Sunday

What's In Your Trunk?

Well, it's official, I'll never have money ever again. If I had a house I'd be taking a second mortgage out. If my car wasn't company owned I'd be selling it. If I thought anyone would pay for a tapestry of my old socks I'd be bare foot for life. Why the drastic measures? M'oda 'Operandi, that's why!

Just as my life was returning to normal after a month lusting over next seasons incredible pieces from all the catwalks this new website slid, ever so charmingly, into my life and stirred it all up again. M'oda 'Operandi is a fantastic site that lets you PRE-BOOK all the most popular pieces from the shows to guarantee you're the most stylish person for miles around. 

With trunk shows from Marni, Equipment and MSGM to name a few, I think it is safe to say I will never again have savings. I will be wearing them. 

And if that wasn't bad enough there's actually a boutique section of the site where you can buy the most stunning pieces now. Oh dear. This can't be good for my bank card.

Trunk shows this week include Tom Binns (ending March 27th), Loewe (ending March 28th), Edie Parker (ending March 25th) and the ever sartorially brilliant Valentino (also ending March 28th.)

I've been privileged enough to receive some exclusive images of the Valentino collection - incredible illustrations featuring some of the hottest accessories from the F/W 13 show. And I wanted to share them with you because I believe beauty on this level needs to be witnessed.




Apart from wanting to, obviously, own every single piece of the collection I want these images framed in my home - I love nothing more than good fashion illustration and who better to take direction from that Valentino himself?

Also featuring in their amazing Trunk Show are these beauties:




And what would an accessory post be without a mention of a statement necklace from me? This piece of heaven on earth (crafted by angels, I imagine) is from Tom Binns and available until the 27th...the eve of my birthday, no less.

*hint hint*



I'm going in. This could be dangerous.

What Mary Did Next.

A few weeks ago I clicked onto one of my all time favourite blogs - The Sartorialist - and was faced with a bit of a 'mind reading' moment. "If You're Thinking About .... Metallic Shoes" was the posts title and what followed was a collage of achingly cool folk in an array of metallic kicks, all looking superb. And the best thing was that yes, I had been thinking about metallic shoes. Brogues to be precise.

The Sartorialist
Now that Spring appears to be making (dare I say it?) early noises about its impending presence, thoughts have turned to my shoe wardrobe and much excitement has been had over the soon to be shedding of autumnal shades and welcoming back of some of my favourite, brighter pairs. However, over winter I have had one pair of shoes that I have dragged out time and time again - a pair of studded, black leather brogues from Zara. And while it pains me to say it I have had to come to terms with the fact that they are very seasonal and are best put away now we are coming into the brighter months - wearing them means running the risk of people assuming my feet are in mourning while my torso is enjoying the fresher air in a light sun dress.

So to tackle this I have come up with a great plan - metallic brogues! And after not too much searching I think I have found them.

The La Promenade metallic brogues by my guru Mary Portas for Clarks. You can guarantee they're good quality and will last for a long time to come. I love the snake skin effect on the leather and the tiny studs keep them trend driven but without being so obvious that, when fashions change, they are rendered unwearable. There's nothing worse than finding a great pair of shoes, loving them so much you buy them no matter the cost and then, next season, being unable to actually pair them with anything as they're in a time warp. These don't carry that risk - good quality leather and great flat shoes never go out of style. I'm almost too excited to style them with printed trousers and silk shirts for work but alas, until my next paycheck arrives I will simply have to wait it out.


This is most likely how I'll style mine.
Available here they also come in other colours and while you're there why not look at the rest of the collection? I appear to have become quite smitten with the La Lumiere heels. And, with so many summer weddings on the horizon for me, justifiable. No?