An interveiw with Hannah Marshall

I've said this before but I'll say it again, Hannah Marshall really is a designer to watch. She is going places. It's not just her simplistic lines and incredible designs but her vibrant personality and ability to mingle with everyone and anyone in all situations. Before she launched her AW07 collection I had the pleasure of spending most of London Fashion Week with her and it was such an enjoyable experience.

Start Your Business magazine have featured Hannah on their cover and written an extensive interview which is well worth the read.

We'll be stocking her SS08 collection from March and a sneak peak will be available on Brittique.com shortly.

Getting knitty witty

When I moved to the US the hardest part was saying goodbye to my sewing machines. Nothing soothes me more than whipping up a new outfit. Since we're only in the US for about 2-3 years, there's no point buying new machines. So I needed another creative outlet. Knitting seems like the perfect option - it requires very little equipment, is transportable and is creative.

So I searched for courses and found some fab ones on weekends at The Point Knitting Cafe. Now I forgot that I had actually learned to knit years ago from my mother and grandma. But as soon as I got into the class I started knitting! I think the other students thought I was being a right smart arse. But it just came back to me. Straight away I was hooked (haha). I bought some wool and a pattern and spent the rest of the weekend knitting a beanie for my man. It's modelled here by my lovely little friend Nicolas who stayed with me for a few days.

It's got a lot of mistakes, but it was an amazing feeling to actually create something again. The man was so excited that I made him something. He said it was the best present ever and wears it all the time.

Now I'm planning my next projects inspired by some incredible knitting blogs (oh yes, there are thousands!) such as brooklyntweed, the brown sheep and dyelicious addictions. Dyelicious is actually written by a friend from high school who I've become reacquainted with thanks to Facebook. Now she's helping me out very patiently with my multitude of knitting questions! More pictures and projects to come.

The bag saga and diamonds do get smaller

Thanks for all your comments about my bag woes. I decided to take your advice and keep trying it for a little white and see if I get used to it. Wendyb, you're quite right, diamonds do get smaller as you wear them!

Speaking of which, I went shopping for a "push present" with the man over the weekend (although a friend says that because I'm not technically pushing I don't deserve one. The cheek! I'm carrying this baby!). I'm not married or engaged so the man really has saved ££ with me! I didn't want to go for the big name jewellers but I wanted to get some ideas. I want a ring that I can wear with everything so not white gold, not gold, not a coloured ring but something really neutral, big and yet classic.

First stop was Tiffany's which was heaving with tourists and women in tracksuits and Uggs. I didn't find a ring I liked there except up the back in the $90k plus range. But still the bands were so thin that they'd wear through with my heavy wear. I can't believe how over-hyped it is.

Next stop was Cartier. I didn't like any of the regular engagement rings. They were all to regular and I'm not after an engagement ring anyway, more of a friendship ring. So we went out the back to the special rings. Finally I found one I liked and tried it on. It was a decent size, a 4 carat emerald cut in the middle with a 3 carat emerald cut on either side. It actually looked quite small to me after the huge statement rings I normally wear. The price tag was laughable - $480,000!! My poor man nearly keeled over with fright. He made it clear that I would not be getting that and nearly pulled it off my finger and threw it at the salesman.

Well, I'm still ringless and I'm not sure I'll find the perfect ring. But at least I've got a beautiful bright orange handbag!

An interveiw with Shushme.com

Click here for an interview I did with Shushme.com a new online fashion magazine. Thanks to Shushme for featuring me!

Vogue.com features competition

Vogue.com features our competition in it's daily news. I'm really looking forward to finding some new and innovative designers!

Are you an aspiring fashion designer?

fashion156.com the online fashion zine, and Brittique.com, online boutique for up and coming British designers, are collaborating to search for a womenswear fashion designer on the ascent.

This unique opportunity will offer an individual with immense talent the chance to see their creation brought to life on the pages of fashion156.com and sold exclusively online through Brittique.com alongside labels such as Camilla Staerk, Peter Jensen, Basso & Brooke and Hussein Chalayan.

Designers are invited to submit their ideas in the form of a detailed sketch of photograph which must be an original, directional designer for Spring/Summer 2008.

The closing date for the initial entries is 15th January 2008. The five designers the judges feel have best conceptualized their ideas will be invited to produce an actual garment and the winning design will be selected from the shortlist. All five finalists will be featured on fashion156.com and Brittique.com's blogs and readers will be invited to judge and vote for their favorite design.

Please email: designer@fashion156.com for further information and to send entries.

Brittique and IGNES event pictures

As I mentioned, I got the bag I was in love with. Until yesterday I hadn't had a chance to wear my bag (do you wear or use a bag? hmmm). Friday I had an Italian cooking class so it was the first outing with this bright orange bag. I wore it with jeans, black top, orange and black print scarf, black coat and black loafers.

It's the first time I've worn an "It" bag or big name designer bag before and it was an interesting experience. My friends commented on the bag first then a couple of ladies in the class also made comments. The worst part though was catching the subway home. It was peak hour and so many people just looked at the bag. I turned it around so people wouldn't see the "Chloe" symbol but girls just kept looking at it. I felt really conspicuous as if I was walking around with $XXX in my hand asking for it to be stolen.

The seats of the subway are really tightly crammed but I couldn't put it on the floor for fear it would get dirty or damaged and if I held it on my lap (or what I now have left of a lap) it just sat there virtually covering me. I didn't feel comfortable. It was all just too much work. As a result I put it on eBay. I'll stick with my Alessandra Ferreira "London Computer" bag. It's big, it's beautiful and it's not precious.

Northern Woman features Camilla Staerk for Brittique.

Northern Woman magazine selected the Camilla Staerk Emily shirt as a key piece that can be worn from day to night. Very handy now with all the after work Christmas drinks (and shenanigans...).

Elle shops skirts and loves Preen

Autumn has officially been hailed the season of the skirt by Elle UK and they've picked their top buys. Included is this wedge skirt by Preen. It really is such a flattering shape and it's hard to see by this picture. It sits really high on the waist with the flared shape actually being pockets. Pockets in dresses and skirts are just wonderfully practical and comfortable to hide the hands during awkward moments.

handbag.com's Christmas gift guide

Handbag.com picked our LucyJ compact mirror as a top Christmas gift idea. The mirrors were really popular for gifts last Christmas but these new square ones are just a bit more special.