Autumn Decorative Fair 2015

This year marks The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair's 30th Birthday, launched by Patricia Harvey, and which has made Battersea Park its home since 1997. We are relatively new converts but it is a fixture in our calendar along with every discerning interior designer and collector around the capital. The thrice-yearly event opened its doors for autumn purchases on Tuesday and runs until the end of the weekend. On our walkabout we noticed delicious pieces of art, an amazing pair of mid-century Czech bookshelves and a ravishingly-red Chinese console table. I wore a favourite vintage velvet jacket, last seen in 'Red on Red', a pair of  Armani navy pinstripes (previous outing: The only real adventure is me...) with a simple white linen shirt, neon-pink Miss Sixty belt, satin wedges by Castañer, and an Italian leather bag from Brixton Village Market.

Quaglino's

Where to go for a celebratory supper? Quaglino's, of course, which positively pulsates with glamour. Secreted away in St James', at 16 Bury Street, the sweeping staircase to the restaurant is like descending the stairs of a great ocean liner, albeit one anchored in Mayfair. For the occasion, there was only one dress to wear: a mid-century satin number weighed down with beads and pearls. A hand-made piece, purchased in Pimlico's Cornucopia (long-gone but one of my very favourite shopping haunts), this gown never fails to make me feel that I'm "Puttin' On the Ritz" - coincidentally just around the corner. Worn with brown satin heels, a deep-red vintage fur, and a statement pearl ring from Jessica Walker, plus a perfect dining companion (my daughter), in an Isabel Marant for H&M metallic dress. 

Harald in his heyday!

If you think of one statement colour, I immediately come up with red. Here, I'm in my stand-out and rare vintage coat by Harald, late of 39a Curzon Street, W1. Who was Harald? A Nordic contemporary of Amies and Hartnell in '50s Mayfair? Little is known about this couturier (1904-1994) save that the likes of British stars, such as Vivien Leigh, favoured his designs. The Dolce & Gabbana butterfly-print boots hover prettily beneath the cerise dress-coat. I hope Harald would approve!

Twelfth Night

If you're going to have an epiphany, it may as well be on Twelfth Night!

So pull down your Christmas tree, recycle the cards and scoff those festive left-over chocolates...

Belair

There's nothing quite like a bit of Georgian architecture to uplift the spirit and a lovely local example is Belair House: Bar, Dining and Social, at 1 Gallery Road, Dulwich. Putting the long and the short of it together, I opted for a long suede coat and fringed scarf for cover, and my shortest skirt by Paul Smith, with garden florals to suit the bosky surroundings. A dash of red in the Chinese-style Equipment top and favourite Dior lipstick, Dolce Vita, gave me a decent dash of tomato to complement the colours in my '50s Hong Kong clutch, bought this summer at Cliffe Antiques Centre, East Sussex. The charming vintage shoes by Joseph have a distinctly Georgian look whilst the Prada sunnies are decidedly Rococo.
Pop this in your diary: from November 2nd, Belair House will be holding a history exhibition, 'Through the Ages', including funny, happy and interesting memories from local residents.

The only real adventure is me...

... so says the solipsist in me. For Tracey Emin, whose new show is currently at Bermondsey's White Cube, 'The Last Great Adventure Is You' brings together sculptures, gouaches, paintings, embroideries and signature neon bon-mots. All eminently... Tracey. This solo exhibition, her first in five years, runs until November 16.  Bermondsey is always good for a Sunday stroll to take in great art and... certainly some art in the knitwear, to be found at the Fashion and Textile Museum's latest exhibition, Knitwear: from Chanel to Westwood. Fine work from the likes of Biba, Ossie Clark, Comme des Garçons, Courrèges, Julien MacDonald, Sister by Sibling, Matthew Williamson and some nostalgic Fair Isle. I wore my Armani pinstripes, an asymetrical Comme des Garçons knit, Dior sunnies and a couple of scarves, in fur and Caledonian mohair. My vintage bag is chic whilst the 'Here's winking at you' '60s earrings are fun. The modern hand-made Porcelain Bling necklace (by Schneider) is a distinct one-off. My Ras boots are back out for winter!

End of colour

The end of colour... as we know it. More specifically, at Turner Contemporary in Margate, where its latest exhibition, Summer of Colour, came to a close earlier this month. Celebrating the works of Dutch artist, Piet Mondrian, from early landscapes and a dazzlingly red windmill to his later distinctive lozenges of colour which inspired the late Yves Saint Laurent, in 1965, to incorporate those block shapes onto shift dresses. I decided to step out in my favourite hot-pink trousers, last worn in 'Carluccio's, South Ken'. The trousers are by British designer, Ally Capellino, who launched her womenswear collection in 1980 and is now best known for her accessories range. My breezy chiffon top is suitably colourful and graphic, whilst the shoes and sunnies, by Roberto Cavalli, are retro but sleek.The three year-old art space on Margate's seafront, designed by David Chipperfield, was also showing ethereal light installations by Brooklyn-based American artist, Spencer Finch, in turn inspired by Turner, who was both schooled and visited the town on sketching trips. Outdoors, on the terrace, contemporary Dutch artist Krijn de Koonig placed 'Dwelling' whose strong Mediterranean colours certainly heated up the Kent town by a few degrees on a September afternoon.