Costa del Sol, Spain

Scarf – Weston

Friendship bracelets – mix of DIY & Lucy Folk (with gold taco). Watch – Sekonda. Lipstain – YSL. Bodice top – Motel Rocks. Gold bangle – Saught

First pic/outfit: Pink dress as top – mummy’s old. Skirt – YesStyle. Satchel – ASOS White. Belt – LV via Vestiaire Collective.

A day before our flight to Spain, my husband tore off a chunk of the post-it note that had our what-to-pack list and slapped it on my arm, saying ‘don’t pack  your laptop, this will be your 7-day quitting patch’. I too tore off a slice for him and stuck it on his forehead, because hey, I wasn’t going to let the evil man eat chocolate if I was to be on a diet, so to speak. So we left for the airport, pounds lighter without our usual gear and a few other things (that chunk I tore off…), but heart heavy with the fact that I couldn’t even set some kind of a scheduled post here. It started with asking for three drinks in the plane instead of one, and then three toasts with nutella + banana slices for breakfast instead of the usual one cup of coffee, and an entire day of emptying out our friend‘s fridge (flan, leftover paella, grilled chicken, something that might’ve been dog food…etc) then going for the routine sunset stroll to the supermercado to replenish stocks for the next day. At one point I swear I could see my fingers tremble in the pattern of my email password, so instead I pet Murphy the ridgeback until we saw bald patches. At night, we played board games in Dutch and whenever either of us started losing blamed the only Dutch-speaker (aka host) for making up rules we couldn’t check online.

I won’t lie, and I’m sure you’ve all tried going off the computer/internet for a few days and will know exactly, it was pretty liberating. Personally I did come back 2kg heavier so with my brand of logic I will conclude that quitting computer is fattening, and therefore EVIL, but I won’t deny that I did feel very deeply rested after our little holiday in Fuengirola.

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)

1/ Dirty make-up brushes

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 Berry, berry good: Pancakes and Berries at the Breakfast Club for days that could do with a good sugary kick-start. I personally prefer to ordering an eggy something first (they do a mean Eggs Royale) and then share pancakes for dessert. #threecoursebreakfastnaturally

 Ever since I was a kid I’ve been adamant about keeping bank-notes face-aligned and crease-free (what OCD?!) so I’ve only ever owned long-wallets. The size on this berry-red Chloe is perfect – especially the number of compartments – makes it easy for someone ‘loyal’ to just about every single store.

The ASOS Salon collection hath finally hitteth – pictured, one of my favourite pieces. Actually would love to layer it over lots of patterns like Lesya Paramonova’s debut collection (as seen on Style Bubble.)

 Scent of the season, Chloe L’eau de Parfum – Light, sweet & tangy. Sometimes I’d catch a whiff while cycling and wonder if there’s freshly cut grass or a field of flowers nearby. (Wow. Probably one of the  corniest thing I’ve ever written.)

 Strappy Mary Janes by Kate Kanzier:  thinking of pairing with light boyfriend jeans, slouchy grey marl tee and a boyfriend watch. (Or is it technically ‘Husband watch’ for newlyweds?)

  £25 a pop, can you believe it?? We’ve been looking for chairs to go with our new door-turned-dining table and found these FiftyOne Percent industrial chairs at Achica, with about an hour left in the sale. Been stalking that site everyday ever since.

 My little garden corner where half the plants are fake. From IKEA, naturally. Absolutely ideal for someone who can’t even grow mould, if tried. Give me a month though, I’m sure the plastic ones will wither too. Also doubles as perfume counter. (White ladder from ebay.)

  I may or may not have a thing for stilettos. And as you can see I went a bit mad with the Topshop bow heels – especially the yellow ones. I wore them on a night out a few months ago and woke up to only find out they were completely soiled. Must’ve been a good night out.

 Shwood wooden sunnies, hand-made in Oregon. Similar sensation as to wearing a straw hat due to lightness in weight. Gust of wind scenario: skirt flailing, straw hat flying, wooden sunnies crawling up into hair…

 I get asked often how I carry my camera around – Before: inside a failed knitted beanie (think beanie for smurf); Now: the Style Scrapbook x Kipling camera bag. A little worried about the chain being not sturdy enough, but otherwise the perfect size with handy pockets for peripherals.

 Pastel obsession, still strong with  Contrast sleeves top by Goodnight Macaroon. (Warning: if worn wrong, may look like supermarket uniform)

 Meh. I just don’t think I have a talent at stacking bracelets… this is really the most I’ll ‘pile on’. (That friendship bracelet may or may not have a colour palette inspired by Hermes.) Hare egg-cup from Liberty London

Leather shorts – Vintage, Shoes – secondhand Alexander Wang viaVestiaire Collective, Trench – Uniqlo, Bag – Marc Jacobs via Monnier Freres, Stripe Top – Uniqlo, Last pic necklace – DanniJo

Let me just answer that tickling question – did I peel off my striped-top and give it to Carrie while she waited topless on my bed? No. Not in that order anyway. I mean, no. We just happened to bring one top and they both happened to be striped – but picture us walking around Milan looking like girls who ran away from mime-school; amusing is one way to put it.

Anyhow. It always feels wonderful to be back in Milan, the intensity and… ubiquity of sunlight is really something here. Whenever someone tells me how a country’s climate make all the difference in a person’s temperament, I like to wave my cynicism stick at them (shaped like a frantically-purchased, over-priced corner-store umbrella, naturally), but in Milan I always stand corrected. I stood, in fact (but no miming, I swear), in awe of the well-dressed, well-groomed men and women, while happily soaking in the beauty of the sun-kissed city. It wasn’t necessarily hot or anything, but I loved the fact that light was so abundant until one moment around 9pm you look up to realise the sun has just quietly melted away. Whereas in London the sun is really just a matter of abruptly switching it ON or OFF – at  7pm the sun goes OFF; in October, the sun goes OFF. Sometimes it does disco-hour and does ON-OFF-ON-OFF for half the day, like how we all played with the light-switch when we were seven or eight. I tell you, if I find that kid who’s behind this perverted weather I will put it in a box and send it to Korea.

Thank you Ykone and Bottega Veneta for the much needed break away from cold & wet London; thank you Carrie for the shots of me.

More to come in Part II & III with Bottega Veneta Initials concept and a peek into Salone del Mobil!