Sweet Liberty

Had a minor heart-attack when I heard that Liberty was closing its Sloane Street store. But then I remembered the one I amble around wistfully, wishing I was a Gossip Girl-esque amoeba with rich mum in tow, is the other one. I have actually never been to Sloane Street. Is that near the King’s Road? I avoid that place at all costs, although I actually now live near it so should probably give it more of the time of day, especially as someone told me the other week there is a shop there that sells Lyell, purveyor of beautiful, antique style lace dresses. The shop’s name evades me for the moment.

In other freedom news, I am doing another round of clothes junking. I just hate almost everything I have, in large part because I don’t fit into much of it anymore (today I am wearing trousers that are about 4 inches too narrow at the waistband, purchased in 2007 – it occurred to me today that the weight I assume I will one day return to last happened in 2005. Give it up S.) I shake my fist at you, tiny wardrobe! I am going to start again and construct a capsule wardrobe, with each cube of my wardrobe room containing one exqusite vest or something. One day my daughter is going to be really pissed off with me for getting rid of everything. Well she’s just going to have to accumulate her own mountain of cheap tat.

S

Life and Liberty

I decided to go and have a wander around Liberty department store yesterday, which I haven’t been to in years. Partly it was on the continued recommendation of Style Bubble and partly it was because I had seen on the website that there was a sale on and I know that they stock Acne and APC – when I got there I saw placards announcing a sale but there weren’t any reductions.

Just as beautiful and quirky as I remembered, Liberty is the opposite of Selfridges in some ways – it has small, low-ceilinged rooms and doesn’t carry huge amounts of stock, but all the lines were really well-selected. They have a “contemporary floor”, for which read, the stuff you will be interested in: See by Chloe, APC, Twenty8Twelve, Splendid, Luella, Marc by Marc Jacobs etc. They also have a lovely cosy bag and accessories room where the displays include lots of little bits and pieces, including a really good range of products in the signature Liberty prints – small floral patterns in warm colours.

There was a rail of Cacharel for Liberty clothes and I’d forgotten how much I like Cacharel. I especially liked this blue background camisole top with a flower pattern. I saw similar things in Topshop later in the evening  but they were nowhere near as nice. You get what you pay for I suppose!

Cacharel top, £65.

I felt a bit underdone and underdressed as the main clientele were glossy girls younger than me, some with their mums. I wasn’t hassled by sales assistants or made to feel uncomfortable but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was having a good hair day (I went straight to John Lewis afterwards and bought a hairdryer).

My ambitions to buy only mega-bargains from now on and make them look a million dollars simply through the power of my amazingness took a hit when I compared the quality of the items in Liberty to those in Topshop and found that they really don’t compare. Sorry bank balance.

S

p.s. I road tested the Acne t-shirt and it’s much less neon in real life – more of a bright berry pink. Efforts to find a budget replacement failed. When you’re standing looking at a £45 t-shirt you think, I could find something like this for half the price but  CAN YOU? A quick sift through Topshop and Miss Selfridge reveals that you cannot.

You can, however, buy jeggings.

Picture courtesy www.londonamigo.com

Liberty of London’s Renaissance

Liberty of London’s ‘Renaissance’ refit is complete and opened its doors to the public yesterday. The exclusive Liberty Nike Dunks sold out yesterday, and I was sad because I loved these . The eminentlystylish Yasmin Sewell of ex-Browns of London fame, is behind the refit and I was intrigued to see it. Here’s what it looks like now – I love the new look of the entrance area. I always knew accessories deserved their own section.

Accessories

 

Safari Print

 

Handbags

And no trip to Liberty would be complete without a peek into the shoe section. These Kurt Geiger shoes really surprised me as they are not the sort of shoe I would usually go for, but I loved how they looked with pink tights.

Kurt Geiger shoes

 

A

Shoe Thursday Extravaganza!

I went to the Shoe Heaven event at Liberty last night; it was run in conjunction with Kurt Geiger & Grazia. And it was fun! The Liberty Shoe Department is usually very imposing; all wood panels and hefty price tags. But lots of people, open displays, pink fizz and free cupcakes all added to the friendly atmosphere. Feast your eyes…

Shoe Heaven

Chocolate Shoes

Kurt Geiger heels

Boots by Marsell

Dries Van Noten

Men & Shoes

Prada brilliance

Those boots...

Hot

A.