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"...Don't think you were born too late. Everyone has that illusion. But you aren't. The only problem is if you think too late." - Diana Vreeland

I always feel that I would have fitted in better (sartorially speaking) had I been born 100 years ago. I still get a touch upset that we don't dress for dinner as we used to or that hats and gloves are no longer donned every day. But as Vreeland states, that is simply not the attitude! 

However today I feel a bit nostalgic for the icons of yesteryear and wish to hark back to the classics and pay homage to them and the stars of today who keep the fires of glamour burning. A bit of fashspiration for all tomorrows parties...

These are the fashion gods I pray to when I stand in front of my chaotic wardrobe (above) asking my most favourite question WHAT SHALL I WEAR?

Jane Birkin

Kate and Johnny. I mean...

Diana Vreeland. Watch The Eye Has To Travel

Sebastian Flyte with Aloysius and Charles Ryder, Brideshead Revisited

Iris Apfel - read this amazing book Rare Bird of Fashion - The Irreverant Iris Apfel

Lorna Garman. Read The Rare and The Beautiful - I became obsessed with her style after reading this book. Her lover Laurie Lee wrote in his journal that 'Once she turned up in seven different blues (counting her eyes)' 

Marilyn Monroe when she was hanging out in Palm Springs

Jean-Paul Belmondo. Watch Pierrot Le Fou - you may well fall in love with him. I did.

Audrey Hepburn - specifically in Breakfast At Tiffanys. This outfit makes my heart sing.

Edie Segwick read Edie- Girl On Fire 

Elizabeth Taylor - specifically this outfit which she wore to marry Richard Burton the first time.

Marchesa Luisa Casati,  painting by Augustus John. Read The Marchesa Casatti - Portraits Of A Muse

Her fancy dress outfits are legendary.

Anna Della Russo - check out her blog here

Zelda Fitzgerald - inspired the character of Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby - see my take on a modern day Daisy here

Grace Kelly. Amen.

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Drunk Shopping

A comparison website recently found that 43% of the 2000 people they surveyed had shopped on-line after drinking. Had they included me in said survey last week I would have upped that percentage. A quarter of the once-inebriated respondents said they 'only bought the item because of the alcohol they had drunk'. A fifth could not even remember what they had bought (me) and that the most common purchases were clothes
and shoes (me).
A whopping 78% regretted their purchases. Not me!
Or so I thought...

 Luckily I woke up with no sense of regret but a sort of lovely, excited feeling and a headache. Surfing the net after a glass bottle or two of Lambrini and a wallet is a joyful experience! Oh the possibilities! There is a whole world out there and slome reeeally slovely dresshes. Despite the fact it was raining cats and rats outside...how about a 1940s silk tea dress and espadrilles? Yup! Click - straight in the basket! Grosgrain pale pink sun dress? Yes please. Click! Laser cut out shorts and cami combo? What is that? Sure, why not?! Would you like to checkout because you're seeing double because you're seeing double? Yah! Don't worry we've saved your card details from last time. So convenient...no time to scramble through my purse and change my mind/pass out. Gosh I love Topshop. I seem to especially love Topshop under the
affluence of incahol.

In the sober light of day, parcel by parcel by parcel arrived on my desk, accompanied by raised eyebrows from work colleagues. I shamefully checked my bank statement. And that's when my heart slightly sank - a socking great chunk of money meant for my water bill...had disappeared.
Most of it's being returned (white leather shorts? I mean, who does the drunk me think I am?) but a few delights are staying. Thank goodness we are able to return things without a hoo-ha these days. Mind you, clothes are one thing, a flight to China is quite another...as are mousetraps*

However, I fear Drunk Internet Shopping is just like drinking followed by a hangover: one quickly forgets the bad bits because it's so blinking fun and starts all over again. Gin and Tonic anyone?

This is what I kept. I can't even begin to tell you about the horrors that went back.

Floral Tea Dress by Topshop Boutique

Floral Beaded Clutch Bag from ASOS

Nars Lipstick in Roman Holiday from Space NK

Hayworth Raffia Shoes from Charlotte Olympia

Pearl Hairband courtesy of Louis Mariette

*After one too many Flaming Lamborghini's a panicked friend ordered 100 mousetraps (instead of 10) having spotted a rodent in her kitchen and wasn't allowed a refund. They're not even the kind of thing you can give as a present. 

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Capsule Wardrobes & Day Dressing

Now, as much as a I love a dress, a heel and a touch of the ridiculous, I also love a warm coat and a good pair of jeans. As Leonardo da Vinci once said 'Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication' (Apparently?! Thank you famousquote.com) and I am inclined to agree when it comes to dressing for down time. But I do find it hard.

Give me a black tie party or a wedding and I feel confident that I will choose the right outfit. Tell me I've got a pub lunch on Sunday followed by a walk in Wormwood Scrubs Park and I break out in a cold sweat. I've never been able to dress for the day very well. I once had a job in a furniture shop and was taken to the stock room by my manager who instructed me to stop dressing like I was going to a party. In another job at a private members club in Mayfair, I was told to tone down on the dresses because I looked like I had ideas above my station. 

I thought I looked fine.

The 'Capsule Wardrobe' was a term coined in the 70's for the modern woman who ideally needs about 10 essential but simple items of clothing that work together in order to have something to wear for every occasion. 

I have such schizophrenic tastes, therefore am not a Capsule Wardrobe kind of person but recently have been trying to grow up a bit and go for a few classic purchases rather than say, a Francesca Couture dress (guilty). I've concluded that a white shirt, jeans, ballet shoes, leather jacket, utilitarian coat, a selection of jumpers in muted tones and some classic sunglasses with simple gold jewellery should get me through these weird weather weeks so that day dressing is a walk in the park. Maybe not Wormwood Scrubs though. 

Don't be silly.

                      

                  

I am wearing:

White Boyfriend Shirt from ASOS

Leigh Jeans from Topshop

Chanel Ballet Flats (best things I've ever bought)

My mums cashmere jumper

Acne Rita Leather Jacket (another of the best things I have ever bought)

Ray Ban Wayfarers and Aviators here

Guernsey Jumper similar here

Hooded Jacket from Zara

Cholet Handbag from Anya Hindmarch

Selection of jumpers from ASOS (mens section) Zara & Topshop

White Boyfriend T-Shirt from ASOS

Supergas from ASOS

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