Affordable luxury

This is the time of year when you just can’t move for ‘gift guides’ in every glossy magazine and newspaper supplement that comes your way. On the one hand I love a gorgeous spread of gifty things as much as the next person, but on the other, some of the ideas that are suggested are simply too fantastical. And yet who doesn’t get carried away with it all? Case in point, I’ve yet to see a gift editorial that doesn’t feature a Smythson notebook (even the smallest ones are not less that £25), photo album or passport wallet. Firstly, can’t they come up with something more original? We’ve being seeing these pesky Smythson little black books and their ilk for the last five years if not more. Secondly, who really needs a £25 notebook that’s smaller than the palm of your hand? That’s not luxury, that’s a rip-off. Hermes is even worse. I love, love, love Hermes, it’s the one brand that I find really irresistable but I refuse to pay £300 or whatever it is for one of their banana-shaped purses that would barely fit a pound coin. It’s just not worth it! I’m not saying don’t spend £300 on a gift but for that money you could get a cashmere sweater, a gorgeous Eames chair or a beautifully framed art poster instead.

I think it’s perfectly possible to find so-called luxurious gifts under £50. So here is my gift guide for fussy fashionisas that won’t bankrupt you.

Books from Amazon
I recently bought Basic Black, The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life) by Cathie Black, the president of Hearst Magazines for my old editor who used to work for Hearst and is now going freelance. This book is a mix of business advice and an insight into the magazine industry and I’m sorely tempted to keep it for myself. The great thing about Amazon is you can buy ‘used’ books that are in mint condition at greatly reduced prices and they are sent straight to your home or office rather than you having to lug them all the way home. (If there’s one thing I hate carrying, it’s a bagful of books.) At the other end of the book spectrum is the coffee table glossy. I’d like to know who decided that £40 is now the average price of a coffee table book. Not that long ago it was £20-£25. So again, I’m angling for Vogue Living, the new book from Vogue which showcases some of the spectacular houses that have been featured in US Vogue over the years but don’t get it from Borders, get it from Amazon!

Fashion from discount stores
Too-personal gifts are a no-no in my book. That includes anything for the house. Ornaments are very dodgy ground unless you have similar taste to the recipient. Likewise, jewellery is a very personal thing. If you know your giftee very well and you’re confident that a fashion gift will be well-received then give Harvey Nichols a miss and get your present from Yoox.com – designer kudos at discount prices. Alternatively, I can highly recommend a trip to an outlet village like Bicester Village. The discounts are phenomenal, the shopping experience is much nicer than a high street bunfight and you will probably make enough of a saving that you can treat yourself to a nice little something plus lunch at Carluccio’s.

Fashion CDs
Every fashion fiend adores a trendy music compilation so head to Urban Outfitters and nab yourself the Hotel Costes or Karl Lagerfeld compilations. I love wrapping these types of presents in fashion shoots (or even the ads) torn from Vogue back issues. (If your magazines are too precious then use the office photocopier instead.)

Sexy Stationery
Step away from the Prada diaries! We all know the seductive allure of the blank page but once you’ve written on that first page all the appeal evaporates into thin air. Surely it’s more sensible to spend wisely and opt for a Moleskine notebook or diary instead? I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t LOVE one of these. Add a bundle of Muji pens to the mix and your work is done.

Snazzy socks
If you must be a bit frivolous may I suggest a pair of snazzy designer socks? Sonia Rykiel and Eley Kishimoto make my favourites which are available from Shop At Maison Bertaux. Tabio is another fantastic sock source – how about some of their sexy sockettes to wear with contrasting coloured strappy sandals? If your budget is tighter that Roland Mouret’s RM Moon dress then TopShop is your best option. Stock up on three pairs of spotty ankle socks for £7 and divvy them betwixt your friends. Maybe you could fill them with sweets or tiny lip glosses for a new take on the stocking filler?

Monogram madness
I love the idea of personalising your presents with names or initials. Monogrammed pillowcases, boxershorts or pyjamas are much more exciting than the plain variety and show that some effort has gone into the gift.

I must confess that when I buy a present, it has to be something that I like as well. I refuse to give someone something if I think it’s bad-quality or tacky, even if I know it’s something they really want. Is that bad?

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Bring it back

After me banging on about it for the best part of a year it looks like the classic denim jacket is starting to come back into circulation. I have been hunting high and low for a snug-fitting classic Levi’s jacket – not too new, not too worn- in every Rokit, Beyond Retro and vintage market that crossed my path. Even Ebay didn’t come up with the goods. The denim jacket has been off-radar for a fair old while, except for a brief respite around 2001 when the Marc Jacobs denim drummer boy jacket was the style du jour.

Blame it on the recent obsession with jeans, no one wants to do the denim-jeans-and-jacket combo so if all you’re wearing is jeans, it follows that the jacket will take a back seat for a while. But now there’s something new to wear with a denim jacket – a dress! The dress has been working its magic for a good few seasons and now it’s properly mainstream. Even the most die hard jeans-wearer (ie, me) has at least one dress that she can wear for day that ticks the same no-brainer box as her favourite loveworn pair of jeans. Next season the ‘it’ dress is likely to be something light and floaty, possibly with a ditsy floral print that can be dressed up with heels or down with wedges and…ta daaaa…a denim jacket!

Spotted at TopShop’s spring-summer preview was a passable version which would look hot with a ditsy floral dress or some cute sailor shorts or even my khaki Gap jodhpurs and a tie-neck blouse. The vintage-style seventies cut by Wrangler which was previewed at the Urban Outfitters press day is super-soft and would go perfectly over a stripy T-shirt dress by Zoe’s Tees with a pair of roper boots or cowboy boots (vintage of course). Liking the Wrangler jacket? Well despite it being shown for spring summer 08, you can in fact get one now. While browsing the Kensington High Street branch yesterday I noticed they are already in stock. The denim jacket revival has officially begun…

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Cruel intentions

While navigating the River Island press day it was hard not to notice a number of signs dotted about the merchandise proudly proclaiming ‘All the items you see at this press day will go into River Island stores’. Well, that goes without saying, right? Not necessarily. A common whinge from magazine readers is that clothes are featured in shoots but then impossible to find in the stores. So here’s the deal. The stores have one big presentation where they show the entire new collection to all the press. That can be newspapers, weeklies, websites, glossies. There’s no discrimination when it comes to the high street, Vogue and That’s Life get to see exactly the same clothes. When it comes to ‘calling in’ the samples for shoots, the press office or PR agency only has so much control over what gets used when. Quite often an item won’t get used for the issue it was intended for and the fashion editor will hang onto it for a future issue. By the time that issue comes out, the item has been in-store and gone. And the poor reader can’t get hold of it. This could be remedied with stricter PRs and more reader-friendly fashion editors but sometimes one faces a dilemma. If I really want to use a piece and I know it won’t be in store by the time the magazine comes out, I have to make a decision. Should I be the consumer champion and substitute something else, something less show-stopping but more likely to be available in the shops? Or should I use my beloved piece, get praised for the shoot and let the readers go without? You see the dilemma?

But sometimes the retailer is at fault. On occasion, an item will be made up in a sample, shown to the press and used in shoots. And only at the last minute will a problem be detected and the decision be made not to produce it. Even though it’s already been featured in Vogue, Marie Claire and Elle. And maybe even papped on Alexa Chung! This is bad enough, but just about excusable if it’s a production issue. But, naming no names, there are stores who are notorious for making press samples with no intention of putting the piece into production. One well-known high street store is renowned for showing a spectacular evening gown as its ‘key piece for the season’ while openly admitting to fashion editors that the piece won’t be produced. And do we care? Not enough. At the end of the day, our pages look good, the brand gets its coverage and the consumer is told ‘oh that dress was only made in a limited number and they’ve all sold out’.

Times are changing with the popularity of ‘in store this week’ pages. This trend was initiated by Grazia and copied by Glamour and Look. So magazines have to be much stricter about what they feature. It’s cruel enough to shoot an item that’s never going to be sold but to specifically send readers on a wild goose chase on a given date is beyond mean. Hence the clampdown on ‘just for press’ pieces and River Island’s statement.

Pics: River Island spring-summer 08

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