GIRLS AND GUYS

I clanked and clomped all the way to work in this but I felt I needed the accessories and big old boots to counteract the girliness of the dress. Turns out that Harley Davidson motorbike boots are a big hit amongst both girls and guys. I might try and wear them more often when this 50 day shoe challenge is over (on day 26 at the moment). 

Hat - H&M

Dress - Alexa Chung x Madewell 

Silver bracelets - H&M

Silver chunky bracelet - Assad Mounser 

Tights - Marks & Spencer 

Boots - Harley Davidson from charity shop back in my student days

DENIM SHORTS INSPIRATION

Cut off, turn up, high waisted, hip huggers, shredded...I just want the weather to improve so I can wear denim shorts. I am mostly loving the pairing casual denim shorts with nudes and dusky colours with a nod to tailoring, but not averse to LA from LA's and The Haute Pursuits rock interpretations either. 

Hanneli

lafromlasblog

Vanessa from The Haute Pursuit 

Christine Centenera - photo by ? 

Aphrodite's Lair 

Alexa Chung at a Mulberry launch party in 2010 - photo ?

Deyrolle for Opening Ceremony

I know Alexa Chung is horrendously over exposed when it comes to fashion, but you have to hand it her, girl knows how to dress. I am obsessed with this Deyrolle for Opening Ceremony number. Deyrolle is a taxidermy / curiosity shop in Paris that is famed for its array of wild and wonderful creatures, so a fox print makes such perfect sense. I went to Paris with the hope of visiting Deyrolle once about 3 years ago and the week before I was due to go it burned down. How sad was I?

Double Velvet

Don't ask, I have no idea why my arms brought the crazy when I took these pictures... 

Dress - Alexa Chung for Madewell 

Tights - Marks & Spencer 

Slippers - Zara

Madewell by Alexa Chung Velvet Dress

I do not really go in for the whole celebrity designed clothes thingamy bob that much, but whilst in New York back in September I stumbled across the Madewell store on Broadway. 


I vaguely recalled that I'd heard of Madewell through the blogosphere and as the window looked interesting (rust colours, Autumnal boots, youthful but not yoof) my Mum and I decided to have a look. We liked. The clothes were well made, reasonably priced and up to date without being throwaway fashionable. My Mum made a beeline for the shirts which she wears oversized as jackets in the Summer or as an extra layer when colder, and I started to hyperventilate over the velvet. As it turned out Madewell was the only 'proper shop' we shopped in during our stay - the rest of the time we plundered thrift stores.


Having already picked up a lovely grey velvet zip top on the ground floor I made my way upstairs to find the Madewell by Alexa Chung section. It was then I realised why I'd heard of Madewell in the first place. And in amongst the shorts, cropped pea coats and zippered jeans (all very Alexa) nestled this velvet dress with a peter pan collar. It's part Chanel and part Upstairs Downstairs, which are both good things. And unlike most high necks it doesn't make me look too booby. So, I don't care if I'm buying into the whole celebrity designed clothing gig, I LOVE this dress. 

Dress - Madewell by Alexa Chung

Tights - T.K.Maxx 

Shoes - Acne 

Alexa Chung's Miu Miu Shoes - Fantasy Shoe of the Week

Because we all want this shoe, don't we? I mean, stuff things like eating, oyster card top up money and paying the massive gas bill from over the winter aside - these will keep your heart warm and your body running.

Why Don't I Care About Hair?

A bit like Gossip Girl and Topshop, Alexa Chung has suffered from too much hype recently. It gets a bit boring after a while - and for me whilst she looked amazing on the cover of British Vogue this month, the photos inside were a bit "meh". I don't like her new lighter hair and with her popping up at every ruddy show from here to kingdom come these days it's all a bit clothes horsey for my tastes. 


But this pic reminds me of how, what made her in the first place, was a haircut. Pre the dark bob, she was a rather striking, funny presenter who wore some great clothes. But with the choppy bob she became something more than the sum of her parts. It was her Liz Hurley safety pin dress moment, albeit less desperate and far far classier, but it catapulted her into the public domain as an icon. 


I know hair can make or break a look. Which is a pity, because for me, I just can't do it. Hair. I just don't have the skill, inclination or time to make my hair anything. Ever. How much I care about my hair is up there with how much I care about drugs, horror movies, cars or tanning, in that they just don't figure in my life at all. 


My hair gets washed after the gym, dried in winter and then tied back. In a couple of week's time I am hoping to get the new Brazilian Blow Dry at my salon - a treatment that promises easier to style, glossier, more manageable hair. I wonder if it will be a turning point for me, or if the only thing that will ever sort my lack of hair know how will be a NBF who happens to be a hairdresser?