the perfect blue shirt

I have been on the look out for the perfect blue shirt for a long time. My style is very simple and classic and though I would love to rock an oversized white shirt for some reason I can't help thinking about my old school uniforms where a white shirt was mandatory everyday. A compromise however would be a classic blue shirt. I like the idea of wearing such a piece with denim shorts in the Summer or under a navy jumper in the Winter. The item is a versatile classic.

For me finding a shirt that fits right is like finding a pair of jeans. It is not easy. Only a fortnight ago I was in a GAP changing room with 5 different blue shirts and a range of sizes and not one fitted well. We all are different shapes and sizes and for me I need a shirt to fit my more than ample bosoms and the petite frame. .

Happily browsing online one evening last week I stumbled upon this shirt from the Atterley Road website.  It arrived very quickly and it is just the perfect fit. The shirt is made in Italy and the quality is very good. I also like to be comfy so the oversized style was the one for me. It is also currently on sale.

I wore it , just like the model below, with my white converse and my skinny jeans on Friday.

what's inside my bag

I think the majority of women love to see what is in another womens bag. So this is what is in my work bag. My bag at the movement rotates between the Longchamp Le Pilage Large Shoulder bag in Camel and the Louis Vuitton Neverfull in GM. For looks the Neverfull is the one but for practicality it has to be the Le Pilage. Its brilliant for work. I never knew why these nylon bags were so popular but I know now.

Louis Vuitton Neverfull in Damier Ebene GM

Longchamp Le Pilage in Camel

 

 

 

 

Cath Kidston Umbrella- I live in England it always rains.

 

Moleskin The Little Prince Diary- For those dates and appointments.

 

Reusable Shopper- Always comes in handy and is more sustainable

 

Louis Vuitton Brazza Wallet- It is actually a mens wallet but

much slimmer than the Womens range of large purses. I love it and highly recommend it. Mine is the plain brown leather inside but it now comes in a coloured interior, more details here.

 

Tissues- why not

 

Camera- In a padded fabric case from Etsy. Perfect size

 

Liberty Pouch- contains the essentials, i.e hand cream, make up, paracetamol, plasters, fresh wipes.

 

Leather Mimi Pouch- keys, inhaler and usb stick 

saltwater sandals

If there is one thing that I wear a lot in the Summer it is my saltwater sandals.I was first made aware of them during the Indie days of my twenties when I saw Alexa Chung wearing a pair.

I just thought they were simple, chic and comfortable. So I looked into it.

I found that, back then, they were not available in the UK so I ordered them directly from the USA from  here.  I also took advantage of any friends and relatives going to the USA to bring me back pairs. Now they are now available from Toast but I think the price is too expensive.

I have these in tan and black and I love them. Below is a staple Summer outfit for me.

French Connection white cotton tunic

love a bit of leopard.....

though this was not always the case. Leopard print has some negative connotations, wear too much and you can look like Bet Lynch. For all you who don't know who she is she is a character in a long running soap here in the UK.  Leopard was her favourite as you can see.

Unlike Bet, I like leopard but in very small doses. I think leopard acts as a great neutral to off set plain coloured clothes. I have a scarf that I wear a lot and a pair of ballet flats if I want to liven up a plain outfit.

I saw this and now I want this dress. Its from Whistles' new collection and I think will be a great staple for Spring and Summer. You can dress it down with sandals (I live in Saltwater sandals during the Summer) or white converse. If I want to dress it up I will pair with leopard kitten heels. These are by Jimmy Choo but as I have said I am not a shoe person and will settle for a less costly pair....so now I am on the look out.

I will get the dress next week. I am now, as of tomorrow,  off to Scotland for a visit.

grenson brogues

Last Summer I lived in my Gap nude leather ballet flats. They went with everything and the thing with nude coloured shoes is that they make you seem taller than you are and for me at 5ft 3.5inches I take all the help I can get. Those nude flats are now so well worn they are in my hoarder pile, i.e. I should really chuck them away but I can't.

Having established that I need a replacement pair of nude shoes for the impending Summer I snapped up these in the January sales...a pair of nude Grenson brogues.  Grenson specialise in mens brogues and recently started making brogues for women. I got these at half price and they are truly a beautiful shoe. All handcrafted in England.. you can't get better quality than that. Once you have tried on a handmade shoe you really appreciate the craftmanship and that they really are worth the money.

For me I will wear these with my basic Summer attire which normally consists of cotton shirts, Summer dresses, denim shorts or cropped rolled up chino pants. I can't wait.

However today I wore them with the following pieces.

Whistles Nick Shirt (last year)

M&S Black Jeggings



Topshop Bolt and Cord Necklace (still available)

Mulberry Alexa



a classic time piece

Since the battery on my men's Seiko chronograph steel watch stopped about three years ago I have unsuccessfully been relying on my Blackberry. I have had my Seiko for 11 years and wore it during a time when oversized watches were not as popular as they are now. After a long time of wearing something significantly chunky on my wrist I felt like a change. Something a bit more chic and I also wanted to get a new watch that was timeless that I could wear for a very long time to come.

After establishing a budget of what I was willing to pay I decided on doing research and narrowed it down to the Cartier Tank Francaise and the Hermes Cape Cod. In fact I have been lusting after the Francaise for a number of years.  So I went to Bond Street and did some investigating. I tried on the Francaise Tank and the Galbee but though both beautiful in their own right I just felt they were a bit too flash and ladylike for me. I almost felt that I needed to be forty years old to wear one as they are very elegant timepieces and too be honest I am not elegant.

Cartier Tank Francaise

 Cartier Santos Galbee

I then turned my intention to the Hermes Cape Cod with a single strap. Nice watch but I couldn't justify the price of this watch considering that Hermes reputation is with leather goods and not timepieces. If I had unlimited amounts of cash I would quite happily get this watch but unfortunately I am not in such a position and though nice wasn't nice enough.

Hermes Cape Cod

Finally I turned my attention to the Cartier Tank Solo.  I love this watch for the simplicity in the design. It comes in three sizes and I chose the large size. It comes in small, large and extra large. Its lightweight and if I wanted I could replace the leather strap with a stainless steel bracelet strap. Personally I like the leather strap and eventually I will replace the black strap with a brown strap. The watch is also secured with a deployment buckle which makes it easy to put on.

Cartier Tank Solo

 

 

I got my watch from Harrods in Terminal 5 at Heathrow tax free and also before Cartier increase their prices which is anytime now.

a new bag

Some love shoes, some love make up but my vice is definately bags. I am obsessed. I get it from my mother who is equally obsessed. Like mother, like daughter as they say. 

I like to invest and if I am going to spend money on a bag, I like to buy classic styles that are going to last me a while. 

So here is my latest addition...the Givenchy Nightingale in Khaki. It is a classic style that Givenchy issue every season in different colours and three different sizes.

It is from the Spring Summer season 12. I luckily got 40% off after searching online from a boutique in Milan, Italy of all places. I personally think it looks more chic in black but I never wear black and so I thought Khaki suited me better. I mean there is no point having a bag you are not going to use.

whistles

If I was asked the question, "What is my favourite shop for clothes"?, I would have to say Whistles.

I am in my thirties and what I want in what I wear has changed to what I wanted in my twenties.  These days I want to have quality well made clothes that will last. I also want clothes that can transit between seasons and for several years to come.

Hence for me, I think Whistles is my go to shop. It is more pricey than H & M and Zara for example but you do get what you pay for.

I have several pieces from Whistles including seven dresses and a classic navy wool peacoat and I do intend on building upon this collection. I buy my pieces in all manner of ways. In the store full price or in the sale and second hand on ebay. On their website they also have an "outlet"section where discounted pieces can be found.

My wishlist:

june purchases

The internet makes shopping too easy. The internet is bad. Well that's what I tell myself but in reality I have no willpower.


I am not going to reveal everything I have bought lately because that would be facing up to reality so I am going to provide an edited account.


My first purchase is a gold and coral ring. There is a story behind the ring as it is similar to a ring that I saw in a magazine years ago. That ring was from a boutique in Turkey and with no name or reference to help me hunt it down my search could go no further. Anyway I was browsing Etsy (I love Etsy) and noticed a ring that looked similar to the ring that I had seen previously. Better still the stone within the ring was coral which is my favourite colour. So here is the ring and I love it. I had it made in sterling silver and plated with 24k gold (if I only I could afford it all to be made from pure gold).

The jeweller can be found here and she was very friendly and helpful as I asked for the ring to be customised. I highly recommend her.


My second and third purchase is in homage to the designer Isabel Marant. I love how the french dress. Effortless, chic and simple and funnily enough quite hard to achieve in my opinion. Again Isabel Marant is not cheap and a bit overpriced considering her 'look' is rather casual. One of her staple and recognised designs are her infamous Dicker boots (shown below) but at 365 GB pounds a bit out of my price range.

The original Isabel Marant Dicker boots

ASOS have some great boots at more affordable prices. They actually have a great dupe for these boots here but I chose the August boots shown below. I am short at 5ft 3.5inches so I chose a boot with a lower rise up the ankle as a higher rise boot would cut me off and make me look even shorter. I love these boots and they are so comfortable and I will wear these with jeans, dresses and skirts.

ASOS August Boots



My final purchase is a vintage blouse from Etsy which is also not so faraway from Isabel Marant.

I intend on wearing all the above with black skinny jeans for a friend's birthday party this weekend. Its a shame the party is not in Paris :)

charity begins at the supermarket

On my way home from work if I need to grab some groceries I go to Sainsbury's in Camden Town. Its one of the biggest supermarkets around these parts and its more importantly convenient. Monday is the worst night to go as everyone is restocking after the weekend but it was my turn to cook the evening meal so off I went.

After picking up the things I wanted I noticed these bags by the designer Matthew Williamson for sale. More information on them here. I did read about them a few weeks ago but I thought unless I wasn't there on the day there was no way I would be able to get my hands on one. 

They come in the colours coral, teal and khaki. I picked the coral one after much deliberation as its the most summery.

So if you want to do your bit for charity I think this is one of the most stylish ways to do it. The bags cost £5 and available at participating stores. I am going to use it as my swim bag as its so roomy.

spring is here

Today the weather was so mild. People were out in the streets wearing just t-shirts and no coats. Spring is definitely here. The other half and I decided to pop down to Camden for a walk around and to get some groceries. The other reason was to get some nail polish as reviewed by blog Fabugloss here . I never wear bright colour nail polish. My colours are the nudes and french manicure shades of this world. However, I saw Rimmel's 'Rose Libertine' and fell in love with the shade. I went to Superdrug who were doing a 3 for 2 on all Rimmel products and so got 'Instyle Coral' too.

 

Instyle Coral left

Libertine Rose right

We also popped into Gap. I only go to Gap when there is a sale on. I got these nude leather ballet flats which were half price at only £12.99. I think they will go with a lot in Spring and Summer.

.

I would have taken photos of Camden Market today just to show you the hordes of people all out enjoying the sun but alas I forgot my phone. There will always be next time...

my "new to me" red dress

I am Asian (parents are from Hong Kong) and everyone knows the colour red goes well with the black hair and pale skin. I have thus been looking for a suitable go to red dress for a while that I can pull out whatever the occasion especially the special ones.

I saw this dress a while back when it was brought out by Marks and Spencer and I really liked it but as it was a limited edition release it didn't hang around for long. I am not one of these people to queue outside shops.

So I was on ebay and saw one for sale and I bid and I got it for the price of £18. A big saving from the original £89 price tag. The red colour is not cheap looking which is a fundamental element of any red dress. I am thinking of styling it up with simple black courts and with two weddings this year coming up I think it will make an appearance at at least one of them.

The Sabria Shoe from LK Bennett. You can get them here.  I am  not great in high heels and I think these shoes have the right heel size that I could cope with.   I think I may get them as an investment piece. I have learnt from experience that the more you pay for shoes the more comfortable you are going to be.