Mary Katrantzou for London Fashion Week 2013

Last week, I was lucky enough to attend the Mary Katrantzou showcase for London Fashion Week and I bagged myself a gorgeous Mulberry tote bag too. The tote was thick with a glossy web design and metallic gold lettering. Inside came dry shampoo by Label M and a limited edition Nails Inc nail polish in Vodafone Red. Although nothing uniquely amazing, I think they did well to choose staple products to gift in their totes.

As for the show itself, I brought the lovely Clare from Pink Little Bean to the show with me as I knew she loved fashion and I knew it would be great for her blog. The event was a showcase of Mary's two most popular collections which happened to be very contrasting, with the first being mainly prints and patterns and the second being more textures and trims, something I am a huge sucker for. Mary has a talent for incorporating everyday items into her pieces like pencils to create lattice skirts and typewriter typebars to create almost Victorian-like collars, it's remarkable. I think it's important to embrace the arts in order to appreciate the true beauty of life and to see things from a different perspective. It opens up the mind and inspires people to think outside the box, very much like the beauty of an obsolete mechanism such as the typewriter, being replicated and transformed into a more usable form such as clothing. 

As you can see from the photos, Clare and I decided to go out afterwards - although it does look a little like the tote bag itself decided to start a boozy night with a round of cocktails but I assure you, our totes are not of legal age and will not be bought or served alcohol. We met up with recently engaged Katrina of Carousel Diary (woo, you go girl), then Clare and I decided to go to a club. We had a fun and eventful night, then had lunch and a stroll in Camden Lock the day after. This was definitely the best Valentine's I've had by far and Clare was even sweet enough to come bearing gifts for choosing her to come.

Included with the adorable Thank You card (which is sitting pretty on my window ledge) was a cream rose necklace from Scarlett Hearts which I was delighted to receive as I just bought a ring like this not too long ago and now I can wear them together, and a fantastic Meadham Kirchhoff set of Nail Rock wraps. You may notice that the nail wraps fit in with the London Fashion Week theme as Meadham Kirchhoff is actually one of the catwalk designers presenting and just completed their walk today. I'm a huge fan of Meadham Kirchhoff typically, as I also love JCDC and Jeremy Scott. I also love the stark contrast between Meadham Kirchhoff's season collections.

On the subject of Valentine's, I just thought I'd quickly share with you this year's Valentine's treat, a Moschino Olive Oyl umbrella I snapped up for £25 in TK Maxx. 

Thank you London Fashion Week for such a lovely show and Clare for such a fun-filled night. I'd never been out in London before so it was a first for me. Go follow her over on her blog and tell her that Antonio says hi and that he likes Sheffield.