Last Friday I finished work at 12:30pm (early finish Fridays should be made mandatory!) and quickly hopped in my car to head to my first ever Bristol Fashion Week (BFW). En route I stopped to collect my lovely friend and newbie blogger Claire (check out her site here - Desperate Blogwife) and we both chatted excitedly (barring some mild road rage from me) all the way to The Mall at Cribbs Causeway where the bi-annual event takes place.

It was thanks to Claire that I found out about BFW, although I'm from Wiltshire originally I haven’t lived there full-time since 2001 and as a result I've not been able to participate in local fashion events regularly. BFW has been running since 2011 and is an open event where anyone can buy a ticket to attend and see the latest high street collections showcased on their catwalk. This season’s event was sponsored by M&S and John Lewis.

Having arrived early at The Mall, Claire and I made our way to the fashion pavilion as instructed to collect our blogging passes for the 4:30pm show. After some initial confusion we finally managed to speak to a member of the BFW team that was able to help us and give us our passes for the show. As it was still early we had the opportunity to have a wander round the shops before grabbing a bite to eat. I made a beeline for River Island as I had a gift voucher that had been burning a hole in pocket for the best part of three months. It wasn't difficult to find something to spend it on, I choose a gorgeous rose gold coloured sparkly necklace and a basic slouchy sweater. Claire had also seen a dress that she liked, so we put the voucher to good use and then headed off to have some lunch before the fashion show.

Once we’d finished eating we made our way slowly to the fashion pavilion and waited patiently for the show to start quaffing M&S pink fizzy and carrot cupcakes as we queued. In front of us was the lovely Lorna from Raindrops of Sapphire. I couldn't help but notice her galaxy print jeans, so when she got in touch and described her outfit I knew exactly who she was.

Claire and I managed to snag seats on the second row and as we were next to the aisle we both got an excellent view of the catwalk and the models. The show started promptly and we were treated to an array of Spring and Summer fashions presented by Mark Heyes and Andrew Barton. Who make quite the dynamic duo!

Favourites of the trends showcased were the monochrome and floral sequences, whilst my favourite brands included Phase Eight (natch) and River Island. It was also wonderful to see such an eclectic mix of models take to the catwalk showcasing SS13 trends from across all age groups and sizes. All in all I had a really enjoyable day out which was capped off perfectly by watching the cast of the show finish in style with their own Gangnam Style routine. Who said the fashion industry takes itself too seriously?!

Yet another outfit post from me! This is verging on becoming a regular feature… I will concede however, that these photos were taken during the same weekend as my Marks & Spencer Valentine’s Day outfit photos, but when you have both a location and a photographer (thanks Mum!), why waste the opportunity to get as many outfit photos as you can.

Today’s (aka Feb 15th) outfit features one of my favourite summer dresses ‘warmed up’ for wearing during the winter months. As the weather was sunny but cold I decided that layering was the best option to ensure that every weather-related possibility was covered. Over the top of the dress I wore a lightweight jumper and teamed this with my new trench coat and a fluffy faux-fur snood. I wore this outfit for a day meandering around London and my Moroccan boots proved to be a great choice for a day that involved spending several hours on my feet.

The dress itself is from Mint Velvet (yes, another MV purchase) and the jumper is from TU at Sainsburys. I bought them both at the end of last year, the dress was in the sale and reduced to less than half-price and the jumper was a bargain at £22 full-price! The Zara trench coat is a recent purchase, stolen inspired by a fellow blogger (Amanda - The Online Stylist), I absolutely love it and have barely taken it off since it arrived. The snood was from ASOS and although I know its faux-fur, the protesters outside of Harrods didn't and I was fully anticipating a bucket of paint to fly my way! At the last minute I also added a necklace from Wallis and my ever-faithful Miu Miu bag proved to be the perfect carrying companion as always.

For the most part items on my ‘wishlist’ are normally confined to the shopping section of my site, but in the case of Avenue32 I felt the need to make an exception. Avenue32 is a fairly recent discovery for me (behind the trend as always!), but one I’m especially glad I made. While I’m a huge fan of the infinitely-stocked online retail giants, I delight in browsing smaller online boutiques that add a pinch of personality to their collection edits. Avenue32 encompasses this smaller store individuality perfectly; alongside mainstream brands such as 3.1 Phillip Lim (check out the 3.1 Phillip Lim Pashli bags!), they stock an eclectic mix of up-and-coming designers such as Ginny Litscher and Mother of Pearl.

One of my favourite features of the site is the organising of items in the ‘What’s New’ section by colour. There’s just something so aesthetically pleasing about this, most likely enhanced by my perpetual wish to organise my own wardrobe with such proficiency!

Listing all my favourites would have resulted in an essay-like post, so I limited myself to choosing only a few. Influenced (inadvertently) by the bright collection of yellow products that appear first on the ‘What’s New’ section led me to choose quite a few sunshine themed pieces. The yellow on the Ginny Litscher scarf and Antonio Marras trousers appears to glow with the promise of Spring/Summer on the horizon. While the Maria Francesca Pepe cuff and necklace are the perfect accessories to give your new season style a sophisticated edge. And a warm-mustard 3.1 Phillip Lim Pashli… need I say any more?!

Bold prints and bright colours; two common features of my wardrobe and subsequently the majority of my outfits. It’s very rare for me to choose an outfit with no colour at all, but I felt that the simple cut of this Lipsy dress along with the black bead embellishment was the perfect base for a purely monochrome ensemble.

During our adventures in London I wanted an elegant outfit for evening drinks and this proved to be the ideal choice. I’m a big fan of shift style dresses, not only are they flattering, but they’re also comfortable - an important consideration when you’re trekking round London on the tube. I’m also pleased to report that the beading along the front of the dress remained perfectly intact, which has not always been the case with some of my dresses in the past.

Lipsy is not a brand that I've bought much from in the past, but since discovering this dress that all might be about to change! For this evening look I teamed the Lipsy dress (similar styles here and here) with a black chiffon and sequin cover-up from Topshop, my grey Mango shoulder bag and simply black pumps from Dorothy Perkins.

The weather may be wintery and miserable outside, but my mind is firmly set in spring mode. Maybe it’s the post-fashion week blues or longer daylight hours that’s caused my seasonal clock to skip a beat, or perhaps it the flurry of new season stock arriving at my favourite stores? I’m inclined to think it has more to do with the latter and my desire to shrug off my dull winterey threads in favour of new pastels and prints.

Back in November I was invited along to Mint Velvet’s SS13 press day. Spring seemed a long way off then, but I still enjoyed the opportunity to browse through their delectable collection and indulge my post-BFAs self with a relaxing hand massage courtesy of the spa at the Sanderson hotel.

I’m already a huge fan of this brand and bought no less than three dresses from their AW12 collection. Needless to say I think I’ll be buying even more from their SS13 collection, I can see this becoming quite a costly business!

Amongst the MV pieces for Spring/Summer are their classic styles reworked with warmer colours and updated prints. Previous seasons has seen them stick to a more muted tone, but bright oranges and yellows abound this season making me dream of beaches, blue skies and summer days to come.

Favourites from the collection include the mosaic trench coat, the pleat bib dress (a shorter sleeved version of the black dress I bought last season) and the Zanthe print dress.