Your Wardrobe Mistress

With many years of styling high profile talent for red carpet appearances as well as for television programs and print editorial, wardrobe mistress extraordinaire, Annebelle van Tongeren is well placed to anticipate all your questions underneath the dress, outside it and all around the best accessories to truly make it work. Secrets from the inner world of the Wardrobe Department are yours to discover with Annebelle’s regular updates.

Annebelle’s gorgeous book, Dress Like A Star (Aurum Press) has been released in the UK and is of course available on our site. It is filled with everything a woman needs to know to look her absolute best and feel totally glamourous.

December
5th
2009

How to Look Good in Party Dresses

You can have the best shoes this side of Harvey Nics, maxxed out your credit card on a handbag sent straight from heaven and had every hair on your hair personally snipped, coloured and coiffed into perfection but if you don’t have the secret weapons to add the Va Voom into your killer frock, you may as well stay home.

Before dishing out precious words of advice on all the things you really need to wear on the inside, where it counts, please also know that if you intend dragging your hearts desire home after a few cocktails and a whirl around the dance floor you must have an appropriate stash of “ something more comfortable to slip into” ready to be used when you get home. Playful Promises’ Zodiac Panties or Hanro of Switzerland’s Satin Babydoll Nightdress are both classic fall back positions. Forewarned is forearmed after all.

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By Your Wardrobe Mistress

November
10th
2009

The Twelve Goddesses of Christmas

‘Ho-ho-ho’, needn’t turn in to ‘Ho-ho-holy cr**!!!!’ in the frenzied rush towards December 25th. This year’s best presents are easily found with a few mouse clicks on Everything Under The Dress. And best of all, these treats are delivered to you first, so that you do feel for a moment like you’re the one getting spoilt. Well, until you have to wrap them up and put them aside for your most treasured best friends, sisters, mothers, colleagues and clients anyway.

The twelve goddesses of Christmas are all women you know and love. And here is the personalized present list for each one.

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By Your Wardrobe Mistress

October
3rd
2009

Old Fashioned Girl

Lucky Londoners have the pleasure of the Frock Me! Memory Lane Retro Fair on 26th October at Chelsea. This treasure trove of fashion, accessories, furniture and collectibles is the new brainchild of the Frock Me! team who have been bringing the very popular vintage fairs to London for four fabulous years.

Vintage lovers, like me, who have scoured flea markets and thrift stores for half a lifetime, love the element of surprise that you can only get when you buy pre-loved treasures. Sometimes though, the surprises are not what you were expecting and more often than not, you have to work out if damaged or stained pieces are worth the trouble. For many, searching through piles of clothes is just too hard, but for those of us who have found pure gold amongst the rubble, the uncovering of retro fashion treats is addictive and actually quite straight forward.

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By Your Wardrobe Mistress

August
6th
2009

Tips and Tricks Guide

You would never have learnt these vital pieces of information at Brownies or Girl Guides, but they are essential to knowing how to avert disaster from a modern girl’s life.

Code red emergencies are definitely not what you need when you are trying to assume your position of fabulous, gorgeous, successful femme fatale, so read on for a this months save-the-day solutions to life’s little issues, a little useful information about Tapeits.

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By Your Wardrobe Mistress

June
3rd
2009

R is for Holidays

That tiny window in our long working year called ‘Summer Break’ is filled with such promise. A perfect tan, a perfect man, a perfect vacation wardrobe. There are four, rather than three Rs of Happy Holidays. The first is easy to get a handle on when you consider the simple concept of the perfect man you might meet on holidays. First of all let me explain that there is very little on offer by way of the perfect man, because this is Planet Earth. This R is for Reality Check. And it also applies to your suitcase.

Selecting your wardrobe needs to be directly related to the holiday you are intending to have. It’s a no-brainer. A fortnight with family doing family type activities presents a whole different suitcase than a week or two doing the resort lifestyle with Mr Clooney, who is in fact, the only perfect man. Honestly.

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By Your Wardrobe Mistress

April
15th
2009

Shoe Love

I have often pondered the concept that shoes are just like men. Some look great, but prove painful after being in the wardrobe a few days. Some make you feel glamorous. Some are just a little too comfortable and others are the ones your mother would like to see you in, but you just can’t bring yourself to try them on.

In my world as a stylist, I always advise shoe-confused clients to love a Pitt, a Clooney, a McConaughey and a Stanford Blatch. This little gang of four will take you through every dressing situation and leave you feeling confident that you couldn’t look better.

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By Your Wardrobe Mistress

February
4th
2009

Be mine, winter Valentine

Why would Cupid be so stupid?

Surely it would be better to have positioned Valentine’s Day right in the middle of summer, when we are at our most gorgeous? After months hiding in layers, staying away from impending blizzards and keeping our trusted Dr Lipp close at hand for chilly and dry winter lips, the idea of playing Vixen for February 14 can be a little overwhelming.

Be smart. Stay indoors. Plan your romantic tete a tete dinner at your place, so that you can get the upper hand on Cupid. Scent the dining room with Sultan de Saba candles in Oriental, Amber or Orange Blossom. The subdued lighting will cover a myriad of winter skin woes and the fragrance will set the mood for the intoxicating evening ahead. (more…)

By Your Wardrobe Mistress