New Year's Eve 2011

...and, this is too cute not to share.

Have a wonderful New Year's Eve! See you in 2012.

A holly, jolly Christmas.

This Christmas has been truly great; I've spent alot of time with mine and Joe's families, eaten way too much and had some much needed rest. I was spoilt rotten this Christmas - I finally received a beautiful milk glass cake stand from RE, which I been coveting forever, Balenciaga perfume, which came so beautifully packaged I didn't want to open it and a new 50mm lens for my Canon 450D (SO impressed with it).

To see in 2012, I will be playing hostess - having some friends round to my parents house to eat Nigella's Chocolate Guinness Cake amongst other things, drink hand-crafted cocktails and play board games. The last few New Year's Eves have either been spent abroad or in Newcastle, so it'll be a welcome change staying in. I'm more than ready to begin a new year - 2011 has been filled with a lot more lows than highs, so 2012 had better bring more good news than bad! What have you got planned for this New Year's Eve?

Fashion: Urban Outfitters opens in Newcastle upon Tyne

Courtesy of Urban Outfitters

It was well over a year ago when I first started hearing rumours that Urban Outfitters was to open in Newcastle upon Tyne and this month, that rumour finally became a reality.

Urban Outfitters Newcastle opened it's doors to the public on 9th December 2012 just in time to make the most of the Christmas retail boom.

Taking up residence in a former nook of Eldon Square, UO's Newcastle store boasts some impressive credentials: over 10,000 square feet of retail space across 3 floors, making it's one of their largest stores.

Courtesy of Urban Outfitters

Some of the fantastic women's brands being stocked by the UO Newcastle Store include:

TBA
Cheap Monday
Evil Twin
Mink Pink
Petit Bateau
Something Else
Vaudeville & Burlesque


Newcastle has long needed a directional and contemporary fashion and lifestyle store, and I can't count the amount of Geordies who've been rejoicing in the fact they no longer have to travel to Leeds or Manchester for their UO fix.

I headed down to the new store this week, so find out exactly what UO are offering to the stylish crowd of Newcastle.

The store is VAST, really a lot larger than I was expecting. Such a fantastic selection of womenswear, menswear, accessories, gifts, homeware and books. I saw about 20 pairs of shoes that I NEED including some gorgeous leopard print slipper loafers. I only had a limited amount of time to browse on this instance, so heading back to the store this weekend for a more in depth look.

And, finally, here is a sneaky look at a couple of the wondeful looks from UO's Spring/Summer 2012 collection - a big thank you goes out to UO's PR team who kindly supplied me with these images.

Courtesy of Urban Outfitters

All images © Alice Mary Barnes except where stated.

Christmas Time in the North

I am having the busiest few weeks at work in the run-up to Christmas, preparing for some big projects post-Christmas, so my blog is taking a back seat, which I am not too thrilled about! However, I have some exciting treats lined up over the next few weeks which I'll be sharing with you soon, including seeing The Puppini Sisters' live at The Sage, visiting the brand new Urban Outfitters store in Newcastle, shopping in Corbridge, Christmas festivities with friends, a trip to Yorkshire and finally, Champagne Christmas Afternoon tea with Katie and Paula.

Hope you're all having a lovely Advent period so far - I've been stuffing my face with sweet mince pies, red wine and mulled cider!

Image source: Pinterest

Road Trip: Filey

Yesterday, I took a road trip to Filey on the North Yorkshire coast with my parents. My grandparents used to have a house there when my Mum was little, and Granny and Grandpa used to pack their four kids into the car at every given opportunity and drive up from Sheffield to Filey to their retreat by the sea. My Mum always speaks so fondly of Filey, so it was amazing to see first hand where she spent so many happy times with her two brothers, sister and parents. Pretty much unchanged since my Mum was a little girl, Filey still retains all the charm of an old seaside resort - souvenir shops selling sticks of rock ( yes I bought some!), an abundance of fish and chip shops and pastel blue beach huts on the beach.

Music: Lana Del Rey

It is no secret about my obsession with Lana Del Rey. This captivating beauty first came to my attention around the time of London Fashion Week in September of this year, where Christopher Kane used her haunting 'Video Games' as the soundtrack to his Spring/Summer 2012 collection. Since then, this song has become the most played on my iTunes and I know every lyric off by heart. Raw talent at it's finest.

Fashion: GraphiChanel

Chanel's Spring/Summer 2012 set design was a marvel in itself; an underwater playground where Chanel's ethereal, pearl encrusted girls swam in the deep to the sounds of Florence and the Machine. Lagerfeld, like others this season, presented a collection inspired by the sea for Spring/Summer but my favourite part of this collection just so happens to be the subtle, graphic accents on classic Chanel boucle jackets, dresses and knitwear; as a lover of all things minimally brilliant in graphic design, my heart skipped a beat when these looks were presented on the catwalk. Now, time to save the pennies to add these wonders to my wardrobe.

© Vogue.com 

Fashion: The Man

I've become increasingly intrigued by super slick menswear and stylish gentleman ever since I first stumbled upon The Sartorialist (many moons ago now...), depicting beautiful men in beautiful clothes out on the street; since the inception of London Fashion Week's day dedicated to 'The Man' and the launch of Net-a-Porter's brother site Mr Porter. My penchant is for classic mens' tailoring made contemporary, so here I give you a smorgasbord of inspiring looks, impeccable style and the subtly eccentric.

1 + 2/ The Sartorialist 3/ Style Salvage 4/ Fashionbeans 5/ The Great Divide 6 + 7/ The Sartorialist 8/ Style Salvage  9/ The Great Divide 10 + 11/ William Yan 12, 13 + 14/ Backyard Bill  15 + 16/ William Yan 

Inspiration: Eleanor Hardwick

Photography is a complete escape mechanism for me: I love the unusual and the dreamy which transport me to another land, so of course I'm slightly obsessed with Eleanor Hardwick's photography. At only 18 years old, she's already shot for clients including Harper's Bazaar, 125 Magazine and Jack Wills. Pure, raw talent.

See more of Eleanor's beautiful photography at http://eleanorhardwick.com

AMB goes on holiday!

I'm off to Cyprus tomorrow to enjoy some much needed sunshine with my boyfriend for a week. My suitcase in jammed full of delights from Jonathan Saunders, Christopher Kane and Alexander Wang so I fully expect to show these off on the blog when I return. Am still feeling slightly panicked about having no internet for a week and therefore no Twitter, seeing now show coverage from Milan or Paris Fashion Weeks (this one is causing me the most grief!) and not being able to check my emails for a whole week! But, I am in a strange way looking forward to a life without the shackles of social media if only for 7 days.

Have a lovely week everyone. I'll mostly be stuffing my face with houmous and olives...

Image source

London Fashion Week: I can be your Ice Cream.

It's hard to ignore the plethora of ice cream and sorbet shades we've seen at London Fashion Week for Spring/Summer 2012.

As a girl who wears mainly neutrals (ok, let's face it - black), I'm excited to inject some softer shades into my wardrobe come Spring. And my favourites? Christopher Kane's Johnston knits teamed with feathery light metallic organzas and sophisticated embellishment, Mulberry's lemon cream shades, Richard Nicoll's ethereal printed pastel dresses and Jonathan Saunders' Miami-Beach prints teamed with graduated colour. I'll be wearing mine with Charlotte Olympia's seaside shoes.

Runway images © Style.com / Charlotte Olympia images © Grazia, 2011.