IN LOVE WITH ETRO

It's official - Italy has taken over my brain!

With only 2 weeks to go before I jet off to Venice, I'm constantly finding myself googling gondolas, planning days out to Verona and Lake Garda, fantasising about bagging myself a bargain at all the flea markets and generally living in a wondrous Italian bubble! BELLA, BELLA!

Sorry, am I making you sick?! Aaaaaanyway I've also recently been perusing the Italian big dogs on Net a Porter for some sartorial inspiration and guess what? I LOVE ETRO!

Known for their bright patterns, bold colours and sleek tailoring, these lovelies are pressing a particular button with me right now. I'd love a few fabo dresses for taking away with me but sadly they range from £800 to over £2,000! Guess I'll have to make do with some vintage imposters instead.

Literally dreaming about this coat...

Belissimo!

Oh, and in OTHER Itallian-themed news, my friend David Vallance's graduate collection (which I talked about here) is featured in the September issue of Itallian Vogue - grab it if you can!

GET ON MY BACK

..you three crazy vintage shirts! Like NOW!

Still fantasising about being decked out in vintage goodness whilst running around Venice in a few weeks time. Winter? Pffft, not even thinking about it till I get back!

With that in mind, I also quite fancy this chic, understated bag too...

Demure. So uncool it's cool!

All pics from my favourites list over at Etsy.

LUSTING FOR SUNNIES

I can't stop trawling the Net a Porter site for new delights - it's a form of self harm, SERIOUSLY!

I only actually have £60 left to spend of my £5,000 win, and I am reeeeeely struggling to find something I actually want for that. I had decided that I could be doing with some new accessories, but I'm afraid a Marc Jacobs iPhone cover (practically the only thing for £60 on the entire site) just DOESN'T get me going the same way that bags/shoes/jewellery/sunglasses do.

Ah sunglasses. When it comes to sunnies, I like mine BIG and BLACK...

*AHEM*

Here, Abbey, geeze yer specs?

Check out my favourites from Net a Porter - don't they make you lust hard after a beer garden in the sunshine?

 The Row - favourites. Everything about these is right.

Persol

Alexander Wang - OK, so not black but whatevs. Still effin cool.

Linda Farrow - croc skin. Mutha-luvin croc skin!

Right summer, I'm ready for ya. Hurry up and arrive already!

OH, AND ALSO, my very talented photographer friend Nadine Yardley wants me to model for her tomorrow... LOLOCAUST! If you know me, you'll know my extreme discomfort at having my photo taken in any kind of posed manner (remember I tried doing outfit posts? Yeah, that went well.........).

However, hopefully with loads of editing it won't even really look like me. This is the sort of thing she's going for:

Photo byVictoria Zeoli for Dazed and Confused

I'll let you guys know how it goes, and possibly post the result in due course. Wish me luck trying to pose for her - I'm thinking a cheeky mid-afternoon zinfandel will help...

x

QUICK QUESTION...

...should I spend £230 of the £1000 or so I have remaining from my Net-a-Porter prize on this Anna Sui cream lace, vintage-inspired dress?

I'm torn because this kind of thing is really not my usual style, but with Spring around the corner and Summer sneaking up on us all, it'll soon be time to start thinking about holiday wear.

I think I mentioned before that my Mum and I are planning a wee week/ten days away in Europe later in the year - initially she suggested Budapest but I think we've settled on a few days in Venice and a few days in Verona, then I'm going to spend a couple of days in Paris by myself before I head back. That's the plan anyway, and when I saw this dress earlier (weirdly in the bridal section of the NAP website?) it instantly grabbed me as the kind of thing perfect for swanning around a sweltering Italian/French city in.

What do you think, should I go for it and embrace my inner romantic, or hang back and wait for more black leather...?

KATERINA LAMBROU COLLECTION REVIEW

CLOWNING AROUND - SS 2011. Finally!

Pictures first, words after.

Stunning, I think we'd all agree. Not just the pieces themselves, but when you consider how much effort has gone into this, it's quite amazing. This is Glasgow-born designer Katerina Lambrou's graduate collection - inspired by "early 1980's carnivals and a free-spirited attitude towards capturing the world and surroundings."

Fun, free-spirited, playful... these are all vibes I can get on board with. I've said time and time again that this is what I want to see from spring/summer collections, and this is why I so often don't like this season, as it tends to be predictable and safe. Boring almost. I think Katerina has got it totally right here.

The pieces are bright, and printed with this gorgeous colour-splash print - the likes of which is tipped to be everywhere come next summer - but daring and edgy at the same time. Like the purple jumpsuit with the printed panels on the torso... that's pretty out there. You'd have to be really confident to pull that piece off! And ankle socks - she certainly has her finger on the pulse of what's going to be hot next season. But ultimately though it makes an impact, it's still totally wearable.

My favourite pieces are the pink cardigan with the puffy printed sections on the sleeves and the last asymmetrical dress with the ruffled neckline. I'm a sucker for volume and texture - basically anything to stop things looking too safe and pedestrian - and this collection has ruffles, prints, pleats, you name it!

What makes me really love this though is that it so completely comes from the heart. Katerina has designed a collection embodying fun, youth, playfulness, and as a result the whole collection has a kind of party atmosphere about it - and if you knew Katerina this would make so much sense!

Rarely have I seen someones bubbly, infectious personality so well-expressed through design. Helped perhaps by the fact that the stunning model is Katerina's double!

I challenge you to wear something from this collection and be in a bad mood. I'd bet it was just about impossible. This is EXACTLY the vibe I what for summer 2011.

Two thumbs up from me, but what do you all think?

* Katerina is currently looking to start stocking pieces from this collection in boutiques, so if you like what you see, drop me an email and I can pass it on to her.

**Katerina Lambrou is an accquaintance of mine, however I have chosen to review her collection because I genuinely like it and have done so honestly. Anything I am ever asked to review will always be done so objectively.**