11 July 2010

I Heart John Lewis




I remember overhearing a conversation about twenty five years ago. It stuck with me.

Woman One - 'I don't go to John Lewis, it's too expensive'

Woman Two - 'They're never knowingly undersold so they can't be too expensive. John Lewis isn't a market you know'.

Well said, woman Two.

I have always shopped at John Lewis. They are still never knowingly undersold. Their customer service is second to none. They sell (almost) everything. Whenever I need anything, my local John Lewis store or Johnlewis.com is where I go first.





Recently John Lewis invited bloggers to the launch of their Autumn/Winter and Christmas ranges. 

I don't normally accept invitations to events as they are usually in London and I would have to ask my husband to take the day off work to look after Presley and Cash (two toddlers and public transport do not mix). When John Lewis invited me, however, I had to say yes. Immediately.

The launch was held at One Marylebone, an impressive listed former church. I knew I'd found the right place when I saw a snow machine outside and Christmas trees in the entrance.


I was welcomed by John Lewis PR and PR agency Cohn & Wolfe. I was given a Flip Mino HD video camera - to keep - and taken on tours of the various departments they had created in the building. Buyers walked and talked us through fashion, home, electronics, toys and gifts. I was in shopping Heaven.

As well as their own  range of clothes, John Lewis are featuring up to the minute designers too. I could seriously take up dieting to fit into the stunning Celia Birtwell bird print dresses or the Mint Velvet lingerie. I loved the Barbour jackets with lining from English Eccentrics. I adored the Russian peasant look. In fact, even as a non-fashionista, I loved it all!

I could have moved into the home section. I must have zillion thread-count cotton sheets from now on. The Alegra bedspread caught everyone's eye. For just £60 you can have this on your bed (cushions are extra):






The toys were mostly traditional, a good thing in my book. The toy buyer was interested in what my children like to play with. I particularly liked these for Santa's sacks this year:







Thank you to John Lewis for inviting bloggers to your launch. As you can see from this photograph we enjoyed it, it was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new ones:




Photo credit: The lovely Emma at Adventures of an English Mum



I love John Lewis even more since they gave me a bag full of goodies to take home. It looks like I've started my Christmas shopping already.

The press pack I was given is my favourite new shopping porn bible, it even contains gorgeous wallpaper samples. 

Here are a few images to get you in the mood for Christmas... in July:



Acrylic reindeer, £16






Snowy Pine pre-lit Paper Tree £85







Frosty Glass Birds, pack of 2 for £4







Save the Children Charity Crackers, £10




 
Ladybird "Things to make" activity kit, £12





Fuzzy Felt Fridge Magnets, £7.95




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17 comments:

  1. I have already added the Fuzzy Felt Fridge Magnets to my list for giving out to EVERYONE who is on my shopping list!

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  2. Hehe.. Sandy said porn!! Was a lovely day and was great to see you again , I'm going to have such withdrawel symptoms this week from not going to some kind of blogging event/seeing my lovely blogging friends! :( Roll on the next one!! :) xx

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  3. I've added lots of stuff to my Christmas list too and am seriously considering dieting to get into the gorgeous Reiss coat that I saw!!! Was great to see you again xx

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  4. I heart John Lewis too, they just have everything, looks like you had a lovely time and saw some beautiful things.

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  5. I am so jealous a) I love christmas
    b) I adore John Lewis and could spend hours in there.

    It all looks fab. Sod the summer...when can I get these lovely things!

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  6. Aggghhhh not the "C" word already!!!!!

    Looks like you had a lovely time - I'm glad you were able to go.

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  7. Oh Sandy this post is simply perfect! I am a true Christmasholic (I made that up, the word cannot be real but it fits) and have already started to find myself pondering the Christmas season of 2010 over the last few weeks.

    What a lucky girl you are to be invited by John Lewis to this event. I am beyond jealous but very grateful you've shared the day with us via your post. LOVE that bedspread too!

    MD xx

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  8. I have taken to sitting and dreaming with the press packs whenever I have 5 minutes to myself. They are things of beauty.

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  9. I loved the day, I have a christmas list which is far to long I loved the Rob Ryan stuff

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  10. I love the press pack too...already lusting over so much for Christmas decorating! I also love love the Alessi nativity you have pictured here....it's so retro isn't it.
    Lovely to see you again. X

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  11. Great post hun! I still need to sit and drool over my press pack! hehehe! Was great to see you again! :D xx

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  12. Mummy, perhaps I shouldn't have put the FFFM's on my blog. It'll spoil the surprise come Christmas!

    Emma, hehe. It was lovely to see you again. Let's hope we all get invited somewhere else soon! x

    Emma, I loved the clothes and I'm not really into fashion. Great to see you again too x

    Lorraine, what's not to like?! I had a really lovely day, thank you x

    Muddy No Sugar, you'll have to wait until the end of September I'm afraid! x

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  13. I got invited to a maze event with millets and they rang to ask if I had any friends intrested and of course I forwarded your name on as well as a few others!! :D x

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  14. Gigi, aorry for using the C word! :-)

    Modern Dilemma, aww, bless you. I'm a Christmasholic too. The spell-checker says it's not a word, but what does it know?! Yes, the bedspread was gorgeous! x

    Kelly, I know, I find myself stroking the pages! x

    The Mad House, it was a brilliant day x

    Chic Mama, lovely to see you again too. We should have a bloggers Christmas shopping trip, to JL of course! x

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  15. Hayley, I loved your vlogs, ooh, have you got a flip?! Great to see you again too x

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