All I want for Christmas: Alex S

Going back home for Christmas is lovely and all, but have you ever fantasised about ditching the family and holing up in a fancy-pants hotel for the big day? Unfortunately that definitely won't be happening this year (my mum would actually disown me), but I can still do my darndest to turn my little bedroom into a cosy boudoir worthy of any five star hotel.

Under £10

The best thing about staying in any hotel? Complimentary toiletries! So I'll be looking for this gorgeously-wrapped Seamstresses Soap (£6) from Anthropologie in my stocking. Love the attention to detail in the packaging.

Under £50

It's impossible to get cosy without a good set of jim-jams. These pyjamas (£32) from Topshop look glamorous and sexy, even though the print is covered with fairies and bunny rabbits. No mean feat.

Under £100

How utterly romantic is this ruffle quilt (£99.99, was £150) from Urban Outfitters? We featured the pink version not too long ago, but I prefer the simplicity of the white quilt. It'd be impossible to sleep in that bedding and not feel like a princess on Boxing Day.

A Gaggle of Measuring Cups

Flying geese and ducks have become something of a trend recently, haven't they? Whether they're flying across jumper dresses, or they're flying across the wall, this part of the popular bird motif is getting a retro twist. I can live with that, they're kinda cute.

Especially when they're in the form of a little gaggle of measuring cups. These aren't kinda cute, these are very very cute. I adore the kitchen stuff at Anthropologie, but these are definitely one of my favourite pieces.

They're also in the sale (presumably because now the geese are flying south for the winter) so they're only £11.95 instead of £24.

Wallpaper Wednesday: Anthropologie Paperback Paper

Books an interiors go together so happily. There's nothing that I like more than curling up with a decent book for an hour (even if now that's more of a snatched ten minutes on the bus). Books make us feel happy and at home. And the Domestic Sluts have an awful lot of them. I'm reading Tender is the Night at the moment. Glamour and craziness combined. It's excellent.

This paperback-inspired wallpaper is from Anthropologie. Of course, that means that it's on the VERY side of expensive at £128, but it's pretty isn't it? I'm inspired to take vintage looking photos of my oldest books and frame the prints. They'll even be personal to me which makes it even more special.

Back to school cool

It's tragic to admit but, come this time of year, I quite miss going to school. It's not because I get a kick out of learning German vocab or quadratic equations or that those were the best days of my life by any means. With September around the corner, I would daydream that somehow this would be the school year when the boy I really fancied looked beneath my greasy fringe and specs and saw the beautiful inner me.  While I never got the boy, I always made sure I got a new pencil case and school bag in readiness for the new term. And therein I learnt a valuable lesson in the comforting powers of consumerism.

Flash forward fifteen to twenty years and that lesson still applies. If your woe is that you really miss going back to school, take a look at these school inspired products for your home. Then rejoice in the fact you have a job and can afford to buy them. They're an awful lot prettier than a chewing gum covered desk, believe me.

I still don't know much about science books or indeed the French I took but I do know I love these experimental flasks from Anthropologie. Made from glass, I can guess they'll look a lot better filled with flowers than they ever would filled with sulphuric acid. They range in cost from £8 to £22.

Maths more your style? Dare to deviate from the standard with the Graphkin designed by Colin O'Dowd. Yep, graph paper + napkin = graphkin. Clever stuff. There's twelve in a pack for £3.50.

More poetic types may favour these zippered cases available from Pilosale's Etsy shop. Made from fabric embroidered to look like writing paper, I'd definitely give these an A. Priced at £13.13, they're suitably sized for make-up or pens. So that's the new pencil case sorted. Time to get onto the satchel and to start plotting an unobtainable crush ready for September.

Bird on a wire

I love this bird on a wire collection from Anthropologie. It's perfect. Just a little bit interesting, but still classic.



Breakfast time does not look like this in Sluttery HQ. I wish it did though. This bowl is £12.


Look how pretty! I love the take on blue and white. Anything blue on white china looks good. Them's the rules. Still, £18 for a dinner plate is pricey.


So instead I will buy the smaller side plates. They're £14.

Can I have them all, please?

Shoe Porn: Anthropologie Sandals

Well done, Anthropologie. You've shown me my perfect red sandals (I've been looking for a pair for a while now). You've given them a little heel. They've got pretty flowers that don't look mumsy, or like they belong on a child. I like the contrasting fabric straps too. They're leather and suede so they'll be pretty sturdy. I'm impressed.

They're even in the sale! Hurrah! But in the sale they're £79.95 (reduced from a whopping £168). Oh, Anthropologie! Why do you do this to me!? I covet the shoes so much now and it's ALL YOUR FAULT!

Anthropologie finally goes online in Europe

Anthropolgie have finally opened their online shop in Europe. Hurrah! As you know, I've had my issues with them, and sometimes, I still feel like their things are erratically priced but there are some things that they sell that are so utterly gorgeous. So let's focus on those things:


This measuring spoons are lovely. Am I the only person who'd wear them as jewellery? They're £22.


Seahorses are very cool. I want seahorse tumblers on. This one is £12.


I love these monogram mugs. They're six pounds each so it'll cost me £48 to spell Sluttery.

I don't think I'll ever understand why a mug is £8 and a cushion £128, but Anthropologie is still full of inspiration. If you can find a bargain, that's even better.

What's the deal with Anthropologie's Pricing?

A gaggle of Domestic Sluts went down to the Anthropologie grand opening last Friday, and whilst we found lots of rather enchanting things, we weren't as wowed as we'd hoped. But then we stumbled on a another problem. After reading some of your comments, the pricing appears to be all over the shop.

You could pop into Anthropologie and spend anything from £6 - £600. On nothing of any consequence actually. But, when I talked about the pricing in my blog post, a few of you piped up and said I'd got the prices wrong. And at first glance, it looks like you were right.

Because their UK website isn't a UK site at all. It's the US site with cleverly converted prices. If you try and buy stuff from that website, you'll be smacked in the face with the $30 shipping fee that Anthropologie seem so fond of. Oh, and being a US site, they don't show the tax until you get to the checkout. I feel a bit like the wool is being pulled over our eyes. Those of you who haven't been to the shop yet have been browsing the site thinking it's all rather reasonable when it's anything but.

It was merely coincidence that one of our readers, Eleanor, bought her Russian Doll measuring cups for $28 in the US, and they're £28 here, but that gives you a rough idea of the mark up. I'd even go as far to say that if you wanted to buy an awful lot of small things, it might even work out cheaper to buy them online and have them shipped them over.

I'm even less inclined to buy the pretty things now, but don't worry, if we're quoting a price, we'll quote the one in the shop, not the deliberately misleading website.

Anthropologie London part 2

Yes, Anthropologie Part 2 - the shop spans over three floors so one blog post just isn't enough to describe all the pretty things.


You can't wear this skirt. It's made out of plates and cups.


We do want Domestic Slut Alex to buy this flowery hat (fab earrings model's own).


These penguin books are lovely. Really stunning design.


The little bows around these bottles are very pretty.


And these soaps are very lovely indeed.

Yes, Anthropologie is pretty, but it's confusing as well. The prices are all over the shop. One minute you're looking at a lovely cup that's under a tenner, the next you're looking at a bird ornament that's over £200. Everything is one great big mish-mash together and there's no way to navigate around it.

The quality differs from item to item as well. I'm not sure I want to spend £98 on a robe that was made from polyester, no matter how pretty the print is. The one dress I fell in love with was £358. Ouch. For that price I'd want nothing but silk.

Everything looks great from a distance, but close up it loses its charm. The little details on everything are lovely - sparkly buttons, discreet embroidery and unique embellishments make Anthropologie special, but it's just not cutting it for me. It's great to look around, but you really have to search for something affordable.

I wanted to love everything, but instead it was all bells and whistles without very much else. When you have Liberty doing the same thing, with antiques and vintage charm, it's hard to see the value here - the price in Anthropologie creep up into the hundreds. I can see why the shop is so popular in America, but really, it doesn't shout out to me. Some pieces are fab, but over three floors from such an iconic shop, I was expecting to be wowed.

Still if you want to check it our for yourself, head down to the branch on Regent Street (jump off the tube at Piccadilly rather than Oxford Circus). Make sure you tell us what you think!

Anthropologie London - The homeware

The opening of Anthropologie in London has been eagerly awaited. Not eager to the extent that the Domestic Sluts were queuing up outside (this is no S Club 7 reunion or anything) but we were looking forward to taking a trip down there and see if was just as brilliant as we'd imagined.

But really, all you want to see is what it looks like, right? Luckily, they didn't mind me snapping my way around the shop:


Look! Pretty boxes that you don't really need!



This is such pretty bed linen. You could curl up all winter in this.

I want tea in these cups. Lovely.


I played with the coat hooks and spelled "Sluttery". Don't worry, I put them all back afterwards. People thought I was weird.


Love these scientific measuring jugs. Don't use them for measuring! Put flowers in them!


This is my favourite thing. I thought it was just a little Russian Doll, but look! It's measuring cups! All stacked together. Genius.

We're not done yet! So much more lovely stuff to see later this afternoon...

The Anthropologie Catch-22

Anthropologie, I adore you. Really, I do. But why are your shipping charges three times more expensive than what I want to order? America isn't that far away and I buy enough from Etsy to know that you're fibbing about how much it really costs!

So until you open up in London, which I hear you're doing later this year, I'm going to just stare longingly at these pretty things.

This is very Winnie The Pooh. In a good way, not an annoying "I'm in my twenties but still think I'm a Disney Princess" kind of way.


I want to put photos of my travels in this photo frame.
This china cup is perfect for little tea parties. Which I have rather a lot of if I'm honest.

Granted this would be a bit difficult to ship over, but it's lovely, isn't it?