Marks (and Spencer), Get Set, Go.

 

M&S A/W 2016/17, LONG WOOL COAT, TWEED COAT, BOHO DRESS, MIDID DRESS, FLORAL MIDI DRESS, LARGE DECONSTRUCTED HANDBAG, LARGE DECONSTRUCTED SHOULDER BAG, LEATHER WOMEN'S HANDBAG, LEATHER SHOULDER BAG, OPAQUE TIGHTS
M&S A/W 2016/17, ecru cable knit sweater, cut out shoulder chunky sweater, big drawstring shoulder bag, big leather bag, brown leather bag

This is a bit of a ‘deja vu’ post. It has been on your screens before but it was pointed out to me that some of you need a nudge at the appropriate times for designer diary dates. Here is my official metaphorical starter gun going off and now it’s up to you to sprint down the high street and through the M&S checkout line. Warning; some of this is new content!!!

M&S, M&S A/W 2016, silk bomber jacket, asymmetric midi skirt, roll neck jumper, Mrs V, www.themodeledit.com, Vanessa Voegele-Downing , LEATHER HANDBAG
M&S A/W 2016, marled wool tunic and trousers, trouser suit, Down jacket, Puffa jacket, trainers

I’m in love with the M&S design studio who have truly, tremendously styled their A/W 2016/17 collection. The clothes are fabulously presented, lip smackingly approachable and owe much of their purchase appeal to the bang-on-trend way in which they’re presented. Consider the above suggestion of wool coat, floral boho midi dress and peep toe high heeled shoes that normally wouldn’t be seen anywhere without a cocktail. A mix of opposing fabrics, time slots and tones.Thanks are due to ‘outside the box’ thinking by the M&S style Sherpas.  All of us here at The Model Edit(presently me and Blog Dog Hippolyta Beryl ) love this anachronistic style shove. Not just that, but how about the brown tones featured on the seriously usefully sized  brown leather bag mingled with the colour black appearing elsewhere on the outfit ? Dating back to biblical times, is  black with navy or black with brown a fashion faux pas? It is allowed, always has been and is now positively encouraged. Go there

M&S A/W 2016/17, long black sleeveless evening dress, roll neck jumper, polo neck black jumper, evening shoulder bag
M&S A/W 2016/17, evening gown, women's black roll neck jumper, shoulder bag, black evening bag

This particularly pretty sleeveless long black evening dress with it’s gentle layering, gathering and lace inserts appeal goes to places that on it’s job description, it normally wouldn’t. Sling a roll neck jumper underneath and you’re there, naughty as anything wearing evening clothes in the stark staring daylight. How nice is that? This is not is not going to nudge the EU Referendum off the headline slot, but it may stop you retiring last year’s evening dresses for the sake of a black roll neck jumper. I love this juxtaposition. You save money, you recycle and you receive rave reviews because you are riding the trend.

Kettlewell, black silky roll neck jumper, black roll neck jumperSilky Roll Neck £39

If you’d like a slightly subtle roll neck, I suggest one of my wardrobe wonders, the saviour Silky Roll Neck from my lovely friend Melissa Nicholson’s company of go-to basics Kettlewell. I’ve got a white as well, which I think would look good worn for the same reason.

M&S, A/W 2016, Mrs V, www.themodeledit.com, Vanessa Voegele-Downing,Boho midi dress, floral dress, leather shoulder bag, handbag
M&S, A/W 2016, short shift dress, floral dress, pussy bow blouse, handbag, leather clutch bag

Every outfit has it’s handbag friend. Choice a go go. You won’t be in free fall or missing that one last accessory that cinches the deal. It’s all appearing in a store near you in September. Thing is, we have all the components of a complete wardrobe refit here, and no flags flying to denote it’s provenance. Which after all is a good thing. I don’t want my clothes to advertise the store where I bought them. I want them to advertise me. M&S are showing real verve and bravery, as it taps into who they know is out there but still leaves a changing cubicle aside for their residual inhabitants. Every woman that will shop a style from here will be taking this brand to it’s next base. We’ve been wondering how long it would be. Wait over.

Here then is the prospect of a self styling reappraisal of fashion preconceptions and permitted behaviour. Your old, can become your new, after a trolley dash around M&S . Round of applause for the M&S styling visionaries and their one-stop-shop suggestions.

 

Mrs V’s S/S 2016 Ready To Wear Style Round Up.

denim, Marc Jacobs, embroidered denim, trouser suit, denim jacket, Jeans, American Fashion Designer
Marques Ameida, frayed denim, off the shoulder, Jeans, flared Jeans, denim, Portuguese designers
Marc Jacobs, denim, Jeans, primary colours, red, white, blueAmerican fashion designer

I want none of you to throw stones at me because I’ve presented you with what you may mistake for the impossible unattainable and unwearable, unless you’re a model on a catwalk, blah, blah. That’s you not concentrating. There is much to be partaking of out there this season, and themodeledit will be your tour guide for this trip! What I do want from you is applause because I’ve sat down, sifted and selected some of the overriding Ready to Wear trends for Spring Summer 2016. My pleasure. Have a look and choose how deep undercover you’d like to immerse yourselves in the diaphanous depths of this season’s style waves.

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Yves Saint Laurent and I (time travel Tuesday).

YSL, Yves Saint Laurent, haute couture, french designers, pret a porter, models, modelling

 

When I asked my London Agency, Laraine Ashton IMG, to arrange for me to spend some time in Paris, I had one thing on my mind, and one thing only. To work for YSL. I had wallpapered my bedroom with tear sheets from magazines, and most of these pages were of YSL clothes, or ads from YSL campaigns. My favourite of which is shown below. How beautiful is that model? It sort of encouraged me that she had a mass of really curly hair…Tick!
YSL, Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, perfume, scent, designer perfume, Francois Lamy

 

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MRS V

MRS V

My career began in London, then off to Paris, and 24 hours later was shooting ads for Yves St Laurent, who knew? That was it, the start of my Parisienne years, working on a daily basis for high end fashion houses an including, both Christian’s, Lacroix and Dior, Chanel, Versace, Givenchy, Hermes, Jean Paul Gaultier, Chloe and Valentino. I worked with the coolest and best photographers, shooting campaigns for clients like, YSL, L’Air du Temps, Cacharel, Avon and Martini.  I shot editorials and covers for French, Italian and British Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, Tatler, Harpers and Queen, Blitz, Company and Cosmo, Woman’s Journal, and Own and every daily newspaper, taking planes like buses. I have been sensationally fortunate to work with experts in the fashion and beauty industry, who helped me, a tall, skinny redhead, with sensitive skin and freckles, to emerge from the frizz and become a regular on catwalks and appear in editorial for glossy magazines all over the world. Scan 7

Thirteen years later, back in London, I started having daughters, and when the house was bursting, with our three baby girls, and the prospect of ponies, fields and fresh air looming on the horizon, we moved to Dorset. Properly scary.

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