last week i joined katy and emsy - and a slew of other bloggers, at the blogger fun fair, hosted by joe browns. the invitation to the fair claimed to have fair games and snacks, a catwalk fashion show as well as the chance to mingle with the joe browns team. but... when we got there, we found a pretty small vip space, really dark lighting, and not a lot of space to spread out and mingle in. never the less, we grabbed out sugary cocktails, and headed on in - keen to see what the new collection was all about.
although a lot of the bloggers there had never heard of the brand before, i'd had the pleasure of working with them early last year, and so had an idea of what to expect from the online-and-catalogue-only retailer's new range. the brand has a very classic take on style, and isn't really trend-led in the way that most high street brands are, to be honest, i find them a bit hit-and-miss. i was dubious about whether or not the new range would light any fires in me, but who doesn't love a fun fair, am i right?
as we looked over the rail of new-in pieces, i certainly wasn't blown away by any of the dresses - my go to item usually, but there were a couple tweed-like jackets that called to me; not my usual style, but i could definitely make a tweed blazer work for autumn. in the distance though, a splash of bright red caught my eye, so i went to investigate. it belonged to a fabric shoulder bag, and appeared to be embroidered in a range of bright colours - reds, pinks and greens, and then a glittery gold thread used to outline the bold print. it was gaudy in comparison to the other stuff, but i loved it. in a room full of 'classic' this was very, very out of place.
later on - forgetting all about the bag, i entered the raffle with the other girls. the raffle was to win a handbag from the a/w collection, and was being drawn at the end of the night. despite the lack of food, and the fact we had to pour our own drinks (oh, boo hoo), we stood around chatting so long that it was soon enough, the end of the night. then this happened (more or less):
emily from joe browns: and the winning number is.... 197!
us:.... uh, we don't think she's still here?
emily: oh well, how about number.... 245!
us:.... erm, pretty sure she's not here either.
emily: oh dear, ok how about number.....
me: 226?
emily: sure - close enough; congratulations!
and then she handed me the bag i'd been eyeing up earlier in the night. to say i was over the moon would be an understatement, and i walked away from the fun fair with a huge grin on my face - especially when i realised that the goody bags were full of maoams, and i could have been eating sweeties the whole time. needless to say, the tube journey home was verrrrry chewy.
bag*: joe browns | dress : (sugarhill, from) house of fraser | shoes : new look
in the light of the new day, the bag was even prettier than it seemed in the dingy bar the night before; vibrant pinks and greens, and pops of yellow and gold. i loved it, but noted a problem in wearing it: it clashed with almost all my clothes. i needed solid colours on me in order for the bag to be paraded as well as it should, and so...because i needed an excuse to shop, when i saw this sugarhill beauty on sale for seventeen whole pounds at house of fraser (i bought the last one, sorry. but - there are others that are just as cheap!), well, i was sold.
i was warned recently that once you start with the tattoos you will want to show them off by wearing solid colours. i though that was bullshit, and fully intended to continue wearing what i wanted - the floralier and pinkier the better... but, they were right. and i've been wearing a lot more black (still printed, but still black) since lady doe nut joined me almost four weeks ago. i always tell katy she's too young to be wearing so much black, and i stand by that; black is for when you hit your thirties.
i never ~really believed that either until recently, but... maybe there's some hope in black after all.
especially if all the accessories look like this.
