Alexa Chung |

Excuse me, I’m having a fashion moment. Although I live on a farm now and don’t often get an occasion to dress up, I have always, and will always love clothes. Not shoes so much – I’m a firm believer in owning no more than eleven pairs – all you really need is running trainers, Converse, flat boots, high-heel boots, pumps, open toe high heels in black and nude, wedges, closed heels for winter in black, pretty leather summer sandals and Havianas. :) Anything else is a variation of this – but these are the essentials on the shoe front. I’d much rather spend money on clothes than shoes, so as long as I have the basics, I’m good. Many moons ago, I was an intern at Marie Claire magazine in Cape Town and man, was it fun. Besides the fact that I was only paid R250 a week, which I made up for by working at Jo Borkett in the evenings (30% off staff account booyah) I absolutely adored working at a fashion magazine. Every day was a fashion show and we were surrounded by beautiful clothes all the time. You could try out the latest, scariest trends mixed with your oldest threads to work, and it would be appreciated. You could put your entire wardrobe to work. The more vintage the piece, the better, and the bigger the bargain – well, hell, you were hailed on high, as contrary to popular belief, magazines pay KAK salaries. These days, however, if I wear high heels to Sapore on a Friday night everyone wants to know what the special occasion is. Hey, I thought changing out of my pj’s and leaving the farm was an occasion, but then that’s just me. From a little girl, I LOVED wearing dresses and heels, which I called my klip-klop shoes – I had a beloved patent red pair my grandmother bought me. Very risque, but man they were the bomb. I loved going to Rhodes University because there was always at least one dress-up party a weekend – FUN. And Cape Town… well, in Cape Town you can do and wear what you want and no one even flinches. Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that I love clothes, and thank God for Pinterest, because I get to live vicariously through all the beautiful outfits pinned on my Threads board. And it was while I was furiously pinning outfits this morning that I came across this beautiful image of a young Bridget Bardot in a breton striped top:

How freakin’ cool/beautiful/gorgeous? I just luuuurrrrve stripes. In my wardrobe I have striped shirts, striped dresses, striped cardigans, striped skirts, striped scarves and striped socks. I almost put my bridesmaids in breton stripes, I swear. It was close. In my humble opinion, there is nothing more classic and elegant than a breton stripe. After finding the Bridget Bardot image, I ~~searched~~ pinned a little deeper – take a peek at the evolution of the humble breton stripe.

Nothing says casual chic like a classic breton striped tee. Officially obsessed. So I started trawling the interwebs to try find a good one – what I’d really like is an exact replica of Bridget Bardot’s in the first image… and can I tell you that a good, long sleeved, navy blue and white striped shirt is blerrie difficult to find. This one by Michelle Ludek on 36boutiques is the closest I got – the stripes aren’t quite thick enough and the neckline is a little too scooped, but it looks like it’s the best out there – unless anyone else has seen anything better? Please let me know, because I plan on rocking one all winter long. And now I just need a black leather jacket to wear over it. Oh, and a paying job to afford all this. That might come in handy. ;)