Checks please

ASOS checked trousers | Zara heels | Uniqlo polo neck | M&S sweater

My fashion prediction for 2013 is that checks are in. Because I am an industry insider as you know, with her finger on the very living pulse of cool. The style barometer on this occasion was the speed at which these trousers tried to sell out before I could get my mitts on them. I planned to hold off on buying them until payday, but the rapid rate of disappearance forced my hand. Time to prostrate myself before my bank balance and beg forgiveness I think. Actually, a mere £40 on trousers is the least of its current worries, but that is a story for later.

Chris and I have booked a little getaway to Milan and Lake Como in April (more pummelling of the debit card), to celebrate our ten year anniversary, and I am already planning my packing around these trousers. I’m thinking silk blouses, light knits, and lots of delicious neutrals. But for a quiet family dinner in Crystal Palace (more PhD celebrating) I decided upon a simple black sweater/cotton polo neck with embellished heels, in a gentle nod to Prada’s special brand of hot-rod chic from SS12.

My little tree brooch was a beautiful post-viva present from my friends and colleagues at UCL. It’s a tree of knowledge, or perhaps more fittingly a tree of life (the whole biologist thing, you see). It makes me think of Darwin’s famous little doodle that illustrates the nature of natural selection: a tree with multiple different branches each representing a different form of life, all stemming from a single source, with the wonderfully enigmatic statement “I think” scrawled next to it. Powerful, beautiful, and true.

On the subject of science, I think I’m going to put my PJs on and enjoy a nice African wildlife bedtime story from David Attenborough.

Which prints, patterns and styles are you going to champion this year?