05 | June | 2012 |

My first day of holiday from my very unexciting retail job started off with a real treat: S&TS sent me to the lovely Hyatt Churchill hotel in Marble Arch to attend an event held by fashion expert Caryn Franklin.

After starting off at I-D magazine in the 80’s (she later became co-editor), Caryn went from underground to overground by giving birth to ‘The Clothes Show’, a successful BBC program that confirmed her position in the British fashion scene. Caryn has also written four books and founded ‘All Walks Beyond The Catwalk’, an amazing initiative that promotes a less stereotypical and media-induced ideal of beauty in the fashion world.

During the conference, sponsored by LateRooms.com, Caryn decided to share her tips for shopping like a pro and despite the suggestions being quite basic, I realised they were actually pretty useful. Stick to them, and you’ll never find yourself wondering what the hell was going through your mind when you decided to buy that horrible oversized mesh golden top (guilty).

I don’t know about you, but I, for one, am very disappointed with Richard Nicoll’s Bridal Collection for Topshop which was released last week. It’s all kind of like a series of weird nighties and slips that no one would even wear to bed. (Except for the one in the photo, below. That’s passable.) Topshop, usually so wearable, pretty, and cool, missed the mark here a bit. I suppose getting a wedding dress from Topshop would be too good to be true. And anyway, I am supposed to be boycotting them for using illegal sweatshops in the UK, so it’s probably just as well.

In other wedding dress news, I’ve found mine! The lovely lady behind Tephi is making it for me. You’ll have to wait to see it until October though, in case my fiance stumbles across a blog post about it by accident. My search took me to this hilariously enigmatic door: