CAT TIGHTS AND IVY

Playsuit, Yumi, £10 //Sweater, New Look, £7 // Cat tights, Asos, £4.50 // Backpack, Fjallraven, £45? // Pandora bracelet, fish ring, $5, h&m necklace, £3

I have tens of outfits planned to shoot but the weather! Cold and rainy. And when we get the three minutes of sun a day it's always when there's no one around to shoot. So one morning a few days ago I braved up and went around the corner in my new cat tights I got from Asos. They are darling and I do love them, but sadly the quality isn't all that, the threads pull very easily and I feel like for their original price of £8 they really should have been made stronger. Even the £3 for 3 black Primark tights are better made. I also got some New Look flat shoes which somehow didn't make it to the pictures, but they're white and very pretty so I will be wearing them lots when it's above 10 degrees.

          The playsuit I'm wearing I got last year just before the summer, I can't remember what shop though, maybe Miss Selfridge? It was on offer and it's a great shape, the only thing that was wrong was that two of the seams at the front were loose because of a torn thread  but I fixed that in about 20 minutes with my mum's sewing machine. It's not a pattern I'd usually go for but I really do like it. I always thought I didn't have the right body shape for playsuits but all it takes is just to find the right one.

          Now let's take a minute and talk about my Fjallraven Kanken. I also got that last summer and spent a considerable amount of time choosing the colour. It was between ox red and graphite and forest green, frost green too. Oh and I also considered the bright yellow one, ocre I think. As a lot of the colours were out of stock, in the end it was really just between mud and sand - good names, eh? - and, as you can see I went for mud. I thought, this is a backpack that will last me years if not decades (or so they say it should) and my mum convinced me I'd get bored of the yellow one quickly, so I decided to go for the darker, dirtiest looking one. I kind of like that its colour is basically the colour of dirty water, plus it really goes with everything. Now that Ryanair has allowed two bags as cabin luggage I use it as the second, smaller bag, and though it's slightly bigger than the dimensions allowed I always get away with it. It's much more convenient having a backpack on your back and not worrying about a flying around handbag that's always in the way if you also have a suitcase to be mindful of.

           As I'm writing this I'm looking outside at the fine rain and really looking forward to spring. Though I'm a bit worried, is spring even a thing here in Manchester? Please tell me it is.

Text: Kat

Photos: Giorgio