I’ve wanted to post a picture of this dress for ages. I picked it up for £15.00 from Cow Vintage in Birmingham a few months back. My guess is that it is either fully handmade or two dresses stitched together at the waist (the belt makes me think the latter). It is made from silk – with the bodice in check taffeta and the skirt in slubby raw silk. The bright yellow, pink and navy are an unlikely combination but it somehow works.     Dress: Cow Vintage Cardigan: Pied a Terre Tights: Boots Boots: Jones Bootmaker Bracelet: Made   Vintage has been on my mind a fair bit recently, after reading Shopping for Vintage by Funmi Odulate. What I don’t fully grasp is the nature of being a “vintage collector”. These are people who buy beautiful clothes with no intention of ever wearing them. Really, what is the point? I doubt that this dress is of any real value to a vintage collector or a hardcore vintage fan. All I know is that it looks good and I doubt I’ll catch anyone else wearing something similar.     I’m also going through a phase of wearing lots of yellow. I’m not sure why.   BBxx   P.S. I have major bitch face in that picture. Me and my Gorilla Pod had just had an argument, otherwise I was practically dancing with joy on the inside. Honest.  

  Cardigan: Topshop Black Top: Florence and Fred at Tesco Jeans: Topshop Boots: Jones Bootmaker Skull Pendant: Lynsey Luu Horn of Plenty Pendant: Mom found it on the car park at Dudley Zoo in the 90s. True story. Probably Elizabeth Duke at Argos.   I haven’t posted an outfit picture for a long while. Don’t worry; I’ve still been looking smoking hot. I’ve just not felt like posting pictures of myself. I’m not 100% certain why, but here are some options:   1) Plastering pictures of myself all over my blog still makes me feel uneasy and silly. (With the exception of the ones I had taken by the brilliant  Alex Styles that you’ll see on the “About”  page of this site, I want to plaster those everywhere with an accompanying note stating: “I look like this ALL of the time”.)   2) My winter wardrobe is a tad predictable – short skirts, opaque tights, skinny jeans, cardigans and riding boots in a variety of combinations. Yawn.   3) It is dark when I leave the house and dark when I get home. I used to take my pictures on my way out in the morning, hence why you can probably see eye snot in them.   I was all ready to put my half-assed attempts at “style blogging” to bed, and then I bought this cardigan. I blogged about my love of sequins before Christmas. Since then, several sequined cardigans had caught my eye, but I couldn’t bring myself to shell out £50.00+ on something I knew would be heavily discounted two weeks later.   Lo and behold, I picked up this ritzy little baby yesterday for a mere £15.00 from Topshop. That’s correct, £15.00. Reduced from £55.00. It is the best bargain ever and I’m going to wear[.....]

  I’m not one to gush about high street and designer collaborations. The last one that got me genuinely excited was when Giles Deacon first teamed up with New Look – the silk leopard print tea dress encapsulated everything that I love about clothes. Since then, designer collaborations have left me cold. Roksanda Ilincic for Whistles briefly grabbed my interest, only to lose it with the £300+ price tags. Versace for H&M made me smile, but that was because I found the mental image of my husband in these pants quite amusing.   This morning’s announcement that H&M have teamed up with Marni has melted my icy heart. I love Marni. I can’t afford Marni, but I love it.   Excuse me whilst I go all gushy and fashion smashion on yo asses: Marni is fashion for the thinking woman*. It is complicated and beautiful. It scares boys.   This video provides a glimpse of what the collection will be like – the prints and colours immediately appeal and  I’m digging the “kooky girl” styling with the knee socks and silver pumps.     Tim Blanks, from Style.com, hits the nail on the head with his comment about design that appeals to “sensuality of the mind”. I feel the same way about Marni that every trendy architect/graphic designer I’ve met feels about Comme des Garçon. It is fashion for fashion nerds. And I’m proud to be one of them.   Now, if only Miuccia Prada could collaborate with M&S (Laura Ashley at a push), then my kooky and sensual lady mind would be blown. Someone make it happen.   BBxx   *Let me be clear: all women think. The (ghastly) phrase “thinking woman’s fashion” is normally used to describe anything that doesn’t flash boobs or legs and involves lots of cardigans.[.....]

  Clockwise from top left: Jumper – Vince at Harvey Nichols, Converse One Stars, Vest – Aubin and Wills, Cardigan – Biba at House of Fraser, Denim Skirt – Topshop, Sequinned Reindeer Dress – Markus Lupfer.    Sparkles are a divisive issue, as illustrated in this little scene from a shopping trip I recently took with my friend Elly:   FADE IN: INT. YOUNG FASHION DEPARTMENT OF A MID-RANGE DEPARTMENT STORE – DAY CHRISTMAS MUSIC PLAYS IN THE BACKGROUND AS TWO YOUNG WOMEN STEP OFF THE ESCALATOR. ONE OF THE WOMEN IS CLEARLY DISTRACTED BY THE SIGHT OF A ROSE GOLD AND PINK SEQUINNED CARDIGAN (50% OFF!!!!). THEY WALK OVER TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK. JEN: Oh my god, I NEED this. ELLY: But when would you wear it and what with? JEN: Err, all of the time and with everything. JEN SWOOSHES ABOUT WITH THE CARDIGAN, PICKING UP JEANS AND STUFF TO DEMONSTRATE THE GARMENT’S VERSATILITY. JEN: See, it even works with jeans! ELLY: Jeans? JEN: Yes. Could wear it to work too. ELLY: You’d seriously wear sequins to work? JEN: Why not? ELLY: I couldn’t concentrate; I’d be too distracted by the sparkliness. JEN: I know! Ace yeah?! ELLY LOOKS AT JEN WITH A MIXTURE OF AMUSEMENT AND BAFFLEMENT. JEN GETS DISTRACTED BY A SEQUINNED LEOPARD PRINT MINI DRESS AND SKIBBLES OFF. FADE OUT   I adore sequins. I also adore lamé and glitter. One of the best things about December is that glittery stuff is everywhere. It has even got six whole pages devoted to it in this month’s Good Housekeeping magazine (which is, like, the world’s most sensible magazine). Do you know that you can get glittery orange and lime marmalade from Harrods? Well, you do now.   Whilst the idea of twinkly toast toppings appeals to me immensely, my wardrobe[.....]

    It is the time of year when I start craving the colour burgundy. Burgundy, homemade soup and Sunday evening travel shows are my sure-fire indicators that it is Autumn. Some people go for falling leaves and chilly dark nights, not me.   As colours go, it is often considered rather naff and old fashioned. There’s a reason why Anchorman’s Ron Burgundy was a Burgundy as opposed to a “Magenta” (crazy, sexy, fun) or a”Turquoise” (fresh, bright, fun). There’s a general resistance to using the word “burgundy”, hence the proliferation of the terms “berry shades” and “wine tones”. I want to reclaim burgundy for all the crazy, sexy, fun, fresh and bright people out there. Who’s with me?   A burgundy dress is at the top of my autumn shopping list. I have silly little daydreams about wearing a velvet one with yellow tights and some leopard brogues. Then I move onto a tartan one with black tights and some off the hook patent heels, then I start imagining a burgundy hem poking out from underneath a snuggly leopard faux-fur coat and then I really want to go shopping.   Burgundy corduroy is another of my perennial favourites, especially in skirt form. An A-line skirt with a chunky jumper, woolly tights and riding boots – perfection.   My favourite thing about burgundy is how it works with other colours – it looks great with rich autumnal shades like brown, navy and mustard but it also works unexpectedly well with bright colours. I picked up a lime green cashmere sweater from TK Maxx two weeks ago, I firmly intend to wear it with my burgundy pleated skirt I got from Hobbs NW3 last year.   I’ve been away for a few weeks, so I’m here to say: “I’m back and[.....]

  Top: Topshop Pleated miniskirt: Pimkie Yellow tights: Topshop Cardigan: H&M Bag: My Nan   This look was pulled together out of laziness and convenience (that’s how fashion I am). One of those, “I’m too busy to pick an outfit, so I’ll buy a new one instead’ looks. Actually, only the top and tights were new. The skirt was bought in France from shop called Pimkie, it is like a cross between Miss Selfridge and Peacocks, so not exactly haute couture.   The French high street is interesting, there doesn’t seem to be a middle ground. You either get cheap and cheerful “fun fashion” (that can also be a bit tacky) or very conservative and bland stuff. There was some gorgeous stuff in the department stores, especially by labels like Carven and Sandro but it was priced accordingly. There are probably some astute cultural observations that could be drawn from this, but I’ll save that for another day.   I wore this for a night at Atta Girl celebrating my friend Jimmy’s birthday. We did the usual dancing, drinking and eating chinese food at a ridiculous hour. Atta Girl was incredibly good – I particularly enjoyed dancing to TLC’s “No Scrubs” and  Hole’s “Violet”. The place was packed and the atmosphere was friendly, fun and feminist. I loathe how “fun feminism” has become a derogatory term used in certain quarters. Why the bloody hell can’t it be fun? You don’t suddenly wake up one day and decide “Oooohhh, I fancy some fun today, shall I go to Alton Towers or become a feminist?”.     The rubbish “summer” weather has made me reassess my views on opaque tights. If it is freezing and cloudy and a cardigan is required, then 80 denier is perfectly acceptable. I love the combination of[.....]

  I used to make scrapbooks after my holidays. I still always intend to make a scrapbook after my holidays. I never get around to making it. Instead, I have accumulated random piles of leaflets, ticket stubs, matchbooks, restaurant cards, city maps and sugar sachets. I’ll blog about them one day – “Bookish Brunette and the scrapbooks that never happened”.   In the meantime, here’s a selection of pictures from my recent holiday to Bergerac in Dordogne, France. I didn’t have much opportunity to pose for “proper” pictures. In fact, I spent most days wearing no make-up, tatty M&S flip-flops, denim shorts and a green vest. I have no idea what it was about that vest, but I developed a strange fixation with it that meant I had to wash it four times whilst I was there.   The Dordogne region is such a beautiful place. Pebble the dog really liked it too, though that could have something to with all the rabbits she got to chase. I got wine and macarons, the dog got small and furry playmates/snacks.   BBxx