Day 5 – the last of the women’s days for London Fashion Week (and then, there’s one day for the men, bless their cotton socks), was going to be a long one for me. And there was a ‘chance of showers’. So I basically threw on my entire week’s wardrobe, in order to segue from day to night.

What I LOVE about fashion right now is that we can ‘dress it up, dress it down’ and there is no longer that quaint distinction from day and night clothes. And the ladylike trend is such fun.

So I wore the gorgeous crochet lace NEXT dress (£60) that I wore on Day 3, but this time in pink. Dressed it down with black tights, knee socks, and my NEXT loafers (£45), which are now the solid staple of my day wardrobe. Threw over it a favourite vintage brown tweed jacket with fur trim, my beloved pearls that were a gift from my husband before we were married, and over it, to stay warm and bang on trend (and to balance the ladylike-ness), my other staple: the NEXT black bowler hat (available in stores now). And on top of the whole mix, my big old vintage Burberry raincoat, bought for a song in a charity shop in NY, another lifetime ago.

For the party at night, I took off the black tights, pulled my socks up – literally – as seen in the shot below, and wore them with the black NEXT platform sandals (£46). Not quite as ladylike, but still an effective mix. I don’t have a photo, you’ll just have to take my word for it. ; )

The bright pops of colour that we’ll see so much of this season – and I hope, far into the future – work best against black and neutrals like tans, browns, olives… it’s all a question of balance, but there are no rules. My feeling about fashion is: if you love an item, you can wear it with anything. After all, it’s just about having fun, and feeling happy in our own skin.