Anusha

Bootcamp!

2009-07-02T17:18:00.011+01:00

In an attempt to kickstart my fitness regime, I'm starting a two-week army-style fitness programme with Bath bootcamp on Monday.

The hour-long, open-air sessions will take place three times a week at 6.30am, and they're designed to be a fun way to tone up, get fit and feel energised for the rest of the day (according to the blurb on the website!).

To be honest, getting out of bed at that time is going to be my biggest challenge…

Win a £100 shopping spree

2009-06-29T07:49:00.003+01:00

Our monthly competition is back! For your chance to win £100 of Anusha vouchers, go online at Anusha and answer the question below:

Our best-selling Amber tunic features a dot design created using the ancient Indian technique called bandhani (the silk is tied with thread before dyeing). It's available in two colours. What are they?

1. Blue and pecan
2. Blue and walnut
3. Blue and pistachio

Good luck! The draw will take place on 1st August.

Jump for joy!

2009-06-23T08:31:00.013+01:00

Due to overwhelming demand (this is our THIRD re-cut!), you'll be glad to hear that our gorgeous Alexa jumpsuit will be back in stock mid-July.

Unsure if this season's jumpsuit trend is for you? Don't assume they're just for skinny minnies - this grown-up version of the '70s classic has a looser silhouette that instantly elongates the leg (believe me, at 5'2", I need all the help I can get!) and it's super-flattering on all shapes/ages.

Try it with your favourite pair of Anusha sandals for day; then add lashings of chunky jewellery for night.

Order now to avoid disappointment.

Summer break

2009-06-12T08:00:00.000+01:00

Anusha is having a holiday - the offices are closed now from 13th to 23th June. All orders placed between those dates will be despatched as soon as we return (we aim to have them sent by 26th June).

Time for tea

2009-05-22T08:12:00.011+01:00

I love a good cuppa, and Kusmi tea is one of my favourites. Seen here on stylist, Selina Lake's fab blog:

Not that I buy it just because the fuchsia tins look really pretty on my kitchen worktop, of course...

A Girl's Guide To Decorating

2009-05-15T08:10:00.025+01:00

I’ve always collected decorating/style books, and since spring I've been devouring them like they're, er, going out of style. Included in the latest batch I've just had through the post, is stylist Abigail Ahern’s much-awaited A Girl's Guide to Decorating - out this week.

The book is filled with practical decorating ideas, and chapters are based on elements of home design, such as colour, texture and light. Abigail encourages you to be (very) brave with colour and pattern and to make a bold statement with your home.

Against a dark background (she’s a big fan of Farrow & Ball’s Down Pipe), she uses splashes of super-satuarated brights and quirky touches to add punch. All very inspiring...

Flutter-sleeve Ts

2009-05-08T10:13:00.018+01:00

We pride ourselves on discovering new T-shirts that you won't find on the high street, so as soon as I found these adorable T-shirts by a talented young US designer, I had to have them at Anusha! Far more feminine than your standard fare, our Ts feature flutter sleeves, a gentle scoop-neck and screen-printed botanical design. They're winging there way across the Atlantic as we speak!

The chocolate brown version has a cream design on the front.

And the azure blue version has a silver and black print.

Have a good weekend!
x

Blue skies

2009-05-05T08:11:00.037+01:00

I love gardening, but Anusha has been keeping me extremely busy this year, and I haven't had enough spare time to give our back garden the TLC it so desperately needs. When our lovely wisteria was pulled off the back of our house in a heavy gust of wind, I finally had to admit defeat. I called in the help of my garden designer friend, Andy, to sort things out.

It's a small townhouse garden, with a patio outside the back door and a few steps up to an area of grass. I'd spent a lot of time working on it when we moved into the house eight years ago - I'm particularly proud of the stone terraces I built with my father!

Although it wasn't exactly his most challenging project, clever Andy managed to hack his way out of the back door (no mean feat), and restore my garden to its former glory. Now things are looking how I like them again - wild and lush, but all just about contained and easy to look after.

I've fallen in love with our little garden again, and last Sunday I spent a lazy morning enjoying the sun with a cup of tea and the papers. Bliss!

Here are a couple of images from Andy's website, BlueSky Landscapes:

Summer updates

2009-04-23T08:00:00.006+01:00

We've just added some more goodies to our summer collection at Anusha. Here are a couple of my favourites, modelled by the lovely Josephine:

Our beautiful bandhani shawl features a hand-printed design in nude, pink and raspberry. This stunning shawl will transform any outfit with its gorgeous design, and keep you looking stylish as the sun goes down. Looks great worn loosely round the neck with jeans and a T-shirt as well.

A maxi dress is a great look for summer, and it's a trend that's still going strong this summer. Team our Gabrielle blue maxi version with flip-flops and a long pendant necklace for a dreamy feel.

A passage to India

2009-04-06T09:09:00.009+01:00

April is turning out to be yet another busy month at Anusha. After a record-breaking March (the response to the new collection has been truly phenomenal - I'm so glad you like it!), we've decided to add some new goodies to our summer collection.

I'm pleased to be stocking pieces by a lovely designer who we worked with a few years ago. Her latest collection includes stunning shift dresses and scarves made from silk using traditional bandhani techniques. Bandhani originates from Rajasthan and Gujurat in India, and the technique involves hand-knotting the silk with thread and then dying it to create the most beautiful prints (a bit like tie-dying, but much more intricately done).

Having visited both Rajasthan and Gujurat in 1998, seeing these silks has made me rather nostalgic for India (and more determined than ever to take Mr Anusha to that amazing country one day!).

The new pieces will be available online in a couple of weeks.

Gucci eyes

2009-03-30T16:25:00.016+01:00

I love Pat McGrath's make-up for Gucci's Ready to Wear 09 show.

I've not worn blue eye shadow since the 80s, but I'm inspired to give this amazing look a go - fab party eyes:

What to wear

2009-03-23T15:10:00.020Z

As the wedding season fast approaches, it's nice to see that our pretty Evie dress made it to Marieclaire.co.uk's 10 best 'What to wear to a wedding' list.

As they say:
'Not everyone wants to show off their arms, even if the sun is out, which is why this Evie dress from online boutique Anusha.co.uk is one of the site's bestsellers. Easy to wear, but stunning nonetheless, wear it with sparkly flats or a pair of satin Louboutains.'

Thanks to Marieclaire.co.uk for the mention!

New shoes!

2009-03-13T09:00:00.007Z

We've just taken delivery of our first mini-collection of heels today. Admittedly, it's only a small-but-perfectly-formed collection of two styles, but both feature so many fabulous details that we think we've got all your summer heel dilemmas covered:

Chrissy is a leather summer sandal on a solid block heel in ever-useful tan. It features a double ankle strap and subtle emboss pattern on the criss-cross front. This is the perfect daytime shoe, which looks great with anything from summer dresses to shorts, jeans and wide-leg trousers.

Heeled sister to our popular Ruffle ballet flats, Rachel is a shimmering silver-grey satin shoe with a platform heel, T-bar, ankle strap and generous ruffle pom-pom on the toe. Going to a party or wedding? These beautiful shoes are the perfect way to finish off your outfit.

I hope you like them!
x

Before and after

2009-03-11T08:30:00.034Z

It's certainly not all glitz and glamour on an Anusha photo shoot! Here's a 'before' shot of our model, Monica, leaning on me (surely it's some kind of optical illusion that's making me look so ridiculously small!) as she changes into a pair of wellies, perched on a steep road on a chilly February morning in Bath:

And here's the end product - Monica in our fab woodblock print mac (minus the, er, clutter!):

A big thanks to all involved in the shoot: Louise, Meg, Monica, Nichola, Joby and, not forgetting, baby Hector!

Summer's here!

2009-03-09T08:08:00.000Z

It may not be very warm outside, but at Anusha we're celebrating the launch of the first part of our summer collection. Here are a few of my favourites in store this week:

Lots more lovely clothes, accessories, jewellery and gifts to follow in the next few weeks.

Gilty pleasure

2009-03-04T07:45:00.006Z

Whenever we can make it, Mr Anusha and I head along to an auction that's held every few weeks in a warehouse near Bath. I still haven't managed to complete my set of mismatched vintage chairs for round the kitchen table (six down, two to go), but a couple of weeks ago I did manage to get this sweet little late-Victorian gilt settee for the living room, seen here with the lovely Monica.

Luckily it was late in the day and there were only two of us bidding - I managed to get it for a bargain price. It's in pretty good nic, but I'm planning to get it upholstered in a more subtle material (perhaps a printed silk). My justification for buying it? Well, it's already paid its way as a handy prop for my latest photo shoot - look out for it online this week!

A sneaky peek

2009-03-02T08:00:00.001Z

Here's a behind-the-scenes peek at some of the images from Anusha's new summer collection, shot in my house.

We're working hard to get the first batch of goodies online this week, with updates throughout the summer...

Wedding shop launched!

2009-02-25T08:46:00.004Z

The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that we've just launched our wedding shop this week, featuring a collection of beautiful, hand-picked pieces to transform your wedding (or party) into a truly unique day.

So, if you're looking for the ultimate wedding guest outfit, gorgeous vintage-inspired jewellery, fab accessories, honeymoon essentials or original wedding decorations, you'll find them all here, grouped together in one, easy-to-find section!

Brighten up!

2009-02-18T21:14:00.022Z

After a cold and miserable few weeks (why don't humans hibernate?), I've been having lots of fun playing around with all the new summer goodies that are coming into the Anusha office at the moment (online in the next couple of weeks).

The new collection is a breath of fresh air - colourful printed sundresses, maxi dresses and playsuits; sequins and sparkle; super-flattering crepe dresses in shades of purple, stone and navy; delectable chiffon and silk tops popping with colour; gorgeous oversize costume jewellery; and an adorable new selection of shoes (think stack heels and cute ballet pumps).

xx

The Westwood manifesto

2009-02-10T20:33:00.004Z

To help celebrate 25 years of London Fashion Week, Vivienne Westwood, along with Stella McCartney, John Galliano and Christopher Kane, was asked to create a cover for Elle. Westwood accompanied her cover with a bonkers manifesto on how to live stylishly, which is worth a read:

Wordles of wisdom

2009-02-06T19:48:00.022Z

I've been having fun with Wordle, a nifty (and rather addictive) little tool that generates 'word clouds' from text that you provide. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts and colour schemes. This is what it came up with for the first two lines of About Anusha:

Storm in a teacake

2009-02-05T13:18:00.026Z

Bizarre story of the day must go to the one about Marks & Spencer's dispute over its chocolate teacakes!

It's just won a landmark VAT battle, which has been going on since 1995, about whether its chocolate-covered teacake should be classed as a biscuit or a cake (is it just me, or does anyone else think the biscuit base always seems soft/stale?).

The teacake had been wrongly classified by HM Revenue and Customs as a biscuit, which means it's been taxed at 17.5% and lately at 15% VAT (most food is VAT-free, with exceptions including chocolate-covered biscuits, which are regarded as confectionery).

M&S went to the European Court of Justice to demand its money back and yesterday judges ruled that it is indeed a cake, and that the Treasury must return the overpaid tax. M&S is now in line for a £3.5m rebate after overpaying the VAT for more than 20 years!

The Snowflake Man

2009-02-02T13:04:00.006Z

As heavy snow falls across large parts of Britain today (we've hardly seen any here in Bath – boo), I'm celebrating the work of Wilson 'Snowflake' Bentley!

Born in Vermont in 1865, he's the first known photographer of snowflakes, catching flakes on black velvet so that images could be captured before they melted. Here's a sample of his amazing snowflake images:

As he put it: "Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated. When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind."

Enjoy the miracles of beauty, and be careful out there.
x

Bargains galore!

2009-01-28T19:19:00.018Z

Phew! Our 70% off archive sale , which started today, has been a roaring success - many items have sold out already (and we apologise if you've missed out), but there are still a few bargains to be had if you're quick!

Michelangelo of the Nile

2009-01-26T07:42:00.005Z

I've always been fascinated by Egyptian art, and I've just heard that the British Museum's Nebamun Gallery is now open, displaying 11 wall-paintings from the tomb-chapel of a wealthy Egyptian accountant called Nebamun.

Dating from about 1350BC, the paintings are some of the most famous works of art from Ancient Egypt and, following a ten-year period of conservation and research by the BM, they're now on display together for the first time. Egyptologist Richard Parkinson has described the unknown artist as the 'Michelangelo of the Nile'.

The paintings were discovered by a Greek grave robber called Giovanni d'Athanasi, who dug them up in Luxor (there are marks on some of the fragments, where they were ripped off the walls - a reminder of how many of the museum's treasures were acquired) and then passed them onto the museum, via a collector in the 1820s. Giovanni d'Athanasi fell out with curators over his finder's fee and refused to tell them the exact position of the tomb, taking his secret to the grave.

Unlike a lot of Egyptian art, these beautiful scenes were intended to be seen by the living, not the dead, and they give the impression of the walls of colour that the visitors to the tomb-chapel would have seen.

The most celebrated of the scenes (seen above) shows Nebamun hunting in a marsh, surrounded by animals, fish, birds and insects. Simply stunning...