Since, well forever, I have been a flat shoe girl. For multiple reasons...I walk a lot...I prize comfort...I'm 5'11" in bare feet, so do I really need additional height...but mainly, let's be honest, because I have possibly the worst sense of balance known to mankind. Seriously, anything above a kitten heel and I'm wobbling like a sapling in a strong breeze. But, you know how it is...just when you swear you will never, ever, ever wear such-and-such a thing you come across a version that has your name plastered all over it and you succumb.

Well, that's what happened with me and a pair of grey Oxford style ankle boots from Anthropologie. The sensible portion of my brain has been murmuring that I'll never be able to walk in them...the other 95% has been screaming "Buy them!". And so, I did. I'm telling myself that the rubber sole will give me the comfort factor I'm looking for and that the wedge isn't really like a heel at all...more of a steep incline...and overall, yes, I'm justifying like crazy. As they won't ship for another week or so I'm, vaguely and probably futiley, hoping that the brainstorm will pass and they can be returned but I have a horrible feeling that the sidewalks are going to become a lot more dangerous as I try to master these suckers.

The subject line of the e-mail from Selfridges read "VIP invitation to pre-sale and meet Hilary Swank". Now, I'm not a huge Hilary Swank fan but I do love a good pre-sale...so they had at least 50% of my attention...

Once opened however I discover that the pre-sale in question is for a "worldwide exclusive" for either Guerlain's Insolence or My Insolence (signed by Ms. Swank). Apart from curiosity as to the difference between My Insolence and the general variety (mine is just so much more...audacious) the following paragraph caught my attention:

Ever wondered what a superhero(ine) wears on her day off? Well, Luella's Spring/Summer 08 collection answers the question...at least for Batgirl. Loads of Liberty prints...in one case the dress has ombre detailing at the hem, which makes it look almost burned...remember the day you rescued The Riddler from the burning building Batgirl? Another ombre dress which gradiates from pink to black...like it started off being girly but then remembered the darker depths of the superhero lurking within. Some prim outfits...with geek glasses ready to be whipped off at a moments notice, when duty calls. And a devilishly red sequinned dress (with cape) to dazzle fiendish foe's...

In a corner of the Batcave, there's one heck of a closet...

I should have said "No"...when asked if I wanted to accompany Mr. Heb to a local used bookstore...I should just have said "No". For the simple reason that I find it virtually impossible to enter a vintage bookstore and leave empty-handed. My problem is that, even if I can resist a hitherto unknown title from a favorite author...I can't turn my back on the double whammy of favorite author and incredible artwork on the cover. It gets me every time...

This time it was a couple of hardbacks from John Creasey that were calling my name. As I say, I could have avoided buying the books by themselves (after all, the man wrote over 600 books...it's unlikely that even I am going to get all of them). No, it was the covers that made it impossible to walk away...

I used to work in the same office as a woman who was stuck in a time warp. While the rest of the world, at that time, was in the late 90's she was firmly in the 60's. And despite the changes which must have taken place to both her face and figure she continued to style her hair in a beehive each day and wore clothing to match.

The reason I bring this up is because of all the 80's-Melanie-Griffith-Working-Girl jackets at the NY shows. Phi, Derek Lam, Jeremy Laing, Preen, and Alexander Wang all showed a version of the look. Which begs the question, will offices next Spring be filled with two warring factions...the women who have just purchased their oversized suit jackets and the ones who are still wearing the ones they bought circa 1984? And will anyone be able to tell the difference? Only time will tell...though I know I'll be pulling out the one suit jacket that I own, rolling up the sleeves a la Don Johnson in Miami Vice and working it.

"Love for sale
appetizing young love for sale
love thats fresh and still unspoiled
love thats only slightly soiled
love for sale"

Cole Porter

In this instance, the love on offer is Yayoi Forest's Melting Love necklace. What I especially like about this is that it not only works if you're actually in love (what we'll call the molten passion stage) but it also works if you're cynically inclined and regard love as a gelatinous, all-encompassing goo (this would be the period around Valentine's Day). As the man said, "Old love, new love, every love but true love".

I know this post is going to induce some groans as the subject is (yet another) celebrity line but, bear with me. I came across a video on Style.com for The Row's holiday collection...perhaps it's due to the fact that the Olsen sisters have spent so long in front of the camera, they know what works, but this video is perfect. Ignore the fact that it's LA, the sun is shining down, and the model is snuggled up in fur...somehow Christmas and the holidays require snow to me...I must have watched White Christmas one too many times...

The point is you watch this and want everything...not just the clothes...you want the house, the model's attitude, even the lifestyle and friends that you create for her in your head... I haven't felt this kind of ad-induced lust since Pamela Hanson's ads for Joseph back in the day.

Styled by Vanessa Traina, it would be very easy to dismiss as a "rich girl's hobby" but I keep coming back to the sheer beauty of the video. Anyway, take a look and see what you think...

Thanks to all of the wonderful websites and blogs that feature streetstyle there was plenty of eye candy from the streets of NY during Fashion Week. Apart from the ladies of French Vogue, who always look incredible, the images below were my personal favorites. There's something so alluring about the mixture of high and low, luxury and casual...a t-shirt and pinafore dress with a Chanel bag...a crocodile bag and killer shoes with an army jacket. It's the perfection that comes from not looking too perfect.

Streetpeeper	The Sartorialist for Style.com

For more years than I can remember I have had "boxes of crap" in storage or sitting around waiting to be unpacked. They've followed me, with doglike devotion, as I crossed the Atlantic a few times and, even though I knew they were b.o.c., I felt vaguely nostalgic about about them.

Then last weekend, in a sudden burst of fervor, I threw some of them out. Two of the boxes contained Lego. "Why?", I asked myself, "Why am I lugging building blocks between two continents? This isn't nostalgia, this is crap." So, out they went. And what happens next? Marc Jacobs shows some quirky little Lego accessories at his Marc show. Talk about building castles in the air...I could have built hair clips, brooches, and bracelets...at my kitchen table. Not that I think "castles in the hair" will be the dernier cri next season...I'm just struck by the irony. I'm also wondering what Lego had to do with the on and off-duty air hostess looks that made up the Marc Spring/Summer collection. Perhaps it's something to do while your flight is delayed...

They say that it's better to be prepared but what about being over-prepared? I realized the other day that I have waterproof coats to cover me for every eventuality...from slight drizzle to continuous downpour. Fold-up, nylon anoraks...trenches...rainslickers...heavy-duty waxed cotton numbers, both in jacket form from Mulberry and ankle-length from Barbour. The question of whether this is too much of a good thing rears its head when you realize there's footwear in varying degrees too...rubber skimmers from Sigerson Morrison...rubber ankle boots from my equestrian days...Hunter wellingtons...the list goes on.

Growing up in Scotland, where it seemed to rain continuously, may justify some of this but...I think I have a problem. I just came across these rubber flats in grey and red and, crazy as it may be, I was actually tempted for a minute or two...

"It's so dreamy
Oh fantasy free me
So you can't see me, no not at all
In another dimension
With voyeuristic intention
Well secluded
I see all"

Magenta, Rocky Horror Picture Show

If like me, you have a little of the voyeur inside you...and, after all, doesn't the internet make voyeurs of us all...you may enjoy the backstage photographs from Lamb, Rag & Bone, Alexander Wang, and J. Mendel which are currently on French Vogue's website. Photographer Luciano Fileti's images are quirky, beautiful, and strangely compelling...

Yes, I’m working my way through the possible puns associated with Philip Lim’s name (and getting close to the bottom of the barrel) but there was a lot of yellow in his Spring/Summer 08 collection so maybe I can squeeze this one in.

Lim’s collection was based on “clothes that were ready to travel”...quite frankly, if I see anything half as gorgeous as this making its way through the sea of t-shirts and shorts I usually see when I’m traveling I will get on my knees and kiss the ground. Chic, "let's go look at the ruins and then stop off for a cocktail" clothing...this was the first collection that actually made me think fondly of warm weather (somewhat of an achievement considering I’ve been longing for Fall since the end of June this year).

I'm trying to be frugal...and, as you may be able to tell, frugal and I have never been friends. Still, a few shekels saved here and there adds up to another bag or pair of shoes. That's right, I'm not saving for a new kitchen or a vacation...just "re-aligning my finances" in order to be a better consumer.

So, in the spirit of thriftiness, I was pleased to find these lambswool fingerless gloves at J Crew...a relatively close match to the ones from APC shown on the left and, at $15, a darned sight less expensive. Ah, the Zen-like glow from finding a bargain...