2010: A Year In Pictures

I'm not quite sure how, but I've managed to shoehorn in an awful lot into a measly 12 months; mountain-climbing in Borneo, 5 trips to the continent (the ol' carbon footprint's not looking too respectable this year), dinner at Hibiscus and The Fat Duck, reckless spending, an even more reckless foray into freelancing, a commitment to braces and more plastic surgery next year and absolutely no growing up whatsoever. Yep, this year's buzzword was epicurean. With any luck, next year's will be responsibility. *Shudders*

Oh well, there's still a few hours left to indulge my inner bon vivant. I think it's Dom Perignon for dinner...

Happy New Year, darling readers, and here's to a fabulous 2011!

Much love,

Olivia xxx

Paris, Je t'aime

Ooooh la la, another trip to Paris, you say? Mais oui! Why not indeed? This time, The Boy and I decided to explore The City of Lights' most artistic arrondissement, Le Marais, for 2 days - a haven for boutique fromageries, teeny, specialist ateliers and bohemian bistros. In a word; formidable.

A joyeux, but very froid, Noel in Paris! I taped heat pads under all my clothes in the manner of explosives and was still bloody freezing.

*Gasps* A bauble filled with macaroons! HOW DID THEY KNOW??

Hot chocolate in the famous Roses Bakery on Rue Debelleyme; it had just started to snow outside and it was so cosy sipping this and watching it settle.

I remember reading about the street artist responsible for the above; he's an old guy who stamps this romantic declaration all around Paris - if you look closely you can see his famous 'Amour' on everything from paving slabs to shop windows. A love letter to the city, perhaps?

Pondering the calories I'm about to consume...

Ahh, fromage, love of my life. We bought eight different ones home for Christmas Day. Swoon.

Have camera. Will blog.

I think this may be my favourite photo of all time. I wonder what he ordered.

Au revoir Paris, mon cher, et mille fois merci...

Get Lashed

Be it nails, hair or lashes, I've long since been an ardent aficionado of all things extension. 'The bigger, the better' has been my questionable motto since that one summer I spent watching back to back episodes of Girls of The Playboy Mansion.




However, I sadly no longer possess either nail or hair extensions and have since spent the past few months feeling a little, well, meh. I can't rap my long acrylics purposefully on my desk, nor use them to open envelopes with ninja-like precision. Similarly, I can't curl and spray my weave to stratospheric proportions (the higher the hair, the closer to heaven etc). Nope, I have to make do with my normal, *shudder* natural state, being aided only by Laura Mercier's Illuminating Tinted Moisturiser and the occasional wipe-down with the ol' fake tan. So, obviously, when I was introduced to lash and brow specialists, Browhaus by the lovely girls at Chalk PR, my inner beauty fiend did a little celebratory dance whilst my outer, rather more bland, self booked to have my lashes extended in their cool Covent Garden store.

The girls in the salon were fantastic ambassadors for their treatments - each preened and presented to look, well, pretty hot really. I was ushered in, plonked down on a heated massage chair (exactly what you need when it's arctic outside) and asked what sort of lashes I wanted. I opted for long, fluttery and just-the-wrong-side-of-believable. The kind of lashes that cause disruptive gusts of wind when one blinks. Jodie, my utterly adorable therapist, was more than happy to oblige and didn't even mind when I nodded off half way through the treatment.

I woke up to full, wonderfully flirtatious-looking lashes; individually placed and striking the perfect balance between natural and dramatic - exactly what I'd asked for. And as I sit here, just over a week later and with a mini-break to Paris and a good few parties under my belt, they are still fully in-tact and as pantomime cow-esque as ever. Perfect for winking at Santa with.

Email info@browhaus-uk.com or call 020 7240 8408 to make an appointment.

Le Geek, C'est Chic

Despite writing about it for various publications, the iconic nameplate necklace made less chavvy famous by Carrie Bradshaw has never managed to wing its way round my neck. It never shook off the Elizabeth Duke at Argos connotations enough for me. But - lo! What is this? NY-based 'Entrepreneur General Store' Survival Of The Hippest have started making and selling Twitter nameplate necklaces online. You know, to wear in the *whispers it* real world. The perfect blend of chav and geek! Now we can talk…

And just for, *cough*, posterity, here's the lovely little scene where Carrie finds her necklace in the lining of her Dior clutch, realises New York is where her heart is, and makes a break for it from the unfortunate-looking, million year-old Russian.

Oh, and speaking of Twitter names, mine is @FavouriteThing and you are most welcome to follow me here or, alternatively, buy me my eponymous necklace.

They Come Runnin' Just As Fast As They Can, Cos Every Girl's Crazy 'Bout A Sharp Dressed Man

Ah, the immortal words of ZZ Top. Boys, you'd do well to pay attention; those whisky-soaked scoundrels might have looked like they were sleeping rough, but they knew a thing or two about the importance of looking one's best. Er, in theory anyway. Regardless, their music video for Sharp Dressed Man is an absolute corker and brings back a flood of happy memories of me listening to Eliminator on tape in my Daddy's car aged 10.

Anyway, this charming little aside leads on quite nicely to the following...

I was recently asked to give my opinion on the dressing habits of my XY counterparts on fabulous menswear site, The Style King. You can check out the full interview below but first things first - press play on the video above, turn it up LOUD (to eleven if possible), and prepare yourself for a few haughtily raised eyebrows from anyone in the near vicinity. Ignore them. Everybody secretly loves this song.

I know I've said this before in a previous post, but you can't really blame me for trying to shoe-horn it in twice...

I'll leave you with a little ZZ Top trivia (you never know when you may need it).

The only member of ZZ Top to not have a beard, has the surname Beard.

You couldn't make this stuff up.

4 ways to wear...leopard print

I've long since been a fan of leopard print, using it indiscriminately and in the manner of a neutral. I've not yet strayed into the leopard-on-leopard school of dressing but prefer to leave that particular joy as something to look forward to in my sartorially inappropriate twilight years. In the meantime, however, I think one piece at a time is the way forward - the more fabulous the piece the better. Step up My-wardrobe.com and their prolific jungle of animal magic...

Look One: The mini patent leopard Mulberry Alexa

As much as I love the unashamed flashiness of leopard print, sometimes it's nicer to work it in a subtler way. Mulberry's mini patent leopard Alexa bag does the trick nicely. I've layered it over my red Nicole Farhi coat for a bold colour contrast.

Coat: Nicole Farhi

Jumper and trousers: Topshop

Boots: Dune

Look Two: The D&G cardigan

Skintight leopard pieces can verge too much into pub landlady territory so I've played with proportion a little bit by tucking this D&G cardigan into a full 50s-style skirt from Zara. I like to think this is what Betty Draper's racier little sister might wear. Scandalous.

Skirt: Zara

Shoes: H&M

Look Three: The Mentor wedge ankle boots

Let it be known that I love this look but that it also happens to be my nudge-nudge wink-wink parody of The Fashion Editor Uniform. Blazer? Check. Del Boy watch? Check. Statement shoes? Check. Now all I need is my Blackberry and a harassed expression.

Blazer: Zara

T-shirt: Cos

Jeans: J Brand

Look Four: The DVF snow leopard scarf

When I said I wore leopard as a neutral, I wasn't kidding. That includes pink leopard like this DVF scarf worn against my Breton-striped dress. A little print clashing is healthy. Take my lead and live on the edge like this.

Dress: French Connection

Trench: Burberry

Boots: Dune

All leopard pieces available to buy on My-wardrobe.com

One To Watch: Anna Trevelyan

I had the distinct, and very pink, pleasure of briefly meeting stylist Anna Trevelyan backstage at the Charlie Le Mindu show at London Fashion Week. Obviously, I was immediately in awe of her candy-coloured hair and obviously I had heart palpitations over her pastel Moschino skirt suit and OBVIOUSLY I thought she was bloody cool and pretty jammy to be Charlie's Girl Friday. But it was only afterwards that I realised that she also happens to be Nicola Formichetti's assistant and, basically, my kitsch kindred spirit. Now I'm kind of in love with her. Obviously.

All images from Anna Trevelyan's blog.

Matalan SS11 Press Day

Matalan just seem to be going from strength to strength in terms of design and, if their Spring/ Summer collection is anything to go by, they're pretty much set to become my go-to as soon as the stuff starts dropping into store in January. I literally cannot wait to get my hands on a pair of their apple-print flares to wear with my Brian Atwood platforms and a knot-front crop top. For twenty quid, I'll buy you some too if you like...

Look out for: quirky fruit prints, easy-to-wear 50s silhouettes, Breton stripes, Riviera chic, 70s cuts, florals in all their guises, cute day dresses, awesome footwear.

Oh, and if you're in the mood for something festive, their new TV ad will warm your cockles faster than you can say brandy butter...

FAO: Mr Claus & The Boy

Dear Sirs,

I trust you'll find I have been nothing but entirely nice this year. Therefore I would like to draw your attention to our annual agreement as referenced here. Specifically sections 1.2 re: the sable and 1.3 re: the '54 convertible (colour: light blue). No mention was made of the following items but apropos of all the niceness and lack of all the naughtiness hitherto, a favourable visit on 24th December at approximately 23:45 GMT is expected. The mince pie and sherry will be in the usual place.

Best,

Olivia

Studded leather gloves - ASOS.com

Mock-croc leather iPad case - Aspinal - and an iPad too if you can stretch to it, Santa!

Designer Pret-a-PortTea bags - Donkey Products

Salt & Pepper shakers - Concrete Hermit

It's OK For Me To Have Everything I Want poster - Concrete Hermit

Rob Ryan notebook - Not On The Highstreet

Fashion diary - Smythson

Lanvin 'Happy' bag - Net-a-Porter.com

Metal armour cuff - ASOS.com

Talullah Tu lace-covered earrings - ASOS.com

London map - Famille Summerbelle

Paris finger puppets - Rubbish

Camilla Skovggard boots - Matches

Lanvin playing cards - Net-a-Porter.com

Christmas cupcake pops - Molly Bakes

Lula subscription - Newsstand

Mad Hatter's Tea Party hamper - Sketch

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

Between the 9 inches of snow outside my window (no, really), the Nat King Cole compilation on my Spotify player and the fact that it seems to have turned December 1st, I feel jolly festive this morning. Cue gratuitous shots of me on one of my favourite Christmas Days ever. Raucous family and an obnoxious amount of food and gifts...what more could you possibly want?

What was your best Christmas ever?