You Ain't Got No Alibi

(Image via Farfetch)

You ugly!

And that is why we love you. For once fashion is embracing the practical and the unconventional in the form of the ugly sandal. It is the shoe trend of the season and I want in. I am entirely in love with the See by Chloe white chunky sandal above, but as a possible one-season-trend I might refrain from spending the big(ger) bucks and look to the high street instead.

I can't even remember the last time that I bought anything from Topshop but that might well change because the are hard at work on the ugly sandal trend.

Prada, Celine et al have been championing the pool slide/Teva style adventure sandal and the fashion elite have been going nuts for them. Who can blame them, quite frankly. The cost of being at the forefront of the fashion biz is surely the constant discomfort of dressing out of season and  sporting perilously high heels. So flat chunky sandals with wide straps must be an absolute delight in comparison.

Another great thing about an ugly trend is that you have to be quite brave to try it, so while the comfort might mark you out as being anti-fashion the ugliness (weirdly in this case) reels you back in to being right on the fashion money. Get in! Being fashionable by wearing just one item? It couldn't be easier.

A probably unnecessary  warning is that those not interested in fashion and particularly those with XY chromosome WILL. NOT. GET. THIS. TREND. It is basically a fashion prophylactic.

But fear not, ladies, if you are the type to dress for the fellas this is no doubt the furthest trend from your thoughts anyway. So as you were.

I wear trainers almost exclusively these days and as the weather is getting warmer I was getting concerned about how to maintain the levels of comfort I have recently become accustomed to. But I can breathe a deep sigh of relief because the ugly sandal is going to keep my feet blissfully happy while doing the same for my fashion sensibilities. I couldn't be more chuffed!

(Images via Topshop)

Cut and Run

Balenciaga

When the cut-out and be-buckled Balenciaga came out (was it last winter?) I thought they were hideous.

But with time and exposure to them (or the same style at any road) in real life situations I am starting to really like them.

A major influence was a young lady I have been working with who was wearing them with dresses and looking really super feminine but tough, which is a style of dressing I have an awful lot of time for.

Jil Sander

I have to say I'm tempted.

KG Kurt Geiger

Not having loads of money at the moment is kind of a blessing because I really can't buy anything. So I can fantasise, mull things over without having to commit to a particular look. While I suspect I would never be brave enough to wear these, in my head I'm wearing the hell out of them and looking pretty awesome at the same time, thank you very much.

If some money ever trickles in sufficiently to fund a shopping trip I'll see if I am still so enamoured.

Topshop

(Images via Matchesfashion.com, Kurt Geiger, Topshop, Net a Porter) 

A Slip of a Thing

When Victoria Beckham arrived at the men's Wimbledon final in a slip I have to admit I wasn't entirely convinced.

Yes, it was a Louis Vuitton slip, part of its autumn winter lingerie/nightwear inspired collection, but it was still a slip. Very pretty but definitely not for me. I would hardly consider such an item suitable for the boudoir let alone a bar.

But the more I look at the Louis Vuitton collection the more I am drawn to it.

But how to make it wearable in real life?

Because I will absolutely not be copying any of these looks, even though I like their flavour.

I think I have discovered the solution - the camisole. A nod to the underwear trend without being too suggestive. Plus I think a little plain black camisole over jeans is super elegant. There is just something very appealing about an exposed clavicle and shoulder with just the whisper of a strap.

Equipment

I am very tempted. What about you? Tempted to make underwear outerwear this season?

By Malene Birger

Jigsaw

Mason by Michelle Mason

Tibi

Topshop

(Images via Style.com, Net a Porter, Topshop, Jigsaw)

About the Size of it

(Image via Topshop)

I have more or less given up on Topshop. It seems that no matter how many items are wedged onto a single rail none of them will ever be my size.

A size 12 is scarce, size 14 non-existent and 16 merely a myth.

I thought this skirt was pretty but not, apparently, for big girls. You would barely believe that this country has an obesity problem for all the size 6.

But I have been suitably reminded of my frustrations and won't venture back any time soon.

Middle England

I really love the bralet trend. I think it looks terribly chic with a high waisted skirt as shown as Dolce and Gabbana and Prada.

(Images via The Daily Fashion Feed, Topshop)

I just wish that I had a midriff worth showing off. If I did I would be flashing it in this Topshop number as soon as the sun was out.

A Blast from the Past(el)

Topshop is really working the pastel florals.

(Image via Topshop)

Chain Reaction

I have to say something, I'm afraid. I know it will mark me out as being a miserable old cow, but be that as it may.

Body chains are gross.

As if necklaces haven't become big enough already (which I'm not against per se) they now have to envelop the whole torso.

And this one looks like a horse bridle. Am I missing something here? What's the appeal?

But seeing as Rihanna sported one under her sheer swimsuit the other day, I imagine it will be a craze soon to be sweeping the nation. Just count me out.

(Images via Topshop, Daily Mail)

Lace-Up in Arms

So what do you say to a pastel shade brogue for summer? I think they would look awful cute with trousers and skirts/dresses. So I say yes please.

 (Images via Kurt Geiger, Topshop, Hobbs)

The Green, Green Grass of Home

I urgently need to get some colour into my wardrobe. I realise that I am following a similar path to the one I did a few years ago and I need to make it stop. For my own well being. It went something like this:

- Wasn't feeling great about myself

- Started putting on weight

- Started wearing lots of black and dark clothes

- Started wearing shapeless clothes

- Felt worse about myself

- Ate some more...

You see where this is going. Well at that point I picked myself up, dusted myself off and booked myself a trip to the mountains, did lots of training, felt loads better about myself, got a bit thinner, felt loads better about myself, started wearing lots of colour and fitted clothes, felt on top of the world.

So I've done all the negative things on that list again and it is time to put a stop to that and put a more positive spin on things. And I think a lovely easy way to do that is with colour. So what about this Topshop number? Yes, I know it is shapeless but baby steps, you know?

The colour is heaven. I really love it. Less sure about the fussiness of the straps at the back, but chances are it will be covered by a cardigan to start with, so maybe that doesn't matter.

(Image via Topshop, Marks & Spencer)

And talking about the cardigan, I've had my eyes on this one from M&S. It is bright and jolly but are the colours too similar? They definitely look so here, but in real life I remember the cardigan being a slightly bolder shade. Those two could work together without me looking as though I was turning into the hulk, couldn't they?