On a warm, sunny April afternoon, mum, Alex and I headed into the ancient town of St Albans in search of a great coffee, a toasted sandwich and… a good vista. After a bit of mooching around the town centre, we headed to the grounds of St Albans Cathedral.

I’m sure that some of you will know St Albans but for those of you that don’t, it’s worth a visit-particularly the Cathedral and its surrounding area. The Cathedral itself is completely remarkable, I sometimes pop in just to feel the sheer scale of it, it always makes me feel calm.

On this particular day though, we wanted to enjoy the open space of the sweeping grounds of Verulamium Park in the April sunshine.

So I have set the scene but what were we wearing!

Head to toe in Plümo, mum and I felt extremely comfortable. I don’t often wear dresses but when I do, this is the shape that works for me. A bit of structure around the shoulders sliding into an a-line silhouette that ends 3/4 of the way down my calf is perfection.

When I was trying on this dress, I threw it over the culottes that I still had on from a previous combination. There was no initial intention of wearing the dress with the culottes but when I looked in the mirror, ready to take the trousers off, I really liked the look of both pieces together.

I am 5.6”. I like how the trousers elongate the hem line and that both pieces are a-line creating a lovely silhouette. I also like how the washed-black trousers meet the black of the mary-janes, breaking up the contrast of the brick red dress and dark black shoes.

To balance the bottom of my outfit with the top, I put on a charcoal grey knitted necktie and mixed things up with a black and cream striped tote bag. Stripes always work so well as an ‘outfit disrupter’ (a piece that stops things looking too ‘matchy matchy’).

Matching your necktie or scarf to your jacket/coat is something that I have talked about before. I think that it is a really simple hack to putting together a chic outfit. Here, mum’s green tartan scarf pulls together the dark green of the waxed jacket beautifully. It makes what would otherwise be a very simple outfit of a shirt and jeans into something more pulled together.

This shirt is the perfect a-line shape for wearing over tapered jeans. It is made from an interesting crinkled fabric and is the ideal shade of off-white. It has a stiffness to it which I like as it retains its shape but this shirt would also work with this particular outfit, as would this one.

Plümo produce this waxed Carr coat each season and it really is perfection in my opinion. It is the perfect weight, shape and colour for throwing on over most outfits. Although it is essentially a casual jacket, it has a smartness to it which would elevate most looks. For now, it would offer enough warmth on its own but come winter, you would need another layer to stay cosy but with this in mind, it would serve you almost all year round.

Boat shoes are back! Maybe they never went away for some of you! Eitherway, the cool kids are wearing them but they are infact a timeless style that look good with trousers, shorts and dresses. These ones that mum is wearing are a lovely version by Penelope Chilvers and are worth the investment in my opinion but even M&S are doing a good version this season. Land ahoy!