Jobs at Aspire Style

We at Aspire Style have some very exciting news to announce...

WE ARE EXPANDING!

Our fourth and newest shop will be opening in Solihull this Autumn, and we're looking for a new team to join us. We've set up a careers section on the website which can be found here, where you'll find details of all the jobs available in Solihull and our other stores too.  Currently we're recruiting for:

Assistant manager, Solihull

Sales assistants, Solihull

Sunday supervisor - Solihull

Sunday supervisor - Stratford upon Avon

Saturday sales assistant - Stratford upon Avon

Website co-ordinator - Stratford upon Avon

Sales assistant - Warwick

Full details on the jobs and information on how to apply can be found on the individual job pages accessible by the main careers page or by clicking on the links above, so if you think you've got what it takes to be an Aspire girl, don't hesitate to apply!  Make sure you fill in an application form (downloadable from the website) as we cannot accept applications without one of these.  Please email careers@aspirestyle.co.uk if you have any questions.

We'll let you know more about our fabulous new shop in the forthcoming weeks!

Until next time,

Ria
www.aspirestyle.co.uk
www.twitter.com/aspirestyle

Competition time!

Roll up, roll up for the chance to win pretty goodies!  Normally we hold competitions like this solely on Twitter, but we figure that's quite mean to all those poor Facebook-only people out there.  Also, the competition this time is going to be on for MUCH LONGER - a whole weekend as opposed to a measly two hours!  I know, we're spoiling you.  Perhaps it's because we feel so terrible about being a bit quiet really on the old bloggery front.  We don't want you thinking Aspire doesn't love you anymore; absence makes the heart grow fonder, and we're maxing out our fondness levels for you right now.

The prize this weekend is a lovely one indeed.  Obviously everyone has different tastes, so instead of picking just one thing, we want you to tell us what your favourite Aspire Style product is and why, and it could become yours!  Just enter your answer in the comments below, and you can earn two extra entries by posting on our Facebook fan page here or tweeting your answer (make sure you include @aspirestyle).

Ts and Cs: You can only enter once through each medium (the comments section, Facebook and Twitter) - don't be spammy!  It's not big and it's not clever.  Points for originality.  The competition will close at lunchtime on Monday the 26th of July and the winner will be informed on that afternoon.

Good luck!

Ria
www.aspirestyle.co.uk
www.twitter.com/aspirestyle

Greeting cards now available online at Aspire Style!

What's better than sending your friend/family member/love of your life a present from Aspire Style?  Sending them a present from Aspire Style AND a card!  We now have a large range of greeting cards online for all occasions, be they birthday, retirement, or general well-wishes, as well as a plentiful selection of very pretty blank cards you can fill with your own sentiment!

I have become my mother in the sense that I now buy cards I like and horde them.  I tell myself that it's handy to have a stash in case I suddenly remember someone's birthday at the last minute, but if I'm honest, I like the cards too much to share.  Here are some of my favourites from our range available online:

Strawberry cake, £1.95

Bird in tree, £1.95
Sausage dogs, £1.95
Belle and Boo: 1973 - Evie's flowers, £1.95
The Moomins: Moomins diving, £1.95
Drama Queen: The two gals, £1.95
Belle and Boo: 1957 - Pirate party, £1.95
Chair and cushions, £1.95
The Moomins: Opening envelope, £1.95
Horseshoe, £1.95

If you would like us to send someone a card on your behalf, let us know by emailing shop@aspirestyle.co.uk when you place your order and we'll see what we can do for you!  And we'll use our very best handwriting, promise.

Until next time,

Ria
www.aspirestyle.co.uk
www.twitter.com/aspirestyle

Friday Football Fix - England flag

To celebrate the start of the 2010 World Cup, Friday Floral Fix has become Friday Football Fix for one week only!  Plus, instead of one item, you get loads.  That's what I call value for money (and an attempt to make up for the lack of What to Wear Wednesday this week):

England flag by Aspire Style on Polyvore.com

Fever Cezanne Empire dress, £55
Red or Dead Dakota white clutch / purse, £23
Red or Dead Dakota red clutch / purse, £23
Pearl and corsage bracelet, £9.95
Yumi Christal dress, white, £55
Fever Summer Fern tie neck dress, £45
Field peep toe boots, cream, £39
Yumi Tekira dress, cream, £59
Pretty city - london bus tea towel, £6.95
Keep Calm and Carry on Shopping canvas bag, red, £15
Hanging heart tealight holder, cream, £7.95
Irregular Choice Pep in your Step shoes, £79
Happiness tea, £5
Trimphone - 1970s replica phone, white, £35
Metal jewellery tree - white, £5.95

Apologies to our customers from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and everywhere else in the world.  Why not make your own flag over at Polyvore?  Even if you don't like football, it's FUN.

Enjoy the World Cup!

Until next time,

Ria
www.aspirestyle.co.uk
www.twitter.com/aspirestyle

Calling all customers! We want your pictures!

All of our customers are beautiful.  This is a fact, just like how the cash machine will only have £20 notes available when you have less than that in your account, and how you can never have just one chocolate-covered Hob Nob.  We'd love it if you could send us pics of yourselves in your Aspire Style purchases so we can feature them on this here blog and our Facebook group, and when we get enough, we'll hopefully be able to start a gallery over on www.aspirestyle.co.uk - it'll be like you're famous!  Just send your photo(s) to shop@aspirestyle.co.uk with your name and any other information you'd like us to have (maybe you received excellent customer service or purchased your item for a special occasion) and we'll be sure to feature you.

Check out this lovely lady in our Stratford store wearing the Tara Starlet Gypsy apple spot dress - doesn't she look fab?!

We look forward to receiving your pics!

Until next time,

Ria
www.aspirestyle.co.uk
www.twitter.com/aspirestyle

Aspire Style/Ardencote Manor makeover competition winners!

We have recently been involved in a competition organised by the Ardencote Manor in Claverdon near Warwick where a mother and daughter won spa treatment at the Ardencote, a haircut and makeover, professionally taken photographs and... an outfit each from Aspire Style!

The lucky winners, Nicola Weeks and daughter Abigail, came to see us last Thursday with Maja from the Ardencote, who was running the competition, to choose their prizes.  Stratford and Warwick managers Abbey and Laura, along with junior manager Libby, excelled themselves by helping the lovely ladies pick beautiful outfits, which they would be wearing to their 'Big Reveal' - just like on TV show 'Ten Years Younger'.

I went along to the Ardencote Manor on Monday to record this event, attended by the pair's friends and family, so without further ado, let me present to you Nicola and Abigail Weeks!

How beautiful do they look?!  Here are their outfits:

Nicola's outfit by Aspire Style on Polyvore.com

Items in this set:
Fever Lily dress, black, £59
Flower necklace on wire, £9.95
Poetic Licence Genteel shoes, £75

Abigail's outfit by Aspire Style featuring Irregular Choice shoes

Items in this set:
Tara Starlet Gypsy apple spot dress, £69
Irregular Choice Pep in your Step shoes, £79
Swallow necklace - gold, £9.95

You may notice this is almost exactly the same as the Rockabilly look from What to Wear Wednesdays a few weeks ago.  Which just goes to show, I'm very good at what I do.  Here's a couple more pics of the ladies for your viewing consumption:

You can view the whole album on Facebook here.

Until next time,

Ria
www.aspirestyle.co.uk
www.twitter.com/aspirestyle

What to Wear Wednesdays - Get Nautical

Avast ye, sailor!  Nautical is one of those trends that has been popular for several Spring/Summer seasons in a row in recent years, and it's easy to see why.  With three main colours - red, white and blue - it's easy to mix and match pieces, and it's a fun trend; these are the kind of clothes which make you feel like playing.  So please give a hearty 'Ahoy!' to the Aspire take on Nautical...

WTWW Nautical by Aspire Style featuring Poetic Licence shoes

Items in this set:
Fever Cannes Bardot dress, £59
Poetic Licence My Haven sandals £59
Red or Dead Trickster satchel £35.95
Red or Dead Dakota white clutch/purse £23
Red or Dead Dakota red clutch/purse £23
Swallow necklace £9.95
Solid knot cuff £9.95

Shiver me timbers, cap'n, that outfit looks pretty shipshape to me! (Sorry)

Until next time,

Ria
www.aspirestyle.co.uk

Friday Floral Fix - Cezanne side lace dress

Back in stock as of today: the STUNNING Cezanne side lace dress by Fever - a brand our customers love for their flattering designs and high quality.  This dress has been featured in A Change of A Dress and has been one of our best sellers in the shops and online this season.  It's ideal for summery weddings, picnics and parties, or even if you're just going to Tesco and want to be the prettiest lady there.

Gosh, it's pretty, isn't it?  And at £69, it's a lot of pretty for your money!  It's got a tummy-flattening panel so no-one will notice if you've had one too many scoops of potato salad, and ties on the side of the waist to cinch you in.  Aspire owner Emma wears hers with a pretty green cardigan, which is ideal for the Spring sunshine we've been having.

Until next time,

Ria

www.aspirestyle.co.uk

Friday Floral Fix

Florals are, once again, everywhere this season - I think it's just the time of year and the fact they're a safe, easy step to instant pretty.  I was going to do a single blog post with our best flowery products, but there were just so many and I had such problems selecting just a few that instead, I'm creating another regular feature: Friday Floral Fix (even catchier than What to Wear Wednesdays, I think).  This feature will showcase a single item a week, starting with this week's Cath Kidston messenger bag in folk flower print:

When this bag arrived, all the Aspire girls instantly fell in love.  I personally am a fan because I'm one of those carry-my-life-around-in-my-handbag types and this messenger bag is nice and roomy, and has compartments aplenty so I don't spend half an hour looking for my keys.  The lovely soft adjustable strap also means I can wear it as a cross body bag, which helps massively when I cycle to work!

It's only £38, and for today only we're running a 15% off promotion which would make it £32.30 - a real bargain for a Cath Kidston bag!  Just enter the code B0904 at the checkout and the discount will be automatically applied.

Until next time,

Ria

www.aspirestyle.co.uk

Happy Easter! Here, have some cheap shoes...

Hello all!  I know it's raining, but if you've got the day off today why not head to your local Aspire shop and check out the shoes?  Ok, if you're really aqua-phobic you can do it online.  We've had a lot of new styles delivered in the past couple of weeks, and there's something for everyone.  If that alone isn't enough to tempt you, how about this...

So pretty!  I love those Kim Oh No shoes from Irregular choice, they're a really cute rockabilly style and look absolutely amazing on.

If the prospect of heels so tall makes you want to run and hide, you can prettify your feet with lovely sandals.

These cuffed ankle sandals are going to be a big look this summer, and ours are not only just £29 (or £24.65 if you buy them these weekend) but they're also really really comfy.

I have been coveting these Mint Julip sandals from Poetic Licence for a while now; maybe buying them this might make the sun shine again?  They're reduced from £59 to £50.15 this weekend - a saving of nearly a tenner!

The Genteel shoes, also from Poetic Licence, may look a bit high, but the clever platform means they're actually surprisingly easy to walk in!  They look so beautiful on, and you can keep your tights on with them now until it gets a bit warmer.  Normally £75, these babies are £63.75 this weekend! 

You can see all our pretty pretty shoes here and you have until the end of Monday to bag yourself a bargain.  Go!  Go now!

Until next time,

Ria

www.aspirestyle.co.uk

All change at Stratford and Warwick!

Customers of our Stratford and Warwick shops are in for a bit of a treat as both shops have recently had their clothes rooms refurbished and now have a greatly increased capacity.  Do you know what that means?  That's right, more clothes.  Which is probably a good thing since we went a bit crazy on the ordering front for this season - at least now we have space for all the pretty pretty clothes we have coming in!

Both stores now boast two-tiered rails, effectively doubling the amount of clothes which can be displayed, and new forward-facing rails allow us to show our maxi dresses in all their glory!

Here's a few pics for those who haven't had a chance to pop in and see us yet...


Warwick

Those of you who have been into our Warwick store before may remember the window in the clothes room - if you do, hold onto those memories!  They're now limited edition because...

...the window is no longer there!  We've now maximised space in the Warwick clothes room by boarding up the window so it can be used to house more pretty clothes.  Here you can also see the two-tiered rails in full effect!

The back wall in the clothes room has now been painted in a colour I like to refer to as 'Aspire Pink' (the paint company probably call it something else).  Look at the lovely new light fittings - they really give this room a unique boudoir feel!  If you can't take your eyes off the beautiful Fever Sea Mist maxi dress on the back wall, don't fret, it's available here for just £65, with free P&P!


Stratford

The change in Stratford didn't involve any boarding-up of windows, but has been dramatic none the less, and not just because we've moved the wardrobe:

We've also replaced the bulky shelves above the rails with nicer thinner ones, and now the scarves have their own custom-built rails (you can just about see them at the right of the photo).

The shoes have their own individual glass shelves, which make them look gorgeous!  Here we have (from top to bottom) the Kim Oh No shoes (£79), Oz Shoes (£65) and Pep In Your Step shoes (£79), all by Irregular Choice, and the Genteel shoes (£75) by Poetic Licence.

Look, space designed specially for holding maxi dresses!  Here we have the lovely Fever Amazon maxi dress (£65).

We're getting new stock in all the time, and hopefully in the next few days we'll be able to announce the arrival of a lovely new brand!

In the meantime, don't forget to follow us on Twitter for updates and exclusive competitions, and feel free to email us with any comments or questions - we love to hear from our customers.

Until next time,

Ria
www.aspirestyle.co.uk

Mother's day customer evening: Thursday 11th March

New season clothes!

Once again, sorry for the extended absence; it's been pretty manic here at Aspire HQ with the winter sale and arrival of much of the new season's clothes.  Now I've had time to update the clothes on the website and gather my thoughts, here's my pick of the stock we've received in the last few weeks...

Ever since Darling dropped last week, their clothes have been flying off the rails.  One in particular flew into my hands: the Laurel dress, which I think is an absolute bargain at £45...

The Owl tea dress by Traffic People is another dress which may be entering my wardrobe very soon, especially since it's only £49.  I love its interesting straps and big bow...

Traffic People have also scored massively with the Maxi Ra Ra dress (£79) - we've nearly sold out in Stratford already, so hurry if you want to get one for yourself!

Another maxi dress which is proving popular is the Sea Mist maxi by Fever, who do maxis very well indeed.  This beautiful creation is no exception and well worth the £65...

As usual, Yumi have come up with some lovely pieces that are ideal for everyday wear.  My personal favourite is the Jinkie cardigan (£39) made of yummy soft jersey with pretty lace detail...

There's so much more at Aspire Style, be sure to check it out.  Next up - this season's hot shoes!

Until next time,

Ria

Christmas is coming!

Hello all! Very sorry for the deadly silence surrounding the Aspire Style blog of late, but we've had a bit of a shift around and we're pleased to announce that blogging will now be a very regular (hopefully weekly) feature! So, let's get you up to date with recent developments...

We've been shouting this from the rooftops, but in case you haven't heard, Aspire Style is OFFICIALLY the best shop in Coventry and Warwickshire. Ten of the girls headed to the Warwick Arts Centre in October to attend the Godiva awards ceremony where it was announced that we had won the best shop award. Co-owner Emma and Stratford manager Abbey went up to accept the award, which is now proudly on display in the Stratford shop.

Following the excitement of the Godiva awards, we had to begin seriously thinking about Christmas. In all three shops, we're often complimented on our beautiful displays, and our Christmas displays have been no exception. In fact, one visitor to our Stratford shop even said that our displays were better than Harrods! Credit for this goes to Sassi, Jane and Laura, who worked together to create this beautiful centre table:

Oxford and Warwick are also getting into the spirit of things, with this beautifully coloured table of jewellery in Oxford (notice the cheeky little reindeer!)...

...And this gorgeous ivy-topped bookcase in Warwick - yet another of Sassi's creations:

We've also been having fun helping our customers prepare for the impending party season, and items like the gorgeous Fever Ivy dress and the ever-popular Yumi Bobble dress have been flying off the rails. Incidentally, this weekend (20th - 22nd November) is our 15% off Party Dresses promotion, so get yourself down to one of our shops or visit our website and grab yourself a bargain!

And don't forget, if you're on the hunt for Christmas gifts, you can do so from the comfort of your own home by visiting our fabulous gift range, where you'll find the best-selling Vintage Envelope purse as featured in Look magazine, and the first two pieces from our new Dandy range: a beautiful make up bag and matching toiletries bag. If you're having trouble deciding what to get people, we also do gift vouchers, and with free postage when you spend more than £50, you might have to treat yourself too!

If you want to keep up to date with the latest Aspire happenings, as well as receiving notifications of new blog posts, you can now follow us on Twitter, as well as our fabulous Facebook group. We love to hear from our customers, so feel free to get in touch!

Until next time,

Ria

www.aspirestyle.co.uk