The Trafford Centre | Poppy's Style

I really do love heading back to Bury for a few days. As much as I miss my Husband and children it is really lovely to be a sister, a daughter and an aunty, without worrying too much about being a wife and mommy as well! Last night I got the chance to be a friend too – and an old one at that. I met up with an old school friend who I last saw a couple of years ago. It’s really lovely to catch up and giggle together. Even with all the months and miles between seeing each other it’s still as easy as ever to reconnect.

It was absolutely foul weather – no surprise there – so I opted to wear my cosy AllSaints Haff jumper, M&S flares and new M&S tan pointy toe pumps. I know the flares keep disappearing out of stock online (as of this post 8 and 10 regulars were available online) but both Bury and Bolton had plenty on the racks over the past couple of days. The pumps are gorgeous – I love the cognac with the flares – and they are super pointy with a great mid size heel so they very wearable. They are also available in black and a lovely pale blue.

Today I was woken by my gorgeous 3 year old niece, Alice, who was here to take me shopping again – she’s a girl after my own heart 🙂 We headed to the Trafford Centre where it was guaranteed to be warm and dry!

The other day I purchased Poppy this stunning Next dress, that my Mum immediately said was ‘very Ted Baker’ and I agree. It is a beautiful print and I knew instantly that Poppy would adore wearing scene from the English seaside. Today it was my turn to spoil Alice and I snapped up the identical dress for her. Apparently it is a ‘princess dress’ and she hasn’t taken it off yet! I’ve a feeling these are going to sell out really fast.

One very happy 3 year old:

I’d forgotten how fabulous Next are for children’s clothes and I nabbed this dress for Poppy too while I was back in there. It’s lovely and floaty and less than £20! She’s definitely not a pink girl these days so this blue is a little more ‘grown up’ for her.

Of course I had to head into M&S again – this time for restocking my knickers 🙂 Some of their lingerie is gorgeous and their fabulous Brazilians are currently 3 for 2.

I also got a quick snoop around the clothing and fell in love with this camel coat in particular. Boy do I wish I had need of spring coats in Atlanta!

M&S is FULL of colour and I fell for this coat – I was so tempted – but once again I have absolutely no need for it in Atlanta…I might have justified it somehow before I head to Manchester on Thursday!

I loved this display of bright summer macs too – again the yellow one is stunning.

Another pair of boots caught my eye too – I just can’t walk by the boot section and not look! It’s a problem…They are a gorgeous square toe boot with a buckle across the front. I think these are the perfect shoe boot to wear with flares this spring. They are also available in navy – its great to see more navy footwear available!

While Grandad was perusing the men’s section Alice and I got some selfie practice – she’s a little pro!

Boots – Dolce Vita Haku // Trousers – Zara // Jumper – AllSaints (old) // Jacket – Uniqlo biker puffer // Scarf – ASOS // Bag – Alexander McQueen (similar here)

Tonight we all feel like celebrating – my Dad has just handed his retirement in, and at almost 67 years old his working days are over…well my Mum has a list for him at home but she might take it easy on him for a while 🙂

…that’s what the Trafford Centre trip turned into for me today. We had originally decided to go as Dad was very excited about the John Lewis sale – under the guise of “your Mum loves John Lewis” – well he wasn’t fooling anyone. As it happens it was also lashing it down with rain this morning and the trees were horizontal so being indoors seemed like a good plan. Though, just so you all don’t think I am a complete nut job, I HAD cautioned everyone involved about the peril of shopping with a 4 and 6 year old – my Mum had clearly forgotten after raising 3 children. We met my lovely sister who is enjoying maternity leave with baby Tom – who coincidentally is the perfect age for shopping with children, as long as you have plenty of baby bottles prepared before you leave. To be honest I don’t know what the fuss is about with newborns – all they do is eat, sleep and poop – so easy compared to a 4 and 6 year old…yes I hate to harp on, and I know parental amnesia is kicking in, but I am trying to evoke some sympathy.

So as we walked into John Lewis, knowing I hadn’t taken a photo of myself in all my glory, wearing my Hudson jeans, AllSaints Bonny cuban boots, Zara lace top, YSL Roady bag and JohnnieB leather jacket, I asked my lovely daughter to photograph me. The following results are the beginning of a downhill spiral:

Flattering hey? Intentionally action shots? I don’t think so…

Having fueled the kids with boiled eggs and sausage this morning they did allow me some time to browse the sale and I spotted these lovely dresses but couldn’t summon the energy to try them on, and the lovely Oasis dress with anchors on it was only available in an XS otherwise I would have just bought it without trying I liked it so much. The second dress was the lovely French Connection Calypso jersey dress that I’m not sure I would ever wear but I still thought it was gorgeous and drapey.

I did manage to try on a Mint Velvet long sleeved top that caught my eye mainly due to the color. I have to admit I haven’t heard of the brand before but they have some lovely casual tops. While I was in the changing room I heard the screams of my son and thought twice about returning to my party – I nearly made a run for it just 30 minutes into the shopping trip…While in the changing room I also managed to achieve what Poppy hadn’t, that being a photo of my outfit of the day…

Here’s the top I tried – I think the fit of the 12 was fine and a 14 would have been to loose around the neck but the fabric was a tad too clingy for my liking so I passed on it.

On then to AllSaints. Not having a stand alone store in Atlanta I relish the opportunity to visit one here and the one in the Trafford Centre is pretty big. I left Mum and Dad watching their grandchildren and legged it. I certainly wasn’t intending on buying anything – but then why would I go in the store at all? Oh and then I discovered my heaven for the day – their sale had begun today! (on the US website too!)

I walked out with knitwear and yes granted it is needed here in Bury, it won’t be worn for a while in Atlanta with 90 degree temps. I ended up with four, yes four cardigans.

I love my black cerulean cardigan so I got the grey marl:

I already have the plume jumper in ivory and was tempted by the ebony striped one shown here, but ended up with the cardigan instead – my favorite of the 4 items, but not to be found on either the UK or US website:

Then I picked out the grey Jagger cardigan – I have the black jumper which I love, and I’m a magpie around anything grey – could only see the black online though:

Finally the Boston cardigan – just gorgeous and I can wear this in the summer evenings with shorts:

VERY, VERY happy with my haul. Sadly I then had to regroup with the tired, irritable children…poor things it’s not their fault the shopping gene hasn’t kicked in yet. So we took them off for fish and chips in John Lewis and all were soon happy and smiley again. I’m now at Mum and Dad’s with my first glass of white of the day – well earned I’m sure you will agree, and if you were in Manchester today and heard a manic woman yelling “Poppy!”, “Hugh!”, “Come on guys!” – it was me.