If like me, you are a mother to young children, it can sometimes be a challenge to look stylish and feel great in your clothes. There are numerous obstacles when it comes to looking good including tiredness, children wiping messy hands and faces over your clothes and the practicalities of wearing high heel shoees or skirts whilst chasing a toddler around the park. When it comes to being a stylish mummy, it is all about find practical clothes that look and feel great (and are easy to wash).

I always think a key item for the stylish mummy is a really nice coat and pair of boots. No matter what you have been wearing around the house all day and how much tomato sauce has been smeared over your clothes, you can always throw them on and look smart when you need to pop to the shop of pick the children up from school.

A really well fitting pair of jeans is also a great buy for any Mum. It is worth investing in a nice pair of jeans as you will probably live in them. They are just about the most practical item of clothing you can get. You can combine jeans with different tops for just about any occassion.

A big hand bag is also a must for the stylish mummy. Great for carting a whole host of baby and children accessories around with you including wetwipes, dummies and bottles. The large shopper style is ideal and will fit in just about everything you will  need (except the kitchen sink).

Remember, as a Mum it is important to take time to look after yourself. The better you feel, the happier your children will be.

This long style military coat is great for a busy mum to ultra stylish on the school run.

Assuming you have already decided what you will be wearing to your Christmas parties  this year, you will need to consider which assessories you will wear to finish the whole look off. Christmas is all about glitz and glamour, but don’t overdo it or you will look like a christmas tree. If you are wearing a simple dress, then you can afford to really go to town with the accessories. If your dress makes a statement on it’s own then choose low key accessories that will compliment it. Here are my favourite party accessories for Christmas 2008.

Nina Peter Lame Gloves

The  gloves - gloves are huge this year and are a great way to add style and sophistication to a party dress. Try wearing long black gloves with a black dress for a really elegant look or find some coloured gloves for an individual look.

Amethyst and Yellow Quartz Cocktail Rings 

The cocktail ring - This is one of my favourite accessories to wear at Christmas. Choose the biggest and sparkliest that you can find. A great way alternative to a necklace if your dress has a complicated or high neckline.

Jane Shilton Crystal Zip Top Clutch Bag Bronze

Clutch - Another great way to add sparkle to your Christmas party dress. This season the hottest cluches are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. If these micro clutches are not big enough to fit in the essentials, you can always opt for a slightly larger one.

Johnathan Aston 40 denier Opaque Tights

Tights - There are so many tights to choose from and they are a great way to update last years little black dress. Choose from sparkly, patterned and brightly coloured opaques.

Are you pear shaped? If you are, you are in good company. Research shows that pear shaped are actually in the majority in the UK. This may well suprise you, if you find that the UK high street does not really cater for your shape. Pear shape describes those that have wider hips and thighs and than bust. The key to looking great if you are pear shaped is balancing out the top and bottom  half of your body.

If you love wearing jeans, the best options for pears are either boot cut or wide legged both will help to create a balanced silhouette. Another good trick to use when getting dressed is to wear dark colours on your bottom half and brighter colours on top to draw the eyes upwards and away from your hips and thighs. Tops should fall at your waist as it draws attention to your narrowest part. There are many other tricks that you can try scoop neck tops widen your top half create balance as do horizontal stripes, ruffles and patterns.

These Seven For All Man Kind Boot Cut Jeans will look amazing on pear shaped ladies.

Grey is not a colour that I think much about or ever really look for when I am shopping, but for some reason it is a colour that I wear all of the time. I love grey for its versatility and whilst I love black, grey is a great alternative as it is not quite as harsh. Thers are varying differerent shades of grey from almost black, charcoal grey to silvery or pewter metallic greys. I love wearing them all, quite often all together.

I like to layer on different shades of grey and sometimes add accents of bright colours like shocking pink or juicy orange. Other days I like to combine grey with shiny black and silver accessories for an urban cool sort of look. Grey also looks great with this seasons gothic and grunge trends. You could try combining grey with other dark colours for a really relaxed and laidback look. Grey marl also looks great for work or sports wear. I love grey for day time and evenings. As much as I love bright colored patterned clothes, there are some days when only grey will do.

Dark grey looks great with purple. I love this dark grey demin wrap skirt.

This grey glass dress ring is great for adding a bit of sparkle to an all grey outfit.

picture from www.fashionunited.com

In the latest art fashion collaboration, Damien Hirst the infamous artist and marketeer is teaming up with Levi’s to launch a limited edition line of jeans and T shirts decorated with his art work. This will in fact be the second collaboration between Damien Hirst and Levi’s and will feature iconic Hirst imagery - butterflies, dots and skulls.

Levi’s jeans have had a long association with art, being worn by many artists including Pablo Picasso, Any Warhol and Damien Hirst himself. The idea of wearing art is no completely new Hirst was inspired in designing this collection by  a collection that Adrian Nyman made using Warhol’s art. The collection promises to be colourful, interesting and conversation provoking, as are all Damien’s creations. It is likely to be typical Damien Hirst and a bit like Marmite, you will either love it or hate it. I am reserving judgement until I get the opportunity to see a bit more of it.

If you prefer your Levi’s to be more traditional and classic, try these 572 standard fit, boot cut jeans.

pictures from www.nylonmag.com

I love accessorising expecially with Jewellery and I love Prada (who doesn’t) so I was quite excited to discover in Nylon Magazine that Prada is launching a line of costume jewellery.

The jewellery is cool , glamourous and ultra chic as would be expected. It is likely to be reasonably affordable so if you want to buy into the Prada look without breaking the bank then this is the way. The jewellery includes resin and Rhinestone necklaces which are completely different to everything I have ever seen. They are polished and luxurious but also great for every day wear. They would look equally good with a day dress or jeans and a cashmere jumper. This chunky and interesting costume jewellery would also look amazing with this seasons must have black polo neck jumper.

This Prada Sport Cashmere Jumper is perfect for accessorising with ultra trendy, chunky costume jewellery.

Since the whole credit crunch, recession thing started, I have read countless articles extolling the virtues of buying good quality basic clothes over lots of cheap high fashion, through away clothes. For the most part, I absolutely agree but there are times when only a bit of cheap high fashion will suffice.If you do decide to take the quality over quantity stance, which is probably also more environmentally friendly and ethical than the cheap high fashion option, you will need to ensure that you take really good care of your fashion investments, so that you get plenty of wear and your moneys worth out of them. If you really do get fed up with them, you can sell them second hand.I once invested a very gorgeous, soft and warm cashmere jumper which I loved wearing in the winter. I wore it constantly for 3 winters in a row. The forth winter, I got it out of my wardrobe to wear on a particularly cold day and to my horror, found a  moth hole the size of a 50p right in the front of it. I was devastated and couldn’t understand why despite cedar wood balls a moth had managed to nibble it. My advice to you, if you do choose to invest in cashmere is to go completely overboard with the cedar wood.

It is also very important to store you investment properly.  Choose nice hangers to hang items and if folding and storing use acid free tissue paper. Keep your investment spotlessly clean. If it is dry clean only get it regularly cleaned pointing out any stains/ marks to the dry cleaner in advance. If you do need to remove stains, there are some great tips on Fabric Link

I would definitely invest in this lovely boat neck cashmere jumper, but I would look after it better this time.

I love the way Rick Owens make a real statement with his grungy look that shouts “so what” with glamour. His designs and clothes are loved by rock stars and those that like to wear innovative designs and experiment with style. Owens is originally from California but now resides in Paris, where he is Creative Director for Revillon. He started studying fine art at Parsons School of Art but dropped out after doing a pattern cutting course and going to work for some local sportswear companies. He started his own company in 1994, which sold exclusively to Gallay in Los Angeles for 7 years before he moved to worldwide distribution in 2001.

Rick Owens is known for his black and leather designs. He became recognised on the fashion circuit when one of his distressed leather jackets was worn by Kate Moss in a shoot for Italian Vogue. He showed his first catwalk show at New York Fashion week in September 2002 and hasn’t looked back since. His clothes have been worn by Madonna and Courtney Love and were also worn by Emily Blunt on the film of ’the devil wears Prada’.  

Rick Owens has a shop in Palais Royal in Paris and recently opened another in in New York’s Tribeca both of which stock his furniture range, Lillies a range for a younger age group and his denim range called Dark Shadow. 

If, like me, you love the Avant Garde look  pioneered by Rick Owens, but don’t live near enough to New York or Paris to pop into one of his shops, you can find plenty of Rick Owen clothes online. My favourite is this long light weight cardigan.

I like to describe my own personal style as eclectic. To me this means I don’t really have a set style more a mish mash of everything that I like. One of the key elements of a eclectic style for me is contrast. Contrasting is a great way to combine to or more pieces that strictly speaking shouldn’t really go together, thereby creating something and unique, a look that nobody else does. The eclectic look has itself become a bit of a trend of late with fashionista’s gaining inspiration from fashion and style blogs like the immensely popular Style Bubble, to create a look which mixes up all sorts of factors. Here are some of my favourite ways to contrast:

• Colour - I’m not sure this needs any explanation.
• Age - Old vintage clothes with brand new clothes.
• Styles - for example gothic and military or floaty romantic and sharp tailoring
• Proportions - large volumous jacket and skinny jeans. This is not actually eclectic style as a fundamental rule of building a balance look.
• Designer and high street - a few key designer pieces mixed with some high street pieces will give you the designer cost but not as expensive.
• Classic and high fashion - I like to buy classic basics and top up with a few high fashion items each year.
• Fabrics and textures- Satin and faux fur, chiffon and leather, natural wool and high tec fabrics are all interesting combinations.
• Casual and formal - prom dresses and converse.

Contrasting clothes can take a bit of careful though, but if it works well the results can be spectacular.

Contrasting feminine white lace with leather at Temperley London Autumn winter 08/09 - picture from style.com

Contrasting casual wear and sequins at Sophie Hulme Autumn Winter 08 collection - picture from www.sophiehulme.com

For a great contrasting style, try this Made in Heaven Boy Scout Jacket and this Rose organic cotton dress

With all the fuss of  a recession, I have been reading up on credit crunch style this week and how to look great on a budget. Here are some of my favourite reads.

Holiday gift tips on a budget, The Budget Fashionista’s economic survival guide - The Budget Fashionista gives some great tips on how to survive Christmas with not much money. I just love this blog, it has so much great advice.

Save time and money with a checklist This great post fom Budget Babe has made me think carefully about how I aproach a shopping trip. Much better to research online and think carefully about it rather than just hitting the shops.

Christmas Party Season Dresses - The Rules - If you are looking to have a frugal christmas but still look great at your christmas parties, this post by cheap clothes rule is just what you need.

Are you addicted to bargain hunting? This post by Cute but Affordable will make you laugh - if you do it is probably because this is you. Take the test and find out.

A Closet Full of Wearable Clothes - this interesting article by Melissa Tossetti Editor/Publisher of  budgetsavvymag.com gives some great ideas on how to be a tight wad when it comes to new clothes but still look great.

 Frugal fashion: New Yorkers learn to look good for a lot less this article from the NY daily news shows how New Yorkers work that recessionista look.

My favourite frugal fashion  buy is this glamorous wrap dress in organic cotton. A wrap dress is a classic style that is really flattering and is unlikely to go out of fashion and the price is definitely frugal!