Wedding Etiquette

A question. What does one wear to the low-key, suburban wedding of two people who are only dimly aware of who you are and what you're doing there?

Answer: Probably not a kaleidoscopic frock and metallic accessories, especially not when accompanied by your glistening, larger-than-life mother who has a penchant for volume and sequins, in that order.

Hey, at least we made an entrance.

I'm wearing: Dress: Monsoon Fusion, Sandals: Mango (a few seasons old but they seem to have resuscitated them in a slightly different guise here), Clutch: Lulu Guinness at Harrods, Bracelet: Mawi, Sunglasses: ASOS

TGIF

Happy Friday guys! Hope your weekend is every bit as amazing as this song...

Nigel Tufnel would be proud, boys.

Bored Of Brights

It could be the distinctly gloomy weather. Or the fact that I've been singing the praises of Autumn/ Winter 11 since March. Or it could just be plain old fashion ennui. But the initial jaunty freshness of summer's Crayola brights has given way to some serious blocking boredom.

In the getting dressed equivalent of 'are we there yet?', I've silently bemoaned my wardrobe every morning for the past few weeks, yearning for a sartorial signal that we have officially entered next seasonville. I tried (and failed) to get excited about an acid yellow T-shirt today while my poppy-red pants looked faintly sorry for themselves crushed between a citrus-hued shift and neglected fuchsia skirt. Such is the joy of buying so enthusiastically into fickle and fleeting fashion. You are left to deal with the kaleidoscopic aftermath and feeling a bit silly.

So, what to feel silly about next season? I vote the outrageous dry cleaning bill that accompanies a fondness for neutrals. Pristine, impossible, imperious neutrals that dictate a limo lifestyle and only clear foods. The perfect antidote to summer's brash brights. Who's with me?

Originally published for Lyst

Monday Morning Wardrobe Inspiration

Every Monday I'm greeted with the fresh hope that this week is the week I don't lose momentum half way through and reach for ye olde trusty favourites. That means no black skinnies, no worn out ballerinas and absolutely no sloppy leggings and oversized T-shirts *shudder*. Hopefully these girls will inspire me to keep on the sartorial straight and narrow...

New Season Love: Sandro

It's around this time of year that Seasonal Fashion Ennui (or SFE for short) takes a firm hold and, in your mind, systematically dismantles all the sartorial beliefs you've held all summer. ("Pink, orange AND red? What, in the same outfit? How absurd. What was I thinking?" etc. etc.) Enter in a new dawn, here in the shape of Sandro; purveyors of Gallic chic since 1984. Their Autumn/ Winter collection ticks all the boxes; great tailoring, flashes of leopard, edgy leather trims and a perfect rockabilly undercurrent. *Applauds*

Tip Top

I have a sneaky fashion hunch that hair is about to become the new nail but, in the meantime, let us gaze and admire the latest marvellous creation from nail art aficionados, Wah. I know it's, like, so four seasons ago, but I'm still a sucker for the impossibly elegant putty shade of Particuliere, given a pop art makeover below with skinny tips in candy-sweet shades. Perfect for the subversive sophisticate. Thoughts?

Quote Of The Day

Roberto Cavalli: "In my planet - fashion - I'm the only straight man."

Colin McDowell: "There's a few."

RC: "Who?"

CM: "Ralph Lauren, he's straight."

RC: "Are you sure?"

Bobby C. What a legend.

New Kid On The Blog

Fashion fans rejoice - impossibly glossy clotheshorse, Olivia Palermo, is reportedly launching a style blog come midsummer. After my utterly cynical initial reaction of ‘OMG, imagine how much she’ll make through affiliate links!’, I managed to scrape together a slightly more fair and holistic opinion on her foray into the blogosphere…

In theory, it’s a fantastically savvy marketing tactic - striking while the iron’s hot and capitalising on her current status as darling of the blogs. It’s us bloggers who have given her the biggest leg-up, documenting her every ensemble and going feral each time she appears in a piece from Topshop. Her launching a blog is the ultimate compliment to us, nurturing the hand that feeds her and giving her seal of approval that blogs are a seriously worthwhile endeavour - even if you have already achieved celebrity status elsewhere.

But will it follow in the successful, holier-than-thou footsteps of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop, or develop more along the lines of Courtney Love’s Kafka-esque montages on What Courtney Wore Today? Remember that? Exactly. Celebrities writing blogs can be a tricky enterprise - even Russian uber-fashionista Miroslava Duma’s blog, Buro 247, is pretty under the radar despite her legions of fans. Can celebrities successfully make the leap from fame to blog as easily as it now seems to go from blog to fame? It just goes to show how smart readers out there are - they want substance from their blogs if they’re to rise in the ranks. In this sphere, at least, meritocracy still rules. As for Olivia? Well, she’s got us, and Topshop, on her side.

Originally published for Lyst.com

What's In Your Bag?

Could you get any more of a poser's bag than this one? Or any more of a voyeur's dream, for that matter? Clearer, larger, just generally more obvious than Jil Sander's pseudo-transparent market bag, John Lewis' leather-trim plexi tote is too good to don on the beach alone. Here's what I've filled it with...

Wool summer scarf, J. Crew

Square sunglasses, Vintage

iPad case, Marc by Marc Jacobs at Shopbop

iPad, Apple

Lipstick pen, Marc by Marc Jacobs

What's New notebook, Smythson

Hello Kitty glasses case, Artbox

John Waters; Role Models, Amazon - by the way, this is amazing!

Ladies Social Diary, Aspinal

White BlackBerry Bold, Phones 4U

Gold ostrich-skin BlackBerry case, Uunique

Keyring, Laduree

Wallet, Hermes

Make-up case, Louis Vuitton

Nailvarnish in Super Bossa Nova, Essie at Beauty Bay

Bronzing powder in Laguna, NARS

Tinted moisturiser, Clarins

Most Stylish: Miroslava Duma

Being one of her biggest fans, I'm not quite sure how I managed to miss Miroslava Duma's new website, Buro 24/7; a platform for her to post her dreamy daily outfits alongside snippets of fashion news and celebrity style. She continues to be one of my ultimates - effortlessly switching up styles and looking like she's having a blast doing it. Step aside Olivia Palermo, Mira will show you how it's done...

At Home With...Jayne Mansfield

If The Boy would let me, I'd like to live in a house exactly like this one when I grow up.

Found via Penny Dreadful and Couture Arabesque

The New York Diaries

Breakfast at Tiffany's, Friends, Ghostbusters, Woody Allen, even Sesame Street - from a very young age I was raised on the wonderfully rich stereotypes of New York. I duly lapped it all up, dreaming of a time when I could go and explore the magic for myself. I finally got to live out my own (small) Carrie Bradshaw fantasy when last week I was sent to shoot for the magazine I'm working for right now. 10 suitcases, 6.5 days, 42 looks, 16 yellow cab rides, 8 Marc Jacobs bags, 6 Quinceaneras and 1 karate chop to the head in Times Square later, I'm back in the marginally less glamorous environs of South London suburbia and back to dreaming of New York. Some things never change...

My new pad. You like?

The lobby in my hotel, The Hudson

Cocktails on the Hudson's roof bar with Kike and Tobi of Style By Queens. Kike's wearing Zara and Jeffery Campbell Shoes, I'm wearing a Kain vest, vintage belt from Portobello, Zara skirt and River Island shoes.

We shot our 60s story outside the stunning Guggenheim museum building.

What's a trip to NYC without a stop-in at Magnolia?

For my Quinceanera, I wanted to be an aeroplane too.

View from my hotel bedroom window.

Gay Pride on Greenwich Avenue

Tobi & Kike

The Little Cupcake Bakeshop who not only had the world's greatest named confectionary (Dreaming Princess cake, anyone?) but also let us shoot inside.

Walking The High Line in the Meatpacking district - amazing disused railway line turned into a raised park.

I loved that they'd designed part of it with bleachers so you could almost sit above the traffic.

View from The Top of The Rock

Just off Wall Street

Quaint and quirky English dining in Tea & Sympathy on Greenwich Avenue

Channelling Earnest Hemingway. Just without the beard.

Shooting in Central Park. Isn't that Spook Central from Ghostbusters?

View at dusk from The Hudson Hotel's roof bar

Very cool underground speakeasy-style Russian restaurant Pravda. We had homemade wholewheat blinis, smoked salmon, caviar pizza and far too much alcohol. Was already drunk by the time we got there from G&Ts in The Plaza's famous Oak Room on Central Park South.

Now...anyone fancy marrying me for a green card?