Cupid collars

Brighton-based re-made vintage boutique All My Finds have created a limited edition collection hand-made Peter Pan collars for Valentine's Day, and I for one have fallen in love with them. Here's how I styled their red suede collar for www.vintagebrighton.com - the perfect match for the vintage Aquascutum coat I picked up for just £5 in a charity shop on Hove's George Street a few years ago (best find EVER). Head over to the site now to be in with a chance of winning one of these cute outfit fixers.

Damn you rogue strand of hair...


Collar - All My Finds
Dress - Zara
Coat - vintage Aquascutum via charity shop
Boots - Urban Outfitters

Didier Ludot - the perfect LBD

So, last weekend I was introduced to a dress of my dreams. Featured in Stella magazine's covetable 'Miss Sixties' shoot, it reminded me of a frock I'd seen in my Little Black Dress book, and when I dug it out realised this was because Didier Ludot, the French designer behind this fabulous Peter Pan collar piece, is the author of said inspirational tome.


At £150, this limited edition dress for Le Petite Bateau is no doubt a total bargain compared to the Chanel dress worn by Catherine Deneuve, but still a little steep for me. Good thing it's sold out then...

Monsoon - top five tops

The Seventies and Victoriana trends have afforded lady-like blouses and shirts a fashion revival, and they remain a key piece for spring/summer 2012.

Whether you're going for the prim traditional English look, floaty boho florals and prints or preppy collars to peek out over your crew neck, Monsoon have are great range of sheer tops to choose from.

The cute flower-shaped buttons, delicate embroidery and perfect Peter Pan of the Sophia print top (£38) put it in top spot. See which pieces make up my top five here:

Fusion Erisa blouse, £42

Cherrie print top, £32

Florence blouse, £38

Camilla blouse, £65

Urban Outfitters opens in Brighton

After months of shielded building works, Churchill Square's old Borders store opened up as Brighton's first Urban Outfitters today. And it's well worth the wait.


The layout and offering of the huge upstairs women's section makes next door's H&M, and all of the other high-street chain shops in Brighton, look shabby and tired by comparison.

Boutique collections, a vintage section and homewares, books and gifts (check out this mini sewing machine) are presented as if in an eclectic designer bazaar, brought together by those with apparent excellent taste.

The dressing rooms are equally grown-up and spacious, and I spent an enjoyable ten minutes trying on some of the cutest Peter Pan collar pieces.


Left to right: t.b.a velvet antique collar dress, £150, Pins and Needles velvet collar blouse, £45, Cooperative school boy blouse, £42.

The shirt in the middle (currently sold out online) is so soft and versatile that it was swiftly added to my Christmas/January sales/whenever I have the money hit-list.

And to go with the 1960s/school-boy look I spotted some stunning box bags and satchels, such as the metal handle lady bag, flower tooled bag and old school olive satchel.

Of course, Urban Outfitters is that bit more expensive than its high street competitors, but the store experience and the unique pieces are worth saving up for.