Yesterday our eldest and I went to London for the day. Although it wasn't meant to be a shopping day in particular, there were one or two essential purchases to make because remarkably, the person who is always freezing, didn't wear enough clothes. As observed by the eldest with a wry smile, it was one of the best excuses she had heard for having to buy more clothes. However, I knew if I didn't do something about it I would be freezing all day and as several of my fingers had already gone white, I knew it was time to act. So, a quick trip into GAP resulted in the purchase of this cable knit jumper in neon coral (£34.95 less 30%)...
...and this cable beanie, also from GAP in heather grey (£9.95 less 30%).
After I'd put both of those on, the feeling started to return to my fingers, which I took as a good sign. We headed to Covent Garden and the Royal Opera House shop, before going to Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Picadilly Circus and down Regent Street to Hollister, which was described as: "A dark, smelly, overpriced, hell. The kind of place you try and fight your way out of in a dream but can't get out of..." And that was by the person who actually chose to go in there i.e. not me.
We then took a trip to Liberty to look at the stationery and the decorations, followed by a spell in Topshop on Oxford Circus (which had slightly different "attractions" to Hollister) before battling our way down Oxford Street to Selfridges to see the window display, the Christmas decorations and the shoe gallery. Having spent quite a lot of the time in the shops we decided to do some sight seeing before heading home, so off we went to Tower Bridge, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.
But of course no trip to London would be complete without a trip to the newly opened J. Crew. It's funny because I'm not convinced that it lived up to its hype, whereas when I visited & Other Stories for the first time, I was totally impressed. The things that I really liked in J. Crew I felt were expensive, the basics weren't that inspiring and in my opinion there were some really, really, grim things too - which I know is true of any brand but I wasn't really expecting it of J. Crew.
Out of everything in J. Crew this chevron scarf (£68) in citron grey was one of my favourite things. Possibly because I was still a bit cold, more likely because grey and yellow are a favourite colour combination of mine, undoubtedly because it was really soft and I'm thinking that chevron prints are the way forward. For £68 though I felt that it would more likely be a sale purchase.
For the same reasons I also liked the chevron hat from J. Crew (£39.50) but for the same reasons, I left it where it was.
I also took a look at the highly rated Merino tippi sweater J Crew (£69.50, which comes in 18 colours) whilst I was there - just to see whether it was worth its price.
Now I think that this is a tricky one. Sometimes you set your heart on something and it becomes the holy grail of that item, to the point that nothing else seems to cut the mustard, so (within reason) it's just better to bite the bullet and buy it, rather than buying two or three cheaper versions which don't quite work.
In its favour, the sleeves are a nice length and the colours are good. I also think that the ribbing around the neckline, hem and sleeves sets it apart from others. Having said that it is really lightweight so wouldn't offer much warmth and it would need something underneath it. Maybe if I was after a specific colour it could be a yes, or if I had dreamt about owning one and nothing else would do, then it would be a yes. Otherwise, we reckoned it was worth £25, which would make it a no. For the same price I would probably look closely at this cashmere round neck jumper in Pure which comes in a wide selection of colours and with the current discount available doesn't cost much more, or to the cashmere in GAP, H&M or M&S. Having done that first, maybe then I would be satisfied that this was the one!
As an aside, after I'd spoken to an assistant in J. Crew, she told me that she really liked my necklace, which I had bought in Topshop one as a cheaper alternative to one of theirs. I can't see it online at the moment but was £22.50 for anyone who wants to keep their eyes open, or equally tell me that I am wrong and that it is there!
Finally, I have had my eye on this pink leather clutch from Whistles (£35 less 20%), for a while. The fact that it is a different colour on each side doubles its versatility - and halves its price too if you think about it. So it was a winner all round.
Oh and the above photo was taken in the M&M shop, with the Union Jack being made entirely out of M&Ms. As to the rest of the outfit I wore my All Saints Pia dress, a Whistles jacket, All Saints shoes and a Mulberry handbag - plus on occasion our eldest's school gloves which she has had from the age of 7. Stylish!
