Blog Post – Appletastic!

I don’t know about you, but I have really noticed that its getting dark quite early now and there are subtle changes happening with the weather too as we are around the Equinox where daylight hours and darkness hours are equal.

Whilst I love Autumn for the stunning colours in nature, I do have a little tinge of sadness that Summer sunshine and warmness is slowly slipping away. Having said that – you can’t beat a dog walk with piles of autumn leaves at your feet in differing shades of yellow and copper – its also the time when lots of berries appear on bushes and fruits are ready to be harvested too.

Our new Coat Capsule Collection has just launched and there are so many styles that our team have fallen in love with that we just know that you are going to love too!

Our Reversible Quilted Puffer Coat is a very clever piece indeed! It’s available in sizes 6 to 24 with Khaki oneside and black the other so you effectively get two coats in one! The straight cut to the knee has clever metal snap buttons to the sides so that you can open up the lower hemline. I think its going to be perfect for those dog walks along woodland paths full of leaves –especially as this coat is machine washable too!

This week I have been helping with the apple harvest at our local Vineyard. The apples are pressed into juice which is delicious and bottled on site with some of the apples being used to make cider as well.

There is something special about apple picking. Being in an orchard with no phone reception and just the sound of the birds (and the odd fellow harvester humming along to their favourite tunes …. i.e. me!) really puts you at one with nature. Whilst I am the kind of person that the bugs go for big time, surprisingly I don’t get bitten by bugs in an apple orchard! I’m guessing they are too focussed on all the heavily laden apple trees or that the birds have had the bugs instead!

Its very mindful to zone out and methodically work your way along each row to harvest the apples from the trees. A fellow harvester described it as “active meditation” and I think she’s right! Time drifts away from you and its very satisfying to see the apple crates filling up!

It’s not for the faint hearted though as your arms get scratched to pieces no matter how hard you try you can’t really avoid scraping them a bit on sticky out branches that you didn’t spot (even whilst trying to channel inner gymnastic stealth moves in the style of Tom Cruise negotiating around one of those laser beam alarm systems in Mission Impossible!) and just like blackberry picking there is always the biggest, juiciest looking fruit beyond arms length frustratingly out of reach!!

I found that I would think I had got all the apples from one side of the tree, but if I turned around and looked at it from the opposite angle, there were always some that I had missed. Likewise, if you sit on the floor under the tree and look up you get a different perspective and spot more apples that were missed as they were cunningly disguised behind leaves!

One thing that we can all learn from the apple harvest is the importance to look at things from different angles and this applies to yourself when you are putting your outfits together.

Standing infront of a mirror we just see what is infront of us, but being able to see the “rear view” will give you a different perspective of your outfit and whether it is flattering for your body shape. Similarly turning to the side in front of the mirror will give another angle to consider when working out if your outfit flatters your body shape too.

For those who carry their weight around the middle its easy to fall into the trap of wearing clothes that are too big with the aim of hiding areas that we may not be happy about. This body shape is often how our bodies change after having children, as we age or as we go through menopause. If you have rounded shoulders, fullness in the tummy area and feel uncomfortable with tops tucked in then your shape can be called an “apple” bodyshape especially if you have a large boob area too it can be tricky to master.

If you choose oversize clothing to try and disguise where your weight sits, whilst your clothes are probably very comfortable, they will not always be very flattering and may not help you to look good and feel good when you look at yourself in a mirror.

For any body shape, there are tips and tricks to master and like David Copperfield (or Paul Daniels) you have to become a magician! The art of dressing for everyones body shape is all about illusion and distraction (don’t worry – you don’t need birds or rabbits in hats for this!).

For an apple body shape to be enhanced you need to be diverting attention away from your middle and up towards your neckline or down towards your feet. Avoid details that sit around the boobs tummy and hips – there are also certain ways of highlighting the waist area for best effect that makes you feel good and look good at the same time too!

Avoid wearing tops that are tightly fitting – instead look for a looser fit to a top (but not overly baggy) and especially if there is a little slit on either side of the seam at the hemline as this helps sit better across the top of your hips. 

You need to avoid having excess fabric around your middle so opt for a “French tuck” where you just tuck in the middle of the front of your top to the waistband of your trousers/jeans/skirt leaving the back of your top to hang loose over your waistband, or just tuck one side of your top in instead to help disguise the tummy area but keeping excess fabric to a minimum.

You need to consider the length of the top that you want to wear. For the most flattering effect, make sure the hemline of the top sits between your waist and finishes higher than the bottom of your bottom! This will hide your tummy and hips and finish at a more flattering length that doesn’t make your legs look short.

Think about wearing soft floaty fabrics, a fitted shirt is a good option or tunic tops that have a “yoke” across the shoulders as these styles have small gathers in the fabric that help it to skim over your body shape.

Our Lurex Trim Shirt in Ecru is a good choice as not only does it have the sparkling details along the placket at the neckline, when you look at the rear, you will see the sparkling details continue across the back with a smocking gathering of the fabric that drapes beautifully when left untucked. The front of the shirt is not as long as the back of the shirt which means that you can tuck it into the waistband of your trousers/jeans/skirt without having too much excess fabric for a sleeker look.

Tops and jumpers that have a fitted bottom – like a rib knit to the base of a jumper are good for accentuating your shape in the right ways so that you can hide the bits that you don’t like behind the baggier parts of the style whilst creating the illusion of shape with the fitted element.

Ideally, go for styles with ¾ length sleeves that finish above the wrist (or push up longer sleeves) – tops with inbuilt shoulder pads are a great choice too as this ensures that your clothes hang nicely from your shoulders. If you don’t already, it will be especially worth investing in a cheap plain t shirt with inbuilt shoulder pads to wear beneath a jumper to give structure to rounded shoulders. When you combine this with a properly fitted bra you will find that the top half of your silhouette has more structure and helps to draw the eye away from your tummy.

Flat fronted trousers work well, especially if they have a wide leg and a side fastening keeping the detail away from your middle.

Our Wide Printed Trousers in Multi Print are a great asset here – whilst they do have a front fastening, it is completely disguised by the print in the fabric. They are part of our eco “Planet Tortue” range and available in sizes 6 to 20 giving you some sass and elegance at the same time. Dress them up with a heeled boot or dress them down with a chunky boot instead. 

When it comes to choosing jeans, denim jeans in darker colours with wide legs, flares or a classic boot cut will be the most flattering to even out your silhouette.

Our Jane Jeans (inspired by Jane Birkin of Birkin Bags fame) have a simple bootcut to the jeans. They are made from an eco-friendly blend of cotton polyester and elastane and designed to flatter your figure. Available in sizes 6 to 20 in a dark midnight blue denim they are super stretchy and comfortable to wear. 

Avoid wearing sleeves that finish next to your boobs and avoid double breasted jackets or cardigans. Jackets/cardigans that have a single button fastening are your best friend especially if they finish at your waist area.

Our Faux Leather Jacket comes in Sage green or Black colourways in a “biker” style. We think it is “perfecto” – not only a symbol of rebellion but it’s a timeless style to update your look with a bit of “Rock chick” sophistication. Our version of this classic is super soft faux leather, not too fussy on the details, and the clever bit is that the collar is press studded back so that it doesn’t flap about when you wear the jacket undone.

Pleated skirts are unlikely to work in your favour, unless they are flat fronted across the tummy with box pleats further down the length of the skirt 

A Line dresses will be the most flattering for apple body shapes as they take the attention away from the tummy. Add in a statement necklace to draw the attention of the eye away from your middle for best effect too.

Our Printed Midi Dress in Sage is both chic and sophisticated, available in sizes 6 to 24. This dress adds a touch of glamour to your style as it has subtle metallic details at the collar – great for drawing the eye upwards and away from the areas that you want to hide. If you don’t like the stud and buckle collar you can tuck it inside the dress to give a flattering V neckline to the dress instead. There is a removable belt so that you have the option of wearing “loose” beneath a jacket and the hemline is asymmetrical – another fabulous detail to draw the eye away from your tummy area. This dress looks fantastic with both colourways of the Faux Leather Biker Jacket too!

If green is a colour that you love, then use the search function at the top of our online shopping pages to quickly see a number of items from our range that is in a shade of green – perfect if you want to get your own urban nature fix without leaving the sofa!

I’m off to find myself some apple juice!

Angela x