Category: Bohemian

June 19, 2014

Design Hero’s x

Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli’s Valentino are serenely working a rich thread of inspiration which carries through to their Resort 2015 Collection.

I look at their work and wonder what it is that always makes my heart beat so. And every time the answer is the same: The workmanship.

When you read descriptions of dresses from centuries past: delicate silks caught in a web of tulle with stitches made with fairy hands…you think it’s a quality of work that’s been lost forever…until you see Valentino.

It’s also fascinating that these exquisite clothes are not based on the clothes from the Ball room or Drawing room, but are drawn from bohemian and peasant designs. Every-day-wear now elevated to the heavenly.

The incredible embroideries and textiles have a soul of their own, harking back to that time when only the very best would do, when skill named the price and craftsmanship mattered.

And like sorcerers, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli have conjured up and captured that magic.

There’s no pretence..it’s hours and hours of layers of care and dedication.

With a little bit of cool thrown in.

But the truth is, for reasons beyond the concept of modern day sheep-street Brand these clothes are the representation of true luxury…they are literally works of walking Art. And they blow my mind.

Laters, Kate x

June 18, 2014

Swarm x

Over the next few months The Husband and I are planning a little re-vamp of our house: We bought it over ten years ago as two flats and have spent much of that time doing various pretty major structural projects whilst juggling two babies. Now it’s finally the time to give it a bit of a silky lustre and add those finishing touches – the fun bits I’ve been waiting oh-so-long-for – like finding a stained glass panel for the front door where the council security glass still remains..oh joy unbounded!

It means I’ve been spending far too long in our downstairs toilet where the old interior design mags live – I’m following the principal that if it’s old and I still like it, it’s passed the ‘test of time’ test with flying colours and will last forever more. It was in a 2011 edition of Elle Decoration I found a small article about the artist Leslie Oschmann which caught my eye – she uses old canvases to make bags or to cover vintage chairs before sealing them with protective lacquer..

I love her whole aesthetic..taking something and making it more beautiful and useful. Each piece exuding character and warmth. These chairs make my heart sing.

Leslie originally came from the States where she worked with Companies such as Anthropologie before she took a complete life-style change, moving to Amsterdam, buying a bike and starting her own studio Swarm.

‘I learnt that I needed to get back to touching objects, not just trying to display or sell them..I missed the tactile’

What she does epitomises everything I love and want to embrace – classic, timeless quirky ideas with a touch of age used with care to make something both practical and beautiful that serenely stands out.

Shouldn’t be too hard then………

Laters, Kate x

June 12, 2014

Stunning Shibori..

(From Fausto Puglisi Resort 2015)

There’s a quiet revolution happening which originally had it’s routes in Japanese culture but for me will always sing of the seventies: Shibori tie dying..

(From Fausto Puglisi Resort 2015)

But now it’s far removed from flower garlands and hippy communes and is steadily seeping it’s way onto the catwalk..

(From Fausto Puglisi Resort 2015)

Even Michael Kors Resort 2015 can’t resist..

From MiH jeans who have a particularly fine range this season all in glorious indigos.

But the joy is this is something that anyone can do – especially with inspiration and advice available all over the web:

I love this video..I want to be there and play!

One of the best written tutorials I’ve found is this one from Honestlywtf, making all sorts of shapes and techniques look utterly effortless and astonishingly beautiful..imagine these as individual napkins on a summer table…

Or doing these techniques on a dark denim shirt with bleach instead of dye?? And I’ve just looked….and Honesltywtf have a tutorial for that as well!

Suddenly I really, really want to get my hands dirty….

Laters, Kate x

May 22, 2014

Joy x

If I see something I like that flutters the gut I follow the trail back to see if it was a one off or a true love. Sometimes there’s only time to scribble a name down..then tracking it down is a bit like a treasure hunt wondering what will turn up. So it was with Joie – a name in my notebook, a diamond in the dust.

What first caught my interest were the shirts with their easy nonchalance and natural grace.

In many ways similar to Zadig and Voltaire except more accessible, less edgy. Although much of that is the contrast of styling. Look at Joie as individual items rather than a whole look and it would be easy to add the urban edge.

Made with quality materials, there’s nothing faddy – they’re the type of pieces that will live on in the wardrobe, adapting and morphing with the times.

Smoothly integrated, wearable, honest.

Key pieces painted in broad strokes.

With a joy of simplicity.

I could say I didn’t like it. But it would be a lie.

Laters, Kate x

May 20, 2014

Rose Tinted x

(Women welders from World War II)

There are some clothes that my mother hates…but I love – Utility wear comes under that heading. I suspect it’s a generation thing..my Grandmother hated brass beds associating them with poverty, the Husband’s mother hates our wooden floorboards preferring her perceived luxury of fitted carpets. Then there’s the ongoing discussions between the benefits of a free-standing kitchen rather than a fitted one. We definitely see things with different eyes depending on our subliminal associations.

I love a good Chore coat, like this one from Toast. But my mother would see small, grubby, repetitive work with a touch of coarse. Clothes reduced to their bare essentials with aprons and housecoats abandoned for their practical purposes because the undercurrent of domestic containment is just too strong.

But for me there’s an intrinsic quality – I embrace the practicality, the structured comfort, the soft detailing, the wholesome vintage charm. Instead of servitude and drudgery it represents a time when we took pride in making things from scratch..when it seemed there was more space to breathe.

(Also from Toast)

(By Sisters by Sibling SS14)

Of course, you could just see them as brilliant coats, perfect for layering in this bridging the weather time till the lazy days of summer truly hit…

Laters, Kate x

May 19, 2014

Tracks x

Have you seen the trailer, or even seen the film Tracks? It’s a film adaptation of Australian’s Robyn Davidson’s memoirs about her journey across thousands of kilometres of dessert from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean in 1977.

What caught my eye was not just her story: She’s always maintained she didn’t know why she decided to walk across Australia with camels but I think we can all relate to that idea of growing wings and flying away.

But I also loved her style – no longer in the world of princesses, it harks back to the innocent days when labels were an irrelevance and you wore something because it was comfortable and you loved it. Her style is as natural as breathing air.

(Original photo of Robyn)

There’s a powerful sense of self to roam in your own world where you are Queen.

Rich, raw and rather wonderful I shall watch and learn.

Laters, Kate x

May 17, 2014

End of the Week.. x

It’s been a pretty mad, bad week from the lows of a long dentist appointment (oh the joys of a periodontal clean due to impacted wisdom teeth..6 injections later..) various meetings and visits to the vet with a very stressed dog..to a fabulous Book Club night (the above is my reminder for the next one..)

And a wonderful day out at the Spirit of Summer with lovely mate Galliana. I will confess: we did initially think we’d got the wrong venue..and date..

My Wardrobe.com had a stand and I succumbed to this little number from new label Christophe Sauvat..it was the boho vibe and the pop of neon that sold it..(and the fact is was the last one left..)

Christophe Sauvat is one of those fascinating characters..He started in the 80’s designing clocks and watches..

Then moved to Brazil where he made and exported thread bracelets, selling over 8 million.

Before co-founding Antik Batik in Paris.

Now he’s in Portugal where he’s started his own label based on his love for the gypsy-style woman who still feels at home whether in London, Morocco or New York.

It has my heart.

The day/week ended with a Mum’s Night Out to ‘Supper in a Pear Tree’..a pop-up restaurant with a difference…Run by two sisters, Annabel and Charlotte Partridge the evening starts with a glass of wine and a Drawing Class around a nude model with supervision from Charlotte. We had NO idea it was going to be a rather fetching male model..there was much tittering and flexing of charcoal from behind our easels…

The evening finished with a three course supper cooked by Annabel..including foraged herbs and homemade sloe gin…

An event to remember…

Laters, Kate x

May 15, 2014

Urban Boho..

Haunted by a bohemian spirit? Your idea of sexy = doing cartwheels on a beach? Love Isabel Marant but need something different?

Perhaps Zadig and Voltaire is for you..

They’re lifeblood is louche, artisanal cool and mixing the unexpected..like this tee with it’s letters in sparkly Dolly Parton sapphire blue..

Eluding and including..

It’s about unleashing your inner off-duty model and embracing all things hip..without getting too serious. Me likes.

Laters, Kate x

May 12, 2014

Weekend Wanderings..

On Saturday Fairy, Bella and I headed to Shoreditch to the Jumble and Pearls vintage and more sale at the Book Club. (A fab cafe in it’s own right with loads going on…and it’s own table tennis table..)

Shoreditch is an eclectic, buzzing, creative, urban area with stories and something different round every corner. Looking with eyes wide open is a must.

(I was thinking of you, Su..loved the retro letters..)

Opposite the light shop was this fairytale-like Reclamation Yard…we were immediately sidetracked (it doesn’t take much..). Set in an old church it was like stepping through the wardrobe into Narnia…..

I didn’t think so much space existed in central London…

In my dreams this old French haberdashery unit is pride of place in my kitchen holding bowls and plates..and anything else..

We were at Jumble and Pearl to see my wonderful cousin Nathalie (her story here) and see her new merchandise for Sam Says Enjoy Life.

(My sister swears by these bibs and is always being asked where she got them from)

I also had Bella’s portrait drawn by the lovely Jenny Robins.

I’ve always fancied having a wall of framed ‘street art’ portraits of the kids, drawn across the years, seen with different eyes and marking their growth into adults.

Jenny has said she’ll help, so this is the first one…I like to think the finished collection will be like an Installation in it’s own right..

We headed home, very happy with my purchase from Nathalie – one of her new up-cycled denim bags, perfect to hold in style the daily detritus I manage to accumulate and lug around.