George at Asda: In which I forgot to buy any potatoes.....

Hi guys,
Yesterday I popped to Asda to buy some bits and pieces for dinner (I was planning on making a Shepherds pie- glamourous life!) when I got so distracted by all of the 'New In' George range, that I forgot to buy the potatoes: an essential Shepherds pie ingrediant! Their high summer collection has just arrived, and it's made me think about summer holidays, and the warm weather that hasn't quite arrived yet.

Although I always admire the George collection at their press days, I almost never shop there (as that isn't where I do my supermarket shop) and was interested to see if they had the same gorgeous stuff in store as they do when they showcase the collection to the press. Here are my picks of what I saw yesterday:

The verdict? George is definitely still a great place to shop, and there are some real gems in their collection. Pretty patterned bras for £8? What's not to like! And aside from Primark, perhaps, where else can you get fashionable swimwear for your summer holidays at such low prices! A lot of the fashion is really lovely too: I liked the beige and silver jumper so much that I snapped it up straight away!

The not-so-good? Maybe it's a sign of my age, but the G21 range (shown in pictures 3) which I used to admire for being so fashion-forward, now strikes me as garish and unappealing. Lots of very bright colours and obviously cheap fabrics. And why embellish everything?! I, for one, very see teenage girls covered in that many sequins: they have more taste!

Nonetheless, I will definitely be checking out George again next time I pop into Asda to forget to do my shopping!

Love Tor xx

TU at Sainsburys: More supermarket chic?

I don't mind a look at George at Asda if I have an urge for a quick, cheap, trend fix. Clothing at Tesco have won me over with the quality and fit of their great ranges (everything i've had from them has washed like a charm) But TU at Sainsburys? Well to be honest, the only clothing my local Sainsburys stock are two packs of black/white Tshirts, cheap stone wash jeans, and the occasional pink/pastel pajamas. I didn't even know they had a "fashion" range!

But today they sent me a press release entitled "Alpine Chic" and I really liked a couple of the pieces on it, in fact, I liked them enough to look at their whole set of A/W press shots. And I have to say, I was impressed:

I like the brown shearling coat, and if the quality is good, it would be a bargain at £40. The wrap cardigan would also make a great, versitile winter piece that I would be happy to add to my wardrobe. I'm obsessed with the camel cape, despite the fact i'm not a big fan of camel, and for £45 it would be an great nod to both the camel and cape trends for this season. I also love the styling of the collection, which makes all the difference: I would wear the whole of the first shot, exactly as it is. In fact, I probably have worn that outfit!

All looking great, and id be very interested to take a closer look (Who can tell quality/fit from a photo!?) I just wish I knew more about TU: you don't read about it on other blogs - is it a dirty secret, or not worth checking out? I've decided i'd like to find out. The only problem now is to find the elusive store in NW London that actually stocks this stuff....any ideas??

Love, Tor xx

PS - Apparently because of the high holiday volumes in August, the StyleCompare competition has been extended for another two weeks! If you wanted to send an entry, but didn't quite get it done in time then work on it now, and send it over. I'd love to see it! x

Competition: Win £30 to spend at Clothing at Tesco

I've written before about how surprisingly good the clothes from Clothing at Tesco are, so I was chuffed when they got in touch and asked if i'd like to run a competition for you guys! If you haven't tried them out you really should: the quality is good, the styles are very on trend, and i'm always impressed with the fit. So here's your chance to try them for free: It's easy to enter, and you can win £30 to spend on the site.

With wedding season in full swing, and weddings constantly on my mind at the minute, I decided to give the competition a wedding theme: all you have to do is choose an outfit from the Clothing at Tesco site that you think would be perfect for a summer wedding. The only catch is, you're outfit has to cost less than £30 (So that you can go straight out and buy it when you win the prize!) Here's my example to give you some ideas:

The challenge will be made easier because I just noticed that all of the sale stuff on the site has been reduced and is buy 2 items, get one free!

To enter the competition, follow the blog (using the box to the right) and then put together your perfect wedding outfit from clothing at Tesco for under £30: you can either leave this in the comments or drop me an email. I'll announce the winner next Wednesday (4th August) to give you plenty of time to come up with your star entry: good luck!!

Love, Tor xx

PS- The Head of Design and Buying for Lingerie at Debenhams is taking over the @debenhamsretail Twitter feed tomorrow (Thursday 29th July) between 1 and 2pm to answer any lingerie-related questions you might have. I'll be there, asking a million and one questions about bridal lingerie, so I thought I would give you guys the heads up!

Florence and Fred couture and beautiful nails!

Last night I went to check out the launch of Tesco's new Florence and Fred couture range. Everyone was cooing over the pagoda dress, which came in purple or grey (pictured) and which had this amazing wired collar that you could manipulate to wear the dress in so many ways. I really loved the sequin pieces, most notably the silver jacket with the sharp shoulders (also pictured) and the matching harem trousers in silk with the sequinned peplum. The other stand out pieces for me were a lovely floor length cloudy patterned skirt and matching top.

All the harem pants in the collection make me really wish it was a look I could pull off, but I just don't think they'll ever work for me. Although I really liked the collection, and there were a couple of really covetable pieces, I do wonder who will be buying it: couture or not, the price point is pretty high for a supermarket collection. I think the quality of the clothes deserves the higher price, and most is made with premium fabrics such as silk, but I think they are going to have to work really hard to shake off the cheap fast supermarket fashion perception. I think the fact they are only selling the collection online instead of instore is a good starting place.

As well as the chance to look at the new collections, Tesco had also made the most adorable cupcakes with each blog name written on them, gave us cookies with the pagoda dress on them, and set up a nail bar where WAH nails gave all the bloggers fingers a make over. I just managed to take a picture of the cookie before it started looking too temptingly eatable! Like nearly everyone else, I went for leopard print on my nails. Mine are on a stripey pastel background:

I absolutely love them! I always see women on the tube in their tracksuits with great nails and wondered why they bothered, but now I know: it makes you feel great about yourself, no matter what you're wearing! I know this because i'm sat in my PJs and keep looking at my fingers and smiling to myself!

I'm interested to know what you guys think of F&F couture: Are there any pieces you really love? Does the price point put you off or is quality more important than the label inside the dress?

Love, Tor x

PS - Don't forget to enter the competition to win a piece of Emma Hadley jewelley: only one week to go!

Supermarket chic part 2: George at Asda

Hey guys,

Lots of people expressed an interest in my supermarket chic post about Tesco (Clothing at Tesco even profiled me on their site!) so it seems only fair that we look at what some of our other British supermarkets have to offer. Last week I went to the George at Asda high summer press day: an event where I saw a series of pretty dresses that will be landing in George shortly. Here is a sneak preview of some of my favourite pieces:

I love the sharp square shoulders of the aztec dress, and suspect I will pick it up when it lands in store. When I saw the floral dress with the tiered skirt I immediately knew that it would be perfect for a summer wedding: and for less than £20 its great if you're invited to a summery event at the last minute and need to pick something up on a budget! There were some pieces I wasn't so keen on (like the military jacket above) but overall I was impressed with the designs and more importantly with the quality, which felt really good.

As I left the event I was handed a look book and a £50 voucher to spend in George. So naturally when Mike and I went to do our supermarket shopping last Sunday, I went out of my way to spend it!

We usually go to the Asda in Edgware, but they dont have a big George section, so I made Mike drive me to Wembley instead. I've never been to this one before but if you're looking for a super Asda, this is the one to go to! Its on two levels, and the whole of the upstairs is dedicated to clothes and homewears. I got: brown studded boots (In the sale for £9) Floral drop waist dress; £12, Studded sleeveless denim shirt, £12, black hankerchief hem vest £6, Polka dot top, £10, and black leggings; £5.

Head to toe in Asda: here are the boots, leggings, floral dress and denim shirt.

First I want to rave about the leggings: they're really thick and really hold their shape. I usually pay £10-£15 for my leggings from Topshop, but I think these ones for a fiver will be a really good alternative! I'm also nuts about the denim shirt with the studs on the shoulders: it's going to look great unbuttoned over pretty dresses in the summer but can also be worn now over leggings and long sleeve jumpers. When I picked up the slouchy floral dress I had my summer holiday in mind and I couldn't resist the boots for the money: practical but with a tiny heel!

I'm really happy with the stuff I got: the fit and quality is really good and very flattering. Some of the range is pretty fashion forward and it slips into my existing wardrobe really nicely: I see this as a good alternative to Primark for buying on a budget.

Oh, they also do bras up to a G cup and swimwear up to an F cup - I really liked some of the swimwear actually, and the prices were really reasonable: full fitted suits for £8! I will definitely be going back for my summer holiday shop.

Love, Tor xxx

Tesco....#1 on my list of places i'd never think to shop

Earlier in the week tesco clothing started following me on twitter (and you can too: www.twitter.com/fabfrocks) Out of courtesy really, I followed them back. Two days after that they tweeted about an interesting sounding floral dress. I followed the link, and this post was born!

When my dad was a kid his mum (my grandma) used to make him wear what he refers to as "Tesco bombers". These were Tesco jeans that cost 70p, only came in one leg length, and were the bane of his life because he really wanted Levis. This is my Tesco in a fashion context!
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Nowadays, bizarrely (and I didn't know this until I saw the link at the top of their site) Tesco is one of the sponsors of London Fashion Week. And the Tesco Clothing site is suprisingly comprehensive! I have been known to browse the G21 range in Asda, but never really thought of Tesco as a place to pick up clothing. And this site doesn't just stock a dress or two. I am talking tons of clothing, at very low prices!
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Here is a selection of my favourite pieces:

The site is really easy to navigate and set up in such a way that you can find what you're looking for in seconds. I'm going to geek out for a second when I say that so many online stores are so concerned with making things look pretty that they don't think about user experience when building their sites, and this is a massive mistake. The pretty is important of course, but it's hard to care about it too much when the site is slow and you can't find what you want!
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Now I can't vouch for the wear or the quality; I didn't even know this store existed in a fashion context, so I haven't tried any of it! But I can say that I like the look of a lot of the fashions available: very trend-led and wearable. Pre-shopping ban, the floral dress and the nautical shift dress would be in my wardrobe already!
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Is this all new to you or am I late to the table (again!)? Have people been wearing Tesco for ages and I just didn't know? If you've every tried clothes from Tesco (or even fondled them in the flesh!) i'd love to know what you think!

Love, Tor xxx