The happy dress.

When I pulled this little black and white number on over my head and felt the way the skirt stood out away from my body I couldn't help but yelp, 'this is such a happy dress!' A couple of weeks ago I got to spend an afternoon with Elizabeth Lau in her West London studio. It was such a welcome and calming break from the mayhem of packing and moving. We sipped green tea, debated the Galliano news, and wondered whether the temperature in England would ever rise above freezing... thankfully, I've heard that it has.

More importantly though, I had the chance to coo over her AW11 collection and can I just say that it is so scarily straight up my street. Black and grey jumpers with quirky phrases, like 'I (heart) Rosie' and 'The Guvnar', sprawled across the front. The sayings were all borrowed from Cockney rhyming slang, quite possibly the perfect British memorabilia to bring over to Switzerland with me, eh eh? The simple colour palette is heavenly and the fabric is so soft, making them the kind of jumpers I would reach for every day. Additionally, the collection is stuffed full of adorable little dresses and, while they are all quite sweet and pretty, they are easy and wearable when teamed with little black converse. Just my idea of the perfect paired down outfit. Plus, it comes with a ribbon bow-tie to boot? Too cute. It could only get better if you had a mini-me doll to tot around with you...

View the Elizabeth Lau Spring 2011 collection here.

Big thanks to Kit for the first photo, Elizabeth for the tea, and Blythe for being a very good model.