I’ve received a few emails about “the” wedding dress that I finally chose. Today, Ekaterina kindly commented asking for a glimpse – so here it is. The dress is Alice by Jenny Packham. It wasn’t necessarily the type of dress I thought would appeal to me; I expected more lace but it did have the classic line and fit I was looking for and hopefully a vintage feel. Now I’m faced with a dilemma – keep the dress, wrapped in tissue, to try on while hoovering or eating tea and biscuits on a rainy Sunday OR sell it, so that someone else may have some joy from the dress, other than the moths? The selfish side of me realllllly wants to keep it, perhaps as a weight gauge while middle-aged spread kicks in. The more giving side remembers how thrilled I was to find this dress in a sample sale at Wedlock, as the £1,400 original price-tag seemed too indulgent (bearing in mind our low-key nuptials.) The jury’s still out on whether to sell or keep, I’ll let you know.

Colette is the original concept store. Situated on the desirable Rue St. Honoré, Colette is a fashion mecca in the heart of Paris. SO imagine my disappointment/confusion when we arrived there this summer to see the store boarded up and closed but emblazoned with signs proclaiming, “We are still open.” This referred to their e-store and Colette Mini – a small boutique, found just around the corner, where you could sample a miniscule selection of the delights Colette usually has to offer. On the 24th of August, Colette reopened; refurbished, dazzling and offering me a very good excuse to return to Paris very soon. Visit Colette’s e-store and see the refurb on NYLON’s blog.

Topshop is dipping its toe into the U.S. market and to celebrate this foray it has launched a street style blog in conjunction with McCarren Pool Parties. These pool parties do not seem to hold much style promise in their name but the blog has proven me wrong. They turn out to be a hub of cool; a mix of music and quirky style. With this collaboration Topshop is stamping its fashion credentials on New York, ready for the fall opening of its flagship store. My one concern, how difficult it’s now going to be to spot the Brits abroad, especially if Topshop’s global domination continues!

Urban Outfitters markets its clothing impeccably. In the vein of American Apparel, it’s staff are now aiding the marketing machine. Closet Space allows a glimpse into the wardrobes of its designers and buying team. You can then click through to the Urban Outfitters store and buy any of the stocked items; you too can attempt to be as cool as the UO staff. I was exposed to the inane sense of cool that many shop staff seem to possess while we were in Paris on our trek. American Apparel in the capital, seem to only employ the über cool staff with the best hair, insane tattoos and unique sense of style. This can work two ways – intimidate you massively, as you realise the AA clothes do not and will never look like that on you….or offer you an achievable style option; the former seemed to affect me! So, can employees offer style solutions? It seems they can and boost their company’s profits too; just be careful you don’t suffer from low-cool-esteem as I did!

We began our trek in Milan, where we stumbled upon the famed 10 Corso Como. Concept store extraordinaire, this little enclave of calm also boasts a café, restaurant, adjoining 3 Rooms Hotel, gallery and book shop…phew! I could have spent the day there (or week!) As my Flickr set shows, 10 Corso Como is set in a unique space, with an outdoor terrace and rooms over multiple floors, surrounding the courtyard. Brainchild of former fashion editor Carla Sozzani, everything is sold there, from perfumes to ready-to-wear fashions, books and gadgets. The shop itself is a revelation – colour coded sections, matched with unique lighting, make for a sublime retail experience. Stand-out items are displayed strategically at the end of rows; seeing the Prada fairy dresses truly showed their magical, almost child-like appeal. What impressed me the most was that there was no air of snobbery or pretention. Anyone could shop there and not be bothered or made to feel intimidated by the high-end appeal of the store. If you have the opportunity to visit Milan, the Corso Como is a fashionable boulevard, with hidden delights lurking behind the entrance to number 10. (If you want a fuller view of 10 Corso Como this link, despite being in Korean, is more informative. The .com url is currently under construction.)

On my return from the Travel, in a moment of possible madness, I gave away almost all my back copies of Vogue. I have slowly started to become disenchanted with the fashion bible that seems to become slightly more mainstream, offering evermore unobtainable lifestyles, with each issue (it feels almost blasphemous writing this!) I still adore Vogue and will no doubt continue to buy it but in a cathartic moment realised I no longer use my back issues for reference but instead to prop up a coffee table! The plethora of cutting edge European magazines that I was exposed to, no doubt greatly influenced my purge. Even the most mundane of newsagent seemed to carry some oddity or fashionable lifestyle magazine that jumped off the shelf. One that has been around for quite some time but that I have never got around to buying is hobo – a bi-annual, avant-garde magazine comprised of collections of interviews, essays and stunning photography. The magazine was expectantly, a joy to look at but surprisingly, a delight to read – also very heavy to lug home! So will I keep my hobo magazine, in a contradicting bid of snobbery, ON my coffee table but my Vogues underneath?…I’m yet to decide!

I am returned! Married, travelled-out and overwhelmed. The wedding day, a joy that seemed to fly by in a blur. The honeymoon, a visual onslaught that took us from Italy to France, on to Spain and finally Morocco. I shall endeavour to get some photos on flickr soon but the whole experience could be summed up as a tale of concept stores, galleries and walking, all mixed together with heat! Reality now seems strange but I have plenty to post about to hopefully keep you enthralled.