Shopping NEXT SS13 Kids Collection

My girls are big shoppers - there's no surprise there. They love fashion and as they swiftly approach their tweenage years their style is becoming, well distinctly personal.

At 11 and 9 they are both very brand aware, though this is in some part at least a result of Yan being a designer and Biba having ten + years modelling experience under her belt at the ripe old age of 11!

It's fascinating to sit back and watch their individual style grow. Betty at 9, would be at your sporty end of the Spice Girl range, whereas Biba at 11, can easily range through Baby, Scary, Posh and back again without taking a single breath or settling one complete look. 

It's eclectic but always comes together once a pair of her trusty Dr Martens boots are in place.

Our shopping trips are increasingly interesting, we are kind of in that in-between no-mans-land of kids clothes departments with their cutesy ranges and the neon lure of the high-street stores smart enough to stock small sizes in a 4 or a 6. We roam uneasily between the two, always in the search of a bargain or something we simply cannot leave behind.

One of the kids departments that we still frequent is NEXT (I still buy all of their school uniform via the NEXT Directory), so when Collective Bias™ asked if we would like to check out the new SS13 collection, and share our in store experience, we had to say yes.

Biba has a history with NEXT, she's modelled for them many, many times over the years and as a local client, was one of their in-house sizing fit models.

The best thing about being a fit model is that you know that all the items in the range are made to fit you! We never had problems with sizing in NEXT, Joules, Adams, Asda etc as she was their standard size!

We shopped at NEXT, Fosse Park, Leicester. It's a two-storey 'out of town' store with childrenswear nestled away to the rear of the spacious womenswear department.

First impressions.... too many styles, crammed into a poorly lit, cramped space. The isles are too narrow to allow a pushchair to pass through without knocking numerous garments to the floor and little or no thought has gone into merchandising or hanger appeal.

In usual circumstances (i.e., if I wasn't being asked to share my in store shopping experience), I would have walked straight back out due to the blocked isles and screaming kids.

And actually, we did leave the store and decided to get some food in the hope that a full tummy might make the experience more enjoyable.

Turns out that was a good plan, because when we returned it was to a calm, shopper free department that was much easier to browse.

The NEXT childrenswear collection goes up to age 16 online but in store the biggest size on the floor was an age 12. Rails were fully stocked with all sizes but the number of styles crammed in was just too much to take in. A total fashion overload.

Geek T-shirt - obviously a big hit with Biba!

Both Biba and I pulled out some fab key pieces but we had to work at it.

If more thought had gone into shop floor display, our customer journey would have been less overwhelming and we would have left the store with more than two items in our basket. 

The cashier point is just outside the children's department towards the back of womenswear and despite it being 1.30pm on a Saturday lunchtime there was only one member of staff behind the counter and she wasn't in a hurry to serve us, even with a queue steadily growing behind us.

The till points were a mess. Piles of hangers and paperwork strewn across the counter as well as the shelf behind. If the store was crazy busy and you could see that all staff were engaged, that wouldn't have made such an impression. But the store wasn't busy and that mess should have been under control.

So what did we buy? 

Betty wears NEXT denim playsuit £19 - in sizes from 3 to 16 years

Biba wears NEXT floral print dress £21 in sizes from 3 to 16 years

Do take a look at our full store experience in pictures over on G+.

Disclosure :
I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® #CBias #SocialFabric. All opinions are entirely my own.

Can your baby follow in ModelGirls footsteps?

My girls have been modelling since they were very small babies, they've worked for some huge brands including Nokia, Halfords, Asda, Annabel Karmel, Joules, Adams and NEXT and with this fab new baby model comp that NEXT are running your little one could become a star too.

The NEXT Baby Boutique Model Competition, in association with Prima Baby magazine is looking for the UK's cutest and most photogenic babies and toddlers to star in a forthcoming photoshoot for NEXT and Prima Baby. The winners will also bag a modelling contract with leading children's agency Urban Angels and £500 worth of NEXT vouchers.

There are two categories, birth to 18months and 19 to 36 months - so if you have a beautiful little one - and I know that lots of you do, head over to the NEXT Facebook page for full details on how to enter.

To wet your appetite - here is a vid that ModelGirl did for the NEXT website last season.

Proud Mum Moment

Today is another of those proud 'mum of a model' moments...

Stop by Next.co.uk to see Biba modeling some of their new range. You will find her in the older girls Jeans shop and also in dresses.

and another....

Angelina Ballerina and the NEXT springtime show…

It is only right to start this post by thanking everyone for all their kind words and support about my little kitty, who died yesterday. It has been quite an emotional few days for me and for the children.

I blogged last week about FunnyGirl making it to the final round of judging in the Angelina Ballerina Children’s Award and today was her big day.

We set off for London bright and early and arrived right on time at 10am. All of the other girls were there when we arrived and I don’t know about FunnyGirl but I was terrified. They were all visibly older and preened within an inch of their lives in huge tutu’s that wouldn’t have looked out of place on girls twice their size.

Being the youngest FunnyGirl was up first. Her dance is not classical ballet like all of the other girls and I was so happy that her inner self is not wobbled in the slightest by her being the odd one out.

She did look nervous before she went in but when she came back out having danced she was beaming from ear to ear.

All of the other parents seemed to know each other and I felt as if I had stepped into some weird competitive playground game – it wasn’t nice.

Now I was a dancer myself. When I left school I went on to further full time training. I was selected for the National Youth Dance Company with was a real achievement but I don’t have FunnyGirl’s natural gift. I had to work hard at what comes naturally to her.

I dug deep for courage and asked how the parents all knew each other and was really shocked by the reply.

All of their children were ‘JA’s’ they proudly told me.

Now I know what a ‘JA’ is – but only because I was one myself. A ‘JA’ is a Junior Associate member of the Royal Ballet. They go to classes run by the Royal Ballet School at satellite centres across the UK.

So not only was FunnyGirl the youngest – but she was the only child who was not part of the ‘JA’ program.

She did her best – and that is all I wanted. We came a way with a fab goodie bag and now have to wait until mid December to find out who is the winner.

From Angelina we moved on to the NEXT Spring 2010 press launch. They are pretty hot on the social media front. They have a huge Facebook group and a Twitter group that is growing day by day.

We were asked along as they are launching a children’s modelling competition in a couple of weeks – but we also got a sneak preview of the SS 2010 collection.

In all honesty I haven’t been a huge fan of NEXT since the little ones came along. When I had No1 son 18 years ago – I bought all of his clothes from there and he did a few modelling jobs for them too.

I personally have never bought a single item of womenswear from there EVER but in the last year I have bought a few bits for the girls.

The beautiful red checked dresses that they are wearing in the Valentines Party shoot in Annabel Karmel’s new Princess Cookbook are from NEXT and were so popular with everyone that saw them.

And on seeing this new collection I feel that I may be a convert.

There are obvious influences from Balmain (yes my original v expensive jeans are replicated here for mums and daughters alike), Comme de Garcon, YSL, Burberry Prorsum and Sonia Rykiel. But you know what – it doesn’t really matter.

NEXT’s quality is way above that of its high street contemporaries Zara, Oasis, Warehouse and H&M.

This new collection has a real feel of fashion and modernity about it and I will definitely be getting a few bits for the girls and Sonny.

They are launching a children’s modelling competition next week through their facebook group but I will do a dedicated post about that next week.

A big thank you to Hit Entertainment and Next for the hospitality – and to the fab magician!