DEBENHAMS LAUNCH SS14 COLLECTION

I have to be honest and say that Debenhams isn't ever my first port of call when the seasons change and I fancy a shop of the new high street collections. I'm sure I'm not alone in this among my peer group (mid twenties. OK, mid to late...), right?

I ADORE the Debenhams beauty hall in Argyle Street since they've done it all up, and I've seen me buy the odd bag or two from Betty Jackson, and a few pairs of shoes, or gifts for my Dad/Mum/Gran, but never do I really consider schlepping around floor upon floor of womenswear. I'm not sure why... Maybe memories of weekends spent trawling there with my Mum, or trying on a multitude of taffeta gowns in a hellish 27 Dresses style montage for 6th year prom has put me off. For whatever reason, it's just never been somewhere I shop.

Come to think of it, department store shopping in general is becoming less frequent or enjoyable for me. The perks of being sat at a computer all day means more and more of my clothes shopping is done online, and even my window shopping, so I can make up lists of items I want from particular stores and just head straight in on a mission. MINIMAL FANNYING ABOUT.

BUT, to continue this whole SAYING YES TO STUFF mantra I've been trying out lately (and loving bee tee dubz), when a wee invite popped into my inbox to a presentation of the new Debenhams SS14 collection launch, I decided to go along and have a swatch.

I was pleasantly surprised.

The expected trends were obviously on show, brights, pastels, florals, texture and embellishment, but cut on clean lines, sophisticated shapes and altogether stylish separates. Debenhams have also gone hard at the IT colour of the season, PINK, but in a refreshing fuschia shade, contrasting it with reds, which I'm enjoying. There's only so much Pepto-Bismol pastel pink one person can take.

These Red Herring scuba floral separates are amaze, and a contender for a slightly-edgier wedding outfit I'll be in needs of over the summer...

Another thing I was OBVIOUSLY totally smitten with was the skincare presentation. Despite saying I love the Debenhams beauty hall, I really mean the MAKEUP section of the beauty hall. I do the majority of my skincare shopping online now or in Whole Foods, and I was surprised and delighted to see that Debenhams actually stock the likes of Balance Me and Trilogy, both of which carry staple products for me(balancing moisturiser and rosehip oil respectively) and are quality brands well worth checking out.

I also got chatting to a lovely assistant, whose name now escapes me, who talked me through luxury tanning brand Vita Liberata, also stocked by Debenhams now. I kind of switched off during the fake tan talk, but then we got to discussing their Capture the Light collection of skin illuminators/primers and I was riveted.

A pearly, irridescent liquid with an SPF 25, that dries down to a demi matte finish, these can be used on legs, arms, decolletage and the face to give a beautiful glow, and come in a variety of finishes from opal to pink, to peach to bronzed. I absolutely fell in love with the Latte Light shade which gives a delicious, subtle tanned glow to the skin. A pump of this mixed with foundation would be absolutely PERF for summer, I imagine. Sign me right up!

Oh, and I also spotted another cult skincare brand OLE HENRIKSEN, previously only available on the likes of Feel Unique and Cult Beauty. How FAB! I'm super excited to try out products from the Danish, natural brand, but none moreso than their brightening, vitamin C packed Truth Serum, which I was lucky enough to receive in my goodybag. Rubbing my hands together with glee here, OBV.

All in all, a lovely night that I'm glad I didn't shy away from. I'm looking at Debenhams a little differently now, and I guess that's the point. Shopping, for me, has become altogether faster, more solitary and maybe a little joyless for it, so perhaps I need to set aside a couple of days and take a trip round the likes of Debs, Frasers, and John Lewis. We're spoiled here in Glasgow with several prestigious department stores on our doorstep, and it's time I reminded myself of what makes them so great.

MORBLAS MENU LAUNCH @ HILTON GLASGOW

So last night I went along to the new menu launch at Morblas Seafood and Grill at the Hilton in Glasgow.

I've only been in the Hilton once before for a pretty disastrous work Christmas party EONS ago... let's just say things got messy... Anyway, I hardly recognised it at all when I arrived last night, fresh outta work and hungry for grub. 

Nice toenail-clippings light feature! I jest, I actually thought this was pretty cool. BF and I were early, OBVIOUSLY, such is our extreme enthusiasm for a munch, so we hung about the pretty lobby until it was socially acceptable to go on over and grab some beer/Prosecco from our lovely host, Tracy from DADA. Holla!

Here we are having a gander at the menu, which is annoyingly all blurry cos I'm trying to snap this photo and hold my drink AND apply my kissable balm stain at the same time. Soz.

Anyway, once the wee tasters started coming out, highlights included butter-roasted scallops, kind prawn bruschetta, Loch Fyne oysters which I was too chicken to try, ham hock terrine, dry aged Scotch beef, smoked haddock with a tiny wee poached egg on top, mini burgers and spring pea and garlic risotto. SCRUMMY.

wee poached egg!

Wanted to take a pic with me holding these at my boobs but decided against it. Can't take me anywhere.

Pudding of rhubarb crumble.

I think my favourite thing of all was the king prawn bruschetta which I didn't even get a snap of I gobbled it up so fast! The prawns were cooked in butter and were so so so tasty! The mini burgers were scrummy too, as was the smoked haddock AND the beef. Wasn't overly keen on the veg tagine, but it's the kind of thing I wouldn't ever order anyway. Oh, and the risotto was amazing too!

BF and I are total gannets and were a bit worried we might not get enough to fill wur giant bellies but actually the samples appeared thick and fast and I got to try one of almost everything which was pretty awesome. By the end we were totes full which is like, pretty good going! #hollowlegs

Here's the chef (whose name escapes me - oops!) talking about how his deal is all about cooking good food simply. I get that, it definitely felt like the ingredients used were pretty top notch, and when that's the case, sometimes the less you do to them the better. Or something? Maybe? Check me chatting like I know the first thing about cooking!!

But yeah, nice wee way to spend a Wednesday. Before, I'd never have really have considered looking at hotel restaurants if I was booking a meal out, but after this it's definitely something to keep in mind. I'd definitely go back to Morblas for sure.

Have you ever been to The Hilton for food?

Ps...

..my hungry face. Roffle.

MULBERRY COACHELLA POOL PARTY

Mulberry always seems to throw the best parties! Here's some snaps from their Coachella pool party in Palm Springs the other day, where Kasabian and Wild Belles performed to a crowd of gorge celebs decked out in Mulberry threadz... But where was Lana Del Rey or Olivia Palermo? Del Rey has a new (surprisingly demure bowling-style) bag out in her honour and Palermo never misses a Mulberry do? Oh well, Kate Bosworth was there in spades so I guess that kind of makes up for their absence.

Here's an awkward photo of Emma Watson shamelessly over-accessorising that cute playsuit. I've always had a hunch that Emma has horrific personal style and counters it with a good stylist. BUT WHERE WAS SHE TODAY, EH?

Omnipresent Bosworth.

Cute-as-a-button Lily Collins with Emma Watson again. I mean, even if she just took off the cardigan and the belt, surely that would make this a million times better, right?

I love Lily Collins.

Bikini-clad beautiful person.

Collins and Bosworth posing their wee hearts out. Bos could do with toning it down a tad. Still, loving those lime-green earrings. Pop!

Dree Hemingway needs her roots doing but it's cool cos she's wearing a distractingly-gorgeous dress/top and skirt so you hardly notice really.

Cara Delevingne working the I-just-fell-out-of-bed-and-shoved-my-washing-pile-back-on look. WARNING, do not re-create unless you are a model. Consequences are disastrous, trust me.

Tali Lennox looking smugly chic, if only it wasn't for that belt. Yee-Haa! By the way, do any of you follow Tali on Twitter? She says some SPECTACULARLY STUPID things! Go see what I mean. Utter tubular belle.

Anyways, I'm not doing any Coachella Fashion posts or anything because I'm already sick of them and let's be honest, festival fashion never really changes. So predictable, blergh.

YES I'M BITTER I'M NOT GOING TO ANY FESTIVALS THIS YEAR, WHAT OF IT'?

STRIPED BASICS FOR SPRING

I absolutely love stripes for spring. Well, for any time really, but especially for spring - they just channel a sort of laid back, causal, sunny, beatnik vibe, doncha think?

Weirdly enough they never really say NAUTICAL to me, no matter how much ELLE tries to persuade me otherwise (unless the chick is wearing a straw boater or posing on a yacht). Instead I find striped basics perfect for throwing on as it starts to warm up, layering effortlessly with denim or leather and adding colourful accessories if I can be bothered or just some huge black sunnies if I can't. Perfect.

Here's some pretty striped basics from Urban Outfitters:

(Tyra would be proud of that stare guuuurl!)

Casually cool, aye?

OH, and if you're coming to the International Women's Day fundraiser on Thursday, go YOU, you are awesome, AND also try and get there for 6pm if you can as the lovely Laura from Oxfam Scotland will be popping along to say a few words and answer any questions and all that kinda goodness.

Leighton Denny Nails, John Frieda, Schuh, and ROX goodies all added to the raffle today :)

So excited, see you all there!

REGISTER TO ATTEND: IWD2012 BLOGGER GET TOGETHER

Hello ladies! Super excited to let you know how you can register to attend the Get Together I'm currently planning for Oxfam's International Women's Day 2012. (Original post here).

I've called it a Blogger GET TOGETHER but if you want to bring a friend or two, that's great and you totes can :)

Non-bloggers are more than welcome too, you can all still register in the same way.

• The event will be held in Glasgow on the evening of Thursday the 8th of March
• It will be a tea party-style event with an optional clothes swap, raffle, quiz etc.
• There will be a few surprises on the night - gotta keep schtum at the mo ;)
• The event is free and non-ticketed but you MUST register to attend
• There will be goody-bags!
• Kind donations are expected - it's for charity people!

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To register please email k-mclaren@hotmail.com with your name and address, and those of any guests you plan to bring, by Friday the 10th of February.

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The address part is so I can send you out your official invites from Oxfam :)

I'm really excited about this event and I KNOW we can raise some serious moolah for some amazing womens charities. Plus, I do love a blogger meetup and I missed the last few so it'll be lovely to see you all again in the flesh and meet some new faces :)

Don't be shy, get involved!

I'll reveal the location and some other tidbits nearer the time... don't you love the suspense!


x

Ps if you want to blog about the event yourselves to help spread the word, that would be TOTES AMAZE. thanks dolly-bids x




EDIT: Registration has now closed, thanks to everyone who got in touch! Due to overwhelming demand I've had to change venues so that all 50 of us can come! Watch this space over the next few weeks for more details!

MULBERRY LOVES SCOTLAND

Y'all know how much I bang on about Mulberry, right? Well, last week I was very kindly invited to a fabulous event at the Mulberry store in Ingram Street in Glasgow - Mulberry Loves Scotland -  in celebration of the brand's Spring Summer 2012 collection. 

HOW ON EARTH could I pass up an opportunity to schmooze with press and customers alike, be wined and dined by the PR team, and spend quality time in the company of some of THE most gorgeous bags and accessories ever? I couldn't. Obviously.

What follows are about ten squillion photos and some ramblings about the collection.

Here is the lovely Carrie (stylish stylist who I work with at the Herald & Evening Times Group) looking WAY chic in her signature stripes-and-Alexa combo.

During the schmoozing and boozing in store, the lovely Jack from Mulberry HQ in London showed me a few of the stores best sellers (Bayswaters, Alexas and a particular leopard-print Evelina he couldn't keep his hands off) along with some of Spring Summer's newcomers.

Afterwards, we all trooped across Royal Exchange Sqare to the UBER posh 29 Private Members Club for wur tea. Well classy, and check out the awesome Mulberry decorations!

Animal balloon craziness.

Those OOOH! glasses were such a hoot and allowed for many hilarious photo opportunities, but I was also MASSIVELY impressed by the food! I had myself a Caesar salad, one of the nicest steaks I've EVER tasted and a scrummy pear tart. But the stand out food of the night had to be the freshly-baked bread to start. I genuinely couldn't believe bread could taste SO GOOD!

Bread deliciousness. MMM!

Um, tasty.

Spread out all over the lavish table were the sweetest wee Polaroid cameras to capture the debauchery. Here's a few of the photos we took up our end. Jack collected these up at the end of the night with a view to putting them on the official Mulberry blog - EEK! can you imagine my mug on there? Keep yer peepers peeled!

Stuffing my face. I'm so attractive, right? Wearing my red velvet Monki frock, the black version of which I am still GIVING AWAY but only until the 4th of Dec so get entering!

Oh hey there, DRUNK EYES.

Oooh bantz!

After the meal we got to leave with an animal balloon - I took the tiger which caused muchos taxi hilarity and scared the crap out my cat - a press pack and a TRULY EPIC goody bag! Here's a sneak peek at the BOOTY:

Cute, individual press pack canvas bag. Ooh, I say!

Lookbook made to look like a ice-cream wafer. UM, awesome.

General contents including all the relevant lookbooks, some more OOOH glasses, leather friendship bracelet, sticks of Mulberry rock, stickers and a stunning Mulberry scarf featuring the cutest embroidered doodles.

Like, WOW.

Some of my favourite bags from the accessories lookbook.

Please note in particular the pale pink Alexa and leopard-print Bayswater. I'm in love.

Absolutely adore that first outfit on the left - yes to shimmering metallics for next summer!

Some more favourites from Spring Summer 12, described by Mulberry as "inspired by the Great British summer and seaside shenanigans; donkey rides, ice-cream on the beach, sparkling pier lights and kiss-me-quick chic. Our new season is oh-so English, from the of ‘Carry On Camping’ to the quirky English habit of enduring the beach no matter the weather, raincoats and nostalgic fun all! Add plenty of eclectic Mulberry charm and wit, luxe detailing, signature season prints and strong layered silhouettes for our most bonkers and beautiful season yet!

Most bonkers and beautiful season yet? Couldn't agree more, Mulberry!

I'm really glad that Mulberry decided to host an event up here. As a quintessentially English name, it shows great brand initiative and integrity by branching out and making key press connections north of the border. After all, we are AWFY FOND of a Heritage label in Bonnie Scotland, and it's important for us all to get behind BRITISH fashion so the immense amount of talent we harbour in this country can continue to make an impact on a global stage.

And when the pieces are as expertly-crafted, luxurious, innovative and easy on the eyes as Mulberry's world-renowned accessories and garments are, it's not a hard task!

Thanks to the PRs, 29 Members Club Glasgow and Mulberry Ingram St Glasgow for an awesome evening.

x