Matalan Christmas in July Press day

I’m a huge fan of Matalan. I always find really great, fashion forward items there without needing to break the bank. So I was really pleased to receive an invite to their Christmas in July press day, being held in the cool surroundings of The Hospital Club, London.

It’s hard to know where exactly to start in describing how good this collection is. Basically, it has all your needs for the Christmas party season sorted, whatever your style may be. From the perfect pencil skirt/peplum dress, to beautiful boho grunge styled evening wear in the form of skinnies teamed with floaty capes, there is something for everyone. There are nods to trends that will be huge this A/W, ‘The Great Gatsby’ is acknowledged with delicate beading, with brocade and sequins also making their annual appearance, I loved the 1960s styled fur coat, young, fun and very funky,and the metallic shades that ran through the collections.

The newly launched Rogers and Rogers collection shows just how far forward plus sized dressing has moved away from smocks and tent like garments, I loved the sequined jacket that would just be perfect worn simply over jeans, or thrown over your evening dress on chilly nights.

But where Matalan truly excel is the fantastic accessories that inspired sheer lust in me. There were some fantastic clutch bags in animal prints, studded day bag that looked great and would carry everything, and a fabulous range of brogues and slip on flat shoes that had a 1960s Mod feel to them. But two items stood out for me – I really wanted to just put them in my bag and run! The horse clutch bag has echoes of Luella, Stella and could be a designer item, whilst the jewelled stilettos will quite literally race out of the door once they hit stores (well, as fast as a jewelled stiletto can run…), they are just that beautiful.