Westfield London - Suit Style
Suits used to be an obsession of mine, I still have a wardrobe full of them, from French Connection and Ted Baker to a series of lovely numbers from Tom English. Being colour blind I’ve never been one to opt for a whacky suit or louder colours, instead opting for solid colours or the boring old navy blue pinstripe. Wearing a suit was a must when I worked in financial services and also when I found myself running press offices for Councils. My latest job (which is by far the coolest) while still dealing with the media doesn’t require me to wear a suit, we go smart casual. So when I was asked by Westfield London if I would like to go in centre and find some accessories to show off my style I was apprehensive but thought in the end, why not, I will have to wear a suit again. So when I head off to conferences, how am I going to accessorise my suit?
As a bit of a closet goth I do quite like to break from the norm and I think this comes through with some of the items I bought.
As full disclosure, I was provided with a Westfield card charged with credit but alas, there are no images of me actually shopping as there was a mix up with my press pass to allow me to do so.
That said, on with the show….
I’d never been to Westfield London before so after arriving at Shepherd’s Bush underground station the better half and I (she always comes shopping with me to help with colours) followed the signs to be greeted by a very long street of bars and restaurants - you can read the full list of places to eat here but needless to say, within ten minutes I was really hungry and after spotting a Five Guys there was no other place I wanted to go. So before the shopping I topped up my burger levels, chowed down on some amazing Cajun fries and was raring to go.
Picking up the Westfield Card was really easy - I had received codes for the card by text and found the nearest concierge desk, of which there are lots scattered throughout the centre. The process was incredibly quick and painless and the concierge couldn’t have been more helpful. Step one of the process went well.
Taking a map of the centre I was impressed with the sheer number of quality outlets there are - you have everything from run of the mill Next and River Island to Tesla and Thomas Sabo within the centre. You can see the full list of stores at Westfield here.
After a casual wander around the first floor we can stepped into Beauty Base with the wife muttering something about it being a poor mans beauty store. She came to eat her words some seconds later as like a child in a candy store I developed a crazed look, cheeky grin and moved towards the aftershave section as though I was going to hug them. Wow, the range of aftershaves on sale was immense and the prices ridiculously reasonable. I picked up a bottle of The Dreamer for myself and another bottle as a giveaway for my blog readers (you can enter the draw to win a bottle of The Dreamer until 31 May 2016 here). I didn’t use my Westfield Card, although I did think to myself “can I spin an aftershave purchase as an accessory” before opting to pay cash.
So what did I buy to accessories my suit?
First up was a pair of cufflinks - they were only £20 from Menkind.
Second up was a bit of a chunky belt with a slight industrial twist in my view not the usual subtle number I would wear normally with a suit. This one wouldn’t look strange with a pair of jeans. This was £10 from Next. I also picked up a pack of five pairs of socks for only £12.
As I mentioned earlier, being a bit of a closet goth I really wanted to pick up some bracelets and after popping into River Island I picked up a pack of four bracelets for just £8.
We did go for a wander into Debenhams where I could have gone wild in the suit section. I saw a lovely light blue suit from the Jeff Banks range for just £250 and a few ties and pocket squares. I actually opted for two ties that came in at £25. When I took them to the checkout there was a problem with the card and it had been blocked. By this stage we had been walking around for nearly four hours taking in the vast nature of the stores on offer and rather than go back to get the card unblocked we called it a day and headed home (it was also one of the hottest days of the year so far).
I enjoyed my walk around Westfield and picked up a few things that I believe show off my style (dark and humourless - joke). The range of stores available to shoppers is jaw-dropping and I was impressed with the sheer number of luxury outlets. Personally I will be going back (if only to pick up the Jeff Banks suit for summer) and can see the pain that my new found love for Westfield London will have on my bank balance. There really is something for everyone and every individual style at Westfield London. Give it a try, you’ll lose a day of your life wandering around the stores.
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For the avoidance of doubt, this post has been sponsored by Westfield, by way of credit on a Westfield card used to make the purchases on the day. No further payment was or will be made.
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