Just past east London’s Spitalfieds Market is Hanbury Street, which takes you onto the Truman Brewery and Brick Lane…

One of the epicentres of east London hipster heaven (are we even saying hipster any more?), the streets are full of pretty Georgian houses, cool street art and distressed poster walls; so much so the front door of a good friend on nearby Fournier Street was posted by Lucy from Shiny Thoughts on Instagram yesterday. It’s the perfect area for grabbing an ice-cream and having a stroll around.

Hanbury Street is home to a huge Beyond Retro, award-winning 1940s style fish and chip shop Poppies and until recently, one of my fave little boutiques, Melbourne’s Olga de Polga. Places do seem to open and close quite a lot – I noticed a contemporary jeweller has been replaced by a shoe shop, with some thin platforms on Dr Marten style (nice ones!) boots. This pretty street where we took the photos is actually the quieter end of Dray Walk.

Yesterday was particularly muggy so I was glad to be wearing this lightweight super sweet shirt by Boden. Last week’s trip to Hamburg meant I wasn’t able to accept one of the most fabulous invitations to have popped into my blogging inbox – a couple days of fun, cooking and eating at River Cottage with Boden along with Park & Cube and Liberty London Girl (egad!), both bloggers I’d love to meet.

To introduce me to the brand, Boden, who I must admit I’ve never worn before, sent me a few pieces to try. Well, I was extremely impressed with the quality, style and sizing that fits true to size. I find the quality and cut of petite ranges can vary from store to store – sometimes petite is just a smaller version of the original design, not paying attention to adapting things like torso and leg length – but Boden’s pieces are a brilliant fit on me.

I chose some neutral pieces (breton stripes, navy tailored trousers) from their petite range as well as the shirt which felt so fresh and smart and all the more so for it’s cool little crinkles – it came in a cute little white cloth bag, which I will be stuffing the shirt back in now it’s washed and dried. I’ll have a few more pieces to show you over the next week or so. Have you worn Boden before? Are you a fan?

Ps. Worth noting everything I’m wearing (apart from the bag) is currently in the summer sales!

I am wearing crinkle shirt by Boden* (in the sale!), MiH Jeans Phoebe jean (this electric blue now sold out, but other washes sill in the sale), Manebi espadrilles via Shop Formula (also in summer sale) and Shopbop Basics raffia bag