Dolce & Gabbana, 70% off

Matthew Williamson at ~£250

Prada perspex sandals; Bally boots

Burberry classics (around ~£200 mark)

Church’s brogues; Aquascutum red trenchcoat

Not my bags…

ASUS Transformer tablet with Kindle App

Mulberry envelope receipt holder for £35

Sweater – Gmarket, Shirt – Uniqlo, Jeans – Radcliffe Jeans, Shoes – Pierre Hardy for GAP, Watch – ASOS, Bag – Vehla Tote Bag NIV-E
, Sunglasses –Jeepers Peepers

This was such a gorgeous day, with one of those exotic weathers that London is yet to call back… I took a day off for a trip up to Bicester Village (designer outlet village just outside Oxford) with Kit, my usual honeymoon partner, with the invitation of lovely Laura of Chic Outlet. Rosy feelings aside, I must confess that while I was putting this post together I couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment in myself…

This blog has been steadily growing in my life to a point that it now amounts to a considerable portion of my polyjuice potion (me in a bottle) Truthfully, I don’t remember when was the last time I had a pep-talk with dear old self and looked back for self improvement. I can’t help but notice that this lack of reflective thinking and letting diem be Carpe‘d while I enjoy the scenery on autopilot have somehow led me to a rather unfamiliar territory. To this day I have never considered packing a bag and arranging travel to a destination with the sole purpose of shopping, possibly for the same reason there’s very little body revealing in this blog. I don’t mean to disdain – I too like shopping – but this time I feel like I’ve gone too far and tickled the Materialism beast. I know I had plenty fun that day, but on hindsight I don’t know what road this blog is taking me and to be honest I’m rather nervous.

To Bicester Village’s defence, the pricetags are digestible and the landscape is immaculate, and if your kidney needs a Dolce & Gabbana bejewelled boots then you know where to go. Alas, the beauty of this blog is that now it has a mind of its own and despite what I write here, if a visitor is inclined to skip the reading, then my reflection on virtue & yadda yadd will simply be dissolved into bytes, but ah, c’est la pee pee.

We Are Handsome swimsuit (Robinson Pfeffer PR); ASOS white brogues

Kit of Style Slicker, my foxy travel companion

Photo stolen from Lake’s site buhehheh

Lake’s – My Lake Hotel & Spa in Wörthersee, Austria; Wearing sweater from Gmarket, Dress by Obakki (Robinson Pfeffer), Shoes by Salvatore Ferragamo, Belt stolen from Kit (from Mexx).

Not long after I’d arrived in London at the beginning of May I had to spill the Poland luggage onto my eerily foreign bedroom floor (almost alien after three months of absence) and compress the contents into an Austria.zip carry-on to set off for Wörthersee, Austria the next day. Fun fact: My life in Europe had actually started in Vienna, Austria before we moved to Poland. Fun fact #2: Vigorous clapping upon touchdown still exists on Ryanair flights. A waft of nostalgia hit the minute I stepped out of the plane, and all throughout the drive to the hotel I was delighting at the details outside the window that I’d been so familiar as a child: the wood chips on flowerbeds, the shape of the fences and roofs… 20 minutes later we (Kit & Natacha of Mango PR) arrived at Lake’s Hotel (My Lake Hotel & Spa) and my, what a spectacle. Snowcapped Alps enveloped the glassy lake, the trees on the bank dyed the water emerald… the view was simply revitalizing! Lake’s Fashion Days had just started a day earlier and the following few days were to be a mixture of fashion shows and lakeside entertainment – including a dip in the icy lake for those daredevils, which automatically excluded me, the lion of Oz. Stay tuned for part 2!

Thank you Natacha of Mango PR for taking care of us & Kit for the outfit photos x

Kit’s starter, Crab Tian with avocado, tomato dressing and quail egg

Steak Tartare with toasted sourdough bread

Kit’s Moules Marinieres, mussels by the bucketload!

Veal Paillarde that melts in the mouth

Parfait Parfait and adorable Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Silk Jacket – Courtesy of Alpinestars by Denise Focil, Asymmetric Shirt + Pants – Gmarket, Shoes – Pierre Hardy for GAP, bag – Storets; Necklace – Ek Thongprasert courtesy of Olive Shoppe

Wobbled in, delirious with hunger – rolled out, saturated with endorphins and possibly pregnant. WITH FOOD, what are you thinking. That’s probably the simplest I can get to summarizing the experience at Café Luc, a dapper brasserie cached at the tip of bustling Marlebone High Street. Kit and I were so generously invited for dinner, and since we’re both notorious for neglecting eachother with a BRB hanging on Skype to go fish for pot noodles in the kitchen, there was no saying no. I do blame the severe hunger that had me order Steak tartare for starter and then the Veal Paillard – I think I’d have enquired for chicken drumsticks dipped in chocolate for dessert if not for the waiter’s timely confiscation of the menu; he’d sensed the meat binge. Bonus tip for that, because the Parfait he brought later was parfait. I figure I’d make a good T-Rex if not for my sweet tooth, which places me in the Pokémon category of species. Café Luc is the sort of place you lose track of time in, it was bright out when we met and pitch dark when we took off. Prices compensate for the hearty atmosphere and satisfying food, yet affordable enough for a quality date with a friend or sigoth. (3-course set menu for £15.90 during non-peak hours) A fun secret? Try spotting one of the owners of the restaurant: Laurant – or as I saw, a Hugh Grant clone. (proof captured by Alexxsia on her visit)

Thank you Alix of ME:MO Interactive for organizing the dinner; thank you Kit for outfit shots!

1) T-shirt and bag – Uniqlo, Shoes – New Look; 2) T-shirt – Antoni Alison UT @ Uniqlo, Jeans – Radcliffe Jeans

Classic case of survival of the fittest in love-hate relationship with self. For now I think the score is meek nerd 2: snooty 34,005. The two points scored only recently by the almond-rose donuts and a successful parallel parking session. Of course, only to be shot down immediately by snooty when I realised the space was for the disabled – bam, fifty points.

So this is Uniqlooks for April. Don’t I just keep ending up in strange alleys lately… T-shirts this time. The only styling technique I know that involves T-shirts is doing the Japanese t-shirt fold over and over again until I’m left with something that might be from All Saints. I like a good challenge but this time you win, Uniqlo.

By the way, will happily dance for your vote here! (London region)

Coat – Anywho x Kobra, Sweater – Gmarket, Dress – COS, Shoes – Nine West

I know my way around the neighbourhood, and Guess is not an alley I usually go down. Of course, having the tendency of an alleycat when it comes to blogging, I gave it a good snooping session at the Vogue & Guess Jewellery event in February – a sniff here and a nibble there. Turns out it’s not all just bling + all-American girls + bedazzled enviable chest lumps. This is not me saying hey sparkle-overload, you’re awesome, but they do have the odd great item that shine among the bling. Ironically the ‘treasures’ – the simpler items – were hidden amidst the classic Guess forest. For me the only thing that can sparkle on the chest is when I’m a loser vampire in a badly written book.

Thank you Charlotte for inviting me down; and thank you Abi for the outfit shots!