For me this is the easiest poll of them all. I am 100% Team Brights. The only muted colours I wear are certain shades of grey, dark denim and black. And even when I wear these neutrals it is always together with a contrasting bright colour, white or bright cream.

I look sickly and awful  in muted tones and pastel shades. If I’m going to wear a colour other than a neutral it has to be rich, bright and very saturated. (My citron trench?  Enough said). But I totally love a muted and pastel palette on a person who wears it well, even though it doesn’t work for me.

Over to you. Are you Team Brights or Team Muted. Tell us why and by this stage of the game you know the drill – no batting for both Teams.

If you loathe skinny jeans and anything biker inspired, look away now.

Moto jeans were a fringe trend at the start of Spring and there are more on the way for Autumn and Winter. It’s the reinforced lower thigh/knee detailing and topstitching that makes them “moto” jeans. Some styles are more heavily reinforced and topstitched than others.

I’m on the fence. I don’t dislike the trend but don’t love it either. Moto jeans can look great when pulled together with the right soft feminine pieces, thereby creating an interesting contrast against the severity of the moto detailing. But combine these with rugged biker boots and a tough biker jacket and it’s not so fab. That’s too much biker inspiration going on in one outfit when you’re not a real life motorcycle rider.

Moto jeans are also quite a hard style to wear in a flattering way. I for one do not want to draw snug horizontal attention to my thighs with reinforced topstitch detailing. So I’m sticking to basic, streamlining skinny jeans. I guess I am drawing horizontal attention to my thighs wearing jodhpur jeans, but because they aren’t tight around the thigh I’m fine with sporting that look.

I hope moto jeans stay fringe because I don’t see them as a great mainstream denim silhouette. As always there will be those who pull off the look with effortless perfection, and in the name of fashion that’s fun to watch too.

Friends and family say that buying presents for me is an impossible task. Apparently I really stress them out at birthdays because they think I’m so particular. Well, I’m not sure I believe that because I always receive such perfect gifts. This last birthday was no exception.

You met my fabulous sister in law Keri earlier this week and it was her idea to find me the perfect Lulu Guinness handbag for my 40th birthday. My brother Hugo (Keri’s husband) was also in on the deal and soon after their flight from London landed in Seattle I was the proud owner of a killer new handbag.

Lulu Guinness is a well known London accessories designer. She is particularly famous for her 50’s style, somewhat conversational, retro handbags. I admire the classic and quirky character of Lulu Guinness accessories and I’ve had my eye on her collections for years. It took Keri a while to select the right Lulu Guinness because for months none of the styles were quite right. But when she saw the black and cream polka dot shopper with inset bow and patent trim, she knew it was the one. It’s so perfectly me.

I didn’t waste any time showcasing my Lulu Guinness. It came out to play the next morning when we took the family to see the floating homes and house boats on Lake Union and the sights in downtown Seattle. It’s first little outing was with a pattern matched outfit (Greg took that picture on our front porch). Frock, leggings, denim jacket and ballet flats. A comfy gal on the go outfit with (extended) family in tow.

Thank you Keri and Hugo! I absolutely LOVE my new handbag. I couldn’t have asked for a more thoughtful and beautiful gift from my London family. I shall treasure it.

There are items that are in fashion for one season. And then there are items that stick around for longer, sometimes for several seasons, and sometimes for decades at a time. I can’t remember exactly when bootcut jeans first surfaced, but it was around the mid 90’s. At first they were considered trendy. Soon after that their widespread appeal helped them to become a mainstream basic. In fact I’ll go as far as saying that bootcut jeans have become a classic, meaning that they’re not exactly on-trend but always in style.

Can we say the same about skinny jeans? By skinny jeans I’m also referring to straighter legs because both are tapered at the hem whereas bootcuts flare out. Skinnies have stuck around for five years and there seems to be no stopping the look. At all! Without question they have become a worldwide mainstream basic. Do you think they will go down as a classic too?

Fashion in the noughties and beyond has set a new precedent. There is no longer only one “it” and in style silhouette but rather many silhouettes that are in style at the same time. For that reason I’m in on skinny jeans going down as a classic along with bootcuts. How say you?