Sunday, 29 January 2012

Hashtag Totes Amaze

Things that worry me about the following videos...

1. That I hear and/ or say at least 3 of these sentences on a daily basis.
2. That my Karen Walker Number One tortoiseshell sunglasses look better on him than me.
3. That this makes me want to ask the Pierre Hermé or Ladurée/ heels or flats/ Essie or OPI/ Karl Lagerfeld or Daphne Guinness question almost constantly.


Prize for best line? "She kept calling it RodART." Cue disgusted face. All together now: obSESSED! 

Thursday, 26 January 2012

Quote Of The Day

Tumblr A wise person once told me...


Fearlessness is no bad thing.

Sunday, 22 January 2012

5 Things To Be Excited About

It's the middle of January; not the most cheerful of times. Luckily, things to look forward to right now are ten a penny. Here are my 5 faves...

1. Meadham Kirchhoff Nail Rock wraps

As if the Meadham Kirchhoff boys didn't bring enough joy into the world with their SS12 collection, now the sugary, so-kitsch-it-hurts nail wraps from their show are going into production and being sold at Topshop from Feb 8th. For me, this alone is a reason to get up in the mornings.


2. Bill Cunningham New York - The Film

It's always good to be ahead of the curve, but not quite as satisfying if nobody knows you were. So I'm shamelessly linking to when I reported about Bill Cunningham New York the first time around, nearly a year ago. Hashtag smug face. Anyway, the film, documenting the life and adventures of the godfather of street style snaps (Scott who?) is finally making it to our fair shores on March 16th. Hooray!


3. New faces at London Fashion Week this season

Being a die-hard Moschino fan, I was overjoyed when I heard that Cheap & Chic will be showing at LFW this season. Let's hope Rossella Jardini throws caution to the wind and recreates a wilder ode to Franco's 'Waist of Money' collection. McQ and Stella are also joining in the fun. Quite the trio. 


4. Ladurée make-up - Autumn

Face powder pressed into rose petals? Unabashed Marie Antoinette styling? Enough pink to give you diabetes? GIMME!


5. New season wardrobe!

A guaranteed way to beat the January blues? No, it's not getting your endorphins on at the gym (as if), but glorious piles of more stuff. Topping my wish list at the moment are Ash's wedge trainers, Current/Elliott's mint leopard-print jeans and Maria Francesca Pepe's pearl and stud ring


And one for luck... a TV prequel to Sex & The City, The Carrie Diaries, has just been confirmed. AND it's set in 80s Manhattan. Score.

What are you excited about at the moment?

Monday, 16 January 2012

In Good Company

I know, I know. I've been seriously AWOL of late. But I am still alive - see below clipping from Company as proof.
It's no great bombshell that The Boy has certain, er, reservations about various items in my wardrobe. This just immortalises it in print. It also reminds me of my favourite ever post, the one where he styled me up for 5 different occasions. If you haven't read it and fancy a little giggle, you can find it here

We've since had stern words.

Saturday, 7 January 2012

This is the reason I will never stop reading Teen Vogue...

Kitsch rockabilly editorials steal my heart. 
P.S. Would do bad things to get my hands on that pink metallic leather biker jacket.

Monday, 2 January 2012

2011: The Year That Was

As is tradition, I've spent the last three days scrabbling together memories from a mind like Swiss cheese introspectively dissecting the past year with a view to making the next one even better. It's hard. But I've tried to learn the lessons, count my blessings and expand my mind - although by the look of these pictures, the only thing I've truly been intent on expanding is my waistline. Food, as always, played a major role in my 2011, with meals at Dinner by Heston and St John, as well as an embarrassingly prolific number of afternoon teas at Sketch. Fashion, too, was a constant source of income, woe and giddy delight in equal measure. 2011 was also a year of the New. New York twice and also a new face, once. I had major jaw surgery in August and my braces removed last month - hence why you now have the dubious pleasure of seeing my toothy, village-idiot grin in nearly every photograph. Making up for lost time and two years of me moodily refusing to smile properly for the camera. Paris was also on the agenda, as were wonderful trips to Cornwall and Cambridge with The Boy. I irritatingly turned 27, grew up a bit (and I stress a bit) and spent far too much money. I didn't learn French, move out or sew that missing button onto my trench. Still, there's always 2012. Bring it on!


Saturday, 31 December 2011

Must've been good this year...

Spoilt? Well, yes, but grateful too, which I always feel is far more important. My favourite gift was from The Boy (he may now have to be promoted to The Wonderful Boy) - a nifty little Fuji X10 which takes fabulous pictures (well, it would if I could figure out how to take it off Auto), looks brilliantly retro and is infinitely more portable than my old Canon DSLR. I win.

Honourable mention goes to my Debrett's Ladies Diary, Kooples fedora, DKNY coat and the Go Away I'm Writing mug that I'm drinking Earl Gray from as we speak. Oh, and the poached pears in wine that my mum makes for me every year, without which Christmas may as well be cancelled. 

At the risk of sounding insufferably mawkish, I really do feel very blessed and hope you all had brilliant, cockle-warming Christmasses too. Now off you go to celebrate New Year's Eve in style! 

A Very Happy 2012!

Olivia xxx

Thursday, 29 December 2011

New Favourite Restaurant: So

Ranking right up there with Douglas Booth's cheekbones and a nice cup of tea, Japanese food is, for me, one of life's greatest pleasures. Feather-light tempura, buttery sashimi and eye-bleedingly hot wasabi (the more eye-bleeding the better. If you're not wimpering, there's not enough in your mouth) - are my three weaknesses. Then begins the territorialism. I don't like to share. The Boy knows this and yet continues to escort me to restaurants - he even pretends to have a nice time. That's love. 
One of our latest jaunts was to So; a Japanese eaterie located in the glossy part of Soho, boasting dishes grilled over volcanic rocks imported from Mount Fuji. Misleadingly understated from the front, So is actually pretty slick on the inside - all dark varnished wood and flattering lighting. A friend of mine has a rule that she doesn't eat in restaurants with pictures of the food on the menu. I've always been inclined to agree, but So's weren't of the faded, 70s, on-holiday-in-Torremolinos ilk, just helpful indicators of what you'd be getting if you fancied the sound of Yakitori or Gobo Salad.


We started with Barbary duck smoked on Jack Daniels wood chips which had a full-flavoured, gammon-like quality. But it was the foie gras nigiri that came next that brought out the worst in me. The Boy, armed with nothing but chopsticks, was powerless. It was sticky and buttery and salty and sweet. Utterly delicious. He never stood a chance.
The sashimi was unbelievably fresh which meant it tasted as beautiful alone as it did clumsily dunked in soy sauce and buttered with a thick layer of wasabi. Mmm. Another highlight was the aubergine denngaku - generously sliced segments, grilled, coated in salty-sweet red miso paste and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.

Did I already mention how I feel about tempura? Well, I feel the same about black cod in miso. Dare I say it, but So's, marinated in sayiko, was better than Nobu's. (I tried to sneak that in in the least pretentious way possible. Did it work? Probably not.)


It's a testament to the food that after all that, I still had space for - and finished - dessert. There was even minimal judgement from our lovely waitress. 

The verdict? An old school one - don't judge a book by its cover. You could easily walk past this unassuming little place, mistaking it for just another Japanese in London. The Boy, ever-observant, pointed out a little sign in the window, however. Best Japanese in the UK as voted by Japanese residents. If that's not a fantastic recommendation, I don't know what is.

With thanks to the lovely folk at So Restaurant, 3-4 Warwick Street, London, W1B 5LS. 020 7292 0767

Wednesday, 28 December 2011

12 Days Of Christmas...In Outfits

Fine, so this might not be The 12 Days of Christmas In Outfits proper (I may have snuck in the same dress/ day twice), but it's all about the sentiment, friends. Please enjoy my last few gratuitous outfit shots of 2011, taken everywhere from La Centre Pompidou in Paris to a barstool in Covent Garden...

Day 1: Last day in Paris. Wearing: Vintage fur gilet, Topshop leather jacket
Day 2: Festive drinks in the pub. Wearing: Vuitton scarf, Zara jumper & leather skirt, New Look coat
Day 3: Engagement do. Wearing: Aqua by Aqua dress, Lulu Guinness clutch
Day 4: Running errands. Wearing: New Look jeans, M&S glitter pumps, Boohoo jumper, Thomas Wylde bag, Topshop leather jacket
Day 5: Carols at Westminster Abbey. Wearing: Nicole Farhi coat, River Island jumper, Topshop OTK boots, Lanvin bag, Yves Salomon ear muffs
Day 6: Wrapping presents. Wearing: Whistles joggers, Vintage pearls, Zoe Karssen GTL T-shirt
Day 7: Present shopping. Wearing: J Brand jeans, Thomas Wylde bag, Mille Rostock at My-wardrobe gilet, Dune boots
Day 8: Christmas Day. Wearing: DKNY coat, Zara jumper & skirt, Whistles necklace, Lanvin bag
Day 9: Christmas Morning. Wearing: La Senza pyjamas
Day 10: Christmas Eve baking. Wearing: J.Crew neon T-shirt, J.Brand Houlihans
Day 11: Christmas Drinks. Wearing: Aqua by Aqua dress, MAC's Russian Red lipstick
Day 12: Cocktail Party. Wearing: H&M dress, Marc by Marc Jacobs clutch, Noir ring, Mawi bracelet, Camilla Skovgaard shoes

What did you wear over Christmas? And what are your outfit plans for New Year's Eve?

Thursday, 22 December 2011

Joyeux Noel From Paris!

Skipping around the city of lights in the run-up to Christmas seems to have become a bit of a tradition for The Boy and I. Well, rolling around is more accurate a description since we eat nothing but cheese, meat and monstrous pains au chocolat the whole time we're there. Kind of like a stomach-stretching warm-up before the 25th arrives. We have a deal; I absorb all the calories while nine times out of ten, he comes back thinner than before we left. Annoying, yes, but I shan't let it stop me taking one for the team. After all, Paris is not a city in which to practice restraint. Too many delectable little treats winking at you from every angle - a cream-filled crepe here, a pistachio macaron there...I can never resist!









Wednesday, 21 December 2011

A Very Chanel Christmas

If Karl Lagerfeld was Santa, the whole world would look like the Printemps windows in Paris every single Christmas.

Let's all just take a minute to meditate on that, shall we?

*Hashes out Jack Skellington-style mechanics of kidnapping the big man and replacing him with Karl in a fat suit.*



Sunday, 18 December 2011

Last Minute Stocking Fillers Under £35


From top left:

Cox, Cookies & Cake Cookery Book - £9, Amazon
Spiked iPhone case - €20, Shampalove
Debbie Harry Paper Doll - £7.50, Bouf.com
Ponyskin purse - £20, Miss Selfridge
Maison Lancome Blusher - £34, Lancome
Prestat Champagne Truffles - £15.50, Liberty of London
Every Cloud Umbrella - £35, Lulu Guinness
Ornamental Self Select Eye Colour - £12, Paul & Joe at BeautyBay
They See Me Rollin' Art Print - $20, Aled Lewis at In Print
Jewelled False Lashes - £18, Shu Uemura at Selfridges
Horse clutch bag - £30, ASOS.com
Pyramid Stud Friendship Bracelet - £7.50, Miss Selfridge
Fashionista's London Print - £20.50, Not On The High Street
Sweetheart Satin Lingerie Set - £20 (bra) £18 (briefs), Playful Promises
Personalised Blended Tea - £27, Blends For Friends
Heart-shaped Mirror Compact - $7, Marc Jacobs
Faux-snakeskin Make-up Bag - £17.99, Fiorelli at New Look
Kiehl's Beauty Cracker - Selfridges

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