Sunday Morning Seasonal Transitioning + Trench Coat Posted by Unknown |

All Saints Trench (similar here), old Topshop silk shirt, New Look Petite jeans,
Sam Edelman Petty boots (on sale in leopard)

Early Sunday morning light streaming through the windows warms my heart and confirms hopes that spring is finally on the way. And the growing urge to pack away the winter duffle for good (over-eager jumping the gun two Sundays in a row has direly resulted in the misery of frozen bones) opens the door for the perfect seasonal transitional garment, the trench coat. An easy style addition and the rest of the outfit can be super simple. Light denim, silky short-sleeved shirt and bare ankles complete the look. What are you wearing now that the sun is out?

 I saw this cute camera blog post idea over at Abi Marvel and love it! Here's my take below.

Colour Me Coral - Dielle Nail Polish Posted by Unknown |

Quick-drying, a dream to apply and a beautifully intense spring colour from UK brand Dielle. This lovely Aged Coral was sent to me to try and it's one of the most successful self-applications of nail polish I've had in a while. Partly down to the brush which slid the polish on so easily and neatly and the reasonably fast drying – I have no patience for drying and usually end up nicking or smudging and ruining the overall look. But not this time! Even better, Dielle lacquers are free of toxic ingredients (specifically Toluene, Formaldehyde, DBP, Camphor, & Pthalic Acid) and are not animal tested. The owner Rosalie is also committed to creating positive change in Haiti (she lived in Port-au-Prince for 12 years) and donates proceeds from the business to projects and campaigns related to helping women and children. Overall, pretty impressive and an excellent product. £12 a bottle – check out the Dielle range of colours here. 

Happy Easter - 52 - Weekly Portrait Challenge - Anyone, Anywhere - #1 Posted by Unknown |

I love the idea of a weekly portrait – the challenge, the results, the consistency. You can't help but learn along the way. And I want to keep the standards high. The challenge part is that I find doing anything on a regular basis difficult, I always wander off topic. The idea is that in the true vein of ego-blogging, the photos will be mainly self portraits, but occasionally I may take advantage of the little one (of whom I take a ridiculous amount of snaps), the extremely reluctant husband or a friend. So basically like the 52 Project but with wider criteria. So this is my first. Do you do a regular portrait? If so, leave me a link in the comments below, I'll be sure to come and check it out. And if you want to join in the fun, feel free to grab my button below.

The Amazing Style of Claire Underwood Posted by Unknown |

Have you been watching? House of Cards on Netflix. In the TV dearth between Girls Season 2 ending and Game of Thrones Season 3 starting, we sandwiched in the whole 12 episodes of Netflix's ever-so-addictive US political drama starring starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright – formerly Robin Wright Penn, formerly Buttercup of Princess Bride, now most definitively Claire Underwood; congressman Frank Underwood's formidable, fierce, unfathomable, frickin' stylish lady wife. Her cut-glass posture, slightly questionable moral fibre, strength of character and ambitions aside, Claire has brought to the Netflix screen a wardrobe that I just can't get out of my head. Super sophisticated and elegant, 95% monochrome with an emphasis on striking necklines, timeless classics –  trenches, tailored shirts, pearls – peplum tops, cashmere dressing gowns and body-gripping dresses (the feels-like-armour kind – episode ref in case you saw it) that look like they're Victoria Beckham or L'Wren Scott and a powerhouse YSL Muse handbag (currently sold out on NAP). In black, of course. She even wore a dress that was also a jacket (dracket??). Nuff said. Get thee watching. It's addictive, compelling, explosive stuff. I cannot wait for Series 2.

Here's To Hope Posted by Unknown |

Follow me on instagram @stylonylon. Just a verification thing. D4HBQC3SGTYC

Are You On ArtStack? Posted by Unknown |

Deckchair II, 1965 - Gerhard Richter via ArtStack

I'm the first to admit that my knowledge of art (contemporary art in particular) leaves a lot to be desired and it's something I often wish I would rectify but never get round to doing. So I was pretty pleased to receive an invite from an artist friend to social platform ArtStack, a sort of Pinterest for the visual arts if you will. The site is amazingly slick and polished and full of delight upon visual delight. You can follow artists, curators and other members, known as 'stackers' – instead of pinning, you stack. This is great for artists as it means they can create their own online portfolio. Plus you can do all the usual social media  type things like create collections, explore your friends' stacks, comment, use a toolbar widget to stack from elsewhere on t'internet and there's also an iPhone app. Previously invite only, you can now request an invitation on the homepage. It's gorgeous to the eye, a lovely online experience, so if you start stacking – above and below are my very first stacks – you can find me under Julia Rebaudo.

Update: ArtStack has kindly sent through an invitation link for Stylonylon readers. See you there!

Echos #2 2012, Yoshi Sodeoka via ArtStack 

What I'm Wearing - Beanie + Monochrome Posted by Unknown |

1. Beanie - old H&M
2.  Jacket - Next
3. Dress - old All Saints 
4. Tights - Hose

Damn, it's cold outside. Which is why I finally pulled down a zip-lock bag from on top of the wardrobe full of packed-away woolly lovelies, including last year's beanie (no, not neon, that would have made me a total A+ trendsetter) in grey. I can't quite bring myself to jump fully on the blogger beanie bandwagon and go flouro so I'm quite happy to stick with grey, thankyou. This is the start of a few beanie based outfit posts styling up the smurfette look (beanies kinda make us look like Smurfs, don't you think?) with neutrals. Part of a project to make me realise how many perfectly worthwhile neutrals I currently have in my wardrobe and to plan a few spring-while-it's-still nippy outfits. This first one is a bit of a monochrome party look with an old All Saints dress and Next leather jacket. The cracked white booties are old faves from a shop on Exmouth Market I think, and the hand screen printed tights, you've seen these  recently, are from Hose.

Rose Headbands by Crown & Glory Posted by Unknown |

How to counteract the cold and snow? Gorgeous rose crowns singing out spring. Kind of over the top and a bit fruity, which is why they're proving such a big hit with the fashion blogging crowd – see She Wears Fashion and Wolf Whistle. I can think of so many ways to style these up, just imagine how good they'd look with a leather jacket, blue jeans and a white tee and even just trainers. So cool to contrast like that. Obvious festival wear but I'd like one just to wear round the house, and on birthdays. Crown & Glory.

General Coolness From Concept Store L'Avant Gardiste - A Dream Outfit Posted by Unknown |

1. Leopard sweater 2. Sunglasses 3. Baguette ring 4. Nebula leggings 5. Suede booties

Love Twitter for discovering new fashion – this is French concept store L'Avant Gardiste, who followed me the other day, and that follow has made my weekend. Styling up a dream outfit is just the way to pass the time when the snowflakes are relentlessly falling outside. It seems they (the store, not the snowflakes) employ quite a strict curation of brands and to great effect. Their mix of espadrilles, jellybean and burger sweaters, friendship bracelets and retro watches will appeal to the cool kid hiding inside every adult. For me, the galaxy leggings, moccasins and big cat sweater tick my boxes. LOVE. Something for the weekend – my dream outfit. Yes, please. 

L'Avant Gardiste on Twitter. 

How To Make Smoked Mackerel Pâté Posted by Unknown |

It's not very often I do a recipe as I'm not much of a cook, but this is so simple it's ridiculous. And so tasty! I used to make this at a lovely little café I worked in while studying in Edinburgh for the delicious open sandwiches they served. You can add horseradish and dill, but I've kept this as stripped back as possible. Three smoked mackerel fillets, half a tub of cream cheese, half a lemon and salt and pepper. Take the skins off the mackerel, chop it up into little pieces and then pop in a bowel. Add the cream cheese and lemon, salt and pepper and with a fork just mash it up. And there you have it. I love mine on toast and rice cakes.

Where To Share Your Style – I'm On Pose Posted by Unknown |

When I started blogging for real back in the autumn last year (ie. started doing outfit posts and posting daily, almost...) it became quickly apparent that I should join a style sharing platform. Now I can't quite remember how I came across Pose, but I'm so glad I did! (I also joined Lookbook but only uploaded one look, oops, and considered Chictopia and others.) But Pose was the one I committed to and I'm so glad I did. After having one of my photos featured by the editorial team early on, I quickly started building a lovely following (now nearly 5000!) and in the last few months Pose has been rolling out new updates and features – it also works brilliantly on iPhone and iPad. The latest update includes what I've really been waiting for – searchable and clickable hashtags and @ usernames. And there are many UK based users as well as US ones – I was thrilled when one of my favourite London bloggers Bumpkin Betty followed me the other day. Anyway, have a read of my interview with Pose founder Alisa Gould-Simon here and if you're looking for a new style sharing platform, then get on pose.com – follow me here!

Liberty London New Home Department SS13 Launch Posted by Unknown |

I was really sorry not to make the launch of the new home department at Liberty (4th floor, east Atrium, enter via the stationery department) this morning. Strolling around and snapping pictures of new homeware lines is pretty much my idea of heaven these days. However, all was not lost, as the lovely Liberty press office sent me these gorgeous shots of the new ranges. This teapot by Tea with Bea (above) is probably my favourite, followed closely by the Jersey Pottery Sardine Run bowels (immediately below). And an east London shout out goes to James Ward of Jimbobart (third photo) who has a studio and shop on Columbia Road, home to one of my favourite Sunday lunch pubs The Royal Oak and, of course, the Sunday flower market.

<<Shop the new ranges >>

Introducing Fairtrade Label Lalesso Posted by Unknown |

New to Edinburgh's Godiva Boutique (see owner Fleur MacIntosh in What Is She Wearing?!) is Kenyan label Lalesso. A sustainable, carbon zero and ethical company, – read more about that on the Godiva blog here – I'm loving the bold geometric prints and contrast of the block colour silk top halves. The dresses look so easy to wear with sandals, making them ideal for summer and holidays. Check out the rest of the range at Godiva here.

What's On My Fridge Door - Magnets, Postcards & Photos Posted by Unknown |

In the vein of all those ever-so-popular What's In My Handbag posts... ;) Favourite postcards from gallery exhibitions, home-printed photos of places I love – in these pics; a moonlit sky on Formentera (check out this Ibiza & Formentera guide I wrote a little while ago for Urban Junkies), LA palms, walking up to the Hollywood sign and me with boy-short hair – and my small, but growing collection of fridge magnets. What's on your fridge door?

What To Buy This Week - H&M Conscious & Uniqlo x Celia Birtwell Posted by Unknown |

Two brilliant and very politely-priced (approx. £20-£30 per piece) highstreet collections launching this week. Celia Birtwell for Uniqlo – the launch is this Thursday at the Oxford Street store at 6.30pm – sees the great lady's archive prints re-worked and re-interpreted for an exclusive collection of t-shirts, leggings, shirts, culottes and totes. And H&M's Conscious collection featuring Vanessa Paradis (I blogged about this back in Jan) with its jungly florals (I'm mad about floral trousers at the moment) and classic neutrals is available from today online and in store. The Conscious collection also coincides with H&M's fantastic new initiative to recycle old clothes – you can exchange bags of old clothes (any brand and they don't have to be in top condition) for £5 vouchers, up to two bags a day. Anyway, that's my shopping tuppence for the day. Let me know if you indulge in the comments below!

#PassionForFashion2 - MoneySupermarket - Three Looks Under £200 Posted by Unknown |

Another competition, another styling challenge. I love getting my teeth into these – pulling together new outfits, especially to a budget, means exploring new brands, style ideas and wardrobe possibilities. What's not to love? This one is MoneySupermarket's second PassionForFashion, the brief being to style three looks – holiday, casual and party – each under £200. Judged by three fantastic fashion bloggers (the kind you regularly check back in on to see their latest post) – Natasha from Girl in the Lens, Jen from A Little Bird Told Me and Olivia from What Olivia Did – the competition's top prize is £1000 to spend on a spring/summer wardrobe and for the category winners, £200 to buy the outfit they styled. The competition is open until April 8th, so there's still time to enter! Let me know if you do in the comments below. And I'd love to know which is your favourite of the three outfits I've styled. 

1. Pleated top £59 - Cos  2. Shopper £17 - & Other Stories 3. Sandals £25 - Office
4. Kitty bandeau bikini £32 - Topsop 5. Bracelet £30 - Street Princess

So, first up, is my holiday outfit. This started with a fabulous holographic kitty bandeau bikini from Topshop. Pretty much my dream bikini. It evolved with the sandals and bracelet chiming in on the colour palette of pinks, turquoise-green and oranges. Such an intoxicating array of colours should be anchored by a strong neutral, and in this case, I chose a black panelled and box-pleated voluminous top, which I think could quite successfully be worn as a thigh-skimming dress. Which is fine, cos' it's holiday time! And just imagine this mix of colours against a golden tan... heavenly! The cloth shopper – a print which makes me think of the sea, the sea – is from the newly-opened and by all accounts brilliant new sister brand to H&M, & Other Stories. Great selection of decently-priced bags they have there. 

1. Floral trousers £20 - Boohoo 2. Grey sweater £45 - Cos  3. Jana belt £6 - Monki
4. Expensive Habits clutch £58.18 - Nasty Gal 5. Superga plimsolls £50 - ASOS

Next is my casual look. I'll start with the floral trousers from Boohoo. I already own a pair of these in a slightly different pattern – they are a great fit and for only £20, well, what more can I say? Brilliant spring buy. Not only do they boost your mood magnificently – a wonderful mix of jaunty confidence and bright hellos – but the rest of your outfit follows nice and easy. I'm also a big fan of grey marl, this sweater from Cos has just the right relaxed wide neck and oversized fit and the bright white of a Superga plimsoll (I wore these when I was a kid and I'm loving this new understated high-top style) sets off the print wonderfully. I thought I'd add a bit of edge with a chain clutch (the priciest item in this ensemble). I don't know why but I love how gold chain mixes with jersey, kind of street but weirdly classy at the same time and I think the green holographic belt (how super affordable is Monki btw?) while possibly walking the line, ultimately works when you consider the strength of the neutrals. 

1. Dress £74.95 - Nelly 2. Lips clutch £48 - Dahlia 3. Ring £6 - Monki
4. Small peacock eyelashes £10.50 - Paperself 5. Wedge heels £59.99 - H&M

Last up is the party outfit. The most expensive of the three. The Kling dress is way out of my comfort zone with its creamy prettiness and pleats but I wanted to try something different. And I've brought things straight back to my happy place by contrasting with a bold red, sharp-shaped clutch and pointy black wedge heels. I love the brutalist design of the copper and gun-metal coloured ring but to echo the dress's daintiness I've chosen ever-so-delicate paper eyelashes by Paperself (the brand made famous by Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games). Anyway, I love that this outfit is breaking my style boundaries and getting me to consider a slightly more complex game of soft pretty teamed with tough elegance. 

Veja X Greg Asner - Capsule Collection - Available April Posted by Unknown |

How gorgeous is the print on these Veja hi-tops? And it's not just any old print, it's inspired by the forest carbon mapping work of Stanford research professor Greg Asner. Flying over the Amazon (where the very ethically-minded Veja rubber soles are sourced) in a tiny single engine propeller plane, Asner uses a special software and laser system to produce maps measuring the forest's biomass (how much carbon is locked up in the trees) with the aim of evaluating the impact of deforestation on tropical eco-systems. Check out one of the maps below. All in all, an incredibly cool collaboration. The trainers are available from April at ASOS and at two of my favourite boutiques, Islington's Diverse and Stoke Newington's Hub Shop as well as Glass Boutique. Make sure you check out the very sleek Veja blog, I've just tumblred one of their gorgeous Lookbook shots :). Also, the French brand is committed to no advertising – the money saved means the farmers and producers Veja works with are fairly remunerated – so show your support by following on Twitter and Facebook.

The print inspired by the maps

Supporting Comic Relief - 50 Ways To Wear #RNDTEE Posted by Unknown |

Just in the nick of time! It's Red Nose tomorrow, folks. So good to see all the blogger support going round – headed up by the super Mademoiselle Robot (also check out the lovely What Oliva Did and Toni from Fashion Your Seatbelts with the Lulu Guinness for Sainburies shopper). You might have already seen the Stella McCartney for TK Maxx t-shirts – the Fairtrade organic cotton is sourced from co-operatives in Mali, manufactured in Africa and all profit goes to Comic Relief. Here's my styling of the Stella McCartney Kate Moss design – a nod to monochrome plus bright florals. It was hard to choose between the Marilyn Monroe and The Beatles t-shirts, but in the end I opted for La Moss as it's actually a tank. If you've bought a RND t-shirt, make sure you upload a pic of yourself wearing it to the TK Maxx 50 Ways To Wear It app either on Facebook or on your phone, it's all synced up – £1 donated to Comic Relief for every photo uploaded. If you do, let me know in the comments!