Review & Competition: me&i Spring/Summer 2014 Collection

A couple of weeks back, I got some lovely local friends together and hosted a me&i party in the comfort of my very own living room, to preview and shop the new Spring/Summer 2014 Collection.

There were a number of things about this that made me happy:

1. It was a fun, sociable evening with friends that didn’t require me to leave my sofa
2. I could shop for new threads for me and the girls, without battling high-street crowds
3. I could drink Prosecco chilled from my own fridge… no standing in a queue at a bar
4. Having been out until 3am (don’t ask!) the night before, my own house was the best place for me in the circumstances…
5. … and when it was all over, my ‘journey to bed’ was a mere flight of stairs away… no annoying wait for a train or cab and pricey fare home to boot!

As you can see, I’m generally all about the staying in these days!

Anyway, this time I had an excuse to stay in beyond the small matter of parental duties. The very lovely Cat, a representative from me&i, came to my living room with a rail bulging with all the gorgeous new Spring/Summer kids and ladies collections that have taken Scandinavia by storm.

For those of you not already in the know, me&i is a Swedish clothing company that was founded by two women from their kitchen table in 2004.  Today, they have grown their business to the tune of nearly £20 million turnover and sell in five countries, with over 750 sales representatives bringing the brand to its customers via in-home parties.

I was first introduced to me&i last year and what I love about their clothes, especially those for the littles, are the unique designs and fantastic high quality soft materials in which they are made.  Allegra was gifted a gorgeous orange dress from the Autumn/Winter 2013 collection and she LOVES it and has virtually lived in it and yet, no matter how many times I’ve washed it and she’s worn it to pre-school, it is still virtually as good as new.  So, I was keen to check out the new collection and what better way to do it than in my slippers with a glass of fizz in hand, sat on my couch with friends!

Well, what a lovely evening we had.  Cat did a fantastic job of talking us through each piece in the Spring/Summer collection and we all collectively oohed and aaahed at the cute stuff for girls and the fun stuff for boys.  Vibrant colours and super-cool motifs are what you can expect from me&i and one of the things I also love about their clothes is that many of the items are quite unisex – so there’s nothing tooooo girly (although that’s not to say that there aren’t the odd things perfect for a princess loving daughter of mine!) and there’s plenty of things that actually, if you had a son and a daughter, you could feasible buy and either could wear without it looking odd.

From hats to yoga-pants, tops to tunics, dresses to skirts, the collection is packed with options for every mini-fashionista and with comfort, quality, and ethics at the heart of all designs and manufacture, you can be reassured that they not only look great but feel great too.  My only problem was deciding on what to buy, there were so many things I fell in love with!  But in the end, these were the ones that caught my eye the most:

This Waves & Sunflower tunic is very similar to the me&i dress that Allegra has and loves at the moment, so I am excited to be presenting this new version to her once it arrives!  I think it’ll be a firm favourite for the summer.

I’m also really excited about the striking green dress with cat in pocket that I picked up on the night for Allegra.  I think she will love it and eventually, like all her clothes, it will be a much-enjoyed ‘hand-me-down’ for little sister Claudia!

Continuing with the cat theme, I couldn’t resist this little navy number for my littlest girl – an adorable A-line terry tunic with velour Princess Cat design.  How cute?!

Of course I couldn’t ignore the ladies collection and after a browse, found myself unable to resist some black ‘pyjama trousers’, which felt SO comfortable, and this smart/casual (will be ideal for work as well as the playground) black blazer.  Oh yes and this white sweatshirt too… ssssh, don’t tell Richmond Daddy!!! Well, actually, I justify all these things in my head now by reminding myself that I’m back at work now, so…!  The material of the sweatshirt is just gorgeous, I know I will just live in it!

I should also mention that as the hostess of my very own me&i party, I was able to claim £14 off my order – yay!  So that was no bad thing and of course made me feel less guilty about snapping up quite a few items on the night!

You can view the new collection online here and you can also find out more about hosting a party at home with me&i here and about hostess rewards here.  Honestly, it was lots of fun, so if you’re thinking you like the look of the clothes and you want an excuse to get some friends together, then I can highly recommend.

COMPETITION TIME!

Those lovely people at me&i are offering one lucky Richmond Mummy reader the chance to WIN an item from the children’s range up to the value of £25 from the new Spring/Summer Collection! To enter:

1) Leave a comment below telling me which item from the children’s collection (up to value of £25) you would love to win from the me&i collection

2) LIKE the me&i Facebook page here

3) LIKE the Richmond Mummy Facebook page here

One winner will be picked at random next Sunday, 30th March 2014, and will be announced by midnight on Monday 31st March.

Good luck!