Win The Gift Book and a £100 Brittique voucher with Now

It's competiton time! We have teamed up with Now magazine to give you the chance to win £100 to spend on Brittique.com plus a copy of The Gift Book by Patricia Davidson from the siteguide.com, the definitive guide to the very best fashion, beauty, lifestyle and gift shopping stores online.

Beautifully designed, the book is bursting with interesting anecdotes and has themed sections including Valentines Day, weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and house warmings, with gift ideas to suit every possible type of person.

Featured within the ‘Fashion Victim’ chapter, Patricia details online boutique Brittique.com which unites established fashion designers with the UK’s most exciting new labels, all in the comfort of a chic, easy to use online boutique.

Enter here. Good luck!

Happy Birthday Brittique!

I can't believe another year has past since I first "opened shop" on Brittique.com. It's certainly been an exciting journey. To celebrate we're giving all subscribers to our newsletter 30% off the entire range - including the new arrivals. Just subscribe and we'll send you the discount code.

Thanks again to all our customers for you support of Brittique.com!

Nicole
Founder

London Fashion Weekend tickets up for grabs

The retail extravaganza that is London Fashion Weekend is soon upon us. Running from 24-28 September and with a new sponsor, Elle Magazine, it should be the best one yet. Brittique will be there again with some crazy discounts on our beautiful clothing, shoes and accessories.

I've got 2 tickets for Thursday or Friday valued at £20 up for grabs. To enter just leave a comment here and I'll select a winner at random on Sunday evening 14 September. If you win we'll also give you and your friend an additional 10% off our sale prices at the Brittique stand.

From Winehouse to wedding

A couple of funny titles came to mind as I write this blog playing on the Wino angle. But like Sister Wolf, I do admire Amy Winehouse for her unique sound in a world awash with pop and R&B and genuinely hope that she can pull herself out of the mess.

So why am I talking about Amy Winehouse? You may recall that this is the dress, or one of them, that she wore for her private concert in Russia. Of course in true Amy style it was an itsy bitsy mini and a super small size. Here's another take on the stunning Kirribilla Hilo dress - the cover of Cosmo bride. The floral print of the dress does make you want to pack the SPF and head to St Lucia. Unfortunately we sold out of this dress as soon as they hit the site. We do have it in perhaps the more wearable colours of black and coffee.

Futuretense by Louise Amstrup

Louise Amstrup also had a short film as part of SHOWsudio's Futuretense series of video essays along with Peter Jensen a couple of weeks earlier. SHOWstudio launched Futuretense as a global platform for new designers to showcase the future of fashion. The Q&A offers an insight into the imagination of each designer.

As I said in last week's Grazia, Louise's clothes are all about flattering a woman. I know so many designers say that but then try on the clothes and the waist is too big and the hips and thighs are too tight. That's not cut for a woman. Most of us have curves and more designers need to understand that. Louise Amstrup does and not only are her clothes cut perfectly but they finish is incredible too. As I'm writing this I'm wearing my favorite from her SS08 collection, the striped cotton dress. It has sold out now but it's also available in a brilliant blue silk.

If you try just one new designer this season take a look at Louise Amstrup. Her pieces are seasonless classics that you'll wear for years to come.

Save 15% off the new Autumn/Winter 08 collection

This season is special. This is the season that was carefully selected by no other than super stylist blogger Susie Bubble. It was really fun to work with her last season and we know that you're going to love her special touch on this collection. We look forward to your feedback.

As a special treat we're giving you a discount of 15% off all preorders that are paid for by the end of August. I've already picked out Cosy, Kika and the tie dye smock dress. That's just for starters though...

Futuretense by Peter Jensen

Wunderbuzz brought this little gem to my attention. I am always in awe of imaginative, creative people. It's what attracted me to the business. The creativity of designers is not confined just to the sketch book and fabric. Often the way they market themselves is just brilliant too.

Peter Jensen has done a couple of these short films as a subtle way of showcasing his collections. I found this one brilliant but cringey at the same time - the same feeling I get when I watch The Office. You're begging people not to say something but they do.

This young laddie was just so precious. When his heart was broken by his teen lover he spray painted hearts all the way to her school. He was arrested and spent 6 hours in a cell. I want to give him a big hug.

The British accents are just brilliant too and I can't wait to get back to the Ol' Blighty next month for my fix.

Stella's autumn wishlist

Once again the Kika by Bionda Castana is on the wishlist of fashionistas. This time Stella magazine's fashion director's picked this stunning gladiator style shoe for their autumn wishlist. Lucky you if you're a size 7 because that's all we have left.

We've been nominated for the Grazia O2 X award!

When I started getting emails on Tuesday from friends saying they'd seen me in Grazia I was very surprised. I knew that our lovely PR Liz had been working on some press, but I didn't really know what it was. What a fantastic surprise! Each year I read the nominations for the award with admiration for these hard working women. And now I can't quite believe that Brittique is now there.

Thank you to all our loyal customers for all your support over the past 1.5 years. Setting up a business in the competitive world of fashion has been tough, but the feedback I receive from customers makes it worthwhile.

Amy Winehouse wears Brittique

In June Amy Winehouse rocked at a private party for the gala opening of an art gallery run by Daria Zhukova, the girlfriend of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. For the performance she wore the Hilo dress by Kirribilla - and shortened it quite a bit! Such incredible talent. It's just a shame she can't straighted out her personal life before she implodes.

Knickerbocker glory

Those who commute home might have seen this fashion spread in The London Paper last night. The fashion editor talks about how flattering and bloomin' lovely hareem pants are. And I couldn't agree more. They really are flattering. Previously you would only see these on dreadlocked alternate types with their rasta accessories but they have been peeping into catwalk shows for the past couple of seasons. Now it looks as if they're ready to go mainstream. Perhaps you should try? H Chalayan offers a great option for hareem pant virgins because they aren't so low in the crotch. They're also 25% off at Brittique.com.

Autumn's new hall of fame

Grazia's fashion team selected their top picks for the new season. Charlie Miller, Executive Fashion Director, selected the Kiki gladiators from Bionda Castana. These are just the most scrumptious shoes I've seen all season and I'm so excited to have a few pairs left on Brittique.com. If you're size isn't there just email me and we can add you to the waiting list.

Net a bargain

Our sale starts today with at least 25% off the spring/summer 08 collections. We have some of the old season stock at up to 90% off. So big bargains to be had. You magazine featured just two of the bargains you can bag. The Camilla Staerk sundress which was £285 now £143 and the Louise Amstrup drape skirt which is now marked down to £165 from £330. And we still offer free returns.

Electronic brights

It's quite rare to see people wearing bright colours. Generally when you look up and down a street in London and New York it's a sea of muted black, white and beige even in summer. The Europeans do brights better. Especially the Spaniards and Germans. They're not afraid to wear bright colour and pattern. Perhaps that's why Barcelona is one of my favorite shopping cities?

Both the Daily Mail and London Lite picked Kirribilla's stunning Lilikoi dress for their Electric Brights feature. Kirribilla make cute, fun and flirty dresses that aim to make you feel like the prettiest girl in the room. I'm particularly excited about their Fall/Winter 08 collection, especially the Maeve dress. How cute is that big bow?

My prize handbag

I arrived back to my office after lunch last week to find an email from the marketing team at Max Azria congratulating me on winning a handbag. Yesterday my new Mahogany Jillian Convertible arrived and it is beautiful. The leather is so supple and soft and the fold over style is exactly what I've had my eye on. It's a bit smaller than I normally go for, but a great size to throw over your shoulder and out the door with the necessities.

How I won this prize or even entered it I have no idea. I probably signed up for a competition on the website while lusting over some dress. I have spoken before about my love for this brand. The focus is on a muted colour palette with draped styles and soft fabrics. The dresses hang beautifully and the styles are very flattering. The ladies in their West Broadway, NYC store are so lovely that they entertain my little man while I shop - such a bonus!

Max Azria is a collaboration between Max and Lubov Azria and debuted on the New York Fashion Week catwalk in February 2006. The only stockist in Europe is in Paris but that seems to be their diffusion brand BCBGMAXAZARIA. So next time you're state side squeeze the West Broadway boutique in on your itinerary.