Key Autumn pieces to update your wardrobe.
Last Friday I abandoned my sedentary lifestyle and spent many happy hours checking out the new merchandise that is starting to arrive in our London stores. My best friend, who lives in South Africa, has been staying with me for a few days. As she lives in an area of South Africa where there is very little choice with regards to fashion we decided to shop till we dropped.
We spent a couple of hours in John Lewis where I discovered this lovely leopard print scarf. It came home with me. It will add an on-trend touch to my navy classics and as I wear a lot of pink will also tone with my sweaters. Animal print is everywhere this season but as I look better in cooler tones this scarf will be a nod to this look and be more flattering to my skin tone that the more conventional tan colour. 
Next stop was Jigsaw. They are doing some great print tops this season. Their prints are subtle and they have drawn inspiration from their vintage archives. I can’t decide between the two blouses below. I think probably the blue as it will be a more flattering colour on me. What do you think?
Time for a break
We then walked down the Kings Road doing some window shopping on the way. Our treat was lunch at The Rabbit, one of our favourite restaurants.
After some rest and a delicious meal, we hit the shops again.
We had a quick look round MarksandSpencer. They had some excellent basics. Who does not need a crisp white shirt in their wardrobe? I have not worn a white shirt for a few years however for some reason this season I am finding them extremely useful. See how I wore a white shirt as part of a classic look here. I like the way the white shirt below has a longer back, very useful for covering the bum.
Pure cotton long line white shirt M&S (US link)
I am glad Marks&Spencer are continuing to offer these cotton rich ankle grazer trousers. I bought a pair in navy last season and find them very flattering and comfortable. They now offer them in cocoa.
Cotton rich ankle grazer trousers (US link)
The last shop we visited was Boden. They had some great knitwear. The grey sweater with the red side stripe was my favourite.
I nearly forgot this snakeskin bag from MarksandSpencer. If you fancy adding some reptile to your wardrobe this bag would be ideal. It probably won’t be entering my wardrobe as I have a snake phobia so I will be passing on this trend.
Leather ring shoulder bag M&S (also available in tan/brown (US link)
By this stage, it was about 5 o’clock, time to go home for a nice cup of tea.
I adore South Africa!I have a few friends and GOD CHILDREN there………….have just messaged you about having TEA while I’m in London!I hope we can make that work!Would Love to meet Up!I used the private message area on instagram…………XX
Good day to you !
I love your blog because my age. you always propose clothings easy to wear and chic.
My congratulations
Living in a tropical country who has not winter or spring or fall ( yes it is marvelous,his clima) I have many white shirts in cotton and linen.
Do you think if I could use them in my next trip to a country who has a really winter. As a layer of course.
Thanks for your advice and excuse my poor English
Hi Beatriz
Glad you like my blog. A white shirt is always useful to layer under sweater or jacket. The only issue with pure cotton or linen shirts is that they do crease. For travelling I might recommend a breathable viscose or a non crease cotton combination material.
The animal print scarf with artistic licence is fun! I’m not a fan of snakes, but I’ve acquired a faux python clutch because pythons are much cuter in ballet pink, I think?
It’s nice to see garments are still being made in natural fibres. It is difficult to find anything but blends. I really appreciate natural fibres in the winter months. Now that the furnace comes on in the morning, I send the electronics into fits of static when I walk by. I’ve been known to make computers crash, if they’re in carpeted areas.
I’ve never seen a pink python but sounds fun. I do sometimes generate electricity but not that much!
Well, I used to like animal prints but right now (I don’t know why) they appear to me a little tacky and “vulgare”‘. Maybe they are in trend but It’s an exagerate trend .
I like the blue blouse.
Sounds like a lovely day! Glad the scarf “went home with you”! it looks great and I am sure will get lots of use.
Not sure about the Jigsaw blouses – and that from someone who likes a lot of theirs. Think the “vintage” could easily drop into slightly frumpy? Hope I’ve not offended anyone!
Recently came across Dansk Smykkekunst scarves having long been a fan of their great statement jewellery. Like the latter, the scarves were very well priced but what really surprised me was their fabric mix: silk and viscose, cotton and viscose which I would usually avoid as I think pure natural fabrics are best for scarves. Man-made seem to be very limp, very quickly and look rather forlorn. These appeared not to, as I tried scrunching them hard for ages! No limpness visible but some beautiful colours and patterns..
Unfortunately. I was on holiday when I saw them (in Sudbury, Suffolk) but I’ve checked and they are all online; slight disadvantage is that the website is HUGE, so patience is required
Can you remember the name of the Sudbury shop please, Sara.
Hi Sara
Thank you so much for recommending Dansk Smykkekunst. You are right the scarves are lovely and the jewellery. There is so much good stuff coming out of the Scandinavian countries at the moment. I really like their aesthetic. I have contacted them regarding featuring them on my blog as I think my readers would really like their stuff.
We are also working on opening an online shop attached to the blog as I buy most of my scarves (all cotton and wool) from France when I go there and it would be lovely to be able to offer these to my readers.
I don’t think the Jigsaw tops would look frumpy if they were worn with a great pair of jeans. I am going to have another try on.
I think we need to see you in both blouses! I agree that they won’t look frumpy with jeans, perhaps you don’t need any more blue and could use the more colourful print to good effect? I have to be careful not to end up with a wardrobe of navy blue clothes!
Hi MarueenC
Thank you for your comment. You have a good point about the Jigsaw blouses. They don’t stock the darker print in my local shop so I will have to arrange a shopping trip to include a larger branch to try both again.
Hi Josephine – I’m seriously thinking about the blue leopard skin scarf… It’s bookmarked…
Hi Jane I can highly recommend the scarf. I love mine,