January Sales 2011: Starting with River Island

Hi guys,

I hope you all had magnificent Christmases! I've just returned to London with a bump: noone to look after me and a distinct lack of nightly roast dinners (thanks mum!) Still, at least I can munch on Quality Streets whilst I write this and pretend i'm still allowed to be festive!

The first thing I did when I got back to London was pop to Brent Cross to check out the River Island sale: always one of my faves. I wasn't particularly impressed, but there were some highlights, and I found a stack of things I wanted to take into the changing rooms. Here are the bits I tried on:

I keep trying on these wet look/leather look leggings but they never look good: I think I just need to accept that my chunky legs don't need highlighting in that way. These ones were reduced to £12. I did like the bird print chiffon blouse though which would look great cinched in with a belt: reduced to £15. I also really liked the hanky hem grey summer dress below (also £15):

Everything was between 50-70% off, and I would say definitely worth a look if you need shoes or winter boots (some big discounts to be had) but the clothes in the Brent Cross branch at least weren't that impressive. And boy was it busy! The queues for the changing room were nothing compared to the queues to pay. I left empty handed.

By the time i'd exhausted the RI sale I was exhausted myself, and came home, leaving the other sales for later in the week: they're not going anywhere and I don't really need anything, so I don't need to tire myself out chasing through the crowds for them this year! Have you bought anything from the sales this year? Are there any shops I really should check out?

Love, Tor xx

Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope you're all having a wonderful, fabulous, very Merry Christmas!

The picture of the tree is from the Galleries Lafayette in Paris, which was the best tree I saw all year (Until I came home and saw my mums, of course!) It has been a wonderful Christmas so far and, just to seal the magic, we saw a sprinkle of snow too!

Now it's time for turkey, mince pies, a large glass of Baileys, and lying in a food coma on the sofa...

Love, Tor xx

Daily wear: Snow day slobbery

Hi guys,
I haven't written a daily wear post for ages, which is largely due to the fact that the cold weather means I have spent my days slobbing around in layers and very large cardigans. Not much has changed but I wanted to share my outfits with you, so here is what I wore when the snow came down yet again: and yes, it involves layers and cardigans!

Skull vest: Topshop, Chunky knit cardigan: TKMaxx, Cowboy boots: TKMaxx, Fut hat: Urban outfitters sample sale, Scarf: H&M, Bag: Joy.

Although i'm not wearing my coat, thats because i'm about to jump in the car and pop to an indoor shopping centre (not because i'm crazy!) and underneath my layers i'm wearing tights, leggings, a long sleeved thinsulate top, and a long line vest. How have you been protecting yourself from the chill? Are you still glamming up for your Christmas parties or have you taken to wearing nothing but super-warm cardigans like me?

Love, Tor x

Dr. Martens S/S11: Things get girly!

Hi guys,
Over the past twelve months, I have become addicted to my brogues. They were shoes that had to grow on me; at first I was worried they would make my calves look chunky. But now I couldn't live without them: they're my go-to weekend shoes, they match everything, I can walk in them for hours...

For next year, I think my evolution of the brogue trend will be these clumpy, stompy, but infinitely feminine Dr Martens shoes. Now I know the pleasure of a flat sturdy shoe i'm never going back:



I love the black and grey patent ones for wearing to work (perfect with slim hareem pants and a shrunken blazer) and the sugared almond coloured ones and floral ones for play. The floral ones look so vintage, especially teamed with the cream lace tights, and would look amazing teamed with clashing floral dresses when spring and summer finally come around again.

It's difficult to think about next years wardrobe when Christmas is just five days away, but the blue ditzy floral shoes will definitely be on my hit list once the festive season is over and I can start obsessing solely about fashion again....bliss!!

Love, Tor x

Behold: The wedding shoes from Dior

Hi guys,

So , as I mentioned on Thursday, Mike and I had a pre-pre Christmas dinner Yesterday (we like to call it fake Christmas) We ate a Christmas dinner, opened our presents, played board games and Singstar, and watched Christmas films. It was the best day.

What I didn't mention is that I already knew what my main present was going to be, and i'm super-excited to finally be able to share them with you: these are the shoes for my wedding which we got from the Dior outlet store at Bicester village:-

I didn't want a cream satin pump I was never going to wear again, but I didn't want something that would clash with my dress either. These shoes are perfect: nude slingbacks will go with all my fancy summer dresses, and the gold leather sole and heel is a little bit showy. They're versatile, wearable after the event and all-round perfect wedding shoes. I sigh a little with love every time I look at them, and I can't stop trying them on!

I was also treated to some Nina Ricci perfume, lots of Hello Kitty goodies, choccies, and a much-needed new umberella! Lucky me!!

Love, Tor xx

Primark SS11: Why do they make it so hard?!

Hi guys,
Why do Primark make themselves so hard to resist?! I've been trying to focus on buying better, more long lasting pieces and having a solid reliable wardrobe. I've build up a wardrobe of key sensible pieces (black dresses, straight fitting blazers) and i'm splurging on better quality pieces less regularly, rather than having weekly Primark binges. I was a Primark addict attempting to go into recovery. Then I see pictures like this, and all I want to do is hit the shops:



All of these beautiful things are due in store between the end of January and the end of April, and are from Primarks new SS11 collection. I'm hoping that the midi dress and pallazzo pants look so incredible because of clever styling and photography, rather than because they are just really that lovely, otherwise my mission to save for high quality black pallazzo pants for my honeymoon could go to ruin and the money could be wasted on a Primark splurge instead!! There isn't an outfit above I wouldn't wear.

Love, Tor x

Rockin' around the Christmas tree

Hi guys,
I'm so excited! There are less than ten days until Christmas (and I get to go home and see my mum and dad and their puppies and I don't care if that makes me sound like a child because I cannot wait. Breath.)

Just because i'm going home for Christmas doesn't mean we don't throw ourselves into the festivities in the Fabfrocks household though. The tree is up and decorated with presents spilling from underneath it, the table is set, we're even eating our dinner off our polar bear Christmas dinner set (which I carried as hand luggage all the way back from America one year) I have a turkey in the freezer and mincemeat just waiting to be turned into pies, and this weekend Mike and I will be indulging in a pre-Christmas Christmas dinner (as we're spending the actual day apart)

I'm so excited that I just had to share some pictures of our own miniture version of a Christmas wonderland:



How will you be spending Christmas? Are you as excited as I am, or should I have grown out of this by now?? I just can't wait to spend some quality time with my family (and for Santa to come of course!)

Love, Tor xx

Sarenza high heel race: Too good not to share!

Hi guys,
I've already posted about the massive fun of the Sarenza high heel race, but this video was just too good not to share, as it shows the fun and atmosphere of the event perfectly: this is what we put ourselves through last weekend. We were racing for shoes, and for a free trip to Paris. It was a whole lot of fun!!

Sadly the video doesn't show the fabfrocks team racing in all their glory, but I can assure you we were fabulous, and more importantly, we didn't come last. I started the weekend not giving a damn whether we won or not, but when you're actually stood on the track waiting for the gun to go with people cheering you on at every angle, winning (or at least not coming last) becomes very important!

I know i've already shown you my pics of the event, but the official photographer was much better than I am (obviously!) So here are a couple of the official pictures I just have to share:


Patriotic and topical: look at Reena proudly waving the Kate and Wills photo, whilst Amy went for a more traditional Queen shot, and I opted to bury myself behind Union Jack. The more pictures I see the more I remember what a fun night it was. I will definitely be entering a team next year and am already looking forward to it: will I see you there?!

Love, Tor xx

Topshop outlet: A peek inside

Hi guys,

Today I headed into Edgware to pick up my final Christmas presents and some wrapping paper, which gave me the perfect excuse to pop into the Topshop outlet for my last visit of the year. If you're looking for Christmas Party heels, the Topshop outlet is your best friend right now: on trend clogs, wedges, and metallic ruffles all jostled for space for less than £40 a pair (less than £20 a pair if you factor in the buy one get one free) I realised i've never shown you pictures of what the outlet looks like on the inside, so I took a couple of sneaky pics today:

There were loads of amazing belts to tempt me (when I am on a strict accessories ban!) but I was strong and buried myself in the dresses rail instead. Here are the four I tried one:

My favourite dress by far was the third one: I loved the wintery floral pattern, the nipped in lace-detail waist and the deep neckline. I also really loved the twist on the checked shirt of the final dress: it was this great, light chiffon fabric, although it looked a little boxy on my bust. The first two dresses weren't the best shapes on me, although I loved them in theory: the heart print pattern and the mix of cotton and lace were gorgeous. All four of the dresses were £15, buy one get one free.

I know I am absolutely obsessed with this shop, and I write about it all the time. But who can afford to shop in Topshop when they need a quick fashion fix? I know I can't, and the prices just keep going up and up. The outlet gives me my perfect Topshop fix without costing me a fortune. This week my picks to look out for in the Topshop outlet are the jersey maxi dresses (ranging from £7-£15) and the heeled clogs in tan and black (£35)

Love, Tor xx

The Twelve days of Christmas with Next

Hi guys,
Hope you're all having a great week! I've been in bed with a chest infection since the weekend, but last night was our works Christmas party and the lovely Aussie guys came and did our hair so we looked all fancy before we headed out. So my week has been a week of ups and downs (With my fancy hair being a definite up!)

Last week the folks at Next sent me these lovely 12 days of Christmas icons. Well, I thought they were so cute (and i'm obsessed with anything festive right now!) so I just had to use them in a post! Team that with the fact that although i've been thinking constantly about Christmas presents, I haven't thought about outfits at all yet: something that needed seriously vectifying. So here is the soloution. The first three of my twelve outfits of Christmas:

DAY ONE - And a partridge in a pear tree
Fringe Cardigan - £50, Black leggings, Dip hem butterfly top, High heeled clogs, £35
This is a great cozy outfit that would be comfy and slouchy, but is coordinated enough that when you add the heels you'd look dressy and put together at the same time. I'd wear this on Christmas eve when we have family dropping in and out for my mum's glorious festive buffet and I need stretchy mince pie trousers!!

DAY TWO - Two turtle doves
Pajama bottoms - £15, Pajama top - £8, Slippers, Black robe - £22.
In the Brierley household, Christmas day is a pajama day, so we all go to bed in our finest house clothes on Christmas eve: after all, even in your PJ's you want to look good for the camera! I avoided my personal preference of over-the-top reindeer PJs, and picked out these cuddly but grown up black separates with a pink accent.

DAY THREE - Three French hens
Shoe boots - £55, Striped dress, Boot flare jeans - £22, Vintage buckle belt - £18, Bangle set - £18
How could you do the French hens without a little Parisian chic?? This outfit is for the first day of hitting the sales: comfortable and relaxed for a little harmless shopping (and jostling) but smart enough to meet the girls for lunch afterwards. I would wear leggings with this but I added the jeans for warmth, and to make the look a little more casual.

I love putting together outfits: it's like dressing dolls but without the awkward unbending arms! There'll be more festive outfits coming in the run up to Christmas!

Love, Tor xx

Brilliant Bravissimo: A review

Hi guys,

Last week I was invited to Bravissimo for a bra fitting. I've always hated having my bra fitted: it's usually an uncomfortable experience, especially the fitting I had at La Senza, where when they realised they didn't do a cup big enough the woman insisted on putting me up 2 band sizes to get cup to fit and told me that was my correct bra size. I wore my bras like that for months, until I had a lovely fitting at Debenhams, where they put my in a proper sized bra. But the best fitting i've ever had was last week, at Bravissimo.

I think a lot of that was down to Michelle, my fitter, who was lovely and put me completely at ease, whilst chatting about anything and everything whilst we tried on hundreds of bras. Bravissimo fitters don't use tape measures, they fit by eye, and Michelle was amazing at choosing my size and finding something I would be comfortable with. I think that I was completely at ease whilst standing topless in front of a stranger says everything.

Because I have a large cup size but a comparatively narrow back width, it is usually really difficult to buy pretty underwear: my choice is usually "do I buy the black set or the white set". But not in Bravissimo. The range and amount of choice was a revelation! There were even padded bras available in my cup size! (Although I didn't get one, that's still a big wow!)

I opted for a very pretty set in black with a 1920s-style art deco pattern on it, in purple and mustard. More so than the pattern though, I love the fit: my boobs are lifted and separated whilst being supported better than they ever have before, and the extra lift means my clothes look and fit better too: since I got this new bra, putting on any of my old ones has felt like a disappointment. I'm going to make a big investment in the New Year and replace all my old badly fitting underwear with new Bravissimo stuff: the new bra makes it look like i've lost inches off my waist, and that's got to be worth a few quid on new underwear!! (That's how i'm justifying it to myself, anyway!)

I wished i'd taken some photos of the process, and better ones of the lovely relaxing changing rooms, but when your standing around wearing nothing but your knickers and tights, it's hard to remember to get your camera out as well! Still, if you're bigger busted and you want a bra that fits properly and looks amazing, it's definitely worth heading down to find out how great Bravissimo is for yourself.

Love, Tor xx

Sarenza high heel race - a weekend in Paris

Hi guys,

I want to start by saying phew, what a weekend!! About a month ago I asked you guys to vote for me to go to Paris to take part in the Sarenza high heel race. Well you voted, and this weekend we went! On Friday morning Mike and I headed to Paris with Amy from Wolfwhistle (and her lovely mum Sue) Reena from Fashion Daydreams (and her gorgeous pal Mariana) and eleven other UK teams. Twelve British teams took on twelve French teams in the ultimate high heel battle. Now I don't want to get your hopes up: our team didn't win. But on the bright side, we didn't come last either!!

To really build up the rivalry (and encourage our national pride) we were asked to race in costume. The theme for our costumes was English eccentrics: we decided to go for a very English Alice in Wonderland theme. Reena dressed as Alice, Amy dressed as the Mad Hatter, Mariana dressed as the Cheshire Cat, and I was the White Rabbit:

We saw the event as a bit of fun, but the French teams took the race incredibly seriously: we were talking to some teams who had been training for months, and many of the teams had strapped their shoes to their feet with masking tape. I couldn't believe how big the race was: there were several film crews and more photographers than I have ever seen before.

The event was held at the Piscine Molitor in Central Paris, which is this incredibly cool building covered in graffiti (as you can see in the pics) that used to be a swimming pool. I couldn't believe how many people had turned up to watch the race, and hearing everyone cheering as you ran really built up our competitive spirit, even if I was frightened my shoes would fall off or I would fall over! There were a couple of falls, and one poor girl had the heel of her shoe come off as she was running: ouch! It was a fun night though, and the perfect way to start a weekend in Paris (even if the journey did take nine hours from start to finish, because of the wretched snow and I was blighted by 'flu!) We went to the Christmas Market on the Champs Elysees, The Louvre, and the Galeries Lafayette to see the Christmas decorations:

Thank you to Sarenza for an incredible weekend!

Love, Tor xxx

Debenhams S/S11 Press day lust!

Hi guys,
Yesterday I went to the Debenhams press day, and it was amazing: I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of new season clothes and accessories available to go crazy cooing over. Although i'm still in love with my winter coat and I love wrapping up warm, i'm also starting to get excited about next summer and the excuse to shop for pretty summer dresses again.
Prepare for a picture heavy post: I took alot of snaps!

Bags, glorious bags!! The satchel shape still seemed popular, and I was delighted to see so much tan everywhere for next season; it's my absolute favourite colour for leather! The tribal/animal print trend was also everywhere for accessories: not to my taste but some beautiful looking pieces with really luxurious fabrics.

Shoes are a personal weakness: I have more than any girl could need in a lifetime. But that doesn't mean my heart doesn't race when I see a wall full of shoes: I am human. The Faith line seems to be thriving since Debenhanms bought it out and inhouse when they went bankrupt: the cork-look heels in the middle of the wall are a particular fave!

I love the Red Herring frill detail jacket on the left, and couldn't resist a shot of some Henry Holland: his collections seem to get better and better (I know i've said that before!)Back on the satchel chat, most of the H! bags were satchel shaped and I loved them: great details and colours.

Red Herring is my favourite of all the brands stocked in debenhams (despite it being the cheapest) It's so fashion-forward and easy to wear! I love the casual styling of this outfit, but the real attention grabbers are the brown boots: I wish they were instore now, as they're just what i'm looking for in all this snow!

I can't resist eveningwear, even though I hardly wear it. The dresses in the first picture are from the new Edit collection (these were the only ones on show)The other dresses are perfect for weddings/the races/garden parties: the formal floral, again, isn't to my taste but I love the pattern and the thick cotton fabric.

Yes i'm going to say it: The dreaded H word. I love these maxi dresses and wide legged trousers for my honeymoon: the holiday wear and bikinis for next summer were lovely, and I am obsessed with the Tripp luggage in the second picture: such lovely vibrant colours, and so much more exciting than the boring black luggage everyone else carries!

Love, Tor xxx