I’d like to first apologise for today’s title. I was re-reading Harry Potter last night and lifted the line from when Professor Quirrell stumbles into the great hall shouting about a troll in the dungeons. He doesn’t expressly mention designer fashion but I like to think it was implied..
ANYWAY, today I’d like to talk about something I get quite excited about. When a designer and a high street store get together they can make something beautiful. This comes on the heels of the announcement that H&M will be teaming up with Balmain for a collection, about which I am as excited as Hagrid waiting for a dragon egg to hatch. But rest assured that the collection hasn’t been presented so that we might accidentally blurt out how to get past a three-headed dog. This is where the parallels with the wizarding world end.
Buying a piece from a designer collection in a high street store is a great way to get an amazing item of clothing without shelling out thousands. Topshop in particular have had some fabulous collections, most of note being Mary Katrantzou and Christopher Kane. Through my mum’s skills on Ebay, I managed to end up with a piece from each.
This top is by Mary Katrantzou for Topshop. Her patterns are incredibly bold and detailed, and this is a really nice floaty shirt. I teamed it with mom jeans (Topshop), trainers (Zara) and a military jacket (New Look) for day but it works really well with a pair of black skinnies in the evening.
The print is just so unique to her style so even though it came from Topshop it is a very special piece indeed. She’s one of my absolute favourite designers and I wouldn’t have ever been able to own one of her pieces otherwise.
My other fabulous item is a Christopher Kane for Topshop dress. It’s covered in little mirrors and studs which make it really quite eye-catching. It’s served me well at many a dance (where my dancing has fallen flat) and will continue to do so for a good few years yet, I hope.
I love the concept of collaborations between the high street and designers, because it makes high-end clothing so much more accessible! They become more than just a nice photo in Vogue, and actually become meaningful to the majority of the population that can’t justify spending huge amounts of money on a small amount of clothes. So while Balmain usually sells dresses for upwards of £1,000 soon we will be able to sample the same creative style and quality for a fraction of the price.
Jumper Weather 