I was recently lucky enough to be invited on a trip to Morocco, a place I’ve always wanted to visit. The country didn’t disappoint- it was such a wonderful mix of different cultures and eras. I decided to try and capture the vintage glamour of the place on my lomography camera- I use the Diana F- here are some of the results.

Both the pictures above were taken in Casablanca at the Hassan II mosque- the photo above shows some of the other bloggers who were on the trip- (whose blogs are all worth checking out!) Alex, Kate, Kate and Lela.

These pictures were taken in Rabat, a seaside town I really loved. You can see more pictures from there over on my own blog

Here I am in the gardens of the Sofitel in Rabat- I love this Traffic People jumpsuit which I wore over my trusty Freya Deco strapless bra in nude.

And here’s an example of one of the art deco buildings in Casablanca- now turned into a coffee shop. You can see more about my trip over on my blog, or follow me on instagram for snaps of my travels. As much as I appreciate being able to take photos and share them online instantly, I do also love the nostalgic feel of real film and the excitement of waiting to get your photos developed.

Do any of you still use old film, or do you rely on digital?

Deco is my all time favourite range of Freya lingerie I don’t mind telling you.

I wear Deco most days to shape under t-shirts, vintage dresses, blouses – you name it, I Deco it – and the arrival of Deco Shapewear currently has me all in a tizzy.

I will level with you, ladies. I am 36, soon to be 37. I am Mum to young twins. Let’s just say things don’t seem quite as…nubile as they were 10 years ago. Now don’t get me wrong, I am proud of my body and all  it has achieved in these 36 years. I don’t subscribe to the view that women should look a certain way, and I love my curves, as most Freya ladies too.

However, I am partial to a shapewear garment on occasion, and to have it in my favourite range is THE BEST THING EVER.

I totally believe that body confidence, self love, nutrition and exercise are way better than a nip and tuck any day. Sometimes we just need s tiny but of help with smoothing out or fabulous curves to help that confidence along a little, so enter in Deco in our lovely seamless moulded designs to enhance and flatter. Woohooo!

Deco Shape has the same curve-tastic benefits as the bra, with a fitted slip to smooth those thighs and give a little extra help all the way down. One of my favourite outfits at the moment is a Dolly Dagger cotton tea dress and Deco Shape will be perfect to help me feel voluptuous and confident in it.
Freya are stll running a fabulous 365 Days of Deco campaign, so hop on over to to www.freyadeco365.com and upload an image of yourself to be in with a chance to win a £1000 shopping spree with a stylist.

So, what do you think? Will you be giving Deco Shape a try? What will you wear it with?

As any fashionista will be aware, packing to go anywhere can of course be a challenge. Especially when you only have limited luggage allowance and are away for a short time (where’s that private jet when you need it eh girls?) So here are my top stylist tips for packing for a holiday in sunnier climes…here goes…

1) Think ‘Whole’ Outfits

I’d love to take the whole of my wardrobe with me but luggage restrictions are a harsh reality of travelling! Therefore, I like to think about ‘outfits’ rather than volume of clothing. That’s the way I approach my day to day wardrobe in this country so I apply the same principles when I travel.

Work out how many ‘outfits’ you need. Not clothes – outfits. A lot of people tend to take lots of clothes, but few outfits, and this is when packing starts to stress you out. If you’re struggling to put any outfits together with what you have, it’s likely you are missing key capsule holiday pieces, like perhaps denim shorts, block colour kaftans, white / black vest (or other block colours that work with the rest of your wardrobe like nude, grey, navy etc), metallic sandals that work with everything etc. Ask yourself, what is stopping me from wearing this piece of clothing? If the answer is ‘you don’t have the right shoes to go with this dress’ either decide to get a pair of shoes that work with that dress AND at least 2 other things, or decide not to take the dress. Unless it’s something I particularly love and just want to wear as a statement one night, I try to find at least 2 ways of wearing 1 piece to get the most out of what I take with me.

2) The ‘W’ Approach

First think about WHAT you will be doing and WHAT / WHERE / WHEN you will need clothes for. This is the best place to start. I have a ‘holiday’ wardrobe so I get everything out on the bed and start editing down which outfits I want to take. I then start to bring in shoes and accessories to finish them off.  Don’t forget the right underwear to go with your outfit too! Personally I pack a Deco set in Nude or Ivory and Black, and then a strapless nude bra which covers every single imaginable outfit, and of course some prettier Freya Lingerie for other days. My favourite at the moment is the Totally Tartan, which is definitely coming on the trip.

3) Maximise with Accessories

I tend to take more accessories that anything else! They can transform a piece of clothing to dress it up, down and make it work for a number of different occasions. I tend to personally focus on comfort – when I’m relaxing on holiday I like to feel relaxed in my clothes but still look good, so I focus a lot on what outfits work with wedges and flat sandals (I never take heels anywhere where it’s hot). I do take a lot of block capsule colours like black, white, marl grey, nudes as you can make them look different by pairing them with a bright vest / statement necklace whereas once you’ve worn a patterned dress once in a resort you may feel like you don’t want to wear it again and again. Block colours overcome that, and you can just add interest to the outfits with accessories.

4) My Style Essentials

I take a couple of good capsule layering pieces to keep warm on the plane and just in case it’s chilly in the evening – a nude blazer and light knit are favourites to take with me. A good pair of sandals for the day (dressy and casual), and then a couple of pairs of wedges for evening that will work with all the clothes I’m taking. Shoes are heavy and weigh down your case, so I select metallic and nude colours that work with all hues for optimum mixing and matching. This year I’m loving midi tube skirts and dresses – they look great in the day and can be dressed up with wedges at night so they are definitely a top pick for me as well. I also never forget my cats eye sunglasses (for glam days) and my RayBan Wayfarers for a more relaxed vibe.

So there are my top tips for packing in style for your summer break. Let’s hope we bring the Amalfi sunshine back with us!

Nicola x

Well it was good to be back home in Liverpool yesterday on the hunt for some of Liverpool’s most stylish ladies to add to the 365 Days of Deco Style Wall. It was the starting point for Freya’s #4cities4weeks #streetstyle campaign kicking off in my home town, but we’ll also be stopping off in the following cities to check out more street style:-

Thursday 9th May – Birmingham

Thursday 16th May – London

Thursday 23rd May – Manchester

Can I say that the Scousers did not disappoint – you rock Liverpool! It’s no wonder that Grazia Readers recently voted you the most stylish city! We were simply falling over ourselves trying to nab pictures with all the stylish ladies we kept seeing! Note to self, cobbled streets and running in heels is not the best idea I’ve ever had.

The weather was beautiful (finally) and it brought the fashionistas out in force. We saw monochrome, leather, fluoros, neons, stripes, florals, colour pop – in fact I think at one point I positively overdosed on fabulous fashion, finding myself unable to sleep that night with fantastic ideas and inspiration from those Liver Birds. I owe you one girls

We even bumped in to the stunning Katarina Johnson-Thompson, TeamGB star in the Heptathlon looking effortless in summer pastels wandering down Bold Street.

It wasn’t just the scousers who impressed us with their style – this fashionista from Virginia, USA look amazing wandering around the Albert Dock! It was her birthday so we hope we made her day! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

We also had ladies representing Team Italy with Roman Style and France with Parisian Chic. Bellissimo!

I’m seriously obsessed with trainers, pumps and Converse at the moment – comfortable and stylish! I’m in! Looks like these girls agree.

Monochrome – a popular trend for ss13 was popping up everywhere but all delivered in unique ways to include looks that were preppy, cool, quirky and glamorous!

Hello gorgeous Rita Ora look-e-likee

Making socks and sandals sexy!

On the opposite end of the scale, the sun made us all celebrate with neons and fluoros!! A celebration of colour…

We were feeling rather Rachel Zoe-esque when we saw this chic fashionista’s working their 70s style wide brimmed hats. “Oh. My. God. Bananas!! I die.”

We loved this lovely Mummy to be who was super excited to have found out she’s having a little girl!! CONGRATULATIONS Glam-Mummy!

Shorts were being sported in every fabric from leather to floral and denim – although it wasn’t quite warm enough for bare legs just yet, these girls showed us how to do shorts in all weather!

Skater Skirts made a great stylish alternative to jeans for running errands when combined with a cool tee (and a bike complete with basket!)

And we simply must give a shout out to Voodou hairdressers on Bold Street where the hairdressers all looked terrific!! We salute you girls!

Girls we apologise if we missed you, but you can still upload your own photo on the  365 Days of Deco Style Wall yourself and show us what you got in the style stakes! You could win gorgeous underwear or even a £1000 shopping spree!!!!!

Love you Liverpool! Keep doin’ what you’re doin’

Twitter: @stylecompanion and @freyalingerie

#4cities4weeks #streetstyle #deco365 – let’s get this city’s style trending ladies!

Nicola x

One of the benefits of being a travel writer is that when England decides to inflict such a long winter on us, I occasionally get to escape to warmer climes. In February, my boyfriend and I headed out to Dominica in the Caribbean, where we stayed at the stunning Rosalie Bay. Dominica has an incredible landscape- we discovered beaches, mountains and freshwater rivers running through the jungle. Here are some pictures I took of the walk to a waterfall pool- and then some slightly wobblier pictures that are just stills from my flipcam that a fellow tourist kindly took for us. I’m wearing my favourite Fever swimsuit, the best one-piece I’ve owned in my adult life. Of course it has a built in bra which makes it super flattering. I’m already counting down the days til I get to wear it again!

People often tell me I have their ‘dream job’ and ask me what it’s like to be a self-employed personal shopper and stylist? How do I generate business? How did I learn to help women with style advice? So I thought I’d write a blog for those Fitting Talk Fashionistas who’ve often wondered if personal styling and shopping is the career for them.

This is my unadulterated honest take on the realities of running your own style and shopping consultancy – the good, the bad and the ugly!

The Good…

I personally love working to my own rules and my own hours. I love having the flexibility to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ – this was probably my main motivation for starting My Style Companion if I’m completely honest, obviously as well as the fact that I had good personal styling skills and love to help people. I also obviously love fashion and clothing and researching which new trends and styles will work for my clients – that doesn’t feel like work at all!

The Bad…

When I first started out, because it was going to be my main source of income I worked very long hours, weekends, nights and did a lot of work for free in order to get my name out there. However I look back now I think it was all worth it, and at the time I was confident if I just got the word out about how I could help women feel more confident and less ‘lost’ with their wardrobe, that eventually the bookings would come. They did thankfully!

How to get started…

For me there’s only two ways to a career in personal styling and shopping. Experience working for another personal stylist or training. Experience is fantastic however for many people they don’t want to start at the bottom of the ladder again. Training is the next best thing as you’re learning everything you need to know about personal styling AND more essentially, how to make a successful full or part-time business from it. There are many women who have a great eye for style, but they are not all personal stylists and shoppers – if you’re serious about a career in this industry, you need to invest your time in to finding out how to run a good business in this field.

The Opportunities…

My Style Companion has presented some great opportunities for me and helped me to achieve some ambitions in my life such as working for myself and being my own boss, being featured in national magazines, styling some amazing women and transforming their confidence, being invited to amazing events like The MOBOs and LFW and meeting loads of other fantastic people I wouldn’t have met if I hadn’t started out on my own. There are also obviously opportunities for celebrity styling, styling for photoshoots and also working with businesses to help their staff with their image – all sorts of things really! It’s the kind of job where the opportunities are only limited by your imagination.

The Reality…

Any form of self-employment is hard-work and takes time to establish yourself and build a reputation, however the rewards are flexibility, making earnings directly in relation to how much you want to work and the fulfillment of helping a woman rediscover her style. It truly is a great feeling.

Also the job is very demanding physically, mentally and emotionally as you spend a very intense few hours with someone where it’s all about them, so very often new stylists can feel quite drained after an appointment, but after doing this for 5 years, I find it doesn’t affect me anywhere near as much now as it used to you. My brain and body have gotten used to the demands now!

If you’ve ever thought you would love to be a personal shopper and personal stylist, then 2013 could be the year to take your first steps towards a new and exciting career.

We are looking for the UK’s hottest fashionistas to become new Personal Stylists and Shoppers so that we can help more women across the UK achieve wardrobes that they love to wear, rather than a closet stuffed full of clothes that are just ‘ok’.  We’re offering the opportunity for women to become self-employed personal shoppers and stylists, trained by My Style Companion and I personally am super-excited about developing new styling talent so that we can spread more My Style Companion joy.

If you would like to find out more about Training to become a Personal Stylist, visit our website. We are offering personal styling and shopping courses in Manchester and London for 2013 and we’re looking to develop some of the UKs best personal styling talent. We want you! Detailed courses start from £525.

Well, either way at this time of year I’m busy updating client’s wardrobes with spring capsule pieces and new styles they’ve never tried before in order to keep their wardrobes looking fresh and modern. Having done a My Style Masterclass for Spring a couple of weeks ago, which helps women to update their wardrobes easily for the season ahead, I thought I’d offer some style ideas and fashion inspiration for you Fitting Talk fans from us My Style Companion Personal Shoppers so that when the sun does put his hat on, you’re ready to rock.

I’ve broken the style advice down in regards to areas of the body that women often tell me they are conscious of and would like to disguise when putting together outfits in order to give you style solutions to overcome that. I hope they help you!

Conscious of your Tummy?

Layering is the key here! Look for capsule pieces in capsule colours that you can layer over lots of your tops and dresses such as a neutral coloured boyfriend blazer or cardigan. Mint Velvet, Zara, Warehouse and Mango have some great options this season.

Ensure you are wearing the correct bra! You wouldn’t believe the amount of times client’s have watched their so-called ‘tummy’ disappear when we give them the correct underwear. Boosting your bust gives you a great waistline and a flatter looking tummy so well worth the effort of getting properly fitted.

Freya Gem Bra, £30

Use statement necklaces and earrings, interesting necklines or you favourite bright lipstick to draw the eye up and away from the tummy.

Mint Velvet, £69

Curvy Hips, Bottom and Thighs?

Often women who have curvy hips, bottoms and thighs find it challenging to get jeans and trousers that fit well on the waist AND the hips. When shopping for jeans, look for jeans with a percentage of spandex in them such as Levi’s Curve ID or many highstreet store’s now do skinny jeans / jeggings with elastane or viscose in them so it helps to skim and fit to all the right places, however some of these can feel too thin and revealing for many women which is why I often recommend the Levi’s Curve ID in Demi or Bold Curve.

As an alternative try this season’s trendy tube skirts and dresses which are stretchy therefore overcoming the issue of fit. Pick a dark colour like charcoal or black to slim your lower half and then team with a more detailed top such as a neon tee (neon and grey look great for spring) or a floral top to bring the eye up and balance the outfit proportions.

Levi Curve ID, £80

Calves or Ankles (or haven’t had time for a wax!)

Midi tube skirts are a great option for you and are very current at the moment if the length comes past the calves and more lands on the ankle (if you like your ankles). Alternatively look for maxi skirts and dresses if you don’t like your lower legs at all – this also overcomes any pasty or unwaxed leg situations. Try not to go for skirts that finish on the particular area you least like e.g. calf length skirt, as this will draw attention right to the area –either go short or longer. Topshop, Miss Selfridge, River Island have some good options at the moment.

Peacocks, £12

Large Bust

A good bra is essential for a larger bust. If you’ve been wearing the wrong size bra, getting the right size could shave inches off your top half and make your bust look more toned and youthful. However many women often don’t know they are wearing the wrong size!! Watch this great video about bra fitting which will help you ensure you are in fact wearing the right size for you.

Many women often think that having a large bust limits you to V-neck tops but this isn’t the case. You just may need to avoid tops which cover all of your décolletage area which can make you look top heavy and also look to avoid tops which have too much fuss over the bust as this can look too busy.

Phase Eight, £55

Upper arms

If you tend not to like your upper arms opt for ¾ length sleeves or sleeves that come to just above the elbow will be the most flattering. Short sleeves can work, but look at where they finish on the arm – it may draw attention to that area. You will most likely avoid strapless or spaghetti strap tops, but you could always wear them with a layer over the top such as a blazer or cardigan, or utilise the ones you have in your wardrobe under shirts, blouses and low neck tops for layering.  If you wear a statement necklace or interesting neckline on a top this will help to draw the eye in and away from the arms, and bracelets and cocktail rings will draw the eye down and away from the upper arms.

Oasis, £38

Décolletage & Neck

Often women get to a certain age and feel self-conscious about this area, so if you want to add more tone and vitality to your neck and décolletage try brighter coloured tops and patterns as the plainer the top, the more the eye will be drawn to this area. You can of course still wear plain tops, but add an interesting necklace or scarf to the area – you will instantly get a facelift and your face will look more toned and healthy. For accessories, at the moment, we are having a love affair with Stella & Dot! Great colours, great quality and something for everyone. Lately I’ve been working with Stella & Dot stylist Liz Cooper who has given some of my clients some great style advice in regards to accessorizing.

Stella & Dot Carmen, £135

If you would like more advice on what to wear this season, you can always check out my eBook ‘Nothing to Wear’ by Nicola Cupples available to download from Amazon for just £4.99 which basically helps women who are feeling like they have lots of clothes but no outfits. It’s written by me personally and is based on all my experience as a personal shopper working with real women wanting style advice.

What’s in Store for 2013?

In January Mr F and I escaped to Riviera Maya in Mexico for some much needed winter sun. Looking grey and slightly knackered after cooking Christmas dinner for 10 people (my first Christmas dinner – just call me Michel Roux Jr). Feeling rather unwell we hopped on a plane and and I could not wait to hit the beach in my new Freya Showboat Bikini and ponder about what 2013 was going to have in store.

Having always set goals for myself each year, I had already started to make a few notes about what I wanted to achieve in 2013 – after all if you don’t know what it is you want to achieve, how can you go about getting it right? So on the 2nd day of our holiday, I sat with my notebook and started to write “2013…”

Here’s some of the things I came up with…

1) Love Life To appreciate every day life more. After the sad news of fellow Freya Blogger Kerry Farrow in December, a true Blog Star, I sat and promised myself that because life indeed is so precious, I will make a concerted effort to be thankful every single day for everything I have from my husband, to my health, home, family friends, clients, running water – everything.

2) Health I need to get back in to a healthy lifestyle. Over the past few years my general health and energy levels haven’t been the best, having got in to some lazy behaviour using the excuse of being busy with work to try and justify it. This year for me is all about treating my body well, by feeding it well and exercising regularly. I recently found the most inspiring story of a girl called Hayley who lost 11 stone after the birth of her baby and looks incredible! Whenever I don’t feel like working out or ordering a Chinese takeaway, I check out her website Slimspirational. She really is an inspiration.

3) Fitness To encourage myself to exercise more often, I have to committed to running a 10k this year (the furthest I have ran before now is 5k) so it gives me something to work towards and focus on. It also gives me the opportunity to wear my gorgeous Active Black Samba Sports Bra and I always think that cute clothing for excercise motivates me more! Thaks heavens for Freya!

4) Energy For me this is vital – having being diagnosed with ‘IBS’ but being given no additional help or guidance at all by the NHS, I’ve had to take matters in to my own hands. I’ve suffered long enough now to know that my body does not react well to sugar and dairy, however cutting them out of my diet (or at least dramatically reducing my intake) has been somewhat hit and miss. As we’ve reached February, so far so good and I’ve lost 6lb to boot. Bonus!

5) Confidence I want to look my best in 2013. I’m a personal stylist so I guess I’m often judged on my appearance but over the last few years I’ve been feeling that I’m looking a little older that I should. The diet and exercise is a big part of this, but thanks to the lovely Lyndsey at The Derma Clinic in Nantwich Cheshire, I’m embarking on an exciting course of treatment that will get massive positive results in my skin will make me stick to a cleaner diet and healthier lifestyle, otherwise, what’s the point in getting it done?! Follow @dermaclinicuk on Twitter to get great skin in 2013!

I had my first session of Collagen Stimulation Therapy with Lyndsey last week and am feeling super positive. She’s an absolute Derma-Genie and I’m so, so thankful I met her. I’m already starting to see improvements with my skin thanks to her advice and the Environ products she’s given to me, so fingers crossed by the end of 2013 I’ll look 21 again No pressure Lyndsey ha ha!

6) Career I’ll be officially launching the sister company to My Style Companion this year which is a Branding and Marketing Consultancy aimed specifically at helping small businesses in my local area of Cheshire which has been working hand-in-hand with My Style Companion to help sole-traders and small businesses gain more exposure, create a clear and powerful brand and basically, produce better results! I’m loving the challenge of balancing the two businesses and absolutely adore the diversity in my role at the moment. Every day is different (challenging but different!) but I always did love a challenge!

7) Passion With My Style Companion we’ll be running more affordable style advice events for women who want a confidence boost in their life, from Style Masterclasses, pop up personal shopping experiences and confidence boost camps that cover health, wellness, beauty, style – and overall how to get better results in your life and feel bloomin’ fantastic! I’m just in the process of getting together some exciting collaborations for this but basically for me…

2013 is about helping women (including myself) to feel even more confident and fabulous in their own skin and achieve what they want from life.

Here’s to us, Ladies!

Nicola x

On Monday I spent the day with lucky Rachel Venn, Age 18 from Devon who won Freya’s fabulous prize, as seen in GLAMOUR magazine’s January Issue. Rachel had entered Freya’s competition on the website, where the 2 minutes she took to enter the competition paid off big time when it won her flights to and from Manchester, an amazing stay at a very swanky suite at The Hilton in Manchester, where she was taxi’d to The Trafford Centre Shopping Mall (wearing her new Freya underwear set – also part of the prize) with £500 spends burning a hole in a pocket! Phew. Talk about every woman’s dream prize!

As a personal shopper in Manchester for My Style Companion, my job was to make Rachel feel preened and pampered within an inch of her life, and of course ensure she went home with a fabulous new ss13 wardrobe, and from the smile on Rachel’s face at the end of the day, I hope we achieved just that!

As Rachel is an 18 year old at college and avid ‘gamer’ she told me she spent a lot of time in jeans and that she’d like to look a little bit more ‘feminine’, and try some styles of dresses and skirts. Rachel always wore flat shoes because of bad balance (something I can definitely relate to!) so this was something I wanted to keep in my mind, and she also preferred to not wear sleeveless tops. Every client I ever work with always has their own set of criteria which I have to ensure I take in to account when selecting pieces from the shop floor.

Rachel’s shop of choice on the high-street was usually New Look because of it’s price point, something I understand from my student days (a while ago now! eek!)  so I was also aware that despite having £500 to splash out, Rachel would have a perception of value in relation to clothing, so I needed to keep the price point at this level so that she would feel comfortable with it. These are just a small number of things I have to bear in mind for all my clients as a personal shopper as well as body shape, size, height, personality, lifestyle and colouring to name a few others!

So we started off at Debenhams where I introduced Rachel to some brands she had never tried before such as H by Henry Holland and Red Herring, immediately finding Rachel a black blazer that she could wear with everything. Rachel fell in love with it and that was the first of many ‘yes’s’ to follow. From there on we went on to try some cute print and ditsy floral dresses from H by Henry Holland  to wear with leggings; and some cute sleeveless shirts underneath round neck jumpers from Warehouse for a cute preppy look with denim shorts and opaque tights.

For all of the outfits, like with any of my clients, I like to stress the importance of a good set of nude underwear such as the Freya Deco Set in Nude (and in essential Black). These bras will work with anything and everything, and just like you have capsule pieces in your wardrobe e.g. great jeans, good blazer, basic tops, every woman needs a capsule underwear drawer too, to ensure that all of her clothes look their best.

So back to the shopping – we headed over to the Benefit counter in Debenhams where Rachel was treated to a makeover which she fell in love with, so to celebrate we headed off for a spot of lunch and I gave Rachel some time to recover from all the trying on – it’s hard work trying on! After lunch we went on to New Look and Dorothy Perkins  where Rachel tried a fantastic pair of skinny jeans on to replace the worn ones she was wearing and a lovely black skater skirt which was a new style that Rachel hadn’t tried before. We selected a few tops that she could mix and match with the jeans AND the skirt, as well as the denim shorts, and a bight red jacket (one of ss13′s hottest colours) that went amazingly well with the Freya Deco Honey Range in ‘firecracker’ and mixed and matched well with lots of the tops and dresses.

Favourite ss13 trends for the day included fun ditsy florals, monochrome and minimalism, wereas frills and ruffles weren’t for Rachel, and pastel colours washed her out a bit so we steered clear of those. As I always tell my personal shopping clients – just focus on a couple of key trends for the season that work for you as not everything always will – even if they look fantastic on your friends!

Rachel was lots of fun to shop for on the day and up for trying anything on with a completely open mind – always the best way to get the very best out of your personal shopper, as you never quite know how something will look until you put it on, but a personal shopper has selected those pieces for a good reason.

I hope that Rachel enjoys her new ss13 wardrobe – it was a pleasure to spend the day with her.

Nicola x

Although the weather is still stuck on winter, the fashion world are moving on to spring (hooray!). I thought I’d give all you lovely Freya fans a taste of spring’s hottest trends as this is mainly what I am working on at the moment for my clients at My Style Companion who are looking to update their wardrobe for the season ahead.

I’ve just a picked a few of my favourite ss13 trends here and my top Freya underwear picks to go with them – after all, there’s no point investing in new clothes to update your wardrobe if you’ve not updated your undies drawer too!

Get in Line

Monochrome stripes are the motif of the season, whether they are horizontal, vertical, diagonal, wide, thin, and in every and any combination! Wear stripes from head to toe or simply add a striped accessory but there’ll be no getting away from this trend in ss13.

CAPSULE UNDERWEAR PIECE: The Freya Deco range in nude is perfect for black and white stripes where you need excellent support but a smooth outline. A busy print under a stripe may cause dizziness! However this bra is perfect for every top in your wardrobe – I’ve just received my new new one. A can’t live without wardrobe staple for me.

The Frill of it All

Frothy frills and ruffles were huge on the catwalk for ss13 but think more structured and architectural ruffles, whether in this seasons popular monochrome look or in fondant fancy colours.

The Deco Honey range in deep purple is the perfect accompaniment if you have a touch of the frill fetish, as the bra is simple and smooth, perfect to go underneath a detailed top, where the briefs have just a touch of frill. So cute! One of my faves!

Feminine Florals

Florals are always a welcome print in spring and for 2013 we’ll be getting dose of flower power whether in ditsy floral prints, vintage tea dresses, graphic florals or 3D details.

Freya’s Lyla Liquorice lingerie sets off this trend perfectly

Eastern Influence

Obi belts, kimono sleeves, origami folds and graphic blossoms graced the catwalks with everything from Geisha’s to martial arts influencing what we wear for ss13. In the past the orient has inspired designers when it comes to evening dresses and gowns, but never has the east been so apparent in day wear before.

The pretty Lila Freya set with a beautiful lilac oriental bird print is a great way to celebrate this trend if you feel a kimono sleeve may hamper progress during your day!

Fondant Fancy

If you have a bit of a sweet tooth ss13′s pastel colour palette will be one to watch out for from spearmint green, powderpuff pink, lemon haze and lavender purple, the look was minimalistic with clean lines, unusual layering – simple feminine chic at it’s best.

Freya’s Ashlee Candy moulded bra is the perfect lingerie set if like me, you’re cutting back on chocolate after the Christmas holidays, but still like to indulge in something sweet now and again!