A.A.

In this case, Accessories Addict, guilty as pledged. Or if you prefer, Addicted to Accessories. Truly, madly, deeply.

Okay, trust me, I used to be ALOT worse. These days, with the dire job of having to wake up early and trek an hour and a half to placement, my brain fails to function well enough to think of what accessories to add to my daily outfit in the mornings. Although on second thought, I really should put more effort into doing that because this might be my last chance at 'louder' accessorising, being in General Practice.

Hence, I have cut down on buying every single pair of earrings and every single necklace I set my eyes on.

I guess the common sense finally kicked in ey?

My stash of accessories was on the verge of bursting my case, and there were many times when I would turn my room outside down just trying to hunt down one particular bracelet or necklace.

And then the genius Daisy got me this for my birthday. I guess BFFs have telepathy huh?

I LOVED it!!! I had been hankering after these jewellery boxes for ages, but never found the time or actually got around to purchasing one. This was just what I needed for the mess of metal / string / beads that was accumulating in my 'jewellery case'.

There are add-on trays to pile on beneath as well, which I will definitely get on to after my exams, because yes, you guessed rightly, this is just about a quarter, give or take, of my stash of accessories.

In the midst of some procrastination and article-surfing, I somehow ended up reading about the latest H&M designer collaboration on Vogue: Marni for H&M.

(Don't ask me how, the stunning Marchesa pieces on London Fashion Week plastered all over the internet must have sent me into some kind of depression mode LOL)

So for the civilians like me, what do we do? We ogle at High Street designer collaborations on the internet.

I am a HUGE fan of Marni.

I was introduced to the Balloon Messenger circa 2007/2008, and it has seen me through a good number of years. (Crap, when was the last time I wore mine). Besides the fact that I would have preferred a brighter colour such as yellow or orange - too bad, the only one on sale was plain black - I was much comforted when I saw how easily Nicky Hilton pulled the look off. I like to think she and I share similar tastes (aye, Balenciaga and Marni). And yes, I am delusional like that. Lol.

But I sidetrack.

You can imagine how excited I was when I flicked through the Marni for H&M Collection. I've never owned any Marni attire, but to be honest, it is more because I couldn't AFFORD it. Ahempoorstudentahem. The prints and the concept in this collection was definitely very interesting, some a bit too OTT for me, but the first designer collaboration with H&M that I would actually consider.

It was the accessories that caught my eye though.

OMG I WANT TO GO TO H&M IN MARCH!!!!

Obviously, it is not difficult to suss out my weak link now. Just dangle a couple of shiny accessories in front of me, and I am sold. AA much? ;)

The Princess of Styles

I have a confession to make.

I have been secretly coveting after Kate Middleton's sense of style for the past few months, ever since TIME Magazine launched a series of her top 100 or so outfits, dubbing her THE most stylish woman this winter.

Okay, so she may not be a 'trend-setter' per se, but her poise and elegance and the sheer ease which she manages to pull off her outfits was enough to conscientiously flick through photo by photo, and for a fair amount of time after, I went around dubbing this and that to be 'very Kate Middleton'.

But it wasn't difficult to soon identify her clear favourite, which also happened to be a serious weak link of my own:

The Lace Dress

I had developed a serious addiction to lace tops / dresses since the end of 2009 when I purchased a lacy black top on ASOS which is still a current staple in my wardrobe. And since then, the addiction has only grown exponentially.

So it wasn't completely surprising that I walked into Reiss (which also happens to be one of Kate's favourite High Street stores), spotted this and immediately dragged it off the rack:

And proceeded to flit back and forth between indecisiveness for a whole week after purchasing it, until my friend put at end to it by proclaiming that I wouldn't have bought it in the first place if I didn't think it looked good, so I should just keep it and stop fussing.

Anyone would have thought the addiction to lace would have been stopped right there, because there are only so many lace dresses one can have in her wardrobe.

Well, if one can't buy anymore, one can always window-shop right?? It is good research, after all. Don't listen to what anyone tells you.

These dresses make me go weak at the knees. And if I could, I WOULD. One in every single colour and style, I tell ya. These are by Issa, exclusively for Net-a-Porter. Unfortunately, there is just the small problem of it being slightly at the higher end. Do I hear a thousand quid right there? Mmmm.

The red-coloured version of the above. Absolutely.....flawlessly......perfect.

But life is all about unfair ways and the severe discrepancies that make it impossible for all of us to get our hands on one of the above *kicks, screams, claws, throws tantrums* I kid, I kid. But I'm equally loving this slightly more laid-back and relaxed look (below), with a little less lace, pouf and elegance, but sooooo versatile it almost makes up for it!

This navy blue number is by Vanessa Bruno. Perfect for a leisurely stroll around the shopping mall or for a coffee-hunting trip in town. Although perhaps not quite the Princess's style. I would refrain from saying it isn't quite mine as well, because I am not entirely as structured as Kate, given that I don't have as many charity events to attend! Lol.

This is the Margot Dress by Erdem, currently dubbed one of THE LACE DRESSES to have. Yes, never mind that it costs almost 2,000 GBP as well ey? Small factor, that. I've seen and prefer the red version of this dress, but couldn't seem to find it online. I guess that's what happens when people continue to shop like there is no tomorrow. Was that a credit crunch you said was supposed to be happening now, London?

There's just something about lace and satin and the sheerness of it all that seems to spell out 'Princess' in every single way. Of course, not everyone can emit the same level as poise as our beloved Duchess of Cambridge, but that doesn't make me love lace dresses any less. In fact, it would be impossible for me to love them any more than this.

We'll see next which lacy number can capture my heart, and how long it takes before my fickle self moves on to another trend this season. At the moment, the time frame seems to be only one: indefinitely.

They say Fashion is an art. Does swiping my card en-route to achieving the 'best fashion sense possible' count as an art too??? ;)