SIGN TALK

Timpanys heard that pop-up retail shops contribute £2.1bn a year to the UK economy – and are growing faster than the retail industry as a whole…that’s why we got on board. We are working with The Perfect Pop up on various weekends through out the year all over the country…to spread the Timpany love!

The two top executives at Gucci have announced they are stepping down as the iconic luxury fashion house attempts to kickstart growth. Sales have continued to fall in the most recent quarter. 

Free - what a wonderful word!… Free-cycle, the clever, less stingy, eBay alternative. Where good and generous people country wide will just give you sofas, beds and wondrous other things. Granted I have never found anything I want, but still - how lovely of them. Latestfreestuff.co.uk borders on actually giving you stuff you WOULD like to have! Spotted on here just this morning - free pizza. Now...

Being in retail I have been thinking about Christmas since the summer! But I finally plucked up the courage and brought it up over Sunday lunch on the weekend. My question was posed to the men, because lets face it, the girls are easy. “What would you actually like to receive that costs under £25?” Q blank stares…under £25? Being realistic that is what I want to spend on a stocking filler. Lets...

Whooo the strawberries and cream season is upon us. Sitting on Henman Hill (sorry I haven’t quite got my head around Murray Mound), wandering from court to court and generally soaking up the wonderful ambiance of Wimbledon is a favourite summer pass time. But what to wear? If sunshines prevails I think that I will go for a wide brimmed sun hat and beautiful maxi dress. Elegant whilst...

Dating Etiquette and Dressing Usually dressing for work is a very quick affair, weigh myself to establish how skinny I am feeling. If the scales are on my side then it might be a pretty summer dress. However if after balancing one foot on and one foot off, the scales are still not in my favour, it’s usually jeans and a long top - well long enough to cover any lumps and bumps, and not the good...

Royal Ascot Races start next week and wouldn’t it be lovely if it was a more stiff upper lip British affair than a tottering and tarty disaster. I have to say I take quite a hardline approach on behaviour on these sorts of occasions and here is why…. As the event draws near I help lots of ladies create (as that is what they are “creations”) outfits. Often for months in advance they will start...

I don’t know about you, but I can some times get OUT OF CHOCTROL at Easter!…It is without doubt a case of one square of chocolate, leads to the whole bar, followed by yours and anyone else’s I can get my hands on! As I am normally rather regimented with my eating it got me interested as to why I seem to be unable to just STOP gobbling… …Well apparently it is because certain foods – such as ones...

The other day whilst at a dinner I was sat next to a gentleman, who after asking me what I did, proceeded to tell me he believed 3D printing will be the future of the retail industry. Leading the way in this at the moment seems to Michael Schmidt and architect Francis Bitoni who have recently unveiled the worlds first 3D dress worn by Dita Von Teese (see above). I have to say the idea of...

I am a black, white and blue girl….sometimes I leave my comfort zone to dip my toe in a monochrome pattern or two. With this in mind, imagine my surprise when at a recent collection I was faced with piles of Missoni and found myself considering purchasing a wildly patterned, multi coloured pair of wide leg trousers! Missoni is incredible like that…. don’t get me wrong…I can understand why men...

Ooooo I just had Lucinda pop in before closing….she is rather hot. There is no other way to describe her. Not the willowy, waspish, model type of sexy that women over the last ten years have tried to emulate and more often than not, lets face it, just by-pass to a state of hangry (hungry/angry). No, she is a honed and toned little gym bunny. The culmination of thirty years of seven day a week...

Whenever I plan an event…in this case the event just happens to be my wedding…I always like to take inspiration from historic fashion weeks. The mere fact that designers have to ‘whow’ an incredibly difficult audience season after season, year after year breeds such creativity and attention to detail. Today I am designing invitations and have thoroughly enjoyed perusing through some of the more...

After watching the Channel 4 Dispatches programme on beauty products I have actually starting paying more attention to what the ‘blurb’ on the packaging of all my expensive creams are saying. For example the programme explained that if a product mentions it is “anti ageing’ all that means is that it has to contain a bit of SPF…not that it is actually going to do anything to visually turn back the...

As a few of you might know by now – I am ENGAGED (TADAAA)… and as I keep telling everyone – it is no wonder there is a large trend in re-marrying – getting engaged is THE most fun!…So much Champagne, so many cards, flowers, parties and a constant hype around each stage of the planning process. One thing that almost every bride will have in common though is that she wants to be at her MOST...

Having owned and run a boutique in one of the most expensive counties in England for some time now, one is never short of hearing a few jaw droppingly naughty tales, hearing about the cosmetic procedures that are worth the pain and pocket pinching price as well as the best value designer finds from Alberta Ferretti, Louboutin to Wang. Hear all the shop talk here.