I always panic before we go to hotter climates. What to pack keeps me awake at night, which seems so dumb. What a waste of time - it's only clothes, just wear less. But it's not just about the sunshine, it's that people in LA dress differently to people in London. Well, I think they do. I couldn't actually tell you how they dress differently, I just know that quite often I'll open my suitcase when I'm still jetlagged and there are palm trees outside the window, only to feel panicky that nothing I've brought will make me feel comfortable. I won't feel like I fit in. Usually I counteract that by thinking, "Fuck them!" (Err, who?! The fictional LA fashion police who only live inside my head?!). It's so bizarre because no one has ever told me I'm dressing weird in LA. I've never been kicked out of a building for being too London. And how arrogant of me to think that for one second people are at all concerned about what bloody top I'm wearing.
This time though it feels slightly different. I'm not going to lie that I didn't have a freak out on our first day when we had meetings and I had no idea if ripped jeans were appropriate (are they?!) But then I remembered I'd packed this amazing vintage blazer from one of my favourite new London via South Korea brands, Freckle London. Who can possibly have a problem with a jacket that looks a teeny bit like the one Marge Simpson found in a discount store and then wore over and over again, re-purposing it into different outfits so people wouldn't notice it's the same suit? It's my favourite Simpsons episode, please watch it. I love this jacket, because it connects me to Marge and also made me feel a bit more ready for some LA bidness.
If you're suffering from similar packing panics I strongly recommend looking at Freckle. They have incredible vintage gems, but also drool-worthy in-house designs. I love this embroidered tulip skirt, and am definitely going to be wearing their Camp Firewood T-shirt in the very near future.
Oh also, that picture of food at the bottom of the page is my lunch from Sweetfin Poke in Santa Monica. I know, it's weird when people post pictures of their meals - "hey look at this stuff that's in my body now!" It's gross. But I really, really want Poke to come to London. It's a bit like chirashi but with bigger chunks of fish (I'm not making this less gross am I) and you can get different toppings, and it's so freaking delicious. OK, that's my Poke plea.