White. Simple, classic, chic, easy and oh so stylish. I love white.

White china, white walls, white wooden floors, white shutters … I think we associate white in homes with hot countries, places where white billowing curtains blow or white shutters are fading under a hot sun. But white can be used in so many ways and suits even good old British weather!!

Add colour to white and create a whole new feeling – red, white and blue – I love the bold, bright and beautiful trio of the British and USA flags.

The White Company

Clever. Always thought it’s a brilliant idea, just to do white towels, crisp white sheets and delicious smelling white candles (sadly they thought of it before me!). On my summer list is their new knitted linen hoodie (£55.00) – a classic cover-up over a swimsuit, or for those all too regular chilly summer nights when you still want to pretend it’s summer but sort of need a sweater (see picture above).

White pasta

OK, pasta is not officially ‘white’, but it’s almost white and a delicious and easy dish. Good for summer. It’s also one of those dishes that is hugely impressive and yet only has 3 ingredients – no joke!! Not for those with high cholesterol but, hey, you’ve got to have a blow out sometimes!!

• 1 packet of fusilli or penne pasta
• 300g dolcelatte cheese
• 1 large tub of single cream
• black pepper
• 1 large onion
• 2 packets of smoked back bacon, or 2 packets of lardons (whichever you prefer)

In a bowl, crumble the dolcelatte cheese and put in the cream. Place the bowl over a pan of boiling water and let the cheese melt into the cream. Keep stirring until completely blended.

In a frying pan, finely chop the onion and cut the bacon into small strips – or put in the two packets of lardon pie

ces – and fry (using no oil, the bacon fat is enough) until the onions are transparent and softened and the bacon has crisped up.

Boil the pasta until al dente. Add the bacon, onion and sauce and stir well into the pasta, making sure it’s all covered. Serve immediately with some chopped parsley on the top, and a large green salad on the side.

White China

You can’t beat white china and I am sort of addicted to sourcing out new places to buy it. Am deeply impressed by BHS, who have really modern Arctic round pasta bowls and also Arctic square pasta bowls in white at £2.00 each – incredible price really, and very good shapes. Love pasta in a square bowl …

White T-shirts

The best bit of advice I ever had fashion wise was if you find a great white t-shirt, buy more than one. So true. White t-shirts are always in fashion, always needed, always necessary and weirdly quite hard to find!!

These are my current top faves, in all price ranges:

1. At figleaves.com – a splendid white tank top (£59.00).
2. If you want to go further afield with retail, shopplanetblue.com – one of my fave shops in LA – has t-shirts of a soft material that become more delicious with every wash, and always a good shape. Check out the blue life departure t-shirt ($82), or the sauce edamame crew neck t-shirt ($52) on their website. If these sound like expensive t-shirts, they are. Some things are worth the money – cheap white t-shirts are appealing because they are cheap, but they don’t last. By the time you’ve kept washing them, you might as well have bought one that keeps its shape and doesn’t get that awful sort of texture and feel 3. but remains soft.
3. J.Crew. – another great American institution of a shop!! I love it, they epitomise that American ‘preppy’ look: white t-shirts or shirts with chinos. Luckily, net-a-porter are now stocking J. Crew – not all of it, but they do have the oversized cotton shirt (£55).
4. Thanks to my sister, who for my birthday bought me a present from somewhere I hadn’t heard of before: ‘Me & Em’ (meandem.com). What she got me didn’t fit, so I had to go and see for myself when I took it back. Well, it’s heaven – a small shop, white wooden floors and just the most wonderful t-shirt fabric items (mixed with linen, which makes it that bit more special). I have to say I swapped my present and got a divine Linen jersey maxi dress, in white (£205.00) – but, let me tell you, the perfect summer item. Great length and a sort of built in bra thing, so that you have that flippy dippy look but without anything drooping!!

White jeans

Should we shouldn’t we? Well if you are going to, I think go somewhere where you can try them on in private, quietly and have lovely women in the shop who truly advise you! I head out of London to one of my favourite haunts if I want peaceful Saturday morning shopping with a Starbucks: Fluidity in Henley on Thames (43-45 Bell Street, fluidity-f2.com). It’s a shop with sort of the best of London in it. A mix of classics, top designers, newer designers, and upstairs an amazing selection of jeans. All the makes, from J-brand, James, True Religion and more.

With jeans, especially white ones, you have to try on loads of pairs – endless pairs in my case, since now all jeans come in so many styles from cigarette pants to 14″ leg to slim fit, boot cut, you name it! They are so personal, I couldn’t recommend one pair but advise trying them on in comfort and with a reliable person in Susie, who owns the shop who will help you find the most flattering fit!

White orchids

They are meant to give a house a good ‘karma’ and have a peaceful ‘aura’ about them. Orchids are just so simple and beautiful in white.

Send one to someone you love via marksandspencer.com – they will deliver an Autograph double stem cascade orchid (£59.00). I know it seems a bit pricey, but they last (with care!) for up to three months. A good orchid tip I learned is don’t ever water them. Instead, every three days put three to four ice cubes at the bottom and let them soak in – that way they keep happy!!