All Aboard the Bloggers Bus...to Next!

Earlier in the week I traveled to Leicester for the Next Blogger's event which turned out to be a lot of fun!

You know when you walk into a room and you realise it's a room full of your friends? That's exactly how it felt when I hopped on the bus that was provided by Next, which took us to their Headquarters. It was fun to be reunited with so many blogger friends and also make lots of new ones too!

After the breakfast canapes, we gathered for a presentation on the up and coming Spring collection from Next.

It was so interesting to see the mood boards showing where their design inspiration came from. Key trends include colour blocking, stripes, neon details, seventies prints and pretty blouses in delicate pale colours. The collection, White Heat is an all-white collection (inspired by India) with interesting textures and details and for Next, sticking to just one colour for a collection is quite unusual and actually, quite exciting.

After the presentation, we were set a styling challenge. We hit the mock shop (where all the window displays/store layouts are decided and rolled out to the rest of the UK stores) and attempted to style our pieces! I was thankful for not being given the wide legged jeans (can you even imagine- they were as tall as me!) and was given a white blazer to style.

Kristabel

Once outfitted, we had a bit of a photo shoot. I find these kinds of things really weird and I always feel so awkward in front of the camera and it's hard not to feel a bit twitchy! It's not really the same as taking your own photo or getting your Mum/Sister to take your photo. However, the picture turned out OK! I wish I had brought some ribbon with me or had some kind of bow tie to complete this outfit!

Blazer, Blouse, Tunic, Belt (All Next) Ring (Forever 21) Shoes (Topshop)

Sarah

Kit arranging her outfit to create a still life. Such a good idea.

After the challenge, we all gathered for some drinks, a chat and some more yummy treats!

JazmineandLucy

Carrie,Sarah and Jen

Finally, they chose 5 winners from the styling challenge!

While I have to admit that Next is not normally a store I usually think to shop in, it's definitely made me realise that I need to get over it. The style challenge did what Next hoped it would do, opening our eyes to see what Next has to offer. There are definitely some gems to be found in store!

>>Update! Here is a video I filmed at the event. It's kind of awkward, I get my own blog name wrong and no one likes the sound of their own voice but...here you go!

Thank you to all at Next for inviting me (especially Jenny), looking after us and making the day so much fun!