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.

I've teamed up with Mint Velvet to show you some of my favourite pieces from their AW12 Collection. All of the items feautred are available on the Mint Velvet website, I've included the links below:

1. Gunmetal Tassel Necklace - http://bit.ly/T79h7v
2. Black Lace Tee - http://bit.ly/PVydwG
3. Heather Lace Tee - http://bit.ly/R9ZQOr
4. Lila Cardigan - http://bit.ly/PZ9YuP
5. Helena Print Dress - http://bit.ly/PQFb1H
6. Storm Grey Leather Biker Jacket - http://bit.ly/T79JCF
7. Black Broderie Drape Dress - http://bit.ly/QSW950
8. Caramel Luxury Trench Coat - http://bit.ly/OJ5maU
9. Freya Print Blouse - http://bit.ly/Ra0lYI
10. Black Maxi Skirt - http://bit.ly/UlhHpQ

Phase Eight and weddings outfits… two things that go together like Carrie and Big, for me at least. This year I’m attending five weddings and for three out of the five, I will be wearing/have worn a Phase Eight dress.

Up until 2010, Phase Eight was a shop I’d never ventured into. This all changed when I went shopping with my Mum for her ‘mother-of-the-bride’ outfit for my wedding. She chose a dress, jacket, fascinator, jewellery… in fact, her entire outfit down to her shoes came from Phase Eight. Having spent well over an hour ambling around the Bath store selecting items for my Mum to try on, the occasional distraction was almost inevitable. While waiting outside the changing rooms I couldn’t help but pick out a beautiful chiffon floral print dress to try on. Ten minutes later, I’d made my first ever purchase.

Since then I’ve been a regular visitor to stores up and down the country. Although I’ve bought plenty of casual items over the years, I do seem to have an inescapable penchant for buying wedding outfits. So it seemed like fate was taking over when I was shopping for bridesmaid’s dresses back in April and ended up in the Westfield store. The dress we picked, the turquoise Arabella Maxi Dress, was the perfect choice for a summer wedding with a peacock theme. Comfortable and elegant, I kept mine on from 10:00am to 2:00am.

So it comes as no surprise perhaps, that when out shopping for a wedding outfit at the weekend I found myself gravitating towards the Phase Eight concession at House of Fraser in Huddersfield. In this case however, I have my sister-in-law (peacock wedding) to thank for finding my outfit. She had already picked out a Phase Eight dress for herself and spotted another that she thought would suit me – it very much did. A step away from my normal wedding guest attire, but a welcomed change, the lace fit and flare dress is such a flattering shape, I know I’ll love wearing it.

Recently I had the privilege of seeing the forthcoming Christmas collection (more on that later) and I think I can safely say that a party outfit will soon be added to my ever growing Phase Eight collection!