My personal shopper experience - part 2

My first personal shopper experience was a tranquil and structured one, based in one shop (Banana Republic).  My second personal shopper experience was more hectic, involving dashing around several department stores on Oxford Street in London.  A lot of fun though, and I knew what to expect, as it was with my youngest daughter Kate.

Kate is a talented artist and has an eye for what styles and colours suit other people, as well as being very creative when dressing herself.  She wasn't very excited when I told her the purpose of this expedition was to buy a replacement trench coat, but she brightened up a bit when I said I would also like a cardigan to replace the old ones I had thrown away during Project 333, plus a gold necklace.  Did I mention that I have just received a tax rebate?  It was a good excuse to go shopping!

Our first stop was Muji.  I would never have considered shopping at Muji but Kate said that, as they are a Japanese company, their clothes are designed for shorter people and that my other daughter Vicky, who is also a petite (though slimmer than me!) sometimes shops there.

Almost straight away we spotted a navy trench coat that Kate thought would suit me.  She was, of course, quite right!  It fitted well, apart from the sleeves being a fraction long, and it felt lovely and light when I put it on. On my own I probably would have bought it straight away, however Kate told me that we would still look in the department stores but now we had something to compare them with. Anything else that I tried on would have to be even better - if not we would return to buy the Muji trench coat.

Kate has longer legs than me, but luckily I can walk pretty fast so I just about managed to keep up with her as she strode through the fashion departments, pausing only when she spotted a possible purchase.  I have to say that I agreed with all her suggestions and eagerly tried on the various items. Without Kate, I would probably have chosen the same trench coats and cardigans, but it would have taken me a lot longer to find them.

It was good to have a reference point and the only coat that I was tempted to buy was a beautiful green suede trench coat in House of Fraser.  I resisted on the basis that it wouldn't be as practical as the navy trench coat, that it cost twice as much, and I would need to spend a small fortune every time it needed cleaning!  I returned to Muji at the end of the shopping expedition to buy the first trench coat that I had seen, confident that it was the right choice.

Again, Kate proved her worth when it came to buying a cardigan.  She dismissed many of them on the basis that I might be over 60 but I didn't want to look frumpy!  I didn't want anything too chunky, but many of the lightweight cardigans that I tried on didn't look good unless they were buttoned up. Then she spotted this - a gorgeous cashmere cardigan.  I loved the colour plus I loved both the way it looked and the way it felt when I tried it on.

My final purchase was a simple gold necklace, similar to the one below though more of a choker.  It is suitable for both day and night so will be a versatile addition to my wardrobe.

Mission accomplished!  After a successful morning's shopping, we were ready to head towards Kings Cross to have lunch with my son Mark - and Kate's brother - at a new-to-me restaurant called Caravan.  Kings Cross has been transformed since my last visit to London and is now dangerously close to being trendy!