Things I have learnt since my return

I'm back! Did you miss me? I have returned from my spontaneous and rather glorious two week holiday in South Africa where I visited the lovely EDF and her supremely warm and welcoming, and occasionally a little scary, family. I'm not going to bore you too terribly with the details of my trip, just give you a few edited highlights;

1/ I stroked a BABY LION. I wanted to bring one home with me, but having been involved in a nasty dog/car interface the day before I thought I'd better not do anything further to invoke too much bad animal karma.

2/ Cape Town has the most beautiful pub crawl I have ever seen. I am not usually a big drinker, but that doesn't seem to be an acceptable thing in South Africa and EDF's uncle George is extremely persuasive when it comes to drink. In LA, almost every South African I met would be considered an alcoholic. In London they'd just be those people who you think are really cool because they can hold their drink and be funny while all you can do is try and stop the room from spinning and grin.
George took us on something he calls 'the deep south tour' around the southern coast. I went green and threw up before we finished, but it was tremendous fun and drinking mini bottles of jack daniels as shots while looking at views like these is an unforgettable experience in the best kind of way.

3/ There's nothing like a bit of attention from a good looking younger man to make you feel a bit better about yourself. Of course I would never actually do anything, I am a one man woman, but it's still nice to feel attractive.

4/ My closest friends are some of the best people you will ever meet in your whole life. EDF is one of them. If you ever meet her know that you are in the presence of good stuff. She also makes an awesome mix CD.

5/ If your beloved camera dies, an HTC Desire phone is not a bad alternative. All the photos above were taken on my phone after my Canon G9 died in the first couple of days of my trip.

Things I have learned since returning to London;

1/ Being able to walk around the city is really very wonderful. I don't want to live for too long in a place where you can't amble around aimlessly and have to drive everywhere.

2/ Cheap maxi-tube skirts from Topshop might be fun, but they do tend to go baggy at the knees after half a days wear. It's my own fault for attempting to channel Daisy Lowe in the Vogue supplement I suppose - I'm old enough to know better, but I have decided I need to just dress the way I want to as much as possible while I'm still young enough to wear stupid things.

3/ Topshop makeup is ace. Kind of makes up for the skirt thing. I'm in love with the lipsticks - Narsesque crayons that glide on super easily and don't dry your lips out.

4/ Navy blue suede vintage Celine waistcoats are awesome and surprisingly versatile. Mine was discovered in a vintage shop on Long Street in Cape Town - a place highly recommended for vintage shopping - but has really come into its own with the maxi skirt and the warmer London weather.

5/ The perfect pair of sandals doesn't exist.

6/ Hot weather can be extremely disturbing for someone sensitive to bad clothing choices.

7/ It can also reveal some pretty awful things, like the woman on the tube who saw it as an opportunity to flaunt her toenails which she had grown long and pointy and had painted in a burgundy colour with an intiricate cream pattern to match her fingernails. This is the kind of sight that can scar you for life.

All change

I know we're only a few months in, but I have to say that 2010 has been resoundingly shit thus far. I don't usually swear, but here it seems appropriate.
Nearly everyone I know has had a tought three months - there have been family tragedies, collapsing finances, businesses in trouble, arguments and infections. Honestly, it's like the 90s all over again, and not just on the catwalk. In my family, the 90s was not a good period - messy parental separation and breakdown, the repercussions of which we are still dealing with, and the deaths of my much loved maternal grandparents who I still miss every day.
When life is a mess and at the beginning of every day you wake up scared of what might happen next, it's the little achievements that keep you going. A lovely dinner with JFK, deciding to get rid of lots of clutter and finding new homes for things you can't bear to sell to a stranger, getting rid of shoes you really don't wear anymore, meeting your work deadlines, getting through an evening without killing your mother. These are all things to feel pleased about.
And, inevitably, I find solace in fashion. The new injection of minimalism in fashion really does appeal right now. When your life is a mess, a few well cut, clean pieces can make you at least look like you're in control. It's also time to start wearing a little bit less black (que sharp intake of breath). When you're miserable, only wearing black doesn't help improve your mood.
To that end, recent aquisitions include a pair of men's Burberry trousers in a perfect pinky-sand hue, soft and worn and perfect for wearing low on the hips and rolled up to sit just above the ankle, rescued from a pile of mens trousers at the car boot sale; a soft, pale grey, long vest from Cos; nude coloured suede ankle boots with a chunky cone shaped crepe heel from the really-quite-good-this-season River Island; A khaki green Rag and Bone cardigan with elbow patches and pockets, another carboot sale find; the perfect, 'difficult' length, Celine-beige, high waisted A line skirt (50p. At the car boot sale again); sand coloured, high waisted, deep pocketed Ralph Lauren shorts (yes, car boot sale AGAIN).
I feel like I need to show you at least some of these, but having spilt tinned peach juice on my precious beloved laptop I no longer have the facilities to do so.

Quote of the week - Alex Fury

"Celine is so expensive - you can pay two grand for a camel coat - but you look at the camel coat and think, this is the best fucking camel coat I've seen in my entire life."

Showstudio.com fashion director Alex Fury perfectly sums up the appeal of Phoebe Philo's immaculately cut and so beautiful it hurts collection for Celine.

(images via Style.com)

This is the collection that pretty much defines everything about the coming spring/summer season - nudes, camels, navy blues and blacks in fitted, sharp military shapes or relaxed cocoons with the odd soft bow or waterfall drape. And lots of leather. It's going to be one that is super hard to emulate on the highstreet because it relies so much on the quality of the fabric and the cut being so precise.

But that hasn't stopped them from trying.

(Leather t shirt, £75, Wallis)

I've never wanted a leather t shirt as much as I do right now. I won't be buying this Wallis one, obviously, because it is brown, but the general idea is good.

Certain people have mentioned that I have singularly failed to acknowledge the existence of the Milan and Paris fashion weeks. No, I am not pulling a Wintour, I'm just taking my time. There's been an awful lot going in the life of the Magpie recently, and my head doesn't have enough room to process all the shows and decide what I think about them all right now. These thoughts need time to percolate.

Also, A/W11 seems a terribly long way off right now given that we're all still in A/W10 rabbit fur snoods (I wish), huddled up in long coats and layers against this persistent cold weather. The fact that it is a bit sunnier at the moment is certainly helping everyone's mood, but it isn't doing much for the temperature. Even just the suggestion of a bare leg makes me want to seek out 100 denier cashmere-blend tights in Fenwicks...