Perrier Jouet Press Conference in Happo-en Garden

Intrecciato bag, Bottega Veneta. Dress, ASOS Black. Slingback heels, Zara. Necklace, Dannijo

Dress, ASOS Black. Necklace, Dannijo. Tropical Cardigan, COS

Intrecciato bag, Bottega Veneta. Dress, ASOS Black. Espadrille, Dune

Haleigh Perrier-Jouet community manager and blogger of Making Magique

Intrecciato bag, Bottega Veneta. Dress, ASOS Black. Slingback heels, Zara. Necklace, Dannijo, Tropical Cardigan, COS. Turquoise Watch, Guess; Thank you Haleigh for the snaps!

I’m thinking of writing into weather-forecasting stations in petition for increased visibility on humidity predictions – an icon, perhaps? Or a full-screen alert? Turns out I’d totally missed out on that little percentage squiggle in the corner while packing for this Japan trip. (Merino-wool cardigan, REALLY) So maybe a cute little animated icon illustrating a steamed-up bus window and a game of tic-tac-toe? The closer to steamroom levels the closer chance to X-ing out? Condensation streaming down sad little O’s who’d lost the game? My dear Far East, believe it or not we Europeans fly in with two cardigans in our carry-on and a bank of layering pieces that make up a considerate portion in our luggage, and let’s not forget that terrifying idea that an ill-caught evening chill will knock out any remaining health coins and hence shorten our already-short life spans. Have a little sympathy for us weaklings! Make a Humidity Reminder song! Maybe Pikachu can sing it!

I digress. Aside from the humidity thing, which actually wasn’t that much of an issue despite the rant (turns out that I’m technically very Asian afterall), the one thing I absolutely dig about Tokyo is how neat and clean the city is. Not just in the manner of garbage or littering, but the fact that the buildings, street detailing (fences, railings, blocks in the pavement) and general life’s accessories (bicycles, cars, little pots on the road) are all in perfect alignment, as if considerate of the overall arrangement. Then you start noticing that kind of consideration in people as well in the etiquette and lifestyle, which I realised is something one specifically needs to be in Japan to experience… it’s such a beautiful city.

Thank you Perrier-Jouët for such a wonderful experience, more to come!

One piece, Three looks: Knee-length chino trousers

Wallet, Chloe

Look 1 (from left to right): Mint Sweater, H&M. Patterned blouse, Zara. Shorts, Uniqlo. Sandals, Camilla Skovgaard, Straw Bag, Chloe
Look 2: Jacket, Barbour. Checkered blouse, Motel Rocks.Shorts, Uniqlo. Bag, Marc Jacobs (via Monnier Freres). Shoes, Kate Kanzier. Headphones, Urbanears. Belt, JHYoo. Cat-eye Sunnies, Beyond Retro
Look 3: Bag, Bottega Veneta Initials. Shoes, Coii.kr. Sleeveless blazer, ASOS Africa. Checkered Top, stolen from mummy. Shorts, Uniqlo.

You know how summers go. Vacations, festivals, family reunions, hairplugs, cider by the river, breast reduction surgery, sample sales, that one trip to the zoo where you swear off children forever… I know you know what I mean, you’re BUSY, so, what blog? Well. None of those happened to me in the past postless week so sadly no point getting excited (do we count slamming chest-on into a shelf ‘reduction surgery’? YES/NO). In fact I was home the entire week working 9-to-5 in my suit (suit for super-cool stuff like sleeping) migrating from desk to bed and occasionally the postbox for Dominos Pizza flyers. ‘Tomorrow!’ was the battle-cry, and this blog was the victim in one. Hey, I’m back now, with chino shorts (what an odd thing to comeback in) – I bet you’ve never seen anything like this in a glossy magazine before! In fact I’d fold them neatly and place them in a box with the power drill and a jug of motor oil, marked ‘Utility Stuff’. It was fun though, the challenge of trying to style one, and since I was on a roll of NOT blogging this is a pretty good brain teaser to help reverse directions and roll the other way towards a land of bountiful motivation and cakes, lots of cakes…

Many thanks to Kitty Kat for helping with the photos

As seen in H&M Magazine Summer 2012 feature

Worn with: Blazer, Maarten van der Horst for Topshop. Sheer tunic, Zara. Fringed bag, Barbara Boner. Shoes, Patrizia Pepe. Belt, Louis Vuitton via Vestiaire Collective

I highly recommend watching this video before you even contemplate raiding the scarf drawer for a victim, because I personally made a mistake of not consulting the mighty internet (one does not simply walk into DIY without an appointment with Dr Google) and ended up with – I kid you not – three disfigured DIY ‘silk’ trousers with half-crotch/inside-out-seams/uneven legs*. Thank goodness the scarves were about £7 each from H&M, I’m filing that as ‘sewing-and-general-logic’ lesson fee.

• If available, it’s best to use a pattern (for lounge pants or PJ bottoms) since then you can’t go wrong with fitting, but you can also be a renegade and go freehand of fashion dummy like moi (and possibly pay 3 scarves worth in lesson fee)
• The length of the trousers really depend on the size of scarf you can find – even with a small-ish scarf you could use to make a pair of silk summer shorts (or cellu-lightning-frightening butt shorts, I like to call)
• Taking a fine material as silk through the sewing machine might prove to be quite difficult in the beginning, so do few practice rounds with the left-over scarf bits after cutting out the pattern. Although I guess by then it’s too late to turn back and you might as well butcher the poor scarf

Good luck!

Milan, Day II with Bottega Veneta

Betty & Matthieu, cutest couple in the world

Travel Buddy Carrie

All motorheads head to Brian’s Black Perfecto

Thank goodness for web-based interactive mock-up application for duckie-brains like mine.

DIY Shredded Jeans

Dotted Dress, mummy’s old. Tropical Blazer, Maarten van der Horst for Topshop. Bag, Bottega Veneta Initials. Nude heels, Zara. Watch, Sekonda. Gold Bracelet, Jessica Barensfeld Hammered Initials Bangle via Vestiare Collective

It’s fascinating, this human obsession to scribble names into things we own… come to think of it, it’s not actually even about marking things we own, because how many toilet cubicles would you own then? I’d own about three tree barks (along with ♥ three clueless crushes of the era – unfulfilled, naturally) and desks in all the schools growing up. No, it’s really like an inside joke, isn’t it, and a guessing-game for the woman sitting across you in the bus – just like the fact that not many know that my ‘B1G B008S’ licence-plate is actually a plea for larger chesticles instead of an identifier. (what healthy outlook on life?) Anyhow, I’m sorry there isn’t more of Milan in this post, day 2 was spent with Bottega Veneta – fondling the intrecciato bags and fussing with the initials to go with it. What I adore about Bottega Veneta is is their Less is More belief when it comes to branding, especially in this Initials project – just you and the bag. Unless of course you have my kind of priorities and choose BBE (Biggest Boobs EVER) to be your chosen initials or RW for you insane Ron Weasley fans. One little thing that bothered me was the typography of the letters and I believe the world would be better if they allowed different font choices… or not. Typography sadly doesn’t solve world hunger. Regarding the ‘IS’ on my bag, my usual initials would read PSY, but ‘psy’ also happens to mean ‘dog’ in Polish and I’ve had enough of racist jokes growing up so… I figured ‘IS’ can mark the first of post-marriage name scribbling!

Thank you to Ykone and Bottega Veneta for a wonderful trip.

(Left-to-Right)1 Leather Coat – Gift from mummy (Massimo Dutti), Stripe Top –Uniqlo, Jeans – Replay, Khaki heels – Primark, Necklace –DanniJo, Cross-body Bag– ASOS
2 Black neoprene jacket – H&M, Parachute Dress – All Saints, Stripe Top – Uniqlo, Bag – Barbara Boner, Necklace – Brook & Lyn, Booties – Missoni
3 Leather shorts – Vintage, Shoes – secondhand Alexander Wang via Vestiaire Collective, Trench – Uniqlo, Bag – Marc Jacobs via Monnier Freres, Stripe Top – Uniqlo

Boys, look away, go play with the lawn sprinkler please. Girls, should I be afraid the Uniqlooks monthly

recap is synchronizing with my release-the-Kraken time of the month? Like clockwork! I hate you! I love you. Nowadays this seems to be the only thing that helps keep track of time… this and an evil pile of bills that clog up the mailbox but never-mind that because I don’t believe they exist, realllllllly, it’s just a fantasy. (Hubby says he’s got it, such a man) Anyhow, just a quick one for today – the classic striped top that just about goes with anything, done up in three ways. Mind, I might’ve butchered the fail-safe classic with the parachute-dress, but right now that floats my hormonal boat so please let’s just call it an outfit.