Arcadia SS14 Press Day

Last week was full of press days and you might have seen lots of pictures on Instagram and Twitter from these events but obviously I take so many pictures that they need their own post.  My favourite of the whole week was Arcadia.  Arcadia has all my favourite brands where I normally shop so it’s these collections that I’ll pretty much be living in next season!  

I was really taken by the block heeled shoes in the Wallis collection.  Block heels were pretty big for last Spring/Summer but this time round they are the must-have shoe!  I love the dove grey courts (From the W Collection), they are just utter perfection!  Accessories wise there’s a hint of Hermes inspo with the colours and leather bracelets and I found the most incredible Orange paper-bag clutch which has gone straight to the top of my wish list!  I’m sorry I don’t have more pictures of the clothing but for some reason lots of them didn’t turn out very well because I wasn’t using the right setting on my camera but I am going to try and get down to  the Wallis showroom so I can check out their SS14 range with more time and maybe they might let me try some bits on for you guys to see 🙂  The hero piece of the collection was a doppelganger of this seasons leather jacket (W Collection), only this time in white…HOT!

Pastels, Pastels and more Pastels!  It’s the perfect pretty collection and I just fell madly in love with every piece.  Sometimes when trends appear on the runway it’s incredibly difficult for us normal, non-red-carpet-goers to wear on a day to day basis.  DP have made the ultimate wearable collection for the highstreet girl.  As one of the main traits of my blog is to make high street look highend, DP will be my first stop for some major key pieces to kickstart spring.  There’s so much intricate detail; lazer cut out, broderie anglais, lace overlay, prints, applique and so much leather, but not in a harsh way.  You all know my no.1 rule, if in doubt wear leather!  It’s all polished to perfection with garden tea party style bling and candy coloured shoes & accessories.

BHS is now a new love of mine.  You could say I have been a big of a typical highstreet girl and underestimated what’s actually inside BHS.  It was only on a recent Blogger event (The #arcadiatrickortreat) that I ventured inside the store and saw what they had to offer.  I think I’ve been missing a trick here!

The SS14 collection is lovely.  It is varied and does cater for the older women as well but hey, there’s nothing wrong with that!  I instantly fell for the jewellery and this gorgeous orange shift dress with 60’s style pocks, very Victoria Beckham!  Another item on my hit list was this beautiful printed shift dress which would just make the most gorgeous ‘wedding guest’ attire, I’m just obsessed by the print, it’s mesmerizing!  

This is a great collection for plus size women!  Browsing through some of the pieces I am tempted to get a few bits and wear them as over sized or take them in a bit because they are just amazing!  The black crepe top in particular with the neon embellishment around the neckline was a firm favourite of mine.  The jewellery is also very impressive, and this is something that everyone can wear, check out that incredible long chain statement necklace!!!  Something new for the brand is a support for new talent.  Evans launched a competition for new designers to collaborate with them on ‘The Cut’, a new bold collection of pieces without size limitations.  They turned to Bournemouth and Kingston universities (Knitwear and print specialists) to find their new partners.  The victorious two being Rebecca Partington and Alice Farrow set to work on creating their capsule collections.  As you can see colour is key in both collections.  Alice’s structured designs were created by using tape and mixing colours to influence bold and graphic prints.  Rebecca’s city skyline mood board started the base of her designs, adding in colour inspired by giant balloons.  It’s a new era for plus sized clothing, and hopefully these collections will pave the way for more to come.

I must admit, since being a teen I’ve been a huge fan of Miss S!  Their pieces are always so unique and no matter what your style, there will always be something for you to create your own look.  For SS14 think bright colour, in particular a focus on this illuminating chartreuse yellow.  I picked out a few of my favourite pieces and there appears to be a bit of a trend emerging for this colour.  The midi skirt I picked also has a matching crop top, and I am the biggest fan of a matching 2-piece (in a non mother of the bride kind of way).  I also love this retro inspired monochrome trapeze dress, NEED IT NOW!  You can certainly rely on Miis S to create the ultimate embellished pieces and again for SS14 it,s no different.  The heavily embellished running shorts are a firm fave of mine not to mention the beautiful nude 20’s style flapper dress with neon beading.  It’s a yes from me!

At Topshop I saw plenty of tribal inspired jewellery with some primary colours thrown in for good measure.  You can never go wrong with Freedom jewellery, statement necklaces a-plenty here!  I spotted some new colours of the famed ‘Gwenda’ suede court shoes, which have to be my favourite shoe of all time, although each season they change the name, the shape remains the same, and for a high street shoe, they are so comfortable.  All three new colours are for sure on my ‘I want it or i’ll just die’ list!  The Celine-esque pony slides wouldn’t normally have been my style, but as I, ummmm…’mature’ I’m finding that my taste is evolving and I’m falling for styles like that, with simple clean lines, very chic and minimal.  I think for brave London fashionistas those will go down very well.  On the rails I noticed lots of tropical prints and some very ethnic inspired pieces which will be sure fire hits come festival season, this was also reflected in the accessories with boho style duffle bags.  As a contrast to that on the second rail (which was more ‘me’) there were some simple elegant styles including a raw edge pink trench style coat (Yes…another pink coat) which was made from the most fascinating of fabrics, I felt like it could be a neoprene backed crepe, but I can’t be sure, either way it was a beaut!  There was a touch of this season’s pvc and some pastel coloured leather, but what I zoomed in on was the watercolour floral prints in matching sets (Hinting towards Acne inspo), uh-maaaaaaaazeballs!