H&M Announcement

It was like all my Birthdays, Christmases, Summer Holidays had all come at once! (Dramatic much!) No, really! I literally shrieked when I woke up and was scrolling through facebook on my phone with one eye open (that's kinda become the first thing I do when I wake up. Bad! I know) and saw H&M had made this announcement late on Thursday night:

This is the reason why I had been following H&M on Facebook in the first place. I had a feeling if they were ever coming here they would send out feelers on The Book (and Twitter). 

Why am I so excited? Because H&M is the ultimate culmination of Fashion+sans fortune. They have the trendiest clothes at very very very affordable prices. And no this doesn't mean that they are "cheap quality" - I have a cute work top that I bought from H&M in Dubai around 4 years ago - still going strong. Not even one button has fallen or even threatened to fall. And this is just one of 5 things I bought on that trip - all of which are still intact.

And they always seem to have what I want that no one else has, so their buyers and designers seem to be very on the ball, in fact ahead of the ball. What you see at H&M, you see at other High Street stores 2 seasons later. And they have the strength of numbers and a world class supply chain system (really their supply chain was what we wrote our essays about when I was at Uni) which helps them keep prices low. For example, that dress in the photo above is US$19.95 from their "Conscious Colletcion" which is all about sustainable fashion. Where on the Australian High Street would you find a dress like that at that price - let alone sustainably produced!

So, to sum it up - I am a fan.

Here's a taste of what H&M is like, if you didn't already know...

H&M's Summer Brand Ambassador

Also from the Conscious Collection

H&M for Men

H&M for Kids - Conscious Collection

*prices in US$. Photos courtesy H&M Facebook and hm.com

 Now I can't wait to find out where the first store will be and when in 2014! My money is on Melbourne CBD. Fingers & toes crossed!

Chadstone VIP Night - Autumn/Winter 2013

It's been an unusually warm Autumn. Record breaking temperatures, heat-waves, 9 days above 30 degrees! Certainly doesn't feel like Autumn or like Winter is around the corner. But the retailers want us to get started on buying warm clothes in dark, wintery colours and they're using our favourite four letter word to entice us - SALE! So, even though I'm on a saving-spree, I decided to loosen the purse-strings just a little bit so I could get what I wanted/needed but at less than the original RRP. It was hard to think about what I would want on chilly winter days when it was so warm, so I didn't buy much. But my main purchases were:

Forever New Gemma Shirtdress - 20% off $89.99

Portmans Glamour Stud Heel Ankle Boot - 20% off $49.99

That was it for my shopping apart from a few other basics. And then I wandered over to look at the Sex And The City Exhibition that showcases dresses from the show and the movie. Photos don't do justice to the beautiful clothes TV's most stylish foursome wore, but here's just a little sneak peak of what was on display.

Love that Versace dress (centre) Carrie wears in Paris with "the Russian"! It just goes on and on forever. You could only get away with wearing something like that in Paris - or on SATC!

If you do get a chance, you must try and catch the exhibition while it's still showing, that is, until the 31st of March.

That's it from me for today. Au Revoir!

The last few days of summer...

This weekend was a really good one - food-wise and weather-wise. On Friday night we made an impromptu plan to go have dinner in the City. Mr. Pre was expecting to be busy but then he wasn't, so we decided to make the most of it. We ended up at Lemongrass in Lygon St.This multi-award winning restaurant, really lived up to its reputation. The food was AMAZING!

Thai-style Corn Fritters

Yummy Prawn Entrée (don't know the name but it was DELICIOUS)

Crispy pork with stir-fried veggies and Steamed Rice

One of the best Pad-Thais I've had outside of Thailand

 I had to get ready at short-notice so here's my quick-fix outfit for the night...

Loose White Top: *$15 (Cotton On)

Black High-waisted Shorts: $35 (Glassons)

Red Bag: *$25 (Forever New)

Glitz Black Bling Flats: *$60 (Santini) 

Bracelet: *$5 (Forever New)

Bow Necklace in Soft-Gold: $19.95 - Portmans

Outfit Total: $159.95

* = sale prices

And today we decided to enjoy the sunshine; we headed out to brunch in St. Kilda. Gattica's breakfast menu has so many wonderful options, it's hard to pick one. But the good thing is, you know no matter what you order, you won't be disappointed.

Poached Eggs with Goats Cheese, Rosemary Mushrooms & Sourdough Toast

Haloumi & Basil folded Eggs with crispy Shallots & Sourdough Toast

 Wanting to make the most of the warm days, I decided to wear shorts again, while I still can. Here's my colour-blocked Sunday Brunch outfit...

 

Top: *$20 (I.D.S)

Shorts: *$5 (Cotton On)

Rope Belt: Came with a dress

Bracelet: $19.99 (Lovisa)

Bag: *$34.95 (Forever New)

Colour Block Ballet Flats: *$25 (Forever New)

Sunnies: Usual

Outfit Total: $104.95

* = sale prices

I've recently created a Facebook page for the blog and also added Social Media buttons to the right-side bar so we can keep in touch in more ways than one. Please take the time to look at these and Like/Follow if you wish.

TIA. :)

xoxo