Fashion in extreme winter

A lot of snow about lately. A lot of sub zero temperatures. So, easy to feel decidedly cool, but how to look cool?

The first thing to do is forget about anything other than practicality. You might want to go to the army and navy stores and pick up a heavy military coat. Go for boots rather than shoes. And when the snow turns to ice, make sure that whatever footwear you're wearing has a good grip on its soles. Cos it's going to be slippy time soon.

Other than that, heavy wool jumpers are big anyway right now, so stock up on them.

The siberian weather isn't going to disappear any time soon, say the newspapers. So make like you're from Novisibirsk (Russia's third-largest city, located in Siberia) and wrap up well, whatever it takes.

High heels hit new heights

Interesting report in the Daily Mail today about the rise in sales of high heeled shoes, which is, possibly, says the paper, down to the influence of famous fashionistas like Cheryl Cole and lady Gaga going for this style.

The article quotes a Peacocks spokesman, who says that: Customers are attracted to a shoe boot’s dual purpose. You can wear them for Christmas and beyond, as they look just as great with a party dress as they do with jeans and a jumper in January.

The Peacocks party shoe boot looks likely to be a festive smash hit this year.

The Guardian also features the story, with the dramatic headline 'sales of killer heels quadruple'.

So, if all the women you see suddenly look taller, there may well be a shoe related reason for this.

Clothes design software

Gone are the days of sketches, perhaps:

Best Dressed 2010

GQ Magazine is doing its vote for best dressed 2010 right now - so why not get your vote in for this year. Voting closes at the end of November. Email address is

gqbestdressed@condenast.co.uk

Who to vote for? How about Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher, Boris Johnson or ... err... hmm, dunno. Gordon Ramsay?

Party season clothing

Now that Halloween and Bonfire Night are out of the way, the party season stretches before us like one long shiny street full of Christmas trees.

Everyone will have their own list of stuff to get - make sure you've got a spare hat and set of gloves - you don't want hypothermia kicking in while you wait for a taxi home after a great night out.

Other things that will be high on the list of stuff to get will be shoes - whether it's womens shoes or mens shoes, this is a very shoey time of year since people get stuff for the dancefloor or the dinner restaurant, but they also need shoes to kick around in the snow with.

Fashion changes

It's fair to say that the world of fashion has changed more in the last ten years than in any preceding decade. Where once fashionistas waited for quarterly magazine special editions showing the new season's look, there is now much faster media information being disseminated and consumed electronically. And it's speeding up even more. Those with their finger on the ever-quickening pulse now don't even have to wait to get home and fire up the computing machine - smartphones mean that people can get their fashion fix while sitting in a coffee shop or even walking down the street.

Whole armies of bloggers cover each area of fashion - there are blogs devoted to the avante-garde, blogs for people who want to get the best deals on clothes, and blogs for the otaku-level obsessives about esoteric sartorial matters such as how to care for vintage denim.

The speed-up of information has also had an effect on the retailing of clothes. One hot item being featured in the cool blogs cane have the effect of thousands suddenly clamouring for that piece. It's a world away from when people read about an article in a magazine and hoped to see it in the shops next time they ventured in to town. Now the shop itself is a click away, and the actual purchase not much further on.

So where will all this end up? Strange to think that the clunky Boo.com of the late 90s once seemed modern. Will we one day be able to design our own trainers, have them built by a robot and delivered to the home within 24 hours? it's not unlikely. The future is here to stay, whatever.

Peacocks Value Fashion Range - hitting the headlines

With great coverage in some of the highest profile newspaper and magazine titles this week, Peacocks’ great clothes range continues to be a big hit with the nation’s fashion editors as well the fashion-buying public.
Peacocks’ excellent week in the fashion limelight was given a boost with an some eye-catching item from Pearl Lowe featuring in The Sun’s popular ‘wish list’ regular column.
The widely read Real people magazine carries a feature this week on how to smarten up, with an appearance by Peacocks stylish and understated court shoes – perfect for any occasion where a little ‘shoe sobriety’ is required, or just for the fun of putting real style in your step.
Young fashion conscious weekly magazine Style has a big recommend this week in the shape of Peacocks patterned leggings, signalled as a must have of the season. And some great coverage in Wales and the North West of England, with the Wigan Evening Post and the South Wales echo clearly feeling the Pearl Lowe effect : the headlines Impressed By Budget Dress and Pearl’s Dress Is A Real Gem pretty much say it all! This item has swept the board since its launch just over a week ago at the London Connaught – and caught the imagination of everyone in the UK and even, reportedly, a famous name from across the Atlantic – rock goddess Courtney Love.
And finally Peacocks military inspired coat got a big salute from the Halifax Evening Courier in its fashion pages, with the item shown to its maximum gorgeous effect.
A bumper week in the magazines and fashion pages from Peacocks, and with the party season just about to begin, we can expect more great coverage to appear in the coming weeks.