Nook & Cranny blogger reception

Above: The Blogger reception © Abby Brennan

Above: The COS stall © Nook & Cranny

The adorably amazing launch to the Celebration of style, hosted by Nook & Cranny last Thursday, saw about 60 bloggers invited to their events space where they put on an exhibition of fashion, textiles and surface art including installation, photography and garments.

The wonderful Nook & Cranny crew also had a stall in the Rum Warehouse on Friday where their in-house illustrator Rheannon Ormond was live drawing guests as an “artistic alternative” to the selfie! You can check these out by searching #COSselfie – so cool!

Then on Saturday Nook & Cranny hosted a clothes swap at their independent store in the heart of Liverpool’s art quarter. It was called the ‘Bold Street Fashion Exchange’ with the tag line ‘Swap til you Drop’.  Entry was £2 on the door for people to come along with their pre-loved items and update/makeover their wardrobe with a thrifty exchange.

Stephanie Whalley, the Marketing Officer of Nook and Cranny, said: “Thrifty, vintage and retro are a big deal on the Liverpool fashion scene so we wanted to bring this to light in what was otherwise a high-end event. Cricket and Matalan were the big names behind the event and we really wanted to pioneer individuality and the alternatives to fast fashion. “

She added: “The blogger event and clothes swap were a great success. People really got into the spirit of things and we got people coming specifically for the event but also attracted the interest of a lot of shoppers who were simply wandering around the store. We didn’t necessarily plan to hold another clothes swap event but following the success of the weekend, we are now going to be holding another one on January 10th.”

To find out more about Nook & Cranny visit them HERE

Celebration of Style

Top (left - right) Rebecca Ferguson and Amanda Harrington. Below models on the Cricket catwalk. © Brian Mansy, Mansy Photography

The three day extravaganza shone the spotlight on Liverpool this weekend as the city celebrated local fashion, beauty, art, photography and architecture.

The events launched on Thursday evening where guests could meet organisers, partners and brush shoulders with celebrities such as Abbey Clancy and Matthew Williamson.

Friday was a day of pop-up fashion stands at Stanley dock with plenty to buy and try. As well as the stalls high profile industry experts were there to do fashion panel talks.

The event that really stole the show however was the Cricket Fashion Night Out on Friday evening. The night included a showcase of designer collections from the likes of Victoria Beckham, Stella McCartney and YSL as well as live musical performances from Dom Chung and Kelli Leigh.

Held at the Cunard building on Water Street, local fashionistas as well as big names such as Made in Chelsea star Rosie Fortescue and Arcadia heiress Chloe Green could be spotted in the front row of the catwalk event.

This was followed by an aftershow party at Palm Sugar where celebrities such as Jenny Frost and Rebecca Ferguson were seen dancing the night away.

Justine Mills and Denise Harris, organisers of the Celebration of Style, both praised the city as an inspiration for the event and were proud to have helped place it securely on the fashion map.

Justine Mills, Cricket owner, said: “In fashion I've been lucky enough to go to some amazing events and met some amazing people, and I've said to them 'why don't you come to Liverpool?'. When they do they can't believe the buildings and the nightlife and everything we have to offer. I thought if they were so impressed then what we needed was a way to get more people coming here and feeling that way." 

Denise Harris, of SK Events, which organises the Liverpool Food and Drink Festival, added: "What struck us both was that we've been to these fabulous events all over the country and all over the world, but felt that nothing like that happens in Liverpool.”

 Special thanks to Brian Mansy for the amazing photography. Check out more of his work HERE

Belissimo Lips

Oh my god I'm in love! Glitter..for your lips....like actual glitter....could you ever imagine anything so perfect!? Well no need to imagine any longer, it's here! 

On Saturday I went Christmas shopping to the Trafford Centre and was having a mooch around Topshop when I noticed a few members of staff had the most amazing sparkly lips. After stalking one poor girl around the shop to find the source of the glitter I came across a cute little pop up make up stall in the centre of the store.

There the Belissimo girls were selling their latest product 'Belissimo Lips' which is a type of glitter that can be applied to your lips using a water based adhesive. The lovely founder of Belissimo, Anita (or Missy Belissimo), was more than happy to do my lips up in shade 'Rose' (shown in the first picture) and I simply fell head over heels - I just had to get some!

After much serious consideration and discussion (involving half the staff in the store) I settled on getting shades Rose (top left), Purple (top right) and Crimson (bottom right). The wonderful Missy Belissimo also threw in a new shade which wont be released until this weekend called Moonstone (shown bottom left).

The glitter lips are SO easy to apply, all you have to do is roll on the adhesive glue with a cotton bud then roll on your glitter using the same technique. The glitter only sticks to the glue and simply brushes off anywhere else. The glitter is meant to stay on for up to twelve hours and you can still eat and drink whilst wearing it as long as you avoid greasy foods and hot drinks (so handy if you're on a diet as well!)

I left my glitter on for about nine hours then went to wipe it off with a make up wipe and it refused to budge! After scrubbing with some face wash I eventually managed to remove it - at least I know I can trust it not to budge on a night out!

I think the Belissimo Lips are such a beautiful alternative to lipstick and perfect for the festive season! I can't wait to wear mine to Christmas parties and on News Years Eve! I even plan on wearing the Rose colour casually as it's not too vibrant and attention grabbing for every day wear. The other three, however, are reserved for special nights out!

The sets are £13 for one which includes a pot of adhesive, three cotton wool applicators and a pot of glitter. However you can also buy three glitters for £30 which still includes your adhesive and applicators. My set is shown below!

For any hardcore glitter lovers like me, or anyone wanting to try something different to wow at the Christmas party, I seriously recommend checking Belissimo out! You can take a look at their website by clicking HERE where they sell a whole wide range of cool stuff as well as their glitter lips. Alternatively you can check out their products on Instagram @missybelissimo or on Twitter @belissimouk.

Comment and let me know if you've ever used Belissimo Lips or a similar product and what your favourite Belissimo Lips colour is! - Alice x

Adventure Awaits

Autumn/Winter stock has arrived in Primark stores across the UK and I am loving it! Anyone who is a regular reader knows I love a bargain so naturally I love Primark! I mean come on where else can you get a gazillion hair bobbles, a tonne of jewellery, and three new outfits for under £100!? 

The AW14/15 collection at the high street store is stunning and their campaign 'Adventure Awaits' is truly beautiful. I love the earthy pastel tones mixed with bright pop colours and the textures include everything from chunky knits to faux fur - everything you need to see out this season with style.

I'm particularly in love with the thigh high suede boots in grey, shown in the third picture, and the tri-colour faux fur jacket, shown in the fifth picture. I think they'd look amazing either styled down with black jeans and top for a day out christmas shopping, or dressed up with and LBD for a festive night out.

Stephen Springham, Senior Retail Analyst, Planet Retail, spoke about Primark's sales in the upcoming seasons, he said: “Weather woes are unlikely to have a major bearing on Primark’s trading figures when it reports its full-year trading figures today. While the Indian summer in September and October has already prompted peers such as Next, Supergroup and N Brown to warn on profits, Primark is likely to post annual sales and profit growth approaching 20%. 

The calendar is slightly in its favour (the FY reporting period runs only until mid-September) and current trading may well be softer, but the fact remains that Primark is a retailing powerhouse - especially in the UK, but increasingly internationally too.

“Primark basically succeeds not just by being cheap but also by being very fashionable. The fact that the product may lack durability is neither here nor there - its shoppers are after something fast and disposable. It’s all about volume, volume and volume and there’s little place for e-commerce in this model. But it means that the stores must be compelling (which Primark stores are) and have rapid stock-turn (which Primark does). 

The Primark model doesn’t necessarily need e-commerce - it relies on stores having mass destination appeal and shoppers not knowing what they are going to buy before they go in. But they will never, ever leave empty handed. And will be back again very soon to do the same again. Customers enjoying shopping, retail as a leisure pursuit - old guard, but highly effective nonetheless.