Sample Sale alert: Twenty8Twelve and Monsoon/Accessorize

Hi guys,

I seem to be obsessed with discount shopping this week: first a post about Bicester village and now i'm talking about sample sales! Still, it's the clever way to do your Christmas shopping, and you end up with much more for your money than you would if you hit the high street.

Here are two sample sales i'm really excited about that are starting this week:

Twenty6Twelve sample sale

Wednesday 1st December 2-6pm

Thursday 2nd December 12-7pm

Friday 3rd December 12-7pm

Saturday 4th December 10-6pm

Address: 99c Talbot road, London, W11 2AT Cash and credit card only.

Monsoon/Accessorize sample sale

Friday 3rd December 8.30-7pm

Address: The American Church in London, 79a Tottenham Court Road, W1T 4TD

This is a cash and cheque only sale. £1 admission, which goes to the Monsoon/Accessorize charity trust.

At this rate i'm going to have a wardrobe full of party frocks, and no money left to spend on partying! Still, who isn't a sucker for a bargain-a-licous pretty dress?

Love, Tor xx

LFW AW10: Twenty8Twelve presentation

After milling around for ten minutes with a glass of wine in one hand and a square of bitter chocolate in the other, we were lead up an incredible staircase and into the presentation room which was set up like a Medeval banquetting hall. The models were on a slightly raised platform posing and chatting to each other: the atmosphere was very relaxed.

The presentation was at 2 Temple Place which is a folly building and very very beautiful: almost more impressive than the collection we were there to see. And on that note, on to the clothes:

The collection was very punky, and like lots of other collections i've seen the hem lines were either very long or very short: nothing in the middle here! There was also a nod to a Sixties bohemian aesthetic, notably in the patchwork cardigan and the thick velvet turban headbands several of the models were wearing.

Utilitarian jackets in khaki, denim shirts, and a khaki shirt dress added a masculine touch to the collection, at did the slouchy hat shown in the next image:

The "grunge" styling that has been very popular this season and the tough wedge ankle boot and sandal trend doesn't appear to be going anywhere. Tartan was also used, adding both to the grunge and the punk themes, and giving a "Highland fling" overtone.

The collection was inspired by the early club scene of the 1980s, hence the drain pipe skinnies and the acid wash overload.

This collection is a mash-up of so many themes! Nonetheless I enjoyed the contrast between the luxe dresses and the layered knitted daywear, and found the collection very very wearable. What do you think?

Love Tor

PS - For those of you that like the celebrity spots, I saw Sienna Miller who was dressed in black and looking very pretty and crazy thin. She is even more petite in "real life" than you imagine she would be when you watch her on the big screen.

Style Compare has over 1,000 jumpers by more than 100 labels.

Oooh, is that a band wagon?....

…grnnthhphhh! (that by the way was the sound of me heaving myself onto the aforementioned bandwagon!)

So, I’ve read about her “long awaited” arrival at London fashion week on every media source I’ve turned to over the past couple of days, so now it seems it’s time for me to have a look. I’ve never paid much attention to twenty8twelve by Sienna Miller, so I duly turned to the magic of the internet for pictures of the previous collections and to find out more

For a woman who’s supposed to be the nations favourite style icon (or is that Kate Moss this week? I get so confused!) I’m really not all that impressed! As I hope you’ll also note, there A/W08 collection looks like a middle of the road range from a high street store aimed at 30 something’s desperate not to rock any boats:

This is the first outfit you come to on the site. It's not exactly inspiring is it? It's immediately followed by these:

All of the pieces are affiable, innoffensive. In fact, I even found 2 outfits from last seasons collection I can imagine myself wearing in their entirity:
I particularly like the skull print t shirt teamed with the textured knitwear. If I saw that in Primark, I’d probably pick it up. But that’s the problem isn’t it? Twenty8twelve isn’t pitching itself alongside the Primarks and Topshops and Debenhams of this world. In showing at London Fashion Week they are pitching themselves against the big guns, and expectations will be high. The number of people sitting and waiting to pounce with the criticism will be even higher. And skinny jeans and slouchy knitwear is definitely not going to cut it.
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So I hope the collection they are showing in February is at least 100 times better than what they’re showcasing on their website. I hope it really blows us all away. Because sadly it will have to before anyone less than the sycophantic writes anything nice about it.
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So far i'm unimpressed. ButFingers crossed.
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Love, Tor xx