Next Christmas Collection

Last Wednesday evening I went to the Next Christmas Collection event in the beautiful surroundings of the Cliff Townhouse. The room was decorated beautifully and included pieces from Womenwear, Menswear, Childrenswear and Home Decor. There was also a Tropical Popical nail bar and Christmas cookie decorating from Thunders Bakery. 

As you can see the Christmas accessories collection was very opulent. There were black, gold, silver, purple, velvet, sequinned and bejewelled necklaces, watches, evening bags and shoes. 

As you would expect fabric and texture were a big feature of the collection with fur, jacquard, sequins, silk, tulle, leather and velvet. There was a good range of colour with monochrome, black and red, camel, soft pink and purple as well as the old reliable black. There was a big Highland inspiration to the more casual items with a lot of tartan, dogtooth, check, wool and tweed. 

The Home collection for Christmas really drew me in with all of the bright colours, candles, Christmas decorations, gifts and fairy lights. It got me really excited for December to come around. My favourite item was the Teapot cushion above. That is definitely going on my Christmas wishlist!

Despite not having as much of an interest in men's and children's fashion, the collections for both were gorgeous. I especially loved the men's footwear. All of the pretty girls dresses reminded me of how much I loved getting my new Christmas dress every year. The children's Christmas jumpers were so cute! 

I met the lovely Marta from Addicted to Fashion Forever. You can read her post about the event here. 

My good friend Vanessa came with me, we had a great time drinking wine, decorating our cookies and chatting to the lovely ladies from Next- Rebecca, Chantelle and Vicky. 

If you're near a branch of Next pop in and grab the gorgeous lookbook featuring the stunning Arizona Muse.

Thanks to the lovely ladies from Next for inviting me along and a huge well done on organising such an enjoyable evening!

Is there anything from the collection you have your eye on?

Emma x

Crashing Beats and Fantasy, Setting Sun In Front Of Me

A belated Happy Christmas to you all! 

Here's what I wore on a beautiful sunny Christmas Day.

Dress, Jacket- Monsoon

Coat- My Granny's

Earrings, Belt, Brooch, Bracelet, Ring and Scarf- Accessorize

Shoes- Clarks

Sunglasses- ASOS

Nails- Sally Hansen Gilty Pleasure and Revlon Sequins

Eyes- UD Half Baked and Busted

Lips- MAC Fire Sign

Wind- Ireland

This Christmas was both a happy one and a sad one for us. Happy because I finally got to spend it with Donnacha and my family (also he got me THE MOST AMAZING present which I will show you soon). Sad because my grandad's health is deteriorating. 

We had two Christmases this year as we spent last weekend with Donnacha's family. It was really nice to be able to spend some time with both of our families, however because the week was so hectic Donnacha are paying for it now with illness. 

How was your Christmas? What are your traditions? I was a very lucky girl this year and was really spoiled by my family and friends so I just want to say thank you and I love you all very much!

Emma x

Gift Guide- Why Not Ask Her Friends?

It's now just 5 weeks to Christmas and let's face it, there's always at least one person on our gift buying list who we struggle to come up with ideas for every year. I find that if you don't know someone very well or don't get to spend a lot of time with them, it's much more difficult to come up with gift ideas for them. Whether it's an aunt, brother, mother-in-law, grandmother, father or sister sometimes we just need some inspiration instead of getting them the same boring present we get them every year.

So when I heard about Ask Her Friends, a site that helps you to find the perfect gift for the women in your life I was intrigued to see if it would actually help to give me gift ideas. Ask Her Friends was founded by a man who once bought his ex-girlfriend a worm farm and I don't think he is the only one guilty of giving bad presents.

I decided to try out the Idea Map with the answers relating to my mother and I was actually quite surprised to see the results it gave. There were some really great ideas that I don't think I ever would have thought of including a gorgeous mirror and a magazine subscription. Donnacha also tried it out answering questions about me and found a few things he thought I would really like. You just follow the steps answering questions about the person you are looking to buy a present for and it gives you ideas according to your budget.  

One thing that really struck me about the Idea Map was asking yourself what life changes has the person gone through recently. Have they lost their job or gotten a new job? Have they recently moved house or had a baby or gotten married? It got me thinking outside the box and considering new possibilities. 

You can also search by budget and by category so if you have a general idea of how much you can afford to spend and the kind of present you want, maybe you heard the person say they wanted some new make up or homeware, you can search for ideas under those categories. 

I decided to show you some of my picks from the site for between £5 and £50 since most people have had to cut back on gifts in recent years, this shows the variety of gifts you can find for a small to medium budget.

Maybe you've gotten you mam or sister or girlfriend some perfume and you want to get her some other smaller presents too, then this perfume atomiser is a great present for under £10 because it allows her to dispense the perfume into a more handbag friendly container. 

I just love this chalk photo frame! I would love this as a gift and there are a few people I know would love it too. It's such a great change from an ordinary photo frame. I love giving photos as gifts, it's something I think everyone likes to get. There's lot of other great gift ideas on the Dutch by Design site, especially for anyone who is newly married or has just moved house. 

If you really can't think of anything to buy for someone, why not get them your favourite show on DVD. Something like Breaking Bad, Mad Men or Homeland. Great shows that they can watch through on a DVD box-set over Christmas. I really want to see the recent BBC drama series The Hour. Amazon have some great deals on at the moment and you could get most of your shopping done without even having to step outside into the cold! 

This Retro Sweet Box could be a really great gift for your younger brother or sister (although I'd love it too).  

These next two things would be great for the woman in your life that's make up and skincare obsessed. If you know they love make up but you have no idea where to start. This Nails Inc minis set is great because you have lots of different colours so you don't have to choose the colour, they get to decide themselves!

Like with the Nail polishes, this GlossyBox subscription is perfect for when you know what the person's interests are but you haven't a clue about those interests yourself. This is the more modern version of a magazine subscription and let's them try out loads of new products each month. I can't think of any woman who wouldn't love to receive this present. 

There is also a great blog on the site which discusses gift ideas and new online shops that you may not have heard of as well as a James Bond themed gift guide and a giveaway. One of my favourite parts of the site however is a section where women have shared stories of the best and worst presents they have received. This is a really great place to get ideas of what she'll like and what she really won't like! It's definitely worth a read if you're looking for good advice from real women, there are some really great ideas if you have a read through them.

What do you think? Would you try out this site or one like it? All we need now is a site like this for the men in our lives!

Check out the AskHerFriends Facebook Page for more regular updates.

Emma x

***Disclaimer- I was compensated for writing this post, however all opinions are honest and my own. It's a great site!

Gift Guide- Tartan, Leather and Tweed

I know I'm not the only one who finds it difficult to come up with gift ideas for the men in my life, I always struggle when it comes to buying presents for my brothers, dad and grandad. I wanted to put together a little Men's Gift Guide with something in it for every age and every budget.

Okay so you may be thinking "socks? seriously?" but let me finish, these socks are Ted Baker socks and they are in a nice gift box. If you are going to buy someone the most mundane of presents at least get them ones that are in a fancy box.

This Tartan Barbour Scarf and these Ted Baker Sheepskin Gloves, like the socks, are a bit more practical because they will keep you warm and cosy but they are also quite stylish. To be honest, I love this scarf and I will totally be adding it to my Christmas list!

The Ted Baker Notebook and Dubarry Leather Wallet were chosen inspired by the men in my life. I know a few guys who carry around notebooks to write down ideas at a moment's notice and what better to store you thoughts in than this graphic fly print sturdy notebook. I've also seen way too many wallets that are falling apart so this durable walnut leather wallet would be the perfect gift for someone who is constantly losing change from all the holes in their wallet.

Lastly, another gift I would also love to receive is this Joules Hip Flask with tweed and leather trim. It would be the perfect gift for any wannabe Don Draper.

So what do you think of my picks? Have you any ideas for gifts for men?

Emma x

*** This post was written on behalf of Number Eight Clothing. 

Gift Guide- Silver and Gold

I picked out some of my favourite items from British Designer Jewellery site Wharton Goldsmith and put together a Christmas gift guide of sorts.

The watch is from Juicy Couture and although it's not a brand I'm usually attracted to, I adore the simplicity of this gold plated watch. Watches are always a great gift to get because it's something you don't tend to buy for yourself, my sister and I got one for my Dad for his birthday this year because his last one was broken and he never bought a new one. This one is great because it's a classic design that's never going to be out of style.

The Ring and Earrings are from Linda MacDonald, a brand I admit I had never heard of before, but I really liked how simple but cute these pieces are. I love Daisys, they are probably one of my favourite flowers and I think these would make a great present for someone who loves flowers, especially daisies. I could totally see myself wearing both of these pieces to death.

The Infinity Ring and Silver Charm Bracelet from Links of London are a bit more expensive, but if you have the budget, they would make a great gift for someone who likes classic pieces of jewellery that will last for years and that they can wear with almost everything. I think the ring would make a really great alternative (and budget friendly) engagement/wedding ring. Links of London also so charms for the silver bracelet so you could customise it depending on the person's style.

The Trollbeads bracelet comes in both gold and silver and you can add your own charms and beads depending on who you are buying it for. I'm not a huge fan of the charm bracelet trend but I think it's really nice with maybe one of two simple charms so you don't feel like you've got the kitchen sink on your wrist.

What do you think? Is jewellery a gift you would like to receive or give to someone?

Emma x

***This post was written on behalf of Wharton Goldsmith.