Less is More

I have long appreciated Sophie Hulme bags from afar. I have perved over them online, stalked them through many an online boutique, peeped on them in more than one fashion magazine, I confess. I'm not proud of my behaviour.

But I have never met one in person, never clapped eyes on their luscious leathery appeal, never run my hands over their beautiful minimal form, never beheld their true glory.

Until Tuesday.

I tell you, I might never be the same.

These bags are so heavenly I think I may have been changed on a fundamental level.

They are so clean and minimal and perfect, with glorious, interesting colours. The mind boggles as to why anyone would want a bag with loads of hardware or bag charms or anything that needs to be shout to be heard.

These bags are confident in their inherent quality. They know they'll seduce without having to cheapen themselves with frivolity. They are classic and elegant and oh so dreamy. Sigh!

The best part is that they are not insanely expensive. Sure, they aren't cheap, they don't compare with anything on the high street, but for a designer bag with this kind of quality, design, workmanship and materials they are an absolute bargain. I kid you not.

I am getting old. I want things that suit my age and are going to hang out with me for some time to come. Honestly, I would rather buy nothing and save to buy something beautiful that will last.

A Sophie Hulme bag is now top of that list. I think it's love.

(Images via Matchesfashion.com)

It's a Fair Koop

If you are looking for loyalty in a girl you should just keep looking, I'm afraid. Because I am what's known as contrary. Particularly when it comes to trends.

My style, thanks in part to my body type, is super feminine. I probably have more dresses in rotation right now than all of the trousers I have ever owned.

So, this season, with all the feminine looks flooding the high street I should be like a pig in, ahem, the brown stuff. But there is nothing like telling me that is really the way that I should be dressing to persuade me to do exactly the opposite. Especially if it is something I am already doing. I don't want to be seen as slavishly following trends.

So little miss skirts and dresses and nipped in waists that I am has taken a holiday for the summer, and the tougher me has shown up in her place. And the new me likes skinny trousers and black and cobalt blue. She doesn't like pattern. She wants simple shapes that are easy to wear. She wouldn't be see dead in something fussy.

And this me, for the time being, is totally obsessed with The Kooples. Up to now I have loved their advertising but always felt that their clothes were not for me. You know, too cool for school and too masculine. Whereas in reality they are quite like my beloved Comptoir, just a little bit slicker, a little more pared down. And you know what? Exactly what I want to look like right now.

(Images via The Kooples)

Their shapes are very minimal, but also feminine in a cooler way than all the flounce. How has it taken me this long to discover it? Because seriously, right now I only want to wear their clothes. For the rest of my life.

(I promise I won't though, readers, because I recognise that might become somewhat tiresome for you reading this.)

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...)