The BEING ME challenge had me stumped a little, because it made me reflect upon when I was not me, which I have decided is not very much.

One of the gifts that YLF has given me is the permission to dress to please myself and wear what I like. I think my style has become more signature because I am not so bothered about trends and will only wear them if they appeal to me and not feel compelled to be fashionable. Paradoxically, this attitude has probably meant that I am dressing in a more fashion forward way than ever before!

My job is an Accountant at a large professional services firm - I work with clients and work with different teams on engagements. I have to be ready to rush out to meeting without notice if my clients have any urgent issues, so I dress up most days assuming that an important client meeting is likely to occur. Fridays I can wear casual dress but often opt not to do so because I like dressing up and my home life is pretty casual.

For Day 1 - I decided to try a combination that was more the old me - going back to black. In my teens and early 20's I wore black almost exclusively. I wore black at this time of my life because I looked very young and thought it made me look older, more interesting and sophisticated...when in reality it just made me look like a young girl trying to fit in with the herd at university. Never mind, I felt fabulous in my black and that was all that mattered, and I still do. Black holds a certain magic for me, sometimes it is nice to revisit the younger me.

Little black dress with white stitching by Cue. This dress is very comfortable and was great because the weather was 37C. I wore this with a tie neck scarf (with a green dragon print) by Rixo, a cropped cape jacket by Cue and black sheer hose and black suede pumps by Paul Green. My office is chilly, so the cape jacket was welcome and I like the additional coverage that it gives the dress, that is quite open on the top. My bag is by Samantha Thavasa Deluxe, a Japanese brand and bought 5 years ago in Tokyo. This was the start of a rather obsessive collection...

Day 1 night - Client dinner at an outdoors restaurant. Gold lace dress (old - Moss and Spy), leopard faux fur jacket (Cue - new first time worn), nude hose and black suede pumps. Clutch by Karen Millen.

Day 2 - today - decided to go for the opposite end of the spectrum - little white dress (Cue), grey jacket (old - Armani), nude hose grey Paul Green pumps, worn with a string of pearls. I love this white dress, once again a sheath by Cue and for me a little white dress is as much of a wardrobe essential as a little black dress. I always feel very polished and crisp in white. My bag is another Samantha Thavasa Deluxe bag - this one in ice blue. This bag I baby somewhat give the very light colour, purchased again in Tokyo 3 years ago. It is sort of a ritual that when we travel overseas I get a new bag.

I love the motto on the front:

"Living your life with confidence is always the best accessory. To all the lovely ladies....Samantha Thavasa Deluxe".