Sneak Peek: River Island Christmas Collection

Yesterday I was invited by Oona's lovely ladies to come enjoy a preview of River Island's Christmas collection, so here I am to share the event with you :-) 

First, fabulous people!

Absolutely Mrs. K

I got an awesome retro bathing suit from sweetheart Nathalie (blogging at The Merry Makers, and she certainly made me merry!)

Pretty shoes on Sofie and Kim

Stephanie showing off her glow in the dark nails right before the fashion show

Porcelain skinned Sabina

Awesome accessory-ice sculpture

 Of course I always jump at the food. This was raspberry icecream (I think) with a white chocolate coating: mmmmmm

And now, the main draw: my picks from the small fashion show!

These beautiful embellished shorts, very 20's glamour but more modern

beautiful babyblue cropped knit, perfect for layering over high waisted pieces, and the embellishments really tickled my fancy too!

strapless black cocktaildress with glamorous texture: the feathers were amazing with the model's hair, but I imagine it looking even more glam with bright red lips and a french twist! Definitely something I'd wear to a Christmas party

In my opinion, River Island has a few major strong points and a few minor let downs. 

Strong points: 

- colorful aesthetic filled with prints, textures and details

- amazing shoes, bags and other accessories

- their knack for striking a nice balance between flirty/girly and tough/edgy

Weak points:

- relatively high prices for their fabric choices and finish

- when styled wrong their stuff can come across as tacky

However, River Island has provided me with some of my favorite purchases over the last year: my loafers, my promdresses (1, 2, 3), my red t-bar flats and my shirtdress always have people commenting on how lovely they look and whether these are proper vintage pieces. In fact, I inspired both one of my close friends Camille (she's been featured on the blog before) and Belgian fashion icon Tiany Kiriloff to buy one of my RI promdresses, so the balance tips over to the positive side for me. I'll keep checking them out and I advise you to do the same, because there are beauties to be found!

We ended our night with some french fry + burger snacking just around the corner, but not before Kim ate her beautiful fishtail braid (check her blog out for a tutorial). I want a fishtail braid toooooooooo

BUT! Stay tuned for my retro hairstyle post! I might post it later this evening :-D la'az!


PS: don't forget to enter my giveaway!