The mac is a great staple for autumn – it’s easy to layer up and there are plenty of ways to style it whether you’re wearing it out to the shops, casually over jeans or more formally for work.

It’s also lightweight enough to throw on and off between autumn and winter when you’re not sure what the weather has in store.

You’ll find a selection of macs in our coat shop, now available in black, navy, stone and red. The four-button detail gives a nod to the 60s trend and adds a simple statement to everyday outfits.

It’s easy to style your mac by adding accessories like this embossed black belt round the waist, or even one in a contrasting colour like a red belt with the navy mac. A printed scarf will also add detail to your outfit – try this sheer spot print scarf which looks great with the red mac and continues the subtle 60s look.

Take a look at the macs below and tell us which colour you’d go for – and how you’d style it – on our Facebook page.

Hi, I’m Anna and I work on the knitwear team at George. One of the key trends this summer is the jumpsuit and our floral culotte version can be worn either as a halterneck, with a bow tied round the bust or strapless. I took one home with me to experiment with different ways of wearing it:

I decided to wear the jumpsuit in the day to meet some friends for lunch, accessorised with gold flat sandals, a thin studded waist belt, a lace waistcoat and a tan day bag. The jumpsuit has an interesting tie feature which means you can wear it in three different ways: tied round your neck as a halterneck, tied in a bow around your bust or tucked out of sight as a boob tube. This made it very versatile to style and I found myself experimenting with different ideas. The light cotton fabric was very comfy and easy to wear.

“I was stopped and asked a few times where the outfit was from!”

I also wore the outfit in the evening to some trendy bars. I dressed it with a chunky tan belt, gold beaded bag and high tan wedges and lots of people commented on the bold print and on-trend colours. I liked how the shape pulled in my waist and also didn’t need many accessories due to the bright print and unique style.

The floral culotte jumpsuit is now available in store and online.

If you’re like me and starting to get excited about the Royal Wedding – or you just want to add some colour to your wardrobe – now’s the time to wear lots of red, white and blue. The easiest way is to use this season’s colour blocking and nautical trends to go patriotic without looking like a flag!

The nautical trend is really cute and great for a preppy, summery look. It suits all occasions whether you’re looking for a casual day outfit, something a bit smarter or simply want to look fabulous on the beach.

I would pair the peg leg trouser with the G21 red striped top and the blue or red plait detail flip-flop for a casual day look. I also love the 3/4 sleeved jumper with the chambray turn-up jeans, though, so it’s a difficult choice!

You can take the nautical look into the evening with this simple striped midi dress, worn either with a high tan wedge or espadrilles for that late summer barbeque. Longer dresses are bang on trend this season, so it’s perfect for that smart casual event. If you want to go shorter for the beach, you can still flaunt the nautical look with the striped bandeau dress and simple accessories.

Colour blocking is huge this season, and the best way to wear lots of colours is to choose simple pieces with no pattern. For the casual day look, I love the blue scoop neck top with the skinny ripped jean or white cropped jean, worn with white canvas lace ups.

For a glam evening look, our fabulous red shift dress is the perfect little red dress. I would team it with a high blue wedge and blue accessories to make a statement, but if you are not that brave black shoes and accessories will look chic.

If you’re heading for the beach, go for this lively coral bandeau bikini or for something a little less skimpy, this blue halterneck bikini. When it turns cooler in the evenings and you prefer to cover up, add a crisp white cotton cover-up or a burst of colour with this coral bandeau dress.

Colour blocking is a huge trend this summer which means we’re free to clash as many bold colours as we like! We’ve got loads of brightly coloured vest tops, cotton shorts, dresses, kaftans and pumps in our colour block collection.

It’s a great chance to mix and match colours you wouldn’t normally dare to wear together, but if you’re still not sure about wearing top to toe colour, here are a few tips to get you started:

Wear it with black
A safe way to wear colour blocking if you’re not feeling too bold is to team bright shades with a black piece. Whether you go for a bright cardigan and coloured trouser or skirt, I would always team with a black or neutral top underneath to soften the look and to not make you look like a pack of highlighters!

Start with two pieces
If you are feeling brave and love wearing lots of colour, start with two pieces. The key is to clash and not blend with this trend and to really have fun with it like Gucci did in their Spring/Summer 2011 collection. An easier way could be to find a top or dress which is already blocked for you then you can just team with your jeans or black trousers.

Keep it simple
The subtle way to get this trend across is to find an item which is colour blocked for you, like a dress which separates the top and skirt, or a blouse which already blocks two colours in – like our Barbara Hulanicki two-tone Angel top that you can win in our Twitter competition.

Accessorise with bold colours

We have a fab plain yellow and plain red dress (above) in our formal collection. The great thing about these dresses is that you can accessorise them with a clashing colour. This means that you don’t have to match your shoes or handbag to the dress and can go for something a bit different.

Try teaming the yellow shift with a red corsage and black shoes, or wear a bright cobalt blue statement necklace with the red dress to get across another colour without over complicating the look. Pragual Gurung used reds and blues together in his S/S11 collection.

We’re asking our Facebook fans to tell us how they’d wear our red shift dress. To tell us what you’d wear it with, just “like” us on Facebook and leave a comment on our colour blocking post.

Flares are back and if you missed them first time around don’t worry – these flares are much more wearable than the bell bottom flares of the 70s.

Celebrities from Kelly Brook and Cheryl Cole to Beyonce have all been spotted wearing flares recently and the flare was a big part of designers’ catwalk collections for Spring/Summer 2011.

Jeans can be a nightmare to buy but fortunately the flare is one of the most flattering shapes you can find. It will draw attention away from your thighs, create the illusion of longer legs and the high rise waist will also hold in “muffin tops” and “love handles”. A true flare hugs the thigh and shows off your curves and flares out at the knee.

We’ve got some great kickflare jeans which come with a tan leather-look plaited belt, and a pair of great value G21 flare.

Here Tracey Barrow, one of our colleagues at Asda Bootle, is wearing G21 flares with heels, a vest top and a geometric print gypsy blouse.

The maxi dress was hugely popular this summer and isn’t going away any time soon. In the summer they were easy to wear – you just added a pair of flip flops, shades and were ready to go. So what do you do with a winter maxi dress?

The best way to wear your winter maxi dress is to layer it with chunky knitwear and pair it with your winter boots. It’s a great layering piece – you can even layer it over roll neck jerseys to add a bit more winter warmth!

This lovely Moda Jersey Maxi dress is one of our winter versions with longer sleeves and bold florals.

Maxi dresses will continue to be a key look into Spring 2011. You can see more Winter maxi dresses on George.com.

Faux fur is one the biggest trends of Autumn/Winter 2010 – it was a massive fabric direction on the catwalks this year, with designers showing off full-on fur coats as well as using fur as a trim on accessories and knitwear.

If this is your first introduction to faux fur, matching a full fur coat with your everyday outfit can seem a little daunting – but with so many options available it’s easy to introduce a bit of fur to your wardrobe.

Our fun faux fur collection – available instore and “online at George.com(online at George.com)”: http://direct.asda.com/george/clothing/10,default,sc.html – captures the key shapes for this season making them easy to wear for day and day-to-evening looks. With plenty of different styles – from flat pile furs and shaggy furs to shearlings and coloured fur – you’re sure to find something that suits you.

Our Moda faux fur gilet comes with a belt across the waist to give you a sleeker silhouette and has been highly recommended by the press – a great option if you’re not looking to wear a large fur coat.

Faux fur giveaway: We’ve got two samples of this gorgeous faux fur animal coat to give away in sizes 10 and 12. If one of them is your size (or you know someone who’d love one) then leave a comment on our George Facebook page and tell us why you’d like it. We’ll pick the two lucky winners at 4pm tomorrow, Friday 19th November.

Read more and check out our fun faux fur collection

Charlie Allen has designed and fitted suits for everyone from the England football team to Princess Anne. His impressive client list also includes some of the biggest names in pop music – he once made a silver glow-in-the-dark suit for Ringo Starr. Now the fashion designer has teamed up with George to create a fantastic collection of quality formal menswear at affordable prices.

Charlie’s bespoke tailored suits can cost up to £3000 but the suits he specifically designed for the George collection are available at a much leaner price. The collection includes four different suits, shirt and silk tie sets, fine knit polo tops, merino wool cardigans, shoes, trousers, a waistcoat and a tuxedo. Some of the pieces from his collection are now available online.

We caught up with him at his London studio where he told us how he was able to create a stylish collection at such affordable prices – and gave us his guide to looking good.

Read more

It’s that time of year to start planning ahead for all those Christmas and New Year parties – and we’ve put together a fantastic selection of stylish Christmas party dresses to make sure you can find something that’s perfect for any occasion.

In store from Thursday and online already, they’re all bang on trend for Christmas 2010 so you can be sure to turn heads without having to break the bank.

First off – you can’t go wrong with the classic little black dress, and this year we’ve given it a twist with a vintage-inspired lace panel at the front (pictured left).

The panelling built into the dress creates a flattering hourglass silhouette. It’s a really versatile item – you could wear it to a stylish party or just for a Christmas get-together with friends.

Read about more of the collection

If you want to turn heads this Christmas then get a red dress. Not only will it look great – it might also get you a date!

A recent study found that men are more likely to ask a women out on a date if she is wearing red. Psychologists carried out tests with 100 male undergraduates and found they preferred a woman in red, even though they weren’t aware of the effect the colour had on them.

They showed the students four pictures of a woman and asked them to say which one they found most attractive. The pictures were all of the same woman, but the men rated her more attractive when she was wearing a red top or when the colour red featured in the picture. They even said they would spend almost twice as much on her if she was dressed in red instead of blue.

Red is the hot trend this Christmas, and our little red dress was inspired by the kind of stylish dresses worn by Christina Hendricks in Mad Men. The silhouette is flattering while being very feminine and the dress should be worn just under the knee. Tt comes with a detachable diamante belt.

If red just isn’t your colour check out some of our other Christmas party dresses here.

We’ll soon be launching our Back to College range of clothes for students returning to university. Just because you’re on a budget doesn’t mean you can’t be fashionable!

The range aims to provide stylish but wearable solutions for anyone returning to college or university. The product is on trend with intarsia jumpers, fur gilets, denim, kilts and zip details which can all be worn back with chunky winter warmers and boots for a stylish but affordable look for lectures!

If you’re going away to a new town or city it’s a great opportunity to check out the local markets and vintage shops for inspiration too. You can mix and match many of the pieces in the collection with your own style to create an individual look. For example, you could match our fab denim dungaree dress with a pretty vintage top for a casual chic look.

Amy, from Bradford, has just started university in Chester and before she left we gave her a sneak preview of some of the collection and asked her what she thought.

She says: “I love anything that’s vintage so I’ll definitely be hunting out the local vintage shops as soon as I get to Chester. I love the dungaree dress and can see myself wearing that a lot.

“I’m not so keen on the dog jumper but that’s just personal preference. I think loads of people would probably like it, but it’s a bit too “cute” for me. The khaki tartan skirt that was paired with it though – that I love! I was eyeing one just like it in a vintage shop in York but at a much higher price, so it’s right up my street. I don’t want to be a cliche student but I also really like the checked shirt. Checked shirts are everywhere at the moment, and not just for students, so I don’t feel too bad! The red one looks great with the dungaree dress.

“My favourite of the coats is the parka with the faux fur lined hood. It’s great for the autumn term – I think I’ll be living in it!”

For a closer look at what Amy got to try on and more from our G21 Back to College collection, check out our gallery below.

When you’re pregnant and trying to save money for your new baby the last thing you want to do is spend a fortune on maternity clothes you only wear for a couple of months. But – unless you go into hiding for the last three months of your pregnancy – you still want to look stylish.

The key is to buy wisely – choose a few basic maternity essentials you can mix and match every day and an outfit for special occasions or nights out. You don’t need a completely new wardrobe – try to combine it with pieces from your own wardrobe that still fit.

Many mums-to-be love our maternity bump bands which allow you to wear your normal jeans for as long as possible. These are jersey panels which go over the waistband of your jeans as you’re starting to grow. This allows you to wear your jeans unfastened and no one can see they’re actually undone underneath the panel!

Our “Over the bump” fashion jeans are also a big hit and online reviewers have described them as being “very very comfortable”. We’ve given them to girls in the office who are pregnant and they said they were the best jeans they’ve had for maternity!

Read more

Is your fella a die-hard T-shirt man? Ever wish you could smarten him up? The good news is you can have the best of both worlds.

First things first, ditch his shabby grey T-shirt and get a brand new Boston Crew T-shirt from George. It’s been made with advanced cotton technology and we think it’s probably our best T-shirt ever. Every Boston Crew T-shirt has been treated with a special wash which prevents pilling and unsightly bobbling and keeps it white wash after wash.

Once you have this core item you’re ready to start layering up his new wardrobe. Add a pair of Boston Crew soft-wash denim jeans then start adding a splash of colour. Try our Oxford striped shirt for a cool casual look and throw on a quarter-zip French rib top in navy for Autumn. Our red checked shirt with contrasting cuffs over the jeans and T-shirt is a great alternative if you want to be more daring with colour. Or go for the Boston Crew denim shirt for a simpler look.

See all items in this collection

Hi, I’m Katie and I work in our Carnaby Street offices in London. When we head out for a drink or for dinner after work we can’t just nip home and change as we all live in different directions.

So I don’t have “day-wear” and “evening-wear” – I need outfits that are suitable for a day at work but that can be dressed up to look great for the evening. That’s why I volunteered to try out our latest G21 maxi dress – and put it to the “desk-to-dinner” test

See how I got on

We’re going to be using the George Style blog to deal with the big fashion dilemmas we all have on those difficult social occasions where you just can’t decide what’s required – the blind date … the school reunion … the first meeting with your boyfriend’s parents.

First up: what to wear for that job interview where the employer doesn’t expect formal but you don’t want to be too casual. George designer Amanda is on hand with advice for Alice, a newly graduated journalism student from Sheffield who is moving down to London to pursue a career in the media.

Find out how Amanda helped Alice