And this one's for me...

I was kidding myself going 'Christmas shopping' at Paper Dress Vintage's late night opening tonight. Buying presents for other people was as likely as me going home to read David Dimbleby's latest book (which I'm technically supposed to as I'm interviewing him on Friday)

But I could hardly go to one of my favourite shops in London and not buy a dress. Especially when we were plied with mulled cider. As the title suggests, the quaint and colourful shop on Curtain Road in East London, stocks a lot of 1960s dresses. Which makes me... a helpless little insect caught in a seductive spiders web?

This thick winter floral sixties dress would look perfect with a (faux) fur coat, woollen tights and flat Mary Janes in the day time, and gold heeled t-bars for evening. I love that the flower pattern borders on tribal and how the skirt puffs out, making it more shapely. A definite departure from the usual shifts of that era.

Love the ruffled neck, too. Here it is close up.

Considering the dresses are just a fraction of the shop, amid the furs, jackets, skirts, bags and I spied an Ossie Clark brown velvet jacket in my size, I think I was very restrained. Dresses for me, are escapism after all. But enough justifying another pre-Christmas 'present to myself'. Time to get back to David Dimbleby...