Good morning, Vietnam

I'm going to Vietnam on Friday on my own to try and 'find myself'... or something. I'm not sure two weeks is long enough to do that, but having never been abroad alone or away anywhere for longer than seven days before, it should be an adequate shock to the system. I'm already feeling quite daunted. Not about the long flight (I'm a grumpy little madam and quite looking forward to some time to myself), not about making friends with strangers or getting food poisoning, but about (if you haven't already guessed) the sartorial dilemmas!

The guide from the travel agent advises 'modest' clothing. Those who know me (and even those who don't) know that's not really a word in my vocabulary. I like wearing hot pants to work with brightly coloured tights, vintage jumpsuits I've squeezed into but that were probably designed for a doll, not a person, and my current favourite shoes are five-inch leopard-print wedges.

But, alas, it's going to be bloody humid and it is respectful in certain areas to cover your knees and shoulders. I don't want to freak anyone out, or worse, get thrown out for wearing a neon pink minidress, really, do I. An excuse for a new spring/summer wardrobe, if ever there was one...

 Discovered two things over the last week - that the British High Street is actually pretty great and that I love the seventies trend. I was looking for the perfect maxi skirt when I came across these wide floral flares in Miss Selfridge of all places. (£45) I always feel a bit weird going in there because I used to shop there when I was about 14,  but these were easily the nicest I came across (and there are a lot out there at the moment). They're really comfy and light too.

I bought a cream see-through blouse to cover my shoulders in said certain areas. Obviously I will wear a top underneath it at all times, obviously! It's longer at the back and post-holiday will look great with jeans or denim shorts (preferably with a cream/white camisole underneath). That was also from Miss Selfridge, £35. The hat is from TopShop.

It reminds me a little bit of the lady on the cover of 'Travel in Vogue' which I've been reading to give me inspiration in travel writing.

The latest in a very long line of jumpsuits. Strapless and ruffled, it's still fairly modest, no? This was from Henry Holland for Debenhams (£38) and it looks a lot more flattering in the flesh!

Love the ruffled detail. It's a really soft cotton that won't crease in the rucksack, either.

Dreaming of walking along a sandy beach, presumably. Never in a million years thought I would try on, let alone buy white shorts, but the shape of these (TopShop, £37) is really cute and flattering, even on milk bottle legs...

You can never have too many skinny belts either. This one would work wrapped around a pleated skirt or to nip in a summer dress around the waist, for a nice contrast to florals.

And for the flight... my first pair of Converse. If that's not modest, I don't know what is. At least I tried... Going to visit a tailors in Hoi An on the trip to have something made. Who knows what I'll be wearing in the next post. Ciao (or however they say it in Vietnam - I should probably look that up) for now.

Diamonds are a girl's best friend

So they're not exactly Swarovski but they'll do for now. I've spent the last few Saturdays wandering around Bang Bang with gift vouchers that have been burning a hole in my purse for months. I'm skint at the moment and wanted to reward myself for getting through a challenging first week in my new job (with no boss!). As much as I love Bang Bang for its Aladdin's cave of vintage designer/high street pieces, the trouble with it, I've discovered (and this applies to both the Goodge Street and Berwick Street branches) is it's very hit or miss. If you set out looking for something, it's almost guaranteed you'll never find it. Yes, I'm still talking about clothes. I've tried on a pink 1950s gingham skirt (too twee), a beige cotton full-length jumpsuit (too 1980s), a (on the slightly brassy side) gold bolero (I don't need another), I even considered a fitted red mini Peaches for PPQ dress (yeugh)... So jewellery it was.

Not finding a single compatible item of clothing in the dressing rooms of the Berwick store gave me plenty to time to stare into space. But I might never have noticed what a pretty space that was.

Somebody call a stylist

Sangria, sunburn, STDs... *shiver*... you can pick up a lot of things on holiday in Spain. Course, there was nothing of the sort in Cadaques, Northern Spain, where I was just content with a new sun dress. And, if we're keeping to an 'S' theme, my stylist, too. Kate and I had gone away to the little fishing village to sort out my post-break-up head, and as it turned out, my wardrobe too. I set her the challenge of choosing a dress from her Liverpool-based vintage shop, Little Red, that would both fit me and suit me, that I had to wear. I think she did pretty well. But then I don't call her my stylist for nothing... 

pale blue cotton sun dress with ruffles, nipped in by matching 

waist belt covered in cream satin flowers

An understated look for shopping at dusk, but also one that could carry you through til dawn (if like us, souvenir shopping leads to sea bass, which leads to a locals' lock-in and a very wobbly walk back up the mountain to the hotel at 4am.)

We were positively gawped at everywhere we went. This often happens on holidays: the locals wear plain t-shirts and flat tan sandals to saunter down the side streets, while, ahem, 'tourists' like Kate and I don our highest heels to strut our stuff. But heels weren't an option in such a hilly town as Cadaques, so maybe we over-compensated with our outfits...

Royal blue jumpsuit, TopShop. Gold bolero, Portabello Market, 

butterfly belt, Portabello Market, Flower, Mikey.

It was as if the more we were gawped at (and this was literally every single person who walked past us) the more fun we had with our outfits.

Considering Cadaques was home to Salvador Dali until his wife died in the early 1980s, you'd think the village people would be used to some surreal sights. Such as, the highest point of his house....

And the little friend we made in his garden...

Yet, we were gawped at everywhere we went! Kate's been talking about opening another branch of Little Red for some time. Forget Brighton, I think Cadaques is crying out for a vintage boutique. And if that means losing my stylist, then at least I'll get some holidays out of it.

Hooray Henry

No, I didn't think I'd ever picture Pixie Geldof in my blog either. But she's the face of the H! by Henry Holland line launched this week at Debenhams and as much as it pains me to admit it, she makes me shout out, 'Hooray Henry!'

Henry (friend to Agyness, Alexa, etc *yawn*) has always kind of gone a bit over my head. But the collection shows there's a lot more to him than the slogan tees I deliberately avoided. And they're a lot more affordable too. You can view the collection here.

Love the 'ditzy' florals (there's even a jumpsuit with my name on it), cute culottes and the checked plaid suit, above. Think it might be time to start sporting a new spring/summer wardrobe. I've resisted so far. It's still so bloody cold, if I do step out in a floral tea dress, there's usually a long-sleeved jumper underneath. Come on, I've only just discovered thermal underwear, it would be cruel to part with it so soon...

Some inspiration for the line is said to come from the characters in My So-Called Life. One of my all-time favourite shows, I'd say that's the sole reason for my new appreciation of Henry Holland. So this season, I'm channelling my inner Rayanne Graff. In the early nineties, I fancied myself as a Rayanne, sadly, I was more like Angela Chase's little sister.

One for all

My love affair with jumpsuits started in Pepita Is Dead in Madrid last Spring and looks certain to come full circle in SS10 (what I haven't got yet is an eye-popping printed all-in-one. Hm, I need to go shopping...) For now, (it's only January after all) I think you can still get away with sequins and I love this black strapless jumpsuit with loose fitting, shiny harem-style pants from Little Red Vintage which I gave a test run on Saturday night.

The pants make me laugh because aside from skinny jeans, I don't ever wear trousers so it must have been an incredulous look that I shot my friend Toby when he said he thought I was wearing a top and trousers. Incredulous. A face I pull a lot (see above) and a face Michi Girl was probably pulling when she wrote about jumpsuits in her book, Like I Give A Frock.

'One girl's comfort zone is another's camel toe.' True, Michi, true. But sequins up top + harem pants down below = problem solved.