Victoria's Secret HAS ARRIVED IN LONDON!!!

Once in a while, we like to indulge in the (very) expensive hobby of shopping! Actually it's more than once in a while :) But rarely do we get to experience the joy of shopping at Victoria's Secret! Up until now it's been an experience that was saved for trips to the States!

On the 29th of August 2012 London welcomed Victoria's Secret to Bond Street. Now it's true that the first London Victoria's Secret opened in Westfield in Stratford, but anyone who has been to London knows that's out in the sticks! This new one is CENTRAL and it's less than 20 minutes from where we work! (how convenient!)

On arrival to the store we were welcomed through the doors by lovely ladies carrying cupcakes and macaroons and given a wristband with their new scent on - smelt so good! The store is IMPRESSIVE, the decor BEAUTIFUL and with wall to wall amazing lingerie it was like walking into a closet you wished you could own. (If only a set didn't cost more than a days work!!!). And here's a little known fact: Laura used to work in the Boise Victoria's Secret store! (Until she had reoccurring nightmares about folding hundreds of thongs on the panties table)

The store itself has 4 floors - one dedicated purely to the Pink brand, and the other floors are interspersed with women's wear and lingerie. The floor you walk in on has all the beauty products and perfumes and it makes for an impressive sight.

As well as the products, the decor is pure indulgence and class, it feels glamorous! There are paintings on the walls, chandeliers, thrones and beautiful black and white portraits of the famous 'Angels'. As you walk around you will also see outfits from the 2011 catwalk show. If you are a VIP client you even get the whole 4th floor to relax and shop......nice!

Those of you who have experienced Victoria's Secret American style, won't be disappointed. The size of the store means that it really does have a vast range of clothes. For us the Pink section on the ground floor was brilliant. It had cabinets filled with 'Pink puppies' from through the years (we have four at home!) and had sooooo much we wanted to buy.

Price wise, well, lets just say you know this store is 'high-end'; for those of you headed to spend your hard earned cash there be warned they have swapped $$$$'s for ££££'s so if something was $50 it's £50 in the store! Mind you, it saves on post & packaging and for anyone who hates the wait, getting your Victoria's Secret package in store is an instant satisfaction.

Here's some interesting info for you though (as I'm writing this while the lovely Laura replies to some lovely emails we've been sent from the blog) and you know I love some facts! Victoria's Secret was founded by Roy Raymond- the store concept of using drawers to store the lingerie came about because he felt embarrassed trying to purchase lingerie for his wife in a department store environment. The stores were meant to create a comfortable environment for men, with wood-paneled walls, Victorian details and helpful sales staff. Instead of racks of bras and panties in every size, there were single styles, paired together and mounted on the wall in frames. Men could browse for styles for women and sales staff would help estimate the appropriate size, pulling from inventory in the back rooms. So there you go!

As if the new Victoria's Secret store wasn't enough, as we wandered out of the store feeling a bit giddy and into a crowd of people...very well dressed people. Still in our work clothes we were somewhat under-dressed and it wasn't until we strolled down Bond Street that we found out why - it was FASHION NIGHT OUT!

Sponsored by Vogue every store was hosting parties with champagne flowing, and from Burberry to Armani's Secret Garden Party the streets were buzzing. There were mini-vans turned into hairdressing studios and stands giving manicures. The paparazzi were EVERYWHERE! Now we aren't very 'into' fashion  so who knows who they were taking photos of, but it was good fun trying to work out who was famous and who was just tall and beautiful!

If you want to see what was going on we found this random video but it shows you what was happening AND gives you a look inside the beautiful Victoria's Secrets store....enjoy!

Happy shopping!!!

Sarah (& Laura)

xoxox