Does my bum look 40 in this?

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Oh hello Christmas of comfort...

… heels - you can just do one.

This is the year when I embrace the flats. I am no longer teetering around on spindly heels at every opportunity - nope, I shall be the one dancing into the wee small hours in her flat, practical BUT gorgeous shoes.

As they truly can be gorgeous. As I am going to show you now.

That's not to say I'm going to throw the baby out with the bathwater and never don a stiletto again but with maxi skirts and dresses and wide leg trousers - these are a complete no brainer.

Not only do they look better than heels (in my personal opinion and yes, that's easy for me to say at 5ft10...), they are more comfortable and certainly more practical when you're on your feet for hours. For parties, for drinks, for the pub, for Christmas Day, for New Year and for every occasion in between.

Some reasonable numbers if you do just want them for the party season - these from ASOS.

ASOS DESIGN wide fit embellished shoes £28

ASOS Madagascar Embellished Mules £35

And THESE aren't in my size,... but could someone else please buy them as they're simply divine.

Kurt Geiger Peacock Feather Flats were £129 now £58

Lost ink Red Studded Mules were £30 now £21

Velvet at M&S for £19.50

Or in black - also £19.50

However upping the budget BUT it's so worth it as these will get worn way into next Summer too.

Princely Camel Embellished Shoe from Kurt Geiger £129

In the black again £129

And the fuchsia which are in the sale...

Princely Pink Rainbow Embellished Shoes from Kurt Geiger were £129 now £89

Velvet shoe porn at Kurt Geiger... now I have checked and you can wear these out of the house, they're not slippers slippers but I would probably avoid rain...

Velvet Slippers Floral Velvet were £99 now £69

Or in the Silver Tweed... oh HELLO! Now £69 were £99.

But fear not! I have found some shoes. These are like proverbial rocking horse poo - it's all about the mules don't you know and as someone who very much prefers a mule, I apprciate I am in the minority so I do find it surprising. Maybe not everyone does like a full shoe? (I think they do though...) So here are some suggestions.

These are amazing from Kurt Geiger.

Noa Black Embellished Shoes £59

Or... yes, call off the dogs, I have found the leopard print versions, again £59 from Miss KG at Kurt Geiger.

Jasmin Black Embellished Flats from Miss KG at Kurt Geiger were £69 now £34

Finishing with some leather ones from Kurt Geiger, now on offer - ideal before Christmas!

Kingley Multi-Coloured Embellished Shoes from Kurt Geiger were £129 now £69

And here I am in some outfits from this week... wearing flats. Admittedly they are trainers...

Top - H&M (current)
Trousers - M&S (current and back in stock in some sizes....)
Coat - Helene Berman & Anthropolgie (aw17 but available again this year here....)
Trainers - Russell & Bromley (men's gift from press day AW18)
Bag - Hill & Friends (gift 2yrs ago)
Jojo Glasses - Alexis Amor

So it appear that December is racing towards us at a race of knots. HOW? WHERE? Oh my lord, please tell me that I'm not the only person who is totally disorganised.... I am trying but there just seems to be so much. Dropping the balls all over the place, even my lists aren't helping me. Can someone just put a brake on December for a day or two?!

When all the best plans go awry,..

…. aka this blog post.

So for this month's edit of all that I am loving at M&S, I had planned to focus on party shoes. A couple of weeks ago, I did a shoot for M&S for an online Christmas campaign. Which was awesome but that's not the point here...

You may have noticed over the years that I am not a CHRISTMAS PARTY sort of girl. The thought of buying a party dress that I will wear for one occasion has never ever been something I've signed up to. I would love to say I was a conscious fashion shopper way before my time but no - just tight. I have never been able to stand seeing something in my wardrobe that I have worn once - and invariably is never the cheapest thing hanging there either.

So I've always tried to find something that gives a nod to the festive theme, whilst at the same time means I can wear it all year round. Which is why, you'll see in a month or so that the outfits I picked, are all items that I coincidentally own from M&S. Leather trousers, silk shirts, wool cropped trousers and a tux jacket.

But my one concession to a bit of sparkle is definitely shoe related. And they have some amazing shoes this season. Which I'm not going to show you today. SEE?? Best plans and all that.

As I got very VERY sidetracked whilst making my selection.

I'm blaming the weather. And the fact that we still have Halloween and Bonfire Night to come and so nope - no fancy shoes today (ok maybe a couple...)

These got in the way.

First up - this is the year I said I would get my legs out. And I have been sporting a leather skirt in the Indian Summer we've been having but since that feels like a lifetime ago, it's all about the tights today. To be fair, it's a lot easier to get your legs out when they're encased in the thickest of opaques.

A line Mini Skirt from M&S £35

To wear with this....

Wool Blend Colour Block Jumper from Autograph £59

Or this... my absolutely Autumn/Winter must have. I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Cashmere Polo Neck £89

With this draped over the shoulders maybe? Or just worn as an amazing coat. This is an investment coat, of that there is no doubt. But the feel of it - oh my LORD - you will have this forever.

Wool Rich Wrap Coat from Autograph £199

I also tried this on yesterday.,.. (see over on Insta stories and see what I mean about getting side tracked) - it's amazing for £12.50. But definitely take your usual size or even size down. It does come up very big. I would say the 12 was easily a size 14 (however having said that, I do have NOTHING in the bust area so maybe if you are more well endowed, it will fit you a lot better in your usual size!).

V Neck Short Sleeve T-shirt £12.50

I've also got my eye on these... I did order them but sized down like I normally do and they're SMALL! So take your usual *size* - even though the M&S version does come up bigger.. so I would normally take a 6 at M&S but I would need the 7 in these.

Lace up ankle boots £49.50

But then before they sell out, I thought I would do a quick round up of the awesome shoes.

These. THESE.

Stiletto Heel Embellished Court Shoes £39.50

Kitten Heel Slingback court shoes £19.50

Or total flats.

Velvet & Satin Flat Mules £19.50

Jewel Block Heel Slingback £19.50

Stiletto Heel High Cut Court Shoe £25

Or how about full on glitter.

Block Heel Jewel Slingback Shoe £35

However I'm finishing with THE best dress from M&S in forever. The pictures do not at all do this justice.

Animal Print Long Sleeve Skater Dress £69 - definitely take your usual size... it comes up on the large side.

But this is what I finally went for this month - a coat that I will wear for years. It's SO hard to find a coat that's dressy for when you need it to be but that works with black. And isn't a black coat. Of course it's horses for courses but this is the style that works best for me. I took the size 10 - it's perfectly sized undone and done up.

This is with the black cashmere polo neck and M&S trousers from last Winter. You really do need to give this a stroke in the flesh... I know that sounds random but trust me. Interestingly online, the reviews say that the belt loops are too high but I'm 5ft10 and they're just fine for me. Yes obviously in my ideal world I would like this longer but actually this length, for this season is perfect!

AND these trousers ARE going to be back. These were the amazing trousers from last Winter. These are the ones that I wore home (cunning..) from the shoot that we did for Christmas. I will let you know as soon as they're back in stock in the black and the navy.

Next month I shall be looking at more coats (I know this as I already have my eye on a couple of others that are out of this world - but also currently out of stock!) Watch this space.

This blog has been written as part of my monthly paid partnership with M&S. All views are my own and it is unedited.

My London Fashion Week

.. that you can actually wear now. London Fashion Week is amazing when it comes to getting ideas of what we will all be wearing next Spring Summer. It's also a chance to champion and remind ourselves how great and strong British Fashion is.

But to be able to see the designers who have diffusion ranges on the high street - well that's super interesting. This is the third time I've been invited by Debenhams to see their Designer's shows and we went to four this time round.

AND we dressed in current season outfits for each show, which are now available for AW instore in Debenhams. I attended the shows as part of a partnership with them but I wasn't asked to do a blog post. However I've had so many people ask for details of the outfits - most of them weren't actually yet in stock mid September, but now practically everything can be bought.

First up was the sublimely elegant Jasper Conran. We sat opposite Suggs and saw Darcey Bussell and Kristen Scott Thomas afterwards. Day. Made.

J by Jasper Conran Multicoloured diamond jacquard coat £130

J by Jasper Conran Navy Printed Jacquard Jacket £85

And the matching trousers £49

J by Jasper Conran Purple Suedette Jip Shoes were £59 now £47.20 (currently on 20% offer)

They also do these in a black patent which I think would be super useful and a fabulous change if you're not a fan of a stiletto.

But here I am in the purple...

Moving onto the Julien McDonald show..... we met the entire team of Strictly which was SUPERB!!!

Star by Julien McDonald Tuxedo Jacket £69

And then it was onto the Sunday and first up - Preen Thornton Bregazzi. Their show is my absolute favourite, as is their range for Debenhams, which is SUPERB.

Studio by Preen Red ruched dress £49

Red Suedette Biletto Faith Boots £59

Two other options I also had my eye on.

Studio by Preen Checked Midi Dress £79

Studio By Preen Wrap Dress £89

And then finally to the sublime Jenny Packham showroom. Simply the most stunning evening dresses ever.

Alas the boots aren't in stock yet.

No.1 Jenny Packham Dark Gold Natalia Satin Wrap Evening Dress was £159 now £129.20

So there we have the super brief story of my London Fashion Week(end). I say weekend as I did only do Saturday and Sunday.

In other news, I really wanted to apologise for not writing as much as I used to. Work in this crazy sphere, working with brands, has really taken off and I simply just don't have as much time as I used to. There is a lot of travelling and writing and shooting for other people, all of which is great but it does mean that I have significantly less time to focus on the blog. Not to mention having three children in three different schools, which has its own challenges (as in - life is INSANE!).

However in the next week, I definitely have more generic blog posts up my sleeve - we have blazers to look at, I have had requests for leather and coated trousers and skinnies, not to mention I still haven't done tote bags... Oversized knits have my name all over it, so I'm going to be looking at them too, along with some super interesting beauty blog posts.

There is ALWAYS something going on over on Instagram - may I suggest, if you're not signed up, it really is a great great place (and I'm the imaginatively titled Does My Bum Look 40 over there..)

Have a great weekend everyone!

And the leopard love continues..

.. with your best foot forward, as I've put together a much requested blog on leopard footwear.

Yes I'm pretty sure I do one of these every season (maybe more than once) but that's because these genuinely are the favourite boots in my wardrobe.

I personally am a fan of the boot tribute to the big cat but that's not to say that a pretty awesome pair of shoes aren't just as useful. And I've even found some loafers (although I'm sitting pretty in my plain ones - I'll stick to the boots, thank you very much).

These go with everything. I know that sounds bizarre but, at the risk of sounding like a stuck record, leopard is a neutral. The husband would totally disagree with me on this but - well, frankly on this point, I am confident in saying he's wrong (although not to his face.. his opinion is his own and it's just that - merely his opinion, absolutely nothing can put me off my leopard stride).

I have ones that I have had now for about three years. I did a podcast for The Telegraph today (I'll link to it tomorrow) and we were waxing lyrical about footwear for the transitional season. And whilst trainers got a mention, my top tip was a leopard print boot.

Office Aruba Leopard Boots £89

Hoxton Ankle Boots from Boden £140 E1N5 with 20% off.

Grey at Carvela.

Samantha leopard print boots from Carvela £179

However it's a toss up between these two as to which are my favourite...

Morty Leopard Point Ankle Boots from Topshop £79

Rye Boots from hush £220

Roseberry Heeled Boots from Boden £150 with 20% off

Lower at M&S

Wide Fit Kitten Heel V-Cut Shoe Boots in leopard from M&S £35 (I find if you size down another size within a wide fit at M&S, if you have a narrower foot, they're perfect).

Flat pointed Mary Janes from Boden

Evie Pointed Flats £98

Pointed flats at ASOS.

ASOS DESIGN Latch pointed flats £14

Although for a couple of pounds more, I think these are better.

Atom Leopard Pointed Flats from Topshop £19

Loafers from ASOS.

ASOS DESIGN Madeira flat shoes in leopard print £22

If you don't like completely flat then these are ideal.

Amelie Low Heel Ballerinas from Boden £98

Mules at ASOS.

RAID Nancy leopard mules £24,99

Then there are the trainers.... again from Boden (on fire with their leopard this season).

Hotchpotch Trainers from Boden £98 in the tan leopard

And then the snow leopard, again £98

And here I am today in my kitten heel boots. I can pretty guarantee if you invest in a pair, you will wonder how you ever lived without them.

Dress - Me+Em (gift ss18)
Bag - Anya Hindmarch from Bicester Village (ss17)
Boots - Tabitha Simmons (3yrs ago)

Had an amazing day today - breakfast at Petersham Nurseries in Covent Garden for the launch of the London Fashion Week Festival which runs from the 20-23 September. I shall be talking all things new season in the LUXE lounge on Thursday 22nd at 11am. Book your LUXE ticket here and use DMB10 for an extra 10% off. If you've never been, it's a truly great, great day out.

Would love to see you there! In your leopard shoes maybe?!

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Oh hello Christmas of comfort...

When all the best plans go awry,..

My London Fashion Week

And the leopard love continues..

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