I am so happy to be able to post a picture of one of our beautiful customers, Linsey, and her new husband, George, on their wedding day.

Linsey looked truly stunning in her Anna Scholz cobalt blue full-length wrap dress and jacket. I just couldn't get over how perfectly it suited her. It's always a special joy when women choose to wear our clothes to be married in.

She was kind enough to remark:
'Thanks again for everything, it is SUCH a pleasure coming in to see you and the other ladies, shopping isn't the dreadful occurrence that it once was...'

Everyone at Emma Plus wish the happy couple health, wealth and happiness!

 
Hi Emma

Do you have any of the fab brand trousers in stock particularly the pull on ones?

 
Hi Maz!

Thanks for your enquiry....the truth is, we haven't had our Brand delivery in yet, but we are expecting it an any moment (is that the sound of the delivery van I hear as I type this?).

We do have a number of lovely trousers in stock, including some pull-on ones. If you live locally, I would recommend you come in (if you are able) to see what we have of the new range (there are some drop-dead gorgeous pieces in now).

I am happy to put a post on the blog when the Brand ones come in. I think there will be plenty of people wanting to know.

 
Hi Emma,

Does your autumn range include any lovely jumpers from `Simply'. I bought two of their jumper dresses last year and lived in them during the winter and they were fantastic - do you have anything similar this season?

Valerie

 
Hi Valerie!

Funny you should ask that...do you often find that you have a 'sixth sense'? We got some lovely Simply Dominique jumpers in today.

I will try to get a picture to show you, but in the meantime, I will describe them

They are quite long (actually, I think they are described as 'dresses'); they come in dark grey or cherry red, and they are in a very soft, quite lightweight knit.

The 'dress' (long jumper) has pockets, and gathers at the kneck, and there is a matching jacket (sold separately), with a lovely draped kneck and cuff detail.

There are even matching camis (in case you would rather put a jersey cami under the knitted jacket), and leggings....

 
Here is a little piccie of Jaq modelling the cherry-red jacket...

 
I was chatting to one of my customers this week, who surprised me by suggesting that she was, in her 50s, ‘too old’ to wear denim. It amazed me because this point of view was itself so long past its sell-by date!

As most people know, from the beginning of the 20th century, denim started out as a simple work-wear material, but at some point items made of this fabric started to take on a stylish image, and denim has, from then on, always lurked somewhere in the world of fashion.

Early on it was the fabric of youthful rebellion, with a hard edge. As the denim-clad James Dean famously said, ‘What am I rebelling against? What have you got?’

In those days, denim was for teenagers, and was an expression of a rejection of their parents’ smarter clothing aesthetic.

As the century went on, however, the spread of the denim look became wider and wider. There were the echoes of the manual work-wear look, with baggy dungarees and jeans, but there were also sophisticated disco-influenced designer denims, adorned with sequins, beads and embroidery. And there were stylish fashionable dresses that women-about-town were happy to be seen in, and soft and feminine chambray blouses.

Denim has so many advantages. It’s a strong, long lasting fabric, whose texture improves with wearing and washing. The colour flatters most skin tones. It is a natural fibre that breathes with the body and it is often seen as egalitarian and non-pretentious.

The denim look continued to mutate, and today is incredibly diverse. To take an example, we are now expecting a delivery of ‘jeggings’ a denim legging, from Anna Scholz. This is a real ‘fashion’ look: the ultimate take on the ‘skinny jean’, which is the perfect item to team with the ‘short dress/long top’ look.

Women come to us for wide leg jeans, classic-leg jeans, and every now and again we still have the bootleg shape (which is 'coming back' into fashion). We often do dark denim, washed denim, and coloured denim jeans. However, jeans are not by any means the beginning and end of the story for denim. As is now usual with denim, some of the new looks push the envelope into whole other areas.

For instance, in stock at the moment we have a wonderful Brand dress, (pictured) which, although it looks like denim, is actually made from Tencel, arguably a better fabric from which to construct such a garment, as it provides a flattering, cool fluidity.

But it is next season (Spring/Summer 11) that our denim looks really take off, and we have some fabulous items on order. We are expecting long shirts, with a gorgeous drape. We will have wide-leg trousers, and little soft denim dresses. We have ordered lovely long skirts and soft pleated jackets. Many of these items are not made from the classic ‘denim’, a cotton fabric that takes its name from Nimes, in France, where it originated. Some of them are Tensel, some Cupro, and much of it is linen. But the look is denim.

In the meanwhile, there have been technical advances in the classic cotton denim. New mixes of Lycra, which, by adding stretch, make denim so much more comfortable. The German range, Brand, has added their ‘sensitive’ fabric to denim; a new development, designed to provide a much cooler wear.

There are other advances, such as the innovation that LauRie, a Danish brand, has developed, with a clever tummy-support panel, which makes their ‘magic Slim’ jeans incredibly flattering to wear.

So next summer, there is going to be a riot of different denim looks erupting onto the fashion scene. With the exciting designs, diversity of styles and aesthetics, innovative fabrics, and clever ideas, there is something here for just about everyone.

I’ve already got this season’s Brand dress, and I will be buying into the lovely Verpass linen denim looks for next season. In particular, I am looking forward to seeing a gorgeous Verpass linen soft jacket, which I have my eye on. It’s stylish, flattering, unique and sophisticated, and, like much denim, will slip very comfortably in amongst the other looks in my wardrobe.

It’s probably not a garment a teenage rebel would want to wear: so much the better for that.

 
Denim! That reminds me, have you got any of those pull on Brand jeans I like in stock at the moment?

 
Hi Kim!

Thanks for your question...the Brand jeans are on order, and we are expecting them momentarily! They may well come in today.

We are also expecting the new 'Magic Slim' Jeans from LauRie in shortly, which we are quite excited about. I would certainly be very interested in your opinion of them...

I have put up a picture of Jaq and I on our way to a party on Saturday, given by a dear friend to mark his 50th birthday. Jaq and I felt resplendent in our Anna Scholz!

 
All sounds very exciting stock wise and what a swell couple of gals you look! The dresses are so nice on you and how clever of Jaq to have a necklace design that compliments the horsey print on the dress!

 
Thanks, Kim!

Yes, Jaq is indeed the accessories queen!

 
Hi Kim!

Really looking forward to seeing you this Saturday...the Anna Scholz tunic top is here (and put by for you), as are a number of other tops that Kim thought you would like.

I'm glad to report that nothing dreary has come in this season....

 
That's super!

 
Had a lovely time in the shop yesterday, lots of beautiful clothes it was very hard to choose which ones to buy! You have so many new things in store it was a real Aladdin’s cave. It was great to see some lower priced items too such as those Dominique trousers, they are ideal to mix and match with the more high end lines. The curved handles on the new design carrier bags are a big improvement, as you said they are more comfy to carry in the hand or arm. Like many others I now await the Brand jeans to arrive!

 
Hi Kim!

Thanks for your kind words....I think you are getting the measure of our modus operandi now! We rush around, serving our customers, showing off all our clothes and generally being very business-like...then, once all the customers have been served, and all the clothes tried on, out comes the tea and cake!

Our cake on Saturday was wonderful: supplied by one of our long-standing customers, Lisken, who had baked it in a charitable cause (so it was OK to eat it!).

I loved those leggings on you. The way they fit is very flattering. It just goes to show that you never know what is going to be a favourite buy until you get to try things on!

I look forward to your next visit (once the Brand has come in).

I have put in a random picture of Pickle, for no particular reason...

 
How are you all...I love the Personal Choice outfit...is it in now... I must come down..
Hope you are all well...we must do lunch.hear there is a new place called Cote not far awy
xxx kathy
you and jaq look great in your anna's

 
Hi Kathy!

We would love to see you!!! There are so many great places to have lunch a stone's throw from here!!!

If you like the look of the Personal Choice outfit on the (admittedly, not very good) photograph, you will love it in real life. It's just come into stock, and we have your size. The blue is gorgeous, and the swing-style jacket really does hang beautifully.

At the moment, we have had some fantastic things in. There has been a lovely knit dress (to wear over pants) with matching waistcoat from Verpass, in black, brown (I know you don't do brown!) and cranberry (pictured). In fact, we've had some wonderful knits in already, and we are getting more all the time.

One of my favourites is a kitten-soft cashmere swing jacket with matching cami, in a subtle black and taupe zebra print, from the German designer range, Sallie Sahne.

I do hope you are able to come down...it would be so great to catch up.

 
I came..I saw... I bought!
Ladies! get down to Emma's now... the autumn range is superb. The Personal Choice Black& Blue is to die for... and a fab 'chanel' jacket is equally great.
See you guys when my alterations are done... again,another fab service... I am thinking dinner- I am thinking you guys are great... and Jax , I do love your hair!

 
Hi Kathy!

I can't tell you how lovely it was to see you last week...or how good you looked!

It's always so refreshing to see you, and hear your views, particuarly on fashion, a subject upon which you really know your stuff!

I'm really looking forward to your next trip...and I'm definitely thinking dinner (but then, I'm always thinking dinner!)

 
Hi Emma & Jaq

I just had to drop you a line ('FINALLY' I hear you shout) to thank you for the 2 wonderful floaty tops and the absolutely stunning hatband that I bought from you recently. What a wonderful way to spend a few hours - thank you!

Needless to say, the hatband and top were a huge success at the wedding, worn with the lovely jade/turquoise wide leg trousers that I bought earlier in the year and a gorgeous turquoise swimming cossy to protect my modesty! Yes, believe it or not, I AM modest ;-)

Please ring me (as usual) if you get anything in that is 'me'.

Love to you both
Liz x

 
Hi Liz

Thank you for your post. You looked lovely in that outfit; I'm not surprised it went down well. I'm really glad you had it.

I will always think of you in turquoise... it really suits you!

Darker versions of this colour are the 'in' shades this autumn/winter, so I think you will love this season.

It's a very dangerous thing to ask us to phone you 'if' we get anything in that will suit you... expect to get called some time soon!

 
Hi
I see the AS A/W 2010 black label collection has been released so was wondering if you can recall whether you will be getting the print jersey cowl neck tunic in stock? I may well be tempted!

 
Hi Kim

Thanks for your post! I think this is a picture of the aforementioned cowl-neck top, and I can see why you would be interested in it!

We are still awaiting our latest Anna Scholz delivery, but it is due any moment now. We will call you when it has come in.

As you (and any regular readers of the blog) may well guess, because of the pitiful performance of my memory, I just couldn't tell you whether we have ordered this particular top, although it's very much the thing that we would normally look to have.

However, this doesn't matter unduly; I can usually order items in from Anna that you like the look of, so you can try them on in the store and decide whether they are 'you' or not. So even if it doesn't arrive in the next delivery, we would be happy to get you one in.

We should also be having some gorgeous Nanso tops in soon, that you may well be tempted by... it's a dangerous time of year!

 
Yes, that's the one! Thank you for taking the time to post the pic up, gorgeous isn't it. Fingers crossed you have it and you are right in saying having Nanso in stock is a dangerous time for me lol!

 
Hi Kim!

There's dangerous news aplenty! We've had in some fantastic Nanso tops, much of our Anna Scholz, and some gorgeous knits from the likes of Elena Grunert and Verpass (jacket pictured).

I will email you a selection of photographs....

 
Hi Emma and your wonderful assistant (whose name I forgot to ask!). I am the lady who came in wearing the Anna Scholz parka on Friday.
I was so impressed with the service, selection and suggestions and help and pleased with the bargains I bagged.
As I mentioned there is a make that used to be stocked in Selfridges (I remembered its not Scnadinavian, but Belgian) who made superb wide legged linen trousers and very long matching tops - can anyone remember what this make was called as I'd love to see it stocked in Emma Plus?
Thanks again for a great shop and I'll definitely be back.

 
Hi Sharon

Thank you so much for your post. I would be very interested to hear from any of our forum readers who may remember the range you mention. It sounds very good, and I would be interested in seeing if it is available for us to stock.

One of the functions of the forum (I hope) is for customers to have the ability to talk to one another about clothes, to recommend ranges and perhaps to help each other track down what they are looking for.

By the way, to me you are a real 'Anna Scholz' woman... you look gorgeous in the range!

 
I thought readers of the blog would be interested to see a piccie of Jaq and I on the Anna Scholz stand at our recent fashion show visit in Germany.

Jaq and I are on the right. On the left, you can see the Anna Scholz model, (also called Anna) wearing the lovely animal-print dress that I was raving about on a previous post!

Next to Anna on the left is the lovely Penny, who is always wonderful to see on the stand. We are all wearing next summer's samples (which we couldn't resist trying on), and feeling fabulous.

Resplendent in the centre of us girls, is the famous Darren, from Anna Scholz. He resisted the temptation to don an Anna Scholz dress!

 
I think you've been at the schnaps too much in Dusseldorf Emma. Anna Shcolz??

I am just starting to look at flights for a trip over in Sept/Oct. Is there anything coming in I should look out for?

Also will you be updating the web page soon? - I can't wait to see what's coming in.

NICOLA
PS Photo is a view taken for near our house this spring.

 
Hi Nicola

Thanks for pointing out my 'typo'... Anna Shcolz, very embarrassing! As you say, too much of the Schnaps... or should I say shcnaps! I have corrected it because I can't bear to leave it like that!

Thanks, also, for the lovely picture of your locale. It looks gorgeous.

This is a very exciting season, especially for knitwear lovers like you, Nicola! There are so many gorgeous knits to come in.

The look in general is soft, with long tops and either very wide trousers, or very narrow.

I've shown a little picture of a jersey set that I photographed when I bought it back in February. It is from Personal Choice collection, and is a gorgeous black jersey swing-style jacket with handkerchief hem, trimmed with royal blue, with matching blue cami and black trousers. I tried the sample on in the showroom and it was gorgeous.

Although (of course) we are still awaiting most of our autumn stock (including this set), we are getting deliveries every day. By the time you arrive in store, we will have so many lovely things to show you... it's a very exciting time of the year, especially if, like me, you love winter clothes!

 
Thanks Emma

The Personal Choice outfit looks great. Perhaps you could let me know when it comes in.

NICOLA

 
Hi Nicola

It's come in, and it is gorgeous... tell me if you would like me to save/send it for you...

(The blue is much stronger than the photograph suggests. It's a lovely, really deep royal blue.)

 
Having returned from my usual buying trip to Germany last weekend, and after a week’s holiday (a staycation in the best place to holiday I can think of... Brighton!), I am just turning over in my mind what I have learned about the Spring/Summer 2011 season.

The colours, the fabrics, the silhouettes, the detailing... does it all add up to a change in the aesthetic? Are we going to see a continuing of the trends enjoyed this summer, or are we going to veer off in a whole new direction? Have there been improvements, or are we in familiar territory? Most importantly, are we going to like what is coming through?

I always start with colour, which is the key to understanding any given season. When I was at Art College I shared a house with students from the Fashion and Textiles course. One of them was studying in the hope of getting a job in colour prediction. This is a very specialized field in fashion, which involves predicting the colours that are going to be adopted anything up to five years ahead.

The really fascinating thing about colour prediction is how it feeds into all aspects of fashion. For instance, if the colours that are coming through are bold and bright - like hot pink, set against orange and gold - the chances are that the aesthetic of the designers is going to be from cultures where these colours are prevalent. So there may be influences from South America and India, for example. The designers may gravitate towards the shapes, fabrics and intricate, ornate embellishments characteristic of those cultures.

By taking a quick peek at the colour palette of any given season, you can get clues to just about everything that's going on... So when I went into the fashion houses in Düsseldorf my first thought was of the new colours.

There has certainly been a sea-change in the colour palette for Spring/Summer 2011. The shades are cool and serene, sophisticated and neutral. We are seeing a lot of influence from the natural world... pebbly colours, with silver, taupe, steel, nude and aubergine. The prints are also echoing the natural world - with textures from the landscape and animal prints.

Usually when we see any kind of neutral palette, alarm bells begin to ring. Continental women look a million dollars in beige, but you really need that sun-kissed European hair and skin to look good in it - not to mention the warm Continental sun. And when British women see animal prints they tend to see ‘pub landlady’.

However, I have no such worries about the palette. The colours were softer, cooler and more sophisticated, and easier on the typical British complexion in the typical watery British sunlight. The animal prints are understated, and their subtlety would leave Bet Lynch perplexed!

The end result is a kind of luxe look. It’s expensive-looking... it’s grown up, sumptuous fashion. The key to this style (as ever, when the inspiration is the natural world) is texture. There are sandwashed silks and chambrays, metallised fabrics, and there was also a little bit of leather (unusual for a summer collection). This is going to be very popular, and these items are going to stand the test of time and will be worn for years to come.

The look is based on minimalism, luxury and sophistication. There is less embellishment: the fabrics are left to speak for themselves. In the main the ideas are from Western culture. There is almost an Art Deco philosophy.

The silhouettes are soft, and we are still talking about the ‘long top/short dress’, worn with narrow pants look. There are gorgeous long shirts (for heaven’s sake, if you buy nothing else during the Autumn/Winter 2010 and Spring/Summer 2011 seasons, please, please invest in a long shirt and a long jumper... If you miss the boat on these items, you will regret it, and have to wait years before they are available in stores again).

Luckily for the colour-junkies, there were still some brighter colours to be had, though. An honorable mention goes to Godske that had some lovely little silk chiffon dresses with drape detail in gorgeous blues and purples.

So what sticks out in my mind the most at this stage? Well, I have already written about the Anna Scholz collection (as ever, a triumph)... I was also blown away by Sallie Sahne - yet again. This German range (of which we are Britain’s only stockist, by the way) really caught the mood with a gorgeous collection mainlining on textures, fabric handles and finishes. We bought a beautiful metallised cami and jacket in pewter, which would take you anywhere, and just couldn’t resist the faux leather jacket (as soft as baby lambskin) and trousers in a steely taupe. We also shrieked with delight when we saw this wonderful little blazer with knot-detail at the shoulder (see picture above). Genius.