WINTER WRAPPINGS

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter.....  Well maybe not lonely, and I know we Brits are quite obsessive about the weather - but I do think it has been a long miserable winter and ages since we had any warmth.  

Our shoot for Winter Wrappings in Ilkley was marred by biting cold winds even though the sun showed its face briefly, but was followed by freezing sleet, which made us run to the nearest cafe for a hearty bowl of soup immediately afterwards (Filmore and Union if you're interested!)

Anne C is wearing her Mango coat bought in the Autumn, so no longer available.  She was worried about the choice of colour - even though it is such a pretty shade - but all the fashionistas predict lilac/mauve will be huge for Spring/Summer, so maybe a good choice after all.

Anne loves her accessories and has more than 100 handbags and scarves, so has just about every colour under the sun to match or co-ordinate with any outfit.  (We won't mention all the coloured jewellery though, but yep, she has plenty of purple bling too).  The wool scarf was bought in Tesco sale some years ago, but is probably one shade removed from her coat, while her fabulous purple leather gloves - with a touch of glitz on the wrist  (bought from her favourite shop, Simply Devine), perfectly co-ordinate with her coat and handbag (bought in the Far East some years ago).

Her black tailored trousers are M&S, of course, while her comfy boots in mock-crock are from Faith's previous season (similar ones here).

Anne H feels like she only ever shops in the same places as this scarf and coat are both from COS. The scarf was a purchase this winter and is a style they do every year, it is really lovely and warm with plenty of material to achieve a great wrap round the neck.  This one is 100% wool but they do lots of different ones including cashmere and wool/cashmere blends. Some are now on sale as you can see if you follow this link.

The Harris Tweed coat is also from COS but is at least five years old now.  It is actually a steal from her daughter Lizzy's wardrobe and is one of those styles that just doesn't go out of fashion.  As Anne is tall the length works perfectly for her.  COS do some great winter coats, but sadly this is not one they have repeated.  She has teamed with jeans from 7 for All Mankind and suede boots from Kurt Geiger.  Her black cashmere polo neck is from La Redoute, who she strongly recommends for their reasonably priced cashmere. It is always worth waiting for their sale or their discount codes that make the purchase even more affordable.

MORE ADVENTURES IN ICELAND

This is the second blog of our Iceland trip, taken in late January - last week I talked about our sea-faring activitIes, while this week I am going to show you what we got up to in and around the capital, Reykjavik.

THE GOLDEN CIRCLE

No trip to Iceland would be complete without a tour of the Golden Circle, taking in the Þingvellir National Park, which, like much of Iceland, is stunningly beautiful.  Our tour bus stopped at Sprunga Opnast, with its ancient fissures caused by earthquakes opening up to relieve pressure between the two tectronic plates of Eurasia and North America.


For Game of Thrones fans, much of the filming was done in Iceland, and we spotted where the Bloody Gates were filmed, but for real GOF buffs, there is a Game of Thrones themed tour, which has brought the tourists flocking.  The pass to the impregnable Eyrie is actually found in the Þingvellir National Park.  You can see it in season four, when Brienne and the Hound engage in a bloody battle. 

Our second stop on the tour was to the boiling hot geysers and bubbling pools at Blaskogabuggo.  The temperature of the water is around 100 degrees, so we were warned not to stray off the marked track or touch the water.  

Apparently the geysers erupt around every 10 minutes, but we found the frequency was much more often than that - which was fantastic for photographs since we only had a short stop, and had to include lunch during that time.  Rumour has it the meat soup there is to die for, but I opted for leek and potato, which was delicious.

There were plenty of other tourists there at the same time as us, but it wasn't too crowded and didn't detract from the experience.  Interestingly Iceland is becoming a magnet for tourists from around the world.  There were many Brits and Americans, but also Europeans, Japanese and Chinese.  I read at the airport that if you are travelling from Europe to America with some airlines, you can stop off in Iceland with no extra air fare, which must be a bargain (though you have to pay your own transfers and hotels etc.).

The history of Iceland denotes that it was discovered by Norweigan travellers, who after setting up home and living through the first winter decided that it was too cold, so upsticked and went home, only for a second set of Norsemen to rediscover Reykjavik - which translates as "Smokey Bay " from the geothermal and hot springs activity.  However, there is evidence that Iceland was first inhabited by Irish monks, who left the island once the pagan Norsemen arrived.

The history is quite fascinating, but since we only have limited space, I won't go into who ruled or for how long, but suffice to say it still has the oldest parliament in the world, which is still sitting.

One of the highlights of the week had to be the visit to the spectacular waterfall at Gullfoss - our third stop.  The photographs of the scenery just do not do justice to the size and scale of the amazing waterfall - in fact it is probably three waterfalls in one.

I am using video here for the first time to try and illustrate the point - if you look to the right of the screen at the end of the video you will see the crowd of people on the viewing platform, and how small they are in comparison to the mighty scenery.

And if that doesn't work on your device, I have also included a photograph, but you just do not get the scale of the atmosphere, and you can't hear the rushing water!

BACK TO THE CITY

Reykjavik is like any bustling city centre - with many of the same shops and restaurants that you would like anywhere in the world - Dominoes Pizza, Subway Sandwiches and Hard Rock Cafe burgers to name a few, though there are local delicacies which we chose to ignore, some of which serve whale meat and puffins (no thank you! I prefer to see them wild and free). If you read last week's blog, our whale watching tour guides urged us to boycott these establishments and let the whales roam free in the ocean, where they belong.

We spent a morning at Hallgrimskirkja - the largest church in Iceland with its iconic tower towering some 73 metres above the city.  Iceland has a chequered religious history - firstly pagan, then Catholic, then Lutheran, before religious freedom was granted in 1874.  The Hallgrimskirkja belongs to the Evangelical-Luthernan National Church, but all religions peacefully co-exist in Iceland.  Construction of the church took from 1945 to 1986, and features a magnificent organ standing 15 metres high and weighing 25 tons. The beauty of the church is in its simplicity - no stained windows or gold artifacts, to my mind it should be all about the people and the prayers, not the gold and the pomp which exist in many churches.

Incidentally the statue to the left of the church in the picture below is of Leifur Eriksson, the first European to discover America - some 500 years before Christopher Columbus.  The statue was a gift from the US to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of the parliament at Þingvellir.

We took the lift to the top of the enclosed tower, and then a few steps up to the pinnacle, which although open to the elements, was safely enclosed - since I hate heights. The views from the top were absolutely breath-taking - literally because it was such a windy day!

CATCHING UP WITH THE NATURAL HISTORY

Our final morning was spent with some gorgeous Icelandic horses with Ishestar.  They offer riding tours all year round, but since we are not riders although we love horses, we opted for a "Meet the horse" morning.  Since we were the only two on the trip, we spent much longer than the hour and a half, moving the horses from the stable to the paddock, although my daughter managed a quick trot around the indoor arena.

These strong sturdy horses are much shorter and more squat than the horses we generally see at home, bred for their hardy survival in the harsh terrain.  The original Icelandic horses were the best horses brought by early settlers - mostly Germanic - eventually breeding to become the thoroughbreds of today.  

There are around 80,000 Icelandic horses in the country, which is quite a population for a small island with only around 330,000 inhabitants.There are no wild horses in Iceland - all are now used in the tourist industry or for pets.


And once they leave Iceland, they can never return, such are their strict conditions for the survival of their pedigree, ensuring they are pure and completely free from disease.  

Our lovely friendly guide Margaret told us that they breed thsse lovely horses for export.  Icelandic horses are in demand because unlike our horses, they have five gaits instead of the usual three of four.  Forgive us for our lack of knowledge here since we are not equestrians - but the fifth gait means a very smooth ride, so not moving up and down on horseback.  So smooth in fact that they have competitions balancing a pint of beer on the horses backs!

So that's another country ticked off my bucket list.  Sadly however, I still haven't got over the fact that we didn't see the Northern Lights.  I have to take some comfort however, that I have since read that many of the beautiful photos you see on the internet, are in fact photo-shopped!

LAND OF FIRE AND ICE

I had always wanted to visit Iceland to see the Northern Lights, so when my daughter said she would like to go there in January for her birthday, it was an ideal opportunity to tick one more thing from my Bucket List.

Unfortunately we didn’t see the Northern Lights, for which I was gutted, but we did have a fabulous time, though to be honest it was eye-wateringly expensive. We had been warned to take snacks with us because nothing is cheap, but I was staggered at the cost of eating out.

But not to put a damper on the trip, the country is stunningly beautiful, the people are very friendly and there is plenty to do and see.

We arrived during a storm, having been told that Iceland is the third windiest country in the world – and the other two countries are uninhabitable (not sure where they are either!).  The wind was bitingly cold with driving snow which makes your eyes sting, so we abandoned all efforts at make-up during our stay there as our eyes streamed constantly with the wind.

Known as the Land of Fire and Ice, much of the tourist activities are available around water, and since our hotel was The Icelandair Marina, in Reykjavik, that’s where we started.

The hotel was lovely, very quirky with interesting artefacts scattered around the place.  The room was cosy and comfortable – despite the lack of drawer space and tea making facilities.

Stepping out into the Marina – still a working port since the economy relies heavily on fishing – we booked a whale watching tour by boat, followed by the Northern Lights sea tour for the same evening through Special Tours, though there are plenty of alternative tour companies, offering everything from fishing to puffin tours.

We had bought goose-down coats, thermal underwear, boots and gloves, woolly hats and scarves before we left home, and they were genuinely a life-saver.  However, the tour company provided one-piece suits to wear over our clothes to keep us dry at sea, which were not flattering but did the job. They even provided sea-sickness pills although fortunately the sea was quite calm so we didn't need them.

An hour or so out to sea the captain spotted a pod of dolphins frolicking in the sea, which was amazing!  The boat stopped while we watched the white beaked dolphins, including a mother and her baby diving in and out of the waves, playing and showing off. Dolphins are naturally curious and friendly creatures and it was a privilege to see them in their natural habitat.  We didn’t see any whales, but the stories we heard peaked our interest so we visited the whale museum later in the week to learn more about these majestic creatures.  

The museum was showing a documentary about Keiko the star of the “Free Willy” movies which was returned to the sea in Iceland after a lifetime in captivity.  The documentary was so moving, particularly since Keiko only lived a couple of years after he was finally set free, dying of pneumonia and probably a broken heart, since whales are sociable and live in pods.  Unfortunately, Keiko no longer belonged to a pod, and was unable to hunt food for himself, dying sick and alone in Norwegian waters, which is so very sad. The whale-watching tour company is passionate about whale conservation and urged us not to eat in any of the local restaurants which cater for tourists wanting to eat whale meat (not that we ever would!).  

But back to our first foray out to see the Aurelia Borealis. The boat is equipped with special cameras to pick up what the naked eye cannot, and although there was some geo-thermal activity, it was very faint, looking just like an ordinary cloud in the sky.  So, no spectacular activity, and a disappointing evening.  The company does offer free trips again if you are not lucky enough to see the lights, so we booked for another evening and repeated the performance, again with no luck.  The third time we booked, bad weather had set in so the trip was cancelled.  Apparently if we ever go back we can have another free trip, but I doubt we will return.

Next on my bucket list was the Blue Lagoon, a natural geo-thermal pool at Grindavikurbaer, and one of the 25 wonders of the world.  The tour companies have a system of sending a mini-bus to collect you from your hotel and then taking you to the bus terminus to collect the tour bus, which was largely efficient, if a bit of a faff!

We booked a 4.00pm slot on an executive package, which included free drinks, queue jumping (the place was very busy), robes and slippers and a dining reservation (more of the latter later!)

The pool is a gorgeous shade of milky turquoise, and was as warm as a hot bath.  Visitors could take advantage of two separate face masks – the first one was silica and the second was algae – both of which left our skin feeling super soft and lovely to touch! Again be warned about the price – you can buy the mask in the shop, but at around £200 for a tube, it was super-expensive.

Everything in Iceland is dependent on the weather, and our visit coincided with an icy wind, so it was nice to slip beneath the water to keep warm.  It was surprising to see people with pints of beer walking through the water, but we opted for healthy smoothies and took shelter out of the wind to drink them, since we didn’t fancy manoeuvring round the rocks in case we spilled them.

After a hot shower we ventured to the restaurant and again were staggered at the cost of a meal – which started at around £100 each, so we opted for a salad in a plastic tub, with a packet of crisps and a small bar of chocolate, it was almost a bargain at £60!

I think you get the picture about prices, so I won’t mention them again, just take a credit card and  plenty of Krona if you visit!  

Next week I will be letting you know about our more land-based activities, which includes around Reykjavik town, the Golden Circle, and a morning with Icelandic horses!

TRENDS FOR SPRING/SUMMER 2018

Hello - Anne C here, and this week we have a post which is just a little different.  Rather than writing about our own dressing style and favourite travels, I am writing about trends for the summer.

As a freelance PR and writer (albeit semi-retired now), I still have a couple of clients, one of whom is no stranger to our blog, and that is Liz Devine-Wright, owner of the gorgeous Simply Devine Hatshop in Tadcaster, between Leeds and York, where I'm often to be found updating their website, changing the window displays, writing press releases, organising photo-shoots, placing ads, updating social media and generally helping Liz. Regular readers of our blog will have seen us doing our own shoots in her shop while looking for inspiration for weddings we have attended.

Last year was a momentous one for Liz, who has been a retailer for the past 14 years, but to expand her business, she decided to design a new range of hats, hatinators and fascinators herself, and take them to the trade - basically cutting out the middle-man. She still runs her physical and online shop though, so still open to the public.

For months we worked on the launch, photographing, cataloguing, pricing and preparing for the launch last summer at Moda 2017 - one of the largest wholesale fashion buying events in the country.

Many years ago as a young reporter, I wanted to be a fashion writer, but fate took me in another direction - mainly into technology - but I always had a keen interest in clothes, as you know from our blog.  So I was delighted to work on the Simply Devine stand at Moda, and took some time browsing around and looking at the colours and trends for spring/summer.

The good news is that colours are vibrant - there are still lots of lime greens, yellows, pinks and bright reds, (good news for me!) but next year will see a lot of black and white mono vibes as well as the every-popular navy (good news for Anne H!)

There are still lots of asymmetric shapes for casual clothing, and fluid poncho/capes in the knitwear section, but not so much of the cold shoulders from what I could see. Sports wear was mainly dark colours with bright contrasting edging in lime green or shocking pink. Styles haven't really changed too much, but tartan looks to be making a come-back, while feminine frills and flounces are very much still in vogue.

Formal wear tended to stay safe with lots of creams, vanillas, peaches, pale pinks and baby blue - this year adding a touch of lilac, while evening wear, surprisingly tended towards darker shades in jewel colours - jade, teal, magenta, burgundy, purple, cobalt blue, and of course, black.

Prom dresses are now big business.  It seems our American cousins have imported yet another tradition over the pond.  There were stunning creations featuring crinolines over shorts, bralet tops with long skirts, beautiful bejewelled gowns, and completely over-the-top princess dresses.

Jewellery trends were towards the metallic style for the coming year - mostly silver jewellery - both chunky and slim varieties rather than heavily coloured stones.

Of course we were there selling hats to boutiques and hat shop owners, and the colours are mainly in line with the colour palettes of summer-wear for next season too, though our showpiece feathered hatinator was rainbow colours and attracted the most attention (and fortunately some sales too!)

Browsing the show from a trade perspective was a completely new experience for me.  The show follows fashion weeks from major couture designers, so they're the ones who largely determine what colours will be in vogue for the coming year.  

Clearly hat colours have to mirror the colours which mothers of the brides and bridegrooms will be wearing during the year, and fortunately for Simply Devine, their sinemay and crin supplier (the stuff hats and fascinators are made from) can offer 30 different colours, so there will be something for everyone.

The names at the show were often brands I had never heard of, so it was interesting to see who buys them - from independent boutiques to specialist shops to department stores - wholesalers such as Ginger Toby to White Vanilla, Veromia to more  well-known names such as James Lakeland, Isabella and John Charles. There are no links as these are mostly wholesalers so you need a login to view.

* With apologies that some of the catwalk photographs are a little blurred - obviously the models were not static and my camera isn't a professional one.