Girl In The Pretty Dress

Hampton Court Palace is a little off the beaten track - as London goes. You can't reach it on the tube so I never really ventured out that way before. It's very easily reached by car though if you're staying west of the city. It was a favourite palace of the Tudors and the Georgians and as such it's teeming with history. Though it's perhaps most famous for hosting the romance of Henry Tudor and Anne Boleyn. The decor is a visual picnic - there's a little bit of everything as so many royals have put their stamp on the place over the centuries.

Lately, every time I open Instagram, someone I follow is posting pictures from Venice. It's easy to understand why, as Venice is full of hidden treasures and quirks. I'm exceptionally jealous of anyone visiting for the first time. (I've been lucky enough to visit on 2 occasions and I wouldn't say no to a third trip there!) The best time to see Venice is early morning - if I could give you one recommendation it's to get up just after the sun does and go a-wandering. I'd also tell you to travel via water wherever possible and to make the short trip to the nearby island of Burano - where you will find some of the most beautiful hand-crafted lace you ever laid eyes on. These insta-adventures have got me reminiscing so I thought I'd share a few pictures from my travels...

Last weekend I visited Manchester Art Gallery - one of my favourite places in Manchester. It's not particularly big or prominent (as art galleries go) but it's well worth a visit. The 'Vogue 100' exhibition recently transferred here from the National Portrait Gallery and I wanted to take a look. Vogue is synonymous with fashion but I didn't realise the scale of artistic influence in it's pages until I saw this exhibition. It was fascinating to wander back through the decades and see the work of some of the greatest artists and photographers lifted from it's pages. Sadly photographs were prohibited within the exhibition - so you'll just have to visit it for yourself to see what I mean. (Entry is free.) If you're not in the area, don't worry... you can see much of Vogue's centenary celebrations online. Including it's back catalogue of covers here . I hadn't planned on seeing much else while I was there - but I was directed out o...

I grew up in a part of England that constantly comes alive with quirky traditions. Yanks Weekend is one such tradition. I'm not sure it can be explained all that succinctly but I'll try... In 1979 Richard Gere made a movie called 'Yanks'. It was about a group of American soldiers stationed in Britain and was set in the English countryside. The little villages (where I grew up) played a starring role in the film and for the last 16 years this fact has been marked with a 2-day celebration. For one weekend a year we step back in time to the 1940s. There are fairs, aerial displays and parades through the streets. A lot of people get into the spirit of things by dressing up vintage style - and there's an awful lot of swing dancing. Last year was one of the best and busiest yet - and the first time I've been able to experience it for quite a while so I thought I'd give you all a little taste. You can find out more about this brilliant and bizarre event here a...

*Update: A/W '16 Pop Up Shop dates for your diary can now be found here .   Summer's arrived... how did that happen so quickly?! Time seems to be flying by. I've been very aware lately that my poor blog has been a bit neglected this year (I blame the small fluffy one!) but I'm hoping to turn that around a bit now. Several (oops) weeks ago I went to the TallGirls.co.uk pop up shop in Warrington. I wasn't sure what to expect, I'd heard a bit about the brand but I'd never yet seen the clothes on my favourite tall blogs and no one I know had ever purchased from the site. So it was a bit of a shopping adventure into the unknown... I'd also never attended a pop up shop before and wasn't sure what to expect from the experience. While not everything was my personal style, the selection was huge and catered to so many different tastes. I spent hours trekking to and from the changing rooms trying on different things. In the end though I behaved myself...