My High Street Crush - COS

Christmas is just around the corner and with it, the real reason we love the holidays and the whole hullabaloo: the January sales. Starting right after Christmas we are even given a bank holiday to dedicate for shopping – how considerate!

The looming sales mean that I try to abstain from shopping around this time of the year. And it is REALLY hard, especially as my high street crush COS is just around the corner. COS is owned by H & M, but for obvious reasons they don't go around shouting about it. The clothes are good quality materials, they look and feel design but come with a high street price tag. I reckon the classic COS clothes (with a nice little scandi twist) even kind of justify as a sensible buy. And guys: it's worth checking the suits too. 

So far COS only operates in a handful of European countries so if you don’t have a store in your country, don’t forget to include it in your itinerary on next holiday. And if you live in London, go check it out. But remember, you have been warned: it can cause an addiction. 

Give me a C! Give me an O! Give me a S!
Give me a perfect dress for winter!

I want my Lanvin!

H&M is treating us with another one of their designer collaborations. With an impressive history of guest designers such as Matthew Williamson, Jimmy Choo and Sonia Rykiel, the Swedish fashion giant really knows how it’s done. And is there anything better to bring us just before the Christmas party (and present!) season than Lanvin dresses, tees, accessories and even some men’s wear?  

Designed by Lanvin's artistic director Alber Elbaz, and menswear designer Lucas Ossendrijver the line is called Lanvin <3 H&M (that’s Lanvin loves H&M to you non-facebookers). The collection will be released on 23 November, the prices start from less than a tenner (ok, that’s for lipstick, but still) and I looooove it.

Check out the collection on Vogue website, as usual H&M’s own site is a  mess... And below are my favourites. 

The Art of the Shoe

This is why I love London. Something so wonderful but at the same time so very dangerous has appeared on Oxford Street. Selfridges has opened its Shoe Galleries.

Shoe Galleries have been designed by an architect Jamie Fobert and the area is supposedly bigger than Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. It is the biggest shoe department in the world, stocking 55 000 shoes at any one time and 4000 shoes on display from over 150 brands. It will obviously offer you big brands like Jimmy Choo, Louboutin and Dior but the high street labels like Topshop, All Saints and Office are there too.

You think this is heaven? Imagine the sales. 

Autumn Coat Picks

Yes, it’s getting chilly out there! If you got totally bored with your winter warmer last year, it’s time to get a new one. Pick one of these trends to be in vogue. 

Camel Coat, the biggest trend of the autumn by Stella McCartney 

Military is back -again, loving Matthew Williamson's Military Wool Coat

Aviator jacket is big this season. Think Top Gun. By Acne. 

Capes are possibly my favourite coat trend EVER. This trench cape is from H&M

High Street Fashion Evolution

So the news is that the big high street fashion chains are going online. H & M online shop is already open for “VIP shoppers” (meaning anyone who’s subscribing their newsletter) and launches officially on the 16th. The Spanish fashion giant Zara opened its website for shopping on 2 September and Gap launched its UK site in August.

I don’t get it. Sure, I do shop online. You can find awesome bargains from websites like koodos.com or brandalley.com. It is however always a bit irritating. You can never be sure of the size, you have to wait for your orders for days, sometimes for weeks and you obviously can’t try anything on. But you’re willing to go through all this because of the amazing designer bargains you can find (and because you can do it on work time. Oh come on, we’ve all done it!).

But isn’t the whole point of the high street fashion that you can just wonder in the shop and get yourself a new outfit for a price you don’t have to feel guilty about? And you want it instantly. And you surely want to feel the material knowing the quality of the products sometimes?

Speaking of online shopping: I found a really cute Louise Amstrup dress from Koodos (they’ve got 20% off all dresses today) for under hundred quid on lunch. How fabulous is that?!

Get Your Cargos On

Everyone’s favourite Swedish fashion warehouse H & M is having Jeans Days with £10 off all jeans (http://www.hm.com/gb/#/fashion/, until 15 September). And as the prices are not massive to begin with, this is a good chance to bag yourself a bargain. I finally jumped on the skinny cargo jeans trend. They’re super comfy and cheap at £19.90 and my answer to  J Brand’s Houlihan cargos, sported below by everyone.