Demand for the L.L. Bean “duck boot” is through the roof, Olivia Wilde becomes the new face of H&M’s Conscious Exclusive line, a new and unexpected J.Crew collaboration, and more news from the fashion trenches this week.

• Demand for the L.L. Bean “duck boot”, made by hand in Maine, is through the roof with a waiting list of 60,000 people.
• Oliva Wilde is the new face of H&M’s latest Conscious Exclusive collection.
• These are the most searched for accessories, shoes, clothing, beauty products and top brands by the Polyvore community in 2014.
• The National Portrait Gallery plans a photo exhibition charting the life and career of Audrey Hepburn next year.
• The internet was abuzz with news about J.Crew’s newest collaboration: a collection of clothing, accessories and shoes for the brand’s junior line, Crewcuts, created by four-year old blogger Mayhem.

Fun Fashion Fact

From Alannah Weston, Creative Director at Selfridges, and Floriane de Saint Pierre, “recruitment mogul of the fashion industry”, to fashion photographer Inez van Lamsweerde, and actor and style icon Tilda Swinton, did you know you can read an in-depth profile of these and thirty-five other fascinating women on The Library page of British magazine The Gentlewoman.

This ensemble combines shades of red with shades of dark brown. Feel free to add a third accent colour, like teal, which I’ve done here. Or stick to red, brown and a neutral, like Winter white. 

There are many, many ways to combine red with brown successfully. I’ve started the ball rolling with three outfit ideas. One with blue denim, one with a red skirt, and one with brown trousers. Use solids and patterns as you wish. 

Red Sweater with Jeans & Brown Boots

Combine skinny jeans with a red item of knitwear and tall brown boots. If skinny jeans aren’t your thing, wear straight legs, flares or boyfriend jeans with short brown or animal print booties. Wear a brown belt to match the boots if you’re partially tucking the sweater. Add a teal, brown or red coat, and finish off the look with a brown or animal print bag. A brown beanie or newsboy hat is a fun and cosy finishing touch. 

Red Skirt with Brown Sweater & Faux Fur Vest

Combine a red skirt, tomato or burgundy, with a dark brown sweater in a silhouette that works with the skirt. I’ve chosen a pencil skirt, but a flared red skirt with a cropped brown sweater is another option. Top off the look with a faux fur vest or dark brown jacket. Add red or brown footwear that works with the skirt, and a teal tote. Or leave off the vest and add a burnt orange or teal scarf.

Brown Skinnies with Red Tunic & Scarf

Combine brown Ponte knit skinny pants or jeans with an oversized deep red tunic sweater. Add a scarf and bag in accent colours and finish off the look with sleek brown booties or slipper flats. Add the faux vest or a teal coat to top off the look. A red or brown coat works just as well. Add jewellery, eyewear and watch as desired. 

I’ll be wearing my new red cashmere pullover and old red coat with blue boyfriend jeans, cognac belt and booties next week. I can also wear blue relaxed skinnies tucked into dark brown mid-calf moto boots with the same red pullover, coat and dark brown studded belt. Now it’s your turn to get those creative juices flowing.

During the holiday season we come across articles with make-up tips for parties or gift suggestions for beauty products almost daily. The ones below caught my attention because their angle is a little different.

• Inside the Strangely Profitable World of Discontinued Beauty.
• Into The Gloss asks what it is about purchasing duty-free beauty products that is so very satisfying.
• The Guardian published an article about Women’s beauty products that every man needs to know about. A few days later they did a fun follow-up with Male readers reveal their favourite women’s beauty products.
• Refinery29 lists four of the best beauty products currently on Kickstarter.
• According to Fashionista “Korean beauty products were the breakout trend in beauty this year”. Here’s their list of 21 of the bestsellers in the U.S.
• If you’re looking for a new beauty blog to follow, then check out this roundup of Refinery29’s favourite blogs from around the globe. 

Fab Links from Our Members

Carole came across these tips for solving common shoe fit problems.

SarahTheWhite cannot get enough of Gwen Stefani’s style on “The Voice”. Sarah explains: “While so many of her looks are not ones I could (or would want to) pull off, the range of looks that she experiments with — clothing, makeup, shoes, accessories, hair — is broad and intense. The inspiration is limitless! In motion, on the show, her look ‘When Mod Meets Bardot’ was incredible. She looked soft and gorgeous.”

Alexandra enjoyed Janice’s musings about the “number” wardrobes and how they might work in real life.

We know that Marsala is the Pantone colour for 2015, but Joy wondered what the rest of the colours were. So she found this video with a fun description of each.

Dimity recommends this article about clothing during wartime, including comments on how to make a small wardrobe versatile.

Sally has super helpful space saving wardrobe storage tricks. Angie agrees that storing shoes “heel-out, heel-in” works especially well.

Laurinda reports that for-profit Savers thrift stores has been accused of misrepresenting what happens to donated items.

In fashion the idea of minimalism often gets tied to the idea of paring down the wardrobe to the “perfect” items. One is supposed to “curate” the wardrobe. This post describes the phenomenon and shows how tricky the search for perfection is and how little it really has to do with minimalism in its truest sense. Astrid loves Kali’s suggestion of replacing perfection with adequacy. 

Astrid also recommends this second post about the importance of objects in a simple life, and started a forum discussion about this topic with lots of food for thought.

You may have noticed that T-shirts and knitwear with words both on the front and back are gaining popularity. I don’t mean clothing that advertises the name of the label of the item, but rather other words that convey a mood, feeling, opinion, or action or just something funny. 

If you’d asked me ten years ago, I probably would have said that it was a look reserved for kids and teens. But over the years I’ve changed my mind. I have come to appreciate there may be emotion behind the slogan for the wearer. And I can see how the look itself can be incorporated into fashionable outfits. After all, our style is a form of self expression, and if the words on a top express how you feel, why not wear it? The effect looks modern and reflects our ever more casual lifestyles.  

Check out these street style shots of slogan tops in stylish action: 

• Combined with distressed jeans and a Chanel-esque support act.
• With a retro midi, heels and bling.
• With denim cut-offs, sneaks and tote.
• Combined with sequin skirt and fuchsia heels.
• Layering under a blazer with bib necklace.
• Layered under a blazer with a casual support act.
• Layered over a shirt like a sweater.
• With printed pants and a coat.
• With a beanie and varsity jacket.
• With camouflage pants, moto jacket and strappy sandals.
• Combined with a column of denim.

Tops with slogans do make a statement and attract attention. They invite people to look at your outfit and read the words on your top, so you have to decide whether you are okay with that. The look is more subtle with a topper layered over to make the slogan less obvious.

I have clients of all ages who wear these tops, although most of them prefer to layer them under toppers. Some will wear them unlayered in extra casual environments. I don’t have any myself, probably because I haven’t yet found a slogan that appeals to me. If I found one that pulled at my heartstrings, I would definitely try it on. 

Over to you. What’s your take on tops with slogans? Are they fun and expressive, or are they are cheesy, juvenile and overly eye-catching.