An Unlikely Icon.

I don't know about you but when 9PM rolled round last night I felt a little lost. Last week, every night, I spent a very happy 60 minutes watching Channel 4's incredible show Hotel GB. For those of you who missed it (shame on you) it was a pop up hotel in London staffed by some of the best known TV personalities regularly seen on Channel 4.

Mary Portas and Gordon Ramsey were co-Managers, Gok Wan ran the bar, Kirstie Allsop was Concierge and a veritable smörgåsbord of other celebs covered everything from the spa to cleaning the rooms.

Never again will I be able to picture Gordon Ramsey without the image of him on all fours asking poor Katie Piper about a 'back, sack and crack wax' popping up in my mind. *shudder*
If I wasn't already sure she is one of the best women to grace this earth the way she brushed Gordon's madness aside in such a ladylike manner would certainly have convinced me of her brilliance.

One thing I have gladly taken from the show though is a new style icon. Mary Portas. I know, I'm as surprised as you. I'm usually quite feminine in the way I dress - I like high heels, chiffon and lashings of mascara - but I couldn't help thinking, evening after evening how great she looked. And after being caught tweeting about it I was asked to feature a post about her screen style on my blog - it took me less than 0.86 seconds to agree to it!

Happily after some research I have found a few of the things she wore that I loved so much. Here's a closer look.

Mary about to give Paddy a black eye with hers!

The Spectacle ring in action.

Alternatives

Both rings are Swarovski but unfortunately the former has sold out (looks like I'm not the only one who got a new style crush last week) but there are similar styles here, here and here that are equally divine. Luckily the second is still in stock, although I'd imagine not for long. You can buy it here.

Mary tweeting about her boots.

Other things I loved were her patterned tights and great low heeled boots - fashionable yet comfortable enough to wear every day. Surely the holy grail of shoes.

The tights she wore were Mary Portas for Charnos (shop the collection here) and the boots were Mary and Clarks and are available here and here. I love these boots - I have a lot of meetings all over for my job so a heel I can run around in is essential. These might have to be my next investment.

All in all I'm thrilled I've found a new stylish woman to keep a beady eye on. Although I'm not sure that I shouldn't have known better - her partner's Melanie Rickey (of Grazia fame) for goodness sake, it's surely in her nature to be this cool, no?