Shelf Esteem: The Smart One by Jennifer Close

The Smart One by Jennifer Close
Shelf Worth: 4/5

After the monstrosity that was our last book ("Hairy Care Bear" as one friend calls it), I'm relieved to be able to say in no uncertain terms that The Smart One is also The Good Choice For People Who Want To Read Without Upsetting Their Eyes Or Brains.

Close is the author of Girls in White Dresses, which I have been meaning to read since last summer and failed to entirely, but on the basis of this, her second novel, I will enjoy that just as much, because she does the three Ws so beautifully - warm, witty and waspish.

On the surface, this is a classic family saga, complete with an overbearing mother at its centre. Weezy Coffey is that mother: labelled the "smart" one by her parents to sister Maureen's "pretty", she has instead swapped the expected role and spent her life happily married and raising three children: Martha, working at J. Crew after leaving her nursing job, and whose therapist is getting as fed up with her as the reader; Claire, hiding in her apartment and slowly suffocating in debt after calling off her engagement, and pretty, younger Max, who is at college with his stunning girlfriend Cleo, and the familial silver spoon lodged well under his tongue.

Naturally, everything goes wrong and the children end up back at home under Weezy's feet and falling into their old, argumentative roles. Weezy, her spawn, and Cleo, thrown into the Coffey animal house, try desperately to figure out what to do next and how to avoid drowning in the meantime.

So yes - it sounds like a classic 90s chickflick. While it's insanely enjoyable to read, there is fortunately no knitting of quilts or meaningful holding of one another's hands while tears brim and lips compress. The Coffeys are a fabulous family because they are realistically, passive aggressively awful. Claire I instantly loved, because she calls out Martha's nonsense and also just makes me think of her Modern Family namesake, but in Martha, Close has written one of the best monsters I've read in ages.

We've all known a Martha: enjoys a drama too much, makes everything all about her, has all the self-awareness of a smug cat - one lovely line in which she angsts so much over the Thanksgiving dish she's making, until everyone compliments her on it and she looks down modestly and goes, "It's not that hard." AAAARRRRGHHH. She's beautifully, awfully-written.

This isn't a twisty-turny book, and any upsets are either clearly-marked or gentle, but this isn't what The Smart One is for. Close is quite simply a fantastic writer, and her observations about her women - each chapter is seen from the viewpoint of Weezy, Martha, Claire or Cleo - make you as keenly supportive of them as you want to throttle them. There's no cruelty in this book, either to the characters or (thankfully) to the reader, because this feels nicely close to real life.

I wish we heard more from Cleo. She gets a great backstory about everything leading up to meeting Max: her career-driven mother, Elizabeth (yet another smart woman), and her first college room mate who becomes anorexic. But later on she is rather cast to the side as someone things happen to, when she's so interesting I wish she'd do something instead. There's not an awful lot from Weezy's husband Will either - especially in later parts when Weezy gets carried away. But it comes down to this really: I looked forward to bus journeys so I could read this, I loved being an observer in the family's lives, and I'd happily read it again in a moment.

Rainy Day Fun: Kigu's Animal Waterproofs

 

It does a body good to look at extremely colourful things on wet, grey days. "There's no such thing as the wrong weather, only the wrong clothes," say people who are extremely annoying to me, but actually, there is some serious pleasure to be had in dressing up for wet days.

Especially when Kigu is determined to make it as joyful as possible. Look at this! With exquisite timing they've launched rainy day versions of their iconic animal suits - kigoules (cagoules) and wellies (er, wellies), all guaranteed to put a smile on your face for between £29 and £40.

 

I'm SO UTTERLY in love with these JuJu x Kigu wellies. I never had a pair of those iconic frog wellies, due to having enormous, un-child-like feet, but these boots are an absolutely brilliant update. They come in sizes 3 to 8, which means I can't wear them, but can hopefully live vicariously through all of you lot buying them instead.

They're available to preorder now for £40 and you'll get them from June 10 onwards. 

Which is your favourite? How about some duck boots?

Flipping love a parrot, and these parrot wellies are bright, shiny and have googly eyes and a protruding beak. Too brilliant. You can basically dress like a grown-up from the calves up, and be a total infant the other way down.

Or how about rhino wellies? Regardez the nostrils and the horns! And the ears - I die.

Given that I am a complete magpie for bright colours, I was always going to like the parrot kigoule best. You COULD wear it with the parrot wellies, but I think the rhino ones would go better. Being matchy-matchy with what is essentially a visual explosion could cause traffic accidents.

 

 

The kigoules are all breathable, which means they're not entirely waterproof, but will in turn stop you getting hot and sweaty wearing them. They are "heavily-water resistant" instead, so basically if you suddenly find yourself in an Andie McDowell in Four Weddings moment, you'll be fine, but if it's more end of Withnail, you should go and hide in the pub.

Mmmm, lovely. It's enough to make you want to go outdoors and kiss the rain.

Tall Girl Treat: ASOS's Amazingly Cheering Clothes

 

It's raining. It's grey. It's the sort of weather where you just want to go home, turn the heating on, and make a shepherds pie (totally did that last week, it was amazing).

But it's also May! June is next week and summer should be back any moment now. So let's hold on to that thought with some insanely cheering clothes from ASOS's Tall brands. That beyond awesome My Little Pony tunic top is £25 in sizes 4 to 18. You are WELCOME!

My fondness for kimonos is well-documented around these parts. This lovely twisted floral kimono is £45 in sizes 4 to 16, and if you're feeling optimistic/matchy, the matching shorts are £25 in sizes 4 to 18.

Oh I am MAD about this Hawaiian pencil skirt. "It's just grey? WTF?" you say. Negative ghost rider, that fantastic floral pattern has subtle pinks, yellows and greens and an explosion of flowers. And it's £16.50 in the sale. Fetch it, immediately.

Pineapples. Need I say more?

This mesh jersey t-shirt is fabulous, and £20 - only size 8s left, so run. I'm a sucker for what I call "night time florals", which is basically bright flowers on black with a bit of border. It reminds of Lily, Lily, Carnation Rose.

Sigh. I flipping love this pattern - it's wonderful, and great colours. But I can't get away with dresses that short because I look like a giraffe who has borrowed a hand towel and is trying to style it out. If you are braver/less giraffe-like of leg, this lovely botanical dress is £45 and available in sizes 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 18.

 

 

And a TRIO of gorgeous ice cream sherbety sorbet skirty goodness to end with. First up, this gorgeous, cool blue midi wrapover scuba skirt (£30). Next, those scrumptious premium prom midis, first in pink and in mint (both £75). All three are available in sizes 4 to 18.

Still feeling grey and crappy?

• Read this stunning poem - Synaesthesis by Paraic O'Donnell.
• Watch this lovely story of a depressed goat reunited with his BFF
• BOGGLE at these amazingly beautiful hidden places

Summer is just around the corner, promise.

Etsy Pick: Stumped Studio

 

I fell in love with the "progressive design group" Camberwell Collective after seeing one of their takes on chairs featured at the Maida Vale Hill Market. Or at least, I did until it turned out that very few of the links to their designers worked - which is good news for me as it focused my attentions on the fabulous work of Stumped Studio.

As you might guess from the name, they make things out of wood! Lovely, glorious, imaginative things, that recycle and reimagine. 

These laser cut weekday hangers were part of their graduate show back in 2012. Happily for anyone taken by the colourful version, you can buy a full week's set on their Etsy store for £45. They're for kids, but that's never put anyone I know off. (ALTHOUGH as someone infinitely more sensible than I has pointed out - they may well be sized for kids outfits too. Darn.)

 

These picture frames are incredible. A seriously cute present for the photographer/Instagrammer/selfer/owner of a phone in your life. They're £25 and there are plenty of different styles listed in Stumped's Etsy store.

 

These gorgeous Hasbeens aren't for sale, more's the pity. They're turned by hand from off-cuts, chair legs and unwanted wood to become "souvenirs and storytellers". That said, Stumped do a lot of work with the marvellous Remakery project in Camberwell, so I bet you could sweet talk them into selling one they've made there.

Design Porn: Sweet Cavanagh

The tale of Sweet Cavanagh is so wonderful and inspiring that it needs to be told. I have an overwhelming sense of HURRAH about its gorgeous bling and the women behind it, and I can't wait for you to fall in love as well. Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin.

Its end result is beautiful bling: ethical jewellery made by women in London that doesn't cost a squillion quid? Yes please. It starts with the women and the social enterprise behind these ridiculously good looking pieces.

Rainbow Sweet necklace, £35

I saw the owner, Florence Norman, at our friend's hen party. I hadn't seen Florence since about 2009. On Saturday she was glowing: happy and joyous after a lovely holiday, and getting engaged in December. All wonderful things, but even more so because a couple of years ago, aged 24, she entered rehab for drug addiction and eating disorder.

While in treatment, Florence found that she enjoyed making jewellery: it was time alone without anyone talking to her about trauma, it kept her hands busy, and she was good at it.

When she came out of rehab, the lack of proper aftercare in London came as a shock: she managed to get through thanks to her family, nutritional care and the 12-step programme, but friends were struggling with the change between protective in-patient care and the world.

"A friend of mine was in this very cycle when I asked her to join me and make jewellery a few times a week," says Florence. "Slowly we added another woman and then another. During one of our sessions one of the women pointed out that we had created a social enterprise, once I had this awareness I knew it had to grow. Six months later we had a limited company, a premises, charitable status, affiliations with two treatment centres and a group of five women."

Golden Rainbow necklace, £60 - made by that very same Florence!

Sweet Cavanagh is named after Florence's mum, for all her support while she was in rehab. Her dad has advised her on how to actually run a business - all the profits from Sweet Cavanagh go into Florence's charity Free Me, which supports the craftswomen and invests in materials, support and education.

All members are paid the London Living Wage, and are supported by treatment centres. Slowly, just as Florence found, they rebuild their self-esteem, develop new skills, and find support. Oh, and make some outrageously beautiful jewellery. Witness!

Certain Success necklace, £35 - made by Eva

Star Spangled necklace, £28

Each product comes with a little tag showing the name of the woman who made it. Each member has their own section in the online shop, telling something about them - be it brief, or a real life history.

There is also Oldie but a Goodie, for jewellery made by women who have graduated from Sweet Cavanagh and are back in the working world, and Penny Wise Pieces is the place to look for jewellery under £20. The whole site has such a positive, wonderful feel about it, especially on the blog which has funny, truthful posts largely written by Mina.

Be Bold, £32.50 - read AJ's story

You can find all these pieces and hundreds more on the Sweet Cavanagh online shop, and at Spitalfields Market where you'll find Florence at the till. What's more, you can currently get 20% off all jewellery bought online by typing 'women are awesome' at checkout. Yes, they bloody well are.

Shelf Esteem: The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair

The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair by Joël Dicker
Shelf Worth: 1/5

The truth about The Harry Quebert Affair? It's crap. I wish I were the sort of person who could calmly go "Oh this book was bad? Never mind," but this gave me rage eye. Tat HQ is a real screamer; the sort of magnificently awful book to sharpen hatchets over while idly eyeing up your kitchen knives.

Marcus Goldman is a 20-something literary sensation who has hit it big with a non-fiction thriller after a spectacular period of writer's block followed the success of his debut novel. Instead of working on his second, Goldman joyfully spent his money on a New York apartment, parties, a TV girlfriend and other things that bestselling authors require. I had no idea debut literary novels paid so well. Perhaps his publisher is funded by the Mafia?

His mentor is his old literary professor Harry Quebert (the pronunciation of which gets an entire paragraph midway through), who had dazzling success in the '70s with his novel The Origin of Evil. Each chapter opens with Mr Quh-bear's writing advice to Marcus, whom he treats as a surrogate son rather than an annoying twit with a lust for greatness but no desire to work for it.

Marcus has cast Harry aside during his party year, until writer's block hits and he needs help. Soon his publisher is on at him, issuing dark threats about suing and demanding a second novel quickly. Thank God he doesn't represent Donna Tartt.

Marcus is caught up in a darker scenario altogether when the body of a 15-year-old girl, Nola, who went missing in 1975, is found in Harry's back yard along with a manuscript of The Origin of Evil. Harry is arrested, Marcus zooms to his little New Hampshire town to offer support, the old police investigation is dusted off and soon, cans of worms are bustin' up all over, much to the delight of Marcus's publisher who points him towards using his access to the story to write a salacious bestseller.

Dicker gets tension going early on and there are some lovely lines on writing, and a potentially moving relationship between Marcus and Harry. This soon goes overboard in favour of exposition of the "Peter sees Jane. Look Peter, look" variety. Harry keeps telling Marcus what a brilliant writer and good guy he is and how his genius work is just round the corner (we see none of these things). People keep recognising Marcus and telling him how amazing his book is - authorial wish fulfilment here, surely, to say nothing of an almost mythical cross-readership literary/commercial success. Who is this man, JK Rowling?

Marcus starts his own criminal investigation, helped by the fact that, in this universe, being a writer who's friends with a suspect is apparently the secret key that allows you to bypass years of police training or even basic confidentality. There is one GLORIOUSLY terrible moment when he sneaks into a sealed-off crime scene and, when confronted by an armed officer, shouts "Please don't shoot for God's sake! I'm Marcus Goldman! Writer!" The cop, naturally, recognises the name because ALL AMERICA has read Marcus's staggering work.

Dicker very sensibly doesn't let us actually read Marcus's first novel, but we do get to read his second - the non-fiction account of the trial. It is Not Good. Neither is Harry's, allegedly the second coming of fiction, but really a series of bad love letters. Dicker should never have put any of it in.

And what was Sam Taylor, the translator, doing all this time? I dearly hope he was giggling into his bank statements because this French Dan Brown deserves its own article compiling dreadful sentences. Marcus's publisher is as grubby and two-dimensional as a flattened shit. Marcus's mother comes pre-popped from the Jewish Stock Mother catalogue. Every young woman lusts after Harry, despite him genuinely lacking any appealing traits beyond apparently the most crucial: just being a writer from New York. Meanwhile, a social climbing mother enjoys dialogue so wooden that Greenpeace could file a writ for illegal deforestation. And let's quietly draw a line under poor Luther, a disfigured chauffeur whose speech is mortifyingly spelled out like Terry Pratchett's Igor.

Buried deep under the writing is a thriller and it at least does the job of keeping the twists coming. If it weren't for the deep line of misogyny that runs through so many of the characters, Tat HQ would only be endearingly terrible. Lawyers, policemen, publishers refer to Nola - who has a chequered life but is, let's just go over this again, a 15-year-old child - as a slut, or slutty. Her ability to entrance men is described in detail that I can only describe as icky. There is nobody in Dicker's universe who goes "Whoa, guys, hang about here: this female is basically an infant".

Dicker's life has reflected his hero's: this book has apparently won awards, global translation rights and Ron Howard is due to direct the film, which got me reading in the first place. I often dislike film version of books because they lose so much of the original. In the case of The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair, that can only be a good thing.

Harry put his hands to his chest, and collapsed.

"Tell me Marcus! Tell me, in your own words. I want to hear it from you. Your words are always so well chosen. Tell me what happened on August 30, 1975!"

Mini Moderns Camberwell Arts Festival Mugs

 

It's no secret we're mad for Mini Moderns here at DS. Their new range of beautiful bone china mugs for this year's Camberwell Arts Festival in south London has just about knocked us off our collective swoon perch, particularly me, for lo! I LIVE in Camberwell. As do the Moderns boys, hence why they've designed these stunning tea holders.

Each mug is £12 or you can order the set for £40 at the CAF Etsy store. Guess what I did! Now, excuse my smugness for a moment because the first batch of mugs have now completely sold out. HOWEVER, a second batch is due to arrive closer to the festival, so consider this your warning. You can follow Camberwell Arts Festival on Twitter to find out when and to buy all the mugs for yourself.

Anyway, each mug is made of bone china (china for your 20th anniversary you see, no flies on this lot) and has a different emblem of Camberwell on it. There's the Camberwell Beauty (a lovely butterfly discovered on Coldharbour Lane in the 19th century); Camberwell Green, home to markets, concerts, playgrounds, and laid-back tramps; Camberwell Grove, aka that gorgeous Georgian street you probably saw on the Beeb a while back (literally FURIOUS that I wasn't an architect in the 60s as that's apparently the only way you got or get your hands on one) and, of course, the most famous: the Camberwell Carrot. Except for legality's sake, they're actual carrots promoting the farmers market that takes place on the Green each Saturday.

Check out the full designs in all their glory. Swoon.

Even if you don't live in Camberwell, these really are Mini Moderns and their most gloriously fun.

Design Porn: Jessica Hisch for The Luxe Project

Did you ever see the San Francisco-based designer Jessica Hisch's beautiful project The Daily Drop Cap? If not, get thee hence now and perve over her beautiful custom-designed typefaces. I'll wait.

*twiddles thumbs*

Aren't they something else? Well, now the clever girl has teamed up with another one of my favourite things, Moo, to use her designs on their new monthly series The Luxe Project. I used to order loads of their cute mini cards, customised with pictures from my Flickr account - these are significantly classier.

Each month, The Luxe Project will feature the work of a different designer, so you can customise your own letterheads or beautiful business cards. Yes yes, all very nice, but the really nice bit is that 100% of net proceeds go to the designer's charity of choice: Jessica has chosen the ASPCA (the US version of the RSPCA).

 (You'll put your own name and info on the cards you know, otherwise it would be weird.)

Also lovely is this alphabet that came over along with the heads up about Jessica's involvement in The Luxe Project: it's too sweet not to include here, so enjoy.

A
Brilliant
Card
Design
Emphasising
Faultless
Graphics and
Helpfulness,
Illustrator
Jessica
Kept
Lovingly
Making
New
Options,
Prettifying
Quintessentially
Ravishing
Stationery
To
Utilise
Very
Wonderful
X, Ys and Zs

Shelf Esteem: Campari For Breakfast by Sara Crowe

Campari For Breakfast by Sara Crowe
Shelf worth: 4/5

It took me a while to extract myself from my jealous huff and actually buy this enchanting book. I've been writing a similar story about a child shipped off to live with eccentric relatives, and that Sara Crowe has had the audacity to actually finish hers, and for it to be absolutely wonderful, is quite beyond the pale.

I've long admired her as a terrific comic, whether fluffing along endearingly in Four Weddings, or eating cheese in clouds in the Philadelphia ads. In Campari For Breakfast, she proves that she is just as funny a writer: this is a smart, sweet and frequently hilarious read.

Sue Bowl - daughter of Buddleia, niece of Coral Garden, heiress to a dynasty of wonderful names - is a 17-year-old aspiring writer whose mother has just killed herself. Sue's father has rallied with unseemly haste and is now going out with the ghastly Ivana, who Sue suspects to be a gold digger, but above all resents for being on the scene so soon.

Sue leaves both behind to spend a year with her mother's much-older sister Coral in Egham, at her sprawling house Green Place. The house needs help. It has a dilapidated wing that may as well be the Arctic, a possible ghost, and needs a massive injection of cash. Some of this comes from the house's resident eccentrics: Delia, Coral's companion; the Admiral, Aunt Coral's lodger and unrequited love; and Mrs Bunion, the magnificent and implausibly-named 'treasure' who does for the house.

Crowe has great fun with her characters: Egham's populace is named with great romance. Three old ladies who always wear the same clothing are nicknamed Print, Georgette and Taffeta. Sue gets a job at a sandwich shop called The Toastie, whose wildly ambitious owner has two sons, Joe and Icarus. One falls in love with Sue, to her horror as she is in love with the other, gorgeous but useless one - no prizes for guessing which brother gets which name. And Aunt Coral - always Aunt - sets up a writing group for Sue and the house, which makes me incredibly wistful for the sort of set-up where someone will cook you a wonderful supper, and then someone else will supervise you in writing while waving a glass of 'Sapphire' around.

This might sound borderline offensively cosy, and while there is much to make you murmur, "Oh that's lovely," Crowe spikes her narrative with waspish wit and some expertly-wrangled subplots. Sue's attempts to write a serious period history romance, fall in love and find out why her mother killed herself mesh incredibly well. Interspersed with Sue's diaries are extracts from Aunt Coral's 'Commonplace book', a collection of diary thoughts, notices and pinned-in memos from childhood, all leading to what happened to Coral and Buddleia's sister Cameo (those marvellously unlikely names! I'm jealous, and my middle name is Stuart).

Sue's tricky relationship with her father is beautifully handled: in a book filled with eccentrics, this could have become farce but instead it is moving and caricature-free. Delia's gorgeous daughter Loudolle, flying in from finishing school, makes for a satisfying nemesis; Aunt Coral and her merry band are rounded and delightful, and wonderful lines combine wisdom and humour in a way that is truly enviable.

The only thing I found irritating was Sue's spelling. Coral appears able to spell impeccably from age five, so 17-year-old Sue's habit of sporadically writing things like "a fete worse than death" doesn't always work especially as she is well-read and can spell longer words no problem. The spelling is used as end of chapter punchlines, but, when it doesn't quite come off, it pulls you away.

That said, it isn't enough to distract from an engaging and lovely story, and once Crowe gets into her stride you forget you're reading a book at all. Curl up and fall in love with Green Place - and raise a glass of Campari or something other to Sara Crowe for a debut that gloriously hits the mark.

I Gotta Bag It, Bag It Up

 

Yes, it's all about bags this week - a word which instantly puts me in mind of the 90s and a sudden desire to sing "HEY YO HEY YO HEY YO HEY YOOOOOO."

This post was inspired by the most beautiful bag I've ever seen I've seen since last week's vintage novel clutches. Sadly, *cries* the bag in question is out of stock *blows nose* but luckily *looks tearfully upwards at sunlit horizon* its stockist is going through a real land of milk and honey phase when it comes to fabulous bags, so there are plenty of other treasures to covet wildly.

Hello Marks and Sparks!

God I love quilting. About eight years ago, all I wanted in life was a Chanel 2.55 bag. I couldn't afford it, so eventually I bought some quilted pumps from Russell and Bromley instead which were about 85% cheaper, while still nearly bankrupting me. Then loads of uninspiring celebrities started carrying 2.55s and my inner and outer snobbery joined forces and went "No, Katherine. No." and I stopped being sad about my lack of a 2.55. The end. I hope you appreciated that great story!

This wonderful quilted envelope clutch is a gorgeous contemporary take on quilting. M&S have done geometric print FANTASTICALLY well over the last two years, and the red, black, cream and tassels all work with each other amazingly. There is also a strap for those who cannot abide a clutch, and the whole caboodle is £35.

 

My obsession with silver accessories shows no signs of abating: the other week I bought some silver loafers to go with my silver Clarks and my silver sequin skirt. This metallic bag is utterly David Bowie-ly scrumptious. Hooray for bonus lemon yellow! Hooray for straps! Hooray for £25!

I'm not usually that bothered about satchels as I am functionally incapable of looking like anything other than a massive twit while carrying one, unlike my friends who all waft about looking like blonde Zooey Deschanels. This beautiful nude and black number might change my mind. It's extremely glamorous and has a lovely structure to it, and most importantly, is light years away from any thoughts of school. It's £35.

I'm largely included this pink box clutch (£25) because it looks just like a rosé version of the most amazing clutch that came into my hands via an elderly family member, from somewhere between the 1900s and 1930s. I've never quite got over the fact you can basically attach a chain to a picnic hamper, stuff it full of cigarettes and face powder, and cheerfully call it a bag, but I love the sentiment.

Pink to make the boys wink. And why not?

Tall Girl Treat: High Summer at Long Tall Sally

All of your baked goods are belong to us

I recently went along to Long Tall Sally's bloggers breakfast to have a peer at the high summer collection, chat to the women who fit, design and make the clothes, and maybe try a couple of things in the dress-up area. Long Tall Sally having gone through something of a purple patch recently - just LOOK at their Ruby Rocks collaboration. I mean, honestly. LOOK! - I inadvertently turned up wearing an LTS blazer and jeans, and spent the morning feeling like the class swot.

(Actually, a quick sidestep for the Ruby Rocks stuff which is great and I need to put my two favourites in your eyes:)

Zig zag dress, £55, sizes 8 to 18

Ruby Rocks batik tube dress, £45, sizes 8 to 16

(This tube dress inevitably looks rubbish on the page. On, it looks so ridiculously foxy I cannot even. Reader, I bought it. End of Ruby Rocks sidebar.)

I brought along Elizabeth, whose provenance as a Tall Sluttery +1 has already been honed at Upper Street; hunting non-awful maxi dresses and on sequinned jumper rampages in Topshop. Elizabeth is a particularly useful ally as she exists solely in skirts and dresses, and as such knows more about a flared fit than I thought possible.

Peer between the usual linen trousers and maxi dresses which are apparently LTS's bread and butter - seriously, who are all these women obsessed with linen? - and there are some incredibly good dresses, jackets and jumpsuits. Elizabeth tried on a sample of this rose print dress which looked amazing.

Green goddess! I featured the jersey dress on the right in my ladylike dressing post last month, but it's the summer floral scuba dress that I got the hots for. Elizabeth disapproves of scuba material, but I bought one from their spring season and it's a revelation. No ironing, looks a bajillion dollars, generally great.

This is Long Tall Sally's lovely new ambassador, the 6'3" GB high jumper Isobel Pooley. As well as being ridiculously clever and charming, she was also clearly in love with clothes and as such, really nice to talk to. None of that "being on-brand" rubbish that you can hear a mile off, just genuinely enthusiastic about her favourites. I loved this jumpsuit she was wearing with toecap courts.

Isobel tried on this jungle leaf print dress which looked ridiculously good: it's floaty, has a wonderful skirt and a cross-over gathered waist that hugs the waist like a Latino lover at a dance class for Spanish stereotypes. Am bloody devastated these aren't my colours: this is an absolute grade A summer dress.

Love these casual summer flats. Basically, it was ages until Elizabeth and I so much as lifted a yoghurt to our mouths because we just had a really nice time chatting. We were asked what we would like to see in the line, which is a nice change from some brands who just churn out any old thing. I gave my vote to black woollen cigarette pants. Fingers crossed eh?

• Red espadrilles (£26)
• Lace espadrilles (£26)
• Stripe bow ballerina (£36)
• Toecap snake ballerina (£40)

 

Prints! I really loved the hummingbirds on this bird print vest (£22), and the scarf print on this kaftan (£48) is incredibly striking. That blue would look amazing with a tan. *eyes St Tropez bottle*

And jeans. God how these have come on, even in the past year. A lot of colour, plenty of different styles and most importantly, waistlines that no longer finish someone around your chest.

 

A fire drill sent us out of the building, but meant that I got to walk past some pieces from the autumn collection.

"WANT!" said Elizabeth, pawing at the beige coat.
"YES!" I said, waving at the red check coat/blue crombie/fox jumper/air.

And just to get an idea of how fabulously tall Isobel is in heels, here she is standing with me - and I'm 6'1. Readers, we both felt amazing.