The Fascinator: Selfridges & Bruxelles in Photos

Hello Fashionators!

I hope you've enjoyed a wonderful weekend! I arrived to London from Paris yesterday afternoon and spent the remainder of my day unpacking and settling into my flat. Instead of cooking, I went out to get Indian food with my boyfriend for dinner.

Today I was feeling inspired to get dressed up. After 9 days in trainers and my North Face, I was ready to don heels and lipstick again. I slept in until 10 this morning and woke up with a cup of tea. I did my hair, makeup, and got dressed up to take myself shopping! I wore a grey French Connection Top, a black A-line pleated skirt, my Jane Carr scarf, Paule Ka clutch, and a pair of Upper Street platform courts! I headed to Selfridges and arrived just after they opened.

Though I had been to Selfridges once before to get lipstick, I had not explored beyond the makeup counters. I enjoyed seeing all the immaculate boutiques, especially the Hermes boutique on the first floor. I was quite surprised to see that they were displaying a Birkin, as they are usually locked away and only available upon request or waiting list. For the modest price of £22,000 you could take home a cobalt blue leather Birkin! I went to the third floor to see the Shoe Gallery, which was my favourite part. I never get tired of seeing shoes. There's something new and exciting about luxurious shoes, and I can never seem to see (or have) enough. The Jimmy Choo and Louboutin galleries were obviously the most popular, but I loved the Prada gallery, as I adore Miuccia Prada and the direction she has taken both with Prada and Miu Miu. I caved and bought myself the most perfect pair of summer sandals. They are nude open-toe sandals with a small block heel. The heel is sparkly, which drew me to them, as I love all things that sparkle.

After making my shoe purchase, I explored the endless racks of designer clothes, admired handbags, accessories, and made my way to the sunglasses. I fell in love a pair of Miu Miu sunglasses that I had never seen before. I tried on a few pair, but could not decide between two of the glasses. They are both very unique and very similar, but achieve different looks. I decided against purchasing them, as I could not decide on a favourite.

My last stop was at the MAC Cosmetics counter the get a lighter purple lipstick. I tried many colours and finally found the perfect tube! I found a warm lilac tone with high shine. I took it to the tester to the counter for the associate to pull a new tube from their stock, purchased it, and went on my way. When I arrived home, I was disappointed to find that the sales associate had pulled the wrong colour from the stock. She pulled an orchid coloured matte lipstick, which is not what I wanted. I will be returning to Selfridges tomorrow after work to try to exchange the tube of lipstick, as I have not used it. Hopefully they allow me to make an exchange, as it was not my fault, though I know policies vary with regards to returning cosmetics.

This afternoon I enjoyed having a proper tea with my boyfriend. I had a small pot of vanilla black tea with finger sandwiches and small desserts.

I have spent the rest of my day editing photos from my trip, which I will be posting throughout the week. Here is my trip to Bruxelles in photos:

One of the main road conjunctions