The white shirt how-to

Balenciaga blazer, Stella Mc.Cartney, Mother jeans, backpack from Marks and Spencer , Stella McCartney sandals (and Nars Schiap lipstick)

You always read in magazines about the power of a white shirt and I'm sure I'm guilty of saying what an easy staple it is to update your more fashiony buys. But the truth is that buying the right shirt is actually quite a challenge: you have to think about fit and you have to wear it just-the-right-way. On me it doesn't instantly looks cool, it sort of looks corporate and not at all modern and relaxed, I need to work a lot harder at the styling. So today I thought I would share a few of my perfected styling tricks to give your white shirt  that J.Crew cool factor...

• Think about make up: wear it with a coat of cool lipstick like a bright orange or pink. If you are not a lipstick girl opt for nails or an eye flick;

• Wear it with distressed denim: by pairing it with something a bot "worn" you are instantly dressing it down rather than up;

• Pair it with a cool shoe: it can be a high heeled sandal, a printed pump or a statement flat or even trainers - just something a bit on trend that will instantly take it away from the coorporate look.

• Style it. See what works with your bottom half and then work it accordingly: for example if you are wearing it with a short skirt you might want to button it up all the way to balance it out. If you are wearing it with skinny leather leggings you might want to leave it hanging out loose. 

• Roll up your sleeves.

• Layer it: pair it with a sharp tailored blazer, an Isabel Marant-like trophy jacket or a mannish coat.

• Wear a cool bag, and by cool I mean either fun or iconic. (I'm wearing it with my new Marks and Spencers backpack to give it a sporty edge)

What I wore at the week end (and PHENOMENAL BUY ALERT)

Marks and Spencer LIMITED EDITION  Spotted Midi Tunic Dress £39.50 (YES you read the price right...)

You know when you see something that you really love and before you even pick it up you think: "It will probably be really expensive" and you mentally prepare yourself to how much you are going to let yourself pay for it? And then it's not only not expensive (and the last one in the whole of London in your size), it's a bargain and you are super thrilled and love it even more because you can't wait to tell WIT readers! Well, I had this experience last week when I was in Marks and Spencers looking for bit and bobs for Greta and I literally fell head over heels for this spotty print midi dress (that reminded me of the spotty dress that Eva Herzigova wore in the ad campaign last season). 

 

I wore it to a party this week end and received so many compliments about it. It's a very flattering (and forgiving) shape, a bit like a tunic. I love the demure length and high neck collar, pair if with your best accessories (I wore it with my old Christian Louboutin shoes and a a little injection of red in my clutch bag)  and you will love it forever.

 

I had a little look around and the dress wasn't the only thing I loved (after buying half of the kids department) so I thought I would flag a few things.  They have the exact same black leather leggings to my HM ones that many of you ask me about every time I wear them. I've always been a fan of their cashmere range and they have their new styles are all in (I got a little grey cashmere T-shirt), and I even got a black leather backpack as my new work bag as I'm so over carrying my Ipad, chargers and notebooks to my new office in my handbag. But for now let's just look at this bargain dress again ;-)

WIT travel special: my Sicily - in collaboration with Anaffairwithitaly.com

Roaming the streets of Scicli with my friend Julie in my Etoile Isabel Marant kaftan, HM Home basket bag and ASOS espadrilles.

After resigning from Red I decided to take some time off and go to Sicily, in Italy where my husband has a house and to enjoy some family and friends time. Whilst out there I've received so many tweets and comments asking for travel tips on the island, that together with my friend and photographer Julie Adams (who together with writer Emma Scott has an online magazine dedicated to all things Italian called "An affair with Italy"), we decided to join forces and put together a post dedicated to all the wonderful things we've done, seen and ate whilst in Sicily- all documented with Julie's beautiful photos from our holiday together: "The An Affair with Italy travel directory is a user friendly treasure box of information, on where to stay, eat, drink, shop and play in Italy from those in the know and those you want to know about."

Visit www.anaffairwithitaly.com and click on travel directory to create your FREE account.

With Julie in Marzamemi, outside my favourite restaurant called La Cialoma

WHERE TO STAY

Scicli (Ragusa)

Well... I'm a little biased, but on this occasion I will recommend my husband's property in Scicli 130km south of Catania in the region of Ragusa and close to historic towns Modica and Noto (click from map). Some of you might have heard of this old town that looks like the setting of a Dolce and Gabbana add campaign, as it was here that the TV series "Inspector Montalbano" was filmed.

Click here for more info on where to stay in Sicily 

The tiny up-hill cobbled street to our house

My sister Vittoria and my god daughter Vivienne Rose posing in Scicli in their best outfits

WHERE TO SLEEP

"Il Borghetto", Scicli

When my husband's family bought the property shortly before our wedding, it was nothing but ruins and stones, but since my husband's refurb it's become a beautiful three houses property with a communal garden that is just perfect to stay at with friends. What I love about it is that everyone gets their own self catering house, but there is a lemon and orange trees garden at the centre that everyone has access to from a private gate, where kids can play, you can relax and at night throw a BBQ party (we celebrated two birthday whilst out there!). A word of warning: not practical with small children (Greta and my nephew Eugenio only just made it) as the house is on top of a hill with no direct car access.

Click here for more photos of the houses 

Door accessing two of the three houses

The view from our terrace onto the garden beneath

My bedroom - love the traditional "bamboo and plaster" celling

Lemon trees outside our kitchen window

My bathroom was my favourite part of the house

WHERE TO EAT
La Cialoma, Marzamemi

We went to a lot of  delicious restaurants but this post is the edited version of what you can find on An Affair with Italy's travel directory, and just a few selected spots I favoured. If you are staying in the region I would recommend early dinner at La Cialoma, in Marzamemi a small fishing village with a simple but wonderfully characteristic square where La Cialoma is set. You can either eat on the square side (kids love it because they can run around and there are no cars) or on the sea side (perfect for a romantic dinner). The menu is delicious and the place in itself magical.

Click here for more info on La Cialoma and other restaurants in the area

Taverna "La Cialoma"

I love the crockery at the restaurant

My sister Sara and my nephew Eugenio

The yummy menu cover

The view at sunset from our sea front table

The tables on the square side

WHERE TO BEACH

Agua beach resort, Siracusa

This beach is my favourite despite the 30min drive from Scicli. White sand, crystal clear waters, hot showers, luxury palm tree "ombrelloni" that you can rent for the day and a yummy restaurant in the shade. With the kids it was just perfect: the water is shallow and they have a large grassed area playground. We drove here in the morning and stayed all day, sometimes going to one of the towns near by for early dinner.

Click here for more info on Agua beach resort 

 

The palm tree "ombrelloni" that you can rent for the day

Italian beach style

No filters needed...

At sunset showered and ready to go for dinner at La Cialoma

WHERE TO VISIT

Ortigia, Siracusa

If you want to do a little bit of culture, I would recommend a half day trip to Ortigia, the old town of Siracusa. Head over late afternoon, roam around the streets, have an apertivo (or Cannolo) in the main piazza and stay for dinner. Don't forget to shop for the super chic Ortigia beauty products! (I always have an Ortigia Orange Blossom something in my bathroom)

Click here for more tips on Ortigia

The main Piazza

Remains of a Greek temple

Details from Ortigia

Julie's daughter Madeleine Pixie with her "gelato"

WHAT I WORE

In my suitcase... 

I packed a suitcases of easy, versatile pieces - the sort of things you throw on and always make you feel put together: little white dresses, denim shorts and stripy T-shirts, a colourful maxi, one piece swimsuits and even a white jumpsuit that I wore bare foot on my husband's birthday night. I only packed flats and lots of fun clutches that gave my evening looks a little bit extra.

My wardrobe

My flats

My clutches

One of my best buys this summer my ASOS lace espadrilles

Shop my suitcase...

Ok maybe not exactly the same things, most of the items I packed are old favourites but a few are still in store, click on the blue link in the caption to be directed to similar buys I've found for you... can't say I'm not trying!

In my J.Crew silk maxi dress, Z for Accessorize necklaces and clutch having Spritz on the terrace

In an old French Connection crochet dress and my grandmothers Capri sandals from the 60's

With Greta in our matching stripy stripe T-shirts and my MiH Phoebe shorts

In my Dolce Gabbana polka dot balconette swimsuit and Ray-Ban

Wearing my Top Shop white jumpsuit

In a white dress I bought on the beach - Click here for similar ones

For more tips on Sicily and Italy visit www.anaffairwithitaly.com Travel Directory

Holiday wardrobe must-have: preppy stripes

Me in my J.Crew tie back stripe swimsuit £98.00 and Greta in her matching Crewcuts Girls' tank in thin stripe £40.50

When I get back to the UK next week I will have been away for almost one month and yet I've managed to pack a relatively decent size suitcase (my husband would strongly disagree but as I told him many times he hasn't married a light packer).

An old Cos T-shirt and my new MiH Phoebe short £62.00 and Top Shop leather espadrilles £45.00

I think the secret of a versatile summer suitcase comes in packing a number of staples that you can mix and match with the rest of your items: denim shorts, a few dressy tops, tunic dresses that can be dressed up or down and accessories to match.

For me a stripy T-shirt and cut off denim; for Gz stripes and liberty print florals.

The one staple that I never ever fail to pack is somethig stripy: be it a T-shirt or a dress (this summer it's my new J.Crew swimsuit which I've also bought for Greta) a preppy stripe never fails to appear on my holidays simply beacuse it's a great classic that always looks chic and appropriate. So for this week's post I wanted to do and ode to the stripe complete with my favourite buys.

1) Top Shop satin stripe dress £70.00
2) Chinti and Parker Wide Stripe Sailor Tee £45.00
 3) Le Specs Runaways striped square-frame acetate sunglasses £35
4) Tabitha Simmons Dolly striped silk espadrilles £250
5) Mango striped canvas bag £19.99
6) J.Crew tie back stripe swimsuit £98.00
7) Crewcuts Girls' tank in thin stripe £40.50
8) J.Crew jewelled stripe sweatshirt £78.009) J.Crew stripe tunic £75.00

The Dolce life

Dinner in Scicli - photo by Julie Adams

I've been in Sicily for two week now and I've really come to realise where Dolce e Gabbana get all their inspiration from. Everywhere I look it looks like a Dolce add campiagn: the little winding roads, the old ladies in the small towns sitting on the streets chatting in their black dresses all look like they could be cast for a photo shoot!

Whilst you will have to wait until August for my collaboration with www.anaffairwithitaly.com for a detailed Sicily travel post, this week I was inspired by Dolce e Gabbana for a bit of a Sicily-inpsired shopping post.

I loved the Dolce e Gabbana  S/S collection with low leg cut swimsuits, short tunics and a lot of lace, much of what I packed resembeles bits and pieces from their catwalk show even some of my beach finds.

A beach find and my ASOS white lace espadrilles (£12.00)

Here is my take on how to get la Dolce life look with some fabulous investment buys and some cheap and cheerful finds too.

1) Top Shop Pom Pom Straw Tote Bag £25.00

2) J.Crew Crystal tassel earrings £68.00
3) ASOS JESSIE Espadrilles £12.00
4) J.Crew Collection ruffled broderie anglaise cotton mini dress £200
5) Dolce e Gabbana Polka-dot underwired bikini £295
6) ASOS Nali Flower Straw Bag £16.00
7) Top Shop 3D Flower Brow Cateye Sunglasses £18.00

8) Fruit Pastel Swimsuit by Motel £39.00

8) Fruit Pastel Swimsuit by Motel £39.00

9) Whistles navy lace shorts £125.00

10) Top Shop Lace Panel Tee £20.00

11) New Look black lace pointed slingback £15.99 (my sister bought these and they look amazing on!)