Breakfast with Viv Scott-Mumby

My life went on hold for 4 weeks. Can you believe doing a few simple yoga stretches and then bending down to pick something up from the floor would do so much damage, in 53yrs I had never experienced anything like this . To make matters worse when I finally could get in the car and be driven to my Chiropractor, he misdiagnosed what was wrong (a torn ligament). My whole lower back was in spasm, I could hardly stand, couldn’t bend and was completely reliant on my husband to dress and bath me!! Getting up in the morning was worse as my back was so locked in by the muscle spasm, I could not lift myself from the bed.

I became etremely upset and worried as I was booked on a flight to England to visit my parents for my Mum’s 80th birthday. My flight was impossible to change, so I braced myself with pain killers(which I hate to take) and took off on the 11 hour flight. How I made it I will never know.

As you can imagine, by the time I reached my parents home I was in a worse state than ever. Luckily a friend knew of a Chiropractor who did home visits, so once again I went through my story. I was told my pelvis was out, so my whole body was in spasm trying to protect my back from further damage. So with a lot of physical manipulations, she managed to put me back in place. It took 2 visits from her to sort it out, and another week after that to feel like I was beginning to get my life back again.

What I’ve learnt from all this, is a huge wake up call. I’m totally not physically fit enough and need to strenghten my back. So I have signed up for Pilates classes, to restore posture alignment and increase flexability of my body, plus I need to be more active altogether.  Getting upset and emotional only made the whole thing worse too, so I need to be more relaxed with my life….

I was 45 years old when I met the man of my dreams. I had fought marriage and commitment all of my life, for many reasons, my work, independance, to travel.

But then I met Keith and everything changed. I realized that everything that I had thought I had wanted, really didn’t have any purpose if you couldn’t share it with someone.

I was the successful fashion designer, who was also interested in alternative medicine, so at weekends went to lots of seminars to learn all I could. One particular weekend I went to hear Charlotte Gerson talk, and one of the guest speakers was Hazel Courtney, the famous alternative health writer. She happened to mention Dr. Keith Scott-Mumby and how he was doing some amazing treatment for anti-aging. Next thing I know my girlfriend and I were booked in for some treatment with him.

Well thats how it all got started. For 10 weeks I went for my Chelation treatments, and gradually got to know this great doctor. He was so interesting and intelligent and his world of medicine was miles away from life of Fashion. I was dreading the treatment to finish, as I thought I would never see him again. But thankfully he felt the same and we started dating, when I stopped being his patient.

That was six years ago. We got married and we have been on a constant honeymoon together ever since. We moved to America to start a new life, the land of oppotunities, and we have had a lot of ups and downs since being here.

But I wouldn’t change any of it, because I have someone very special in my life. Hes kind, sensitive, intelligent, handsome and sexy and he makes me feel a million dollars.

Happy Anniversary my darling.

For more on Dr. Keith Scott-Mumby go to www.alternative-doctor.com or www.dietwisebook.com

I guess globally it make sense to hold New York Fashion week first, then cross the Atlantic, for London, Paris and Italy in that order. I’m sure that’s why it happens so all the models,fashion buyers and editors can co-ordinate their flights and time schedules.

But I always think of it as the big build up! American designers are never as adventurous as the European sector. Talented yes but no as innovative as the British or Italians. Marc Jacobs may be an exception, but he too spends a lot of his time these days in Europe.

Its not a criticism at all, Donna Karen and Vera Wang, consistently design beautiful clothes, which would make any women look good. I thought both of their runway shows were wonderful last week. Both used a color palette of warm earth tones and Vera Wang played heavily on crystalline necklines and necklaces.

Marc Jacobs stood out too, his silhouettes were perfect, but some of his miss mash of fabrics were a bit hard to digest, but there was lots of inspiration to keep the high street stores happy!

London comes next, always exciting and the unexpected. Looking forward to seeing what Christopher Kane, Luella, Emma Cook and Temperley, are going to come up with.

I think Victoria looks fantastic with her new pixie cut. It really sorts her face and totally brings it alive and makes her look very attractive. Even her eye makeup is perfection for that look.

I was wondering when she was going to change her hair. She had kept the ‘pob’ style just a bit too long, especially as everyone was copying it, even her close friends. But have no fear the pixie look is here! Read the rest of this entry »

This is music to my ears, being a Brit designer in America, I still long for London fashion. Most of my career I have designed for companies in London that supplied Top Shop and similar types of stores.

I’ve lived in the States for 4 years and really miss the fast pace of London high street stores. They can turn round within 6 weeks, catching on to the latest trends and getting them out really quickly whilst the look is still hot.  Top Shop does this so well, it has many suppliers that work with them to make it happen. They don’t work ridgedly to set production schedules, where it can take up to 4 months to produce a garment. Yes that does happen for none fashion garments, but not the latest trends. Read the rest of this entry »

Suri gets top marks from me for style. She is a natural beauty who looks great with out makeup and has an easy to manage hair style, that needs no care. She dresses her age, in beautiful little dresses that flatter her, and she accessories well with her ballet pumps and the odd doll!

But seriously, you never see a bad picture of Suri and although her parents are famous (Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes) she stands out with or without them.

From all accounts she has many top designer clothes, but I also know many of them are from Monsoon a childrens clothing line in England, and their clothes are affordable to most of us.

Not having children of my own I find it strange that I should be even drawn to her. But style and fashion can come at any age and for me I would rather look at pictures of Suri in a magazine, than a lot of the other famous faces.

Well the answer is yes! But not to you the consumer, you are still getting a great deal. Just think about it, you can still buy a t-shirt, a pair of jeans or a dress and none of them have really changed in price over the last 20 years!

So how can this be, with the cost of living rising all the time, the dollar being weak against the rest of the world? Is the Apparel business making any profit? Read the rest of this entry »

Why is it movie stars and celebrities are role models for “fashion”. To me they are the worst examples! Why because they are false. Most come with a stylist, makeup artist, hairstylist and they wear expensive designer clothes. Anybody could look good given all that help. But is it really fashion? Sarah Jessica Parker, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Victoria Beckham come to mind as just a few. Read the rest of this entry »