Bon Voyage

I'm off to the south of France for two weeks. Fingers crossed for some gorgeous weather and good shopping! I'll leave you with a few photos from my second wedding of the summer, to which I wore a beautiful grey lace dress from Asos, completed with a vintage belt, Miu Miu shoes and antique jewellery. The dress has a beautiful scalloped asymmetrical hem and a cowl neckline.

Bye for now x

Mint Mesh

For the longest time I have been searching for an antique mesh Chatelaine purse. Antique mesh and chainmail purses are easy to find online or at antiques stores/fairs, but I am pretty fussy and wanted it to be perfect. As I wanted it for jewellery purposes, it had to be small and, importantly, had to have a finger loop so that I could add a chain and wear it as a pendant, or add a pin and wear it as a brooch . A couple of weeks ago, my patience was rewarded as I came across the perfect sized purse in mint condition. The design is rather plain, but I love it and the fact that it's in amazing condition. The hallmarks along the frame tell me it is from London, 1910.

On a side note, the trousers I'm wearing are the AA 'riding pant', however wearing them I get less of an equestrian vibe and more of a deep-sea diving vibe. Not entirely sure how comfortable I am with this...

Blouse (Zara), trousers (American Apparel), vest (Topshop), shoes (Miu Miu)

Comfort Zone

This cardigan is one of the most practical pieces I've bought recently. I've already been wearing it lots, and plan to do so for the forseeable future! This time last year, I was rather wary of draped, loose fitting things, but now I can appreciate them and have embraced a more relaxed silhouette into my wardrobe. The cardigan drapes beautifully, and is mega comfy. Also, I've been looking for a long grey cardigan, so it's pretty much perfect for me right now. The gorgeous belt cinching my waist is also new. I love the way the strong black lines look over a plain piece of clothing. Initially, I was reminded of Christopher Kanes aw09 collection, and his use of black piping throughout. However, looking through the collection again, its clear his use of black lines was less intricate, and far more simplistic. A few pieces from said collection are now on luisaviaroma for pre-ordering. I love love this dress (my birthday is coming up...hint hint people who love me). It could be the lighting, but the runway version looks black, whereas the online version looks like a khaki/army green colour? Or is it just me that thinks that?

Belt (Topshop), shoes (Miu Miu), bag (asos.com), cardigan (Topshop), vintage vest, leggings (Topshop).

Blue Skies ∴ Suede Shoes

There wasn't a cloud in the sky today, which meant it was safe to wear suede shoes as the threat of rain was non-existant. I kept meaning to try these suede shoes with trousers, so I seized the opportunity. The top is one of those recycled tops that Urban Outfitters do, you know....where they take old clothes and jazz them up a bit. I don't wear it much as it fits slightly oddly, but it is rather cute. Quite a light, simple outfit for a sunny day....now if only those outfits I created on polyvore would magically appear in my wardrobe for the sunny days ahead.

Trench (Zara), vintage belt, shoes (Miu Miu), top (Urban Outfitters), trousers (H&M).

Gorgeous deep green Barry M nail varnish called Racing Green. First two coats are quite a blue green, then a third coat makes it almost look like black with a green tint. Love it!

To tuck, or not to tuck?...

...not exactly one of lifes more important questions, but one that is encountered quite often. I'm very much a 'tuck in' girl. If a top is long enough, I will inevitably want to tuck it into my skirt or trousers. I just prefer definition at the waist, and don't like to have excess material falling awkwardly at my hips. But today, as I went for a bit of a 1920's look, I thought I'd give the non-tuck a go. If theres one thing I don't like about the fashions of the 20's, it is the boyish straight up straight down silhouette that was aspired to. I see pretty drop-waisted dresses and think they are nice, but certainly not for me or my body shape. There's no harm in trying something new though, and I was feeling a little odd today, so I resisted the temptation to tuck in. On a side note, I've not had much luck in finding a different coloured turban. There's quite a few turbans out there in the usual places, but I want the right shape and colour. For now, I'll have to settle with just my green turban.

Ahh my normal comfort zone of tucking things in...isn't it pretty? I do much prefer this silhouette...

... but I persevered and managed to keep the top untucked for the whole day.

Vintage turban, vintage gloves, fur stole (M&S), vintage fur scarf, shoes (Miu Miu), cardigan (Topshop), vintage vest, skirt (?), black mesh top (Miss Selfridge).

Déjà vu

After wearing the black one yesterday, I thought I'd bring out the white version of this top. Its the same top, and the same sihouette created from my skirt, but quite a different look from yesterdays version. Its a shame the lace is cut so low, as much of my bra is seen, and it sort of spoils the bottom of the lace section. Oh but I just had a brainwave....how about layering a coloured vest underneath the lace section...? I'll have to give it a go later. I checked the blog archives and found that I haven't worn my green fringe jacket for over a month, oh the shame! It occurred to me the other day that the reason I don't wear it much is because of its gold buttons (which I added myself). I have mentioned before how pedantic I am when it comes to mixing metals, so when wearing a 'silver' outfit (as in silver jewellery/hardwear on my belts, shoes, bags etc), I just would not be able to bring myself to wear the jacket, with its gold buttons. So I removed the gold buttons, replaced them with the original green ones, and now I am free to wear it with whichever metal I damn well choose! Today being a dry day I also took the opportunity to give these suede shoes another shot. I wasn't totally happy with the first outfit I put together with them (admittedly, I was just desperate to take them out asap, without much thought to the outfit). I'll be trying them with trousers next. 

Coat (Therapy), leather gloves (M&S), vintage belt, bag (Lulu Guinness), shoes (Miu Miu), blazer (John Lewis), top (Miss Selfridge), skirt (American Apparel).  

Tiny little pressed flowers in my earrings, they'd go well with this dress of mine. 

Miu Miu make the nicest shoe shoes

Miu Miu s/s 08

Miu Miu a/w 08

Images from style.com and net-a-porter.com

Wow. Those are quite some shoes. Miu Miu has recently come out with some amazing shoes. All of the a/w 2007 ones were amazing, the whole of the s/s 08 collection was amazing, and the shoes of the a/w 08 collection were pretty outstanding too (lets forget the clothes though, they were not to my liking [to put it politely]). I love shoes so much, it almost pains me to see shoes like these and know I can't possibly own them all. My most coveted pair would be the black and gold teacup heeled Mary Janes of the s/s 08 collection, shown in the top picture. I want them so bad I could cry. They come up on ebay rarely, and always with eye-watering prices I simply cannot justify (usually £400+). I hope that as the seasons come and go, someone who is fussy about things being 'so last season' will want to sell them, but the chances of anyone with my size feet doing that are slim. Oh well. I have bigger things to fret about.

This years a/w collection featured some interesting shoes to say the least. Mad shapes, some lovely colour blocking, and a nice mix of textures. Whilst it wasn't all to my taste, there were certainly a few pairs I would love to own. Cue the January sales, and I manage to get my hands on a particularly lovely pair, that aren't too mad, but certainly have something special about them. The shapes aren't as exaggerated as in some of the examples above, but there is lovely detail around the heel, and an almost art deco front to the shoe. The suede is just so soft, I can't believe it. I'm going to have to look after these lovelies well. Oh and they are comfortable and walkable, so shall get a lot more wear than my other Miu Miu's which are comfortable, but not exactly walkable.

So here's what I wore with them first. I did what comes naturally to me and tried to match the tonal elements of the shoes. I know I'll get a lot of wear out of these, as darks greens, greys and of course, black, make up a lot of my wardrobe. In any case, its nice to have interesting shoes for when you want a quick easy way of making an outfit something special. The shirt actually is befitting the Miu Miu s/s 08 collection which had an obvious harlequin theme. As much as I love winter dressing (think coats, hats, gloves, scarfs), I do look forward to the day when its warm enough to not need to layer a roll neck or long sleeved top under every outfit!

Shoes (Miu Miu), shirt (H&M), skirt (Topshop), grey roll neck (H&M), belt (M&S).

Oh and cause I'm such a girl, I like to match my make-up to my outfit, and today I got a bit carried away with greenyness and sparkles.