Online shopping makes me happy!

Ahhhh, online window shopping! What's not to love about lazing about at home mentally planning all of your 'if i win the lottery tomorrow' purchases? Hell, you don't even need to take off your pajamas to do it, and that makes online shopping a perfect idea to me!

This weekend however, I discovered an amazing step up from traditional online shopping with Style:Shake. This fab new site lets you become a fashion designer for the day. And what's more, you can take home your final wonderful creation without even having to sew! Styleshake works on a three step principle: choose your fabrics, design your dream dress, it arrives at your door (in a cute cotton bag) in 10 days. The site, however, should come with a health warning: don't visit unless you have at least an hour to spend designing dresses because it is seriously addictive. Here are some of my designs to prove it!

The truly amazing thing about this site is the total freedom you have to create something wonderful: you choose the colour, the skirt, the bodice, the sleeves, the neckline: and you can even add embellishments like belts, bows, and jewels at the end. And the functionality is incredibly simple to use to: just follow the instructions and be as creative as you like

You can also change the colour of the fabric for different parts of the dress, which means you can be as sophisticated or as wacky (and in this case, colour blind) as you like:

Now for the downside:

I'm not going to lie it isn't highstreet cheap. And it definitely doesnt conform to the tried and tested Tor and Becky 'can I buy it for under a fiver' rule. But for the month of January (because even design genuises have sales too) you can have your own dress designed for £99. As opposed to the normal price of £160. And as all the fabrics are organic, and your unique design is handcrafted in the UK (Not in a sweatshop in India) that seems like a bargain to me. After all, what price can you put on being able to answer the dreaded question of 'where did you get your dress?' with 'actually, I designed it myself'. As the mastercard advert would say 'Priceless'

Styleshake CEO Iris Ben-David describes the site as "as close at it gets to haute Couture in front of your computer" and I think she might be right. I can't remember the last time I got this excited about a website (apart from this one of course, dear reader!) And if Haute Couture is your fashion-passion, then why not recreate your favourite dress on the site in the same high quality material at a fraction of the price:

Zac Posen dress (from netaporter.com) £1420.00

'Zac Posing' dress (Designed by me) £99.00

Miu Miu silk dress (Netaporter.com) £435.00

'My Miu' silk dress (Designed by me) £99.00

Ok, so i'm not a fashion designer! But you get the idea: Bespoke designs at a tiny (comparatively) price, just the way you want them! Styleshake therefore gets a very deserved fabfrocks thumbs up. And believe me, we dont give those out very often!

http://www.styleshake.com/