Winter Neutrals

December was unusually warm until......WHAM! Suddenly, the temperature took a dive and it's now properly winter. This was a quick snapshot of the frost on the window pane at Brockenhurst station as I got off the train. Despite the deceptively sunny weather, the temperature was well below 0˚C.






What's crazier is seeing daffodils and tulips on sale everywhere.........





Clockwise: Zadig & Voltaire merino sweater, New Balance 420 sneakers, Frame Denim jeans (65% off), Hermes Garden Party, H&M wool scarf and Isabel Marant Etoile linen t-shirt.


Here are some new additions and current favorites. Truthfully, I haven't done a whole lot of shopping other than replacing well worn clothes that'd fallen apart. Either I've been extremely careless and snagged my Uniqlo sweater on sharp edges or a hungry moth had a hell of a feast but my favorite knitwear can no longer be worn out of the house. My merino wool sweaters from Zadig & Voltaire have fared incredibly well over the years. No bobbling whatsoever. Incredible. My frugal self managed to nab a brand new Zadig & Voltaire sweater with a cool embellishment for a good price.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Isabel Marant Etoile linen tees for 50% off over at The Outnet. This one's from 2 seasons ago and the fabric is a lot thicker than the tees from the last Spring/Summer collection.

I caved in and bought the Hermes Garden Party TPM which comes with a detachable strap last year. Very handy and light as a feather. I've had it with heavy bags that ripped my shoulder to shreds. No bag is worth shoulder and back pains. 

My infamous red New Balance 420s are so well worn that it was high time I shopped for antoher. After seeing Adidas Stan Smith and Superstar sneakers everywhere, I was keen to get a pair........except that the smallest size in the kids' section is still 2 sizes too big. Apparently, they run wide and big. And no....there's no way in hell I'll wear ones with velcro straps. So it's back to these New Balance 420s. Thankfully, I love the color combination. They're on sale over at ASOS for £42. In fact, if you head over to the men's department, they're priced down to £29!

Androgynous Style

Outfit: Miu Miu sunglasses, Alexander Wang t-shirt (hidden), Nike quilted rally hoodie (size down as it runs big. I'm wearing XS), Rick Owens leather jacket, The Kooples sweatpants (mine's medium) and The Kooples wedge sneakers.


"Are you a boy or a girl? I can't tell the difference."  Guys back in my university days used to taunt me. That's usually followed by "you should learn from the other girls." Pffffft. Whatever.

The standards and beauty ideals for guys and gals that Asians adhere to in Asia seem to be far more glaringly obvious than in the western world. Girls are meant to look pretty, girly, sweet, feminine, slightly sexy but not overly so but most definitely, innocent. Bah! None of those attributes apply to me. If anything, whenever I chanced upon a Chinese or Korean contemporary drama, my eyes are naturally drawn to menswear. The sharp tailoring. How they style sportswear. Their monochrome outfits.

A few close friends insisted I must watch "My Love from the Star", a Korean drama that took the world by storm. The lipstick worn by the heroine was even sold out in Winchester. Old historic city of Winchester of all places!! While my friends went mad for the heroine's clothes and accessories, I loved the male character's outfits. I found his sense of style (come to think of it,  probably his stylist's) far more appealing because it's more avant-garde and there are plenty of cool and practical sneakers as well as weather appropriate clothes.

Androgyny style can be sexy, edgy, comfortable and practical depending on how one interprets it.

I've noticed that whenever my blog's mentioned on certain forums, there's usually a comment about the decrease of fashion posts. It's also interesting to see that my Instagram account tends to get this introduction - "a blogger who normally writes about fashion but only ever posts travel photos here." I still enjoy fashion but I'm shockingly bad at following trends. I wear what I like. I take a million years to make up my mind when I'm shopping because I'm bloody picky. I prefer clothes from a few seasons ago which means I sometimes trawl secondhand places to see if they turn up. I often get sidetracked by food and travel. I'll try to add a few more fashion posts here and there but be prepared to see the same old clothes appearing again and again.

p.s. thank you to all those who helped diagnose my condition a few months ago. Yes! There's a name for it finally (IBS = Irritable Bowel Syndrome). What a difference it has made just knowing which food types to avoid. Thank you!