House of Fraser: Best Blog & Biba Visit

Hey there, kittens!

As you probably saw on my blog last week, I recently won House of Fraser Manchester’s “Best Fashion Blog” competition – I have been absolutely over the moon ever since and have been so humbled by the oppurtunity. Thanks so much, HOF MCR!

If you missed my first blog post on it, give it a quick read here or follow me on Twitter and “like” my Facebook page to keep up with my latest news and whereabouts!

So, now’s the part where I fill you in on my wonderful experience at HOF – you can even check out a video I filmed of my little trip in and subscribe to my Youtube channel here.

Anyway, I was invited along last weekend to come in, meet the staff and choose a handbag as my prize! How exciting! If there’s one thing a gal loves, it’s a new handbag – and to be able to choose one from a department store as exclusive as House of Fraser is a huge honour. Thank you so much!

Before my visit to the store, I had excellent online communication via House of Fraser’s twitter page (y’all should give it a follow here) and arranged to meet my contact, Laura in store. Upon arrival, I was made to feel SO welcome and relaxed and received fantastic service from all the staff I met. This made the experience even more wonderful for me; it can often be a teensy weensy bit intimidating visiting a premium department store (especially for a girl on a budget such as ya Kitten Momma), but at HOF MCR this definitely wasn’t the case. Thanks to y’all for being so lovely!

Laura showed me around the three collections I was given the chance to choose my prize from: Linea, Pied a Terre and Biba. After looking around each of the brands, I learnt a little about each, which helped me to make my decision. Linea’s collection was very simple yet sophisticated and I was impressed by it’s affordability.

Pied a Terre really interested me – it was clearly very high fashion, with a huge focus on pairing black with the massive neon trend this season. It was especially great to meet Mark, the sales advisor in charge of Pied a Terre, who talked me through the catwalk inspired collection and showed me this fierce Resin Clutch Bag. He desperately wanted me to pick it and although I loved the perspex inspired, totally on-trend item, I just thought it wasn’t practical enough for me. He was a star, though!

Finally, Laura talked me through Biba, which I confess I knew little about before my trip. However, after hearing of it’s fame in the 1960’s and revival in 2010 by House of Fraser, I instantly fell in love with the retro collection. She even went the extra mile and not only talked me through each of the different handbag collections (can’t even tell you how amazing the choice was!) but took me to the womenswear concessionary counter to learn more.

Upstairs, I was introduced to Becki on the womenswear counter who was a Biba expert! She was kind enough to give me a round-up history of the brand, talking me through the original designer Polish-born Barbara Hulanicki. It was so fascinating to see original designs and see how the 1960’s style had been reborn and refreshed for a modern generation. I was so tempted by the red faux fur leopard coat that I actually had to go in a couple of days later and buy it for myself – eeek! 

 
Viewing the whole Biba collection really helped me to decide that this would be the brand for me. It was a hard decision to choose which handbag I would take home. They had many different collections, including pastels, corals, deep warm shades, leopard print and classic blacks. In the end, I chose a bag which I knew I would be able to wear with any outfit, would last for years and still inject glamour to my look whilst still being practical.

Anyway, the chosen handbag was, dun dun dun – this absolutely beautiful Elise Cross Body Bag retailing at £189.  I’m in love with it and cannot wait to wear it to Manchester Fashion Week 2013 – watch out for it making a cheeky appearance in April!