The 'CarrieMore Clip' for our arm candy!

This week we’re lusting after gorgeous gloves, and so should you! Get them before the snow comes, and before all the best ones sell out for Christmas.

Finally, gloves in the fashion world have made a big comeback this year, and we couldn’t be happier! Autumn/Winter 2013-14 designer collections showcased some beautiful gloves, most notably long, elbow length opera-like designs.

Many styles were purely for show, providing no warmth or waterproof factors though! Such as Chanel who featured a dressy pair of thin mesh type material gloves, and fingerless gloves with a smattering of studs and embellishment. Very biker chic! Talking of fingerless gloves, what about finger-gloves? We saw this different look at Alexander McQueen. These pearl encrusted gloves may look pretty but just aren’t practical enough for us!

Chanel gloves for Fall 2013-14

Designs which were stylish and warm were from Oscar De LaRenta – long leather styles in lovely jewel tones like emerald green and violet.

Oscar De La Renta gloves for Fall 2013

Celebrities love the glove-comeback too, recently Rihanna modelled a pair of racy Marc Jacobs leather fish net gloves, an equally erotic advert of Winona Rider has surfaced with her modelling a shiny patent leather of gloves for Michael Kors Fall 2013.

Rihanna for Marc Jacobs and Winona Rider for Michael Kors Fall 2013

Oooh which ones will CarrieMe choose this winter? What type of glove girl are you? Are you a classic black leather type or one who like to experiment with colour and texture?

Make sure to keep your favourite pair close by and at easy reach for when the weather is turns chilly! The problem is we carry loads of things around in our bags– extra layers to add or take off while out and about, a hat, scarf, umbrella, and so on… We definitely don’t want to be rummaging around in our bag for our luscious new pair of gloves we’ve just invested in! Do you agree? If so, the CarrieMore Clip is the solution - through creating more space inside the bag.

CarrieMore Clip

This handy little accessory is oh-so easy to use. By attaching the Clip chain around the outside handbag strap, and simply clipping our gloves to the accessory, keeping them secure, safe, and not overstuffing your bag. Ingenious! The CarrieMore clip also benefits us from keeping our bag contents dry, when we’re out in the rain and snow we don’t want to our gloves back inside our bag and ruin anything.

A simple, elegant little pocket sized design, this accessory is not clumsy or fussy. Created from a strong quality chrome-plated metal with a matt aluminium finish centre, coming in silver or bright pink!

Why not treat yourself to a CarrieMore clip this Christmas? Were sure your gorgeous new gloves will appreciate it. Each CarrieMore Clip comes in a black velvet drawstring pouch within a Gift Box and instructions.

To purchase please see http://www.carrieme.co.uk/cat_carriemore_clip.php

Will you benefit from Stella McCartney's scholarship opportunity at Central Saint Martins?

CarrieMe takes its hat off to Stella McCartney, who having just received her Honorary Fellowship from the University of Arts London, announced she will be funding a fashion scholarship for exceptional MA students at Central Saint Martins (CSM) - and as London is such a cosmopolitan city, its open to all nationalities, yeeeehhh!

Stella McCartney receiving her Honorary Fellowship from the University of Arts
London
www.fashion.telegraph.co.uk

As a 1995 CSM graduate, she describes her experience there as "life changing" - yet with UK university tuition fees going up dramatically, many young creative talents are unable to access it, so Stella is doing more than just talking about nurturing creative talent in Britain, she's literally putting her money where her mouth is... and is encouraging other fashion houses to do the same.

Stella McCartney
www.topnews.in

Stella McCartney label
www.sqau.re

More good news - the scholarship opportunity also includes a 1 year paid placement working at the Stella McCartney House - now that really is exciting, wish I could turn the clock back and apply to CSM course next year!

Alexander McQueen
www.stylemagazine.co.uk

Christopher Kane
www.gaurdian.co.uk

With such illustrious fellow CSM graduates as Alexander McQueen, Jimmy Choo and Christopher Kane, who will be the next to wow us?

Alexander McQueen launches the new Heroine handbag... and CarrieMe swoons

Ohhh the whole CarrieMe team is lusting after this new handbag - saw it at the weekend, it looks like Alexander McQueen is going to corner the market with its new timeless classic "Heroine".

Alexander McQueen "Heroine" handbag in black
www.fashion.telegraph.co.uk

Alexander McQueen Heroine in black crocodile
www.styleite.com

We love the envelope loop over the handles and the zip on the side, perfect place to place your CarrieMe finder for your mobile or keys... though the Heroine in Oxblood Suede starts at £1,345, the smart money will be on the crocodile version, a mere snip at £22,295!

Alexander McQueen Heroine in Oxblood Sued medium
www.fashion.telegraph.co.uk

Zoe Saldana with a medium-sized black Alexander McQueen Heroine
www.abeautyfeature.com

Ohhh fitting that the heroine of Avatar is spotted carrying one of the early pieces - wish I could trade places for 24 hours!

So what will Sara Burton and the company have in store for us all for Fashion Week coming in September?

Topshop announces NewGen winners ... who will be the next McQueen?

WOW, 13 new designers receive BFC NEWGEN sponsorship, supported by Topshop, to show at London Fashion Week in September 2012... we feature the top 3 who receive the Catwalk sponsorship:

NewGen line up
www.feathersfashion.wordpress.com

JW Anderson - good looking guy, plus great style!
SIGNATURES: “Things that can be borrowed from a man to a woman and from a woman to a man.”

JW Anderson's 2012 Spring Collection
BFC.com

Michael van der Ham - 
SIGNATURES: “I like to mismatch different references in each item of clothing. My autumn/winter 2009 collection is a juxtaposition of elements from different decades in fashion. I made each dress like a 3D collage of clashing colours, textures, weights of fabric and cut.”

Michael van der Ham - Summer 2012
www.michaelvanderham.com

Simone Rocha  - go watch the video on her site or this one on YouTube - love her style!  (sadly not techy enough to be able to show the video here!) 
SIGNATURES: “Modern and strong yet romantic.”

Simone Rocha Summer 2012
www.Vogue.com

CarrieMe loves Simona's romantic styles... which is your favourite?  

OBE for Duchess of Cambridge's favourite designer, Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen

Who hasn't heard of Sarah Burton, the Creative Director of Alexander McQueen, after all, she was responsible for that most famous dress: Kate Middleton’s wedding dress’s of course!

Kate Middleton in that famous dress by Sarah Burton 
www.thehollywoodgossip.com

Kate Middleton with her father on her wedding day
www.graziadaily.co.uk

In only her second year, Sarah is getting the recognition she deserves - Time nominated her as one of 100 Most Influential People in the World and the Queen gave her an OBE (Order of the British Empire), so 2012 is definitely a year she'll remember as well as 2011! 

Sarah Burton
www.garziadaily.co.uk

Some of my favourite Sarah Burton creations for the Duchess of Cambridge include this scarlet number one worn for the Jubilee Flotilla:

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge 
www.fashionscanner.onsugar.com

And later that weekend, this nude lace dress which looks so good on her:

Duchess of Cambridge at St. Paul's Cathedral
www.cocoperez.com

Not to forget some of our other very British stars - Kate Winslet and Emma Hill (Mulbery’s Creative Director) were also honoured, receiveing a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) for their contribution to the British film and fashion industry. 

Kate Winslet
www.graziadaily.co.uk

Emma Hill at Mulberry
www.graziadaily.co.uk

. 

This is definitely a year to be proud of being British - who will be the new stars this year?

The best handbags are in London!

Did you know that it wasn't until the 1920s that handbags really came into their own.  At this time, they were a symbol for female independence - a woman with a handbag could travel without a man, carrying her own things, which was a revolutionary concept in those days... as don't forget, women used to be considered the property of men, thank goodness things have moved on!  

The Italians and French brands such as Prada, Gucci and Chanel dominated the handbags market at this time, but now, it seems its in Britain where we can find the best handbags, especially in London.

Alexander McQueen, Mulberry, Lulu Guinness, Anya Hindmarsh and Burberry are leading trend setters and some of most important handbag brands around at the moment.

Lulu Guinness always plays on the fun quirkiness of being girly - we love her clutch bags, her use of recycled ideas like the old camera design and the flash sunglasses giving the bag her own personality!

These 2 examples of Anya Hindmarsh's current collection, show how she experiments with different materials and colours to create beautiful designs for different occasions... I'm definitely coveting this red bag!

But of course Burberry are queen's of the statement bag, and check out their new designs above with colour blocking.

As for Mulberry, we're loving this green pastel tote - bring on the summer it says to me!

As for McQueen, their handbags are very stylish, feminine, and chic!  This is a real knuckle duster ... and yet the designs also include these textured clutches and fold over zipped versions that look like hot pants with the fold down magnetic flaps and zippers.  Pure imagination!

So which would you pick for a night out?

London - the new No1 fashion hot spot

It’s been tough living in London of late, I don’t want to dwell on why, so its good to see that our trendy fashion scene has been recognised and has improved our global rankings.

London Fashion Week (London Evening Standard)

Global Language Monitor’s recent study that revealed London as the No 1 fashion hot spot, beating New York, Paris, Milan and somewhat surprisingly, Los Angeles came in 5^th.  The rankings were calculated by tracking trends in print and social media.

There were two keys reason behind London’s rise to the top, and I’m a huge admirer of both. 

Firstly Kate Middleton (now the Duchess of Cambridge) has developed into a fashion superstar overnight.

The new Duchess of Cambridge (Daily Mail)

Pure elegance (Daily Mail)

Over 3m people were glued to the royal “I do” … as I tweeted earlier this week, people have gone crazy about her wedding dress designed by Emma Burton, with the Peacocks copy selling out in just one hour!

...and ever since, everyone is commenting on her elegant style.

The second major influence was the late Alexander McQueen – a fashion legend.  

Alexander McQueen (TeamPeterStigter)

Alexander McQueen (TeamPeterStigter)

His quirky unique use of shape, texture and colour was inspirational and captured my imagination and the whole world.  Although he died under tragic circumstances, his name and brand live on and like all great artists, his work will always be an inspiration to young fashion designers.

Being based in the heart of London and working in fashion, I’m so delighted and proud of this news that I’ll be publishing a new blog in 12 parts during the year, which will highlight London fashion hot spots, so watch this space!

And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get all the latest fashion updates.