A SUCKER FOR OXBLOOD

























And there you go: this is look number three of the four burgundy files, featuring a cool lace tunic that doubles as a dress, from Topshop.

TREND: ALL STRAPPED IN
































Can you believe were warned about this over two years ago? 

HOW DECENT IS TOO DECENT?

























A little pleated, striped, sleeveless shirt dress can go a long way in ensuring you are office-appropriate in any season. Here it is, moulded into a 1950s-inspired look with a little help from a key seasonal piece, the jumper.

DON'T YOU STEP ON MY PURPLE SUEDE...
























For part 2 of the purple-bordeaux-burgundy-oxblood-whatever series, I definitely wanted to give my suede shorts a little style-up - I bought them in the sales sometime early this year and, even though I love them, the poor babies have not made it outside the house yet.

WE ARE THE KIDS NOW
























If I can wear kids' stuff, you can, too. And don't let them tell you not to.

COLOUR UP: IN VINO VERITAS


There you have it: wine, purple, oxblood, bordeaux, the colour of the season. 

SIMPLE SIXTIES: LIGHT, SHADOW AND FLAME






















Can you not love a 1960s graphic retro look when the cold days arrive? 

BAROQUE FOR DAYWEAR: OFF THE WALL

























I've always been quite the baroque creature when it comes to beautiful things - more is more, the louder the better - but too chicken to wear tapestry or classic wallpaper prints.

THE LEATHER-SLEEVED JACKET: EDGY BASICS

























On the high street, it all started with Zara and the little safari parka in stone and black. I wasn't sold. Yet. 

THE LEATHER-SLEEVED JACKET: WEAR WITH EVERYTHING
























I have a special little something to introduce to you - one of my staples since late summer. Meet the contrast sleeve mini-parka by New Look.

PRINGLE OF SCOTLAND: DELICATE LIKE BREEZE
























Since this last April, the label's creative director Alistair Carr left and was not replaced, Pringle of Scotland seems to be running in test mode - hence, maybe, the decision to swap the show for a presentation at London Fashion Week.

MARIOS SCHWAB: I CAME I SAW I CONQUERED
























This is where the mythical, biblical, historic and fairytale landscapes, as created by filmmakers and musical score composers of our time, spring into mind as the collection unfolds.

CLEMENTS RIBEIRO: A FAMILY WARDROBE, A JOURNEY THROUGH THE DECADES
























You could say it's only expected of Suzanne and Inácio to send print on print down the catwalk season on season. But what we saw from them in Clements Ribeiro's spring/summer 2013 collection is something more authentic than your usual retro and vintage looks.

DAVID KOMA: A COURT CASE
























His inspiration was the female tennis player - and, looking at the bold graphic beauties he created for this collection, I can understand why the tennis dress is given a new lease of life at least once every decade. 

CHRISTOPHER KANE: FRANKIE GOES TO LONDON
























... and makes beautiful clothes. During London Fashion Week, Christopher was quoted saying the inspiration came from the nuts and bolts of Frankenstein... but the clothes, despite some slits and fastenings (OK, taping, too), bear nothing too literal of that Dr-Frankie-story aesthetic, thank goodness.

MOSCHINO CHEAP & CHIC: FLIP THE TRACK BRING THE OLD SCHOOL BACK
























This is how we do it, AlunaGeorge perform Montell Jordan's classic as a laid-back R&B tune, but don't let that fool you when it comes to the clothes, unless it reminds you of the retro vibe of the early 1990s. Was this how you did it?

BURBERRY PRORSUM: NO FLOWERS, NO SHOWERS


In the show space by Royal Albert Hall, the mood was set by season-neutral, cartoon-like dream of a London silhouette, a sepia-toned live postcard with a flag flapping in the wind...

KTZ: A ROMANCE OF MANY DIMENSIONS


There is always hope. Thanks to KTZ, prints are no slaves to Flatland anymore. While all the gothic, baroque lace-meets-leather could have belonged to the previous couple of seasons, with a dark magic that's possibly the most explicit of all, there was a twist that was something more, much more than that. 

MARY KATRANTZOU: MIND-BLOWING MARY DOES IT AGAIN


Halfway recovered from the shock of that show-stopping, jaw-dropping beauty attack, I was quickly flipping through the images on the laptop when I heard a discreet pop from behind me - his eyes, no doubt - and the exclamation: those are reeeal-ly goo-ood!

TOPSHOP UNIQUE: 2013: A SPACE ODYSSEY



First thing's first: Topshop, I'm in love with your retro sci-fi Show Space. The most fashion-forward of the Great British High Street never fails to put down its unique stamp, not just in high street retail but fashion design in general. Nomen est omen.

JASPER CONRAN: BRIGHTER YOUNGER THINGS
























Uh-oh. What do we have here? Where has the soft, delicate, perfectly groomed lady of the previous seasons gone? 

HOUSE OF HOLLAND: DON'T YOU KILL MY 'BUZZ KILL'
























I can't think of one better among designers of bold, punchy, cheeky, modern, print-propelled AND instantly wearable clothing than Henry Holland. And while the statement held up absolutely as next spring's collection took off with a diagonal check colourblock suit to set the mood, it couldn't prepare me for what came next.

CORRIE NIELSEN: HOTHOUSE, FLOWERS
























“My SS13 collection has a strong botanical influence - taken from observance of fauna at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The collection will feature my trademark sculptural shapes, and that’s about all that I can give away… You’ll have to come to the show!”

TODD LYNN: TO THE HEART OF DARKNESS
























At the show, Todd revealed his starting point was Heart of Darkness, a Joseph Conrad novella from 1902 in which, the narrator of the story, and Englishman, becomes the captain of a trading river boat in Belgian Africa, to discover during his journey three levels of darkness...

KINDER AGGUGINI: HOME BY THE SEA
























I don't think it's appropriate to try and unlock the secret of Kinder, or the overwhelming effect of his work on me. But without a conscious glimpse, you might be tempted to label anything and everything I say as mindless gushing. Well, I've got a mind all right. And you have to see this.

DAKS: FRESH ABSTRACTIONS
























And so London Fashion Week for spring/summer 2013 kicks off!

SEE THE SUN OR BE THE SUN


Spring can be cool in more than one way. When it gets unpredictable, uncomfortable, even gloomy, many of us try and lose the blues by stubbornly sticking to weather-inappropriate clothing. Some will even take that to the next level, pretending it's high summer. Not me.

A WILDERNESS OF MIRRORS

























I wasn't fast enough to get my hands on the Mary Katrantzou for Topshop (click here for a quick peek) dresses and the blouse in my size but, to be honest, I was relieved I didn't really have to make the decision. The floral legging, however, was a simple enough piece for experiments.

BOLD FLORALS: MAKE LIKE MARY

























It was only little over a year ago that Mary Katrantzou showed the collection that - after a few seasons of great promise but relative obscurity - catapulted her to the creme de la creme of London designers. Now seems very long ago. Lo and behold, the fruit of a most spectacular high street collaboration.