FASHION, FOOD, EVENTS & TRAVEL

The Kings Arms on Fulham Road

Bow Down: Queen Bey

Sunsets and Night Skies

Coco's Tea Party x Next: Behind the Scenes

Friday 28 February 2014


Florals. When are they not in? I'm a sucker for a botanical print and for the latest rounds of our flowery friends think wild meadows of purples and pinks. In comparison to previous season prints of exotic flowers, the latest crop comes straight for the back gardens and woodlands of Britain. Beautiful bouquets of wild flowers dominated the catwalk in the forms of dresses, tops and skirts. So luckily for us, if we want to take this trend into our own homes, all we need to do is delve into our gardens and pick a bunch.

Images: pinterest.com, tumblr.com, vogue.com. Left: Jonathan Saunders AW14. Right: Mary Katrantzou AW14.

Wednesday 26 February 2014

If you live in the UK, you'll know that from the end of December to mid-February our fair isle was battered by some of the worst storms we've seen in years. I'm lucky enough to call a small seaside resort in Dorset my home, but as a coastal town we received our fair share of stormy weather. Luckily, our bay is east facing, so we didn't receive the brunt of the storms, unlike a lot of towns near us and particularly the towns in Cornwall and Devon.


When I was last at home, my Dad and I took an afternoon stroll to the end of the beach and back to check out some of the destruction caused by Hurricane Brenda (yes, that's my unofficial name for the storm). During the winter months, many locals and holiday makers take down their wooden beach huts, but a few remain up all year round meaning they got little beat up by the storms. A lot of them constantly have peeling paint and brown smudges where rain water has made the rusty nails leave streaks in the wood, but I think it's the way beach huts should look... like they're just about to fall down. Of course, we've got our fair share of luxury huts too (ones you could practically live in) but if it doesn't smell like wetsuits, isn't covered in cold, wet sand and doesn't have a gas lit whistling kettle then I'm not really that interested.



This poor little soldier unfortunately has a bit more damage then just a bit of smacking around from the wind and sea. Over the past year we've had a lot of landslides on the cliffs and seeing as the north end of our bay is under cliffs it's not great for the people with beach huts underneath. Unluckily for the owners of this hut, the bad weather had caused another landslide, which fell behind the hut. The whole back wall of the hut had been smashed in by the cliff behind it, causing the front of it to completely distort out of shape. The diagnosis isn't great, I'm not sure this one's going to make it.












I love the juxtaposition of bright summary colours of the huts against the rustic 'about-to-fall-down' feel they all have. I'd have photographs of them all hanging up in my house if I could.

Sunday 23 February 2014

The Metro in Paris is the French equivalent to the Tube in London and the Subway in New York. An extensive network of underground trains that quickly zips tourists and commuters alike around the city without the complications of the congestion filled streets. Although Paris' Metro reaches vastly around the city, there are stations that are left unused. These stations, shut down by the French government at the beginning of France's involvement in WWII in 1939, have been left almost untouched since then. In the past they have been used for homeless shelters and film backdrops, but a candidate for the Major of ParisNathalie Kosciusko-Morizet has proposed a series of plans to turn the desolate stations into places of culture and recreation for the people of Paris.

Headed up by Manal Rachdi from OXO Architects and Nicolas Lasiné, the proposed plans include an underground nightclub (to avoid noise complaints from residents of the neighbourhood), a garden (so locals have somewhere to enjoy nature even on rainy days), a swimming pool (to bring sports facilities to more neighbourhoods), an art gallery or a restaurant.

"To swim in the metro seems like a crazy dream, but it could soon come true." OXO Architects

Art Gallery

Theatre

Swimming Pool

Restaurant

Garden

Nightclub
I love the idea of turning an unused part of Paris' history and turning it into something that both tourists and Parisians would enjoy. It's not turning your back on the history, it's taking it and turning it into something even more beautiful and enriched. That's a beautiful concept that could be applied to many different things, especially fashion.

What do you think about these plans? I know personally I'd visit all of these subterrain attractions if they were to come to Paris! My favourites are the restaurant, the theatre and the swimming pool. Which are yours?

Tuesday 18 February 2014

At the beginning of January, I was lucky enough to be able to work backstage at Next's Hi Summer 2014 fashion show. The show was just for store managers so no press were invited, therefore I had to wait until the Hi Summer press day had passed before I could show you these snaps!

For two days I was assisting two menswear stylists. I had to get to know the stories being shown and work out what each look was for each model, as well as the ten male dancers too. I had so much fun over the two days and it was so interesting to watch the stylists work. It really made me think that styling is something I'd like to incorporate into my job 'when I grow up'!














Water jets formed a sort of invisible tunnel for the swimwear section. That blew my mind!

Friday 14 February 2014

Valentine's Day isn't for everyone, even some people in relationships hate it. Personally, I think it's a lovely excuse to go out for dinner with my boyfriend, but to be honest I really don't need much persuading to want to go out for dinner! So for the people who really don't enjoy Valentine's Day, today I just want to show you something that you should love...

Alexa Chung's outfit to the Marc by Marc Jacobs show on the 11th February at NYFW.

Beautiful, simple, elegant. I wouldn't say no...

c/o Vogue

Thursday 13 February 2014

On Saturday morning, me and my flatmate Alice wrapped ourselves up in big coats and scarves and headed down to the Custard Factory in Birmingham for the B2B Antiques and Vintage Bazaar. The Custard Factory was the home to Bird's Custard in Victorian times, but since then it has been beautifully restored to a space for creative businesses, independent retailers and uniquely different culture outside of London. We've always managed to miss the B2B Antique events before, so I was so pleased when I checked Twitter earlier on in the week and happened to notice it was on.



The fair itself took part in a few different parts of the Factory, but the biggest part was in a warehouse-style room. It was so cold in there, mostly due to the vast empty space, however, what I found was worth being cold all day for.






Hidden amongst the vintage gems on a particular rail, I saw a glimpse of pale blue peeking out at me. When I grabbed it I instantly fell in love with what I'd found. A cropped blue 1980s MaxMara jacket with a gorgeous faux fur collar. The lady who sold it to me told me a story that it belonged to an Italian ballerina who was selling her whole wardrobe as she was moving to New York. Alice was cynical about the story but I'm choosing to believe it! The biggest thrill about buying vintage clothes for me is the story attached to them. I usually ask the sellers if they know, but if they don't then I make them up. I think I'm a bit of a romantic at heart!


I also got my hands on these cute 1950s glasses. I love all the designs but my absolute favourite is the New York one. I'd love more of them! I hope these have got a beautiful story behind them too.


Have you been to any cool antique or vintage fairs recently? What's your best vintage buy?

Tuesday 11 February 2014


February... It's not the most inspiring of months. It's still bitterly cold, windy and rainy, but the sun isn't setting until at least 5.30pm *fist pump*. Spring is practically whispering in our ears. However, let's not get ahead of ourselves. If, like me, you live in England at the moment, you'll know about the battering of storms we've been having. Therefore my ultimate February outfit is this gorgeous combo.

The Tweed Faux Fur Collar Coat from Warehouse - because that furry collar looks so damn cosy.
The Washed Black Baxter Jeans from Topshop - because washed black is excellent casual take on classic black jeans.
The Boat Neck Stretch Cotton Shirt from Esprit - because I literally can't get enough of striped shirts. Literally.
The Neutral Western Boots from Next - because neutral boots are flatting and definitely in right now.
The Twin Bag from Prada - because it's PRADA and its YELLOW! No need for further explanation.

Would you wear my February outfit? What do you think of it?

Tuesday 4 February 2014

I must explain first, I am not your typical Harry Potter superfan. I don't have a cape, a wand or even a broomstick, nor do I have posters of all the cast of the films up on my bedroom walls. What I do have is a lifelong love of the Harry Potter stories. My mum read the first book to me and my brother when we were about 5 or 6 and from that day onwards I've been hooked. I've read every book several times and I have the full film boxset. There's just something about the story that I have never seemed to let go of and for that reason I think J.K Rowling is an absolute genius. If I could hug her and say thank you, I definitely would.

The tour was magical. It made me feel about 12 years old again, completely thrown back into the depths of the story. The tour is full of sets, costumes and props from all eight of the Harry Potter films, most of which are completely in tact. I don't want to give too much away from the tour in case you're planning on going yourself, but my favourite bits were definitely the Great Hall and the visit to Diagon Alley. Both sets were pretty much whole and I just could not believe I was standing where the scenes I loved so much had been bought to life.

Below are just a few of my favourite parts of the tour for you to have a sneak peek at but please, if you enjoyed either the books or the films, I urge you to go to the tour for yourself! You have to book in advance, so take a look at their website here.












Butterbeeeeeeer!










Mischief managed.
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