James and I met Charlotte the same day we met each other – first day of university in 1999. Yes, 1999. For those of you who are bad at math: that’s approximately 150 years ago. We shared a flat in halls with three others and the six of us fast became friends. Fate seems too grand a word to use. After all, it was completely random that we all ended up living in that flat. But I still feel ridiculously lucky to have been one of those six. I would’ve become a different person without them.

There are many reasons to remember that time – I share my life with one of them – and one thing that’s stuck with me is that Charlotte truly had her own sense of style even then, when we were really only babies, 19 years old, stumbling through university into life. When I see pictures of me from those days I think: Cropped tops? Really? WHY? When I see old pictures of Charlotte I think: she’s cool. (James has legally prevented me from speaking publicly about his style at university. I really don’t see why. I think his bleached hairdo was awesome)

There’s always been an ease about how Charlotte looked and dressed. A certainty. Case in point: the brown leather belt she bought during university is still one of her favourites. In the summer, she’d often wear a denim jacket, like she does now. I haven’t kept any of the clothes I wore in my early 20s. I did however hold on to a tan leather coat Charlotte had to leave behind when she moved. I knew I’d never wear it, it was too much Charlotte to suit me. But it seemed a shame to give it away. I thought, some day I’ll give it back to her.

Then I left England and Charlotte moved back home, back to Australia. James saw her again a few years ago. Still, I was a bit nervous before we went to visit her in Melbourne in December. What would it be like to see each other? Would it feel strange? Foreign? Would we have anything to talk about? It had been eight years since we’d last seen each other and facebook just doesn’t count. But from the second she met us in front of her parents’ house until the end of the two weeks we spent with her and her family, it was just like it had always been. Sure, we’ve gotten older, have changed in ways. We don’t think that it’s perfectly acceptable to have grilled cheese sandwiches for three meals a day. We can’t see the challenge in being the last person in a pub anymore. But she is still the same cheerful, happy, fun girl. Sunny, on any day.

I think you can see in her spirit in the pictures we took and in the clothes she packed for our trip to the beach.

I hope it’s not another eight years before I see her again. And next time, I’ll give her back that leather coat.

From her Zimmermann bikini to her Soludos espadrilles, her kaftan to her denim jacket, her sun visor to her sunglasses, these are some of Charlotte’s favourite things to wear in the summer:

*Thanks for everything, hon!

“Yes!” That’s what I thought when I first saw the wedding dress in Verena von Pufendorf’s studio.

Now scroll down to see what I mean, then come back up here, because I need to tell you more about it.

Verena designed that wedding dress for herself and she told me that when she put it on that day, her nerves settled immediately. Today, she keeps it in her studio to show customers who are considering ordering a wedding dress from her. I don’t know about you, but I think that dress alone is a pretty convincing argument to get married.

In case you have no plans to get married, Verena designs a whole range of other dresses, all equally as stunning. I had been following her as a designer for a while and I’m so glad I finally took the chance to visit her in her Berlin studio to see her collection up close. She adds new styles every season, from that showstopper in the picture just below to cool everyday dresses, like the one she’s wearing herself, a short velvet dress with capped sleeves that she’s just added to her collection. The designs are made-to-measure and she has them produced in Germany. You can buy them from her online shop, as well as complimentary garments, but I think you really need to see them up close and feel them. The silks she uses are light as air and the detailing on the clothes is quite incredible, from hand-died feathers from the 1920s to the lace she orders from France.

I really hope Verena opens her own shop soon. Until then, you can see her collection here. And then quickly make an appointment.

I first met Alexa when I was preparing a story about women who love a piece of clothing so much, they buy it over and over again – true collectors. Alexa loves white blouses. After I finished the story, I decided: I’ll have to come back one day and take pictures of the other clothes she loves.

A year later it’s finally happened. And it turns out: Alexa has a lot of love. For college sweaters. For Ikat scarves. For bright jeans. Behind every door we opened in her closet was another collection. I mean, you don’t just need one striped shirt. You need many, because they are all COMPLETELY different from each other. I get that. Although, looking at her closet, I did consider asking her if she wouldn’t mind me shopping her collection of hippie dresses. Surely, she wouldn’t miss one…

Actually, I want to go shopping pretty much every time I see her. I need petrol jeans. Right now! Even though I hadn’t spent much time thinking about petrol jeans before. It’s because of the way she wears her clothes: with self-confidence. And a little bit of self-irony. Excuse me, of course I’m wearing a fur gilet paired with chinos, a checked shirt and neon trainers! She radiates her love for fashion, how much fun it is to have fun with it, and maybe that explains why I’ve never seen Alexa wear anything that wasn’t somehow wonderful.

She’s a surfer who can spot a pair of Isabel Marant pumps from 200 meters. A hippie girl in Chanel sandals. Someone who’ll get just as excited about a pair of Victoria Beckham jeans as about a crochet blouse bought on holiday in Bali.

She is also a designer herself and makes the beautiful bracelets you see in the picture below for her own label vonhey. You can see more of the other things she loves on her blog Alexa Peng.

So, from her surfboard to her collection of lucky charm sea urchins, a romantic blouse from Verena von Pufendorf to her catty Chanel purse, from her scarves to her jeans – these are some of Alexa’s favourite things:

“Got some new boots to show you”. That was all the email from my friend Marie said and all I needed to hear to take my camera to her place. Although I wasn’t surprised to find lots of great things in her wardrobe to take pictures of, not just the boots.

When someone lets you take a peek inside their closet, it’s a bit like going on a treasure hunt. At first she said she really only had black clothes, nothing much with patterns or in any colours. And it’s true: there’s a lot of black in Marie’s wardrobe, none of which I find boring, as black supposedly is, but covetable, like her bomber jacket or the 60s minidress she inherited. But then she suddenly pulled out a bright red sweater. And bleached blue jeans. And a pair of acid green pumps. Turns out she’s a very good treasure hunter outside of her apartment as well. Those acid green pumps? They’re YSL and she found them at a flea market. A flea market! That was when I decided, I need to go shopping with her more often. Maybe I’ll pick up a trick or two about finding and styling clothes from other decades in a way that looks modern, like Marie does.

When she shut the doors to her closet she said, she didn’t have as many clothes as she thought she did. I think that’s a good thing. Especially when you’ve got things that work, like a good parka, an easy shirtdress and Chelsea boots. And like that Max Mara sweater she’s had for years and years and keeps wearing, because it’s got just the right fit and the right cuffs. Why buy a new style each season, if you’ve already found one that’s good for you? And if that sounds screamingly obvious, you haven’t seen my closet.

So, from her flea market finds to her heirlooms, her every day bag to her sunnies, her French minidress to her Italian hand cream, these are some of Marie’s favourite things:

We had met a few times before, but Steffi and I really got to know each other on my very first day at a new job. We were going to share an office. Before I even had time to put down my bag and get nervous about being the new girl once again, she got up from her chair, hugged me and said: “I’m so happy you’re here!” It didn’t matter to her that we were practically strangers. Which meant that we became instant friends.

And even though I’ve known her for some time now, that first impression still fits: Steffi’s an infectiously upbeat, warm person, who makes you feel instantly comfortable in her presence. Turns out that she’s also fantastically fun. (All of which you can see on her blog)

When I went to visit her at home in Hamburg – for the second time, because we spent the first time mostly chatting, drinking coffee and not taking enough pictures! – she happily grabbed a bunch of balloons that were left over from her wedding and started hamming it up for me. She was pretty much game for anything: “Is the large picture hanging on the wall behind getting in the way of the photo? No problem, we’ll take it down! You want to move all of my jeans from my closet and make a big stack out of them? Yeah, okay. God, I have a lot of jeans! Just don’t let my husband see that picture, hehehe.” (By the way, both Steffi and her husband Chrissi are fabulous hosts. Not only did they let me rearrange their entire apartment – they served me fresh juice and cookies while I was rearranging)

Steffi even humored me by doing silly poses with a Chanel rugby ball (yes, a rugby ball, not a football. Thanks for clearing that up, Chrissi!) that she’d once been given as a press gift. That picture alone is making me happier than I should be willing to admit.

You can see her in the clothes she wears. They’re unpretentious, playful, relaxed, and very cool. And she kows the secret to finding the kind of easy, pretty summer dresses that you’re always looking for. A secret I’m going to get out of her…

So, from her engagement ring to the silver Zara jacket that was a lifesaver not just on her wedding day, her favourite white summer dress to the amazing collection of Closed jeans, the von hey bracelets to her Marc Jacobs bag, these are some of her favourite things.

I’ve been looking forward to taking these pictures for a long time. In fact, there isn’t a wardrobe I’ve been wanting to photograph more. Okka and I have known each other for close to eight years. A lot has happened in that time. We moved cities. We met the men in our lives. She had her daughter Fanny and I became a godmother. Okka is no longer the blonde girl with the headband and baggy jeans that stood in front of me at our first meering all those years ago.

Who we become reflects what we wear and I think her wardrobe is “grown-up” in the best sense of that word. She doesn’t follow trends. She’s found out what suits her. She loves a good blazer (and I think you definitely have to get a bit older to appreciate a good blazer). It’s a classic wardrobe, with lots of navy, white and black, with as many blouses as men’s shirts – and enough striped t-shirts to dress the entire Breton fishing fleet. If she wasn’t such a great friend, I would’ve stolen her Louis Vuitton bag a long time ago.

I can only hope that my pictures show how enviably good-looking all the rest of it is, too.

So, from the gold-buttoned Theory blazer to the Repetto sandals, the Hermès scarf to the Vanessa Bruno blouse, her favourite fragrance to her grandmother’s necklace, these are some of her favourite things:

If I could raid anyone’s shoe closet, it would be Elisabeth’s. There are the Chloé ankle boots, the Isabel Marant pumps, the Alaia booties, the Porselli ballerinas. She doesn’t have hundreds of pairs, she just has exactly the ones that everyone else ends up admiring. Same goes for the jewellry. In the months we spent working together last year, she wore a spectacularly beautiful necklace from Yves Saint Laurent a lot, paired with just a simple t-shirt and jeans.

When I went around to her apartment to take these pictures, I was surprised that there weren’t more clothes in her closet. She knows what she likes and sticks with it. In fact, her wardrobe is enviously well-edited (well, she is a journalist). And laid-back in a way that makes me think of the women in Paris (she used to live there after all). Also very French: her fringe. This is what I imagine the late 60s in Paris looked like.

So, from the Alexander Wang “Daria” duffle bag to the Breton stripe shirts, the vintage Céline clutch to her L’Artisan fragrance, these are some of Elisabeth’s favourite things:

I have known Aaron for more than ten years. I cannot remember ever seeing him in anything that looked bad. In fact, it’s the opposite. Every time I see him, I think how much easier it is for men to be well-dressed.

Of course, that’s not really true. It’s that Aaron is very well-dressed – because he knows what suits him and because he’s attentive to his clothes. For instance: when I took the first pictures of the sweater below, he told me that I was missing the most important part, the long hem. It was all about the long hem! You might not know it’s the most important part of the sweater. But when you see him in his clothes, you see that all the details work together perfectly.

These are some of Aaron’s favourite things:

Shoes from Kurt Geiger. Pretty much everything from All Saints.

Menswear by Carolyn Massey.

Black patent leather dress shoes.

Book by Tom Ford and images from Vogue.

Shirts. Lots and lots of shirts.

“International” motorcycle jacket from Barbour.

Alexander McQueen skull print scarves.

Vintage furniture shops around Spitalfields Market.

Tan shoes.

Classic Hermès belt.

Proper chandeliers. This one hangs over the dining table. There’s one in the bathroom, too.

Messenger style leather bags.

Chunky knit sweater.

Albam in London for great British menswear.