As I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, this Friday is Red Nose Day. Pretty much anyone who’s lived in England during the past two and a half decades will no doubt have fond memories of gathering round the telly one (probably rainy) evening every other March to watch various comedians and celebs try their damnedest to make us laugh in aid of Comic Relief. As national institutions go Red Nose Day is one of the best, celebrating our legendary British sense of humour while raising money for those who need it the most in Africa and the UK. As a nineties child, my Red Nose Days past include the Spice Girls legendary “snog” with Jonathan Ross, Johnny Depp’s cameo in the Vicar of Dibley, Dawn French’s Harry Potter impression, Ali G interviewing Posh and Becks and of course the memorable ‘most naked people on stage at one time’ record set in 1999. I’ve worn many a Red Nose, lolled over many a sketch and paid many a pound to wear home clothes to school for the day. While our collective love of watching famous people make fools of themselves hasn’t changed since 1988, other things have moved on considerably and it should come as no surprise to hear that this year’s money raising schemes are rather more high tech. Having already done the nation proud with Team GB’s kits for the London 2012 Olympics, Stella McCartney has now turned her hand to philanthropy designing a super chic selection Red Nose Day charity t-shirts for TK Maxx featuring icons such as Kate Moss and The Beatles. Like every year, the profits from every t-shirt sold will go to Comic Relief but what with it being 2013, TK Maxx have also launched a “50 Ways to Wear It” app and competition inviting you, me and anybody else who buys a shirt to upload a snap of how they style it to their Facebook page. For every picture uploaded TK Maxx will donate £1 to Comic Relief and in case any further incentive was needed, they’ll also be giving away a £50 gift card to a randomly chosen entrant every week.

The Red Nose Day t-shirts can be bought online here and the app is available on the TK Maxx Facebook page as well as Google Play and iTunes. Like anything worth knowing about, the project has its own hashtag – #RNDTEE – so feel free to tweet or Instagram your pics as well as uploading them to Facebook. Here’s how I wore my tee, Instagram style of course…

Love Ella. X

When I first heard the name ‘Hout Couture’ I was slightly confused. I’ve heard many a play on words involving haute couture but ‘hout’… eh? After reading a bit more about it it transpired that ‘hout’ is in fact the word for ‘wood’ in Africaans because that, my fashion loving friends, is what this brand’s painstakingly handcrafted and beautifully chic sunglasses are made out of. The label currently offers four classic styles – the Ramsey, the Wayfarer, the Cat-eye and the Amelia – in a range of different woods with delicious sounding names like “Ebony Macassar” and “Stained White Oak”. But what really caught my attention about Hout Couture wasn’t the glasses themselves, although they are incredibly cute. It was the ethical aspect of the brand that interested me the most.

Ashamed though I am to admit it, I’m often too busy/lazy/blissfully oblivious to really think about the effects my fashion consumption has on the earth. I especially resent having such things preached at me, by brands, teachers, journalists or anyone else. Hout Couture on the other hand, do make time to tackle such issues and for me their method of staying green seems like the ideal approach. For every pair of glasses sold they quietly plant a tree to offset the carbon footprint caused by the production process… Simple, understated and perhaps more effective (or at least, less annoying) than making a song and dance about it. Buy a pair of really chic shades and contribute to saving the planet, could you even think of a better reason to shop!?

Love Ella. X