I’m not the world’s biggest Pete Doherty fan and quite frankly don’t know his music that well (the first is probably the logical outcome of the latter), but one of his phrases has been stuck in my head for years. In Babyshambles’ Albion, he sings: “gin in teacups and leaves on the lawn.”

I’ve always found these eight words very evocative: whatever the context of the song, I think of an autumn day – sunny, but already chilly. There is a beautiful garden, a bit wild, and a party going on: people in bohemian tea dresses and wellies, in long flowing skirts, in sequins and parkas, slip dresses and sweaters. There’s lots of black eyeliner, but not much to eat. But there’s the gin, of course. And the leaves.

The mood is melancholy and quiet: the summer is over, it’s still too early to be drunk. You can already tell, though, that the mood will change. There will be more gin and there will be joy and sadness and anger, but that’ll be later. For the moment, it’s just gin in teacups and leaves on the lawn.

Pictured:
– two seventies-inspired tea dresses (one on me, one on the ground) by Zara
– Zara velvet shoes and fake fur stole: I also have some really nice Topshop ones in crazier colours, but of course could not locate them this morning
– Cos silk socks and copper hair pin – Cos has a great selection of both
– antique teacup, but no actual gin, as pictures were taken early on Tuesday, before work
– Jo Malone Birch & Black Pepper, as Jo Malone is very British, but the scent is also a bit rock’n’roll
– The First Bad Man by Miranda July