Best Independent Etailer 2009 – Sarah Coggles

Never heard of Sarah Coggles? No neither had I until my editor told me they had won Drapers Best Independent Etailer 2009. But that is not their first award- since 2005 they have won a rather impressive 9 awards. So I decided to check out their website.

Wow! Where do you start? The designers they feature range from D&G, Diesel and Juicy Couture to Nicole Farhi and Vivienne Westwood, and the site lets you search by designer or type of clothing.

So after spending (probably far to long!) browsing the site, here are some of my favourite picks.

If you are a guest or the mother of the bride/groom at a beach wedding the blue linen dress by Great Plains would be ideal, it features beading on the body, so you feel dress up enough for a wedding but it will still keep you cool on the day.

For mothers of the bride, the D&G navy halter neck dress and Paul Smith black and white striped dress, will get you noticed without stealing the lime light from your daughter. And the frilled front of the Paul Smith will hide any concerns over tummy issues.

For wedding guests the Emily and Fin jade feather strapless dress, is pretty and unusual and could be teamed with a pretty cardigan or pashmina. I also love the Paul and Joe Sister, beige Grecian inspired dress and Corsica navy dress both with beading. If you looking for your wedding outfit to be a bit more slinky (maybe to make an ex jealous!) then the Vivienne Westwood Light Grey dress or the Kelly Ewing burgundy and black corset dress, would both be ideal.

And lastly for brides looking for an edgy bridesmaid dress, or even wedding dress, then the Vivienne Westwood dark blue dress is stunning, with its sculpted front and back design and fully boned corset.

So why is it called Sarah Coggles? Well according to the website, in 1976 the founder of the company Victoria Bage, wanted to open her first store, she had been selling her own designs from a market stall in York. Whilst she was expanding her business she found out that her partner was having an affair with his secretary, Sarah Coggles. She got rid of him and decided to name the store after the secretary, so he would always be reminded of his mistake!

www.coggles.com