The curious case of the inflatable pants

I've worn these pants before on the blog and they weren't quite so voluminous- but I kind of like the jodhpur-esque effect in these photos. Teamed with a simple bodysuit and a woven raffia bib necklace I've had for years but still gets worn on regularly:

(Pants- Topshop; Bodysuit- Wolford; Shoes- Mollini; Necklace- Marni)

Having a minor Carmen Miranda moment...

Tx

Lookalikes?

A really simple outfit (just some grey jeans and my trusty Acne boots down below) but this sweater makes me laugh- picked it up for a snip from a charity shop many years ago. In truth, it is very acrylic and a little bit itchy but I like the sweet faux-suede shapes pasted on the front.

Tell me the face and the design on the sweater aren't the same?

Tx

Peace, love and orange pants

An outfit from this weekend. Double peace signs because I was on my way to Liberty for a wee shop- picked up some 'Pulp' perfume by Byredo (smells like figs and apples and cedar wood, divine) and this fabric to fashion into a new frock.

(Pants- Zara; Shirt- Country Road; Jacket- Dries Van Noten; Boots- Acne)


I've had these Marni earrings for a while but still love them- they look like paper petal disco balls, hanging off some slightly tarnished looking, oversized crystals. Conseulo, am convinced you design your accessories just for me... sigh...

Had to share my feast that B and I inhaled that evening- a double cheese souffle (that, yes, I cooked them in soup plates but it worked, they rose!) and a prosciutto, nectarine, basil and buffalo mozzarella salad. Was delish, and notice that I had already changed into my comfiest, roomiest pants in anticipation of the potty belly that followed soon after.

Tx

Easy breezy summer frock...

...For another glorious day here in London. Here I am doing a jig- partly because the weather is so lovely, and partly because I was off to dim sum with J and E. Yummmmmmy!

Still dancing about, building an appetite for my dumplings, and getting so excited my arms have gone all blurry (tee hee!) but I think it mirrors the soft-edged, muted toned print on the frock. It reminds me of the paper towel pictures we made in primary school with food colouring and dish soap.

Topped with an old Elke Kramer necklace-come-monacle:

Hope you all had equally relaxing weekends?

Tx

(Dress- Gorman; Belt- H&M; Shoes- from Greece; Necklaces- Elke Kramer and the viking necklace from some Swedish brand I've forgotten)

Tomboy chic(ken)

A simple outfit I wore to work last week on a non client-facing day.

I still love this sweater that I picked up in a vintage store in Vancouver earlier this year- it has a really wide mesh weave, great billowy sleeves that I usually push up at the elbows, a very 70's colour scheme, and of course... who doesn't love a chicken with a bow on its head?
(And the little blue bird? A gift from my best gal K)

Teamed with a simple t-shirt, cuffed jeans and some blinged out brogue style shoes...

A close up on the shoes: silver and black houndstooth babies that look like unlaced mens shoes. I often wear these as I like the unexpected print, and the kicker- super comfy too!

Am spending the evening watching Aussie Masterchef- I am beyond addicted to this show.

Enjoy the weekend folks!

Tx

(Jeans-Acne; Sweater-Vintage; T-shirt- American Apparel; Shoes- Marc Jacobs)

Been a while, crocodile...

 Admittedly a huge delay between posts- juggling work and social commitments hasn't left me with much time to navel gaze on my outfits, but I'm back in action. Thanks for your patience- I'll post some retrospective outfit shots soon.

Today's outfit is super casual and reflecting today's (relative lack of) activity- sleeping in till midday, eating a big english breakfast takeaway from the couch, lazing on said couch catching up on the week's missed TV, a very late lunch at Itsu (so delish, will never set foot in Yo Sushi again), and some grocery shopping.

Very simple, but who wants to wear something fiddly on a glorious day like today? The weather gods have smiled on this fair city- hope it lasts a little while!

Tx

(Top-Gap; Trousers with belt- Topshop; Sunglasses- Vintage; Shoes- Russell & Bromley; Bag- Longchamp)

A peek at some of my Dublin vintage loot

I mentioned the vintage bounty I found this past weekend. Loved this frock so much I wore it straight away! Here's me demonstrating the swishy-ness of the frock, styled up with some tights and sandals:

 (Dress- Vintage from Perk Up! Dublin; Sandals- Swedish Hasbeens)

I especially love the muted colours and graduated tan base tones that make this polyester baby so 70's, and if you look closely you can see the tiny pleats all over the back, chest and skirt of the dress.

This scarf was a recent purchase from Athena Procopiou at Liberty. I call it my 'Frankie the fox' scarf (don't know why I feel the compulsion to name my things. I just do). That Liberty scarf hall is something else... once I had the cashmere yumminess of Frankie wrapped around me, I was doomed. Handed the card right over.  

Liberty is my idea of heaven. I blame the impeccable merchandising in that place- it's light and roomy, everything is displayed so artfully on tables instead of crammed together on a rail or straggling from hooks on a wall display, the sales people are not pushy at all... a breathe of fresh (retail) air, just a stones throw from the bustling high street. In fact, got so giddy on the Liberty scarfy loveliness I bought another one by the same designer (will show that soon). May need to eat beans on toast for tea for the next couple of weeks, but scarf happiness is worth it. And I like beans :)

Next dress was also a Dublin find- not sure the fabric of this sundress (a kind of love child of faux-suede and velour?), but it is buttery soft. Nixed the matching belt and paired it with some black and sequins to lift the beige-ness:

(Dress- Vintage from the Fluorescent Elephant in Dublin; Skivvy- Uniqlo)


The belt is a cherished old friend that came with a different dress, but I love the mix of colours and sequin sizes and it is surprisingly versatile.

(Belt- Gorman)

Some little silver and lapis drop earrings my dad bought me years and years ago:

And my trusty nude patent Russell and Bromley brogues. Definitely wear flats more often since moving to London- was once a die-hard heel devotee. Don't know what these bad boys are made of, but they never seem to get scuffed or smudged despite being such a light colour.

Will post the rest of my vintage Dublin purchases sometime soon!

Tx

Charmed by Dublin (to be sure, to be sure)

Back in town after our city break in Dublin, feeling relaxed, refreshed and ready for the week ahead.

A quick outfit post from Friday (can't remember the reason for the pout... potentially a grumpy morning face?)

(Dress- Witchery; Scarf- Tsumori Chisato; Boots- Acne; Tights- Tabio)

Clumsily drawing your attention to the floral-on-floral combination. You can't see that detail of this scarf but it is huge when unfurled and has a really simple, graphic image in the centre, framed by tiny liberty print blossoms. I fell in love with it when I bought it in Japan a few years back.

These tights always divide opinion. When I was boarding the plane on Friday night, the steward scanning in the tickets apologised to me 'in case I thought he was staring at my legs' and explained he was actually looking at the previous passengers' rolling suitcase. I hadn't thought he was staring at my legs. His embarrassment made it clear that he had been. Or perhaps wasn't staring any more as he had been temporarily blinded by the acid brightness of the tights...

Saturday outfit, a melange of prints and textures for exploring the town.

General itinerary: hearty fry up for breakfast; morning trawl around the vintage stores in Temple Bar area (Perk Up!, Jean Cronin, the Fluorescent Elephant and the Loft Market are highly recommended); obligatory trip to the Guinness Brewery; late lunch at Leo Burdock's (amazing fish and chips); afternoon snooze (the height of indulgence in my book- blissful); bar crawl in the evening (my fave was the Exchequer- spectacular 'Gingerbread Jack' cocktails ); possibly MacDonald's and Burger King after that (I know. I know. So bad, but so good).

(Flannel checked shirt- Uniqlo; Vest- Vintage from Tokyo; Skirt- Vintage from Copenhagen; Boots- Acne; Tights- Tabio)

A close up so you can see the pattern on the knitted vest- was glad I thought to pack the flannel shirt and woollen vest as it was chilly in the city, especially when walking by the Jiffey River.

I love this skirt- a proud vintage bargain. The flowers look like they've been hand-painted onto the skirt as the print has a slightly grainy quality, the colours are a little muted and you can see the brush strokes.

Will post a few more pics of the trip tomorrow.

Hope you had an excellent weekend too?

Tx

A spot of feline fun

Terrible pun, I know. This was yesterday's outfit (today's was strictly pajamas as I was home sick), and served double duty as it took me from presentations during the day to a few drinks and nibbles at night.

Clearly a post-vino pose...

(Blouse- Sonia Rykiel; Jeans- Lee; Boots- Acne)


Twice as nice?

I do love this blouse- silky and trapeze shaped, with a playful matching neck-tie and a little heart shaped pocket on the chest that strangely can't be seen in the pics. A close up on the spotty print:

And on the choice of accessories. I thought the oversized pearl and diamante earrings worked well with the leopard in a Dynasty-esque tribute to 80s power dressing.

(Earrings- Sportsgirl)


Excited to report I'm off to Dublin tomorrow evening for a weekend of fun with B and J- hope you have great weekends too!

Tx

Jerk chicken and jelly shots amidst the crowd

Visited the Notting Hill Carnival (which I erroneously called the NH Festival yesterday- major faux pas!) yesterday; a long running annual event located a stones throw from our abode, we woke up in the morning to the sound of a thumping bass and vuvuzelas on the street.

This was my carnival outfit- a seventies vibe, with a dash of Carmen SanDiego (I think it's the hat?)

(Dress- Vintage from Copenhagen; Boots- Country Road; Sunglasses- Vintage; Hat- Muji)

Even the skies favoured the Carnival festivities as the clouds blew away, leaving the costumed revellers to circle the streets and bands took to the rooftops

Jerk chicken, rum cocktails and (potent) jelly shots make for fun times...

 

But the crowds...

Oh, the crowds... A lot of jostling and noise and bodies as far as the eye could see (they estimated 1 million turn up each year)

We retired in the afternoon to the relative civility of a local pub followed by football in front of the box at home, and whilst the boys headed back out for more (yes, more!) jerk chicken in the evening I snoozed off the day's activity.

Happy Bank Holiday weekend!

Tx

Noshing and admiring portraits...

Was today's agenda. We headed to Soho for some Breakfast Club grub (Poached eggs, avo, bacon and fresh chillies- so scrummy) followed by a trip to the National Portrait Gallery to see the BP Portrait Awards (Incredible! How can people be so damn talented? How???) and some shopping en route.

I've noticed my weekend dressing is getting more and more boyish. Not in a sharp, structured, masculine-tailoring sort of way, but in a slouchy, only-want-to-wear-pajamas-or-something-equally-comfy-and-not-at-all-restrictive sort of way...

(Trousers- Zara; Shirt- Club Monaco; Hat- Elk; Snood- Urban Outfitters; Shoes- Souveniers from Greece courtesy of my bestie, K)

These trousers are my new faves- bought them from Zara for a snip last weekend and they are essentially tracksuit pants, made out of wool. They have elasticated ankles, a looser fit, big boy-sized pockets and an elasticated waist. Why can't all trousers be as comfy as these?

As it was (at least periodically) sunny out, I wanted to wear sunglasses. But bad sunglasses can happen to good people...

Monobrow city, right? To be fair, these aren't bad glasses, they just disagree with my face. Look much better on their true owner, B.

Off to the Notting Hill Festival tomorrow, enjoy your weekend!

Tx