GUCCI GUCCI

I feel like these girls were on holiday with my family last year. My brother was walking around Florence with his wife when they overheard a Midwestern American man say to his wife "Oh my God honey, is that a Gucci there, as in Gucci, Gucci?" Bless, they hadn't realised it was an Italian brand. From that day on Gucci has been known in our family as Gucci Gucci. 

TWO LACE TOPS

Top - New Look 

Vest - Topshop 

Jeans - Zara

Belt - Charity shop 

Shoes - Swedish Hasbeens from H&M

Top - American Apparel 

Jeans - Zara

Shoes - Chanel 

NEW LEATHER JACKET

Thank goodness Topshop came up trumps once again. I found a leather jacket that was just right within 2 minutes of walking into the store, and it was only £165. A win win as far as I'm concerned. Now all I have to do is wear it constantly so it looks lovely and lived in. Shouldn't be that hard to do. And if I find my missing leather jacket I don't know whether I'll laugh or cry. 

Jacket - Topshop 

T shirt - Maje 

Trousers - J Brand 

Shoes - Chanel 

LEATHER JACKET SUBSTITUTE

The missing leather jacket, as mentioned in my previous post, is proving to have a thrown a real spanner in my sartorial works. 

I have been wearing a very old New Look Luella jacket from 2001 or 2002 that is ripped on the elbow due to overuse, but I need more options. It was on a rummage through one of my cupboards I came across this denim jacket - a Valentino jacket I picked up in a charity shop in Lewisham at the age of 16. That means I've owned this half my life. Gulp. The denim has a very 1970's look and feel to it, which means it was probably already 'vintage' when I bought it and it has a real grubby factor from having been worn almost everyday during my late teenage years. But wearing it the other day reminded me that I'm not the denim jacket wearing type anymore and I really have moved to the dark side with leather jackets instead. I just didn't feel like me in it. 

Jacket - Charity Shop 

Top - Topshop 

Trousers - J Brand 

Pumps - Chanel 

MISSING - ONE LEATHER JACKET

Yep. My favourite leather jacket is still missing. I think it's been lost since early May, about the 3rd or 4th and leaving the house takes much longer because I can't just throw it on. 

Now that over 3 weeks have passed and nothing has been seen in any of the likely places (my house, my parent's house, the car etc) I am beginning to accept that I will need to replace it. I will go high street hunting this Bank Holiday weekend, but I'm not overly hopeful. ASOS, for once, has failed me and I haven't seen anything in the magazines that looks like me either. 

The main criteria are; 

Black
Slightly cropped style
3/4 or over sleeves
Minimal detailing
No waist or collar belts
No cowl neck or Rick Owens goings on...just classic cuts. 

So far only Net a Porter has come up trumps, but the the cost becomes significant. I guess if I'm going to wear it for years (my Topshop version served me well for at least 5 years) then spending lots on it isn't that bad...after all I've blown similar amounts on shoes I barely wear, but I'm trying to be less profligate these days. Is the Universe conspiring against me?

LOT78 Reese Leather Jacket £575 from Net A Porter

Theory Reanne Leather Jacket £730 from Net A Porter

Images from Net a Porter

RIP JEWELLERY

I am a natural born jewellery destroyer. I managed to break this bangle after fiddling about with it all morning at work and snapping part of the clasping mechanism. I can't work out if I always break jewellery because I always buy the cheap stuff, or if I'd be the destroyer of literally thousands of pounds worth of bling if I invested in the real deal. Me or my tools? Please say tools. 

Cardigan - ASOS 

Dress - Topshop 

Belt - part of set with skirt from New Look 

Tights - M&S

Trainers - Converse 

Bracelet - ASOS 

FRIDA KAHLO T SHIRT

I went to an all girls comp school in Lewisham, where we were very lucky to have an incredibly charismatic and enthusiastic art teacher who I will remember forever. Her passion for her subject made art a school favourite because you got to do all sorts of cool things like design your perfect bedroom out of the Ikea catalogue or run across the floor with paint on your feet. 

The best thing about this art teacher however, was when she took the school assembly and kept 500 girls from South East London quiet for 15 minutes, with tales ranging from her family life to the inspiring lives of female artists. Finding out about the complex, creative figure that was Frida Kahlo was a watershed moment for me at the age of 14 or 15, and then when someone told me that Madonna was her biggest collector I was totally sold (this was back when Madonna was still totally ace, rather than alright). 

I was totally sold again,a few weeks ago, when I saw this t shirt from a small range of different prints all featuring Frida. Teenage fan-girl meets her idol. Cher-ching.

T shirt - Zara

Belt & Trousers - Zara

Shoes - Marni 

OLD SHOES

These shoes have seen faithful service since I bought them about 10 years ago. In that time, much has happened in the world, lots of trends have passed and I've gone from print media to archaeology to TV. Regardless, they still work for whichever office, lecture hall or pub I'm in. And because they are flat I can actually walk in them. One of more sensible and long term shoe buys. 

Top - Cos 

Jeans - Topshop 

Shoes - Dove Nuotano Gli Squali from Poste Mistress

TOPSHOP JEWELLERY

Er, I kind of exploded in the Topshop jewellery department yesterday. 

I went for two distinct looks - 80's charm style offerings courtesy of Danielle Scutt and New Orleans voodoo. I think I'll wear the skull and eye rings more than the Danielle Scutt offerings, but I couldn't resist the lipstick motif. 

Now all I need to do is find some way of storing my accessories...I think Muji awaits.

Jewellery - All from Topshop 

I LIKE THEM BIG, I LIKE THEM CLUMPY

The blogosphere is full of clumpy shoes. And lord knows I like a clumpy shoe. 

I think the current clumpy shoe thing probably started this time around with the Charles Anastase dungeon boots from the 2009 A/W collection. Then (not entirely coincidently in my mind) a certain shoe designer by the name of Jeffrey Campbell created a sell out style called the Lita, that more than a little referenced the uber platform boot. Pretty much EVERY blogger seems to own a pair and by all accounts they seem to be quite comfortable for such a beast of a shoe. However, they've only been available to buy on American sites and I haven't felt like jumping on the bandwagon without foot meeting shoe, so I have remained Lita-less. 

Photo from Charles Anastase

Lita boots worn my Miss Pandora

After the Lita had been around for a while I started to notice other extreme shoes, like these super scary clog style boots spotted in London...

Photo by Tommy Ton for Style.com 

And then for this summer designers like Prada introduced the flatform brogue and YSL brought out these 70's style mega platforms and clumpier shoes were gaining ground on the super stiletto of the past few years. 

Photo from Sea of Shoes

Along with these changes in shoe style I've noticed hipster East London types going for a distinctly 90's style of shoe with a clumpy heel, rounded toe. Perhaps it's just that they're in the charity shops. Or maybe that the early to mid 90's are slowly approaching a 20 year anniversary and will soon be 'vintage'. I don't know. Regardless, Pixie Geldof wore Buffalo boots a couple of weeks ago and I actually think they look great on her. I eschewed Buffalo boots the first time round, so I probably won't go for the full on platform, but...

When I found these on eBay.de I knew I had to have them. It was my dungeon boot, Lita and 90's flashback all rolled into one. They are the most hideous yet utterly perfect shoe ever. Okay, they weigh an absolute tonne, and I've already almost killed myself walking up stairs in them, but I DON'T CARE. 

Best of all I won them for 8.05 euros. 

AMAZING!