In London with John Lewis (Part One)

So when I got an email from John Lewis a few weeks ago asking if I wanted to come and spend two days in London discovering their Autumn Winter collection, I asked “Does Katie Price sleep on her back?”

John Lewis is now serving the Irish market online for the first time. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the brand, they’re kiiiinda like Debenhams except slightly more high-end. You can get hold of brands like Whistles, Reiss, Ted Baker etc. But also labels like Osman Yousefzada, Betty Jackson and Bastyan. The former brands have been available in Dublin, at least, for a wee while now. The latter designers are little more tricky to find.

The John Lewis team brought us to their exhibition space where we could nosy around. I started to get a little giddy. Fiona Paxton was on hand to talk about her jewellery, there was a seductively lit alcove with some drool-worthy Terry de Havilland shoes… and then there was the pièce de résistance… a great big twinkling Christmas room.

This must be the place…

the polite way to consume burgers – open wide, whack the whole lot in.

Terry de Havilland shoes

Fiona Paxton and her handy-work

Damsel in a Dress, Fiona Paxton jewellery and yep that’s Jasmine Guinness in the background

Tracy Boyd for John Lewis black velvet dress with decorated straps

This scene makes me yearn for Christmas. YEARN I tells ya!

Cuddly Christmas tree

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Jazz Bar. It’s with a soft ‘j’

Somebody get me a cool drinks table for my apartment this Christmas, righ?

Mini Vivienne Westwoods. For that mini-person who was eating the mini-burgers.

Jasmine Guinness and I having a yak about Naas in the Yazz bar

I had half a notion of asking Jasmine what she’s up to at the moment (I later learned from one the French bloggers that she’s hoping to design a children’s range for JL), but we ended up having a great aul chin-wag about my hometown, Naas, instead.

Jasmine grew up close by in Leixlip Castle. You read that right. Did you know people in castles still come to Naas to do their grocery shopping? Jasmine told me how herself and her mam used to do the shopping in Superquinn and regularly stopped in to The Manor Inn for their tasty, tasty garlic mushrooms. They nick-named it the ‘Manure Inn’ and despite that not sounding like a compliment, they were gutted when it closed down. She also remembers the momentous day when Benetton came to town and is not very happy with the big Barker and Jones building that now straddles Poplar Square, where The Paddock used to nestle in nicely.

All she’d have to say next is that she drank Buckfast down the ‘nal on Friday nights and I think they’d erect a statue of her at outside the town hall.

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I still have loads of snaps to share. I also want to send you in the direction of the bloggers who did a better job than I of documenting the super-cool hotel we stayed in. Come back in a couple of days and I’ll have it all ready for you. Right now, it’s bed time. I’m in work at 5 in the morning and have to head to Cork straight after. Packing and sleeping will have to come between me and you for the moment.