I put on this fantasy outfit and left the house without bothering to change out of it because I liked it so much. The whole thing feels like a fantasy rendition of my ideal closet - unique statement pieces teamed with no-nonsense well made essentials. Please forgive my disheveled appearance. It was a windy day and I couldn't get my hair to lie flat.

The jacket is my ultimate fantasy piece. It's silk velvet by Ann Demeulemeester, bought by Mr Edge for my birthday (it had a zero in it and it was a few years ago now - go figure :P) I don't wear it as much as I'd like, mostly because this is Holland and I'm afraid of getting rained on, but I've found myself reaching for it a fair bit this spring.

The necklace is a new acquisition, from a small atelier in Amsterdam's red light district. I'd been walking past the window and admiring the jewellery for ages, and finally went in with the objective of buying my mother a birthday present. The designer, it turns out, is wonderful lady named Josephine Colsen. She is a veteran of Yves Saint Laurent's atelier in Paris, now retired. We ended up talking for over an hour. She had some stories to tell.

I left with two pieces, one for me, and one for Mum. I found it hard to choose one for myself, so in the end I let Josephine choose for me. She picked out this piece made of found chandelier crystal, which she thought suited me best. I think she was right.

Underneath, a navy shirt from Uniqlo +J (best women's shirts ever on sale again, so I bought two) and a favourite pair of navy pants from Acne, now ancient.

In reality, the combination of trophy jacket, dress shirt and statement necklace felt a bit too dressy, so later on I swapped out the shirt for a blue/grey draped tunic and the shoes for a pair of white Birkenstocks. Still complex but less dressy. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to photograph it. Fail.