Handle with Kid Gloves

(Via Style)

Admittedly I have turned my back on the idea of dressing like a modern vision of 50s femininity. But there is one element that I think I might want to make use of.

Long leather gloves.



It is interesting how they are able to be both feminine and luxurious and also pared down and a little bit hardcore.



I want a pair to wear with my new COS navy coat with bracelet sleeves. I bought a pair of navy (always and only navy) elbow length gloves but even the smallest size was far too baggy. (Ha! Finally! Something that is too big for me, that doesn't often happen.) I want a pair so sharp, so tight that my bloodflow is threatened.



Is this a practical desire? Would my regular length burgundy leather gloves work just as well? I would actually be able to read my watch for a start.

Maybe it is just that I have a fantasy of being Rita Hayworth in Gilda, in which case I should just give it up now, coz no one can compete with that kind of sex appeal. Can they?

Into the Freja

(Via Style)

Man, this girl is so cool.

Wednesday's Child

(Via Daily Mail)

With the exception of the black plaits and the evil look in the eye (well...) this is exactly what I look like today.

All Mouth and No Trousers

Was I mistaken when I believed all the hoo ha about "the return of the trouser"? Because I want to dive right into this hoo ha and get myself all trousered up. Up to, you know, the waist.



But I am at a loss. Because there doesn't seem to be a wealth of trousers on the high street. I heard ravings about the trouser collection from Gap. But when I went to explore found them slightly dull and with very limited fabric options. For me pinstripe is never an option.


(Via Whistles)

So if I want a straight leg, ankle-length smart trouser, rather than a peg or a harem, etc., where am I meant to look?


(Via Style)

And don't even get me started on how lacking the high street is on the Gucci-esque evening trouser. (Not that I would ever be likely to wear them, I am far too enamoured of a cocktail dress.) But disgraceful nonetheless.

Boxing Clever

(Via Russell & Bromley)

I wonder if it is a bad idea to buy a bag that is on trend for the season. Especially if it costs £225. If I am spending that much I want to make sure I am going to use it for some time.

I have fallen in love with this Russell & Bromley bag in tan. It would go marvellously well with my new navy coat and generally with the minimalist look. But is it too specific? I don't want to waste my pennies if I won't use it again beyond the season.

But I haven't found anything else that even vaguely fits the bill. I want a neat, simple bag that I can wear across the body. All of which this bag covers. Does it therefore justify itself, or should I look for something cheaper or make do with something I already have...? What a dilemma.

Legs Eleven

(Via Go Fug Yourself)

Do you think Julia Roberts has mistaken herself for Gwyneth Paltrow?

Button It

There are certain styles that me ache at the utter coolness of them. And girls that rock them just seem so untouchable. So beyond anything that I could hope to achieve. And I am talking specifically about buttoning your shirt all the way up to the top. Sounds simple? But actually I think it might just be the look that will divide those who like fashion and those who absorb fashion through every pore. Honestly, I know it sounds a bit crazy, but I have a lot of respect for a girl who prioritises being fashionable over looking conventionally attractive (this look is quite severe and probably not one that will appeal to men).


(Via Style)

I'm not sure that I will be able to carry it off, but I treated myself to a white Jil Sander for Uniqlo shirt at lunch so we will see how we go.

I have two concerns. One, the twin airbags. A low V tends to be more flattering on a chest of my proportions. But I figure a sweater over the top with a deep V might be an ideal solution. And two, my hair isn't quite right. Most of the girls hitting up the button up have top knots (gah! so jealous) which is beyond me and my bijoux barnet, but I might see about sweeping it back with a thin band for a more minimal look.

Now, I wonder if I really can pretend to be "one of those girls"...

It Finally Happened!

After some serious doubts, some soul searching and quite a lot of walking around I have done what I was coming to fear was the impossible.

I have found a cape that I like and that actually likes me back. What are the odds? Usually either you or the cape are more into the other, you know how it is. Either a clingy cape or an indifferent cape. Both of which are entirely tiresome.

But this cape...



Yes, this one here...


(Via COS)

This one loves me and I love it back. I think we are going to be very happy together.

Dirndl Baby Dirndl

(Via COS)

So after getting the mid-calf dirndl skirt fantasy well and truly lodged in my cerebellum I went searching and found that for a girl who is demure in the height department and generous in the posterior department it might just be a no go.

The solution?

The knee length dirndl that is fitted at the waist. Like this delightful one I bought from COS. I want to wear it with a vest top that falls very low at the sides to stop it from being too fusty and of course very high heels.

Do we like?

Patently Ridiculous

So, what is the shoe holy grail? For this season at least. Well, I want a shoe that will go with skirts and dresses and trousers. I want a block heel. And I want it to be minimalist and not too feminine. I want to wear them at work. I want to be able to walk in them.


(Via Kurt Geiger)

I bought these. Do you think they fit the bill?

Let's Get Minimal (Minimal)

Life can be surprising, can't it? You can peruse all the magazines. Make a decision about what look you are going to hit up for the season. In my case it was the forties/land girl look. Florals and knitwear, a charming combination of pretty and practical aided by lashings and lashings of red lippie. And then venture out to buy whatever fits the bill.



Only to find yourself utterly drawn to something else entirely. And not just that, but to more or less the polar opposite.



Yes, we're talking minimal. Now I had read the magazines, I had heard the fuss, but honestly it didn't occur to me for a second that this was a look for me. For the last two years I have been dressing in as much colour as your average children's tv presenter (although with infinitely more style, I would hope). But not any more. Now these are my watch words: pared down, simple, minimal, tonal, neutral. Would you Adam and Eve it?



No, me neither quite frankly. I thought I had a winter of berry colours and floral prints ahead of me. But what actually stands before me are months of camel, navy, grey, white and black, and absolutely no pattern. Structural shapes and no flounce. And trousers no less. What a novelty!



Pretending to be Freja Beha Erichsen in Celine. Hmmm, should I go brunette too?


(Via Style)

It is a properly grown up look, and I just can't wait! (More details on the specifics of what I have bought to follow...)

A Well-Turned Calf

So what are your thoughts on the mid-calf length skirt?

I think I might find it quite charming. But in a harking back to my middle class "let's put on a Barbour and wellies and go for a nice walk in the countryside" childhood kind of way.

The reality of it might not be that pretty.


(Via Toast)

Is it too poshos with horsey faces braying over what a jolly good show it all is? And terribly unflattering? Honestly, I don't have too much leg length to shout about already, would it be an awful mistake to hide myself with so much cloth?

Because actually, honestly, what I really think of when I think of mid-calf is my first day of secondary school when I was drowning in my school uniform that was bought to last out my years of growing so it wouldn't have to be bought again. Until, that is, my classmates and I were set upon, en masse, by the girls in the year above who grabbed our skirts and rolled and rolled and rolled them up until our skirts grazed our buttocks and we had a rubber ring's worth of tweed bunched up around our waists. And those are days, sartorially speaking, that I don't particularly want to revisit.

Hmm, I've answered my own question, haven't I? As you were...

You Pays Your Money You Takes Your Choice

(Via Elle)

This, however, is my choice of outerwear for the season. Isn't it the most? Now when will we just get over this warmish weather and get good and cold so I can start wearing it?

A Fly in the Ointment

(Via Style)

So the word on the street is that the Burberry aviator is the jacket of the season.

Am I alone in thinking it's just not very nice?

It's a Fair(isle) Cop!

(Via Dale of Norway)

A few years ago the folks and I ripped it up on a cruise along the Norwegian coast. Yes, it was awesome, thanks. Well, every day without fail we were utterly entertained by another passenger proudly making an appearance in the traditional Norwegian knitted jumper or cardigan. It made us chuckle, as though it were the equivalent of wearing an I Heart Cruisin' t-shirt.

But actually they were beautiful designs and nicely made. And now that I'm not cruisin' in Norway I really wished I owned one. Particularly as the nights will soon be drawing in.


(Via Topshop)

I guess the option I have here is the Fairisle. And it does seem to be quite the trend this season. I eyed up this little To'Sho' number a while back. But I was not alone. It seems to be developing a nasty little case of ubiquity, I've seen it hanging around town like some woollen ne'er-do-well. So, sartorial snob that I am, it is not for me.


(Via River Island)

And the River Island number? Hmmm, not too sure. It kinda makes me think of something. Something unsavoury...



Know what I mean?

Meat and Two Veg

(Excuse the headline, I know the penis allegations were some time ago but I couldn't resist. It just seemed fitting somehow.)


(Via Go Fug Yourself)

I am off my game. I have passed my prime. I am old hat. I am, indeed, thoroughly ashamed of myself.

Because something momentous happened, and I didn't know. It took a man, and a hetero one at that, to point out to me that Gaga was parading around in public in a dress that she had fashioned at her local butcher's shop. She looks like a walking Gunther von Hagens exhibit.

Lawks a lordy! How did she think of that? Why did she think of that? And was everyone supplied with nose plugs to conquer the god-awful smell that must have been emanating from that meaty beast?

These are the important questions. I think it only fair to demand they are answered.

On another note... Cher! I mean, honestly, there are no words...

A Snake in the Grass

So, I found a picture of the Temperley. The Cobra dress. Although the detailing on the neckline and sleeves is an orange-red not black. Very pretty.

I am so terribly in love with it. Plus it was at a huge discount, which obviously makes it that much more satisfying.

Let's just hope no one spills red wine on me...

Mad as a Hatter

So, the wedding...

I have bought a really beautiful Temperley dress. It was from Bicester Village so it's old stock and I can't find a picture of it. It is cream with an orange-red applique at the neckline. It is terribly pretty and romantic.

But cream? For a wedding? I think it needs toughening up a bit (or my stylist friend did, at any road), so I was thinking about black accessories. Maybe a thin belt and black shoes. But I was also thinking of some kind of head piece. Not a fascinator, but something more subtle. Like a decorated alice band.

I think this one is probably too Alice. Too girly.



I like the idea of a feather, something that sits very close to the head. But I don't like the beading on this.



This one might stick out so far and make me look insane.



And while this one has a lot going on I do quite like it, although I wish it was on a thinner band.


(Via Accessorize)

So what do you think?

A) Nice thought, just keep looking for a better one?

B) One of these might work (I'll obviously have a better idea once I have tried them)?

C) Avoid like the plague and leave my head bare?

Advice please!

Louis Louis

OK, so after the Isabel Marant pointy courts I have found my next shoe of the season to lust after. The Louis Vuitton pointy toed delicate court with a stonking great chunky heel.



I think I might want these even more than the Marants.



There is something so appealing about the prettiness at the front and the sturdiness at the back. Particulaly when the sturdiness is covered in diamanté.



They suit that super femme look of the rest of the Louis Vuitton collection so well. Seeing as I am naturally all about the impressive frontage, small(ish) waist and child-bearing hips it would feel rude not to flaunt them the way that Mr. Jacobs has directed.



Oh gosh, I just yearn to be able to sling on a voluminous swing coat, long leather gloves, a pair of these shoes (but oh! which pair?) and grab a framed handbag as I trip out into the damp leaf-strewn autumnal streets of Paris as though I were staring in a fifties movie about a free spirited but aristocratic English girl looking to find herself, discover philosophy and fall in love.



Hmmm, am I reading too much into this?


(Via Style)