Welcome to October 2020.

Welcome to Zips It Up and welcome to the ‘second wave’.

It certainly looks like we’re in for a miserable Autumn and Winter as the Virus continues to spread bad vibes all over the place. Make sure you have a suplus supply of masks and here’s an early Xmas present idea for the man in your life. This is selling fast, so grab it now on eBay – £8.50. The Willy Face Mask will be sure to raise a smile on what is bound to be a rough Christmas this year. Full penis, testicals and grey pubic hair will surely go down a storm at the Tesco check-out.

Pretty much the only thing I’m looking forward to – NOT Christmas – is the US Presidential election, which looks like it’s going to be super entertaining, to say the least. Plus the return of Spitting Image. More about all that in the coming weeks.

As we say goodbye to Summer, we solemnly missed all of the ‘old normal’ closing parties in Ibiza and Mallorca, which didn’t happen – obviously. This time last year we were partying at Pikes, but its home town of San Antonio is in lockdown as we speak.

Pikes have instead left us with a parting seasonal surprise on their website.

The message was ‘although dancing was banned this year – we can still get our hands on the ultimate dancing shoes’ – and these beauties are to die for.

Pikes have collaborated with designer Terry De Havilland and created these beautiful ZIA rose gold & purple high shine disco platforms which have the flavour of Freddie’s infamous suite and Pamela’s shades of Pink restaurant, which I was lucky to visit this summer.

There’s 15% off for Pikes regulars if you visit their website. Alternatively, you can head to Terry’s official website where you’ll find the limited-edition platforms as well as lots of other fabulous footwear.

Pre-order now to guarantee yourself a pair. Release date is 16/10/2020.

Zia Pikes X Terry De Havilland

£325.00

Pre- Fully leather lined and leather sole. Exclusive Pikes x TdH packaging

www.terrydehavilland.com/product/zia-pikes-x-tdh/

Onto this week, and we have found a dress and mask all-in-one, the best items from the new H&M A/W 20 collection and why collagen is the answer to thinning hair.

YOU’D think that six months into the coronavirus crisis, we’d be used to wearing face masks – but in truth we’re always forgetting ours at home, whenever we leave the house.

Lottie Moss has the solution, as she was spotted in this £14 face mask dress in London last week.

And the best part is, you can pick up the genius dress for just £14 from Pretty Little Thing, via their website.

At first glance, the jersey dress looks like your standard autumnal roll neck knitted frock. But on closer inspection, it has loopholes for your ears as it stretches to cover your face.

• Long Sleeve Mask Bodycon Dress, £14 from PrettyLittleThing

While Lottie paired the frock with some chunky leather boots, the model featured on the website matched hers with heels for a socially distanced night out.

In other words, we never have to worry about leaving our masks at home again.  The second best thing to never having to wear masks again.

I must admit, I’m a bit sad to put away my summery pieces (although in reality, some might say “WHAT summer”). But actually, having looked at this week’s major new H&M autumn launch, I’m not that devastated.

Revealing the third drop from its AW20 Studio Collection, the high street fave has instantly made me excited for the new season. H&M have delivered cosy, fashion-forward knitwear with some seriously glitzy bits thrown in too (whether we get a Christmas this year or not).

There’s a mix of neutral, easy-wearing shades like creamy beige and wintery whites, along with punchy azures, beautiful blues and glistening greens. There’s also lots of crowd-pleasing black staples that form the backbone to the collection – culottes, blazers and skirts. Ideal if you want to mix in some colour but not go too full-on.

On the whole, the new collection feels very 70s David Bowie-esque, with its metallic shirts, wide-leg jeans and razzle-dazzle sequins, ideal for the festive season.  Even if that’s not on the cards this year, we reckon you’ll still find a way to wear them. The brown slim shirt and matching flares have sold out but trust me, I WILL hunt them down.

The tailored separates in the AW20 Studio drop have a more pared-down look to them, slouchier and oversized – perhaps a nod to our changing working wardrobe, where home has become the office.

This collection is for those that celebrate being oneself, above all else. Wear the bold earrings to work, try the lingerie-inspired dress over the red leather trousers, or layer with the deep V-neck dresses for a relaxed sexiness.

Here are my favourite pieces.

Voluminous Flounced Blouse, £69.99, H&M

Knitted Wool-Blend Cardigan, £69.99, H&M

Chunky-Knit Wool Jumper, £79.99, H&M

Sequined Dress, £119.99, H&M

Flounced Organza Blouse, £79.99, H&M

Glittery Shirt, £49.99, H&M

Rhinestone Clip Earrings, £24.99, H&M

Voluminous Cotton Shirt, £59.99, H&M

Much like retinol and hyaluronic acid, collagen is one of those skincare buzzwords  we see thrown around a lot – but it’s fair to say most people have no idea what exactly it is and what its benefits are.

What exactly is collagen?

Collagen is the most abundant protein [essential for building muscle] in the body. It’s a long, fibrous, structural protein [rope-like in appearance] that gives the skin strength and elasticity.

Often described as scaffolding for the skin, it acts like a trampoline providing a supportive base structure and giving us the ‘boiiing’ we need for bouncy, healthy-looking skin. Think plump, juicy skin.

With its fundamental face-perking credentials, it stands to the reason that beauty brands and consumers want a piece of the action, and skincare products promising to give our complexion added oomph via collagen are big business.

Whilst we’ve read about collagen’s benefits on our skin, it has now been revealed that collagen could be the secret to healthy hair post lockdown.

If lockdown – and a lack of hairstyling appointments – left you with thinning hair, first time greying and lacklustre ends, the following advice could come in handy.

1. Collagen may keep early greys at bay

People have ditched the home hair dyes and they’re not only looking for ways to disguise the grey hairs by opting for lowlights instead of all over dyes, they also want to keep them at bay. Collagen can act as an antioxidant to fight cell damage as studies suggest free radical damage to the cells that produce hair colour may be one of the reasons for early-greying. Other reasons could include stress, poor diet which may damage melanin producing cells, too.

2. Collagen could help rebuild hair from the inside out

Post-lockdown has meant most people’s locks are in desperate need of a restyle and treatment, as well as a good trim and/or restyle with a nourishing hair treatment, collagen will build hair from the inside out. Put simply, hair is primarily made up of the protein keratin. Your body uses several amino acids to build keratin, some of which can be found in collagen, so this could help keep hair healthy long after your cut.

3. Collagen could be the key to prevent hair-thinning

More and more people, due to the stress of lockdown, have complained about hair loss and hair thinning. As well as special shampoos and thickening sprays for a faux volume boost, regular trims to stop hair loss through splitting and a cleverly layered haircut – a collagen supplement could help. It makes up 70% of your skin and your scalp is an extension of that, a healthy scalp could mean less hair thinning. 

There are studies which show evidence that marine collagen in particular is most effective. This one is an ingestible liquid shot. Liquids absorb into the body far more effectively than pills and one 50ml shot contains the same amount of active ingredients as up to 15 pills.

Best collagen supplement for absorption

Kike Health Pure Marine Collagen Powder (200g), £29.95, Cult Beauty

This Collagen is Type 1, purified hydrolysed collagen, which means it’s easier to absorb than non-hydrolysed marine collagen. Just one serving provides 7,500mgs of high strength highly absorbable hydrolysed collagen to help supplement existing collagen.

The doctor-approved collagen supplement

Solgar Collagen Hyaluronic Acid Complex Tablets( 30 tablet ), £37.25, Cult Beauty

This is designed to nourish your skin from within thanks to high levels of collagen and hyaluronic acid. Added vitamin C contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress.

Best budget collagen supplement

The Beauty Chef Collagen Inner Beauty Boost (100ml), £9.00, Cult Beauty

A vegan elixir to plump the skin from within and nourish your gut so a double whammy. Packed with bio-fermented papaya and grapeseed extracts, added pomegranate peel extract, gotu kola, organic goji, acai and maqui berries, plus more vitamin C to support collagen production and zinc to support skin structure and healthy hair and nails, it packs a beauty punch.

Welcome to another instalment of Amanda Zips It Up.

So, Fashion week came and went without any fuss, buzz or much coverage, which is a crying shame.

Word on the street is that the new virtual, remote version of LFW could be here to stay, for the foreseeable future anyway.

Although there were still beautiful locations and catwalk shows, watching it online wasn’t nearly as exciting. I fear that we are entering a new era, with the hectic chaos of Fashion weeks around the world dumbed and digitalised right down.

I wonder if this will have a knock-on effect, in the absence of supermodels, celebrities on the front row and fashion magazines capturing everyone’s outfits for us to gossip about for weeks after the shows?

We shall see.

This week I am launching an exclusive competition to win this beautiful, brand-new star skater dress by Boo Hoo in size M – L.

It has boho sleeves, a tied -knotted neck line and hem-line sits just above the knee. It’s a UK size 14 but can be worn smaller if you re-tie the front.

All you have to do is answer this question:

In 2014, Kate Moss presented the best male solo award at The Brits wearing a very famous costume. Who originally owned this outfit?

In-box your answers to me via my Facebook page throughout the next week. I’ll announce the winner in next week’s blog.

Good luck.

Onto this week’s round-up of fashion, we check out the new Rolling Stones store in London, Fabulous new Uggs and is it time to start renting your children’s clothes?

London Fashion Week talent Molly Goddard, the designer famous for creating Killing Eve’s Villanelle’s frou-frou pink tulle gown, has designed a capsule collection for Californian footwear label UGG.

Known for her love of maximalist silhouettes and bold colour, Goddard has applied her frothy, fun aesthetic to three classic UGG styles; the classic boot, to which she added floral applique; the slipper, which she’s reworked in a hot pink fluff with pointy toe; and the platform, which now come in an array of bold hues – from apple green to magenta and fuchsia.

“We wanted to make something bold and colourful, to play with the UGG DNA,” said Molly Goddard, “Working with UGG gave me the opportunity to explore new fabrications and ways of working. The outcome is shoes that are wearable, fun, with a much-needed sense of humour and I think still very elegant!”

Founded in 1978 by an Australian surfer on the coast of California, UGG has in recent months seen its status elevated thanks to the launch of its Fluff Yeah slides which everybody from Gigi Hadid to Kylie Jenner has worn recently.

Goddard showed her SS21 collection via YouTube as part of London Fashion Week.

The Spring/Summer 2021 UGG x Molly Goddard collaboration will be available from March 2021.

Mick Jagger opens new clothes shop in swinging Soho

Mick Jagger is swapping the stage for the shop floor, with a new flagship in the heart of Soho, which opened this month. It’s a stone’s throw from the band’s old rehearsal space above a pub in Broadwick Street, and the former Marquee club, which was home to their early gigs.

Fans of Jagger’s style can now shop at RS No.9 Carnaby Street, situated at the street that its name suggests. The hip, hyper-modern space — chosen by Jagger because “I didn’t want to have it stuffed and look like a cheap T-shirt shop” — extends beyond your average band merch. There’s a core collection of limited-edition styles emblazoned with the exclusive 9 Stones branding plus a classic collection based on bestsellers and iconic graphics from previous world tours.

Stones Red — a newly christened official Pantone colour taken from the iconic logo first used on the inner sleeve of the Sticky Fingers album — gets its own line, spanning bomber jackets to Babygrows, whilst a collection of faux-shearling trimmed denim jackets and plaid over shirts will appeal to trend-hungry shoppers. There’s even a host of collaborations, with the tongue motif engraved onto cocktail glasses and splashed onto raincoats. 

On opening day, there were queues down Carnaby Street for what Mick’s flogging. There are some T-shirts I quite like and a couple of hoodies that I wouldn’t mind wearing. Oh, and there are face masks too, of course.

Could it be time to rent your children’s clothes?

2020 is the year when fashion rental went mainstream. But should childrenswear be next on your list to loan? And is it safe?

In 2020, our life is officially for rent. From houses and holiday homes to super yachts and sports cars, to bikes, watches, handbags, pets, clothes and wedding dresses, you name it. We are gradually divorcing from a fixation on ownership in favour of experiencing what we want, when we want it, then sending it back.

And today, luxury dress rental platform My Wardrobe HQ has added another category to the rental options available, with the launch of Europe’s first rental and resale marketplace for luxury childrenswear.

Responding to demand from its existing client base of fabulously dressed women, the platform has extended its high-end offering to children – or ‘little sharers’ as the brand coyly describes them.

Just as with its main womenswear rental business, tiny sharers can rent or buy a range of designer stock, not only from the current season, but also runway items, exclusive press or un-produced sample sets and capsule collections, from everyday clothing to smarter designer outfits for special occasions such as birthdays, christenings and weddings.

Stocking boys’ and girls’ clothing from 12 months to 12 years, the platform has launched with an array of chic childrenswear brands.

Not only does it make little financial sense to splurge a fortune on children’s clothes when they grow out of them within a matter of months, sharing kids clobber is also a sustainable solution to the issue of an estimated £140 million worth of clothing ending up in landfill annually in the UK alone.

So how does it work? Simply browse the site and choose the chic kiddie garms you wish to rent (hire periods are from 4 to 14 days), then once you’re done, return it using the free via pre-paid DPD return label and My Wardrobe take care of dry cleaning and ironing. There are also full refunds for any unworn items, and for anything you can’t bear to part with, there’s the option to buy your rental and keep it for life. The next step will be a monthly subscription service, where customers pay a monthly fee allowing a set number of outfit changes over that time.

For those with Covid-based hygiene fears, My Wardrobe assures that its Ozone cleaning system “kills bacteria and viruses so that every item is disinfected, sanitised and deodorised in between rentals, and leaves clothes in a state of medical grade cleanliness, making them safer than one would find garments when buying them from stores.”

Greetings everyone and welcome back to Zips It Up, after a week off.

We’re now in week 27 of ‘THE PANDEMIC / MADNESS’ and you’re lucky if you’ve managed to hold onto your sanity up to this point.  I’ve had a few ‘moments’ – at the slightest sneeze, I’m convinced I have ‘THE VIRUS’. 

On a week when the tabloids inform us that Brits have turned to booze during lockdown – and who can blame us – it seems like Men’s Fashion week has also been on the hard stuff.

Apparently, the hottest new look for men this Autumn is the McDonalds Manager’s uniform, complete with baseball cap and the ‘security guard’. Yes, really. Think bulky bomber jacket and brutal bovver boots.

Plus, since we’ve all been told to protect ourselves on public transport, these inflatable suits are the latest trend to keep guys safe and “on point” in the barking mad world of fashion, 2020.

All you guys have to do is wear a simple pair of Y-Fronts underneath, because as you can imagine, its hot in there.

The world has gone nuts. Bring me back to sanity soon, pleeeeease.

Onto this week’s issue and we discuss the top ten garments to make you look instantly attractive, how to pose for photos and look great, plus the Louis Vuitton facemask – guess how much?

Also, don’t miss next week’s instalment as I’ll be launching a competition to win a beautiful star print dress by BOO HOO.

10 Wardrobe Items That Instantly Make You More Attractive

A recent survey has revealed the items that guys (and girls) find most attractive on women. From the classic little black dress to an off-the-shoulder top, here’s a selection of clothing items that are considered “essential”. 

Little black dress

A wardrobe necessity. It’s ideal for both special occasions and casual wear, and bound to make you feel and look irresistible.

High heels

Every woman needs a pair of high heels for a special occasion. High heels elongate your body, improve your posture, and create an optical illusion of longer and slimmer legs.

Something red

There are certain key elements that accentuate the sensuality of a woman, and the colour red is the best of the bunch. Scientists say that women wearing red are the most attractive to men, even if it’s just red lipstick.

Bare shoulders

Nothing is more attractive than a pair of bare shoulders. Off-the-shoulder tops and dresses are super feminine — it’s a very sexy and womanly way of showing some skin, without over-revealing.

Bodycon dress

The line between being sensual and being vulgar is drawn by not showing everything at once. A tight bodycon dress does not require a low neckline or short skirt to give you a sexy look.

Leather jacket

A basic item that never goes out of style and gives you an aggressive-chic sassy touch.

Lace elements

It’s hard to find a material as alluring and versatile as lace. It can be sweet, flirty, or sexy, depending on the occasion and intention. Just a few lace details on your top can make you look more flirtatious.

Backless

It’s trendy, it’s sexy, it’s a must have.  Backless tops and dresses are an easy way of showing a little skin while keeping things classy.

Blue jeans and a white tank top

Sometimes the simplest things are the best. You’ll always look amazing in a classic mix of blue or black jeans and a plain white tee, and it’s something that just about all women have in their closet.

Sportswear

Many women feel anything but sexy when sweating in their workout clothes in a gym. But the truth is that men and women find a woman exercising in sportswear very attractive.