Introducing Elaine, this week's guest blogger

This week I asked customer, 'real' model and friend of the brand Elaine to write a guest blog about her experience modelling and shopping with Hope.

I hope you enjoy reading,

 A Day in the Life of a Hope Model

It’s not everyday that you get to dress up, sip a glass of champagne and celebrate with new friends how confident and attractive you feel.  However, here I am, smiling in a group picture wearing one of the beautiful coral silk dresses designed by Hope Fashion. I cannot believe that the woman smiling out from that picture is really me.  How can one dress make me look so stylish, elegant and authentic. If I had to pick a ‘look’ that really resonated with my lifestyle and my age then this would be it. Hope Fashion is a new and fast growing clothing company who put comfort, wearability and style first.  It’s not everyday you come across a fashion company totally focussed on the quality of its clothing and the ease with which it can be bought and worn. A company that works alongside its customer base and knows, because of its founders’ experience and vision, that it is delivering something that will change the life of any customer willing to give it a try.

So how did this all happen?
It first started when, on a cold Winter’s evening, I was browsing the internet and decided to type in the words; ‘fashion’, ‘comfort’ and ‘older woman’. I didn’t really expect to find anything more than possible references to a few well known national clothing stores. The very stores that were now leaving me cold. The styles geared at older women have become tired and unflattering and the rest of the merchandise on sale is often influenced by the need to be trendy or to cater for the fast fashion diet of a younger generation. Now that I am older and wiser, I believe in the idea of investment dressing. Our continental sisters have always seen the merits of a capsule wardrobe - high quality basics that can be added to, as and when the need occurs.  Could my internet search come up with something that just might reignite my interest in fashion for the over 40’s?

The search engine soon came back with some interesting sites but it was the word ‘Hope” that caught my eye. I loved the name - it was calling out to me. I needed to hope that the clothing industry wasn’t turning its back on me, a 61 year old who still liked looking good and feeling comfortable in my clothes.  My instinct proved right. These were clothes that did look unique and different to the High Street. On the page I was shown a capsule wardrobe in the very colour rage that made mixing and matching such a pleasure. Here I could shop for navy, grey, white and black. Why was it that whenever I wanted just a basic navy top, I could never find one in any of the High Street stores - certainly not without hunting the aisles like a woman possessed! Instead of crowding the page with tons of clothes, this internet site put the clothing into sections and displayed a selection of looks built upwards from the foundation garments. Clever or what!  Dress from the base layer and choose your own look. Of course, what does a girl do when confronted with this new and exciting concept of shopping. I ordered. To start with I went for the navy foundation top, skirt and leggings. To date I now have grey, coral and white in my Hope wardrobe.

Now that I had found this company it wasn’t long before I was invited to come along to the home of its founder, Nayna McIntosh, and take part in one of its shopping events. What fun! Here is a company that takes its customer service seriously and engages with the customer through shopping events and style advice.  I went along and had great fun trying on the clothes and meeting members of her team. Friendship, fun and fashion are what I remember most about my first visit. I was also asked if I would like to be part of their ‘real women’ modelling shoot. How can a girl not accept an invitation like that.

On the day

Being a Hope model is just like being part of a large, noisy and caring family. From the moment I walked into Nayna’s home, I felt at ease.  I was introduced to the other models and it was great fun to be able to share the excitement of the day.  What struck me most was how stunning the other ‘real women’ were. I am a standard size 12 but I must admit, that throughout the day, I began to feel quite envious of how wonderful the ankle grazers and foundation tops looked on the more curvaceous models. It was a revelation to see how good we could all look wearing the same clothes but in slightly different ways. All credit goes to the clever new sizing policy. I could wear dual slim in the foundation skirt and my model buddy could wear the same style in a dual curvy. We both looked great!

As the day wore on, I could see how a few garments , chosen judiciously, could be the core of a wonderful new wardrobe. On the spring shoot, Nayna and her team were adding brighter colours to wear alongside the neutrals. Coral and  aqua were teamed alongside the grey and navy and looked stunning. For those of us who really like the tone on tone look, there was a subtle oyster shade which looked very sophisticated as did the chalk white silk shirt. I learned so much about the thought that goes behind these shoots. Nothing is taken for granted. Every outfit has to be seen on the different body shapes and different combinations are tried out to ensure that the customer gets her ‘pound per wear’. If the price of these clothes is more than you would normally spend then look carefully at how many ways you can make use of the garment. I could see how, in the long term, I would be making a saving on my purchases.

We finished the day with a glass of champagne and a group photo. You can see from the broad smiles that this had been a really wonderful day. I learned so much about myself and the importance of being confident in your own skin and with your own style. Thank-you Nayna and team for having the vision and talent to make visible the often remarked ‘invisible woman’.

Elaine x