Rediscovering Karen Millen....

So today I had a lovely treaty day out shopping with my Mum in Exeter. When I first moved down to Dorset I found that this city offered a very limited retail experience after the diversity of London's shopping opportunities, especially as it takes nearly an hour to get there! Roll on four years of country living, and it feels like Christmas to come here for the day!

The purpose of today's visit was to buy much needed holiday items (we leave in two weeks!), but there was absolutely nothing at all in the way of beachwear/summer dresses/children's summer clothes - massive FAIL! I will clearly have to do all this online in a big panic with no time to return anything that doesn't fit.

This left me lots of time to check out lots of the new spring ranges on the high street. After mooching around Topshop (fantastic spring range) and Zara (still mostly the last bits of the sale), I found myself lured into Karen Millen by the fabulous outfits in the window. Apart from a pair of jeans that I bought last year in a sale online, I don't really shop in Karen Millen. I used to love it in my twenties, but since having children and not getting to the gym often enough, I have avoided it in favour of more casual brands, as the sizing comes up a little on the small size and everything always seemed to be too tight and overly dressy.

But not today! There seems to be much more of a balance between casual and more formal clothing, and I spent ages trying things on. I decided to limit myself to one item to avoid bankruptcy and this is what I bought:

Patchwork Skinny Jeans £99

These jeans are so fabulous and I love everything about them - the fit, the vintage wash, and the fact that they are a bit unusual. Expect these to feature in the blog a lot!

Next up is a pale grey jumper that my Mum and I both liked and in the end she decided to buy it and I will borrow it - result! It features sheer shoulder panels and delicate pointelle knit detailing on the back - so stunning!


Pointelle Knit Jumper £99

If patchwork jeans are not your thing, I also loved these jeans with the funky star print:

Star Print Jean £90

This metallic jumper also caught my eye because of the mesh sleeves which made a plain jumper more interesting:

Sporty Mesh Knit Jumper £85

Moving on to tops - the black and white polka dot tee below is a lovely lightweight jersey material with a black sheer back, but I think it looked better with jeans than with black trousers:

Polka Dot Devore T-Shirt £50

And this top is super cute, with a smocked bodice and peplum detail:

Texture Print Top £99

And lastly, this is what I would buy if money were no object! I just love the mix of leather and denim to soften the look of a leather jacket for spring:

Leather and Denim Biker Jacket £399

I was really surprised by how much I liked the spring range, and can't wait to wear my patchwork jeans. I also tried on some New Balance trainers today and will report back on my findings.

And to finish, my outfit for today's shopping trip:

Black Fur Gilet - Mint Velvet (AW13)
Charcoal Grey Knitted Top - American Vintage at Yard (AW12)
Vest - Maison Scotch at Yard (old)
Red and burgundy print scarf - Zara (AW13)
Burgundy Coated Skinny Jeans - Topshop (AW11)
Black Bowie Wedge trainers - Ash

And my Mum looking fabulous as always:

Orange Coat - Topshop, featured on this blog a few days ago, available here
Black and Grey Scarf - Becksondergaard at Yard


Happy Friday to everyone

Abbi x