Dress – Exhibit. Top – JHZane. Bag – Valentino via Farfetch. Boots – H&M x Margiela

There is a crisp, fresh quality to the air, and the fume of Pumpkin Spiced Latte is lingering within the tube network. Heck, London, I was only gone for about a week. To make matters worse, I’ve had to ditch my only pair of socks in a trashcan in SoHo because it was still balls-degrees in New York and they wouldn’t fit in my vintage Chanel bum-bag. Hence, sock-less in 5°c Heathrow. Trick or tootsies, anyone?

It’s the season of holidays and clumsily thumbing through the Hallmark category boxes at the pound-shop. Happy ___ [insert from below: Halloween, All Saints day, Remembrance Sunday, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, Bank Holiday because-why-the-frick-not Day, New Year’s Eve…etc] The days in between don’t even matter. Alas, what does November 16th mean to you? It’s like when all the funny bits are in a movie trailer, so you don’t bother watching the actual movie.

Well, if you know me enough by now you’ll know, that this is the day I declare a holiday from holidays – a very happy un-holiday, if you will – a celebration of the smaller days. Buy that gingerbread house now, knock on someone’s door tomorrow and ask for treats, and buy that Valentino bag I’ve been waiting forever from Farfetch, gift-wrap it and write a ‘Hey sexy. From Me’ card with some Easter bunnies on the cover. #SmallDaysMatter

Polo-neck – Uniqlo. Jeans – Zara. Sleeves – JH Zane. Bag – Valentino.

Ming is a firecracker. The Tuscan sun sets her off in a way that everyone on set wants either to be her or pinch her cheeks until marshmallows are dispensed. Cutest thing on mile-long legs. Case in point: the night we arrive, she disappears from the taxi queue and our crew of ten (plus respective luggage and then some) goes on missing-Victoria’s-Secret-model alert. Turns out she was buying cookies for everyone. See what I mean.

Nicole is a resolute goddess of her own right, like the unwavering Italian sun. Everything and nothing reminds me of our brunch of 2012 at the Breakfast Club in Hoxton, still a time when I was pretty much wearing picnic blankets and guzzling lattes like there was no tomorrow/scales. Nicole is the same Nicole: smiley, generous and patient; except now she reigns the intranets. And boy does she love a Boomerang.

Shoot gear and one extra shot of espresso to kick-start a long hurdle.

Two horses appeared out of nowhere. Because Tuscany.

Trousers – Zara. Boots – Gigi for Stuart Weitzman

Is this a trick question? I’m being serious PLEASE HELP. It seems I’ve managed to change lanes while swapping out the Alanis Morissette CD and now there are new kids in town, going very fast, and I don’t know their names. It was either Gigi or, YOLO or something like that.

Fine, I have received enough verbal pamphlets from my more clued-in chums over samosas and beers to have vaguely mapped out the sort of rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock thing involving a family called the Kardashians, and Gigi is a supermodel/mastermind footwear craftsman somewhere in that equation. Am I getting this correctly? I have – kid you not – walked, run, driven, hiked… and practically swum in these Stuart Weitzman Gigi boots, without a single blister. So, logic tells me, that Gigi is not just a pretty face. I realise this is like when my mother saw my first boyfriend’s array of chains running from his wallet to a hook on his low-slung jeans and asked him if his family sold hardware. Jumping to conclusions is my favourite session at the gym. Also, hereditary.

Sweatshirt – Zara. White eyeliner – Dolce & Gabbana

Cashmere polo – JWon . Reversible bomber – Kenzo x H&M. Skirt – Paul & Joe. Boots – Gigi for Stuart Weitzman

The reality is, these are ass-kicking boots. For instance, I kicked 984km (611mi) ass of road the other week in these very pair, trekked on my very first snow atop an Alpine lay-by, and proceeded to drive through three different countries (more on this later). From the looks of it, I could’ve run for president too, given some (read: one) of the candidates basically resemble a deflated whoopee cushion. Remember to vote, kids.

They also come with a cause: Stuart Weitzman has pledged to build three schools in Ghana, Guatemala, and Laos with the charity Pencils of Promise. Ass. Kicked.

Knit – Stella McCartney (similar). Leggings – Zara. Boots – Gigi for Stuart Weitzman. Top – Ivy Park.