Back in Anjuna I sifted my way through the bundles wrapped in yesterday's news. I matched fabrics and trimmings with my favourite items of clothing. Having grown up on Portobello Road, I had been collecting vintage clothes since I was thirteen. I hauled the huge bag to a local Nepali tailor and handed over my original pieces, explaining that I wanted them copied, but altered in quite radical ways.
For fear of judgement from others, older women tend to play it safe fashion-wise, sticking to a handful of brands that we see our peers wearing and giving up on anything that we perceive to represent 'young fashion'. In truth, many women my age feel that they've lost the right to wear what they want. But, as I've said many times before, and will continue to do so - fashion is ageless!
It's brave for a designer to be so gobby, especially with the pressure of commercial sales targets and constant burden of turning a profit and keeping the wheels turning, but Shannon's line of thoughtful and clever sloganeering is somewhat proven, with his current and previous collections bearing a corruption of Sports Direct as "Lovers Direct" and "Haters Direct", currently in store at Selfridges
Maybe your skin is feeling like it needs a 'lustre boost' right now. Perhaps it's feeling and looking a little lacklustre, especially with the combination of colder weather and central heating that can suck the life out of skin. Anyone else ready for spring now?
For Fashion Revolution, truth means transparency and transparency implies honesty, openness, communication and accountability. Transparency means that if human rights or environmental abuses are discovered, it is far easier for relevant stakeholders to understand what went wrong, who is responsible and how to fix it. It also helps unions, communities and garment workers themselves to more swiftly alert brands to human rights and environmental concerns.
I'd just like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Nadia. As a woman in the public eye, she would have known only too well what sort of reaction her sartorial choice would receive and yet she stuck with it - and it's sparking exactly the right kind of debate.
The rise of modest fashion has resulted in an increase in awareness that women don't need to be 'sexy' and naked to be considered attractive; this is impacting and creating an evolution of the global fashion scene.
The past couple of years the plus size models have been taking the fashion industry by storm 'empowering women' and encouraging women to love and accept their imperfections, the cellulite... the back fat.
Thoughts about how this fashion presentation may look in the future woke me up this morning - way too early - after writing this article last night. It occurs to me that there will be other relationships to consider if art imitates life.
The models that monopolise magazines and billboards are no longer remotely representative of the women that we see in everyday life, resulting in an influx of body-dissatisfaction, eating disorders and appearance preoccupation among young women.
Having recently displayed a sign in their flagship store that read: "I'm a psychotic mess but at least my eyebrows look good" they've been called out by just about everyone. Not just by the media, but by members of the public and mental health charities too. Ouch.
The beauty industry, in the UK alone, is worth around 17 billion pounds and from looking at these figures, I can see why brands are not putting more emphasis on the importance of monitoring the products we use.
I know Paris is getting older - she is 35 now...so not far off being a #Mags herself! But this doesn't mean she has to sell her stuff through Lidl surely? She seems to do very well for herself financially, I can't imagine she needs the cash?!
Theresa May has either begun a discussion which will liberate professional women who feel they can't talk openly about clothes and fashion or she has done herself a disservice. I suspect she's done a bit of both but more of the latter.
Acknowledging the design of the Christmas jumper creates a shared experience of festive consumerism, allowing the jumper to supersede the material and enter the intangible and quasi-sanctified realm of celebration. This new hyperreality is a joyous state that plain knitwear is simply incapable of rendering.
If you're heading to a work party or formal occasion, a simple red or silver dress paired with black heels is always a winner. If you've got something more casual planned, you can't go wrong with a chunky, Christmas-coloured jumper to keep you cosy with a pair of skinny jeans and boots.