Trend Guide Autumn/Winter 2013

I have been browsing through August's edition of Vogue and discovered that we might be old gels living in the middle of nowhere but we are still bang on trend - ticking lots of boxes this season!

A Rose Bouquet

'From the palest petal pinks to dusky damask hues ....an overtly feminine and flattering palette....rose tones offer a beautiful spin on autumn's pre-eminent trend: The new womanly allure'
At Artichoke this autumn you will find dusky pink knitwear from CPM & Marble as well as Lilac & Pale Pink Gilets from Grenouille.

WOMAN'S realm

'The autumn/winter collections were a paean to elegance and womanly charms....boasting hour glass curves ...only real women need apply' Dont we do this 24/7/365? For the second winter in succession we will be stocking Marble knitwear with a strong 50's feel.

The SQUARE ROUTE

'Last season's strict monochrome prints give way to softer, colour drenched checks for autumn ....breathing new life into trad tartans' Wait until you see our Alice Collins Jackets.

Moody BLOOMS

'Lush blooms in overripe hues' just about sums up Milano Italy's shirts - new to Artichoke this season

Chic Simple

....Handbags take the simple approach. Clean, cool and classic is the order of the day.' is the way I would describe LouenHide's bags.

 ALL AVAILABLE IN STORE FROM SEPTEMBER 1st ONWARDS.

Until then enjoy the sunshine and remember that being 'old fashioned' sorts we still sell SUMMER CLOTHES until the end of August.

PS: Here are the ones we ignored : Punks anarchic spirit ....feathers ....fur & leopard print

Now summer has finally arrived we are all turning our thoughts to shorts once more.
Have a look at this great article on The Colour Me Beautiful website for some tips.

......beginning to wish that I hadn't put those shorts in the sale now! ................

Ely Cathedral Flower Festival

We love our job! 

Each season we are invited to lots of events all over East Anglia - one of our favourites this summer was The Ely Cathedral Flower Festival. It was the first such event in the cathedral for fifteen years, over the four days attracted just under 20,000 visitors and was AMAZING!

The exhibits were designed by East Anglian designer Roger Woolnough - a gold medal winner both at Chelsea and Hampton Court and more than 220 arrangers from 38 clubs spent a year planning and executing the arrangements which depicted the creation of the world.

Follow this link to find some amazing photos of the event.

As one of the stands in The Shopping Area we were lucky enough to have our own 'almost' private viewing as we were allowed into the cathedral in the early morning when the flowers were being watered.

Socially the festival was fantastic too as we caught up with lots friends and customers - many of which were in some way involved in the festival. Artichoke Girls are not only (well dressed) pretty faces you know. Some are highly talented flower arrangers, others have incredible organisational skills and all are ready to live life to the full. 

An unexpected pleasure at the festival was meeting Denise Barnes and her friend Gill who had travelled by steam train from kent with Cathedrals Express for the day. As you can see they entered into the spirit of the journey and their vintage look was fab. 

I have found out since that Denise is a writer and you can out more about her and her adventures at her website