Sakura Season

If you follow me on Instagram you would have seen that I was lucky enough to go to Tokyo again last month.

One of the days I spent the morning wandering around the beautiful Shinjuku Gyoen - a gorgeous public garden which has traditional Japanese landscaping and two tea houses. I was even so lucky to see the first signs of cherry blossoms in the gardens, which made me somewhat emotional.

Naturally, I had to get some photos in front of the blossoms because I'm that sort of person. Less naturally, I had to drag a tripod to the other side of the world with me because I was on my own and had no one to take photos for me. This was not an easy task because of other people walking into the shot, and also using my phone as a remote meant a wonderful delay that often caught me off guard.

Don't I just look so happy?

But I was determined, damnit!

I won this Adalene skirt from Lindy Bop's daily Facebook competitions last year, and it really couldn't be much more perfect for this setting! With a border print of Japanese pagodas and Torii gates, cherry blossoms and cranes and even a background with Mount Fuji - it's such a beautiful skirt that I couldn't wait to wear whilst I was in Tokyo.

I'm not really into pink as I always imagined it would either wash me out or clash horrendously with my hair, and boy am I glad I was wrong! The colour is subtle and sweet but looks striking against black, and I'm a big fan of the button-down front.

Lindy Bop's sizing is notoriously disastrous, but I took a 22 in this based on the measurements of the size guide, and it was the perfect size for me, not too tight to cut me up, not too loose to fall off me - but the cotton does have a bit of give!

It also has pockets, and if you've followed me for long enough you might know I have a bit of a thing for them. Anything without pockets is a useless garment to me!

Away from the blossoms and into the shade, I'm wearing my well-loved Rachel coat from Collectif from years ago - and of course, a Vendula London Chocolatiers Grab Bag!

The bag is more of a Parisian feel than the skirt, a little shopfront of a patisserie with cakes and chocolates, which is actually incredibly popular in Japan, which clearly means it was a set meant to be, right? Right.