Yet another outfit post from me! This is verging on becoming a regular feature… I will concede however, that these photos were taken during the same weekend as my Marks & Spencer Valentine’s Day outfit photos, but when you have both a location and a photographer (thanks Mum!), why waste the opportunity to get as many outfit photos as you can.

Today’s (aka Feb 15th) outfit features one of my favourite summer dresses ‘warmed up’ for wearing during the winter months. As the weather was sunny but cold I decided that layering was the best option to ensure that every weather-related possibility was covered. Over the top of the dress I wore a lightweight jumper and teamed this with my new trench coat and a fluffy faux-fur snood. I wore this outfit for a day meandering around London and my Moroccan boots proved to be a great choice for a day that involved spending several hours on my feet.

The dress itself is from Mint Velvet (yes, another MV purchase) and the jumper is from TU at Sainsburys. I bought them both at the end of last year, the dress was in the sale and reduced to less than half-price and the jumper was a bargain at £22 full-price! The Zara trench coat is a recent purchase, stolen inspired by a fellow blogger (Amanda - The Online Stylist), I absolutely love it and have barely taken it off since it arrived. The snood was from ASOS and although I know its faux-fur, the protesters outside of Harrods didn't and I was fully anticipating a bucket of paint to fly my way! At the last minute I also added a necklace from Wallis and my ever-faithful Miu Miu bag proved to be the perfect carrying companion as always.

The weather may be wintery and miserable outside, but my mind is firmly set in spring mode. Maybe it’s the post-fashion week blues or longer daylight hours that’s caused my seasonal clock to skip a beat, or perhaps it the flurry of new season stock arriving at my favourite stores? I’m inclined to think it has more to do with the latter and my desire to shrug off my dull winterey threads in favour of new pastels and prints.

Back in November I was invited along to Mint Velvet’s SS13 press day. Spring seemed a long way off then, but I still enjoyed the opportunity to browse through their delectable collection and indulge my post-BFAs self with a relaxing hand massage courtesy of the spa at the Sanderson hotel.

I’m already a huge fan of this brand and bought no less than three dresses from their AW12 collection. Needless to say I think I’ll be buying even more from their SS13 collection, I can see this becoming quite a costly business!

Amongst the MV pieces for Spring/Summer are their classic styles reworked with warmer colours and updated prints. Previous seasons has seen them stick to a more muted tone, but bright oranges and yellows abound this season making me dream of beaches, blue skies and summer days to come.

Favourites from the collection include the mosaic trench coat, the pleat bib dress (a shorter sleeved version of the black dress I bought last season) and the Zanthe print dress.

My first blog post of 2013 and its February already! Apologies to anyone who has been waiting for an update since last year, all usual excuses apply; my ‘actual job’ has been keeping me busy and I’ve also been working with Stanwells’ as their affiliate marketing manager. As a result of all this feverish activity The ‘It’ Guide has had to take a bit of a backseat, but I’ve just about managed to get on top of everything and I’m ready to get blogging again.

Today’s outfit post was inspired by a visit to Marrakech (Morocco) back in January. The purpose of the trip was to celebrate my lovely friend Lucy’s (The Luxe Life) 30th birthday and I was delighted to be invited along. There were eight of us altogether and in addition to Lucy there were a couple more familiar faces from the blogging world; Briony from AGirlAStyle and Olivia from My New Favourite Thing (whose Cobra Society boots were part of the inspiration for this post).

On arrival in Marrakech we were ‘meeted’ and greeted at the airport and whisked off to our amazing riad. The Riad Meriem was situated in the heart of the medina and making our way through the winding streets and bustling markets was quite a culture shock!

We crammed in several activities over the three days we were there; quad biking, a trip to a hamman, a cookery lesson, several meals out and various trips around the medina and the souks. The sheer vibrancy of Marrakech is hard to narrate, if I had to associate one colour with the trip it would be the beautiful cobalt blue that featured throughout Yves Saint Laurent’s Jardin de Majorelle.

For my Moroccan inspired outfit I teamed my blue Marks and Spencers coat with a black shirt and cardigan from Mint Velvet, dark blue skinny jeans from Dorothy Perkins, my beloved Miu Miu bow bag and Jimmy Choo scarf and lastly my authentic Moroccan kilim boots bought in Marrakech.

Thanks to Olivia whose Marrakech photos I swiped for this post and a big thank you to my lovely brother-in-law who took my outfit photos for me on our trip to Richmond at the weekend.

You don't need much to create your own stylish capsule wardrobe. Here Mint Velvet show you how with just 20 pieces you can create 12 very different looks.

Perhaps it’s just me, but the temperature in the UK appears to have dropped recently and although it would be premature to declare that winter is on its way, there is certainly a chill in the air that hints at the continued shift in the weather over the coming months. This new autumn bite has left me reaching for my comfy knits and warmer coats earlier that I expected. That being said, this is British weather we’re talking about and its continual unpredictability is legendary.

To celebrate the arrival of autumn I have pulled together a list of my favourite snuggly knits available to buy online from a few select brands. Choosing an overall favourite would be hard, but the cream poncho from Phase Eight does look delightfully soft and comfy. A wonderful alternative to a jacket in the earlier autumn months and an ideal knit to keep you warm and cosy when travelling.