Now I'm off to the races.

Asos beaded necklace dress: £36 (similar). Christian Louboutin Pigalle: £75, charity shop. Whistles clutch bag: House of Fraser (similar). Pandora bracelet: Joshua James Jewellery. Vintage and Forever 21 rings. Essie 'Maximillian Strasse Her" nail varnish.

From black skinnies to stiletto heels - could this outfit possibly be any more different to my last one? I was invited to Ladies Day at Royal Ascot on Thursday by Sky, and I thought this was probably the one day of the year I needed to make an effort. Please do note that attempted smoky eye. Followed by suncream and an always magical off-peak journey on the Waterloo and City line (how does that train exist?!), I met Charlie by the dinosaurs at Waterloo to head West, off to the races.

I've never been to the races before (I know, I know, I lived in Liverpool for three years and never made it to the Aintree Races), so I tried on about eight dresses before going for an old faithful - I don't know how those Made In Chelsea types cope with at least one black tie event a week. Everyone else seemed to have less difficulty than myself and looked effortlessly amazing, without a circle of shame in site. The day itself involved a constant supply of sunshine, cheering and royalty, and although I may not be totally convinced of the morals of horse-racing I'm glad I managed to pop along and try it out at least once.

Turning up to a Shoreditch pop-up bar afterwards in a posh frock afterwards did make me feel like a bit of a knob, but a swift change later you'd be hard-pressed to imagine I'd been sharing glances with Queenie earlier.

Want to have a read of some (very well-dressed) attendees' blogs? Click through below!

Charlie | Monica | Jessica | Lottie | Scarlett | Lana | Jess | Josie | Hayley | Gemma | Nicole

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Blow a kiss, fire a gun.

Lacoste stripe top: £42, Freeport Braintree. Oasis black jeans: £27 with staff discount. Adidas Spezial: £29, Freeport Braintree. Vintage bag: gift from Jazmine.

When getting the train home with Jazmine a couple of months back, I full on laughed at her dungarees, beanie and New Balance combination, stating that East London had 'happened' to her. Looks like I'm might have to eat a very expensive (probably vegan and bespoke) hat - a pair of black skinnies which fit and a bargain retail therapy session which had three stripes later, I'd fit in pretty well at Shoreditch Grind. No fixie bike is on the horizon, but this is a whole lot more hipster than I ever imagined possible in my peter pan collar days (note: my next post is going to be a whole lot girlier, keep an eye on my Instagram on Thursday to see why).

This one's now off to consume a full english and pints of orange juice, but do let me know in the comments if there are any trends you've fallen foul of despite your better judgement - yep, that does include those cargo trousers with the weird strap hanging off them circa 2001.

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How big, how blue, how beautiful.

Primark colourblock top: £13. American Apparel skirt: £30. Clarks leather loafers.

This skirt + wind ≠ a good combination. Mind-bending maths aside, these photos were taken four months ago in very thick tights weather, saving myself from much embarrassment. Heybridge Basin is one of the places I like to go when it's all getting a "bit too much"; pretty much untouched since it was built, there are beautiful coastal walks with views over Maldon, plenty of dog-walkers and an amazing Tiptree tearoom with malteasers cheesecake for afterwards.

Maybe I should get myself back to Heybridge Basin sometime soon as I've been a little out of sorts for the last few months. Things I'd normally let bounce off me and then forget about have been taken to heart, I've not been sleeping well, and generally things have been a bit difficult to deal with. I'm banking on longer days and sunnier weather to help with keeping my chin up, but if anyone has tips on how to take a step back please do leave a comment as I'd love to hear how you guys do it.

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