It's finally Friday again!

Hello all!

Happy weekend, and bank holiday weekend isn't it? I forget what weekend are like at the moment with my dissertation. Just over a month until my final deadline hand in. I always vowed that I would be more organised but time just catches up with you. Anyways I will be very happy once I am done and I can at least see the finish line.With my dissertation looming I was not able to go into the store last Friday, hence my delayed post this week.

I got into the store today carrying in my donation of three lampshades and a bag of Mum's clothes to donate. Oh and the token five pairs of hotel slippers.

It was really good getting stuck back into sorting through the various displays today and making sure everything was nicely presented. I'm pleased with the results and I think the shop floor is looking lovely just now :-)

So I have quite a few photos as I missed out on a week but it makes it all the more exciting when I do come in.

Firstly we have have dedicated this rail to black and white tops so there are spots and stripes and just about  any pattern you can imagine with black and white.

Black and white rail

 Next we've got a pop of yellow between our dresses and our brown, white and orange wall section. the orange between the white breaks up the rail rather nicely.

Side wall section

M&Co autumn themed top. Size medium, priced at £3.69

Brown over the shoulder handbag. Priced at £6.99

In the dresses section I found this vibrant geometric print dress/top from Next. I'm never too sure with the length of things sometimes!

Next dress/top. Size 14, priced at £6.79

 Now I love this next top. It is dusty pink and sparkly and from Zara. What I think is really interesting is the slit up the back giving it really interesting detailing

Dusty pink sparkly top from Zara. Size large, priced at £5.69

Ohhh check out the back of it :-)

 There is also a nice sheer dress from Topshop. It would be perfect with a little black slip underneath. Hopefully it can still be squeezed into someone's summer wardrobe.

Topshop dress. Size small, priced at £3.79

On the far window display wall we have a section for red and black and on the top waterfall arm there is a bright red shirt from Oasis.

Oasis shirt. Size 10, priced at £4.29

Red and black display

We also have a funky dogtooth style print dress from Wallis and a vibrant print handbag.

Handbag. Priced at £4.99

Wallis jumper dress. Size small, priced at £5.79

In the green and blue hues area we have several lovely tops and dresses as shown in the photos. This includes a funky 70s style print shirt from Gap. Does anyone have a 70s themed party coming up?

Green and blue area

Coast top. Size large, priced at £4.79

Warehouse dress. Size 6, priced at £4.29

Gap 70s style print dress. Size medium, priced at £4.49

 On the left hand side of the store we have moved the pink and purple section dispersed with an arm of short dresses.

Pink and purple section

 There are also some very nice skirts on this arm just to the left of the purple bits and bobs. This Next skirt at the front is particularly classy!

Lotsa skirts. Next white and black skirt is a size 10, priced at £4.29

H&M purple and pink skirt. Size 10, priced at £3.29

Primark skirt. Size 12, priced at £2.49

Zara checkered skirt. Size 10, priced at £5.29 

I also put an arm of purple and gold scarves in this section just to add a little something to a spare spot. I think they blend in quite nicely and filled the empty gap that was annoying me :-) Above the scarves there is a fabulous pair of sold gold new shoes from Monsoon.

Assorted purple and gold scarves

*New* Monsoon heels. Size 5, priced at £16.99

Just to the left of the gold and purple we have another arm of purple tops and this bohemian one at the front it rather nice. Also it gave me a great place to put this lime green scarf!

Purple and green bohemian top

Bright pink shirt from Next. Size 18, priced at £4.49

I also spotted some other nice little tops shown in the photos below-

Dorothy Perkins top. Size 10, priced at £3.79

Jane Norman top. Size 8, priced at £4.69

There are a few of blazers and jackets in the store. For example, we have a summery Zara blazer one and a cosy looking jacket from River Island.

Zara blazer. Size medium, priced at £4.69

River Island jacket. Size 12, priced at £10.79

 A new colleague of ours at the store dressed this mannequin beautifully so I thought it definitely deserved a spot on the blog wall of fame! :-)

Lovely dressed mannequin

There are a couple more dresses over this side of the store that are worth mentioning. I'm not normally a fan of Quiz but I am slightly obsessed with tartan and checkered items so I really quite like this red tartan dress. there is also this pretty summery dress from Oasis. 

Quiz red tartan dress. Size 10, priced at £5.49

Oasis dress. Size 14, priced at £4.79

Finally, in the bric-a-brac we have this double picture frame in Rennie Mackintosh style. It is in perfect condition and would be a fantastic present for anyone who likes his style. In addition there are some nice green ceramics and glassware on our shelves. 

Rennie Mackintosh double picture frame. Priced at £19.99

Green ceramics and glassware

So, that completes my post for this week. All this writing has made me peckish for a 10pm late night snack. I hope you enjoyed the photos. I will update you again next week when I will hopefully be a lot further on with my dissertation.
Happy weekend to everyone!

P.s. I feel sorry for anyone who has wandered into Aberdeen City tonight, absolutely bucketing it down with rain! Hope everyone remembered their brollies :-) 

Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married!

Today we finally got to set up our bridal and formal gowns in the store!

I arrived in the morning and we all quickly got to work re-arranging the store to make space for the new display. 

The purple and pinks have been moved to the left hand wall of the store freeing up the main window display.

After that we had to decide where we would put everything. 

My colleagues and I thought that it would look nicest with the bride and groom together on one side with another dress on an additional lady mannequin in the other window. 

There brides dress is simply beautiful. It is red and silver beaded with a strapless top. The train really is stunning with it's detailing.We did have a bit of a challenge deciding what to do with the it though! Finally we decided to elevate it so that it might not get accidentally stepped on. 

The next challenge was finding a shirt to go with the grooms grey suit. We found a plain light blue one that will suit until we manage to find a white one. I have to admit he looks rather dapper in his get up. Doing the grooms tie took me back to my school days. I say that as though it were years and years ago!. 

Husband and wife to be. Mens suit from Next, jacket size 34 and trousers size 36. Ladies dress size 12

To the left of the mannequins we dressed the side wall with the formal red dress that I posted about a couple of weeks ago and a plain white two piece dress. We placed a formal hat on a stand in the corner. 

I think the dress looks fantastic from the window. Safe to say the whole display received lots of attention during the day. I should also mention that all these dresses are new and have been kindly donated to the store. 

On the opposite wall we displayed various other dresses and bridesmaids gowns. There were a lot of these purple ones in various sizes in two styles, one set with straps and the other with a halterneck design. We put a few floating shelves in the window with some of the colourful shoes that had been donated. I think the red ones are really nice and would really nicely as formal shoes in general and not necessarily for a wedding occasion. 

Beside the happy couple my colleague decorated the wall with a collection of wedding themed items that she had been saving up. I think they all look lovely together. 

We moved the pyramid from beside the cash desk and put it beside our wedding section filled with a large selection of wedding shoes both for ladies and for little girls. On the left of the pyramid we also have suits and formal jackets for the men.

Finally, in the other window we let the lady wear her less formal evening dress. It's hard to see from the photo but the dress has lovely diamante detailing and the shape is really elegant and simple. 

Before I left this afternoon I had the chance just to take a few snaps of some pieces in store. I'm sorry to say that I didn't get any menswear so apologies to any chaps out there. I promise I'll get some photos of menswear next time. Not to say that I think I have much knowledge on male fashion! 

This Oasis top has been in the store for a while now and I think the pattern is really lovely. It is new and still has the label on so it's priced at £22.49. 

Oasis top. Size large, priced at £22.49 

With regards to other shoes we have this strappy pair from Barratts. They are in great condition and are being sold at only £3.29.

Barratts shoes. Size 4, priced at £3.29

We have some cool tops in as well such as this one from next. it would work well for the office perhaps with some black trousers. Maybe more a autumn/winter piece though rather than summer.

Next top. Size 14, priced at £4.29

In the dresses, and on the same theme of spots, I found this dress from Next. It also still has the label and so is in perfect condition.

Next spotty dress. Size 10, priced at £9.99

When I was moving things from the purple section around I picked up these fantastic shoes. They way they were displayed you would have missed the colour block heels. I've now put them above the new purple section so that you can see those lovely heels! I'm afraid I could not find size detailing so you will just have to try them on for size :-)

Limited collection @ Marks & Spencer. Priced at £6.79

Finally just before I left I decided I had to buy this top. I seem to have a thing about sequins and anything that is shiny. I am a total closet magpie it would seem! Anyway I am very pleased with my little purchase at only £3.29. 

Look sequins top. Size 12, priced at £3.29

Thank you for reading. I will be posting again either this Friday or next.
I am busily writing my dissertation at the moment. Only seven weeks until d-day! What should I do to celebrate at the end?

Bye for now and do pop in store to have a closer look at our new dresses, especially if you know someone who is looking for a great priced wedding frock :-)

Thank you!

I was not in the shop yesterday as I am taking a short break to catch up with my dissertation work.
There will be fresh photos and a new post on Monday night with photos of the formal and bridal dresses and shoes that have finally arrived (yay!).

Until then I just wanted to wish you all a lovely rest of your weekend.
Also, thank you so much to the 111 people who have helped with my research by filling in my survey both in store and online. I'm so pleased to have gone beyond my goal of 100!
Your responses are a huge help to my research.

Ciao for now and I'll update you with the dresses display at the start of next week :-)