Bottega: The Clothes

 

After having such a fantastic time at 'Take Me to Funky Town' the previous evening, I could have been at risk of a fashion comedown the next day. However, I needn't have worried, as there was plenty of style inspiration to be had within the four walls of 'Bottega'. I was very excited about paying a visit to the store ,as although I regularly chat to Sam (the owner) on Twitter, I had never visited the store before. Indeed, I hadn't actually met Sam in person before she invited me to 'Take Me to Funky Town'! . I have bought a few pieces over the phone from there, and I always get really positive comments about them ('Maison Scotch' blazer; 'One Teaspoon' velvet 'cardigan' and 'One Teaspoon' leopard print jumper). I had had a brief glimpse of the store when I arrived the previous day - before rushing off to Bolesworth Castle - but I couldn't wait to be able to have a proper look at all the style and homeware loveliness inside.

'Bottega' is on the high street in Tarporley, Cheshire (number 67 to be precise!). The store is like an Aladdin's Cave of style inspiration. Everywhere I looked there were fantastic pieces.  One of the great things about the store is that it has a real mix of both familiar and unknown (to me at least) brands. It is an eclectic mix, but it all works together perfectly. Sam and Alicia (the store's buyer) go out of their way to make sure that they offer something new for their customers every season, in order to keep the store's edit fresh., e.g. this season they have introduced 'Elizabeth and James'. In addition to the clothing, 'Bottega' also sells homeware and gifts. And if that was't enough, it also has a fantastic cafe at the back of the store, 'The Birdcage'- the perfect place to have a catchup and discuss your all important purchases. I took a lot of photos of the store, so to avoid this post being too picture-heavy, I will write about the homeware and cafe in my next post.

I love how Sam frames the clothing. I would love to do this with my wardrobe - if only I had the space and such fabulous clothing!

This outfit (Dress - Elizabeth and James; Blazer - Elizabeth and James; Wedges - Terry De Havilland) caused a real stir at the salon presentation the night before.

In addition to meeting Sam for the first time, my trip to Cheshire also meant that I got to meet the lovely Selina, who I had only 'spoken' to on Twitter. We met at 'Take Me to Funky Town' the previous evening, and we both chatted about how we couldn't wait to see the store the next day. After a catchup in the cafe we decide to explore all the temptation that 'Bottega' had to offer.

Love this top from Belgian brand ' Essentiel' - great combination of colours. I hadn't come across the brand before.

'Bottega' also stock a carefully selected edit of vintage pieces. How beautiful is this shawl? I love everything about it - the mix of colours; the pattern; the dip dyed fringing.

 

Unusually for me, I was quite restrained, and I only bought an American Retro shirt and a friendship bracelet. Although 'Bottega' hasn't got an online store, they do accept telephone orders (01829 733355. I am still thinking about a number of the pieces I saw, so I think I might have to put an order in soon. If you are ever in the Cheshire area, then you must visit 'Bottega'. You won't regret it!

Take Me to Funky Town

It may have been grey and damp outside, but last Thursday it was bright and sparkly inside Bolesworth Castle, venue for the evening's fashion delights. 'Bottega' lifestyle store, and 'Cleo B' brought a slice of Studio 54 glamour to Cheshire, with their 'Take Me to Funky Town' salon presentation. The event was to raise funds for 'Claire House' children's hospice, which needs £2.5m a year to cover its running costs.

I was lucky enough to get the chance to spend some time behind the scenes in the run up to the event. It was really interesting to see exactly what goes into organising such an event. The answer? A lot of style and an equal amount of hard work!

The fabulous goodie bags. Thanks to Selina Clark for the photo

Before the main event, all of the invited guests had the opportunity to peruse a selection of items from 'Bottega', 'Cleo B', 'Fancie's Vintage' and 'Rumpus Resport', all whilst sipping on raspberry mojitos. Although I had seen the run through, I was still excited to see the show for real. The presentation began with a few words from Abi from 'Claire House', who spoke about the work the hospice does, and who also thanked the guests for having already raised £750 by purchasing raffle tickets. We also heard from Sam from 'Bottega', who inspired serious jacket envy in me with her pink floral 'Elizabeth and James' Bruce blazer.

Love this blazer and its combination of bold print and neon colour

The first look of the evening was dedicated to Cleo B's 'Sucker MC' shoes, with their distinctive gold cassette heels. These are definitely a statement shoe, so they were perfect paired with a simple outfit of 'Des Petits Hauts' gold pleated skirts and bandeau tops. Funky but still feminine.

 

Next up was the poolside chic look. The simple block colour maxi dresses allowed the guests to focus on the footwear. My personal favourite was the 'Jam Master Jay' heel. I love a high heel (and these are VERY high!), but what really caught my eye was the great combination of fabrics (raffia; metallic leather and suede, in a combination of black, gold and nude tones. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a close up of the shoes during the presentation, but you can see them in the bottom right of the photo below.

The third look of the evening was "I'm in Miami, Girl". If the audience wasn't already in awe of the gorgeous models, then this section definitely gave us pause for thought. After wowing the audience with some gorgeous beach coverups from 'Rumpus Resort', they followed this by looking seriously hot in stylish swimwear, also from 'Rumpus Resort'. My personal favourites were the peacock print maxi from Vix, and the Missoni kaftans.

Perhaps my favourite look of the evening was "Le Freak, C'est Chic", and not just because I love that song, which was itself inspired by Studio 54. This might have had something to do with the fact that there was a large amount of 'Elizabeth and James' clothing in this section, and I absolutely love the label's latest collection. I love the combination of vibrant colours and striking prints.

If we weren't already in a disco frame of mind, then the "Saturday Night Fever" look certainly took us to the discotheque. My favourite looks were the red jeans and American Retro embellished blazer worn by Samio; Amy in the wide leg trousers and 'Elizabeth and James' pink blazer, and Janine in a silk top from 'Elizabeth and James', paired with 'One Teaspoon' palazzo pants.

The final look of the evening, was "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life". There were some great pieces in this section, but the pieces that really caught my eye (and the light) were the gorgeous 'Lorient' sequinned blazer from 'Antik Batik', and a vintage embellished tunic from 'Fancie's Vintage'.

Although there was a definite 1970s vibe throughout the presentation, and a number of vintage pieces were used on the night, all of the outfits managed to look really contemporary and wearable.

After the presentation had finished, we had the opportunity to get to take an even closer look at the pieces from the presentation, in one of the rooms adjacent to the show space. All of the ladies present couldn't wait to try on the pieces from the collection and to take a closer look at all of Cleo B's designs. There is such a lot of detail in Cleo's shoes, that I am going to devote a whole post to them later this week. Every single piece available got a fantastic reaction, which is testament to the fantastic edit that 'Bottega' offers. I don't think that the ladies present needed any encouragement to purchase, but if they did, then the fact that 10% of all sales on the night went to 'Claire House' was an added bonus.

If you like the look of the pieces in the presentation, then you will find them in 'Bottega' in Tarporley, Cheshire. But be quick! Judging by the number of ladies I saw ticking off items on their show programmes, the items in question might not be around for long! I am going to blog separately about my trip to 'Bottega' itself, and its fantastic 'The Birdcage' cafe, so watch this space!

Leopard Print Love - Part I

Leopard Print Love by louloumuses

"My name is Louise, and I'm addicted to leopard print.". There, I said it. I know that it can be the marmite of the print world, but I LOVE a bit a lot of leopard print. I can't explain it, but I seem to be drawn to anything leopard print like a moth to the flame. However, I know that I'm not alone in this, so decided to share some of the lovely leopard print pieces that are out there at the moment.

My Red Magazine Photo Shoot: The Clothes - Part I

Last month I was part of a photo shoot for Red magazine. They had put a call out on Twitter for people to test detox diets. I tested the 4-day 'My Detox Diet' package which consisted of 4 days worth of specially balanced meals, which were designed to detox the body and help lose weight.

The magazine organised for a photographer to come down to Cardiff to take my photo for the magazine. If you know me at all, then you will know that I am not a big fan of having my photo taken and will generally try and hide at the back of any group photos that I am in. Therefore my friends thought that it was hilarious that I had volunteered myself to be part of a photo shoot.

I only had 6 days notice of the shoot, and was told that I'd have to style my self. This induced a bit of a "I've got nothing to wear" style crisis on my part and I sought advice from some of my favourite ladies on Twitter: Sam_Bottega, Donna Ida, and Penny. As three very stylish ladies who have been in a fair few photo shoots themselves, I knew that they would have plenty of sound advice. However, I was blown away, when Sam offered to lend me some pieces after we'd had a style consultation via a stream of Twitter DMs!

I was eagerly anticipating the delivery of the items to my office, but was ecstatic when the parcel arrived, and I discovered that not only had Sam sent me 4 jackets, 3 pairs of jeans, 4 tops, and a variety of accessories to style up the outfits, but she had also given me 2 sides of A4 of styling notes to help with outfit options. A fashion Fairy Godmother, if ever there was one!

Maison Scotch Tuxedo Jacket

Maison Scotch 'Chanel-style' Jacket

One Teaspoon Velvet Blazer

American Retro Corduroy Blazer

Sam sent me a great selection from a range of brands that she stocks in her boutique, Bottega, in Tarporley, Cheshire, which was recently selected as one of the Top 50 Boutiques outside London, by Stella magazine. I won't reveal which outfit I settled on for the shoot (to be blogged about in a future post), but I wanted to show the pieces that Sam sent me, as I loved them all, and it was great to discover some brands that were new to me. I didn't want this post to be too picture-heavy, so I am going to post the photos over two posts.