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.

Hand ups if your New Year’s resolution was to lose weight? I read recently that something like 40% of us plan to start a diet and/or gym programme this January, but personally, I can’t think of a worse time to try to shed the pounds. Most of us still have a cupboard full of fattening little treats from Christmas (rum truffle, anyone?), and when it’s cold and dark outside, the idea of a jog round the block and a little light salad is, to say the least, less than inviting.
So my advice would be to save the diet plan for spring, and go shopping instead. Whether you’re top or bottom heavy, or just plumper than you’d like, you can look taller and slimmer without losing a single pound, just by choosing the right clothes. I did a little survey of my best-dressed friends – of all shapes and sizes – to find out which clothes work miracles for them, and these are our tried and tested tips:
• Black, black, black. Everyone swears by it – slip on a well-cut black suit, or a curve-skimming dress, and you’ll look ten pounds lighter, instantly. If it’s a bit too harsh for your colouring, wear something light-reflecting near your face – pearl, mother of pearl or not-too-shiny silver work brilliantly.
• Boot cut or slightly flared trousers and jeans work wonders on chunky hips and thighs, because they balance out your silhouette. Try on a pair of tapered trousers and then some bootcut ones, and you’ll see the difference instantly.
• Wrap tops, V-necks and scoop necks are all great for making you look taller and slimmer, because they lead the eye downwards. If you’re not comfortable revealing your assets, the trick still works if you wear a contrasting camisole or vest top underneath.
• Wearing the same colour from top to toe makes you look taller, and therefore slimmer. That doesn’t have to mean the same shade – different tones of the same colour can work just as well. Wearing tops and bottoms in contrasting colours cuts you in half and makes you look shorter and wider, which unless you’re going for a part in Teletubbies, isn’t the aim (yes, I know Teletubbies are one colour from head to toe – but just imagine how much fatter they’d look if they weren’t).
• The shops are full of fabulous long knitted cardigans and coats, which are great for disguising lumps and bumps. Choose finer knits rather than enormously chunky ones, and go up a size if necessary, so they skim over your hips and bum. Yes, it’s painful to get that next size, but everyone knows high street sizing is totally arbitrary anyway, and no one’s going to see the label, are they?
So how about you? Do you have a ‘magic’ outfit that always makes you look and feel slimmer? What are the most slimming cuts and fabrics for your shape? Share your tips by posting a comment below, and we’ll all look fabulous in 2010!

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.

1.  Think about all the shops you would love to visit to see what’s on offer in their sales.

2.  Remember back to the last time you went sale shopping and how stressful it was.

3.  Remember trawling through hundreds of crowding clothes rails desperately searching for your size and the let down of never finding it!

4.  Remember the hot, untidy, disorganised changing rooms and how sweaty they made you feel!

5.  Remember finding the most fantastic bargain which made your heart leap but realising, after a futile search, they don’t have your size!

6.  Remember the disgruntled sales staff who are loathing every minute of this godforsaken sale!

7.  Remember how you make a mental note every time you actually go sale shopping, never to do it again!

8.  So why go………………………?

9.  STAY AT HOME! Get yourself your most favourite, most relaxing alcholic drink……. sit down………. and switching on your computer.

10.  NOW start sale shopping!

NO SWEATING

NO CROWDS

NO DISGRUNTLED SALES STAFF

NO SMELLY CHANGING ROOMS

NO HASSEL

SHOP ONLINE! – undoubtably the most relaxed approach to sale shopping without going out your front door (or leaving your desk).

Whereas retail spending in our economy has gone down over the recent months, online shopping is a steadily increasing trend. Here you can shop from the comfort of your own home and in your free time – here you don’t have to worry about making it to a store before the close for the night, or waking up early to visit a store before starting your workday. Instead, with just a couple clicks of your mouse and a few minutes you can find exactly what you need at a price that is competitive with what you would pay in any store; and sometimes the prices are even better online. But what has made internet shopping so popular as of late?

Increasing gas prices and a struggling economy are two big factors concerning the increase in internet shopping. Because a record number of businesses and retailers have been closing their doors for good over the past few months and years, consumers find they have to drive out of town to find the same selection they once had in their own neighborhood – and with gas prices recently reaching an all time high, many people had a hard time justifying even the gas money spent on such a shopping trip. With online retailers, however, gasoline is not an issue whatsoever. All you have to pay for is your monthly internet access fee, which will pay for itself with just a few online purchases.

You will also have a wider selection of items to choose from online. Are you having trouble finding that dress in the right size or color? Can’t seem to find the exact brand of jeans you want at your local mall? No worries – it’s all just a few clicks away online. You’ll have access to inventories from all around the world, and in some cases directly from the company – and this is something that no physical location can ever hope to match.

Shopping online also saves you time and eliminates the hassle of in-store shopping because you won’t have to deal with large store crowds, especially during the Holiday season. Furthermore, you won’t have to worry about trying to get your children dressed and out to the store, either – instead they can play with their toys right at home like they always do while you get all of your shopping done online.

Another advantage to internet shopping is the fact that you are not as likely to buy things you don’t need. Retailers often go to great lengths to place unnecessary merchandise in plain view where you absolutely can’t avoid it – and such merchandise is usually accompanied by an extravagant display that explains why you should buy it. Many consumers fall prey to this trap, and as a result they end up spending much more money than they originally planned in the first place. When shopping online, however, you won’t have to worry about this either – simply go to the website that has your product, make your purchase and you’re done.

One of the biggest things that turn many consumers away from online shopping is shipping and handling. They believe that such costs make merchandise far more expensive than what they would be in the store. While this may be true in some cases, the majority of online sites offer shipping and handling costs that are quite low – and sometimes online retailers even include free shipping and handling on purchases that meet a certain amount. With these kinds of promotions in mind, shipping and handling costs end up not being such an important factor after all.

We all want the latest fashions and the best prices, right? Well sometimes the best prices aren’t right where we expect them to be. It can take some shopping around for it, and sometimes, it’s really tricky. Shopping online will take a lot of the stress and headache out of the experience, but can also take the fun out as well. If you and your girlfriends go out to do some shopping, you have to face the crowds, find a parking spot, wait in line, etc. But you also have that time to spend bonding, or like the rest of us, gossiping! Then you usually stop somewhere for lunch, which is a great way to refuel for the next round of mall hopping. A quick latte and your off on your next conquest for the perfect pair of shoes. However, the quiet calm of your own house can be all the excitement you need to fulfill your deepest darkest shopping desires. When you are making purchases online, you can find deals like you could never dream! And it’s the best way to find hot new items, before they are sent to local retail stores or shopping malls.

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So if your looking into purchasing something new for next year, then you may want to check your computer before you hit the road. And when you see what you think is a one of a kind deal, book mark it! Then check around to some other sites, see if they can’t trump the deal you just found. Another way to make the best of your shopping online experience, is try looking for items that are almost identical, but made by different designers. The price difference will blow you away! You can have the same look for so much less than what you would pay because it has a top designers name printed on the label. Sometimes shopping with your friends is the best route to take, because you can get their opinion on what you are buying. If something looks bad on you, they can give you constructive criticism. If one of them has seen a deal somewhere else, she can tell you and you will know where to find one for yourself. And even if you shop alone, at least you can try your clothes on first, and be sure of the fit. And plus, it’s instant gratification. You don’t have to wait for it to be shipped to your door. Or pay someone to ship it.

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Choosing which method of shopping is entirely up to you. Which ever you choose, shopping is supposed to be fun. If you are making online purchases, invite some girlfriends over to offer their support and insight. Make a game out of it! Life’s too short, so have fun!

Did you know that you can tell the state of a country’s economy by the length of its skirts? I read in the paper the other day that hemlines begin to drop as recessions bite, and rise again when times get better: in the booms of the 20s and 60s, we got flapper dresses and mini skirts, but when economies plunged in the 30s and 70s, skirt lengths followed. At last, a silver lining to all those gloomy business reports: we might be skint but at least our knees will be warm.

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Personally, I think we’re all a bit less sheeplike about things like skirt lengths these days, but I do believe we look for different things when we’re buying clothes at a time like this. It’s a time for going back to basics, seeking out clothes that’ll work hard for our money, instead of one-season wonders that we’ll wear a few times and then get fed up with. We’re looking for timeless styles that we’ll never get tired of wearing, quality fabrics that’ll stay looking good, wear after wear, and versatile pieces we can dress up or down.

It’s a time to invest in the classics: a little black dress like this one, that’ll take you from desk to dinner with just a change of shoes and jewellery; a beautifully-cut black suit like this one, with a skirt and trousers for maximum wardrobe mileage; or a sleek black sweater you can wear with everything from jeans to a suit. You’ll love wearing them now, and you’ll still be wearing them – and loving them – when the credit crunch is just a distant memory.

Its back to black for this season and the response to our new website has been fantastic! The timing of our launch coincided brilliantly with the fact that Black is THE colour to wear for this winter. With the help of great press and lots of word of mouth, we have had many new and happy customers picking up on this trend and certain products have literally been flying off our rails. At times like these when we have all had to pull back on spending, investing in a few good quality pieces seems to be the way forward.

The fashion press and catwalks say its all about texture such as beading, sequins and intricate detailing. Decembers issue of Easy Living Magazine has championed our cause by featuring one of our LBD’s which is now our best selling product!  This most romantic party dress in black net, with a strappy top and knee length puffball skirt ticks many of the boxes for this seasons key looks . The satin sash ties under the bust or at the waist, and a built-in plunge bra means you can hit the dance floor with confidence this party season. Thanks to Easy Living, this dress is quickly flying off our rails so if you have your eye on it, don’t delay!  We’ve also got many more little black dresses on the site as well as lots more coming in throughout November so you can be sure to find the perfect little black dress for you.

As you know, we have only been open a little while and it’s hard to know what the reaction to a new website is going to be out there but so far, the response to Basically Black has been fantastic.

Is anyone else a bit, well, dazzled by some of the clothes in the shops this summer? 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. We often think of it 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.
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.