Greys Part 4:"Staring out onto a grey street"

For parts 1, 2 and 3 of this feature, click here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

Finally, grey accessories can be just as relevant and just as interchangeable. This scarf, too, can be a vital accessory in your winter and summer wardrobes:

Buy it here.

As a winter warmer:
t-shirt, £75, leather shorts, £140, ballet flats, £110

  +  + 

As a sunburn-guard:
dress, £65, bag, £16 £12 sandals, £60

 +  + 


This last look is especially cool, reminiscent of the Ralph Lauren Collection Spring 2011 campaign.

For an out-and out Summer style post, check this out.

All items are available at ASOS, and all image credits are to asos.com.

Ciao for now,

Charlotte

Greys Part 3:"I'm fading now into the grey"

For parts 1 and 2 of the continuing grey spring-wear saga, click here and here.

Working with a separates theme, how about these cute grey Motel shorts, £32 at ASOS (and also available as a playsuit):

Buy them here.

Until the April showers pass:
jumper, £65, leggings, £10, sneakers, £70 £50

 +  + 

Before the sun bids us adios for another year:
t-shirt, £12, blazer, £170, bag, £55

 +  + 

To be continued...

All items available at ASOS.com, All images from ASOS.com

Greys Part 2: "When your life is oh so dreary, dream"

For the first part in this series of grey-themed springtime posts, click here.

So how about this grey boyfriend blazer? It's £55 at ASOS. Blazers are great items to carry you through the months as they're always in style. And, again, grey is versatile enough to work in any ensemble throughout the year.

Buy it here.

From the darkness...

dress, £40, scarf, £17, heels, £36

 +  + 

Into the light:

skirt, £30, blouse, £24, sandals, £35

 +  + 

And don't forget 20% off ASOS Collection!

To be continued...

All items available at ASOS.com, All images from ASOS.com

Greys Part 1:"And we shall find a pleasure in the dimness of the stars"

Just because Spring has hit doesn't necessarily mean you need to head straight for yellows, blues and florals. I have to admit, I might have gotten a little carried away with my summer posts of late, so I'm taking a step back into Spring if that's ok with you.

I may be alone in this, but I love grey as a season-transcender. It's less harsh than black but not inappropriately sunny when the weather is struggling to make up its mind in the UK, with Spring characterised by blue skies, forceful winds and April showers.


Maybe we, too, like Samuel Taylor Coleridge, should find some pleasure in dimness, in the middling shade - especially at this tricky-to-style but crucial-to-fashion time of year. So this is a series of 4 posts about revelling in a seasonal inbetween-space in a veritable inbetween-shade.


Take, for example, this playsuit by Religion, £80 at ASOS. It's muted tones are the very reason it can move from season to season.

Buy it here.

So while the weather is wet and dreary, I'd pair it with:

cardigan, £85, opaque tights, £25, and brogues, £35

  +  + 

And in the summertime, when the living is easy:

blazer, from £30, belt, £9, and heels, £130 (obsessed with these shoes)

 +  + 

All items available at ASOS.com, All images from ASOS.com

Oh, and p.s. ASOS are offering 20% off selected ASOS Collection items for a limited time only, so that could technically include the blazer and the brogues. Check it out here.

To be continued.... (Stay tuned for 'Greys' Parts 2-4!)

Domo Arigato for the Gelato

The perfect tasty accompaniment to all those sorbet shades I've been incessantly blogging about? 

Proper Italian ice-cream of course.

The last few days I have been craving Summer and craving ice-cream from Gelato Mio in London's St. John's Wood. Or any gelato available in Venice, but that's slightly less accessible right now.

So, when, last Summer, I couldn't emulate my ice-cream-eating-atop-the-Rialto-bridge of the previous Summer, this is where I went:

Image from viewlondon.co.uk

Not usual for me to do a food post but when a girl needs ice-cream, she needs ice-cream.

And p.s. the lovely Italian gentlemen there are partial to offering the odd free scoop to customers who behave very nicely.

For more information on Gelato Mio, visit their website.

Ciao for now,

(unusually appropriate)

Charlotte

Maxi-mise your Potential

I'm not really much of a maxi-dress person. I always thought I was too short for them, but then I figured if Rachel Bilson can look good in them, why can't I? She is my height after all. Although unfortunately for me, that's where any physical similarity ends.

I  already owned one maxi, a traditional 100% silk one that I bought in Bali but it's not something I wear often.

So lately I splashed out on this maxi from Topshop. A couple of years ago I saw a picture of Naomi Campbell wearing a similar one (also from Topshop), but to my dismay, I could not find it anywhere. When I saw this, first online, and then in store, I just had to try it on. And then I just had to buy it.

Rose Print Sleeveless Maxi Dress
£75
Topshop

Maxi dresses are great because they hide all manner of sins, and I can just imagine wandering around somewhere hot and lovely wearing this, sandals, and a braided hair style.

So I guess the moral is: this Summer, take your fashion to great lengths and maxi-mise your potential.

Ciao for now,
Charlotte

Summer in the City

It's that time of year when I feel it's appropriate to start planning my summer wardrobe. So here's a quick summary (no pun intended) of the looks I'll be incorporating:


The Inspiration
Colours

nudes, pale pinks, coral, apricot, grey, rust, mint, teal and creams

Don't forget to check out my favourite nail colours for the season here!

Prints

chinoiserie, watercolour florals, butterflies, fortuny prints

Image credits: 1 2 3 4

Fabrics

lace, silk, chiffon and pleats

Image Credits: 1 2 3 4

The Pieces

I feel like this Summer is going to be characterised by slouchy blouses and t-shirts in lightweight fabrics like silks, chiffons and viscose paired with a relaxed, soft blazer in an equally cool fabric.

Many of these pieces are from New Look, which is not somewhere I shop often but I was impressed with their stock recently and with the quality of their fabrics. Considering my budget at the moment, I was impressed with some of their prices too. In fact, I just bought the blazer on the bottom left-hand side and I'm having something of a love affair with it.

      

              
Image credits: newlook.com, topshop.com (bottom centre)

Tie Peter Pan Blouse, £15.99, New Look
Birdy Tie Front Blouse, £22.99, New Look
Shimmer Drop Hem Blouse, £24.99 £15, New Look
Twill Relaxed Blazer, £24.99, New Look
Shawl Collar Tux Blazer, £65, Topshop
Boxy Blazer, £29.99, New Look

As usual, I'm keeping it girlie with my prints, fabrics and styles but for me, this summer is going to be much more about the short than the skirt or the dress. I always head straight to Topshop for shorts, especially if they've got a flattering paperbag waist (we all know how much I love those) or a masculine silhouette, both of which are perfect to tuck those slouchy, luxurious blouses into.

      
Image credits: topshop.com


Premium Rust Men's Waistband Shorts, £38, Topshop
Rose Matelot Shorts, £35, Topshop
Multicoloured Flower Print Paperbag Waistband Shorts, £36, Topshop

In terms of sandals, I love the gladiator look but I find many styles go too far up the ankles and cut off my already short legs too much, so these braided thong styles are perfect. And I actually own both of these! I reckon you need sandals in a couple of basic colours (black and tan or nude) and you're good to go.

As for shoes, obviously they need to be comfy and cool. Brogues, much as I will always love them, I feel have no place in temperatures above about 20 Celsius, so I'd stick with ballet flats in summer. These Topshop flats on the right are a perfect compromise, a ballet flat with a brogue appearance. I think I'll be sticking to the classic ballet flats most of the time though, a bargain for how much wear you'll get out of them as they go with everything.

Image credits: newlook.com, office.com, topshop.com

Plaited twisted sandal, £7.99, New Look
Office Nexus Thong, £25 £10, Office
Vibrant Ballet Pumps, £16.00, Topshop
Melrose Chiffon Lace Pumps, £25, Topshop

In the summertime when the weather is high, don't forget to protect your eyes and face with a hat. In my opinion, there is no hat more glamorous or more summery than a good-old fashioned floppy teamed with your favourite oversized designer sunglasses. I'll be wearing a black one I inherited from my lovely mother with my Miu Miu shades. Alternatively, a boater is a great nod to the masculine trend whilst being laid-back and sexy, just as relevant with tailoring as it is with floaty florals and perfect for sticking on top of your beach-bum hair.

      

Image credits: americanapparel.co.uk, topshop.com

Wool Floppy Hat, £39, American Apparel

Traditional Boater, £20, Topshop

And finally, of course, you'll need the perfect vintage-inspired swimwear for whatever holiday you go on.

What will you be wearing this Summer? And where do you go to update your wardrobe on a budget?

Ciao for now,

Charlotte

The Glamour of it All!

I recently posted some pictures from my trip to see my Nana in Blackpool. One of the (many) reasons I love visiting her is because of her style. She has been one of my biggest influences from the word go.

When my mother was little, my Nana owned a dress shop in  the small town of Rishton, Lancashire. She'd save up her money, put her best outfits on and get the train into Manchester to do the buying for the store. She was once asked to be a buyer for Kendall's (a huge department store at the time) and also once got hit on by the Busby Babes. Why? Because my Nana is the most glamorous person I've ever known, and probably one of the most glamorous that Lancashire has ever seen. She's a true Hepburnite and I'm so proud and so lucky to have her to look up to.

Unfortunately for my Nana, my Mum was a tomboy who loved wearing jodhpurs and didn't appreciate being dressed up in the shop's latest stock. Me, though, I'm a girlie girl and my Nana has always loved having me around to share her style with. I used to put all her diamonds and strings of pearls on and parade around her flat when I was little.

So while I visited this time I took a few pictures that I think show her influence on my style and the things she has shared with me. A lot of this is pastels, pearls, diamonds, silks and chinoiserie (above is a picture of the Fabergé egg on her mantelpiece) but most importantly, my Nana also taught me that true glamour is in the way you present yourself and that you don't need offshore accounts in Switzerland to do that well. I hope you enjoy her influence as much as I do!

The first pictures are of an outfit styled with my new favourite shorts, a close-up of my current favourite handbag (from Topshop), and my Nana's china that I've always loved so much. (All of her crockery is china, all of her cutlery is silver - I've never known such decadence. Most of my kitchenwear is plastic!)

The next few pictures are of the silk bedsheets she always puts on the guest bed for me, my current favourite skirt and it's gorgeous pastel watercolours. 

I have more pictures but I don't want to show too much of her home, I feel it would be an invasion of privacy. I guess you'll just have to take my word for it!

But if you look at the pictures of the inside of my wardrobe that I posted here, you'll see a great deal of her influence on me once more.

Who are your greatest style influences?

Ciao for now,

Charlotte