Apparently the recession won’t stop us splashing out this festive season. A report in the News of the World says the average family will spend £665 on Christmas this year, which is more than 20% up on 2008.

Not that everone will be spending as if there’s no tomorrow though. I also stumbled across a survey on moneysupermarket.com that revealed that the average amount we splash out on our children’s Christmas presents is a bit more modest. The most common answer given is that we will spend about £50-100 per child and with most kids expecting a sackful of presents these days, that means bargain hunting is a must.

This Christmas Get The Label has a dedicated section for Christmas presents under £10 from designer brands including Adidas, Playboy and Bench. In fact, there are gift ideas for every budget with something available for everyone. Menswear, ladies’ fashion and children’s clothes are all included.

Some of the clothes are only available in selected sizes and there is limited stock of some items so, if you’re looking for the widest choice of designer labels at discount prices this Christmas, it would be best to get your order in early. There’s only five weeks to go!

This month is Breast Cancer Awareness month, so I’m encouraging everyone to think pink and support Cancer Research UK in its bid to raise funds to continue its life-saving work.  A sobering fact is that one out of nine women will develop breast cancer at some point in their life - so the probability is that most of us will know someone who has.  A very good friend of mine was  diagnosed with breast cancer in May, and so I’ve decided this year to actually get off my backside and do something to help -  so I’ve signed up for a fundraising pack and I’m going to hold a “Dress In Pink” day at work and charge everyone £2 to wear something pink to work - and fine them £5 if they don’t!!!

Now because the guys and girls at our place are a little busy at the moment, they’ve asked me to compile a guide for them of what
they can buy in pink from the getthelabel.com site to wear on my “Dress In Pink” day - any excuse for them to shop!  So, I thought I’d share it with you too in case you decide to do something similar.  If you don’t fancy the idea of a “Dress in Pink” day, then don’t worry there are lots of other ways you can raise money - look on the cancerreseachuk.org website under their fundraising page for a list of suggestions.

(more…)

Despite Liz’s optimism in the previous post, I’m afraid that the rain is here to stay…..But, no worries, us hectic mum’s have learnt to cope with whatever life throws at us, and so we know we are probably going to have to kit the whole family out with rainwear to get us through the school holidays. But can we do it stylishly? Of course we can! (more…)

It’s that time of year again – yes sale season is here at Get The Label!! And we at Hectic Mum love this time of year - we can fill our wardrobes – and those of our loved ones – for half the price. And when you’ve got kids it’s all about budgeting wisely as we all know well!!

So, what is the sensible way to shop the sales to ensure that you don’t end up wasting money on stuff you won’t wear and you only bought because it was cheap? My three sale rules are keep it simple, go for the basics and try everything on!!! If it doesn’t fit you now it probably never will – so take a deep breath and if it doesn’t do up – walk away!!

I’ve had a look on the Get The Label site and found a few perfect pieces for you to snap up…

(more…)

There’s a good article over at The Working Mum blog, giving advice on how to cope with children who are fussy about what they wear.

I’d say that just about includes every child I know! Not every youngster is brand aware and not every youngster wants to be at the cutting edge of fashion, but most of them know what they like – even if their tastes seem a bit strange to the average mum and dad sometimes.

One of the ideas behind Get The Label was that some children know the type of clothes they like and some parents will let them have a say on what they wear but will make the final decision on their behalf. They might prefer a particular brand or a particular style say, and Get The Label provides a way for parents to kit them out in the type of fashions they want, without busting the family finances.

Anyway, for other top tips, take a look at the Working Mum article. They’ve got advice on how to deal with fashion-conscious kids from early years right up to teens.