someone still loves you boris yeltsin

If I weren't totally broke, I would be going retail crazy right now. With all the winter and 'holiday' collections arriving in stores everyday there are just so many irresistible items I have spied and it is hard imagining getting through winter without them! There are the obvious, of course, like I need a new pair of black ankle boots to replace my old holey ones, but there are a few more fun and frivolous items that have caught my eye...

I think this Whistles muff would actually be really practical given the juggling act I perform everyday when I need to take my gloves off to do anything on my phone, which risks dropping phone or gloves or both. But if my gloves were attached to my neck...drama solved!

Hear me out here!! Well, I actually have no reasonable explanation for this one other than that I have always seen snow boots as completely lacking in any style, and one of those signs that someone has just given up and succumbed to pure practicality with no interest in maintaining their physical appearance. But now I look at them and think, I reckon I could pull it off. These ones are by Rubber Duck and you can get them here.

Matalan is definitely not somewhere I have ever looked for wardrobe-updating staples but that is exactly what I think this dress would be. I have so far completely resisted the obsession everyone has with maxi stuff but I now think it would be an absolutely perfect all-weather layering piece and I think this one ticks many trend boxes. And it's sooo cheap!

You may have noticed that I am finding a bit more time for blogging lately. You would be correct with the main reason being that basically all my friends decided to leave London for sunnier climes downunder and I now find myself with far fewer social engagements to fit into my schedule. Party season? What parties?! I really miss them all, but hope they are all enjoying their new lives xx

A little more for little you

The Hives

I never really got the harness trend that went viral on all the fashion blogs last year. S and M creeps me out to be completely honest and the harnesses strayed too far into gimp territory for me. Perhaps I am mentally scarred because I was too young when I saw Pulp Fiction for the first time?? Anyway though, I found a truly beautiful adornment that would allow me to participate in the trend in a more couture, less coutorture kind of way. Clap your eyes on these babies...

Nocturne shoulder jewellery. Can you even begin to imagine the possibilities?? Little bit exxy but maybe a possibility if you have a really generous relative who wants to buy you a Christmas pressie? And they would translate across seasons, so maybe think about the cost per wear ratio too. I can see it with a simple white vest top in summer as well as with a long sleeve black mini dress for winter. I can't get enough of long sleeve mini dresses!!

all the clouds have silver linings

Cut Copy-Feel The Love

Some fun autumn pics. It's getting chilly but I love it. I know, I feel a bit crazy when I admit that, I think I am the only person in London who doesn't whinge about the weather. Fingers crossed for more snow this year!

The Peanut Vendor

Highbury Fields

Album of the Week

Maximum Balloon

I almost didn't listen to this album at all. I know this sounds silly but words are important to me, usually that means the lyrics, but in this case it was the name of the band. Don't you think it sounds like the least amount of time ever spent thinking up a band name? Ever? Maximum Balloon. Hmph.

But if you can get past that, this is actually a truly exceptional album. Maybe Dave Sitek was just too busy producing great music to stop and think too much about the name? I did have another reason to be cautious though. Dave Sitek is one of the TV On The Radio boys and I do find their music a bit heavy going sometimes, just lots of noisy noises and not that much to hold my attention. Think of Maximum Balloon as like an accessible TVOTR. Or TV-lite. And very timely indeed. They seem to be the most achingly hip 'band's band' at the moment, it is becoming almost comical how many young emerging bands reference them so obviously. And I don't mind at all if it means I don't have to listen to the real thing.

Dave has some pretty cool friends too, and I can make no secret of my love for Karen O and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. A few of the other collaborating names I was not really aware of before, but they all add their own distinct flavour to each track. I guess he's kind of like a more credible Mark Ronson? Yeah, I like his album too, but don't tell anyone.

and this is my kinda love, it's the kind that moves on

Mother Love Bone-Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns

So after lunch at Byron the other day we headed across Millennium bridge to Tate Modern to see Ai Weiwei's sunflower seeds. The Turbine Hall installations are my absolute favourite, I am just so bummed out that I didn't get to go when it first opened and you could walk on them and touch them. Now they have little fences around them with staff to scold you if you get too close. Boo. Major disappointment.

Finally we made it to the actual target destination, the Design Museum, which has two great exhibitions on at the moment: Drawing Fashion and John Pawson Plain Space. Both our favourite things in the one building with just a flight of stairs separating them. The drawings were so beautiful and captivating, it was actually sad to see them all and think that this skilled artform has been largely replaced by boring old photography. The Vogue covers were so much more interesting than a photo of some stoopid airbrushed celebrity. Sigh. Would love so much to have all those prints hanging on my walls.

new change is the name of the street

Got to check out One New Change yesterday, a week after it opened as London's newest shopping centre, and the first proper one in the City. It doesn't have heaps of shops, but it would be just enough for a lunchtime whip around, which is of course the whole point. It looks pretty boring from the outside but is pretty cool inside which is where all these photos are taken. A major drawcard will be the food, with Jamie Oliver opening Barbecoa, an homage to meat, right across from a new Gordon Ramsey that is yet to come. Barbecoa is open now, and I did quite like the look of the menu if I ever had some poundage burning a hole in my pocket and I felt like a steak. In the meantime, we went to Byron for burgers and I got a proper hamburger with beetroot on it! They are only for a limited time though, as part of Movember which is an Australian fundraising event that has been adopted in the UK. Hence, the Aussie hamburger. It was thoroughly enjoyable.

They have a Topshop, Mango, Reiss, Banana Republic, Karen Millen, Office and Dune all with quite workwear-oriented stock, plus a couple of outdoorsy-stores like North Face which I didn't quite get. Is that what city workers do on the weekends? Mountain climbing?

love is the new feel awful

Dandy Warhols-Odditorium

Wes and I just had the most perfect day ever. We did so much I think I'm going to have to break it down into a few more manageable bite-sized posts. First, the clothes! I am excited to show you these because it's been ages since I've had any time to take any outfit shots, and it's also the first photos I have of my new haircut. It was cut about three weeks ago, I don't love it because I actually got into a fight with my hairdresser about how I wanted it done! I know, it was a totally surreal experience, I had photos of celebs and everything and she just said 'no'. I said 'actually, yes' but after a bit of back and forth, even when she was halfway through, she still didn't cut it as short as I wanted!

And I've just realised that my hair looks even worse in these pics than usual! D'oh! Must be too clean. Dry shampoo & mousse have been my best friends since the chop. Mumsy is not the look I'm going for.

I have had to wait awhile before I could wear my new parka, as it's been way too hot! I know, it is November and London has been 16 degrees for the past week. Awesome. And weird.

Parka and cardi: Topshop; skirt: H&M; shoes: Office; bag: SU London; headband: Accessorize.