Category: 2016
Hastings..2016
It was pure fluke we arranged a holiday in Hastings at the exact time of their 1066 celebrations to mark 950 years since the famous battle which changed English history.
The enactment put on by English Heritage was epic, both in terms of scale and quality: The sheer attention to detail was a joy to behold with every costume cared for down to the last buttonhole.
Running up to the battlefield was a row of shops to supply us and any soldiers with their daily needs: boar hides, leather satchels, knives, jewellery, bone needles, hand loomed blankets, buckles and beer all hewn and authentically made so that seeing enactors interacting genuinely felt like a step back in time.
On either side of the battlefield were the camps of the Normans and Saxons, true living and breathing hives of activity.
From cooking food and tending livestock to weaving and making music.
The day was packed with individual events, including a falconry show. This is the closest I’ve ever got to a real golden eagle.
And so the battle began..
(The irony of the jester watching on..)
It was fabulous!
Laters, Kate x
Future Candy x
The future doesn’t eat, but it does draw you in with it’s promise of change and difference.
If I could predict a future trend it would be a move away from regular pattern and symmetry.
Not an easy concept to pull off: How do you make something cohesive whilst embracing chaos?
(All pictures Pinterest)
Except it’s that perfect imperfect sweet spot that makes it so very tasty.
Bon appetit.
Laters, Kate x
Lady of Misrule x
Do you look at clothes for their integral beauty or as something you could potentially add to your expanding wardrobe? Take the By. Bonnie Young clothes – a veritable smorgasbord of gorgeousness – but the chances of them say, fitting me? Limited. But it doesn’t stop me drooling. Or do you dream of what you want and hope that somebody out there can read your fevered mind and actually produce it?
It’s a subtle twist on that age old question, does style come before fashion? (Which one could argue is a posh way of saying if you wear what suits you first, do you look better?) which also the means, the chances of finding what you’ve dreamt of are low.
Which as cunningly as a foxes tail on a badger, brings me to the point of this post: The eternal hunt for the perfect pair of jeans..mainly because there’s an imaginary pair I’m desperate to find…high waisted that flare from the hip rather than the knee…and I suspect these: Irina High Rise by Citizens of Humanity could be them.
So I’m looking and thinking would they fit? would they really suit…… And who at Citizen of Humanity has got the power of telepathy? Maybe if there’s ever a chance I could try on a pair in the right size in a half price sale, I’ll jump.
Laters, Kate x
Full Spectrum x
I’m being distracted by everything Mexican folk art. Not surprising with Day of the Dead just around the corner, but it’s an art form I cherish.
Honed and loved into existence, it’s a buzz that can gather and turn something simple into to a jewel.
There’s exuberance, simplicity, ingenuity and joy: It’s life.
Laters, Kate x
Sweet Dreams x
A bedroom with a statement bad that draws the eye and makes the heart beat faster with it’s come-to-bed loucheness..
(All pictures Savoir Beds)
Who am I to disagree?
Laters, Kate x
BY. Bonnie Young x
A woman of my heart as a true renaissance woman, Bonnie Young has worked in the fashion industry, travelled the world, written a book, amassed an important collection of tribal costumes and jewellery (hashtag-very-jealous). Then returned to Donna Karan, to leave Karan to start a children’s line to suddenly realising that women were actually buying the clothes for themselves (pausing now briefly for a cynically raised eyebrow at the momentary snapshot of society today) leading her to start her own label, BY.Bonnie Young. This was her New York Fashion Week debut.
It was inspired by nature, the South, the Victorians all wrapped up in a velvet bow with a flair for seventies ease.
It’s flounces with fierce rather than frivolity – there’s nothing over the top or distracting.
Each texture, cut, silhouette has a reason.
It’s totally wearable, totally special, grown up, no-nonsense strength.
She’s one to watch.
Laters, Kate x
Pegged out..
I was talking about this to a friend today, so now I’m blogging about it: It’s a simple retro peg board discovered at Berylune complete with wooden pegs which would be perfect in Charlie’s room to carry the clutter from his desk.
(Though I’d quite like one for my study too)
It’s good, simple, honest, clever design with multiple uses. To be honest, you can probably pick up a bargain by searching ‘work shop storage’. I was being a bit anal, loving the wooden pegs. But I’m hoping I’ll be able to customise it anyways – there are plenty of websites on how to make your own.
Maybe not this far…but who knows?!
It’s a winner. Chicken dinner.
Laters, Kate x
It’s Started..
Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat. Except it isn’t..but the insidious creep is appearing on my peripheral vision like the ink from a frightened octopus. I bought my first stocking fillers today…and faced head on the yearly mental anguish of the inner childs excitement for presents versus materialistic waste and the accumulation of useless stuff. I still haven’t got a solution to square the circle – how to appear less Ebenezer, more Mathew Cuthbert? Except possibly to buy less, buy better, buy clever. With this in mind I found myself on this site – Life of Jay – which, though I didn’t realise it at the time, caters primarily for men which they don’t presume to be all sports mad. It genuinely has some interesting stuff..(though does it work if it’s still classed as ‘stuff?’ Sigh)
But who can say no to good stylish storage?
Or a retro notebook for the jottings of the block buster you know they want to write.
But then I see a silly tin toy rabbit and want to pop it in my basket. Why??
They have these which are clever – a retro tin..
Containing the bits you think you need. Except I’d pay more if the interior wasn’t made of plastic..
This appeals: A reusable teabag robot. Who doesn’t need that on a cold morning?
And I love their lab style storage jars.
(All pictures Life of Jay)
Then side tracked by a cunningly designed pizza cutter…
And I’m failing and falling already..
Laters, Kate x
Rachel Comey. Homie.
Rachel Comey stirs the spirit, lifts the soul and happily shakes it.
Take her Ready to Wear 2017 collection which she staged, in celebration of 15 years in the business, on the streets of NY in reference to her very first catwalk show.
How apt: The source of inspiration part of the realism.
With garments in different shapes and sizes reflecting reality.
Modelled by real people of all genders, age, figure type yet still sewn together with a signature style.
It’s a gauntlet.
Laters, Kate x
Lavenders Blue x
Strange things flit through my head – take today – lavender bags? Maybe because a kilo of dried lavender has arrived through the post..an impulsive purchase made with thoughts of a tidy, old fashioned style utility room with crisp white linens adorning the shelves.
But it would be a lovely project to do with the kids..and a great way to use up dying but much loved scraps of vintage fabric.
Shame it’s only Monday.
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 
