Forgive me, valued reader, the past week has run away from me and I come to you today with, well, very little. It’s unforgivable, I know, but I’m sincerely hoping that you’ll find a way to cope without my incessant ramblings for a short weekend.
One thing though, I’ve mainly spent the past seven days getting dressed for one event or another, so I thought I’d share a little insight into the looks I’ve been wearing to offer a touch of inspiration (again, forgive me).
1 | The Vogue Screening of Lee
I spent several hours struggling to put anything together for this event, as I’d spent most of the day lounging around the house wearing dungarees. In the end, I went for the Zara X Nanushka chocolate brown wool blouson (with tricksy leather cuffs removed), a pair of high-rise Bottega jeans, a vintage Giorgio Armani shirt, and some Loewe Campo loafers - which made the whole thing feel a bit less pedestrian/Man In the High Castle-coded (I hope).
2 | The Evening Standard Christmas Lunch
I bought this vintage Daks corduroy suit from Wow Retro in Covent Garden the Friday before the Standard’s lunch, which took place on the following Monday. I had the sleeves lowered for a small sum at the local dry cleaner and I wore it with a cashmere-cotton Dunhill shirt in blue (a touch more festive and casual than white), and a vintage tweed tie I found at Reign Vintage.
On my feet, a pair of Church’s loafers with Uniqlo socks (painstakingly) complementing the hue of my shirt. Not too matchy-matchy, but perhaps just enough.
3 | The Fashion Awards
I was inspired by the double blazer layering recently seen at Dunhill, Bottega, and Bally for this look. The wrap-around band collar shirt was from Issey Miyake, the mid-jacket is Wooyoungmi, the outer jacket (single-breasted, importantly, for contrast) is from Dunhill, as is the lapel pin, which ties the outer layers to the under.
The trousers are from Bottega Veneta and the loafers are Prada. The success of the look - if you agree it’s successful - lies in the midnight shade of blue at the middle, which gently offsets the inkiness elsewhere. In other news, I could do with a haircut.
4 | Victoria Beckham’s Store Christmassifying
I love this little wool bar jacket from Dior, it’s super adaptable and great with both smarter and more casual looks. I’ve attempted to keep it tonally interesting by teaming it with a v-neck sweater (very now) in a slightly darker grey and some Bottega wide-leg trousers in black. The tonal variation provides depth - offset by the white tee - and the black belt ties it all together.
5 | The Manolo Blahnik Shopping Event
I felt a bit uninspired pulling together this outfit, so I focused on the Manolo croc-print loafers and allowed them to sing. The black cashmere sweater is from Luca Faloni, the worker jacket is a lovely stiff wool number from Bottega Veneta and the white jeans are my thick winter failsafe from LEJ London - Luke really does cut the best white denim in the world.
6 | The AOI Christmas Dinner
I swapped out the V-neck from the Victoria Beckham event, replacing it here with the Luca Faloni jumper from above. It’s simple but proves the versatility of the jacket. I like to wear my clothes a lot - I don’t subscribe to the idea that you should only wear garments out in public once- particularly those you spend good money on.
7 | Christmas Shopping
I absolutely love this midnight blue “Jean” knit from Studio Nicholson. It’s drapey and heavy and the perfect jumper to wear when schlepping around the shops trying to find festive inspiration.
My favourite way to wear it is with this pair of wide-leg A.P.C. jeans, a pair of caramel-hued Adidas X Wales Bonner trainers that match the hues in my favourite wool tweed Bottega Veneta bomber. I wear the latter piece all the time, working hard to decrease its (ample) cost-to-wear ratio.
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