May your Days be Merry and Bright – What have you bought your Mum this Yuletide ?

728x90_CMTM_BannerOK then, its Mum’s turn to give you guys a couple of helpful hints on what to buy one, if not THE most important lady in your life. Remember, your mum looks after you 365 days a year and we don’t get a lot of opportunities to show our appreciation for this most wonderful of creations, so follows these simple gift ideas, which should suit every budget.

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We love these Faux Fox fur slipper sox from Joules – Mums expect to get slippers at Christmas and these wont disappoint.

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The perfect combination to help your Mum to set the festive mood with these gorgeous scented candles that capture the essence of Christmas and create a festive atmosphere from Diptyque. Pomander: Reminiscent of a Christmas orange, sprinkled with cloves and cinnamon. Feu de Bois: This sophisticated blend of rare woods recalls the crackling of an open fire. Warm and familiar during the winter days and Opopanax: Extracted from the bush of Persia, the resin is captivating and enigmatic by the warm vanilla undertones

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Keep Mum cosy in this British designed Beige Rainbow Stripe hot water bottle from the Row Pinto Collection in 100% Lambswool from Liberty London.

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The Tuscan Sun Cashmere Scarf at Banana Republic – will brighten up even the most Wintery day and bring a little ray of sunshine that will delight Mum.

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This is a glamorous and warm Dressing Gown from Marks and Spencer for lounging around over the Christmas holidays and you can wait on Mum for a change.

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Blow her away with this hairdryer by hairdresser extraordinaire Nicky Clark at next.com

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For Mums with a sophisticated sweet tooth try Cocoa Boutique’s Best of the Best Selection. Chocolate tasting experience. Includes award winning 3 star Passion Fruit, Salted Caramels and, hand finished treats from Artisan chocolatiers John Beard and Catherine Bracegirdle which brings together pralines, fruits, caramels and cheeky alcoholic truffles.

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This Mesh Rondal necklace incorporates links and chains to create a piece that is light and wearable. In rhodium plated sterling silver or gold plated rings of delicately wrapped mesh from tateossian.co.uk

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No Mistletoe required – Getting Office Party Attire Spot on

250x250_CMTM_BannerThis Friday night is, that night of the year, some see it as the most dreaded night on the calendar, whilst others count the days down from last years one. Yes, if you work in an Office environment the likelihood is you’ll  be heading off to your annual office party. Making an impact at this event is all too important, be too gregarious and your seen as not being professional. Staying quite and keeping yourself to yourself, your seen as being standoffish and not a leader of people. Plus not attending is not an option as then your seen as. not a committed member of staff, who sees himself as better then the rest and you can kiss goodbye to that promotion or pay rise.

If you feel you need a little more advise to avoid the minefield that is the Office Christmas Party take a look at this link from last year when we covered the do’s & don’ts etiquette of this nightmarish event.

Now to ensure you look your best for the big bash, we’ve selected  an outfit to cover each scenario that could possibly cover the Partay, we really are too good to you guys.

The casual Office event

So it might be a meal, drinks down the pub but essential quite an informal setting, where you don’t wanna rock up looking like you’ve made a real effort and overdressed for the occasion.

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This is a winning choice from Barbour, as it shows your entering into the spirit of the Yuletide without going all out Christmas Jumper extravaganza.
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I know I’ve said this before but its an absolute staple, the Black Shirt, this one from Marks & Spencer, is a great all rounder. If the Christmas do takes a turn and you wanna take it onto a club or somewhere a little more upmarket you can whip the jumper off and it gives a completely different look to your outfit without having to go home and change. Plus if  you pair this with.
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A pair of chinos, my advise is keep the look simple you don’t wanna look like one of Santa’s lil helpers in your fair isle knit and red or green chinos so stay traditional. These are a great example from Ben Sherman and the reason for Chinos over jeans is simple, it gives you more options. Alot of establishments, particularly at this time of year aren’t welcoming of lads wearing jeans so do yourself a favour and make sure your night doesn’t come to and abrupt and early end.
Screen Shot 2013-12-10 at 20.43.26Finish this look off with the highly versatile Finton from Grenson,  these lil lovelies can pretty much be worn with anything, they will see you through so many different occasions over the years. Not only timeless, they can be dressed up or down and still look great.

The Semi-casual event

Now this is when your boss is flashing the cash and has hired a venue for the Annual shindig, whether it be hotel, hall or even if its not been such a great year, pushed all the desks and chairs to the walls to make a dance floor and some room for Sharon from accounts Boyfriend Mark to show what he’s worth on the decks.

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This is a great look that sends out all the right messages, from yeah, I’ve made just the right amount of a effort, to Ohh yes I know how to put an outfit together effortlessly. This herringbone jacket and waistcoat combo can be bought as separates but also include a pair of trousers all from NEXT.

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These are a great pair of jeans from Oliver Spencer, Comfortable fit on the waist, front and back rise and a regular fit on the leg Dark Indigo Denim plus great value for money and will look great with this jacket and waistcoat.

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I’ve gone for a Chambray Oxford style shirt from Joules, rather then a white shirt as this can sometimes look too formal and you can easily smarten this look up with a navy tie and a pocket square. Plus it goes really well with the grey herringbone.

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Once again I’ve kept the outfit simple and finished it off with a classic pair of shoes, this time with Brogues from Oliver Sweeney. You want to keep things simple so there’s less for you to worry about and if you know you look good this will help with your confidence on the night. This look strikes a real balance and shows that you know what you’re doing.

 

The Formal event

So here you have it the final in the options for the Christmas Party looks to impress. The formal event, this is often when you have to attend a ball style function. Now once again you need to strike a balance of looking good, looking confident and standing out form the crowd for all the right reasons.

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Now this is a tuxedo that ticks all of those boxes from Banana Republic, you’re making a statement by going Navy rather then traditional black but at the same time looking totally dapper.

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You’ve made your statement with the Navy tux so you need to keep the rest of the look classic and sober. This is a brilliant dress shirt from the French brand Ami, which does does that, understated yet chic.

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Its all in the detail and this classic with a twist Black bow tie from TOPMAN finishes of this look perfectly, its just a little smaller then the traditional bow ties.

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These are a great dress shoes from Ted Baker and aren’t too traditional so you can easily wear these on other occasions with jeans.

So whatever your Christmas party follow these tips and it should hold you in fine fettle so you can hold your head high come Monday Morning.

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All I want for Christmas – The Best of the best Christmas Jumpers

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Next Friday, yes thats right, Friday 13th, its Christmas Jumper day where by you paying £1 for the “privilege” you can wear a Christmas jumper of your very own choice. Now to assist you in making the right selection and ensuring your participation in partaking in this worthwhile cause, we’ve done the detective work so you don’t have to. Just so you know Christmas Jumpers are big business these days with many retailers recording sales in record numbers with, many styles ALREADY sold out ! Take a little look at the below gallery which should have something for everyone’s taste, maybe.

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I’ve gone with this to kick us off, from the highly questionable, but a lot of fun, funkychristmasjumpers.co.uk. Yes you can wear matching Christmas jumpers, if you so wish. This unbelievably successful website, stocks both his and hers, so come the big day you can be totally co-ordinating !!!!

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We’ve turned the dial round a bit and toned it down with this knit from Superdry available from House of Fraser. A Fairisle jumper isn’t just for Christmas and you won’t feel out of place wearing it at any point during the year.

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Whether your spending the Yuletide in Aspen or Ardwick, this Ralph Lauren Seasonal knit will have you looking your best, whether your on the slopes or slopping off for a little cat nap to escape the eating, drinking and making merry.

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This fine piece of festive knitwear must surely win the prize of most Christmassay of Christmas Jumpers ! And the winning brand is………. (drum roll please). None other then blinking New Look, for the love of old St Nick.

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Another tasteful lil number and from another American stylish Powerhouse, this time Tommy Hilfiger but exclusively for a very British Retailer in John Lewis.

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Keeping in the vein of tasteful is this example from Banana Republic, which strikes the perfect balance of Festive without being OTT and ensures this knit won’t be languishing in the back of your wardrobe for another 364 more days.

Screen Shot 2013-12-03 at 21.45.57Right so lets turn that dial up to 10 on the Christmas Richter Scale. You’ll get the point with this Holly Jumper from River Island so make sure your not being prickly come the season to be jolly.

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Some might say I’m finishing on a bit of a Turkey, but hell not me !  This Turkey of a jumper, in the best possible way, by Joules, needs no trimmings.

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The Crown Joules – Joules

Screen Shot 2013-10-28 at 21.36.32I first came across the brand Joules, whilst away with the Outlaws a couple of years ago in Padstow in Cornwall and was completely unaware that they even produced Menswear until a few years later when I attended aPress day for them and was completely bowled over to see their Mens Apparel. This is a family run business in EVERY sense of the word and there is some family, or friend, connection with pretty much everyone who works for Joules.This comes across so very clearly whenever you meet someone from  the brand and they discuss it with such passion and understanding.

Screen Shot 2013-10-28 at 21.37.29Joules was literally established in the fields of Great Britain or more specifically in Leicestershire and it today still has strong roots in the small rural town of Market Harborough, where the very first shop and head office are based. Following in his father’s footsteps, Tom Joule began selling country clobber at equestrian and country events across Britain, more than three decades ago. Quality was a foundation element in the formation of the brand and is never compromised and its promised that it will never be sacrificed for price. The feel of the fabric, the detail, linings and fit have all been given a huge amount of attention to deliver the best product. Bringing that countryside state of mind to the City.

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For Winter 13, Joules have clearly takes inspiration from the Prince of Wales, Edward VIII and his iconic wardrobe; focusing on the traditional and regal styling of a British Heritage wardrobe whilst bringing them to life with an injection of rich and royal colours. Multi fabrication and reinforcement detailing on outerwear and brushed- wool shirting in over checks give this story the traditional country twist.

COMPETITION TIME

If you fancy channeling your inner Country Gent without looking out of place on the City streets, then now’s you chance, as we have teamed up with Joules to offer one lucky winner the chance to win the following key outfit from the Joules Winter 2013 Collection !!!! We are offering the Windsted French navy jacket, Whitfield Navy stripe shirt and the Stretton French navy Chinos and all you have to do is sign up to Clothes-Make-the-Man.com from now until midnight (GMT) on 1st November 2013, YES IT’S THAT EASY, I PROMISE

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*PLEASE NOTE the above items are available in sizes 30, 32, 34, 36,38 or small-XXL