Matalan Christmas Press Day

It had to be the first sunny and twenty-two degree afternoon we've had for a while on the day that I'm heading to the plush Hospital club in Covent Garden to check out Matalan's new Christmas collection. But don't think that stopped me getting in the festive spirit - it was hard not to when you set your eyes on all the gorgeous decorations and caught a sniff of the real Christmas trees!

I was greeted by Becky who offered to show me round the collection and it was great to get a personal tour and have a chat so I felt completely welcome.

What I noticed immediately about the main women's collection was how nice it was to see such vibrant and varied colours and textures. From chiffon, velvet and sequins combined with prints in the Canyon Child collection to the frosted colour palette wih metallics, embellishment and feminine edge of the Winter Wonderland collection. This dress definitely has the making of a bestseller!

Matalan is also relaunching its plus size range, Rogers and Rogers offering peplum and baroque detail as well as loads of colour and sparkle from sizes 18-30.

Rogers & Rogers Collection



Whilst there were a few pieces that I liked including the blue baroque style trousers, it was the footwear and bags that really got me excited... Gorgeous burgundy, sparkles, wedges, wedged hi-tops for under £30, as well as embellished slippers and oversized clutches both at around the £8 mark - this is the perfect collection as the nights draw in and the party season starts!

If I had to pick a favourite it would be the wedge hi-tops, available in burgundy and a stone/beige for the bargain price of £22. This is such good value and definitely a price tag I would be willing to pay for such a trendy item that may not be around next summer! (you can see how I would style hi-tops in this post).

I've also got my eye on this gorgeous maroon faux fur coat... only problem is its in the kids range! I'm hoping I can squeeze into this one as Matalan stock up to age 16. Again this is a steal at £25...

Aside from the womenswear, menswear and kidswear there were some lovely home collections including bedding, nightwear and Christmas decorations...

Overall I was really impressed with the collection - the designs are completely on trend, I love the colour palettes and they offer such good value for money. The collection will hit stores at the end of August/start of September.

Which are your favourite items from the collection?

Lindsey

Happy Birthday To Me...

I'm not a girl who worries about my age or getting old (there's always botox right?) and back on the 5th July I celebrated my *ahem* 28th birthday. One drawback that people always talk about is that birthdays and Christmas get progressively more disappointing as you get older.

Well, speaking from experience I can happily inform you all that this is a load of old (excuse the pun) baloney... as this year's birthday was the best I've ever had... If you are easily offended by mild bragging of lavish presents I advise you to look away now ;)

Aside from it being a Thursday and having to work, I had a lovely evening with a meal at my favourite restaurant in Leeds, Blackhouse Grill - I had the wild mushroom tart with leek and brie, followed by the sashimi grade tuna loin. Apologies for no pics but I feel a bit awkward about taking photos in nice restaurants - just trust me it was amazing!

In addition to that, I was a very lucky girl this year as thanks to my boyfriend I am now the proud owner of the stunning Mulberry Roxanne!

The handbag is simply perfect. Whilst I get that the Bayswater is a classic, I knew it wasn’t for me – not just because everyone has one, but I’m not a fan of the slouchy leather. The Roxanne has a much more industrial feel – I love the pocket, buckle and rivet detail and the leather is a lot stiffer and I get the feeling will be more hardwearing over the years.

He also bought me a pair of leopard print Converse...

Not just spoiled by my boyfriend (major major brownie points for him btw), I also received some cash and some of my favourite Neal's Yard goodies from my family and the love continued with my best friend Helen buying me the Naked palette by Urban Decay! I'll do a separate post reviewing these soon...

A note to all girls out there - proof its always good to have a publicly documented wish list ;) Those of you that saw my April wishlist will know that I was already lucky enough to be bought the Sugarhill Boutique Cherry Bomb Shift Dress (OOTD here) so I was gobsmacked to virtually complete the set.

Lucky and spoiled doesn't even come close!

When is your birthday and what are you hoping for this year?

Lindsey

ASOS £100 Style Challenge

To celebrate hitting 1000 followers on Twitter, Discount Coder (@DiscountCoder) are running a competition to win a £100 ASOS voucher. All you have to do is style an outfit made up of items from ASOS for a maximum of £100.

I've seen the competition on a couple of blogs so thought I'd give it a try myself... I have to say this was a lot harder than I thought, as despite there being a lot of bargains on ASOS at the moment, £100 doesn't get you very far when you have a full outfit including accessories to style.

Anyway here is my look...

ASOS T-Shirt with Quilted Section £18.00

ASOS Mini Skirt in Leather Look £25.00

ASOS DENY Wedge High Top Trainers With Suede Detail £45.00

ASOS Skull and Floral Scarf £12.00

Total Cost = £100

Here is a full length photo of the scarf so you can see how it would complement the outfit:

I've opted for some key sports luxe features (you can see my post about sports luxe here) - the wedge high top trainers are bang on trend and set to stay for A/W 2012 (I've seen a sneak preview of a gorgeous pair in the New Look collection on Instagram). I've teamed them with a panelled leather look skirt, again this item will be great right through to next season with the gothic trend all over the catwalk.

The scarf will also be perfect into autumn (gothic trend and weather!) and I like the floral twist on the ever popular skull print, also adding some girliness to the sporty look. I've gone for a short hemline and textured layers with the quilting and scarf to help balance out the chunky wedge trainers.

I'm really happy with this outfit and its definitely something I would like to wear... you never know, if I win the competition I might just treat myself to these exact items! I think they come together well but individually are great capsule wardrobe pieces that will carry through to next year.

If you'd like to enter the competition yourself, visit Discount Coder's website here.

What do you think of the outfit? Would you wear wedge trainers?

Lindsey

There's no such thing as a size 9...

One of life's most annoying clothes shopping dilemmas as a woman... one size is too small, the next size is too big...

I was unfortunately in that position today when I found the most amazing dress in Karen Millen. I'd won a £100 voucher recently in an in-store competition and wanted to put it to good use when I discovered clothing perfection. The 60's metallic shift dress...

When I saw this dress I instantly fell in love, I knew this would be a classic dress that would be a keeper for years to come. The fabric, cut and quality are all incredible - this dress is made to enhance all the best features of a women - nipped in waist, legs and bust! But I fell foul of the age old dilemma, a size 10 was slightly too big which rendered the dress ill fitting and not worthy of the £175 price tag, whilst the size 8 looked absolutely fabulous but was the sort of dress I could barely go out for cocktails in let alone sit down and eat a meal.

After strutting around the changing room for 5 minutes whilst barely breathing I realised I'd actually been holding my breath and forcing finishing school posture for the duration. Sadly I had to kiss goodbye to this beautiful piece for the curse that is being between sizes.

Asda announced back in 2009 that they were the first retailer to produce jeans in mid-sizes 11, 13 and 15 solving the problem to one of the most difficult clothes shopping missions for women. Although being the 21st century I'm still stumped as to why there's no such thing as a size 9 across all shops and items, the fact that the fashion industry still produces clothes on a 2-size scale seems deeply old fashioned!

Have you experienced the same problem?

Lindsey

Outfit of the Day: Mellow Yellow

Top: George at Asda

Jeans: New Look

Shoes: Barratts

Necklace: Wallis

Ring: Miss Selfridge

Nails: OPI Road House Blues

Finally I've got round to editing the photos and finishing the post with the outfit I wore for my girl's night out last weekend. If you saw my Nails of the Day post you'll remember that I picked out the blue colour especially to go with this ultra bright yellow top.

Obviously aside from the bright colour I fell in love with this top for both the cut out detail on the bottom hem as well as the fabric - its sheer on the front and then a softer contrasting fabric on the back. A lot of great detail for the bargain price of a tenner from George at Asda would you believe it!?

I've kept the rest of the outfit fairly simple with black skinnies and heels and finished with a statement necklace made up of twisted chunky bronze and blue chains that complemented the nail varnish colour.

Girls night was tapas for dinner and then cocktails in Leeds... my boyfriend was in Barcelona for the weekend and I seem to remember having to put myself to bed on the bathroom floor when I got back after a few too many margaritas and tequila shots! Oops...

Great night though! 

Lindsey

Outfit of the Day - Wishes Do Come True

It was only on Monday this week that I posted my April Wish List so imagine my surprise when I got home from working away in London on Wednesday to find a parcel waiting for me. When I turned the parcel over to open I saw a little sticker saying Sugarhill Boutique and I was so excited... I am now the proud owner of the Cherry Bomb Shift Dress!

My lovely boyfriend had only heard me talking about how much I liked the dress (think I'd showed him the picture about 3 times!) and for once, he actually agreed with me that it was nice and decided to surprise me with it as a present!

Dress: Sugarhill Boutique

Leggings: Miss Selfridge

Boots: Primark

Necklace: Warehouse

Belt: Dahlia on Carnaby Street

I wore this dress yesterday to go for dinner and to the theatre to see Sister Act which has left the West End to tour the country. I actually saw the show when I was living in London when it guest starred Whoopi Goldberg who wrote the production but despite this being my second time I actually enjoyed it more than the first time - the cast and singing is incredible plus my boyfriend had got us tickets in an upper circle box so we had a great view and the two of us were sat on our own!

I wore the dress with black leggings, a buckle belt to nip in the waist a bit more (it did look fab without the belt too), my suede boots that you'll see in a lot of my outfits and then a cute chain with a solid block pendant detail.

Aside from the gorgeous print and the cute sleeve detail, I love the fabric - it was actually a lot better quality than I was expecting. That's no disrepect to smaller fashion retailers, I just find you never know what you're going to get when you order online - I generally check the material before I buy but sometimes things do seem cheaper when you see them in the flesh.

Overall I'm really pleased with it and the boyfriend has earned major brownie points too! I'm a very lucky girl!

Lindsey

SS 2012 Trends: Sports Luxe

Following on from my post on Colour Blocking I wanted to share my other favourite easy-to wear trend for Spring/Summer 2012.

As the nation is gripped in Olympic fever (well still fuming I didn't get any tickets), fashion has gone Sports Luxe crazy.



Helmut Lang

Victoria Beckham

In non-designer speak that doesn't refer to functional sports wear but does give a nod to cuts such as racer backs, cut out sections (maybe not til I've got rid of the Christmas podge), go faster stripes and panelling as well as loose fitting trousers. The key difference is these designs are all created in luxury (looking) materials like silk, cashmere and neoprene.

H&M have once again gone designer and teamed up with Frida Gustavsson to create a Sports Luxe range. Here's a sneak preview...

Frida Gustavsson for H&M Summer 2012


I'm loving this simple top that I bought from Warehouse with the mesh shoulder detail available in black or grey (might show this in an OOTD soon)

Mesh Panelled Top - Warehouse £30

My absolute favourite high street take on this look is from Asos for £32 and is also available in blue and yellow. I may have to buy this one - love the back!

 

ASOS Body Con Dress with Zip Front - £32

This is a great take on the Stella McCartney dresses worn by Kate Moss and Yasmin Le Bon at her Winter Eveningwear show at London Fashion Week.

Kate Moss and Yasmin Le Bon wear Stella McCartney at London Fashion Week

Here are my other picks from the high street:

Bright Blue Cut Out Mesh Dress - River Island £20



Paprika Body Con Panelled Dress with Contrast Shoulders - Asos £23 in Sale

Paprika Cut Out Body Con Dress with Neon Strap - Asos £14.50 - SALE BARGAIN!



If bodycon isn't your thing then this could be a better choice - I love the colour combo of grey with neon piping.

Piped Detail Silk T-Shirt Dress - Warehouse £65

Would love to know if you'll be wearing Sports Luxe this season?



Lindsey

Grammys Red Carpet 2012

The 54th Annual Grammy Awards was held in LA last night - here's my pick of the best and worst from the red carpet.

Best Dressed
Woman of the moment Adele picked up 6 awards in total. Despite the recent negative comments from Karl Lagerfeld about her size, she looked stunning in this black sequined Armani Gown. I particularly loved her make up and new blond hair with a take on old Hollywood glamour.

Next up is Kelly Osbourne wearing Tony Ford. Kelly got mixed reviews for her blue Zac Posen dress last month at the Golden Globes but I think she looks fab in this off the shoulder dress - very flattering and shows off her shape in all the right places.

Paris Hilton looked stunning and unusually elegant in this white Basil Soda fitted gown with gold embellishment and belt.

Some articles I've seen today have put Jessie J in the worst dressed category but I thought she looked great in this metallic Julien Macdonald gown - I think it captures her individual style and personality whilst is still fitting for the red carpet.

To round off the best dressed it can be none other than Rihanna in this Giorgio Armani black dress. The plunging neck line and thigh skimming slit ensured she looked smoking hot (as usual!). The back of this dress is stunning too!

Glamour tweeted today that Rihanna's new hair do is her best yet. I completely disagree and think this really lets the dress down... I think it looks too 80's and frazzled... the roots are awful and I can't help but think of Tina Turner! (rant over!)

Worst Dressed

This was the first photo I saw of newly single Katy Perry and I have to say I was disappointed by the blue lace gown by Elie Saab. I actually thought it made her look a bit frumpy - something I never thought I'd say about Katy! Fortunately this was one of three dresses she wore to this year's Grammys and I think she should have stuck with the gorgeous gold Gucci number she was snapped in later during the evening.

The last three celebrities have qualified for my newest category called Sack the Stylist. Take a look why...

Now I know Fergie isn't renowned for her great style but felt she deserved a spot on the worst dressed list for this neon orange lace couture dress by Jean-Paul Gaultier. Proof that designer doesn't always mean stylish in my book.

You'd think David and Kathy Guetta would be able to afford a decent stylist given how much they usually charge to get into their nights - F*ck Me I'm Famous at Pacha in Ibiza charges 70 Euro a ticket! What is that black astronaut inspired jumpsuit she's wearing?

Words can't even describe Nicki Minaj's outfit with Pope accessory... random, tasteless, feel free to add more!

Who are your favourites and worst dressed? What do you think to Rihanna's new look?

Lindsey


Photos sourced from TwinCities