Louisa Simmonds

It took me a long time to find ‘my shop’ after I’d turned thirty, procreated and owned the muffin top to prove it.

You know what ‘your shop’ is, as a woman. It’s that shop that always designs the styles that work for your body and where they use the right fabric and a colour palette to compliment it.

It’s the shop you can usually rely on to find something you like even in those darkest moments of ‘not having anything to wear’.

Back in the UK, during the mumsy phase of my life when the kids were still small and I needed to be able to move quickly and conceal vomit, ‘my shop’ was Gap.

But it’s taken another decade for me to find ‘my shop’ in Australia. I had to adapt to the different style here. So used was I to dressing for warmth, polo necked jumpers and ski jackets were the most popular items in my wardrobe. And the style in Australia is less forgiving, because…well… you wear less. Country Road nearly gets there, as do Wish and Witchery, but I’ve wasted an inordinate amount of research time flitting from brand to brand, and never quite nailing down retail nirvana.

UNTIL NOW!

Check out SEED.

Seed has become my ‘safe zone’ in the mall. Not only does their range appease my OCD – because their designs focus on my safe colour palette of neutrals, black and white, (the only colours I really allow in my wardrobe without freaking the fuck out), but the clothes FEEL so good, the quality is dependable and the range extends from casual to formal, nightwear, shoes, babywear and accessories.

And they love faux animal print almost as much as I do. These are some funky shoes I bought to walk the Princess, (because wearing runners for anything other than exercise is just so downmarket….) and they’ve also got this gorgeous leopard print handbag in their range at the moment that I can’t wait to get my sweaty mitts on – although I may have to succumb to some sexual favours to find the money …

This is a top I bought before Christmas that is so versatile you can dress it up over a skirt for a more classic/corporate look, or down in the evening over skinnies or loose trousers. That loose fabric around the tummy is great for work after you’ve binged out on a massive lunch and paid the penalty of bloated baby belly.

Then there’s this little gem of a dress I bought to wear to a formal dinner in honour of my dad’s 70th in London next month (yes, I did say London, bee-atches!). Note the ingenius way the fabric hangs around the waist, hiding a multitude of chocolate sins – although I’ve since come to the conclusion that it’s probably on the short side for the tickers of those wrinky-dinks in the RAC Club. Instead, I rocked it at New Year’s Eve.

And they even do polo necked sweaters…I lived in this baggy jumper last winter.

But I’m gushing now and I’m not even getting paid for this free marketing.

Although the other great thing about Seed’s range is that they design for all shapes and sizes – both loose and tighter styles – and (for me) the sizing is spot on. A size 12 is a 12 and a size 16 is a 16, so there’s none of that ‘losing the will to live’ in the changing room, like in those shops designed for stick insects where you can struggle to pull your normal size over your head.

Check it out!

#fashion #seed #Women #style #middleage #womensclothing #Humor