Gay Parieeeee

Paris, Paris, Paris... ahhh, it was everything that I hoped for and more! I had the most wonderful day. I felt like we walked for miles around the whole city, from the ramshackle, shutter-lined streets of the Latin Quarter, to the brilliant, bright lights of the Champs-Élysées and everything inbetween. Having little or no plan, we popped into cafes for cups of tea when our fingers became too numb to move and to warm our rosy, chill-bitten cheeks, before dashing outside again to embrace the icy cold air and meander through the beautiful streets once more, chasing landmarks from their rooftops in the distance and sucking bon bons to keep our energy high… amazing! And it was so romantic being with my favourite person in the whole world. One of my best birthdays, ever!

Lacy lady

With sumptuous velvet and twinkling sequins making waves on clothing everywhere you look this season, it's sometimes hard for anything else to get a look in in. But lace has been in the forefront of our fashion conscious through and through. From beautiful floor-skimming flapper dresses in the 1920's, to shocks of neon coloured elasticated leggings as worn by teen fashionistas bouncing around to Hadouken a few years ago, much like the raven-eyebrowed Madonna who championed it in the 1980's, this unsung hero may look delicate and girlie, but in reality, its staying power is as tough as nuts. And so, in the way that only they do best, Vogue have re-worked the narrative yet again and given us a new twist - toughening it up and playing on its quirks and flouncy frills for maximum impact. As they so eloquently put it: "Lady lace gets all shook up with sugar-almond shades, brothel creepers and arch-browed attitude..."

[Publication: British Vogue, Issue: January 2010, Title: More dash than cash]