Chairs from Fashion for Home

Wearing: Cashmere sweater – Iris & Ink (exclusive to The OUTNET.COM). Check trousers – J Crew (via The OUTNET). Shoes – Tory Burch (via The Outnet). Necklace – Mikimoto. Rose-gold watch – Guess. Wrap-around bracelet – H&M. Boyfriend Jeans – ASOS. Booties – Alexander Wang (via The Outnet). Shirt – Uniqlo.

Welcome to my casa! my office! my casa! Oh, I don’t even know anymore. I’ve been freelancing ever since I was about 17, I have a feeling the Home/Office boundary never existed in the first place. I built websites in bed and they still ran fine, bed-bug free. In fact if I remember correctly, a part of this blog was built tangled in sheets – tell me, does it smell of Doritos/down feather when you access this site? It’s only quite recently that I felt the need to allocate a certain corner for ‘work’ purposes… I suspect it’s something to do with the rise of pinterest, or maybe the fact that I am always home working making sandwiches, not necessarily of the good-wife sort either. I’ve been renting this flat since my third year of uni, and throughout the years it has gone through many identity shifts. The trouble mainly being the fact that, while divided into two floors, the flat is technically a studio, so the foyer is our dining room, shoe-storage, and our living area. Upstairs, the desk is in the bedroom, which is also technically the closet as well. And regardless of how many corners I fill with IKEA Linnmons to ‘work on’, I’ve always managed to end up in bed. Or by the fridge, eating out raw dinner ingredients.

What I’m currently finding particularly useful, is to get up in the morning and slapping on a bit of BB-cream, and getting dressed as if going out, heels and all. Figures I’ll be sitting the whole day anyway. That way, when I pop out for snacks the local Turkish don’t remember me as that bum that has a serious TWIX addiction. These days I’ve been drawn to wearing more cashmere, perfectly delicate enough to avoid aggravating eczema, my current favourite being the Iris & Ink cashmere sweater (exclusive to THE OUTNET.COM). I’ve worn it to countless fantasy board meetings, and lunch dates with Mr fridge & Mrs oven.

Chanel SS14, Paris

Paris, October 2013. Photos & Editing by Park & Cube. Le obviously.

Can we please just pause for a moment and ponder the man with the lone sunflower stalk? I was running ten minutes late and was trotting up a side road to the Grand Palais when I spotted him, leaning on a rake, looking with complete indifference. I stopped and watched him for a while, it was like an abstract performance; and what did the sunflower mean?

The invitation read Chanel Art… and unmistakeably the entire set was decked out in Karl’s faux art pieces: a bucket of bag chain, brightly painted canvases (canvasi?), a giant No.5 robot… The Grand Palais was transformed into a theme park of sorts, and the guests queued for their turn on the ‘rides’, for a #selfie with the art pieces. In fact, it wouldn’t have been surprising if it was possible to collect your photos at the end of the show.

The collection too was an explosion of textures, shapes and colour: pink nylon strips masterfully woven into the bouclé, two-sided mega bibs, paint-palette eye makeup, graffiti’d boy bags… and towards the end, a celebration of the medium, a tipping out of the craft drawer, so to speak – smeared-charcoal skirts, spray-paint stencilled backpacks adorned with colourful ropes… piled on all together of course, Chanel-style. There was no hidden philosophy in the title, it was, quite delightfully, a play with ideas that typically are associated with ‘Art’: galleries, paintings, 3D installations, fabric scraps, paint palette, art school, portfolio. All connected with a bit of Chanel magic and Karl fun – performed at the end by the man himself, who bounced the entire length of the Grand Palais and back, blowing kisses at the audience. I guess I went in expecting a quiz of abstract artistic expression, or a grand nod to some moment in art history, but came out reminiscing my peachy art-school days. I saw the sunflower again on my way out and it was just a happy sunflower. Nothing C’est nes pas un sunflower to it at all.

Angry midget grandpa: Laetitia

‘Bacon’

Evil-looking cat enduring a surprisingly nice petting session.

Wearing: V-neck wool cardigan – Gap. Cord leggings trousers – Gap. Dress – Stylenanda. Hat – Hoss Intropia. Bag – L.K.Bennett. Rose-gold watch – Guess. Leather knot bracelet – COS (similar). Boots – Zara. Cashmere scarf – Johnstons of Elgin. Thank you Kit for the outfit snaps!

I love days like this, when one very early morning meeting brings you to the other end of town and you end up spending the day in a very foreign surrounding. You poke at the Twittersphere for some recommendations in the area and ask whether or not they use a different currency/language here, and BAM you land a breakfast date with a friend you never see because, well, she lives at the bloody other end of town. The next thing you know, you’re digging through a mountain of bacon and the smell of it all invites a friendly pooch to sit at your feet, who you eventually end up naming ‘Bacon’. We still don’t know who its owner was and where it came from… although we’re pretty sure its real name is either Bacon, or Bread, or Tuna sandwich, considering that it pootled over to the next table once he saw no more bacon on my chin. And we thought it loved us.

Also, wearing what is probably the most comfortable outfit ever. I mean, cords and a chunky cardigan… it’s like my mother dressed me. Or my father, actually, come to think of it. All with a tiered dress-thing that actually very effectively covers up the junk in the trunk, and boots so comfortable I can jog in. This is the first of a little style series I’m doing with Gap and a couple of their knitwear/cord classics for the Styld.by platform. Make sure to check back for more of what I’m sure will be comfortable outfits championing the Park family genome, aka Pyjama family.

Outfit: Park & Cube x Gap Styld.by

One piece, three looks – Iris & Ink duchesse-satin top

Look 1: Satin Top – Iris & Ink. Black jeans – James Jeans. Boots – Kurt Geiger (black). Bag – Marc Jacobs (via THE OUTNET.COM). Sunglasses – Carrera by Jimmy Choo.

Look 2:   Satin Top – Iris & Ink. Skirt – Calvin Klein (via THE OUTNET.COM. Shoes – Valentino. Bracelets – ASOS. Bird bangle – Saught. Clutch – Kurt Geiger.

Look 3:   Satin Top – Iris & Ink. Coat – Mango. Shoes – Mango. Skirt – Next. Bag – JinYoo103684. Rings – ASOS.

I think it’s high time I revive this series because honestly it’s quite fun putting together fantasy outfits, like I have somewhere to wear these to. Oh the joy of working from home. Take Look #2 for example – first date? any date? Dates with the hubby usually involves him telling me to go and change into trainers so we can walk his daddy-long-legs pace, and being asked if I ate a hamster because my lips are very very red. Or Look #3 – yeah pffsh, my business meetings usually happen over Skype, me in pyjamas munching on M&M’s, lying that my webcam isn’t functioning. I mean. I just don’t think they’ll trust working with a girl with no eyebrows. I’m kidding. I have eyebrows, please believe me. The colour of the Iris & Ink duchesse-satin top, exclusive to THE OUTNET.COM – hero piece of this month’s three-ways-to-wear – does put me in a rather romantic mood though. Plus, it’s the best kind of silk – those of the super-thick buttery sort that keeps its cocoon-y shape regardless of what’s happening underneath. I guess I can go eat a hamster afterall.

Park & Cube x THE OUTNET.COM

A little peek at what’s in my carry-on!

Sunglasses – Carrera by Jimmy Choo

Coat – Mango. Jeans – James Jeans. Shoes – Zara. Bag – L.K.Bennett. Rolly bag – Longchamp

(Rollover to activate numbers ↑)

Rosamund, the gentlewoman that has been accompanying me on many flights of late. Has a soft suede heart, and capability of holding many stories (by way of Kindle) and secrets.

A cashmere scarf that fits in tight corners and folds out into a creamy cloud around your neck, should you wish to hide that double-chin on your snooze. Alternative to the U-shaped flight pillow I never remember to buy.

Carrera by Jimmy Choo – ready for landing, for that rockstar moment when you step out of the airport in a sunny country and you find yourself sporting two more carry-on’s under your eyes.

‘Shut up, I’m fabulous’ rose-gold headphones by Frends. Perfect for NOT hearing the We’re boarding announcements and being that ‘fashionably late’ passenger that gets all the attention in the world. Clever.

Limousine for key items for any trip: the Louis Vuitton Mon Monogram travel wallet – does not come with a mini-fridge with champagne, but does have compartments for different currencies. As if I’m going on more than one destination at a time, pffsh.

Airport pouch by the geniuses (geniusi?) at Muji – mine’s a small version but they come in larger sizes (within airport regulation) for shorter trips where you don’t wish to check-in one lone shampoo bottle.

Fences and Windows by Naomi Klein, amazing read – but sometimes used as alternative to sleeping pill on longer flights. Must’ve read the same sentence in that on chapter about five times now.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 S Pen only comes out above 10,000 ft – highly practical when re-thinking your life and writing down life goals that you’ll never read again. Also partner in crime for item .

Snacks – Because somebody is always too impatient for the food trolley to roll by. Plus, I’ve never seen a flight offer Coconut Water (more potassium than four bananas – try taking four bananas on board), and until that day, I will insist on bringing one aboard.

Trusty Casio on my wrist. I don’t want our plane to crash because I turned on my mobile to check the time, thank you. BECAUSE THAT’S A THING APPARENTLY.

Mulberry envelope pouch I got for £25 in Bicester Village, used as foreign currency wallet, or what is now a mixture of Yens, Euros, Dollars, Pounds and Wons, and a game of is this your country’s money at checkout.