Holiday Wobble (or 'How to look hot on a beach')

Me on holiday...honestly

From Saturday, I have a glorious week in Marrakesh coming up.  Myself, the Boy and a whole bunch of dear friends are in a stunning villa for a week and will be soaking up sunshine, culture and the odd g and t. We are also lucky enough to have a chef on-site and will be making the most of it, although we have booked dinner out on a couple of nights to give the poor man a rest! Expect a full write up of all this on my return but suffice to say I have not purchased everything on holiday wish list.  This wish list changes upon location.  Marrakesh is currently 39 degrees...swoon....

1. Floaty kaftans for pool loungwear - Done! Acquired over the years in bright colours and prints!
2. Maxi dress for wandering around the souks - Nope, everyone I've tried made me look like a 70s reject or dwarf.
3. Decent body oil - Huile Prodigieuse Or by Nuxe purchased in Biarritz last year and (appropriately) Ren's Morrocan Rose Body Oil
4. A sunhat ideally with a wide brim or possibly a panama - No joy whatsoever..but also a bit of an arse to pack. MUST get one for Biarritz later in the year.
5. Selection of easy cotton/ linen/ silk dresses for day or evening - done! Isabel Marant, Topshop, Uniqlo (fab for t-shirt dresses), Zara.
6. Pair of flip flops - bronze metallic thongs that are at least 8 years old but go with everything and are super comfy.
7.  One pair of high shoes for evening - Wooden Zara wedges
8. Topiary - eg. waxing etc to get bikini ready, am booked in for tomorrow!
9.  Comfy bikinis -halter necks and strapless are best on my figure. My favourites are from Moontide (they're reversible so great value for money!) and Vix.
10. Clever accessories - silk scarves and jewellery are the order of the day here.

I'll leave you with these stunning pictures from the iconic Vogue desert shoot in 2002 shot by photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.  Faded colours and salvaged materials were combined to create a deserted island vibe that set off the deep tan of Kate’s bare skin. This is the darkest I have seen her and it looks surprisingly natural with her sun-kissed hair – which is a perfect example of how balayage should be done this season.  I've just had it done for my holiday hair and I'm loving it!!

Also before you go calling your spray tan lady asking for the darkest shade, there’s one little thing you need to remember. Fake tans this dark may look great on film, but that doesn’t mean they work in real life. Take my advice and save it for a photo shoot or go on holiday, slap on your sunscreen and go gently golden instead.X

Bikini Bleurgh

"Bond girls follow a fairly well-developed pattern of beauty. They possess splendid figures and tend to dress in a slightly masculine, assertive fashion, with few pieces of jewelery and that in a masculine cut, wide leather belts, and square-toed leather shoes. They often sport light though noticeable sun-tans, and they generally use little or no makeup and no fingernail or toenail polish, also wearing their nails short." —O.F. Snelling, author of Double O Seven, James Bond, A Report.


Now according to that description people, I don't have too much to worry about. OK.."splendid figure" might be pushing it and I loathe wearing shoes on holiday but I never bother painting my toes or fingernails as I have the co-ordination of a blind toddler and I suppose my holiday clothes are a bit masculine and square cut, though I am a fan of the sun dress and especially the kaftan by the pool. I've even got the light tan covered.

Have to say, not entirely sure Kate is working the Bond girl look here..

The one issue that presents itself summer over summer is the bikini problem. Bond girls don't appear to have issues with this (albeit that might be because they have a mammoth hair and make-up department at their disposal and probably had a personal trainer for a few months) but I'm going to go on a group holiday and I feel I should invest in a new one. Gulp. Psychologically one has to pick the right moment to bikini shop. Get it wrong and you'll feel like a whale squeezing into a tube of smarties, get it right and you're essentially Hedi Klum.  Also I resent spending a large amount of money on something that'll get seen for about three weeks of the year MAX. On top of all of this, I am petite but top heavy, this rules out buying any sets and limits me to separates.  Grrrr.

In character..very Bond

Still looking pretty fab...even in real life

Am I alone in my bikini hell or do you struggle as well? I have no problem buying my clothes online (thank you ASOS and net-a-porter) but for some reason I don't want to buy my bikinis in cyberspace. I really need to try them on.  Where should I go?  My sole comfort is that really, once one is actually on holiday does it matter so much? Any help gratefully received.

Where do you go to my lovely?

As Coco Chanel said, "Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. It is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening..." Welcome to my blog which will deal largely with fashion but will also stray out of that ballpark on occasion...Really, I believe you should write about what makes you happy so those things for me are largely fashion and books, pottering about London (where I pretend at having a grown up job in publishing), my travels, nesting and trying to find the beautiful in the ordinary. Largely most things I see relate back to fashion but occasionally you may find snippets of culture here too

The title of this post comes from that wonderful song by Peter Starstedt makes me smile everytime I hear it, go and listen....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_dduKiZb6w
And check out the wonderful tache on him too..

Today it is dull and gloomy so I am dreaming of lazy Summer days and wearing bright Sonia Rykiel stripes to compensate. My favourite fashion rabbit Fifi Lapin was also working the brights on Sunday....

Dress by Henry Holland, Illustration by Fifi Lapin.

As I'm sure everyone and their wife knows..Fashion Week in London is coming to a close. I was in New York last week too on a craftily timed holiday, however fashion wasn't high on the agenda. New York was slightly frantic as I think city breaks can tend to be but we found solace in sleeping in and waking up to blanket snow on our first day...


Walking in the snow in Central Park...wearing Vivienne Westwood for Melissa wellies..stylish and so practical! (Had to wear extra socks though as rubber ain't exactly warm).

Taking in some culture at the Met by seeing their new exhibition of Bronzino sketches before rushing to see the launch of Alexa Chung's new collection for MadeWell...


Then lounging at The Crosby Street Hotel with my girlfriends having a delicious afternoon tea and cocktails!x