Champney's Mother & Baby Event

Childrensalon are delighted to be working in association with Champneys spa and supporting their Mother and Baby Event, which is being held on Wednesday 27th May, from 6.30 to 8.30pm.

Located next door to our store in Tunbridge Wells, Champneys are offering the chance for new mums in the area to meet and socialise, whilst enjoying an evening sampling some of their luxurious pampering products and treatments. As part of this, Childrensalon will also be offering some special discounts for those who attend - so if you’re local to Tunbridge Wells, why not come along for what sounds like a lovely evening!

Coco before Chanel

Legendary couturier and creator of the little black dress, Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel, is the subject of an exciting new movie called 'Coco avant Chanel', or 'Coco before Chanel'. The part will be played by actress Audrey Tautou. The film focuses on the early life of the designer - starting with her arrival at the orphanage that she grew up in, which is also where she learnt to sew. Tatou has portrayed Chanel so well that the design house has chosen her to succeed Nicole Kidman in the new campaign for the No. 5 perfume, which launched on the fifth of this month.

There are so many reasons why we are thrilled about a biopic movie based on the life of Chanel! Not only did she create a fashion revolution, the story of the mysterious designers life is riveting. The flapper image of the 1920s was popularised by Chanel, who pioneered a new breed of women. She gave women freedom. Women who could ditch the corset and instead wear comfortable or revealing clothes, smoke cigarettes, listen to jazz music, drink, drive cars. A bit of a rebel to conventions, she didn't believe in being kept down by 'the man'. She also charmed the rich and powerful and reaped the benefits (she spent most of the second world war tucked up in The Ritz hotel.)

It was really Chanel who was the first designer to be a celebrity and icon in her own right.

We had better start brushing up on our French skills, pronto!

still images from the film:






Portrait of Coco Chanel in 1935:


Chanel in 1938


Chanel in the 1960s adding some finishing touches:


The film premiered in Paris on April 22nd.

Pick of the day

The idea of walking a mile in someones shoes suddenly felt more appealing when we received the new delivery of Roberto Cavalli footwear. Sticking with his signature flamboyant style, these shoes are funky, fun and bound to put some Spring in any young hipsters step!

See the footwear collection here.

Bahrain Princess loves Ralph Lauren Childrenswear

London based stylist's blog, run by Rebekah Roy, recently interviewed Bahrain Princess and "International style icon" Raya Al Khalifa. Whilst reading the interesting article - which reveals her style inspiration and how being a mum has influenced the way she dresses - we were delighted to discover that she not only loves the Ralph Lauren childrenswear range that we so adore, she also dresses her son in their stylish attire!

Here's a peek at some of the interview:

How would you describe your style?
RA: Being Middle Eastern and having a good dose of Floridian glamour injected to my aesthetic tastes means I really love opulence and shiny bright pretty things. The Londoner in me, however, pulls some of it back, creating the perfect blend so as not to make me look too tropical or typical or even tragic… I hope!

What inspires your style?
RA - Location! I can get away with different things in Europe than America and the same for the Middle East. So my location inspires me. Art, sub-culture, and fashion shows inspire me as well! I’m always ready and willing to try something that seems a bit avant-garde before it does become very commercial.

Do you prefer Middle Eastern fashion or Western Style?
RA: I genuinely love and am inspired by both.

What fashion magazine/websites/etc. do you like?
RA: Elle, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, both US and UK editions and I dutifully report to style.com to check out the shows and trends!

As a new mother are you finding that you’re shopping habits or passion for fashion has been affected?
RA: Having a son I have discovered my inner tomboy. I’m more ready to get dirty in the park while in London or run in the desert back home. Because of this I have expanded on my daily casual uniform. What was once heels and pristine outfits are now over the knee flat boots with leggings and a black mini Lady Dior bag with gold hardware worn with the shoulder strap. I’m also lusting after the hunter and Jimmy Choo collaboration, which yielded what is the most stylish Wellington boot I’ve ever seen! Croc embossed rubber boots!

Do you think your son will inherit your great style?
RA: I’m already dressing him like his father, which means English gentleman with a touch of polo player chic. Ralph Lauren children’s line is a dream, and has mini me versions of the men’s clothing line for little boys. There I just got him a lovely linen summer beige suit; complete with a green and yellow tie, and a colorful handkerchief for the jacket pocket!

Do you enjoy doing your own shopping?
RA: I love shopping I consider it to be my therapy!

By the sound of it, the lovely Raya has managed to transfer her eye for style from her own to dressing her son very successfully. We would have loved to seen the outfit on!

To view the Ralph Lauren's childrenswear range, click here.

Childrensalon supply clothes for Tatler

Childrensalon was recently contacted by renowned British fashion magazine, Tatler, to supply some of our beautiful traditional coats for a 14 page couture fashion feature in the magazines May issue that paid homage to the film, Funny Face, a Hollywood classic from the 1950s starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire.



Below is the image used in the feature entitled 'Vive Le Couture'. We happen to love the movie and the stunning image they recreated!

To read more about our involvement and the shoot, click here..



Click here to see the traditional coats on our website.

Pick of the day

With summer now well on its way, little girls will love the thought of a fabulous new accessory; which is why our favourite product this week is this gorgeous bag by Roberto Cavalli.

It is the perfect mix of summery fun and edgy glamour, covered in dainty pink and turquoise fabric flowers, yet also embellished with a bold leopard print frill trim and trendy designer tag.

Team it with a classic white dress for a formal event, or give jeans and sandals a stylish edge for a day in the park.

Pick of the day

We don't know about you, but here in the shop the spring sunshine has given us all a new lease of life and got us in the mood for all things summery.

Big sunglasses are the first item on every celebrity's must-have list, keeping out the sun's rays and the glare of paparazzi flashbulbs. That's why this week we are adoring Chloe's fabulously fashionista sunglasses - ticking off every trend they have pale, pearly frames, thick rims, a wide-eyed shape and best of all give your little girl complete UV protection and come with a hard case to keep them safe in.

The perfect showcase of the Chloe girl's fresh and pretty style, these glamorous glasses are sure to stir up some serious fashion envy!

We wish they fitted us adults!

The Chloé Sunglasses are available in our shop with an exclusive 10% off for a limited time only! Alternatively, email us for more details.

Our Special Occasion Room

In our store in Tunbridge Wells, we don't only have two floors full of treasures, we have a room dedicated to special Occasions and a room for designer brands. Here's some images of our Special Occasion room...







Click here to learn more, and how you can book an appointment with us.

Window to Easter

Jemma - one of our talented staff members - beautifully decorated our shop window for the Easter holidays. She wrote some words describing her process and inspiration...



Visions of Easter are a mood-enhancing tribute to the awakening of spring, blossoms, buds and the return of colour after the sombre monotones of winter.

Children Salon is a fantasy atelier of the finest brands brought to life, this is an inspiring basis that lends itself perfectly to creating your own mini world in a window. My starting point was our fabulous Children Salon tissue paper, which somehow blossomed all by itself into a little dream land of Children Salon flowers and bold, bright clothing set against whites, creams and overcast greys.

In many ways I’ve found that window dressing is about illustrating one side of Children Salon’s personality as a story, it’s a little landscape that doesn’t exist in reality, but captures a mood or theme that does.



Using my forgotten craft skills, I turned my living room into a flower factory – I had pipe-cleaner and tissue paper coming out of my ears – to create a flower carpet and decorated ivy climbers as little May poles or Easter trees. In love with the illustrations of Jeffrey Fulvimari I brought some of his kitsch style into creating little bunny masks for a surreal, candy-land background.
Choosing outfits and accessories was easy with so much dramatic colour and joviality within the collections – all shades of elfish green prevailed as did vibrant, daffodil yellow, dressed up with dapper tailoring and all manner of shape and form that has made the collections so exciting.

Perhaps the most satisfying motivation is the amazing encouragement and support of my ideas from the whole team – Thanks guys!

Creative Inspiration

We recently had a young man come to Childrensalon for his work experience from West Heath school - made famous by Princess Diana, who says she spent the "happiest days" of her life there. Thanks to Mohamed Al Fayed’s generosity, The New School opened as a living memorial to both Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed in September 1998.

Charlie - who came to us for work experience - helped out with our studio team for a fun and inspiring week. So much creativity is involved in the work we do that we always hope to pass some of it on to keen young students! It's truly rewarding to see how much someone can evolve in a week.

Charlie now has his own style blog! It was inspired by one of Childrensalon's personal favourite fashion blogs, The Sartorialist. He called it Charlie's Style Spotting, and has done a tremendous job so far.

Click on the link to read it, and we hope you will send him some comments if you like it as much as we do! http://www.charlesgeddie.blogspot.com

If anyone is interested in doing some work experience with us, please e-mail us at studio@childrensalon.com