will have a cozy, yet fashionable winter season.

Conscious of our ever-shrinking disposable incomes, most designers Fall 2009 shows focused on classics with a twist. This season there is an emphasis on clean lines and soft silhouettes that will last long past this Fall. Suits and outerwear have a sleek sophistication that harkens back to the old glamour of the 1940’s. Clearly everything that makes it down the runway is not meant to be worn in everyday life, but using these designs as a muse can give your closet a much needed boost.

Whether you actually run your own Fortune 500 Company or just want to look like you do, the Fall 2009 collections command respect. Corporate looks include tweed suits and knee length dresses in power colors like black or red. Need to add some pizzazz to your work wardrobe? Pull out your black pencil skirt paired with a belted sweater and black chain link booties for a sheik daytime look.

Remember to wear the white clothing on the part of your body that you want to accentuate and black on the part you want minimized. Top heavy girls look great in a black cashmere sweater and white wool slacks. Other colors for fall include complexion highlighting jewel tones like turquoise, gold, and burgundy.

Whether you’ve scheduled a hot movie date or you’re just hanging with the girls, you can’t go wrong pairing dark jeans or slim black pants with this season’s peplum jackets. The always fashionable little black dress gets a fresh take this Fall 2009. While the LBD should be a stable in any fashionista’s closet, this Fall it gets an updated 21st century body hugging silhouettes. The new accordion pleat tops which offer both a tantalizing hint of décolletage and full coverage are considered a Do for everyone from an A cup to a DD.

Shoe fashions for 2009 include over the knee boots, open-toed ankle boots now with chains, and ballet flats. The new “it” color is purple but exotic animal prints remain stylish and anything “exotic” made from lizard, python or crocodile is chic.

Like the dramatic sophistication of the color black, the slimming simplicity of the A-line pencil skirt and the crisp freshness of a white oxford blouse, some fashion classics never go out of style. Because of their versatility and continual popularity, such fashion essentials have been reliable staples in the wardrobes of many women. Houndstooth is among the patterns that have stood the test of time. Although it has peaked in popularity throughout the ages, houndstooth has always been considered a standard in the world of fashion. Not only used for a variety of attire, houndstooth has also made its way to fashion accessories, upholstery and even umbrellas.

Houndstooth is a most recognizable pattern with its two-tone, checked design of jagged, four-point stars. Traditionally, the pattern was created with bands of four black threads and four white threads woven in an alternating pattern. The use of both black and white threads in the base, as well as in the filling, allows for the distinctive checked pattern. Originating in Scotland, the houndstooth design grew out the Scottish tradition of weaving kilts or scarves out of wool into the tartan pattern, which is similar to plaid. While the customary pattern contains tiny, woven shapes, the design can now be found with checks in a variety of sizes. Usually made from wool, houndstooth has also been made of cotton and silk.

Since the 19th century, houndstooth has been a popular pattern for both men and women’s clothing. As wool provided the necessary warmth for outerwear, many blazers, coats, skirts and dresses carried the houndstooth pattern. In the earlier part of the 1800s, hoopskirts, scarves and vest were fashioned out of wool in the traditional black and white houndstooth. In the 1930s, it made a comeback in men’s fashion as the Great Depression was ending. With more money available for men and women to display their love of style and luxury, houndstooth denoted wealth and class, and even houndstooth polo shirts became popular casual wear. By this time, houndstooth had become a classic. Another rise in popularity came in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, when designers used the pattern in bold, new ways. No longer just a black and white pattern, a gold-on-brown design emerged, followed designers who experimented by coordinating the pattern with stripes, polka dots and even lace. Around the same time, Chevrolet even introduced houndstooth upholstery to its Camaros.

Throughout the 20th century, houndstooth became a respected fashion classic, worn by the masses and reinvented by designers. Although there is always room for the tradition white-on-black, new brighter colors have found their way into the design. On Inauguration Day in 2009, Jill Biden wore a classic houndstooth dress under a red coat as she stood beside her husband as he took the Vice Presidential oath of office. Houndstooth dresses are hot items, admired for their mix of classic style with trendy panache. As a permanent staple of women’s fashion, houndstooth is a design that has never gone out of style.

Handbags have been around for a very long time. There are references to people carrying bags all the way back to 480 BC! These examples include African priests, crop gatherers, and peasants going to market. Though having a bag of some sort in that time period was out of necessity and not fashion-consciousness, it is from these examples that the modern handbag evolved.

Around the early 1900’s, womens’ clothing took a turn toward the more modern, thus streamlining the clothes against the body, and pockets in womens’ garments were essentially eliminated. This necessitated the use of some kind of “outer pocket” to keep personal belongings close by. These pockets became known as handbags, or purses, and now are an absolute staple of womens’ fashion. Handbags have since served as a fashion statement for women all over the world and come in all sizes, shapes, and colors.

Ever since the handbag became a fashion staple in the early 1900’s, black handbags have been some of the most popular by far. One of the most famous black handbags is the 2.55, originally designed by Coco Chanel in 1955.

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Black is a fantastic choice in handbags because it reflects sophistication, elegance and style. The color black, when associated with womens’ clothing, is timeless and classic. Not to mention that black goes with just about anything! A black handbag is an absolute staple for any woman’s wardrobe. Many celebrities carry black handbags everywhere they go.

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Just remember that the next time you go shopping a new handbag, black is a classic choice, and every woman should have at least a couple different sized black handbags. Happy shopping!