Boozy weekend

This weekend has been spent in a drunken haze. Friday night was 'big birthday' of a friend who goes a long way back.  The house was beautiful, one of the couple is an interior designer and she does that effortless chic  that would seem so contrived if I attempted it.
This is the house from an interiors shoot

  I wore my black Day Mikkelsen dress, but I felt all the elegance of a cement mixer with this erudite, beautiful crowd.

On Saturday night we went to a fund raising ball at Henly Regatta, it actually stopped raining for an hour and the sun came out which is nothing short of a miracle.
The marquee was beautiful and the crowd great fun, it was like a real life episode of Midsommer Murders.

I wore a Valentino dress (from TK Maxx)think it could be a wedding dress, but I have written about my addiction to buying inappropriate outfits, here at least was a chance to wear one.

Loyalty...

In the big things in life, I am pretty loyal, one of the those people that sticks to what they know and once some thing is good, couldn't see the point of changing it. I'm still completely hooked on my significant other, still live in the same flat since we were married, drive all our cars until they die, holiday in the same place Summer and Winter, worked in the same job for over a decade.
And yet it stops there, for every day things I really couldn't care which cornflakes I eat,  what mayonnaise accompanies my salad or which washing powder my clothes smell of, truth be told I positively enjoy change and trying the new and the different. Perhaps it is precisely because I am so constant elsewhere that I don't look for regularity in the mundane.
I was thinking about brands and loyalty at the weekend, we were rushing to get to a big party a few hours away from home and everything had to be done quickly and efficiently, it was only the fun stuff like clothes and make-up that was required, but I was interested in how my inner dilettante reached for particular individual brands to which I thought she was immune.
It went something like;
bath products: don't care, will use whatever the hotel has on offer
shampoo: ditto
Body moisturiser: any emollient is fine by me even sunflower oil does the trick if necessary, but when unsure of possible improvisation opportunities it has to be Neom Unwind Body Oil, it is really refreshing and I find it very uplifting before a long night out.

Fake tan: complete convert to one which is still to launch and I have been sampling for a friend, this is my only 'must', but still can't reveal the name as I don't think it is finalised. The product is nothing short of miraculous, a totally natural two week holiday tan that evens skin tone, hides wrinkles and wears off like a real tan.
Lipstick; As long as it is nude don't care which brand, prefer a rich one but always have lip gloss to shine up anything a little lack lustre again vaseline will do
Mascara; recently these have been coming free on the front of magazines and I am quite happy with all of them although if pushed I quite like the Bourjois white and black one where you extend first and then cover with black
Foundation; don't really bother because of fab fake tan, but do like a dusting of Bare Minerals, when it's a big night out, I know there is no chance of removing make up at night and leaving vitamin C powder on my skin would seem positively virtuous.

I am a rubbish blogger and forgot to take any pictures of the Bedouin tented village that was created in the grounds of this place...

I think I just got carried away with how magical the evening was.
It was a great excuse to dress up (in my nearly Versace and Jimmy Choos), snog under the stars and drink too much, like being 18 again...

Croissant shopping in St Trop

August in St Tropez is a bit of a nightmare after 9am, there is no where to park and the whole town turns into one traffic jam. There is a genuine reason that people use boats to get around the coast.

We venture into town a couple of times a week, very early to buy croissants and basic supplies and check out the huge gin palaces moored in the harbour. I need a couple of more conservative outfits for the early morning, I don't want to be mistaken for doing the walk of shame in anything that smacks of sequins or Herve Leger.

The white dress is from M & S and the silk one from Jigsaw, it reminds me of a French teacher c. 1980, and for that reason I find it charming, even though it doesn't really suit my body shape at all.

Holiday makeovers

Not sure what possessed me when I bought these Plein Sud jeans, I think I may have thought they are French and must be chic. They are truly awful, I cut them into shorts, but I think that they are destined only for wear in the garden.

The silk dress is from Tesco, the silk is nice and I liked the colour, but the length is that really bad Aunt Sally length that is not good for my body shape. As I am rubbish with a needle and thread, the makeover has to involve only a belt and some tucking in, and wearing it back to front.

Cuff sandals...

I saw this outfit last year and really loved everything about it; comfortable and laid back, not too try hard, but chic and beautiful. I bought all the component parts on Ebay (except baby, still not yet available on the world's biggest shop front, but probably won't be long).

Cuff sandals...

Linen shirt and cut off jeans...

And succeeded in making my bunion  look fabulous and am dressed as if I am about to start gardening, not quite what I had in mind for the 1000 watt glamour of South of France. It is a look that is marvellous on the world's highest paid model, but perhaps not for mortals (over the age of 17).

ball gowns on the beach

I've always struggled with basics as I find shopping for them so dull. On the other hand, I have a huge oversupply of ball dresses as the possibilities are so much more interesting when buying them, and somehow they always seem better value for money, although on a cost per wear basis that is nuts (just call me Emma Bovary). The maxi dress is very much 'in ' this year and I wondered if any of these could be passed off as beach wear.

Matthew Williamson top for Nikki Beach not so much maxi, but anything else would be like wearing a Burka.

Versace inspired dress, I think not, this is a little over the top for day wear even in St tropez.

This is actually a wedding dress from Monsoon, but I think with the basket bag is OK for lunch at 55.

I bought this Temperley one with the bag at Bicester last week.

A date at Wimbledon (kind of)

I went shopping with a very special young man on the King's Road, we ate ice cream and watched Wimbledon at the Blue Bird and shopped in Ad Hoc, it was like being 15 again...

I wore my lovely linen Vanita Rosa top and Manolo Blahnik's that I could well  have had since I was 15.

Ice cream and babychino it's the only way to go...

There are lots of pop up shops appearing, the KR was getting a little homogenised, the good thing about the recession is the chains aren't opening up and these little designer second hand shops are everywhere, their stock is better than most of the boutiques and half the price! 

Lots of different tribes to be seen, here are two of them, the brightly coloured jeans and ballet pumps exhibit A...

Exhibit B the designer label lovers and serious heels...

Where do you go when you want some time away from home, but don't want to spend a fortune on lunch or dinners in restaurants?