Or it's better to say Monday mourning. Yes, Honey, rise and shine. It's time you harvest what you've sown during the weekend. But you had a great time, right?.. Wait, where did we stop? Morning. The smell of burning toasts, a sip of hot coffee (ouch!), and you're out swirling into the honking sounds of the awakening city.

Oh, boy...

I love Fridays, Saturdays and even Thursdays. And I just abhor Sundays (because they come before Mondays) and the Monday itself obviously. But no matter what day is breaking over the horizon, the most important question I ask myself – what shall I wear today, hmm?

Dressing for another workday in the office can become a nightmare if your goal is "dress to impress" or "dress for success". Well, it depends on the nature of your job, of course. Personally I don't have any strict dress code rules. I don't like the word rules anyway. Just a few guidelines – the right word – that I keep in mind choosing what dress or suit to wear.

The main guideline is to avoid toos. After you think you are ready to go, take a final, critical look in the mirror. You don't want to look too informal or too sloppy, too strict or too sexy ( hey, don't distract people from doing their work properly ). Choose simple and elegant things. But you don't want to look too plain either. That's when jewellery can help brighten up a little.

An elegant bracelet or a simple necklace with matching earrings will help create the right message you would like to send out to your colleagues about your personality and attitude to work. But don't get too upset if someone at work doesn't get your message correctly . Remember like every cloud has a silver lining, every week has a Friday coming soon.

My Grandma's jewel box works miracles, especially now in summer . No matter if I'm going to a party, a wedding, or even a job interview, or simply go out with friends, I can always find something ... right. I just add a string of pearls or vintage mother of pearl clip earrings, and I'm ready to go.

That's what I love about pearls and mother of pearl jewellery – their universality. Either you're wearing a business suit or a party dress, your everyday jeans and t-shirt, and if you have a shell bracelet, a brooch, or a pearl ring, do wear it. It will match any style and bring out a little femininity and class. The only thing I'd recommend – if you want to concentrate the focus on the accessory itself, wear a simple dress or something with plain fabrics and design. It will be ideal for wearing shell and mother of pearl jewellery, well for wearing any jewellery.

However, when it comes to choosing what jewellery to wear for a certain occasion, it mainly depends on your preferences, and if I may say so, on your talent of combining what colour, how many items and what design will be the perfect match for the event. One thing I always keep in mind while making a choice is that your character and style go together. If you're a romantic person, choose jewellery accordingly. A mother of pearl pin or brooch in the form of a dragonfly or a shell necklace will make an elegant touch to finish your outfit and will create the right mood for a summer evening stroll. If you're an active person, a massive pearl ring or rows of pearls arranged in a choker or rope with shades of black, caramel cream or pink will set the pace for the whole day.

So, whether it will be something in a Byzantine style or graphic minimalism, classic or vintage, my advice for you this summer – follow the basics, but break a few rules and experiment . As Coco Chanel once said about colour, I will rephrase her words and say about jewellery: "The best jewellery in the whole world is the one that looks good on you!"

New fashion dictates trends with the use of bold, big and colourful pieces of jewellery which sometimes made of materials like wood, plastic, resin or rubber. Have you ever thought why, different people wearing the same jewellery look completely different?

I did, and, as I travel a lot, I learned just how important it is to get your whole look right. I learned many things while travelling in France. Paris, Nice, Monaco, Lyon. Just observing people can be such fun! You can easily distinguish the French from tourists. Most of French women are very classy. Even with not such a great budget they know how to look elegant and cool.

Talking about budget... yes, it does matter, but you don’t necessarily need to spend a fortune to look chic. Inner taste should help you when you choose what size, colour or material of jewellery would be suitable to a particular outfit or an occasion.

First rule – do not overdo it! (Unless you want to look like Christmas tree) The key word here is "balance". Balance matters in colours as well as quantity and size.

Even though it’s in trend to have loads of big rings on one hand... look in the mirror...
There should always be something to balance it. For example chunky bag with similar elements in your other hand (and of course no jewellery), or perhaps some matching jewellery on your shoes. Look at your body from top to toes. Head - earrings and hair jewellery, neck – necklaces and pendants, brooches, wrists – bracelets and bangles, fingers – rings, (do not forget about your manicure, colour of your nails or absence of it may play very important part) waist – belt and finally your feet.

I have big wooden earrings which I wear with matching wooden ring and bangle on one hand and then I have my handbag or clutch in the other. This look includes my hair up (to open my face and show the earrings), open neck - otherwise the top of my silhouette will look too heavy, and of course shoes or sandals, that will draw people's attention on my feet. Now we've got the balance - top, middle and bottom. Don’t forget about the dress though, we are not going out naked! But it can be very simple summer dress; I get loads of compliments when I go out like this.

Elegance and simplicity are the key to looking great whatever you wear.

My congratulations to all fashionistas with the budget! Big and fake jewellery is in again!!!
But something like the pieces of work by Coco Chanel never did and never will go out of fashion.

Who was Coco, this magnificent woman? Before launching her fashion empire, Chanel was a lounge and cafe singer from 1905 to 1908. She adopted the name "Coco" during this short-lived career as a performer and entertainer. The rumor has it; she tried to become a famous singer, but could not succeed and decided to not persevere in something she could not be the best. And she was right - special people deserve only the best things in life. Like pearls!

Just check and you will see that on most of the pictures of Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel she wears… pearls. Why not diamonds? She could definitely afford them… but, Coco always used to say that jewellery should be worn to decorate rather than to expose wealth. She was convinced that too much money killed luxury. (To be honest, it took more than just one Vogue magazine to convince me... I still do prefer real stones, but have a few absolutely gorgeous jewellery pieces now. Wooden, or with elements of enamel are my top choice.)

But let us come back to Chanel. Coco Chanel was one of the first designers who started to work with imitative jewellery on the radically new terms. Although there had been a market for the costume jewellery before her, it had been primarily reserved for those who could not afford buying the real luxury. Chanel brought the imitation to the state of art. Her simple dress designs and plain fabrics she used, were ideal for wearing jewellery. She was the first designer to gain the social acceptability of wearing fake jewels.

Chanel’s inspiration for creating her jewellery was widely diverse. Being Russian myself I am very proud that the Romanov jewels given to her by the Grand Duke Dimitri of Russia, gave her ideas to create long gilt chains with Baroque crosses.

Chanel loved creating jewellery with artificial pearls. In her younger years pearls had been one of the most precious stones, and the privilege of aristocracy. In her designs Coco Chanel made her costume jewellery pearls emphatically bigger and in other colours than natural. Her pearl jewellery consisting of rows of pearls arranged in chokers, brooches and pendants, became classics.

Coco Chanel used to mix genuine pearls with rope after rope of fake pearl necklaces. Wearing the real thing Coco was known to add a strand or two of fake pearls making it seem as though she was wearing lots and lots of genuine pearls. As she wore "opera length" pearl necklaces, the effect was stunning.

I love pearls myself and have a set (bracelet, earrings, pendant and necklace) made of artificially grown (cultured) pearls and surprisingly still have 10 years guarantee! I had them for about 5 years now and no sign of ageing has appeared yet. Now, I am going for a birthday party tomorrow and going to wear a long pearl necklace with a black dress… sure, Chanel would like it!

A few days ago, maybe it was just a palpitation of the leaves, but I could have sworn I heard the summer quietly whispering that it finally got to UK, and it seemed like absolutely "every man and their dog" were outside playing.

I was not an exception to this overall heat euphoria and went with my friends to Camden and its surroundings. Camden is known for its avant garde fashion designers, cutting edge musicians, talented artists and craftsmen, exciting clubs and music venues but, above all, it is known for its markets.

The place is quite famous, but I was not sure whether it was my cup of tea... Well, visiting Camden now, after I spent over 3 years in UK, completely turned up side down my whole perception of this kind of places.

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