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Mother of Style
Jacques Vert is synonymous with elegant occasion wear and has been confidently dressing the discerning woman for all the events in her social calendar for over 30 years. Sarah-Jayne Cassells recently caught up with Brand Director Ann Field who has been responsible for Jacques Vert's success over the years.
The history of Jacques Vert begins in 1972 when Jack Cynamon and Alan Green, two tailors from the East End of London, started in business together making clothes. Their skills and strength in clothing design and production resulted in a series of successful womenswear collections and in 1977 they created a range of co-ordinated fashion for the discerning woman and Jacques Vert was born.
Ann joined the company over ten years ago, looking back she says: "I still have the same team and the same designers and we have been very successful during this time. 18 months after I started we bought the Windsmoor group and I have been a Director in the company ever since."
 Jacques Vert has always been a specialist mother of the bride and occasion wear label and with a gorgeous range of occasion-ready collections, the mother of the bride or groom is guaranteed to find the perfect ensemble for that all-important special day.
Ann says: "Jacques Vert is purely and simply all about occasion wear and has always been thought of as mother of the bride/groom, but in fact we do have a range of clothes that are for the main guest, and each year we try to redevelop and grow that area.
"Our average customer is now 50 plus, but I think the styling of the collection has changed, because a woman who is 50 now isn't the same as a woman who was 50 ten years ago."
As any mother of the bride knows, the months of preparation running up to the big day can be busy. With flower arrangements, wedding cakes, favours, bridesmaids and tablecloths to keep her occupied, the mother of the bride is a busy lady with a vital role to play. She must look the part – but she doesn't have time to trawl the shops to find individual pieces to match the colour theme. This is where Jacques Vert is perfect as they offer top-to-toe dressing.
Ann says: "I think the customer that buys from us knows the name and comes to us because she wants to look nice on the day, but she doesn't want to go around shopping for weeks in the run up to the wedding trying to match her dress up with shoes, hat or bag. I think top-to-toe buying solutions that we offer are a simple and easier way for her to get her outfit."
With the summer months fast approaching the new season collections are hitting the shelves and Jacques Vert's new collection is led by smart, feminine and elegant occasion wear, all tailored to coordinate with weddings, parties and special social occasions in mind. Light layering pieces, stylish summer dresses and perfectly coordinating accessories completes the collection for a gorgeous summer wardrobe in sizes 10-24.
Ann explains the new seasons colours: "What we try to do each time is put together colour combinations that perhaps you wouldn't normally think off. The summer collection features some very pretty colours, for example we have used silver grey and pale lime green together, we have also coordinated sort pale pinks with silver grey, and we sell navy and cream all through the season.
"Navy throughout the summer season is an important colour and then into winter it is black. So we do very well at selling different and rather unusual combinations of colour."
 Inspirations for designs and styles for the news season's collection come from many areas, Ann says: "I have three designers and we would go to shops, exhibitions, look through books, we also go to Paris and New York for inspiration. All our clothes are manufactured in the Far East they always have been since the 70s that's nothing new for us, so we get a lot of inspiration from there as well."
With Jacques Vert offering the whole outfit from dress to shoes it becomes much easier to accessories your mother of the bride outfit and less time consuming, but if you don't have the time, Ann has the solution: "Our manageress's have a lot of information on how to put the clothes together. And I think everyone wants service when buying such an expensive outfit for such an important occasion so it's important that the staff are able to offer customers as much time and help as possible."
When shopping for that special outfit Ann believes that you need to enjoy the day: "Go shopping with an open mind. A lot of people do have colour themes, but I don't think that is so necessary nowadays, it's more important that you are happy and comfortable with the outfit.
 "Our skirts feature soft elastic around the waist so you can breath and they are not to tight. We think our shoes are very comfortable as the heel isn't very high. The hats are easy to wear as they swing to one side so you can kiss the boys. The focus for us is that customers can just relax in the clothes and enjoy the occasion."
With the wedding of William and Kate on everyone's lips at the moment and Jacques Vert being a favourite with Princess Anne, we had to ask what Ann thought Camilla and mother of the bride Carole Middleton would wear?
Ann says: "I think Camilla will probably have something specially made, I don't think she would use a well know brand. I don't really know about Carole, I would have thought somebody like Condici would be great for Kate Middleton's mother, because that is quite a good brand in the UK."
Ann's top tips to ensure the mother of the bride looks the part on the big day:
- Wear something you feel comfortable in.
- For the fuller figure choose structured pieces over delicate fabrics, and more conservative prints rather than bold prints are more sophisticated.
- If you don't want to wear a hat, try a fascinator in your hair. A fascinator will lift your outfit and bring focus to the face, as will pretty earrings or a necklace.
- Finish the outfit with matching bag and shoes. It is a good idea to colour match accessories but if you don't want to match them up opt for neutral and a pretty feminine bag, which you can use again.
- Most importantly, remember to smile, and enjoy your day.
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Fashion 
