Shopping with experts: Kurt Geiger’s Everything But The Dress

We are self confessed Kurt Geiger shoe fans here at TWR, so news that there was to be a handbag and accessory collection called Everything But The Dress got us in a right spin of anticipation. Better still, the brand claim to be aiming it at ‘grown up’ women (are we the Next Big Thing, us grown up women? what with Mary Portas saying it an’ all?) so a store visit seemed a good idea.

The collection had a ‘soft’  launch in its new flagship, just off Bond Street, a week ago (prior to launching online and in selected KG stores today) and it’s a magpie jewel-box affair, with glossy surfaces, bold colours and a great selection of jewellery, handbags, gloves, scarves, techie accessories and of course shoes (although the Carvela range isn’t here). The store interior is designed by John Field, who has also been responsible for the Tom Ford store interiors and the glamour level, with its satin-backed chairs and lipstick red lacquered front doors, is intoxicating. The colours and abundance of gold are a cheerful antidote to a grey London day and it’s almost worth visiting just to let it lift your spirits.

The clever idea here is the Candy collection, well priced accessories that are packaged in gold star-bubble-wrap packets and stacked up on the central merchandising station, pick & mix style. It looks so bright and well, gold it’s impossible to resist a rummage and the good prices on the small accessories such as key fobs, phone holders and purses just make it all the more exciting (prices are £8-£55)

Jewellery starts from £20 and combines good quality with interesting textures, such leather with chunks of crystal in bracelets as well as slinky gold chains. You could do damage with the big rocky rings. Also worth considering are the gloves, either soft colourful leather ones or the more urban fingerless ones for when the weather goes cold  but you still need touch a screen.

The handbags are covetable -the bold bright Humbug Clutch has got the fashion mavens excited apparently, but I loved the stylish laptop and iPad covers, these start at  £45 for the Eclair blurry-blue digital print iPad sleeve, above right, and £50 for the faux snake skin embossed laptop cover. The cute tote in the embossed faux snake skin at £55, above left,  also folds down into the gold bubble star packaging making it an ideal present.

Our current enthusiasm with brogues means we couldn’t resist including the brown suede and gold-topped-toe pair (£130), below, and we saw a pair of kick-ass gold biker boots that might add a touch of glamour to the winter chill. Gold stars all round.

Kurt Geiger’s accessory range launches today online, and the flagship store is in Grafton Street, just off Bond Street, London W1.

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