Are you thinking about getting the significant lady in your life a bag for Christmas? Feeling a bit overwhelmed with the choice? A woman’s bag is a very personal thing, so it can seem a daunting thing to do, but most of us really appreciate that gesture and ‘bravery’. If this is speaking to you and you want to ‘feel the fear but do it anyway’, firstly good for you and secondly here are a few hopefully helpful hints. When it comes to handbags, we women are all different, so your first task is to determine what kind of bag lady your bag lady is. Is she a changes her bag with her outfit kind of bag lady or a one-size fits all kind of bag lady? Once you know that you have a place to start. If you are buying for the changeable bag lady you can relax a bit because she’s a handbag lover and will appreciate your gesture but it might still be a good idea to consider the points below because you are more likely to come up trumps if you do. If, on the other hand, you are buying a new bag for a lady who only has one bag and uses it for all occasions there are a few solid pieces of advice I can give that should set you on the right path. To start with have a look at the bag she is currently using. How big is it, what colour is it, what kind of straps does it have, what kind of closing style is it - zip top or flap front, does it have zipped compartments on the outside of the bag, does it have compartments on the inside or is it a big black hole? Getting caught riffling through her bag might not be a good look though, just saying! Once you have the answers to those questions you know what style and size she likes, your next challenge is colour. Take notice of the colours she wears and if you go for a complimentary colour that goes with everything you are on to a winner. Good luck and Happy Christmas.

We are going into Lockdown 2 at the start of my 3rd year steering Annies and it has been a bumpy year that’s for sure! 2020 has been a lemon of a year...But, as the saying goes, there is always lemonade to be made. When I took the reins Annies had been a bricks and mortar store on Old Fore Street in Sidmouth, East Devon for over 30 years but had never really had an online presence. One of the first things on the business plan was to develop an e-commerce store and the social media accounts, but juggling family, running a busy shop and finding time for myself too meant that Annies online seemed to constantly get pushed down the list of things to do... Lockdown 1 gave me the time and space to build Annies website, which is now a full E-commerce store; so you can enjoy browsing the bags, purses, wallets and gift selection from the comfort of your own home. Lockdown 2 will give me the opportunity to grow Annies social media accounts and start consolidating plans for next year. So, whilst I would much rather be in the shop over the next 4 weeks, I will be at home making lemonade and looking, hopefully, forward to seeing all our lovely customers in December. In the meantime if you see any of our social media posts please like, comment and share them, it is one of the most helpful things you can do to support small businesses through this really difficult time.

It's my favourite kind of day; It's wild, windy and the sea is roaring loudly. The salty air as the waves crash on the beach and the sparkling sunshine on the white wave tops really let you know you are alive. But it is a bit nippy, not winter coat kind of nippy but autumn sunshine kind of nippy (I am definitely not ready for the winter coat yet!) We have just started stocking Powder and their range of scarves and gloves are perfect for days like today. Lightweight scarves with beautiful autumn themed prints; fluffy, soft, wooly scarves in fabulous autumn colours and coordinating, soft, faux-suede gloves are just right for keeping you warm on glorious autumn days like today. Pop into the shop and have a look or check out our Powder collection online.

As with most shops at the moment we ask that you sanitise your hands before touching any of the products. As a retailer, I always do the same, and that turns into a lot of hand-sanitising each day... I have had many, many conversations over the past few months about the variety of hand sanitisers out there in the shops - runny ones, foamy ones, sticky ones, grainy ones, smelly ones, I believe there are even glittery ones. There seem to be as many different types of hand sanitiser as there are handbags! So the search for the perfect hand sanitiser began in earnest. The main criteria for the perfect hand sanitiser is that it needs to work - research tells me that a hand sanitiser needs to be at least 60% alcohol in order to be effective. So that has to be priority number one in a hand sanitiser. It has to come out of the bottle in a manageable amount, there is nothing worse than finding yourself dripping in it. It has to dry quickly because who wants to be standing around waiting for their hands to dry before being able to touch anything? It can’t be sticky or grainy because that’s just unpleasant and you run the risk of getting hand sanitiser all over your bag and purse which, if they are leather, will seriously disagree with them. Other criteria include; a hand sanitiser that easily fits in my bag without too much risk of leaking, preferably one that is refillable and one that doesn’t make me smell like a brewery! But finally, a hand sanitiser that doesn’t dry your hands up. I suffer from dry hands in the winter anyway. The idea of adding a lot of hand sanitising on top of that wasn’t filling me with joy. So finding the perfect hand sanitiser became a bit of a mission for me and after trying a lot of different types I think I have found it - Luxury Hand Sanitiser from Innerbark. The added bonus is that they are a small family run company who use only natural ingredients and are ecologically and environmentally friendly. I am now a very happy shop keeper! So much so that I have ordered some extra for the shop along with their Luxury Hand Wash and Natural antiseptic hand cream. Pop in to Annies if you need some of the ‘perfect’ hand sanitiser... or it is available online at innerbark.eu

Seagulls are almost as iconic in Sidmouth as the red cliffs, so much so that we have our own version of Banksy with graffiti gulls cropping up all over the town. Love them or hate them, if you have spent any time in Sidmouth you most likely have a seagull story and it probably goes something like this…’I was eating an ice-cream/chips/pasty on the sea front and a gull swooped down from behind and took it from my hand.’ It is a hotly debated topic, trying to deter visitors from feeding the gulls, stopping their aggressive behaviour, but at the same time protecting their dwindling numbers because they are part of the landscape here. Despite the debate, seagulls in Sidmouth have become very fond of junk food and even more adept at sourcing it when they should be dining on fish without the chips and condiments! Cherry Parson’s seagull art humorously captures exactly that in her series of Soake umbrellas. We have 2 of the designs, the 8-Panel Seagull and Who Forgot the Fish? So, indulge in your chips, ice-cream and pasties under one of these funky umbrellas and the seagulls won’t be able to swoop down and steal them!

Almost all of the shops I have been into since we were allowed to re-open ask customer to sanitise before touching anything, so we are all sanitised to within an inch of our lives at the moment. Sadly though I have had quite a few customers coming into the shop over the last month looking for new bags. Obviously, as a retailer, that isn’t necessarily sad for me but it was sad for my customers because the need for new bags has been down to hand sanitiser accidents. Hand sanitiser is a disaster on leather - it leaves marks that are irreparable, no amount of cleaning will get them out. There seem to be innumerable different types of hand sanitiser: greasy ones, grainy ones, runny ones and very alcoholic ones. As far as I can tell they will all ruin your leather bag or purse. So when you apply hand sanitiser make sure it is completely dry before touching your bag and please, please, please be careful not to let little splashes get onto the surface of your bag when you are applying it. But by far the worst disaster I have seen, too many times now, is when the lid comes off in the bag and the bag gets soaked in it. There is no cure, so maybe consider keeping your hand sanitiser in a waterproof container or bag to minimise the risk of spillage. I have read lots of different home remedies for getting stains out of leather, the most bizarre being rub mayonnaise into the stain. All I will say is ‘Just Don’t’.

How To Clean Your Handbag

At the beginning of April Sidmouth would normally start to fill up with people. April 2020 is definitely different. It is strange and sad, but also a contradictory relief, to see Sidmouth all but deserted when out on my daily walk. The cafes, restaurants, pubs and shops all closed, shuttered and locked up on these glorious spring days we are having. We miss the joyful holiday bustle visitors bring to Sidmouth and we look forward to welcoming you all (hopefully) later in the summer but in the mean time stay safe.

It's definitely a bit rubbish having a birthday during this period of social distancing! My now 13 year old wanted a backpack for her birthday, ready for when she can meet up with her friends again. It's proved useful on our daily walks with a bit of role reversal to boot, instead of me carrying all of her 'stuff' around she carried mine :-) She's growing up too fast!