Jacket by Fairground, Top by Urban Outfitters, fringed waistcoat Vintage

Swimsuit courtesy of Mouille

Maria Doychinova of Doychinoff

Lake’s – My Lake Hotel & Spa in Wörthersee, Austria; Thank you Kit for the outfit shots!

I guess the best thing about seeing a lake outside your window first thing when you wake up is the fact that it perfectly reminds the body of morning toilet, or was that the galleon of coffee from the previous night while blogging in the hotel restaurant? The truth is, the rooms were all booked up for the Lake’s Fashion Days and the reception couldn’t find us spare dongles for the Wifi in our rooms, so Kit and I had to resort to sitting next to the thumping music of the lounge, nursing the backlog beast by blogging (alliteration at its best). On hindsight the combination of the lake-view and wifi (or lack therof) was really what made the trip that much sweeter – for one I did not get up in the morning to the sound of waterfall that my laptop fan makes – in fact the only sound of water was from the waves gently slapping the pillars of the harbour. All I wanted to pack that day were some towels and a bathing suit for an afternoon dip. Alas, the laptop did secure its place in the towel bag in the end, I guess the nerd in me could not dismiss the glorious idea of using the machine outside the 1.5m cable radius and in the sun.

Thank you Natacha of Mango PR for taking care of us x

Chanel AW11; Peridot varnish

Sorry, thought a bit of heavy coats and tutti frutti woolen socks ‘n’ boots would do a good trick of reverse psychology-ing this heatwave. Ech. My brain is sweating. De facto I’m a bit of a tell tale and I can never hold things in (i.e AW/FW what have you) and usually end up blurting stuff out before it’s the correct time… but I won’t read the lyrics of fashblogger anthem and add the ‘now I feel like Autumn and layering‘ line, we just felt the oven dials turn into a beautiful toasty weather in London and I don’t at all dislike it.

Thank you Julie always for the warm welcome!

Screenshots from Hurts – Better than Love video (Youtube)

Shirt, Trousers, Bag, Watch, Belt, Boots – All ASOS

I never know what I’m expected to say when someone asks what my ‘feel-good’ outfit is – am I meant to point out to the stuff in my wardrobe that makes me feel good? Handcuffs make me feel good, the ones with fluff and diamanté embellishments… OK what’s with the bondage references? STOPPING. Anyway, I’d always give some sort of vague answer that was just another way of saying  ‘stuff-you-wear-to-bed’, but I think after putting this outfit together I now understand what it means to feel good in an outfit. As part of a challenge from ASOS‘ Music Inspires Fashion column I was asked to put together an outfit inspired by a band, and I settled for the utilitarian gentleman look of Hurts (Thanks Kit for the tip!). I guess I couldn’t stick to one character and it all ended up as a mix of Theo’s brooding glare + Adam’s piano arm roll-ups + the slick-haired girls in shirts & suits… or none of that and one very diluted Indiana Jones (with handcuffs, not whips). There’s something about wearing a menswear-look that works magic in boosting confidence – maybe it’s the comfort factor, or feeling as though you don’t need to impress anyone… I don’t know, but it felt good nevertheless. Well now I have this strong urge to throw out my flimsy feminine pieces and start stocking up on starched shirts and tailored trousers. When I start visiting grooming stores, that’s when you hit that PARK & HALT button, OK?

Please do checkity out the ASOS feature; thank you Kit for helping with the photos!