Brand Alley and the Little Black Dress

Hi guys,
My love of a good LBD is well documented (in fact, at last count, I had 13 of them) so imagine my delight to discover that Brand Alley was releasing a whole new range of the lovely classics, from up and coming designers no less, but at affordable prices.

Last month Brand Alley launched an exclusive design competition with Fashion Enter which saw a range of up and coming designers present their take on the iconic LBD. The 10 best designs have been selected by BrandAlley and a panel of industry experts and are being produced and sold exclusively via the BrandAlley website from September 15th.

Here are some of my favourite LBD's from the collection:

From left to right we have: the Batmobile dress by Alice Palmer, and the Audrey dress by Celia Fernandes. There was always going to be a classic "Audrey Hepburn-style" dress; she is the celebrity symbol of the little black dress! I love the sharp angles of the Batmobile (i've never knowlingly said no to a peplum!), and of course, its name: my dad and I were delighted to discover recently that you can hire the Batmobile for weddings and other such events! Both dresses have a classic simplicity that means you can keep them in your wardrobe and wear them forever, but enough fashion forwardness to stop them from looking dull or ubiquitous.

From left to right we have: the Charlotte by Evelyn Front and the Alia by Olga Papadopoulos.The Charlotte must have been designed with SATC's Charlotte in mind: this is my favourite dress from the whole range, I love its 50s styling, pleated details, and swingy skirt! The Alia has the kind of structure perfect for flattering curves, and although I wonder how you'd walk in the tight narrow skirt, the shoulder pleating makes it worth finding out!

I love all these dresses: I can't be trusted with my purse when there are black dresses around! The exclusive ‘10 Little Black Dresses’ collection will be produced by Fashion Enter’s UK workshop and will be on offer at www.brandalley.co.uk in an exclusive two-week sale, from 15th - 30th September on a made–to-order service. Prices from £60 - £275 with limited edition dresses up to £650, delivery times will be a maximum of 3 weeks. Get in quick and snag yours before my willpower disolves and I take them all!

Love, Tor xx

My Vogue's Fashion Night Out

Hi Guys,
It was Vogue's fashion night out last night, and shops all over London were holding events for the occasion. I met with Jenny from The Style PA, and we started from Oxford Circus and worked our way around the shops; it was quite a mission! We started on the high street (Oxford Street) before heading to Bond Street, where they really know how to throw a party!

Most of the high street stores were hosting instore events; Oasis were holding a night of a thousand prizes, Warehouse were giving customers the opportunity to style models and win the outfits they picked, and River Island (shown above) had make up stands, a photo booth, and nail bar.

Pull and Bear embraced social media in a popular window display in which two bloggers were pitched against each other to style an outfit on models in the window, whilst the public looked on. The crowd were then given X stickers to put on the window of the bloggers outfit that they preferred. Of all the shops of Oxford Street I think this drew the biggest crowd.


In a moment of real surreality, one minute we were wandering along eating the most delicious cake pops I had ever tasted (courtesy of the gorgeous girl in Next, above) the next moment Jedward were running passed us at quite a speed: they were so quick I could only photograph the backs of their head (and I felt like a sad teenage fan doing it!) I have no idea which event they were heading too. After this we heading to Selfridges where we drank mini bottles of Champagne, and had our photos taken in the Chanel photo booth. (Click the link to see the photos!)


Both high street and high end stores opted for "living mannequins" as their window displays, with both Zara and Daks choosing this for their entertainment (shown above). We also went to Burberry (where we lusted after several coats), McQueen (where we lusted after everything), and DKNY, where we reminisced about the terrible DKNY purchases of our youth, and drank the most delicious cocktails; however by this stage I was having too much fun to remember to take photos! It was a great night out, and i'm already looking forward to next year.

What did you guys do for Fashion Night Out? Do you have any fun stories to share?

Love, Tor xx

TU at Sainsburys: More supermarket chic?

I don't mind a look at George at Asda if I have an urge for a quick, cheap, trend fix. Clothing at Tesco have won me over with the quality and fit of their great ranges (everything i've had from them has washed like a charm) But TU at Sainsburys? Well to be honest, the only clothing my local Sainsburys stock are two packs of black/white Tshirts, cheap stone wash jeans, and the occasional pink/pastel pajamas. I didn't even know they had a "fashion" range!

But today they sent me a press release entitled "Alpine Chic" and I really liked a couple of the pieces on it, in fact, I liked them enough to look at their whole set of A/W press shots. And I have to say, I was impressed:

I like the brown shearling coat, and if the quality is good, it would be a bargain at £40. The wrap cardigan would also make a great, versitile winter piece that I would be happy to add to my wardrobe. I'm obsessed with the camel cape, despite the fact i'm not a big fan of camel, and for £45 it would be an great nod to both the camel and cape trends for this season. I also love the styling of the collection, which makes all the difference: I would wear the whole of the first shot, exactly as it is. In fact, I probably have worn that outfit!

All looking great, and id be very interested to take a closer look (Who can tell quality/fit from a photo!?) I just wish I knew more about TU: you don't read about it on other blogs - is it a dirty secret, or not worth checking out? I've decided i'd like to find out. The only problem now is to find the elusive store in NW London that actually stocks this stuff....any ideas??

Love, Tor xx

PS - Apparently because of the high holiday volumes in August, the StyleCompare competition has been extended for another two weeks! If you wanted to send an entry, but didn't quite get it done in time then work on it now, and send it over. I'd love to see it! x