Not wanting to wish August away but… it’s not feeling very ‘summer vibes’ here atm. So please indulge my early preview of Margaret Howell AW23 comfort dressing.
Margaret Howell is continuing its run of modern utility-luxe dressing, with increasingly gender-fluid styling and casting that I’m fully on board with. I love this 80s-utility vibe which feels like a cross between old money Burberry and army-surplus-thrifted-from-Laurence-Corner-circa-1985.
Naturally, my standout is the massive tweed check coat layered over the grey V-neck, tucked into a raw denim skirt. (I would swap the knee socks for ankle length.) The pleated kilt-esque skirts are going to be everywhere for autumn, while the chunky webbing belt over the gauzy is-it-a-coat-is-it-a-dress is a great example of ‘what’s the surprise’ wrongness. P.S. this may have to be the year I pop my Paraboot* cherry, inspired by these crenelated-sole shoes.
Let’s have it!
WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGES: Margaret Howell AW23 by Mark Kean
NOTE: Most images are digitally enhanced. Some posts use affiliate links* and PR samples. Please read my privacy and cookies policy here
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Going anywhere nice this year? If not, perhaps you’d like an olfactory vacation? No, not the classic coconut-and-vanilla beachy blends, but something much more niche and personal.
It’s the era of the hyper-specific location perfume. Rather than Mediterranean colognes and fruity-florals, the latest crop of wanderlust fragrances are landing in far-flung places like Dubai, Tokyo and the Sahara Desert or close-to-home hang-outs like The Woody Office of Daddy and The Bomboneria in Barcelona*.
Take ROADS. The travel-themed Irish perfume brand conjures narrative fragrances with specially chosen artwork adorning its packaging to convey the full anywhere-but-here experience. Club Tokyo* (above) for example combines citrus, floral and woody notes to reflect the non-stop buzz of contemporary Japanese culture, accompanied by Angela Di Finizio’s equally hyper streetscape photography. Harmattan* meanwhile is almost the polar opposite. Inspired by the Saharan wind, it’s a spicy, incense-y affair with a whiff of the cult Black Afgano by Nasomatto.
Lola James Harper also encourages aromatic escapism. With perfumes, candles and room sprays boasting such location-specific names as The Guitar Shop on Denmark Street or The Da Rosa Epicerie, they let you project your own meaning onto their scents. 213 Rue Saint-Honoré Air* is a personal favourite. The fig-heavy scent is the same one used for Colette’s famous L’Air de Colette candle (as in the legendary Paris store), brought to life by Lola James Harper founder Rami Mekdachi. (I use the room scent as a perfume, walking through the mist or spraying it on my sleeves.)
As well as creating the smells and the names, Mekdachi also takes the evocative travelogue snaps that help transport you to said destinations. He also creates fragrances for hotel brands – think Hotel Costes – so you can bring your holiday romance home with you in the form of candles, shower gels and soap.
In fact, hotel-smells-as-souvenirs are on the rise. As Air Mail reports, the Aman Resorts fragrances* have their own loyal following, as does Baccarat Hotel’sBaccarat Rouge 540*. This year the Carlyle Hotel commissioned David Moltz of D.S. & Durga to create a signature perfume to complement its celebrated honeysuckle soap (below). We all know smells create memories, so these olfactory postcards make perfect commercial sense.
At Officine Universelle Buly the vibe is expectedly more “glocal”. Its new ‘The French Gardens’ fragrances (above) inspired by a trove of antique seed packets, conjure up your very own rustic vegetable garden with mouth-watering combinations such as Iraqi Beetroot and Egyptian Rhubarb (juicy, zesty and musky) and Scandinavian Redcurrant and Peruvian Tomato (earthy, sweet and herby). If that’s not enough, each water-based scent is accompanied by a dry body oil, soap and moisturising lotion for a full four-course immersion.
More traditionally, Florentine botanical perfume house Santa Maria Novella also transports you to historic gardens, this time a celebration of the Medici family’s aesthetic citrus gardens. Four new scents – L’Iris, Magnolia, Gelsomino and Bizzarria – are inspired by unique plant varieties cultivated in these gardens.
Most intriguing are Gelsomino, a jasmine and geranium-heavy citrus-floral that riffs off the ‘Goa jasmine’ gifted to Cosimo III De Medici in 1688 and thereafter only allowed to flourish in his secret greenhouse, and Bizzarria, a bitter orange, lemon and etrog (a thick knobbly citrus fruit) cocktail sweetened with neroli and timur pepper. For the best experience, pick them up from the magnificent Santa Maria Novellapharmacy in Florence.
For those on an economy class budget, Zara and Marks & Spencer have ramped up their perfume options considerably in recent years with high quality offerings under £30. For the Zara globetrotter it’s all about dynamic-sounding destinations and the decadent smells to go with them (as imagined by Jo Malone). Think Boldly Seoul, Creatively Shanghai, Energetically New York and Magnificently Dubai.
Meanwhile Marks & Spencer’s summer floral fragrances* are made with location-specific oils that will ‘smell-eport’ you to sunny climes. Plum Blossom EDP* (£19.50, above) is made with Turkish rose oil, Wild Jasmine EDT* (£19.50) boasts Provence lavender oil and Riviera Neroli EDP* (£19.50) uses orange essential oil from Italy. Can’t decide? Try this trio of M&S travel miniatures* (£22.50). The best bit: it’s all available by swapping the duty-free hall for the mall – no passport needed.
NOW CLICK BELOW TO SHOP THE POST (I MAY EARN A COMMISSION ON THE BASKET VALUE OF ITEMS BOUGHT*)…
WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGES: Lola James Harper/The Betty Lee; ROADS; Lola James Harper; D.S & Durga; Officine Universelle Buly; Santa Maria Novella; Marks & Spencer
NOTE: Most images are digitally enhanced. Some posts use affiliate links* and PR samples. Please read my privacy and cookies policy here
CLICK HERE to get Disneyrollergirl blog posts straight to your inbox once a week CLICK HERE to buy my book, The New Garconne: How to be a Modern Gentlewoman CLICK HEREto buy my beauty book, Face Values: The New Beauty Rituals and Skincare
Celebrities dying is nothing new, but word of Jane Birkin’s passing feels personal. Not because she was an icon or a diva but because she wasn’t.
Despite her obvious physical beauty and talent she always came across to me as down to earth and real. I remember ‘meeting’ her with That’s Not My Age at a Miller Harris event (Lyn Harris had created a bespoke fragrance for her and they had remained friends). Well, Alyson actually spoke to her while I hovered awkwardly. She was as unaffected and chicly dishevelled as you would hope. I always liked how despite her much-lauded beauty, she had the same hang ups as us all. Her interviews would frequently reveal her vulnerabilities around her looks, such as her description in 2021 of buying oversized men’s garms in which to look ‘fragile’ – the 60s waif body ideal clearly still omnipresent in her psyche.
Yet, as far as I know, she resisted the lure of tweakments and plastic surgery succumbed to by most other high-profile women of her era in their bid to future-proof their careers. She was famously non-princessy. Regularly asked about beauty hacks and product recs, her go-tos were a relatable high-low mix of French pharmacy staples (Embryolisse! Dr. Hauschka!) and bougie duty free splurges (Sisley!).
Jane Birkin epitomised the ‘garconne’ style and philosophy I identified in my 2016 book, The New Garconne: How to Be a Modern Gentlewoman. I would have happily used her on the cover to exemplify not just the dualities of masculine-feminine dressing, but her personal values – she was proudly woke long before that was even a word. Despite being partly famous for inspiring the Hermès Birkin bag, she was known for selling her Birkins to raise money for deserving causes and eventually swapped bags for pockets!
A final word from la Birkin on ageing – despite her ups and downs she was emphatic that life is for living…
“I think at 40 years old, I was at my best, really. Not for me at 20 or 25. Forty is, I think, a great, great age for a girl, 40 and even 50. It’s a lovely age because girls are as fragile as when they’re 15, and they don’t know what’s coming up. They know what they’re losing, but they don’t know what they’re going to get; 40 and 50 is a bit like that. You turn into something else a little bit, and it’s rather exciting. You do rash things. You do rash things because it’s your last chance in lots of ways, so I find that girls of 40 are interesting characters to write for, and 50 too.”
WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGE: Jane Birkin / photographer unknown
NOTE: Most images are digitally enhanced. Some posts use affiliate links and PR samples. Please read my privacy and cookies policy here
CLICK HERE to get Disneyrollergirl blog posts straight to your inbox once a week CLICK HERE to buy my book, The New Garconne: How to be a Modern Gentlewoman CLICK HERE to buy my beauty book, Face Values: The New Beauty Rituals and Skincare
White jeans have enjoyed a renaissance in recent seasons. Not so much the skinny hipsters of Y2K-era Liz Hurley, but a more forgiving straight leg or roomier boyfriend cut, ideally ending at the ankle to wear with boots, loafers or sandals.
If you’re tall, Studio Nicholson*, The Row*, Raey and Toteme* should fit the bill (if you have an equally capacious budget). But I think I’ve hit the white jean jackpot at Arket. Its Rose cropped straight jeans* (below) are a milky-white, mid-weight 100% organic cotton denim, with a higher-than average rise, straight-verging-on-barrelled silhouette and most importantly for the non-statuesque, they hit the right part of the ankle. I’m 5’2 and these fit just-so with a tiny turn-up, or none at all. And they’re £69.
NOW CLICK BELOW TO SHOP THE POST (I MAY EARN A COMMISSION ON THE BASKET VALUE OF ITEMS BOUGHT*)…
WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGES: Carre Otis by Michael Roberts /Vogue Italia; Arket Rose Cropped Straight Jeans
NOTE: Most images are digitally enhanced. Some posts use affiliate links* and PR samples. Please read my privacy and cookies policy here
CLICK HERE to get Disneyrollergirl blog posts straight to your inbox once a week CLICK HERE to buy my book, The New Garconne: How to be a Modern Gentlewoman CLICK HERE to buy my beauty book, Face Values: The New Beauty Rituals and Skincare
