Our hometown and its best kept secrets....

As some of you may or may not know we are based along the south coast and although a lot of our work is in London, we are very lucky to be based in an area full of hidden fashion gems and gorgeous boutiques. The towns nearest to us including Bournemouth, Winchester and Salisbury are great for everything from high street to vintage shopping.

There are some great little fashion boutiques near us including one of our favourites Little London in Winchester, who also have stores in Chichester, Guildford and Tunbridge wells. They also have an online site so check them out at http://www.little-london.com/, where they have introduced some amazing Lucas Jack jewellery, like this stunning gold sandstone cuff which also comes in Royal Blue and Blue Chalc.

We also love Vintage Clobber, a vintage store in Bournemouth which some of the girls regularly visit to pick up some stunning one off pieces that have all of us talking the next day. We also use it to source great items for use in photoshoots. It’s a real place to have a rummage and you’re bound to find something great. Check out their website at http://vintageclobber.com/everyday_1.html.

As well as boutiques, we have some great high streets and shopping centres around. In Bournemouth there are some great shops including 3 department stores; Beales, House of Fraser and Debenhams. Beales Bournemouth was the first ever Beales to open and therefore has a wealth of history to it as well as a number of brands on sale. They have recently had a re-fit and now have a large MAC store with many talented make-up artists who also work at London Fashion Week. There is also Wesy Quay in Southampton which has around a hundred shops and Castlepoint near Bournemouth which boasts larger stores of many retailers.

But it’s not just the shopping that makes our area an exciting one to live in. There is so much going on in Bournemouth including a huge surf scene with the new surf reef being opened at Boscombe beach earlier this year as well as a huge amount of nightlife and a big burlesque scene, for example shows by our favourite local burlesque dancer Miss Cherry-Pop. The wealth of shops around Bournemouth cater to these interest with many shops selling surf gear such as Sorted surf shop on Boscombe front who also do surfing lessons.

Lastly, The Arts University College Bournemouth are improving every year and becoming a well known institute for Fashion design. This year their students won three awards and the work looked absolutely fab!

So if you thought that the south coast was a place for people to retire, think again.

Love Katie x

Style Inspiration...

Now more than ever, generations of women are dressing not only for themselves but for other women their girlfriends, we want our female friends to comment on and approve of the things that we wear. For this reason, there is now a huge amount of websites and blogs written by women who post daily or weekly photos of what they are wearing to perhaps gain approval but more than likely to give inspiration to other women who may not find it quite so easy to experiment within the world of fashion. We think that this is such a great phenomenon; it’s almost like unlimited people-watching from the comfort of your own home, what could be better? There are so many of these sites around so we thought we’d give you the low down on our favourite ones that us girls here in the office visit daily.

Karla Derass has a fashion sense which is simply sublime. Her blog, “Karla’s Closet”, is full of pictures of the amazing places that she visits and the just as amazing outfits that she wears. She is so sophisticated in the way that she dresses and the simple ways in which she accessorizes, and she has one of the most amazing collections of shoes that I have ever seen.

Karla is a great person to take inspiration from as it has become a trend now to over-accessorize yet she shows that you just need a pair of sunnies or a gorgeous clutch to make an outfit. Check out her blog at http://karlascloset.blogspot.com/.

Another of our fave websites is http://www.whatkatiewore.com/ which fairly obviously features daily photos of what Katie wears. She has a very different fashion sense to Karla but just as gorgeous and individual and perhaps more achievable to the average woman in terms of purse limitations. Her wardrobe features so many vintage pieces and she has such a fun and colourful style. The two images below are my favourite outfits that she has worn recently. She looks really classic and sophisticated in the vintage dress at the top and we absolutely love that gorgeous straw bag! However my favourite outfit that she has worn is this stunning silk Pringle dress (bottom image) teamed with bright red shoes and oversized accessories. The whole outfit is so cute and individual and we just love it!


There is so many great websites like these around so more to follow soon! Take inspiration from them and have a browse if you ever feel like you need a little bit of help with what to wear.

We’d love to see some of your favourite outfits via Twitter at www.twitter.com/4couture.

Love from Katie xx

Festival Dressing so far in 2010......

Okay so I know everyone is writing about the fashion at this year’s festivals, but here at 4couture.com we decided that we had to give some credit to some of the celebs who perhaps haven’t been praised as much as the usual suspects for their fashion efforts. Let me emphasize the word ‘effort’ as we have to make the point that none of these celebrities put their outfits together that morning as many like to make out. Anyway, here are our top 3 unsung festival fashion heroines so far this year...

Corine Bailey Rae looked so lovely backstage at Glastonbury, her playsuit was casual and simple but perfect for the occasion and combined with a cute pair of pumps and black-out sunglasses, she looks bang on trend but really laid back.

Jo Whiley went for a simpler look as well, sporting a feminine floral maxi. We love her studded bag but think maybe she could’ve given the outfit an edge with a matching studded but such as this one by HTC at http://www.net-a-porter.com/product/60878.



We also loved T4’s Jameela Jamil’s look this year at Glasto. It’s not easy to pull of short lace leggings and most people don’t do it well but Jameela shows that they can really make an outfit. The addition of the coloured scarf works well against the black and we love her trilby. Grab your own like this one on ASOS for only £15, http://tiny.cc/3n6ix.


We’ve praised 3 celebs who we think looked great at festivals so far this year, but it has to be said that as usual, not everyone got it right. Whoever styled The Saturdays onstage this year at the Isle of Wight festival didn’t do it well. Their outfits looked like a massive clash of colour which just didn’t work. The playsuit/boots combo could have worked but the patterns on the playsuits, designed by brand Traffic People, were too busy with so many of them together. We thought that the girls would have gone for an edgy, classic festival look which they often do quite well, but this year they just stood out for all the wrong reasons and in our opinion were miles behind the likes of Kate Moss and Florence Welch in the style stakes.


Let us know who you think has looked fab at the festivals so far this year and who’s failed to make the grade via Twitter at www.twitter.com/4couture.

Love Katie x

The Stars of Wimbledon.....

It seems as if someone has ordered the gorgeous weather just in time for Wimbledon this year, and as it is particularly hot, making the right outfit choices for the players essential. There’s always competition between designers about who’s going to get involved with Britain’s biggest tennis competition, but this year it’s the turn of Stella McCartney who has teamed up with names such as Nike and Adidas to create on court outfits for the tennis stars.

You can definitely say that Maria Sharapova has style both on and off the court. She’s a real icon in both the tennis and fashion worlds so you would expect nothing less of her at Wimbledon this year. McCartney teamed up with Nike this year to create Sharapova’s dress which features a layered skirt and cross over detail accross the back. The dress is really stunning and looks beautiful when she moves around the court.

Serena Williams is of course another player who loves to experiment with her outfits. This year, like Sharapova she’s sporting a Stella McCartney/Nike Dress, apparently inspired by the Wimbledon “strawberries and cream” tradition. The dress has a really flattering shape to it and the simple detailing makes it sophisticated. Serena also showed everyone that you can do sport with a perfect set of diamante encrusted nails. Of course Serena is always very glamorous, and until their recent split was always pictured with ex-boyfriend Common on the beach looking great!


But Nike is not the only brand that McCartney has teamed up with this year, she has also continued to work with Adidas, creating outfits for the likes of Britain’s Andy Murray and Laura Robson, and also Ana Ivanovic. This year Ivanovic has introduced leggings to her ensemble, which is perhaps a questionable choice considering the temperatures at Wimbledon this year. She still looks stylish although the outfit clearly didn’t help her as Ivanovic suffered a devastating first round defeat knocking her out of the competition.



Andy Murray is looking good this year and hopefully will go far in the competition. He always looks smart on the court but his style off the court perhaps could be improved. As such a massive inspiration to many young people all over the country, maybe he should follow in the footsteps of Roger Federer and step away from the everyday t-shirt and jeans combos....he is only 23 after all!

If you’re inspired by all of the sport going on at the moment and want to get active yourself, have a browse on www.net-a-porter.com who at the moment have most of Stella McCartney’s collection for Adidas on sale and there are some great bargains to be found for example this gorgeous playsuit which could double up as an outfit for the gym and a stylish option for a day out.

If you’re lucky enough to get to Wimbledon this year, make sure you take some piccies and let us know what you think of this year’s outfits!

Katie x