A collection of English summer blooms and blues, including my wonderful friend Amy. With a cool skin tone that tans easily, Amy can easily wear these bright blues. I love the mix of shades and the little jacket with t-shirt dress. Perfect for an English summer’s day, lady x
Paul Smith’s famous Covent Garden store is a riot of colourful stripes, beautifully tailored suits and gold framed nude portraits hung on every inch of the soft green walls (no photograhpy allowed, I’m afraid). Old fashioned timber dressers hold rows of men’s and women’s wear, and elegant staff float around by the dozen. Of course I love the colour Paul Smith offers men, and can’t resist the socks in particular for my husband – they peep out with true British cheek from below the leg of a conformist suit combination.
The big trend in London this summer is floral print dresses, and there were so many on view it became boring, until I spotted Leah in the doorway of the Betsey Johnson shop where she works in Covent Garden. On the aptly named Floral St, the store sells Betsey’s always colourful, 50’s inspired and slightly irreverent designs, of which this dress is a great example. Leah’s 50’s styling set off the dress so well – even the little star tattoos on her arm go with it! Thanks Leah
I have just spent 3 weeks in London and Paris – two beautiful cities in the midst of a hot, sultry summer. Over the coming weeks I’ll share some of the colourful spaces and people I encountered on my travels and their inspirational European styles. First port of call – The Wolseley, Piccadilly. A grand cafe-restaurant on a grand boulevard. Its arched and columned interiors feature star-patterned black and white marble floors and Japanese black-laquered surfaces with silver and gold light-fittings and dinnerware – an elegant study of graphic contrasts serving up a menu of old-fashioned English fare for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Next stop, Covent Garden.