B/W Photo & Last two photos by Laurel Dailey; Jen the Style Crusader in last photo

I went to International schools growing up in Warsaw, and Quiksilver & Roxy were the uniform of the rich kids and those with diplomat parents. I personally sported ragamuffin-wear in highschool, as a rebellion against the wave of surfwear washed up at the schoolgates 8:50 every morning. A truly befitting prelude to one of those CSM lifestyles and attitudes, come to think of it. No wonder everyone assumed I had braces and played the Saxophone. (Correction, alumni: I had braces and was in the rockband) You can probably guess what I thought when Beth invited me down to the Zetter Hotel for a Quiksilver collection preview – I wasn’t dreading it though, it would bring a waft of nostalgia, at the least. I never knew I’d ever come to say this, but Quiksilver has grown up, I actually found myself enjoying a lot of the pieces. Gone were the iron-on hipster graphic tees and the cheesecloth tubetops, there were silks and wools. I AM SERIOUS. It’s like the beach got colder, or the girls moved inland – but that’s exactly what London is, isn’t it.

Thank you Beth for inviting me down for the dress-up and Laurel for the wonderful photos.

Shirt – Courtesy of Stunnz.com, Leather Skirt – Vintage, Sheer socks – market, Pumps – Kate Kanzier, Bag – Cado, Bracelet – COS

Thank you Jill for the photo!

I refuse to smile for pictures until my broadband problem is resolved. Hrmph! (If anyone knows how to reason with this kid in me, please, pass the monkey bars and tyre swings – she’s hiding under the slide, that one rocking back and forth muttering in a funny language.)

On a completely different note, Nowness were so kind to feature a few of my world flea market picks on Sunday, check it out here!

H! by Henry Holland for Debenhams AW10 Preview

Half-arsed fashion blogger: Hi, I went to H! for Debenhams collection preview two weeks ago and met Henry Holland, it was like so nice! Look at my new shoes! Like, you can’t see them but they’re lovely! 

Food blogger: The canapés perfectly entertained my taste buds and the orange juice was most definitely high-end – ‘with pulp’. Very impressed it did not leave dregs at the bottom of the glass.

Celebrity blogger: Henry Holland oMG he was sipping Lemsip while infecting everyone in the room with his ‘fashion flu’, talk about an exclusive goodie-bag!

Tech blogger: There was a PC in the corner. Not. impressed.

Interior design blogger: Amy from Wolf Whistle blog was talking about seeing Henry’s mother’s house on ELLE. That was about the most interesting subject we discussed. Leaving the building, I had a strong urge to give Debenhams a bit of a store makeover. Naked Greek goddess statues in the foyer should bring good feng shui….

Fashion trend blogger: It’s Back to School ladies – Tartan skirts and khaki shorts with braces, jersey basics, varsity jackets, quirky knitwear… this season reflected Henry’s personal style. Best value for money was a purple faux fur coat that gave Chanel’s AW10 faux fur a run for their money, but a little hiccup was the camel coat, so perfect in theory, but felt like soggy cardboard.

Full-arsed fashion blogger (that is me): Thank you Laura for inviting me down, thank you Henry for being such a star popping in even with your cold. I’m going to be honest and say that only a few pieces in the collection tickle my fancy (velvet stripe dress/khaki shorts) but I’m more than certain it’s just something wrong with me having no <em>fun</em> bone while everyone else who can do the salsa will love the collection.

Jacket by Gemma Degara, Skirt – Menswear Shirt tied as skirt Uniqlo, Shoes – Loeffler Randall Courtesy of TwentyThirtyForty, Top – H&M, Bag – Courtesy of Chanel, Watch – Casio

Don’t be fooled by the above calm – I am stuttering, muttering, pacing around, spacing out, kicking the ground, and bickering at absolutely everything because I’m not getting my broadband fix. I’ve stuck a sticker on my arm that says ‘3 for the price of 2’, it was from Waterstones.

The line is connected, Virgin Media just seems to have sent the router on a donkey with 3 legs. The worst thing is that their branding is done by one clever graphic designer because I find it hard to scream at them on the phone – they let me choose my own waiting song damnit – press 2 for Pop, 3 for Dance, 4 for Indie and 5 for Rock. I wanted to click 5 and accidentally clicked 3 and got a thumping techno and a migraine. I managed to yell a little that day, thanks to that little nudge. Hey, what’s a webdesigner without the web?

I miss visiting your blogs and reading about your lives too, please bear with me a little while. I may take a trip to Scotland soon. Apparently that’s where they send the routers out from. ROUTER VENDETTA!

Thank you Kit for taking this wonderful photo with that ossom Lubitel camera of yours.