Tower bridge, London

Black shearling jacket – Muubaa. Cashmere sweater – The White Company. Dress – ASOS. Black Jeans – James Jeans. Boots – Sergio Rossi via the Outnet. Bag – Alexander Wang Kirsten tote via the Outnet. Thank you Kit for helping with the shots!

I’m trying this new thing where I don’t make my outfit posts HappyMeal posts, because lately I’ve been sneaking in half-arsed outfit shots with some great eating experiences that really deserve full features of their own (eg 1 | 2 | 3 ). So when I say HappyMeal posts – introducing the cool eatery is the ‘toy’ bit, while my sartorial choices that accompany the post like an afterthought, the undersized, under-satisfactory kid meal. If you were in the kind of family where HappyMeal is currency of good behaviour, you’ll be familiar with the fact that once you get the toy out, you no longer care what goes in your mouth – a fry, a sawdust McNugget. As long as the toy keeps you entertained, your parents shovel the food in no problem. My point is, I’m now in a habit where I don’t post anything until I eat out somewhere cool, which is NEVER because I also happen to work full time and really would prefer eating pillow stuffing at home (preferably while sleeping). So here goes, back to basics, ‘punching-in’ my fashion blogger time-card, so to speak. Lots of me, from different angles, wearing stuff that’s probably not even fashionable to begin with. Oh but I love that shearling jacket from Muubaa.

Maroon Cardigan – Topshop. Flannel shirt – Uniqlo Men’s. Skirt – Topshop. Kirsten Bag – Alexander Wang via the Outnet. Boots – Thakoon via The Northernlight blogshop; Thank you Kit for the outfit snaps.

A certain Linda Evangelista might say, I don’t get out of bed for less than a bowl of phô and a perspiring glass of sweet Vietnamese ice coffee. In fact, let me go put this in my Advertise page – set me up with phô for the rest of the year and my blog is YOURS, basically. A few years ago I used to travel all the way across town from West London to Kingsland Road to get a fix of what I can only describe as, the ultimate comfort food; of course, the journey would take over an hour with collateral loss of other major comfort factors. But what can I say, this is the kind of logic I live with, if I had a tail I’d chase it, par example. Viet Grill (58 Kingsland Road) is our preferred den, with its (dareIsay) chic Martinique-d walls, sunflower table-deco and too-cool-for-school waiters, but should you find yourself at the bottom of that road one evening out in Shoreditch, there are countless options that will do the job. Or try this, if you’re blessed with whatever coloured thumb that allows for conjuring ultimate comfort in the comfort in your own home. You superior being, you.

Uniqlooks September: One item, three looks – UU Bulky fleece jacket

Look 1: Bulky fleece Jacket – Uniqlo. Purple shirt – Uniqlo. Pants – ASOS White. Shoes – Alexander Wang via Vestiaire Collective. Bag – JHYoo

Look 2: Bulky fleece Jacket – Uniqlo. Silk top – Partimi. Jeans – James Jeans. Shoes – Isabel Marant. Bag – Kurt Geiger . Watch – Casio

Look 3:  Bulky fleece Jacket – Uniqlo. Fleece shirt – Mens’ Uniqlo. Skull-lace skirt – Gmarket. Boots-sies – old season Patrizia Pepe. Clutch – Chanel. Belt – JHYoo

As I was piecing together this month’s Uniqlooks I couldn’t help but notice – 2012 is one year gone with haste – can you believe October is at the doorstep with Winter padding towards the lawn? And here I am, still waiting for that summer to happen (It RSVPed, what was THAT about). I’m going to do the usual description of this month’s Uniqlooks hero item I chose (I purchase these items monthly, just to be clear), and say it’s been my second skin. And this time, believe it or not, the arrow is fluttering closer to ZERO/SOMEWHAT TRUE on the Blogger-Exaggeratometer because ever since LFW ended I’ve been working non-stop and also managed to catch something so basically I’ve lived in this purple fluffy thing while either sipping criminal dose of coffee or later, popping antibiotics like they were skittles. In fact, Look #2 is what I’d choose to wear if I had one out for the rest of my life; too bad I’ve also been near-stationary in a chair for a month eating junk so I will soon out-fat those skinny James Jeans and grow exactly into the shape of the purple jacket. I’m in shape. Round is a shape.

Thank you to hubby & Kit for helping with the various photos.

Tokyo, last day

Stella McCartney Falabella pouch

Rose-gold watch, GUESS.

Shoes, Alexander Wang via Vestiaire Collective. Watch, GUESS.

Floral top – Zara. Belt – LV via Vestiaire Collective. Shorts – DIY cropped black jeans from Zara. Sheer balloon skirt – ASOS. Shoes – Alexander Wang via Vestiaire Collective. Bag- Bottega Veneta.

Last day of Tokyo: 9,000 windows and berries for breakfast; ¥8,150 left in my pocket to buy presents for hubby, ¥500 left after a trip to Comme des Garcons, 20 minutes to meet a Japanese friend for coffee at the BVLGARI cafe in Shinjuku, 15 minutes to shop in a twelve-storey Uniqlo (impossibru), 5 new types of sushi tasted at lunch, 4 new favourite types of sushi, 2 minutes fitting the Prada flagship store designed by Herzog and de Meuron into sight while passing by in mini-bus, 1.5 cats seen in total (0.5 = tail and a spotted leg), 1 minute pondering what the Japanese word is for ‘STOP’  as the airport car passes by a Issey Miyake Pleats Please, 0% eagerness to enter homebound plane.

That about sums it up! Thank you Perrier-Jouët once again for a wonderful experience.

Collecting goods at Vestiaire Collective

Bikerjacket style raincoat, H&M Trend. Dress, Casson London. Python-print Bag, Marc by Marc Jacobs. Shoes, Alexander Wang. Belt, Louis Vuitton; both via Vestiaire Collective

So we’ve established that I don’t even wake up for the fire alarm nowadays, but there was a time – before the dentures – when I’d jolt up a the sound of DOINK from an auction page at dead-hour and basically I’d have about 18 minutes to scramble out of bed and judge whether I’m willing to bid over £11 on a glitchy Playboy Colour. Fast forward a few years later and I’d have all kinds of tricks up my sleeves (i.e search for ‘Channel’ for neglected ‘Chanel’ mis-spells, or bidding on a pair of Chloé pumps in the last 3 seconds and hearing YOU A-HOLE‘s from bidders across the globe), nobody called me a bucktooth loser back then. YUH. But from a certain point it got really tiresome to constantly dig into the double-digit pages and then the keeping on track of items of questionable quality, so I stopped shopping secondhand clothes/accessories online… until I heard about the peer to peer resale platform Vestiaire Collective. What bought me over initially was the fact that all items are made sure of its genuineness and quality by being sent to Paris where they are checked by a team of experts, but their edits are quite clever too especially for squirrels as indecisive as me. So here’s a few I scored: Alexander Wang Abbey heels from forever seasons ago which now happen to be my favourite go-to black heels (the seller of which happened to be one of my lovely readers!), the LV black classic belt and a Jessica Barensfield hammered initials bangle which is part of one of their mini-series. And of course, that designer heels you’ve been saving only for ‘special occasions’ – those impossible-to-walk-in ones, you sure ain’t profiting from cost-per-wear by letting it gather dust on the DVD shelf so you might as well sign up and sell that one off for a piece that’ll be worn more than that one time it came out of the packaging. (yes I’m looking at you, self)