Stylish Road Trip to The Somerset Collection – Part One

I’ve never been one for road trips, mostly on account of the guaranteed bout of carsickness and bad memories from childhood bus tours. But when it comes to shopping, there isn’t much I’m unwilling to endure, as you know (case in point: that bitter cold wait for Lanvin x H&M), so when Kimberly Lyn of The Souls of My Shoes and Nelia Belkova of Style Blog suggested a shopping road trip, naturally I was in.

As for the destination? I decided it was high time my fellow Toronto fashion bloggers were introduced to one of my absolute favourites: Somerset Collection in Troy, Michigan.

Me, Nelia and Kim with our sunny Ford Focus

After an easy and smooth 4-hour drive from Toronto to Troy with Kim behind the wheel of our sunny yellow Ford Focus (what a trooper!), the three of us checked in at a local hotel and readied ourselves for a good night’s sleep in preparation for what would turn out to be an epic 10-hour day of shopping at Somerset. Yup, you read right: 10 hours!

Somerset Collection is clearly no ordinary mall

How do 3 shopaholics spend 10 hours at one mall? Quite easily, actually. Especially when said mall is Somerset Collection. With two glorious boutique-filled buildings separated by a street and connected by a bridge, Somerset’s over 180 stores range from Neiman Marcus, Intermix and J.Crew on the North end to LOFT, Madewell and Nordstrom on the South side.

Lacoste shoes (gifted) for our epic day of Somerset shopping

In short, more than enough stores to fill an entire workday’s worth of shopping, and then some. What kept us going during our marathon Somerset visit were the sustenance from J. Alexander’s (the fish tacos are highly recommended!), our cute and comfy Lacoste shoes and, of course, our iron will.

Oh hello there, Neiman Marcus shoe department

Detailed accounts of our escapades will follow, particularly our visits to Intermix, Ann Taylor and LOFT, but suffice to say our day at Somerset was a resounding success, thanks to the well-curated store directory, incredible customer service and excellent timing on our part (the very end of sale season!).

Incriminating evidence of a shopping expedition gone a little too well

As impressive as Somerset was the Focus’ ability to hold three shopaholic fashion bloggers, our suitcases, enough road trip snacks to feed the Canadian women’s soccer team, and all of our shopping bags. Somerset Collection x Ford Focus turned out to be a road trip made in heaven. I simply can’t wait for round #2. So, who’s in?

xx, S

Image Credits: Gallery images #9 and #10 courtesy of Styleblog’s Instagram