Christmas in Tier 4 London

 

The white cliffs of Dover

Boris desperately wanted his Brexit, and now, before he's even managed to negotiate the final terms, we find ourselves literally cut off from Europe and the world.

Panic is the mood of the day in London with long lines at supermarkets even after half my neighbourhood cleared out on Sunday evening just after the Tier 4 announcement.

The escapees will be merrily spreading their mutant London Covid in the rest of the country, and soon we'll all be toast.

So what do we do?  In my case I dream of fashion and drink.  Or rather I drink and dream of fashion, and very often of California too.

Somewhere between Santa Barbara and San Francisco in July 2016.

One of the outfits I wore on this Californian trip.

The pool at the Oceana Hotel in Santa Monica, 2016.

But just as I enviously imagine friends in the Golden State dipping their toes in azure blue pools, I remember the wildfires this year - and have to accept there aren't many places where one could feel safe in 2020.

In the meantime, let's think of home Christmas outfits just for the hell of it.

Not likely we'll be wearing anything like this Miu Miu or the dress below while sitting on our sofa.

So fashionwise, how can you still feel life is fun and christmassy in Tier 4?

1) A cheap and cheerful printed dress.

The same H&M dress I wore in the last post, HERE

This time with THE best festive indoor shoes from Malone Souliers, HERE

It's wrong to buy cheap fast fashion and throw it out after a few wears.  However, if you buy it because you truly loved it, and if you can imagine wearing it for a long time to come, I think it's okay.  H&M employs a great number of people, and they too have to feed, clothe and educate their kids.

If you know you are buying it just for one Friday night, then you probably shouldn't. That said, here are some pretty dresses I think you could wear for years to come:

Zara dress, find it HERE

Red and pink floral dress by Mango, HERE

Petite dress by New Look on Asos, HERE

2) Pretty flat shoes with some sparkle and shine.

Once you have a festive yet sofa comfortable dress, all you need is some flats with a bit of glam.  These are super pretty:

Giuseppe Zanotti slingback flats, HERE.

Satin flats by Aquazzura, HERE.

Or here are the new Rockstuds with giant studs that I am frankly way too obsessed with for a person living in a Tier 4 lockdown during a worldwide pandemic, HERE.  Divine, I want these so bad. (ly)

I hope you are all well.  If you can, please stay inside as much as you can.  Remember how we managed to control the virus after the March lockdown - it will be worth it in the end.

After all, staying inside is not just meant to keep yourself safe, but more importantly it helps our hero nurses and doctors of the NHS, who put their lives on the line for all of us every single day.

They too have to feed, clothe and educate their children, so let's make sure they are still here after this horrid pandemic is gone.

Much love,

xxx Dianne

I don't need a fancy Christmas, I'd happily settle for a normal pre-virus Tuesday afternoon

 

Normality.  Going for a drink with a friend at the corner pub.  Hugging an older family member.  Sitting maskless in my screen printing class.  Roaming around the Victoria and Albert museum whenever the mood strikes me.

I'm daydreaming.

Everyone in London is angry about Christmas in Tier 3 after today's announcement.  I know it sucks, I want to see my family too, but we still have hundreds of deaths a day in England, and it'll be quite a while before we're all vaccinated.

We must not become numb to the tragedy of all this suffering.

I've been keeping myself entertained with some inspiring Instagram accounts - I highly recommend @raphaelmetivet, who takes beautiful photos of Paris, @the.particulars, a Malibu mum who focuses on accessories that transform outfits, and @cakeatelieramsterdam, a baker who posts incredibly romantic and colourful flower bouquets.

@cakeatelieramsterdam

@raphaelmetivet

Melissa from @the.particulars

I've also spent time getting annoyed at all the beauty influencers on YouTube who make hundreds of videos on how to disguise or fix hooded eyes with make-up.

Many of these urgent instructions pop up as thumbnails marked with red crosses. Don't do this! Your hoods will be hideous!!!  What a bunch of malarky, to use President Joe's favourite word.

Hooded eyes are beautiful and sexy, and do your make-up however you please. Don't listen to all the whiny warnings of these self-proclaimed experts.

Eva Green, incredibly chic Bond girl with stunning eyes.

Oh yes, and let's not forget Princess Di's beautiful eyes either.

Or my own child who probably has inherited both mine and my husband's hooded eyes.

My daughter has had to isolate after a Covid outbreak at her school. We've had fun dressing up and doing amateur photo shoots - in this case inspired by Harry Styles's Vogue editorial with lots of layers, velvet and pearls.

Our new London Tier 3 rules mean we won't be able to go to restaurants at Christmas. This after I literally just committed the kind of impulse buy where you get struck right in the heart by a pair of sparkling shoes, immediately visualising walking into Dukes for cocktails, your coat hanging nonchalantly off your shoulders...

Miu Miu shoes, HERE

Alas, no Dukes for us this year. But you know what? America is going to have its first female Vice President and that makes me so happy I could cry. I want my girl to grow up in a world where that is entirely normal.

After four years of agony about the orange monster, I'm finally starting to relax, slowly recognising the America I used to love so much.

I'm leaving you, hooded eyes and all, in an H&M dress and some very old Isabel Marant Dicker boots (copying Melissa from @the.particulars who recently dug them out again too)

All dressed up and hanging in my kids' bathroom. 

H&M floral dress, HERE

Isabel Marant Dicker boots, HERE

I hope you are well and staying safe. Please don't be an ass and break the rules. When the hospitals get overwhelmed with Covid, it also affects people who need medical care for other serious illnesses.

Thank you for reading,

lots of love,

xx Dianne

About Lisa Eldridge Lipstick

 

Selfridges on Oxford Street, London

I'm much better at stopping myself impulse buying nowadays - but then make-up artist Lisa Eldridge brought out her new collection of lip products and I got a little crazy, and ordered four almost identical colours of her matte lipstick.

I watched her Youtube video where she assures the viewers that these lipsticks will not stick to your mask.  I don't know if any of you have tried lip gloss under your mask yet?  It's an absolute nightmare, sticks to the mask and then the mask rubs goo onto your cheeks or chin.  

I received the gorgeous gold tubes exactly when promised, and Lisa did not exaggerate too much, the colour barely rubs off on your mask.  You have to follow her advice though, and blot the excess with a piece of paper after application.

I dillydallied for so long that they may now all be sold out.  If not, however, I highly recommend them.

I got the shades Muse, Beauty, Blush, and Fawn.

I am wearing Velvet Beauty here after some time outside with a mask.  Listen, I'm under no illusion that this product has suddenly turned me into a beauty queen, but the colour does give a nice bit of cheer to my face, and it just feels great to make the tiny effort.

2020 is such a bleak year.  Counting the days, counting my life away until 2021, vaccinations, and visits home to Holland.

Stay strong everyone, even if I am rather miserable at it, and thank you to the doctors and nurses of the NHS and around the world for tirelessly being on the front lines of the Covid crisis.  We owe you so much.

Love, 

xx Dianne

Anti-Practical Fashion Cravings

Beautiful Hong Kong: Tsim Sha Tsui, Star Ferry Building, 2018 

Do you ever walk around in one place, only to see flashes of an entirely different location in front of you?

My phone crashed so I've had to use my old one temporarily and have since spent hours looking at photos of my old life in Asia.

Snap back to 13 November 2020 in London, where I have been craving the anti-practical.  Jackets with diamanté embroidery for instance, (see previous post HERE) which here in England I may only wear for the holidays, but wouldn't raise any eyebrows at Tuesday lunch in Hong Kong.

London's no slouch either: Wilton Crescent, Belgravia during Golden Hour

As a result of my cravings for less lockdown banality I've been drinking my coffee from my prettiest cups, and have been using linen napkins and the proper silver even for Deliveroo dinners.  I've also started wearing loads of trinkets like costume jewellery mixed with mini beads on elastic string (my daughter's lockdown hobby), mixed with gold or diamonds.  Pretending the house is a five star tea salon or cocktail bar (with a bit of help from Drinks At Lili's) is lifting our lockdown spirits rather successfully.

On November 3 (HERE) I wrote about the power of wearing a pretty dress on an average day, which got some of you a bit annoyed, pointing out how underwhelming you found the dress in the link.

Waiting to hear from the first Madame Vice President-Elect, on Saturday November 7, 2020.

This particular dress may not be for you, but after 10 years of this blog my hope is that I can inspire you all to make the most of fashion right now in this moment - not tomorrow or not next Saturday when you have a dinner coming up.  I know so many great women who love fashion - but life gets in the way of it, which makes them grab whatever grey knit is on the bedroom floor every morning, in order to get the kids to school on time before starting work.

In fact, I am that woman.  Unless I really force myself, I too will grab the easiest, tumble-dryable greige thing to do school drop-off.  Undoubtedly this is when I will run into someone I know and immediately regret my slovenliness.  On days when I treat myself better and wear one of the nice things in my closet, I will, without question, have a far better day.

Some advice on how to achieve that:

* only ever buy things that you love - don't ever buy it because "it'll do"

* everything you buy should be comfortable and fit well - don't forgo fit just because you think you will only be wearing it 3 hours at a time at a restaurant

* allow yourself to wear jeans only twice a week

* between hair and make-up, go for hair - clean blowdried hair with an unmade up face always looks better than dirty hair with make-up

* make an outfit plan on Sunday nights

We'll come back to all of these over the next few weeks, but for today, here's some lockdown-defying anti-practical inspiration to keep you dreaming of better days ahead.

Velvet spaghetti strap dress worn by a young Sophia Loren

Léa Seydoux for Louis Vuitton

Olivia von Halle embraces defiant at-home dressing

Loewe pumps with flower brooch

Actress Emma Corrin from The Crown in Miu Miu checks

Faux snake pants with short-sleeved cardi and dickie collar, because why not?

Jimmy Choo pumps via Harrods

Simone Rocha dress at La Garçonne

Harry Styles in Martin Margiela for December Vogue - what can I say, Harry is perfection

Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette in Sofia Coppola's film

Amina Muaddi x Fenty

Marine Serre at Matches

Gemma Chan

Karl Lagerfeld for Chloé, 1983

The Whirl clutch by Bottega Veneta

I am signing off now with one more nostalgia photo from my life in Hong Kong.  Above I showed you the Kowloon Star Ferry terminal from the outside.  Below I am inside, waiting for the next ferry and looking over to Hong Kong Island through the windows.

Stay strong in lockdown...  thank you all very much for reading xxx Dianne

Hong Kong Island seen from the Kowloon side Star Ferry terminal

Lockdown in London, part deux

I was really looking forward to visiting the handbag exhibit at the V&A on November 25th (HERE). But's that canceled now!  My diary also had Christmas Tea at Claridges marked for December 2nd.  Canceled too. 

So I'm reduced to daydreaming about tea outfits now... but that's fun as well.

Zadig & Voltaire blazer, HERE

Manolo Blahnik mules, HERE

Isabel Marant trousers, HERE

Celine sunglasses, HERE

Sabry Marouf bag, HERE

I've also dreamt up my own little tea salon right here in my tiny living room.  With the help of an insanely clever carpenter I think I've achieved a sort-of-pretty space.  What do you think?  The bluey/green pillow is from a shop called Fermoie, which is right around the corner on Pimlico Road.  Everything in there is divine.  Do go and see it once lockdown is over. 

My print making course at art college is actually not canceled!  Schools and colleges get to stay open.

Next time I'm hoping to do something like this pic I took in Hyde Park a few days ago in very bright afternoon light.

I've just received my first order of Paula's Choice products.  Immediately dabbed the eye cream on my eyes and am already blown away by how lovely this product is.  I don't always like spending money on high end skincare (I love CeraVe) but in lockdown there's not that much to spend money on, so looking forward to some at-home pretend spa sessions.

Hope you are all hanging in there, staying sane and healthy.

And a warm thank you once more to the beautiful people at the NHS and in medical clinics and pharmacies across the country, putting themselves on the line every single day to take care of us.

Lots of love,

xxx Dianne

Coats, Scarves, and Boots

Quiet and sunshine in London's Mayfair

 Fashion, who has time for it?

Even if you had the physical time, for me it's the headspace that's been missing.

The pandemic and the US election have occupied every last cubic millimeter of awareness available in my skull.

I constantly feel overwhelmed or scared.

But yet it's worth thinking about clothes a little bit during all this misery.  On Sunday, a mild 17 degree afternoon, we paid a visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum and I wore a Uniqlo dress (HERE), a navy leather jacket and trainers.  I felt one hundred times better than I have been, or than I feel now sitting here (in old "dog walking" jeans ((I have no dog!!)) and a dodgy jumper).

There is a magic to dressing nicely - a magic that may very well be as beneficial as a hit of vitamin C.  I may have said this before but I will say it again, New York stylist Allison Bornstein is really onto something when she says Fashion is Wellness.

Fashion is Wellness!  And even if one has no time for it, one should make the time right now.

In a way the pandemic and our imminent London lockdown are making dressing easier.  As shops and restaurants will be closing again on Thursday, we now just have to worry about the outer layers really, so for this post let's focus on coats, scarves, and boots.

I saw a beautiful woman last week in Hyde park wearing black leggings and black Nike trainers, yet her ankle length coat was full-on rich camel Max Mara deliciousness.  She had tied a silk scarf at the back of her neck with a triangle of silk in the front.

Gloves by Agnelle, HERE

Totême scarf, HERE

Max Mara coat, HERE

Chanel sunglasses, HERE

So fabulous, it made me wonder why for me it's always all or nothing when I get dressed.  Why not put a gorgeous coat over casual leggings?  There's not really much sense in wearing clothes underneath that you would take off again the moment you got home.  

Here's another option, try some of the great brogues that are out in shops.

Ganni scarf, HERE

Chloe shoes, HERE

Totême coat, HERE

Chloe necklace, HERE

Celine sunglasses, HERE

Or here some boots, as the title of this post promised.  These are by Ann Demeulemeester, the best stomping boot designer ever.  I love plaid on plaid, or here in England check on check.  There's never enough checks in an outfit if you ask me.

Ray-Ban sunglasses, HERE

Ann Demeulemeester boots, HERE

Dior scarf, HERE

Zara coat, HERE

All of these outfits could have leggings and grey sweatshirts underneath. Why not. I used to be vehemently against leggings masquerading as clothes, but after 2020 I wonder about all the subliminal and deliberate rules we follow without realising it or questioning why.

Go outside. Wear your leggings!  Add a big coat and enjoy pandemic fashion as much as possible.  And use your best Sunday clothes a well!  Don't worry you are not going to wear them out - frankly when has anyone in the modern age worn anything out?  Just use everything you have - it will bring you wellness, I promise.  I hope you and your families are all keeping well and healthy.

Much of love from London,

Dianne xx