BRIGHTS: DAY TWO

DAY TWO: Mesh ballet pumps, Nelly

Heatwave - YEAY! New shoes - DOUBLE YEAY! First up, apologies for the lack of posts over the weekend, our ever delightful internet connection decided to up sticks and piss off on holiday, meaning that I was at the mercy of my 3G connection which does nothing for my laptop. I spent the whole weekend trying to do things on the rest of my Mac stack to no avail. Coupled with a ridiculous workload, I have been incommunicado from most of the internet world. And the real world for that matter.

But let's talk about shoes, yes? I love shoes. Behold the newest addition to a shoe collection that means that I will very soon need an extra room just for footwear. They are from Nelly.com, which is kind of like a Swedish ASOS and has just launched in the UK to massive fanfare and an awesome party not long ago at one of my favourite venues, Aqua London.

I picked up these particular shoes for three very specific reasons:

1) I have had orange ballet pumps on my mind for quite some time now. They have seeped into my consciousness like a bad smell and I could not get rid of the thought. I think this is a run-on from my obsession with orange at the beginning of the year, but on a more manageable and less look-like-a-plague-victim level.

2) The mesh. Thanks to my dodgy grandma knees, I have to wear insoles in my shoes at all times or risk the wrath of my joints. This means that most styles of sandals are out of the question when this plus my freaky toe-post hating toes factor into the equation, meaning I spend most of summer in ballet pumps and with stinking feet. I bet you wanted to know that, right? Well, the mesh on these means that my feet can breeeathe this summer. Hurrah!

3) They are only £14.95. Amazing.

They are so amazing in fact, that I am giving serious thought to buying them in every colour combination that they come in. You can buy this particular fetching orange and blue combination [here], blue and pink [here] and my next purchase, neon yellow and green [here].

Worn with: grey skinnies, Topshop

TRANSITION: DAY TWENTY SIX

DAY TWENTY SIX: Perspex necklace, H&M


This week has been a tricky one for transition dressing. With the UK being hammered from all sides by torrential rain with the odd burst of sun, my wardrobe has gone into total meltdown and I've retreated to a monochromatic safe haven in my winter wardrobe. However, today I finally woke up to a brief stint of sunshine rather than the all too familiar sound of the rain hitting the window panes and decided that this must be celebrated one way or another, so on went the River Island spring knit from my post a few weeks ago [here].


To cap it off, I decided to throw on my favourite necklace from H&M that I've been wearing all week on top of black and grey jumpers. I bought it a few weeks ago in the flagship Regent Street store, drawn to it by the absurdly large perspex tablets and of course, the neon ribbon. I'm a sucker from any bright accessories these days.


Whenever I wear this necklace, people are drawn to touch it and noone ever believes me when I say it's from H&M, most people think it's Marni. When I tell them it's from H&M, the usual comment after the raised eyebrows is 'Marni at H&M?' and then their eyebrows practically fall off their faces when I say it's regular H&M.


I wish I'd had the forethought to buy two as the ribbon on this one is going a little grey at the edges from constant wear but I figure that maybe if I wash it gently, I can bring it back to it's former eyepopping glory.


Not bad for £14.99.


Worn with: blue and white spring knit, River Island.

TRANSITION: DAY TWENTY FIVE

DAY TWENTY FIVE: Neon orange nail varnish, Orly

In a week of rain, hail and god only knows what other surprises, I've found myself digging out the heavy winter items that only a fortnight ago I was contemplating packing up for the season. Unable to wear any of my more colourful lightweight pieces, I'm back in my favourite waffle jumper today, worn over my Marni at H&M silk shorts for one tiny stab at spring.

I'm perking up my overly dark outfit with zingy nails though. My sudden love of neon has been well documented during Transition and one of the easiest ways to accommodate it is without a doubt nail colour. I've already mentioned American Apparel's awesome Neon nail colours but I feel Orly are worth a mention too as this orange from their new summer collection is bin-man-jacket bright. Seriously, every time I look down at my keyboard I have a brief moment where I go YOW!

When I first tried it a few weeks ago during that brief spell of sandal weather, I initially put it on my toenails and I got compliments on it left, right and centre. Also, if like two of the members of our fashion desk, you're pregnant, Orly is great as all of their nail polishes are DPB, Toluene and Formaldehyde free.

This particular shade is called Orange Punch and it's available [here] for £9.25.

SUNGLASSES: DAY SEVEN

DAY SEVEN: Orange diamante-studded sunglasses, Mango (2009)

I’m a little hungover today, so I needed some big, fuck-off sunglasses to illustrate the point that I am to be left alone with the papers and a can of Coke until I see fit to move from my position in the sun on the lawn. These sparkly numbers fit the bill perfectly. With their rock star ridiculousness, I feel they brought a certain something to my outfit of trackpants and tee, plus their oversized frames hid my tired eyes from the wind and sun. Job done.

Worn with: Trackpants, Topshop; printed tee, Topman; Silver slippers, Ugg.