New York: Ladies Who Lunch & Leafy Streets on the Upper East Side

Whenever I land in New York, I make a beeline for the Upper East Side; home to gossip girls and ladies who lunch, tree-lined streets, glorious art galleries and the kind of apartments that have gloved doormen and a line of chauffeurs waiting outside. So on my first day there, I hopped straight in a car with Nicolette and made for the neighbourhood.

We started with lunch at Fred’s at Barneys, where the rooftop views are breathtaking and the conversations to be overheard are nothing short of entertaining. By way of example, at one point the glossy ladies who lunched at the table beside us where discussing the most glamorous way to have babies, and stated “…if we want Spring/Summer babies, we have to get pregnant right now! I suppose I’d better let him start touching my body…” It was all we could do to contain our hysterical giggling until we burst through the shiny glass doors and onto Madison Avenue (via the shoe department, of course).

After lunch, it was time for a walk uptown via Madison Avenue for some window shopping and a stop at the new Laduree outpost to buy macarons which we ate watching autumn leaves fall beside Central Park and, rather cheesily, whilst peering in the windows of Tiffany’s doing our very best Holly Golightly impressions.

We stopped at the Frick and strolled the residential streets which run off the Park, each lined with a row of shiny porticos and patient doormen, and passed tiny dogs, immaculately-coiffed women with their well-mannered children, tiny salons and private courtyards that we peered into as we dreamed of living in such apartments and throwing garden parties in in the summertime. Oh!

Wearing: Sass and Bide tee, Carven skirt, Prada sunglasses, Michael Kors watch, jewels from Mimco, Jersey Pearl and J.Crew.

Don’t you just treasure those days where you skip about town being a lady of leisure and pretend to live in an entirely different tax bracket?

Love, Miss B xx

The Dandy Pink Trousers

One glance in my wardrobe and it becomes apparent that I have a pretty solid ‘uniform’ of black (in the form of blazers and jackets galore, skinny jeans and slouchy tailored tapered pants), white (dresses and silk blouses in various incarnations), sharp tuxedo shirts, and the occasional flash of preppy blue, faded denim and blush pink (summer) or emerald green (winter) accents. All worn with super high heels, a Chanel bag and a few kilos of jewels, naturally. In fact, until now, I could count on a single hand the number of garments in my wardrobe that could even remotely be considered ‘bright’. It took me a while to really settle into a particular style that felt like my own, so I’ve tended to stick with it fairly solidly for the past few years – shopping for the perfect items rather than the latest trends. But after seasons of searching for the ultimate wardrobe building blocks – or maybe it’s just an over-enthusiasm for colour and light after months of European winter – I’ve decided it’s time to break out of the rut and have some fun with my wardrobe.

These unashamdely lolly-pink Current/Elliott chinos were the spoils of a recent Net-a-Porter binge (along with the black crochet lace tee and another blush silk top from Sandro, one of my favourite labels at the moment) one sunny Spring day recently. They remind me of the perfect shade of peachy-pink lipstick (which I’m still hunting for – if anyone finds it, send suggestions my way!) and the dandy bright chinos the preppy Cambridge boys wear each summer.* And despite their shouty brightness, their classic shape seems to magically work with all my usual clothes when black trousers or dark jeans feel too hot and heavy.

I’m going to rename them my ‘magic pants’, 1) for getting me out of my rut for Spring (which has in turn has made me suddenly crave an entire collection of clothes the colour of a box of Laduree macarons), and 2) because no matter what, it’s impossible to frown when my legs look this fun and happy. Pull something like this on, add a favourite pair of heels and some bright lipstick and you’ve got an instant sunny disposition!

Top: Sandro, Pants: Current/Elliot, Shoes: Isabel Marant, Clutch: Lulu Guinness, Watch: Michael Kors, Bracelet and cat-eye sunglasses: Mimco

Have you tried anything uncharacteristically new lately? How do you have fun with your wardrobe?

Love, Miss B xx

* The sight of the preppy Cambridge rowing or cricket captains in their bright raspberry or red chinos, worn with crested blazers or white linen shirts rolled at the sleeves, is always a sartorial highlight of my blissfully lazy days spent luxuriating on the banks of the river in summer.

P.S. Since so many of you email me asking for more personal style posts, I’ve decided to finally relent and post more regular outfit/personal shots (despite the demonstrable absence of a model’s body and a photographer boyfriend…). As always, I’m more than happy to take suggestions for particular things you’d like to see on here.

Stuffing Australia in my Suitcase

Vintage brooches to adorn a summer blazer lapel: Australian native flowers, rhinestones and bejewelled glasses that remind me of Dame Edna Everage

Despite my best attempts to travel light, I somehow managed to return from Australia with 15kg more than I had arrived with (this was also despite offloading several kilos of English souvenirs to family along the way, and not having time to go shopping for clothes for more than a single hour…). To say this was a point of tension between the Clever Boyfriend and myself en route to our departure gate is a serious understatement.

And so, to save my lovely readers the same luggage-induced relationship anguish, here are some of my favourite souvenirs from my trip and a guide to a few of the things I think are worth the excess luggage dramas.*

Blush and petal silk to make my wardrobe (and lingerie drawer) smile.

Sartorial treats: Australia boasts some truly exceptional fashion labels, as well as a focus on niche boutiques that you just don’t find in the UK. Aside from the obvious things I miss, I’m forever mourning the fact that in Australia you can buy a gorgeous dress from an established designer for a fraction of the cost of a comparable designer label in the UK. I don’t know how I would have survived my early twenty-something years there without brands like Lover, Zimmerman, Karen Walker (who, if you want to get technical, is actually a New Zealander), Sass & Bide, Camilla and Marc, Alice McCall, Fleur Wood, Willow, and Nicola Finetti (plus pyjamas from Peter Alexander, whose stores all look like marshmallow pink boudoirs, and gorgeous lingerie from Elle Macpherson) .

MOR candles that smell like a summer’s morning, Kit cheek stain to maintain the holiday glow, a haul of Aesop and Jurlique rose shower gel that smells like an explosion of garden roses and turkish delight on a cold winter’s morning.

Beauty: As a self-confessed beauty addict, I can honestly say that I’ve tried a lot of products. And in my opinion, Australian beauty brands are on par with the French as being the best in the world. Between an obsession with avoiding sun-damage and the laid-back, healthy lifestyle, the Australians are all about anti-oxidants and organic ingredients. My bathroom shelves would be completely naked (and my skin tortured) were it not for the wonders of Aesop and Jurlique skincare, organic rosehip oil (does wonders for the skin) from Trilogy or Kosmea, divine body creams and scented candles from MOR, and cult items from Kit and Mecca Cosmetics.

A new chunky pearl necklace from Mimco.

And finally, I’d throw a tantrum if these things didn’t find their way into my suitcase on an outbound flight from Australia (such are the frivolous cravings when one is an expat living abroad): beautiful pearl necklaces, acetate cuffs and accessories from Mimco; Haighs chocolates (simply the best you will ever try); Cadbury Cherry Ripe bars; Allens Chico Babies (chocolate-flavoured jelly babies); luscious red wines and summery pink moscatos from the Barossa Valley; crisp copies of Australian Vogue, Rush and Frankie magazines; cookbooks by Bill Granger, Donna Hay, Kylie Kwong and Maggie Beer; a giant jar of Vegemite (love it or loathe it) to be spread on hot buttery toast on grey English mornings; a small handful of sun-bleached shells collected from the perfect beaches; and enough proper coffee (to be drunk while lazing about at alfresco cafes with a spot of people-watching), gelato and fresh mangoes that my cravings for them don’t induce homesickness for the next year.

Souvenirs for the home: an antique French map of Australia from the 1800s; seashells collected from walks along endless stretches of white sandy beach.

What do you love buying as a souvenir when you travel to a new place (or conversely, what do you have to cram your suitcases with when you return home)?

Love, Miss B xx

* Most of these brands can be found in the UK (through their own stand-alone stores, at Selfridges, on Net-a-Porter, or via My Catwalk, who ship to the UK), though, as with anything, are always significantly cheaper in their country of origin.