Monday 5 May 2014

Joules Autumn/Winter 2014 - A sneaky peek!


Last week I was invited down to Covent Garden to attend the press preview for the Autumn/Winter 2014 collection from Joules (my favourite clothes brand ever!) I genuinely am a huge fan of their beautiful clothes, and love nothing more than wearing one of my gorgeous Joules dresses on a night out, or snuggling up on the sofa at home in my Joules onesie! So, I was eager to see what they have in store for us later in the year. 

I must add here, that a chance to jump on a train to London for the day by myself, in the sunshine, holding nothing but my handbag (i.e. no buggy, baby bag, baby!) was a pretty exciting prospect too...I love being at home with Bert, but it was nice to have some time off to be just 'me' instead of 'Mum' for a few hours.

On my arrival at St Pancras International I was greeted by the sunshine and this beautiful sight...

Stunning Tetris-inspired art installation at St. Pancras International on my way to the Joules launch #happydays

Obviously, a lot of thought went into what I should wear to a fashion preview…I considered wearing my favourite mustard Joules dress, but worried wearing Joules to a Joules launch was perhaps a tad too 'obvious'. Instead, I opted for my navy/white nautical breton dress, teamed with mustard tights, navy pumps, a mustard scarf-necklace and my yellow Cambridge Satchel. 

My quick selfie of my outfit for the Joules Autumn/Winter 14 launch - rocking a bit of nautical-breton and mustard! Also…how dirty was that shop window?? You've got to love London! 

Not only were Joules launching their autumn/winter collection - they were also celebrating the fact that they are turning 25 this year. The preview included the most amazing birthday cake ever, lots of celebrity guests, and REAL farm animals to create an awesome country feel to their displays of country clobber!

Little donkeys!! 

Goats :-)

Ducks! 

The atmosphere was so fun and it even smelt authentically 'country'. I had a blast perusing round all of their beautiful new collection, chatting to the Joules team and even Mr Tom Joule himself (who was absolutely lovely!), and of course lapping up the scrummy drinks (elderflower fizz) and canapés (mini fruit skewers, chicken pies, fish pies, pana cotta and lots more!) 

Obviously, I gravitated towards cake…


And then, I spotted it… 

...before I show you this wonder let me just ask you one question:

If you could choose anyone to create the most awesome birthday cake ever who would you choose?? 

For me, there is just one answer. Frances Quinn. She won The Great British Bake Off last year, and, as a baking-fanatic myself, I've followed her career ever since - regularly reading her awesome blog which you can find here. The food she creates is always incredible to look at with a major design element, and boy, did Joules do the right thing in asking her to create them a 25th birthday cake… 


There are just no words. I couldn't stop staring at it! Look at the detail, the quirks, the fact that she'd got it to stay upright is an achievement in itself. It is indeed a very very beautiful thing.

 I was hugely excited to see one of her masterpieces in the flesh. Even more excitingly, I got to chat with the lady herself (about all things cake of course!) she was truly lovely. And we were both rocking the stripy dress-look. :-) (Which, surely, makes me fashionable, right?)

Me and the lovely Fran Quinn - winner of The Great British Bake Off 2013

As if the day couldn't get any better, not only did I get to spend an age looking at all of the stunning new ranges, I also got to act like a tit in their fun photo booth


…and got given a rather squeal-inducing goodie bag on my way out. Including this lovely Joules mug…


...and the most awesome USB stick in the world EVER!

Goodie bags are the best! 

I have spent an absolute AGE fawning over all of the beauties in the autumn/winter collection and I've now whittled it down to just a few of my favourite pieces to give you a taste of what's to come later this year. 

Trust me when I say that this doesn't even scratch the surface of what beauty they've got in store for us all, there is way too much gorgeousness to do it justice in just one measly blog post, but here it goes

 LUCY'S TOP PICKS

JOULES 

Autumn/Winter 2014



BABY


BOYS


GIRLS ACCESSORIES


GIRLS - DRESSES


GIRLS - TOPS

HOMEWARE






MENS SHOES & ACCESSORIES




MENS CLOTHES


WOMEN'S SHOES AND ACCESSORIES 






WOMEN'S FOOTWEAR



Is it possible to be a little bit in love with welly boots?

WOMEN'S DRESSES



WOMEN'S CLOTHING


WOMEN'S SLEEP/LOUNGEWEAR



Okay, so I have probably dream-spent thousands and thousands of pounds with this lovely lot! You can but dream, hey? Mind you, I've no doubt that it's going to be a dangerous time for my actual bank balance when this lovely lot is available in store! 

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INTRODUCING JOULES GLASSES WITH VISION EXPRESS 

In the evening, after the day preview, I was invited to the official launch of Joules' new range of glasses and sunglasses at the Vision Express flagship store on Oxford Street. 

As a full-time glasses wearer since the age of 5, the fact that a brand I love have developed a range of beautiful, fashionable and affordable glasses was definitely something I thought worth celebrating. Boy did we celebrate! 

The store was decorated beautifully (the battery on my phone's camera had died at this point) and it was filled to the brim with celebrities, writers, journalists and fellow independent blog writers like me, all enjoying getting a sneaky peek of the fabulous new glasses while enjoying the flowing drinks and delicious morsels: quail scotch eggs, pork pies, mushroom pate on toast - boy do I love a good canapé! 

 To top it all off, every guest was treated to choosing a free pair of Joules glasses to keep - including an eye test on the night, the lenses and any special requirements needed for your prescription. I chose these absolutely stunning sunglasses called Richmond and I cannot WAIT to wear them!! They should arrive in about a week or so…just in time for the sunshine. I'll share a picture of two on the blog when they arrive! 

Joules Richmond sunglasses. 

To have a peek at the full range of glasses now available at Vision Express click here. 

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So, my lovelies, I hope you've enjoyed my round up and are suitably excited about what your winter wardrobes might be looking like this year. Glum to think about the winter when summer hasn't even arrived yet, I know, but...if we're all going to be looking that fab, then who cares about the weather?

:-)

Bye for now

Mrs B

xxx

you can follow Joules on Twitter here @Joulesclothing and on Facebook here.