Warehouse Blog

JUMPSUITS: A STYLE LEAP WE LOVE

                                     
                     

Photos @ Rex Features. From left to right: Fearne Cotton & Rachel Weiz; and bottom centre: Maggie Gyllenhaal

Calling all fashion junkies! If you haven’t done so already, then get yourself a jumpsuit pronto: fashion editors everywhere are predicting it to be the biggest style statement of 2009, even taking over from the LBD and trouser suit. With its glamorous, Studio 54 era vibe, not to mention the endorsement of style icons Fearne Cotton, Rachel Weiz and the kookily glam Maggie Gyllenhaal, it’s a case of jump to it or risk total fashion exclusion.

Check out our wide-leg camisole top jumpsuit, a look that's a more moderate, daywear take on Maggie Gyllenhaal's flared catsuit (see picture). For an exotic oriental take, see our dove-grey satin jumpsuit with mandarin collar and sash tie– a fashion forward NYE look if ever we saw one – and for an on trend choice that’s also kind to the environment, our strapless black recycled silk jumpsuit with too-cool-for-school harem trouser legs (the shape of the new season)is the ticket.

                                 

                                                                                                       

 

Cowboy Boots Comeback!

From left: Marilyn Monroe @ Rex Features; Cowboy boots The Warehouse way; Brooke Shields @ Rex Features; Fearne Cotton @ Rex Features

'Cowboy boots: cool' is a divided subject. Fashion editors aplenty insist that cowboy boots on anyone other than a genuine rancher, are a great big NO.

They have a point: think of them as ‘fashion items’ and you get Mischa Barton between stylists, Madonna, Britney, Joss Stone et al having a country moment in hotpants and tasselled bras - fine on stage, but to traipse down high street in, uh-uhh, no way sister!

Thing is, they made a few surprise appearances on the spring/summer 09 catwalks, and we must concede that they really do look great when worn in the right, early Brooke Shields kinda way. That being (in our opinion - it is subjective after all) with respect for their origins and so kept casual with jeans, a cute shirt, tomboyish styling and a wholesome fresh face. The notable exception is, of course, Marilyn Monroe, who pulls off the cowboy boot and high waist hotpant look as only the greatest pinup of all time can.   

         

 

 

The office Christmas party: Do's & Don'ts

If ever there was a social dilemma, it’s the office Christmas party. It's occasion for you to see your boss as a human, to feign friendship with the girl that's had it in for you from the start and to generally strike that delicate balance of knowing how to have a good time without overdoing it. Trouble is, inhibitions tend to fly out the window in direct correlation to the flow of liquor. But fear not, we've enlisted the wisdom of seasoned reveller, Grazia's Stefan Lindemann, to guide you through the quicksand.

Do’s:

1. Do show up. It’s the courteous thing to do and good manners are always in vogue.
2. Do dress to feel your best. The nature of the event/venue will dictate how far you push it – that new taffeta mini dress you so love ‘ain’t going to fit in down the dogs, but for cocktails or dinner and dancing, it’s on the money. 
3. Do talk to your colleagues about life outside of work. You’re bound to have some common interest and it’ll keep you from sinking into wine fuelled work bitchery.
4. Do compliment your boss and colleagues’ appearances. Keep to specifics though, such as how they’ve done their hair or their totally covetable new shoe-boots / tuxedo jacket. ‘You look amazing’, might trip glibly off the tongue as you sink that 2^nd glass of champagne, but it won’t necessarily sound genuine.
5. Do have a sense of humour. Themed dress codes and group activities will usually become quite enjoyable if you realise you’re all in it together and can laugh at yourself. 
   

Stefan's top party looks: Neck-tie jacket; Armoury dress; chunky shoe-boot; sequin scarf; Moir dress.

Don'ts:

1. Don’t ignore the food. Even if the majority of the budget has been spent on pre-dinner fizz, and the food is forgettable, eat up. See the warning note below*
2. Don’t reveal too much, be it flesh or feeling. Buttock grazing skirts and plunge-to-the-waist necklines scream wardrobe malfunction quicker than you can say Britney Spears. While 'fessing up to anything you'd automatically keep schtum over when sober, is a BAD, BAD move.
3. Don’t lose track of your belongings. Mislaying your new season bow-tie coat, clutch bag with keys, phone etc greatly improves your chances of waking up in the wrong place the next day. Also see warning note below*.
4. Don’t spend the whole night in girly cliques in the loo. You might be innocently reapplying your makeup, but it’ll look like you’re gossiping - or worse.
5. Don’t forget to have fun. A sequinned dress being a surefire way to get you in the mood.  

 

More party pleasers: longerline tux jacket; waistcoat tulip dress; Emerald dress; Moc croc clutch. 

Style obsession: The Waterfall Trench

If we had to choose just one garment that has remained untouchably stylish over the last century, which looks as good on a man as it does a woman, and which exudes power, sex appeal and elegance in equal part, it’s the trenchcoat.

Think Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, a rain-soaked Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Keanu Reeves in The Matrix and every film noir hero/heroine (or villain/villainess) ever known and you’re there. With its dramatic waterfall flourish, Warehouse has put a timely spin (ruffles are a defining trend both now and for next season) on this unfalteringly stylish garment.

                 

                    

To buy The Waterfall Trench, click on image!

Belle for leather

Yes, it’s the ultimate emblem of rebellious cool, but if you thought the leather jacket was mercifully untouched by fashion because of this, think again. A quick memory jog to the cringe-fest that was Posh ‘n’ Becks’ identikit black leathers – Vic unzipped hers to reveal ‘a tasteful’ peak of enhanced cleavage -  worn to a Versace bash back in ’99 should cure you of this common misperception for good. Right, now we’re done with the bad leather jacket cleansing bit, it’s time to introduce some positive imagery…

 

Photos: David & Victoria Beckham; Anne Hathaway; Winona Ryder; all at Rex Images

 

Winona Ryder:

Worn over a long, gothic black dress, with her porcelain skin & blood red lips, Winona Ryder works the leather biker like only a hot, vintage slasher movie babe can.

                                        

 

Anne Hathaway

Her former fiancé got locked up and suddenly the butter-wouldn’t-melt Ms Hathaway has dropped several dress sizes, got herself a hip new wardrobe and has been racking up the style points. We’re not going to call her ‘edgy’, at least not yet, but this biker jacket atop peachy ballerina dress look is kickass cool.

                                          

Behind the scenes: Dress Up

THE BRIEF

To create a fashion video to promote the Christmas party season that is so pulsing with energy and inspiration, viewers are literally compelled to pull on their glad rags (i.e. head straight to Warehouse and buy the latest) and rock out.

THE CONCEPT

What else does a girl do with all those gorgeous party dresses, sequinned boleros and bejewelled shrugs in the pre-Christmas razzle than have a turbo charged try-on session with her gal pals before heading off into the night? Sometimes the getting ready part is the best bit…

BACKGROUND

Fashion film is a rapidly growing concept. Everyone from the luxury fashion house to the avant-garde style publication is turning their hand to it and its popularity is enormous. Quite simply, film breathes life into clothes and makes the lifestyle (hot boyfriend, successful career, exquisite beauty) they promise all the more real.

THE PROCESS

Rather than merely film the dressing up ritual, we decided on an old technique (circa 1920) made modern: Stop Motion. This is an animation made from thousands of chopped up and repositioned photographs. The benefit of this technique is that it produces a sort of elegant jauntiness – the video equivalent of David Bowie if you will – that is frankly darn cool to look at. As Dress Up photographer, John Lindquist puts it:

“Stop motion is an extremely exciting medium. It allows the fast paced world of fashion to catch up with the even faster paced world of technology and the results are incredible; it’s still being discovered, so there are no rules!” 

 Click here to watch Dress Up

THE TEAM:

Photography: John Lindquist @ Rachel Elliston Represents

Video Editor: Lise Lavallee

Stylist: Beth Fenton @ Smile Too

Hair: Christian Woods

Make-up: Natsumi Watanabe @ Caren agency

Behind the scenes Videographer: Andrew Gilbert

Models: Valentine @ Premier, Stacy Martin @ Premier, Lucie @ IMG

Music: Prototypes

Gloved Up

Photos: Rex Features (from left to right: Mena Suvari; Dita Von Teese; Sophia Loren)

They’re pretty handy at protecting your mitts, but above and beyond mere common sense function, gloves are age-old symbols of wealth, status and seduction – ‘6 Ways to Remove a Glove’ being a Burlesque act we'd actually have a bash at.

Forgoing (reluctantly) the full length lecture in clothing history – though we must slip in that Queen Elizabeth 1st is the woman widely attributed with turning gloves into fashion items; her particular penchant being for the full-length, bejewelled variety – we thought we’d leave you with a few more modern examples of why we love the glove…

                                                

Dublin flagship VIP launch party

Wednesday November 5th 2008 Warehouse celebrated the opening of its latest (and by all accounts pretty darn impressive) flagship store set in the heart of Dublin. OK, we're blowing our own trumpet some, but when 'a humble little soiree' ends up with blanket coverage in the papers the next day (Daily Mail, Express, Sun, Mirror, The Independent, Irish issues) we feel we're entitled to gloat!

Defying all credit crunch misery, the launch party was as glam as it gets with local celebrities pitching up in droves – Irish TV lovelies, Laura Woods, Sinead Desmond, Colette Fitzpatrick and Elaine Crowley made a grand entrance, while the former Miss World, Rosanna Davison, lit up the place with her mega watt smile and gorgeous Warehouse sequinned shift dress.

We spotted a number of partygoers looking simply stunning in the latest pieces from the Gloss and Spotlight collections.

Pictures(clockwise from left to right): Warehouse's Lorraine Pringle & Helen Marshall; Jennifer Maguire; the new shopfront; former Miss Ireland Blathnaid McKenna; Rosanna Davison.

Cocktails courtesy of West Coast Cooler and shape-throwing music aside the overall reception couldn’t have been better: all and sundry loved the bigger store space with its light, airy feeling.

Press photographs: Hair and make-up courtesy of Brown Sugar, Dublin's premier beauty academy

Anything sequinned got a huge thumbs up as did the studded armoury range (nifty club wear looks with studwork and metallic detailing), knitwear, tailoring and the showpiece prom dress – proof we’re all little princesses at heart. The only downside brought to our attention was that the store was rather too close to where most of our guests work, making spontaneous lunchtime shopping rather too easy!

If you live in Dublin or happen to be visiting, click here to find details of our new flagship store, South King Street (next to the Gaiety theatre), Dublin.

Pictures (clockwise from left to right): Colette Fitzpatrick, Sinead Desmon & Elaine Crowley;store interior; Sophie Harris, Chairman of Mosaic Fashions Ireland, Ian Galvin & Warehouse's Lorraine Pringle.

Brit of Alright

Brit revival is in full swing and this week’s Street Style star proves the old style adage of less is more when it comes to pulling off tartan. Her coat might be fashionably oversize, but she keeps it from being too on-trend (yes, there is such a thing oh thee cherished style disciples) by the rest of her look, which is sharp, but refined – a slick of electric blue nail polish is her only concession to decoration. Exercise your own sharp style with the following items…

   

Warehouse, Westfield

Thursday 30th October 2008. The long awaited Westfiled shopping centre in London's White City finally opened and with it one of our proudest Warehouse stores to date. Never ones to miss out on the action we headed down there to see how we were faring amongst the 270+ other stores. To say it was buzzing would be an understatement and recession gloom seemed all but left behind. So, to share a little of our contribution to this shopping Mecca, we've posted some snapshots along with a few not unpleasant pieces of feedback.

"Great store, really inspiring, but also warm and inviting"

"Beautiful window display and good thematic layout of clothes in store" "Stunning windows"

"Dresses, dresses, dresses I have to have now!" "Some really cool, directional pieces!"

The LBDs were rockin'...

For more details on Warehouse Westfield, other new stores and to use our store locator click the following link

http://www.warehouse.co.uk/fcp/content/store-opening/content