Seven Boot Lane Archives - Style&Minimalism

This Year with ME+EM

This post was created in collaboration with ME+EM.

**ME+EM** Very Useful Cardi Coat in Grey Marl* | **ME+EM** Long Layering Tee in Soft White* | **ME+EM** High Rise Full Leather Legging in Black* | **ME+EM** 2-in-1 Cross Body Clutch in Claret | **ME+EM** AM To PM Chain Necklace | **Seven Boot Lane** Honey Ankle Boots in Black* | **Ace & Tate** x **It’s Nice That** Sunglasses* | **Myia Bonner** Mini Diamond Circle Stud Earrings in Gold

This year has been an important one for my blog. It’s been just over a year since I decided to start including personal style posts. It was a big step, I’m quite cerebral and think things through for a long time before acting on an idea. I didn’t feel ready to put myself in front of the camera but felt I was missing out on incredible opportunities because I wasn’t willing to. It all changed when I was photographed at Paris Fashion Week by Christian from The Styleograph and then by Daniel from Stockholm Streetstyle, two major street style photographers. I realised then that a photograph is as much about the photographer as the person in it.

A few months in and I started to find that there were some incredible brands that wanted to work with me. Lots of people have told me over the last year that it’s not all about your Instagram following, that interaction on your blog and social-media are more important, but it’s not until these opportunities came along that I believed them and started to realise that something else I’ve been told over and over again is also true, it’s about quality not quantity.

One of the brands you’ll have seen featured quite a lot over the last few months is ME+EM. It’s a brand that fits my style and ethos very well; they make timeless, versatile, low-luxe clothing in fabrics that feel great on. They took a risk on me (a small, fairly unknown blogger) when they first approached me but I grabbed the opportunity with both hands and have put everything into styling and creating content with them that I’m proud to put my name to.

Last weekend ME+EM asked me if I’d like join them at their Elizabeth Street pop-up store to style a couple of looks from their current collection. We took a stroll through the Elizabeth Street Christmas Market, a beautiful festive street market, and took a few photographs of the looks I had styled. I got to work with Dina Tsesarsky, a photographer that always manages to capture a side of me that I like. My lovely friend Christina was there, styling and shooting a couple of outfits for them, too. It was a wonderful day and a reminder of just how things have changed this year. I love what I do and don’t mind all the hours that I put into it when I get to do exactly what only a year ago I had merely dreamed of.

Timeless Originals with Barbour

This post was created in collaboration with Barbour.

**Barbour** Baffle Wax Jacket* | **Barbour** Stratus X-Back Crew Neck Sweater* | **H&M** Silk Camisole | **Paige** Miki Straight-Leg Jeans in Keiran Destructed* | **Seven Boot Lane** Honey Ankle Boots in Black* | **Saint James** Marine Cap | **Ace & Tate** x **It’s Nice That** Sunglasses* | **Felice Dahl** Första Ring in Gold*

Barbour is a brand I’ve grown up with, it’s flitted in and out of my life for as long as I can remember. First it was the boys at school who wore the classic Bedale over blazers in the winter. Then, I remember the way the smell of wax would emanate off my dad’s jacket when he came to support me at lacrosse games every weekend in the winter. And when I was at university my friend Oli wore a Barbour on-stage as he performed with his band.

A Barbour jacket is one of those pieces I’ve always thought I would own at some point. I remember searching high and low for a vintage Barbour just as Alexa Chung made them popular again in 2011 but struggled to find one anywhere.

It was an exciting day for me when last week I received a beautiful invitation from Barbour asking me to join them at their London showroom. Their menswear team had designed a new collection for women, ‘Timeless Originals‘. The men’s Bedale has been so popular with women for so long that they decided to design a coat for women that merged the tailored cut across the shoulders of the women’s Beadnell with the less fitted shape of the men’s Bedale. The result is the Rain Bedale Wax Jacket. It’s tailored across the shoulder, has an a-line cut and a slightly cropped sleeve which reveals a longer ribbed cuff. The ‘Timeless Originals’ collection is made-up of iconic styles, redesigned with today’s needs and style in mind. It includes a collection of complimentary knitwear, trousers and shirts with two drops, one in autumn, entitled ‘Raindrop’, and another in winter, entitled ‘Snowdrop’.

The Baffle Wax Jacket is the most minimal design in the collection, a black waxed longline puffer jacket that, again, fits well across the shoulder. It’s the most on-trend jacket they’ve created for the collection. Puffers were big on the catwalk for AW16, featuring in many collections including those of Balenciaga, Stella McCartney, Courrèges, and Marques’Almeida.

I had a wonderful afternoon with the Barbour team, shooting this look with Giles Smith, drinking hot chocolate in the showroom, and learning calligraphy in a private lesson with the talented calligrapher Lucy Edmonds, who founded Quill London.

Beautiful Besse-Sur-Issole

**Frame Denim** Linen T-shirt in Black | **Levi’s** Denim Skirt | **Seven Boot Lane** Falcon Suede Espadrilles in Grey* | **Topshop** Straw Boater | Vintage Leather Belt | Straw Bag (bought in Saint-Paul de Vence) | **Retrosuperfuture** Paloma Sunglasses in Matte Black* | **Larsson & Jennings** Liten Watch c/o **Farfetch*** | **Lucy Williams x Missoma** Gold Graduated Fang Necklace* | **Gemporia** 9k Yellow Gold Stacker Ring* | **Gemporia** Arezzo D’oro Diamond Gold Ring*| **Brandts Jewellery** Daisy Ring in Rose Gold | **Sophie Wallgren** Marta Bracelet*

Besse-sur-Issole is a tiny village inland and west of the more chi-chi parts of the Côte d’Azur, the nearest town is Brignoles.

We stayed in a lovely chambres d’hôte with two wonderful hosts, one of which had once played piano for Nina Simone. We were lucky enough to hear him play one afternoon during our stay.

Walking through a gated entrance straight off the street, you find yourself in a large living-dining area and beyond that a huge quiet and charming garden with a lush saltwater pool. There’s also separate accommodation, known as the pigeon house, which we will definitely book next time we stay. They rebuilt it themselves from a couple of crumbling walls into a wonderful little maisonette.

The village is idyllic, there’s a small central square with a couple of good restaurants, an amazing bakery that makes some delicious sweet breakfast breads, a stunning lake and beautiful little cobbled streets in the older part of town.

Accommodation
L’Abri du Poet