No denying it, if you didn't already know, Glasgow is firmly on the fashion map, with the arrival of the fabulous Mary Portas.
Mary pitched up to House of Fraser to debut her fabulous new collection with her stunning wife and collaborator Melanie Rickey, who was hosting another joint collaboration, Melanie is pregnant.
The couple described as a "fashion power couple" had the Glaswegian glitterati chomping at the bit, trying to get their hands on their fabulous collection. Aimed at forty-somethings, the collection was very appealing to those of us still in the 30 to 40 bracket as well. Top of the wish list was a beautiful leather metallic sliver skirt. It's great to see that despite the collection being for the over forties, Mary did not shy away from using bold colours. Everything in the collection is very wearable and all the pieces are very much what you would call capsule wardrobe must-haves. Neon slouchy-chic tees, silk print trousers, colour-pop dresses, and re-workings of the no-brainer dress in colour and pattern are all modern, wearable favourites for the season.
Over two hundred exclusively invited guests gathered to welcome Mary & Melanie to Glasgow, and Mary was blown away by the positivity and enthusiasm of the crowd who greeted her. A crowd which included local celebs such as the lovely John Amabile, presenter of 60 minute makeover, who was gushing about his upcoming animation film debut in the fabulous Sir Billi, an animation made and produced exclusively in Scotland, by the spectacular dynamic duo Sascha & Tessa Hartmann. TV presenter Carol Smillie also popped in to check out the collection with her husband, former model Alex Knight.
Mary says, "To all those women who have travelled the length and breadth of the country to come and experience my store in London I wanted to say thank you. From spring this year, it's my turn to come to you, with a new fashion collection for Spring & Summer that I'm proud of and you will love, we've had a lovely warm welcome in Glasgow. I really want to highlight that women not just teenage girls can have great fashion and style at an affordable price in a really wonderful shopping environment. The real core of this is saying here's some great simple easy clothes for woman to dress and still feel sexy and modern even if you are forty."
Well by the end of the evening, we left armed with a few key pieces from the collection and a great wee goody bag.