[Featured] REISS Bloggers SS13 Evening

Last year I spent a cold winter evening with Reiss at their lovely head office just off Oxford Circus to see their SS13 collection with some other of the Handpicked Media bloggers.  I've been craving sunshine ever since - absolutely loved the stuff, as my amateur-on-screen self will tell you in this little video with Isabelle, Carina, Shona and Navaz (need to get my head around doing this, sorry for the waffle in advance...).

There were loads of cute summery tops and dresses, but I've tried to pick out the pieces we can wear in our spring in the edit (below). I loved the pastel tones and the general final touches to the entire collection. As Isabelle said in the video, the detailing is great and the quality and fabrics equal that of a Parisian showroom.  They still kept the basics in there too though - loved the Kirsten camel jacket and the every day Lara boots. I took a shine to all the knitwear, which felt gorgeous and was perfect for those dodgy 'summers' we're having in the UK at the moment with all that 'sunshine.' The Rocco sweat has a really cool cross stitch detail on the back too...

Ruby Jumper, £69 / Lara Boots, £149 / Kirsten Jacket, £125 / Bistro Olive Jumper, £79 / Rocco Sweater, £125 / Tulip Blouse, £85 /  Smith Coloured Jean, £79 / Blaire Skirt, £95 /

And the accessories... Love them. I didn't think anything would make me like the name Nina again (little madam in my ballet class when I was 6 who used to kick her leg out in front of girls when they went past, b*tch) but Reiss totally have with their Nina box bag - I cannot explain how much I love it other than by just showing you a lot of pictures of it:

Reiss' Nina bag, £175

As well as Nina, I loved the little red tote and the saffiano leather - very Celine/Chloe... The Reiss team gave me a voucher to spend after this event, and I bought a LOT in the sale - thank you! On that final note, one of the things I bought were these trousers. Can't believe they are now £33, can't recommend them enough - get them while you still can...

[Featured] LK Bennett's The Edit

Mary Katrantzou dress / Nicholas Kirkwood heels / American Apparel Breton

Quick little post to say thank you to the lovely LK Bennett team for this piece on their The Edit / Blogs We Love page. Lopez and I talk shopping, shoes and our favourite LK Bennett bits. Have a look at the post, here!

[Featured] Benetton's #UNHATE Campaign

As you might know from my instagram feed, on Wednesday Reem and I were taken along to Paris to see Benetton launch their latest campaign.  Benetton is a brand I've got a lot of time for, even though you could argue it has become a little hidden behind it's competitors at times.  I can remember shopping in their Italian stores with my family when I was little (only place we could find trousers that fit my sister), and their advertising campaigns are ones of few I actually remember clearly...

Their stand out point was their passion for colour and race-equality, as their famous campaigns in the 90s poignantly showed.  These days such issues are less at the forefront in our day-to-day-high-fashion-world as (thankfully) using models from different backgrounds is accepted as the norm. So I was very curious to see how Benetton were going to keep their message going in 2013...

The answer: taking 9 people with inspiring cultural or emotional backgrounds and using them to strengthen Benetton's #UNHATE campaign message. I'm not going to pretend I didn't get a little bit emotional about it all... some of the stories the models have are beyond inspiring. Take Lea T, a transgender model who has faced all kinds of hell trying to break into the fashion industry. Similarly, Alek Wek who broke down the rules when she was the African model to grace covers of pretty much every magazine you can think of.

We got to meet the president of the company, Alessandro Benetton who told us all about his passion for equality and how he sees colour in clothing as a form of expressionism.  I totally agree, and it reminded to really get rid of the grey in my life (without ditching the capsule wardrobe rule). We then saw the filming of the campaign (photos above) where you really saw what he meant - the models looked totally different once they put on their favourite shades - much more comfortable with themselves.

Benetton are selling t shirts from the campaign to raise money for their #UNHATE drive, its a great idea and I'm now firmly back in the Benetton camp - think you guys probably should be too... Check out the full campaign and collection here.

[Trend] Bold Coloured Bikers

I've been having a bit of a blogger block recently and haven't really found much to post about, but I was reading/glossing over the The ST Style at the weekend and spotted a few street style images of people in their brightly colour leather biker jackets. Seems to be a trend. A friend of mine bought the blue Acne one Hanneli Mustaparta is wearing (below) a couple of seasons ago and I've been a bit obsessed ever since. Anything in cobalt blue really does tick all the boxes for me**.  Rag and Bone's SS13 had an eye popping lime green one (below), and Christopher Kane's yellow version is pretty cool too...

Hanneli Mustaparta blue Acne jacket / Rag and Bone SS13

I bought my black Maje leather biker last year, after umming and ahhing over whether it suited me. I now live in it. I'm pretty timid/conservative/wimpish with my fashion choices but I really think I might try this. Not the green (not cool enough) but a blue or a red might work. Miroslava Duma's printed Katrantzou piece is brilliant, but it's the kind of the thing men would never understand and I can't be bothered with the 'why are you wearing that' banter... Purely because I can't answer it with, 'Because I'm Miroslava Duma, b*tch.'  Otherwise I totally would...

I like the coral coloured one above, the pastel tones are doable... also the mint one (below).  The blue one below is a good compromise too... Ooh decisions, decisions - and not a small one at that. Leather is expensive, and as good as PU gets it just isn't the same.  The high street have a few good choices, Reiss' red style is gorgeous but even that is £400 (saying that H&M have a great one for £30 in cream, that will be available in blue from March).

What do you think? Do or don't? The blue gets my vote...

**On a completely different (cobalt blue) front, I went to see the guys at my-wardrobe last week and they're getting an exclusive bright blue pair of Acne pistol boots ASAP. Click here to make sure you don't miss out...

[Trend] Peach Jacquard Trousers

Don't get me wrong I love going along to press days and shows, but one major down side is that you see a collection at least 6 months before it falls into stores. I guess it's a nice problem to have, but nonetheless irritating.  When a trend does eventually start to appear in shops, I do that frantic 'oh my god where did I see that before?' thing and clumsily rustle a post up.  This is one of those...

Whistles SS13

Last September Whistles put on a sophisticated spread up at the Savoy with their SS13 (have a look here at LFF's post), and it got my summer trend pangs going. Aside from the monochrome and denim, my favourite 'look' was the peach/coral coloured jacquard pieces - particularly trousers - and since then I've spotted the same looks at J Crew (below), Richard Nicoll, Topshop and more... 

J Crew SS13

I think it's going to be big - when everyone from designer to mid-way, to high street are trying to get the look going you know you're probably going to need a piece of it.  So far I think the Whistles ones are my favourite so I'm going to hold out until they go in store...

Richard Nicoll SS13 / Karen Walker SS13 

[Craving] Gerard Darel Officer Coat

Gerard Darel Double Breasted Coat, now £249

Quick little post as it's almost too cold to think about typing anything at the moment, poor excuse but it's true! It's bl**dy chilly here in London, as in freezing.  I was walking about town today in 5 layers and still had to knock the icicles off me when I got through the door.  We haven't had much snow, but apparently there is more to come over the weekend.  It's a great excuse to shop the winter sales and continue buying warm clothes... I spotted this Gerard Durel coat in Peter Jones yesterday - perfect and reduced from £415 to £249. You can buy it online too, have a gander here.  Love the military look, and fab to see a French name other than Isabel Marant on the streets!

[Trend] Beetlejuice Stripes

Who'd have thought it?  One of the most random films of the 1980s produced a character so strange that everyone wants to dress like them for 2013... Odd. Say hello to the Beetlejuicers. That doesn't even sound nice does it? But it looks pretty good!

Marc Jacobs SS13 / street style from PFW

Balmain SS13 / image via pinterest

Taylor Swift in Kate Spade / Oscar De La Renta SS13

street style / Whitney Port in Whitney Eve striped blazer

Stripes are bl**dy hard to wear, I'll be steering clear of the trousers as unless you have really slim legs you'll resemble a zebra crossing - but some of the blazers are awesome... Blair from Atlantic Pacific's skirt is a nice  slightly-more-ladylike way of doing it too... I haven't bought anything yet, but think I'll give a jacket a go - will be putting it with black or very plain things otherwise I'd risk looking like a bus conductor / Chicago trader... (only Marc Jacobs seems to have managed to make it at all feminine) Here are my finds (and how much does the 20 quid H&M dress look like the £350 Marc Jacobs one?) ...

Jeans Rag and Bone, £99 / Dress H&M, £19.99 / Dress Marc Jacobs, £349 / T Shirt H&M, £7.99 / Long Sleeve Tee Oasis, £38 / Long Sleeve All Over Stripe Tee Mango, £22 / Warehouse Ponte Jacket, £75 / 

Zara also have some beauties, like this jacket here from their newest collection.  I thought the Rag and Bone jeans were a nice alternative to block stripes and are a lot more flattering - the black at the sides is a positive illusion! Coming around to this look...

photos via jak and jil, Atlantic Pacific, wwtaylorw, ELLE UK

[Competition] Win a Pair of LK Bennett Shoes

As you know, I don't often do competitions on the blog - but when LK Bennett asked if I'd like to give away a pair of their Miriam ankle boots to celebrate the launch of their new Facebook App 'Win Shoes For A Year' I felt I couldn't really say no (especially as I am such a sucker for a pair of leopard printed heels)!

LK Bennett Miriam Boots, £375

To be in with a chance of winning, you must be a follower of South Molton St Style (either on GFC, Twitter or Facebook) and you'll need to email me your name, shoe size and contact details. A winner will be selected at random on Monday the 14th of January (winner will be announced on via my Twitter account ).

Finally - don't forget to enter LK Bennett's own promotion to win you and a friend 6 pairs of shoes as a special New Year treat - enter here by the 7th of January.

[Bought] My Sale Purchases (Oops)

I can't quite believe 2013 is here - and more importantly how quickly the holidays are over.  Saying that, Christmas was only last week but it feels more like a month ago.  I spent most of the time eating, but whenever I wasn't I was either browsing sales online or dragging some poor soul through Westfield. I found it a bit sad how early some stores went into sale, it's a bit of an indication how the market is at the moment. So to help them out a little bit I kindly donated all of my current funds to their tills. Here is some of what I bought:

Reiss Lois Coat, now £73 / French Connection Lace Tee, now £35 / Reiss Fiona Basic Tee, now £17 / Chinti and Parker Breton Tee, now £54 / Reiss Pop Knit, now £66 / Whistles Josa Leather Finish Jacket, now £50

First up was Reiss where I used the rest of the £500 voucher I won last year - which came very much in handy.  I bought the blue Lois coat I'd been craving for months for half price (now £73), a lovely bright green jumper for £66 and stocked up on basic Fiona tees which are reduced to £17. I also went to Whistles where I bought a pair of black jeans with leather side panels for £50 (they don't seem to be online) and this Josa tuxedo jacket which was reduced from £175 to £45.  Absolutely love it, especially the leather piping.

Other quick purchases included this lace tee from French Connection via House of Fraser at Westfield and a huge amount of Benefit products... Oops.... Actually, I missed something - I already bought a considerable amount of these and these from Marks and Spencer for myself a New Years Eve party. The resolutions include not doing this so much. Double oops...