I had the opportunity to go to a few AW13 preview events recently. I know that some folks find the whole PR 'I went here and did this' post really dull, but I was intrigued and so took the opportunity to see what they were like first hand.

The final event of my day in London was the Amanda Wakeley AW13 preview, which turns out was an event for bloggers. We were told that Amanda Wakeley recognised that bloggers are an important part of social networking, which was interesting in the wake of LFW's backlash against the blogger.

The event had pink champagne and mini cupcakes, the room was lined with rails of gorgeous clothes that we could rummage through, photograph and try on if we wanted (I wasn't brave enough and I kick myself for that now). There were models, erm, modeling the clothes and we were given a short presentation about the new day wear line that had been added to the collection, 'Clean Glam' were the words used to describe it.

It's a lovely collection in spicy and rich, autumnal colours, a good splash of monochrome and some fantastic evening gowns, embellished with beads, chains, sparkles and some with ostrich feathers, and accessories including some really lovely clutch bags (I am partial to a clutch bag). Many pieces I loved, but none that would look good covered in pet hair and mud though, which is pretty much a standard requirement for me being a farm dwelling cat owner.



I overheard someone ask how much a 'cinnamon' coloured pair of cropped trousers would retail for. Two-six-five came the answer, two-six-five, not two hundred and sixty five pounds just two-six-five. I winced as I stood there in my t-shirt that cost me 'eight' and my jacket - in the sale the previous day - for 'ten'. I suddenly wished I'd worn more blend-in-black and less look-at-me pink! What was I thinking? That said, I did get complimented on the jacket so I couldn't have got it that wrong.

Further wincing ensued when I retrieved my eight year old coat, which suddenly seemed very shabby in comparison to the garments that surrounded me - the Topshop label was on full display. Then I had a word with myself - no one was going to concern themselves with me when there were so many fabulous things to hold their attention.

Everyone was lovely, the cupcakes delicious and me? Well, I felt like a complete imposter - but, what the hell, its good to step out of your comfort zone. I had fun, saw some gorgeous clothes and got to meet Sherin, we've been reading each others blogs for ages so it was a real treat to meet her.

AND someone photographed my gold brogues as I walked down Regent Street earlier in the day - it was a very proud blogger moment for me.

Love