Look Du Jour: New Season

What: Club Monaco leather jacket & jumper, H&M skirt, Pure Collection beret, Coach shoes, Cambridge Satchel Company bag, Anne Bowes Jewellery necklace & rings by Aamaya by Priyanka (available here), STORY by Kranz & Ziegler and Astley Clarke (all c/o)

Where: Coffee at the V&A followed by meetings in London.

It’s been absolutely, bloody AGES since my last Look Du Jour Post and for that I apologise. I promise this isn’t because I’ve been slobbing out in sweatpants since fashion month, at least not all the time anyway. I’ve told you this God knows how many times but even having lived through 23 years of British seasons, a new one’s arrival hasn’t ceased to excite me. And do you know what? I hope it never does. As the seasons turn, the air is thick with possibility. Whether the flowers are blooming or the leaves falling, I always feel excited about the prospect of the months to come and what they’ll bring. Obviously, the allure of a whole new set of collections, new trends and the chance to invent a new sartorial you while justifying multiple shopping sprees is a major factor. By mid August I was craving the snuggly confines of this season’s fluffy outerwear, leather boots and opulent hues. I know full well that in four months time I’ll be sick to death of my cashmere and dying to slip into SS15’s barely there fare… And then the cycle will repeat itself and I’ll enjoy the process all over again. But I think the arrival of a new season means more than simply that it’s time to change your wardrobe. In a strange sort of way I see it almost like a clean slate; the opportunity to leave behind whatever mistakes, challenges or troubles the previous six months had brought and embrace a whole new set of personal and professional possibilities. This autumn is a particularly significant one for me as it’s my first full season – both in fashion and general terms – as a University graduate and full time adult, a prospect that’s both absolutely thrilling and utterly terrifying. It’s already thrown challenges, opportunities and sadness at me in the form of fashion month (awesome opportunity but more stressful and marred by illness than I could have predicted) and our family dog having to be put down, something that in all honesty I didn’t expect to hit me as hard as it did. Now I’m back to some relative form of normality in London, with the snazzy new La Petite Anglaise up and running and so many exciting projects, collaborations and changes in the pipelines, I can’t wait to see what else AW14 will bring. I’m also taking enormous pleasure in wearing my favourite autumnal pieces again and adding a few new ones into the mix.

This outfit is a medley of some of the most beloved pieces in my wardrobe. Just cosy enough to fend off the October chill (and London’s inevitable rain) but not so insulated that you find yourself sweating when it suddenly gets bizarrely warm mid afternoon, as far as I’m concerned the whole thing’s a win win. But that’s about enough rambling from me, what does the arrival of a new season mean to you?

Love Ella. X

Images by Holly McGlynn