Happy Birthday Percy Pig (and the humbling of teenage boys)

If you haven't been in to a branch of Marks and Spencer in the past few weeks then I envy you. It is the annual pilgrimage that you have to make as a schoolchild and then, for me this year, as the brother of a schoolchild. It seems that Mother's, (probably quite rightly), insist on taking you there to kit you out for the new school year as their 'shirts wash better and trousers iron easier'. This was the first time I visited M&S in late August and wasn't being shoved in to itchy white shirts or horrible black trousers. It gave me a refreshing look at this end of summer pastime. Marks and Spencer in late August and early September is a humbling experience for teenage boys. Away from the safety of home they have to obey their Mothers whilst trying hard to impress the girl who is looking at the blue blouses on the next rail. They are then frogmarched to the changing rooms where various garments are tried on and paraded around in, in front of a sofa full of mothers who are probably debating how long it will be before they have to sew up a hole in them. For a 15 year old boy a pretty annoying experience. I overheard one boy say to his mother 'I can't wait to be a student so I can wear what I want.' My advice to him is: Your schooldays are the best days of your life, your parents pay for your clothes.

In other news, my visit to Marks and Spencer revealed to me that the nation's sweetheart, Percy Pig, is turning 21. Ridiculously overpriced but still the saviour of long journeys and work days, Percy is finally becoming a proper adult. Whilst waiting in the queue to pay for my bottle of Pink Grapefruit lemonade and bag of pigs I wondered about how Percy would spend his birthday? Would he go crazy and get completely off his face on MDMA? He is, after all, a national celebrity. As the M&S website states dear old P is 'A hit with the fashion world, musicians and sports stars'. So maybe good old Perc likes to live the rock and roll lifestyle and will eventually become Britain's answer to Lindsay Lohan? They do also, however, point out that Percy contains 'no artificial colours or flavourings', so maybe he checked himself in to a Vegan spa for a few days and drank pig feed, skinny smoothies? Whilst browsing the M&S website I scrolled through the whole Percy Pig section. (Yes, there is a whole 'Happy Birthday Percy', bit'). You can now buy almost anything with Percy's face on. Bags, tins, money boxes and even hampers. Poor Percy, plaster his face on stuff to sell before eating it, and I bet he gets no royalties from Marks and Sparks.

H&M Oxford Street Flagship

I'm always disappointed in a flagship store when there aren't any actual flags outside. Look, here is the store, not one single flag. They could have at least strung some bunting up, there's loads left from the jubilee. Someone in their marketing department needs to get down to Poundland, they have been trying to shift that stuff since the end of the Olympics. Anyway, on to the actual store.

I have a peculiar knack for stumbling across H&M Flagship openings. I was there when they opened their flagship on Regent Street a couple of years ago and then, upon seeing that there Oxford Circus Flagship was opening on Thursday a few weeks ago I thought I would jump on the Tube and go and have a nose around. Anyone who has ever been in the Oxford Circus branch knows how awful it used to be. For a store on the busiest shopping street in Europe it often resembled more of a Primark than the sleek Scandinavian store it should have been. This, however, has all changed thanks to a brilliant re-working of the store. No longer do you feel that you are shopping in a broom cupboard. The displays are fresh and at times look more designer than high street. H&M have also clearly taken a leaf out of Zara's book from last Winter season by including statement hair on their mannequins, giving the whole shop an edgier feel.

To conclude the store is great and naturally I felt compelled to buy things, I don't know if this is their clever layout working on me or if I do just have to buy clothes wherever I go but I am sure their profit margins will tell this tale. The only downside: LACK OF FLAGS. IF YOU ARE A 'FLAG'SHIP BUT UP SOME BUNTING. Even a tea towel on a stick could work. Sort it out H&M. In the meantime I am off to try on all the clothes I bought. Sorry Mr Bank.

The Coronation Of Queen Cara

So that's it, London Fashion Week has come to and end and with it the capital's fashion conscious have decamped to Milan for yet another week of stunning shows and hopefully some warmer weather. 

The week basically felt like the coronation of Cara Delevigne. She seemed to be the go-to girl for every show and, if you hadn't already, we all fell in love with her. 

To the right I am with my friend Lucy at Somerset House. Marcus Dawes took our photo and I was very surprised to then find it on the London Fashion Week website and printed in "The Daily" the fashion week newspaper. Does this mean I am part of the fashion set now? 

Anyway, here are my favourites from London Fashion Week AW13.

McQ

I love a bit of tailoring so naturally McQ was going to be a hit. I strong tailoring with an injection of fun is something that London's fashion week does better than any other. Teamed with simple white shirts I believe you can't go wrong and this was demonstrated at this show.
The animal print trend was also perfectly clear to see at the McQ show with their tailoring also coming in fun, multicoloured zebra prints.

Issa


There was a hint of explorer (albeit very well dressed explorer) about the Issa show that I loved. The Indiana Jones-esque hats at an angle gave the models a look that made me think they were about to go trekking through a rainforest. Model of the moment and March 2013 Vogue cover girl Cara Delevigne opened the show in a flowing dress teamed with a black roll neck and boots. Daniella Helayel said backstage at the show that the Issa woman "is cooler, she wants to explore". It was a departure for Issa who are probably best known, rightly on wrongly, for Kate Middleton's engagement dress. If this was an attempt to reinvent themselves then it certainly worked for me. 








House Of Holland


If I had to pick one show from this week that I thought embodied what London is about right now then it would be the House Of Holland show, titled 'Rave Nana'. House of Holland provide the clothes that the coolest girls in London want to wear. Pixie, Winstone, Lowe, were all on the front row. These are girls who want to have fun with what they wear. With an 80s and 90s rave inspired soundtrack, 70s wallpaper print inspired dresses and neon abound the show could have proved too much but it wasn't. It captured London in 2013. It also made me ask myself the question. Are mini skirts really going to be making a return?











Burberry Prorsum 

The quintessentially British brand provided my favourite show of the week. The Burberry show has quickly become the centre-piece event of London fashion weeks and this year's did not fail to dissapoint. The front row was quite possibly the most star studded I have ever seen. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in that red suit, Rita Ora with the 'Queen Cara' t-shirt and a sea of socialites, editors and bloggers completing the front row in the beautiful, purpose built space in Kensington Gardens. Christopher Bailey, this year, showed Burberry's sexy side whilst maintaining its British charm. Kinky rubber was mixed with sweeter-than-sweet love heart prints to give an naughty but nice look. It would be very easy for Burberry to become stagnant. We know them best for their staple piece: the trench. It is testament to the genius of Christopher Bailey that he can reinvent this classic, each time bringing something new and fresh.
My picks from this show would have to be Cara's sheer rubber skirt teamed with love heart underwear and leopard print top. It sounds too much but Burberry stuck to their traditional pallette to give something both outlandish and yet subtle at the same time and the spots and stripes over-sized coat. I don't know if it is just the model and the sunglasses but surely this is a reference to front row-er Anna Wintour? The Burberry Prorsum show, my favourite from London Fashion Week 2013.

Ode To A Cocktail

Last Monday night saw a night of general debauchery at a cocktail bar in Shoreditch named 'The Shoreditch' (I haven't worked out quite yet if I appreciate the possession this cocktail bar seems to take over the place it resides in or if it is a brilliant marketing ploy). Anyway, many Shoreditch Martinis and Gin Gardens along the track we ended back up on the Tube home and pretending to pole dance on the hand rails. I am sorry East London Line but the poles are just there and no matter how little we have had to drink and how busy the carriage is or how long we have lived in London in our minds the poles are there for one thing and one thing only: entertainment. Tuesday, surprisingly (or unsurprisingly), saw more cocktails, these were, luckily for my bank balance, not for my head, bought for me. That certainly made me feel better about the 'cocktails two nights in a row' thing. Maybe I just need to go on more dates?
If this week has taught me anything it is that cocktails always make things more fun, the cans of Red Stripe 'Jamaica's finest' that I then had to drink for the rest of the week as I couldn't justify spending any more money on cocktails or find someone who was willing to buy them for me, tasted extremely bitter. This, combined with me finally discovering 'Sex And The City' this week, has not made a good mix. How am I meant to watch people drink what seem like bottomless Cosmopolitans all day, seem to never be at work and yet manage to buy such expensive clothes and then not wonder why I can't do the same thing? The answer is simple: I am a student. This is not a time for cocktails and designer clothes. This is a time for thrift store shopping and cans of 99p cider bought from the off-licence across the road. The thrift store shopping I can deal with but the sooner that someone creates a delicious cocktail comprising of White Lightning and Red Stripe the better.
In other news I have decided that it is going to be Spring. Listen up everyone, you have me to thank for the sudden increase in temperatures. I have resolved that if I stop wearing a coat and start drinking ice tea again (homemade I'll have you know) then the temperature is guaranteed to rise and I will be the Spring saviour. I don't know if it is simply my mind playing tricks on me but I swear it has actually got warmer since I began doing this and I am sure the mornings are significantly brighter this week than they were last week.