Happy New Year!
Wow! I can’t believe where 2025 has gone – it feels like it has whizzed by super fast!
We had so many highlights last year, one of which was our Traitors themed photo shoot at the stunning Camelot Castle Hotel.
As the new year has started a new series of Traitors has begun with “normal” not famous people – are you watching and are you hooked yet??
If you watched The Celebrity Traitors recently you wouldn’t have been alone! I read somewhere that 1 in 4 adults in the UK watched the show and that at its peak during the final episode there were 12 million viewers!!! Wow!!! That’s massive!
I haven’t watched any of the previous series as I don’t really get a chance to sit down in an evening and watch TV in general, but there was something about the Celebrity version that pulled me in and that was Claudia Winkleman’s outfits so yes – I am now watching the new series to see what features in Claudia’s wardrobe this time!!
So many things from the Celebrity series will stick in my brain for a long time!! Celia Imrie nervously farting out loud in a wood shed (as well as wearing a vintage Captain Tortue jacket in the series too!), Charlotte Church digging her own grave with her bare hands in a white dress (spooky!), various celebrities hilariously wailing into the water in the well to mimic the sound they heard from the Banshee, to Joe’s trademark walk across the wobbly bridge that everyone on the ground was copying and especially Alan Carr’s nervous giggles (I’m still amazed nobody rumbled him!)
But it was Claudia Winkleman’s fantastic fashion pieces and styling in each episode that was just genius.
One of the key fashion trends for Autumn Winter is heritage blends – think tweeds, chunky knits, kilts, checks, wool and when you consider Claudia’s styling she was (and is) totally on point!!!! Going into the new year and the super cold wintry
weather we are having then this totally is the outfit choice to keep you warm.
If you are quick you may still be able to pick up a couple of pieces that we featured in our shoot. Our UK Warehouse stock is currently on sale with up to 50% off. It is selected sizes only but if you don’t see your size please do contact your Tortue Consultant as it may be that one of our team has the item on our rails and could be just what you are looking for!
These Kate coated trousers are a slim fit with 29” inside leg. The detailed metal accents enhance their “Rock-chic” styling. With 5 pockets and a front zip with button fastening there are internal waist adjusters too to help you get the perfect fit.
We love to wear these trousers year round for travelling as they can simply be wiped clean if something is spilt on them during a bumpy journey!!
The Sleeveless zip up jumper in anthracite is another key layering piece perfect for replicating Claudia’s Traitors style. It features a high collar and asymmetrical zip with a straight fit to the body for a refined silhouette. If black isn’t your colour there is also a creamy/Taupe colourway too … if you are quick!
Both of these pieces will carry you through and pair with the first new two piece suit offerings from our City Pulse Collection which is freshly launching from the 5th January – more to come on that in another blog!!
For the story behind the Traitors themed shoot, Camelot Castle Hotel in Tintagel, Cornwall kindly agreed to host our photoshoot and we had a very early start to get our fabulous model Tara into make up with Mel at Blush Bude before travelling back to the hotel to get set up.
It was a pretty miserable weather day so the opportunity to shoot outside was extremely limited but we managed about 5 minutes of photos in the wind and rain at the end of the shoot with the dramatic backdrop of the coast and King Arthur’s Tintagel Castle islet in the background (home to the legend of the Knights of The Round Table and Merlin the Wizard). The weather was really atmospheric for our shoot helping us to get the feel of mystery and intrigue!
Inside the hotel, we set up for photos by one of the granite fireplaces, the beautiful stairway and the giant carved round wooden table itself, aiming to recreate some of Claudia’s classic poses and outfits from our current Tortue.uk collection (plus a few pieces of vintage Tortue pieces from previous years to pull the looks together).
We had so much fun and created quite a stir as the bits you don’t see in the photographs are all the Christmas trees and Christmas decorations that the hotel had already started putting up quite early in November! We were surrounded in twinkling fairy lights and loveliness and on the other side of the camera lens it felt like we were at Santa’s Grotto!
We captured some really iconic photographs (well – our fabulous Photographer Glen from Trethek Studio did) and between us all, we worked together to perfect the looks to bring you the Tortue Traitors collection and help you to recreate your own celebrity style from our fabulous Highlands Collection!
So my parting question to you is ….. Are you a “Faithful” to Tortue???
(If so, then look out for our City Pulse Collection launching 5th January !!)
…. Cue dramatic music, the sound of slowly stomping boots on a wood floor and an air of mystery & intrigue!..... after this sneaky peak pic!!!!
Angela x
