Dear Spring

Dear Spring,

Hi, remember me? The girl who used to come on here and post about things she wore? Well, you know what? Right now, you - or rather, your distinct absence - are making my life difficult.

I am tired of wearing the same boring combinations of boots, jeans and as many layers as I can wear before my arms stand out at a 90 degree angle from my body. I am tired of walking past shops and staring woefully at all of the brightly coloured, pretty things that hang in the window and that I cannot buy because I have no feasible way to wear them, unless I can stick a pair of long johns on underneath.

Of course, I can't afford to buy any of it anyway since my shoe fund now goes on all manner of silly things like door handles but still, I want to dream of the possibilities. I want to be hot and sweaty on the tube because it is warm and balmy above ground and not because I am still wearing the same winter coat that I have been wearing for six months.

Oh, that coat. The one I bought back in the last week of July when I was sick of shorts and longed for a chill in the air so that I could finally throw it over my shoulders, at least in the style of Batman until it was actually cold enough to slip my arms into its beautiful quilted leather sleeves. OH, how I loved you dear coat. Well, you know what? You're looking a little sad and worse for wear now, like a silk dress at 2am after a night of dancing and spilt cocktails. Even de-pilling you hasn't got us anywhere, has it? And yes, you can argue that for once you've been great value for money and cost-per-wear-blah-blah-blah but you know what?

COST PER WEAR BE DAMNED, I WANT SOME NEW CLOTHES.

I want swishy little dresses worn with bare legs, silky trousers with t-shirts and  light spring jackets like the ones that I constantly shoot for fashion stories but cannot physically wear without succumbing to hypothermia. I dream of sandals and summer pedicures in bright colours and PLIMSOLLS. Oh god, I miss wearing little plimsolls and pumps without my feet feeling like they have no blood left in them.

I want to wear sunglasses because it is bright outside, not because its so windy that without them my eye makeup will have been cried off and somewhere around my chin before I even get to the bus stop in the mornings.

In short, dear Spring, you're messing with my plans. So dust yourself off, bid your arctic winds goodbye and get your legs out, okay?

Thanks.

LBD X LFW DAY FIVE

DAY FIVE: LONG SLEEVE FASCIENNE DRESS, SCARLETT BLACK

Day five has come around all too quickly and with it, my final day of the LBD challenge. For the occasion, I saved one of the best til last - the long sleeved fascienne dress from Scarlett Black. I have a small obsession with leather detailing (I own too many leather sleeved coats, tops and pairs of trousers to count), so this dress jumped straight out at me when I was browsing the site.

While it's been sunny today there's very much a February chill still in the air so I was really glad of the sleeves! I wanted to keep this outfit really simple as I love the structured panels of this dress which give it a really, solid substantial feel. While its very different in style to yesterday's Peter Pan collar and flouncy skirt number from Fount, it still definitely has a 60s vibe with the slight A-line to the skirt so I added a Jaeger silk shirt underneath that I picked up in the sales (down from £175 to £48 - bargain!) which contrasted nicely with the simpleness of the dress and replaced any need to bling necklaces today.

Now, let's talk about pockets. Pockets are definitely one of the things I have missed during this challenge - I always keep my phone, security pass, change and god knows what else about my person so all through London Fashion Week I've been rootling around in my handbags for errant items. It's lovely to be able to shove all of my bits and pieces into the substantial pockets of this dress and indeed my hands when I've been standing in the cold queues outside shows waiting to go in. 

So, has this tomboy been converted to frocks? Quite possibly. I have loved the ease of rolling out of bed each morning and throwing on a black dress and opaques and suddenly being dressed. And funnily, a lot of people who I've caught up with over the last five days have enquired as to whether I've lost weight - so there's a definite slimming effect! Who knows, I might need to pursue this for a full edition of Thirty Days!

So, over to you guys: which has been your favourite dress from my LBD x LFW challenge? Leave a comment here or tweet me @adulescent and the team from LittleBlackDress.co.uk @teamLBD and let us know!

LBD x LFW DAY FOUR

DAY FOUR: PETER PAN COLLAR SHEER STRIPED DRESS, FOUNT

So today was what we like to call Super Monday - all of the big guns showed - Peter Pilotto, Burberry and Tom Ford to name but a few. With an early start on a busy day, I decided to wear the Peter Pan collar sheer striped dress from Fount for a nod to the current 60s trend.

Fount popped up on my radar last year with their great, affordable dresses - they have such a wide range of styles that there's something for everyone. The sheer stripes on this dress are what caught my attention - I'm a sucker for a good stripe to be honest, so this dress was a winner from the start plus it has a super flippy skirt.

I added a big jewelled necklace from Asos to break up the otherwise all-black outfit and added studded loafers from Zara for a tough-preppy edge. While I wish it was warm enough (slash I had a car to take me round) to go without a coat, an extra layer was definitely necessary so I took my 60s look through to outerwear with my favourite old cocoon coat from Reiss 1971 and some catseye sunnies from Agent Provocateur for a final retro touch.

The Peter Pan dress is available on Little Black Dress here.

Don't forget to follow me on twitter @adulescent tomorrow for the final (sob) day of LFW and keep up to date with the team from Little Black Dress at @teamLBD

LBD X LFW DAY THREE

DAY THREE: STYLE STANDARD ANTONIA DRESS, CHARLI

I challenge you not to want to wear a dress that literally has your name on it. When I came across the Antonia dress on Little Black Dress, it went straight into my selection of styles to wear during London Fashion Week and it was perfect for today.

I always call Sunday during LFW 'casual sunday' - this is the day when you'll often see the more laidback looks from editors - jeans, converse and comfy jumpers teamed with big dark glasses to hide the hangovers and tired eyes.

I was a little worse for wear after last night's Rihanna for River Island party so I wanted to wear something as comfortable as possible, which is wear the soft draped jersey of this dress came into play. Usually it's knee length but since those lengths don't suit me (fat knees), I added a belt to hitch it up a little and carry on the theme of knotted drape detailing from the neckline. 

I wanted to adhere to the dressed down feel of today so I threw on a beanie and my camo shirt from Zara for an urban grunge feel - I guess I'm still taking inspiration from Rihanna! While its been sunny, it still isn't that warm so I finished with my trusty leather biker, oversized All Saints scarf and my old Givenchy handbag to carry all of my essentials. While I was only going to the Topshop Unique show today, I knew I had to file copy so I needed to have my iPad, camera and notebook with me to give me a head start. 

Don't forget, you can follow me on twitter @adulescent and @teamLBD for the rest of London Fashion Week - tweet me how you'd style this dress or leave a comment below!

LBD X LFW DAY TWO

DAY TWO: BLACK PERSPEX SLEEVE MINI, UNIQUE COLLECTION

Now, it wouldn't be LFW if I didn't wear something a little bit crazy and a little bit more fash-wan for at least one day of the week. With another beautiful blue sky and temperatures creeping up, I figured it was time to bust out this beauty.

Little Black Dress collaborated with the University of Salford's fashion department for their Unique Collection. This dress was designed by Jessica Seargant and it immediately caught my eye with its Sixties shape, neoprene fabric and totally mental sleeves!

Since the dress itself was such a stand out piece, I decided to keep the rest of my outfit simple and let the dress do the talking. I popped one of my favourite striped long sleeve tees from H&M underneath to keep me warm against any sudden chills, plus I liked the way the stripes contrast with the perspex discs.

I admit that I also added a pair of leather hot pants underneath as the dress is definitely on the mini side and even though I'm only 5'3", I didn't want to take any chances. I'll leave the knicker flashing to random celebrities.

As its the weekend, I'm not dragging around my usual amount of stuff so I opted for my grey felt and leather document folder from Paperchase that acts as a wonderful clutch. I kept the rest of my silhouette simple with black opaques from Pretty Polly, my trusty knee high Dune boots are great for running around in and I'm keeping the sun out of my eyes with some big dark glasses from Kurt Geiger. For a little pop of colour, I've added a slick of red lipstick in two ton tomato from Clinique.

Don't forget, for up to the minute updates live from LFW, follow me on twitter @adulescent and the team at Little Black Dress at @TeamLBD.