Sample Sale

Our next sample sale is just around the corner. An ideal opportunity for you to get your hands on some fantastic designer bargains ready for the festive season. You might want to get some fabulous gifts or just treat yourself. We have a great line up including denim from designer heavyweights Ernest Sewn, Paige, City of Others(best jeans we've ever tried) and James Jeans. Knitwear from Net-a-Porter favourite Crumpet and celebrity fave Goat and great seperates courtesy of Ella Moss, Malene Birger, Nanette Lepore, Bruuns Bazaar, Velvet, Libelula and plenty of others!
It will be taking place in the Village Hall, High Street, Fletching, East Sussex. Opening from 10am through to 2pm. Once you worn yourself out shopping why not pop into the award winning gastro pub 'The Griffin Inn' opposite. Hope to see you there.

Get your Goat!

A new label for us this week is Goat. This British knitwear brand was launched ten years ago by Jane Lewis, to fill a gap in the market for stylish and classic knitwear. The quality is superb and all the pieces use their signature bold buttons. Over the past few seasons Goat has spread out into dresses and outer wear. Goat designs clothes that are luxurious andeffortlessly chic. The label has quickly gainedan enviable reputation for being bought by those‘in the know’ and has a cult celebrity following which includes Elle Macpherson, Sienna Miller,Keira Knightly, Jemima Khan, Erin O'Connor
and Gwyneth Paltrow. These pieces work with everything and we cannot rate them high enough. They are a real steal at lastchancewardrobe.com

Feeling guilty

This week has been very busy so far with the launch of our Denim Day, after the excitement we had a brainstorm about getting the word out about LCW. Now I usually enjoy these occasions as I have a lot to add to mix. We came up with some great ideas the most apparent one was for us all to work harder. None of this worried me , until I realised we had eaten 2 packs of treacle tarts, 1 Cadburys caramel bar(huge one) 1 packet of crisps and several cups of tea. The big problem being that you can count the number of participants on one hand! I may well be purchasing another pair of the City of Others jeans in a bigger size. If your not a jeans genie, try a pair of these on. I only where jeans as a last resort and look awful but this pair looks really good and other customers have been equally pleased. Give them a whirl!

Plenty going on

My, we have been busy ensuring you all get designer bargains. First up next Tuesday is denim day here at lastchancewardrobe.com . Lots of denim brands such as J Brand, Earnest Sewn, James jeans, City of Others, Paige and Anlo will be on the site at up to 70% off. You know we like to play fair here so we can tell you that none of the jeans are over £80 and we might even sneek in pair or two of Sevens or Citizens!!

Also its been a while since we held a sample sale so we have organised one for Nov 21st in Fletching village hall. Come along for a chance to get your mitts on some great pieces by Bruuns Bazaar, Malene Birger, Crumpet and new recruits Goat and Star Mela. The village hall is in the High Street opposite the award winning gastro pub 'The Griffin Inn' postcode TN22 3SS. Please email us for directions if you need them. We open the doors at 10am.

London Fashion Week

LCW went to London Fashion Week on Tuesday. It had a new venue of Somerset house , this and the fact it was celebrating it's 25th anniversary mean't that the atmosphere was at an all time high. We spent a lot of time just observing the comings and goings of the main courtyard(not strictly work but we were waiting for a meeting)and decided that there are various tribes that these fashionistas fell into. The avant garde fashionistas; we couldn't get close up enough to their badges to see their provenance! But these peeps wear the outlandish and crazy outfits. Examples include dresses from pipe-cleaners and suits with tutu's over the top, and thats just the men. None of these outfits will hit a catwalk anytime soon. 

 Most of the serious buyers that where there to do business wore shift dresses, jackets with big shoulders and black tights. Models were flashing their end of summer tans in biker boots and denim cut-offs. They looked seriously stunning! 

 Then there's a lot of young girls, interns, assistants and boutique owners daughters that wear at least 3 trends at once e.g over the knee stockings, platform sandals and shoulder pads plus bright make-up and a Chanel bag. You got to give it to them they can carry it off. Pretty much everyone has a Miu Miu or Chanel bag and incredible heels, though this created some difficultly walking across the cobbles. Not us, we were pre-warned by all the moaning on Twitter and wore flats! Which is just great when you get off the tube with a model and walk next to a her feeling like a short, round person!

Have made a note to self ; Must have big shiny black designer bag for next year!

Not all glamour

There is a lot going on in the world of fashion lately. New York Fashion Week, Fashion's Night out, the launch of Fashionair. You would be forgiven for thinking its a world of glamour and excitement, and for some lucky ones I'm sure it is. However here at LCW its been a bit different, a lot of last week was spent looking at designer goodies to bring to you. Unfortunately it was in a warehouse not very glamourous! and I don't think the boss is up to sending us to NYC just yet. Looking ahead we are off to London Fashion Week next week to chat up a couple of brands we have our eye on, that we want to bring your way!

Do expensive cheaply

Was at a LCW meeting in sunny London yesterday and afterwards went for wander round Oxford Str. I love the British high street but blimey, there's not much out there. You could take the fascias off the front and you wouldn't be able to tell them apart. They have all embraced the eighties trend and maybe its a bit too much. There wasn't much that appealed to a thirty something wannabe fashionista. Zara was better but I find their sizing a bit mean. I also found myself becoming quite tight when high street prices are £80 and the quality pretty poor. Thats when I decided once and for all I am not buying cheap poor quality clothes, its decent stuff all the way and that may mean more shopping at outlets and sample sales. All in the name of research!

P.s To prove my point snapped up this Farhi number when I got in the studio today. Hurry up only one left now.

Recessionista, Baby!

Big night out is only 3 sleeps away, and I have given in. I thought I was content and maybe smug at wearing a dress I already own. I may have mentioned something like 'I love all my pieces and want to wear them again and again'. Well, the gloves are off! Best Friend N02 has taken delivery of this little number from designer e-tailer My Wardrobe. Best Friend N03 is having a micro breakdown and bought approx 7 seven dresses , any one a possibility. Now I'm getting that urge to dress myself in something new, glitzy, tight and expensive. The last bit is clearly a no go and I'm on a mission to find a stunner on a budget, and so far no luck. It's never going to happen when you have a picture in your head. Its midnight blue(or black) strapless, tulip skirt, short and comes in at under £70. If you see it let me know! And don't tell me that because I work in a fashion company there's lots to choose from. I was considering the Erokritos silver skirt, but it won't do up and the Joseph number is a bit too pretty. The search must go on .....

Welcome

Hello, and welcome to our new blog 'off the rails'. Written by a member of the last chance team it will hopefully be a funny and sometimes cynical tale of a small fashion company in the sticks trying to make it big. Enjoy x

Overhaul needed

As the chances of a British summer recede even more, clothes loving people turn their attentions towards the Autumn/Winter season. This is for many the best season to plan and buy for. 

Even the thought of shorter days and colder nights doesn't dampen my shopping spirits. I have thought long and hard about what key items to add to my wardrobe. They must, like for most women, cover a multitude of roles.                                                                                                          

LCW is based in the wet, muddy countryside so heels and tulip skirts are ruled out for the day, more likely to be wellies and jeans. Not a look that easily translated into glamourous, but this is my challenge for Autumn 2009.  Having decided (and a few comments might have helped)that I really should make more effort to dress with, well, more effort! I am compiling a list of key pieces that my wardrobe needs, yes, needs! at the moment the list reads; brown flat knee high boots, make -up lesson, about 30 sessions with a personal trainer!

I'm in with a chance on the boots front and will be booking myself in for a MAC make up lesson. Once these are done I will eye up the Autumn stock going on the website on Aug 25th and take it from there. I'll keep you posted.

Not another one!

Another copy of a designer wonder. Balmain who is the designer du jour, favoured by the likes of Beyonce and Rhianna has caught the eye of man made fibre powerhouse Asda. As reported by Look magazine, Asda is releasing a £16.99 copy of the black and grey body con number. Now for some reason this really grates with me. Why? Well if I was a young , naive fashionista I would run to my local Asda(which in itself would be nothing short of a miracle as it 15 miles away!) I would search high and low and then stumble across said copy of designer number. It would be good enough quality and fit like a glove. I hand over a twenty and still have change for a pack of tights. No! it doesn't happen like this, said dress will only appear in London or really big stores and when I did stumble across it, it would be a huge disappointment. Never buy a high street copy , its the plasticy details and threads hanging everywhere that give the game away! It just won't feel special and luxurious. Don't do it.

A true icon

For last few days the worlds media have been going crazy with the news of the sad death of Michael Jackson 'The king of pop'. Aswell as listening to his superb music from his 'Thriller ' album we have have been musing on the passing of another icon.

Last week saw Farah Fawcett lose her battle with cancer and the the world lose a trully beautiful woman. Her image graced millions of teenage boys bedrooms in the seventies and her hairstyle copied by equally large numbers of young women. Still to this day, women get out the heated rollers to create the 'Fawcett Flick'. She stood out for being a stunning natural beauty. Her hair was just the right type of blonde never too highlighted, never too tanned and she always topped it off with a smile. It all seemed effortless, and yet things were not always a bed of roses for her. Farah was not afraid of being herself, when things weren't great she did show that maybe she wasn't coping but always managed to turn it around. This side of her endeared her to her fans, as was even more poignant as she made public her battle with cancer. She grew old graciously, a sight very rare in in today's over processed celebrity world. 

Sale Away!

Its started! Summer sales are on, click here for Grazia's comprehensive list of sales. Remember when shopping not to get carried away with anything lurid, spandex or just naff! If there is a rail of dresses in many colours and many sizes there is usually a reason why. Its probably cut badly and wouldn't look good on any one. Look for classic shapes, neutral colours or anything that could be worn next season. On my list for the sale season is

• Beige trenchcoat with belt, seen a gorgeous Joseph one
• Blazer, probably navy but would consider black
• Grey or black round neck shift dress seen stunning D&G one, won't be getting it!
• Black heels, no cut outs so can be worn in freezing winter
• Any other gorgeous things that happen to catch the eye!!

lastchancewardrobe.com will be having a summer sale but not yet! We will be going into Sale in late July and we'll let you know as soon as the date is confirmed. 

P.s Step away from the harem pants-there is a reason they are there!!

A day for ladies

Today is 'Ladies Day' at Royal Ascot where female racegoers put on their best frocks and top them off with hat. 

It took 6 weeks to make the chocolate flake hat, which was to celebrate the anniversary of the '99. There were some more sedate choices from the crowd.

 We loved Princess Beatrices choice, she is not a natural clothes horse and looked great and fashion's finest Luella Bartley oozed understated glamour. We are not jealous here at Last Chance HQ, sat inside taking part in a thrilling stocktake! Not much.

Glamour Awards 2009

Kylie walked away with Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 at the Glamour awards. She also won in the style stakes with a gorgeous but not over the top outfit. 

We have been pouring over the photos in Look magazine, of the gorgeous stars walking the red carpet at the Cannes film festival. Rachel Weisz gets our vote for looking stunning and natural, and feat hard to do in the film industry! We hope they know how lucky they are being able to get all dressed up and go the ball!

We have made it!

After a frantic last week we have finally launched our new website lastchancewardrobe.com. We will be bringing you an array of designer pieces sourced from designers and boutiques that we will be selling you at up to 80% off. The catch ? Well, there had to be one; the pieces are from past seasons and sizes may be limited. 

We are frantically working to get lots more of our gorgeous stock on the site and finish off the site. As with all good sales, this could be your Last Chance to get your hands on these fabulous clothes so snap them up while you can!