The Summer Exhibition, at the Royal Academy of Arts, truly marks the beginning of Summer
for me, with an ever-exuberant show featuring powerful
pieces to delicate designs by major artists, to subtler pieces, arranged in the Small Weston Room. This is the world’s largest open-entry exhibition, with a history spanning nearly 250 years (not that I've been around for that
long). This
year, as soon as I entered the first main room, I could see that colour
and proportion were clearly themes of the exhibition and I seemed to have dressed accordingly wearing a newly purchased duo: an orange silk Parisian knit and a fully sequined Amanda Wakeley pencil skirt (both from Paraphernalia). Accessories ranged from my Issey Miyake turquoise shawl to an Aquascutum chunky beaded necklace, with vintage boots and bag.
Even though we're only into March, the weather has been surprisingly good of late, and what better way to embrace the sun, than wear sunshine colours... and a pair of Tom Ford sunnies. My most recent purchase, from south London boutique, Paraphernalia, is the Christopher Kane psychedelically-patterned cardigan, that reminds me of being in a chemistry lab circa 1979! Another statement colour is the vivid turquoise, in the jeans by Met from the Living and Giving shop in Dulwich which opened its doors in December. It is a charity concept that was set up by Mary Portas, and developed for Save the Children, following her TV series Mary Queen of Charity Shops. To mellow down the look is an old tan bucket bag, and a pair of comfy, but quirky, Ras boots!
