Tartan

 

 

 

 I'm not sure if it's because I'm half Scottish that I get so sentimental about tartan, but I like that this fabric always manages to be edgy but reassuring homespun at the same time, and as long as you have plenty of black in your wardrobe, you can never go wrong with tartan pants or a skirt.

 Punky points or stompy boots, both work well with tartan, you just need a bit of swagger to pull it off. I fell for this Clarks tartan bag online and was happy to see it look just as good in store. The toffee colour of the leather and the orange and yellow tones in the weave lend themselves to being worn with the baby pinks that are around at the moment as well as greys and soft blues.

 I like the squished out bucket shape with a centre panel of tartan, which makes it ever so slightly demure. I think the Mist Valley bag looks much more than the £79.99 price tag. I also approve of the gold hard ware; it's really solid and beautifully made, but not too fussy.

The tartan fabric was created exclusively for Clarks by the Strathmore Woolen Company one of Scotlands leading suppliers of tartan, squeal, sorry I love exclusives. They leave a warm fuzzy glow of specialness.