Category: British
Friday Night is Quiz Night..
It all started out quite civilised..it was the school quiz after all. Our theme was the Godfather complete with horses head, grave candles, tommy guns and a priest to keep us on the straight and narrow.
It’s a quiz night like no other..the effort put in is extraordinary and as a result, so is the atmosphere…this year there was even the Jamaican bobsleigh team..with full sized bobsleigh…
Male member of the Geek team
I blame the Breaking Bad crew (who came with an entire smoking chemistry kit)..for trying to infiltrate our territory with their glowing vodka crystal meth jellies…
And our priest? Who we were relying on for our moral compass? She was on another planet..(icing sugar obviously has powerful qualities)..and things rapidly went down into debauchery from there…
One of the maddest, funniest (my throat is still sore!) – let’s face it – drunken nights I’ve had in a very, very long time..one that will live long in what memories there are!! It begs the question..
Can parents get expelled????
Laters, still recovering, Kate x
Fascinating Faustine x
Tucked away in the wilds of East London is a Studio with a difference. It’s where Faustine Steinmetz works her magic spinning, dying and weaving her own fabrics, up-cycling old textiles and turning the ordinary into the curiously exotic.
Her work isn’t about re-defining the silhouette into dramatic statements, instead she wants her clothes to have a grounded reference point. Each piece is chosen from the iconic element of our wardrobes – the pieces you reach for without thinking. It’s then the re-construction that gets taken to a whole new level.
Choices are made – like the denim will be made from mohair – and from that point, everything is handmade and hand dyed, right down to familiar red tabs and labels which are hand woven on looms in the studio.
These jeans were tapestried by hand to create the illusion of aged denim using hundreds and thousands of tiny stitches. The process took ten people 3 months to complete.
The idea behind this jacket was to create something that looked as if it had spent years floating in the sea.
(All pictures by Sanna Helena Berger)
Her concept is as far away from fast fashion as you can get, but it also challenges the thought processes of luxury brands. Many of the pieces she chooses as her inspiration, like the 501 levi jeans, were originally designed for labourers – made out of necessity rather than for beauty for the ordinary person on the street. But for Faustine luxury is not a glittering ball gown made from rare pleated silks and worn once, ‘luxury’ means somebody spending the time and talent to create something unique using pride and passion to create with integrity and heart.
Laters, Kate x
Throw on the Throws..
The stand out item on the Burberry AW14 Collection was the blanket cape thrown with nonchalant ease around the models shoulders. You just know it’s going to be a big look next winter as the perfect armour against even the thought of another onslaught from the Polar Vortex, stylishly layering layers on layers. But I do have a little confession….I thought Christopher Bailey was making a political statement against the treatment of cows in the UK..or maybe in support of vegetarians? Who knows – but I just thought..jeez..this is radical!!
You could hear the penny clang when I read later they were actually Cara’s initials..which, honest to God, is a totally awesome concept….just maybe her’s weren’t the best to send out first!
Laters, Kate x
Lighting the Way x
In my dreams there’s an Abigail Ahern chandelier hanging over my dining room table. Scrap that – we’re talking dreams..they’ll be two! (and a reinforced ceiling) This one has my heart – it’s made from tiny squares of porcelain that would gently glow on a dark winters night. But at £15,050 a light (the extra £50 tickles my sensibilities) it remains firmly on the once-I’ve-won-the-lottery-lust-list…
There’s also this one (at a mere £2,750) which makes me want to break open the kid’s air-drying clay and get creative. The truth is Abigail’s whole aesthetic has me squealing..the dark, brooding colours with the unexpected pops of colour, the quirky touches and an underlining sense of humour that spontaneously brings forth a smile of pure pleasure.
So it’s rather wonderful that she’s teamed up with Debenhams to design a range especially for them…
I laugh!
For the study?
Guarding the front door?
(This one is on her website but not on the Debenhams one yet..I hope he does appear as I love him and his dark purple lampshade..imagine on two bedside cabinets either side of a glamourous french rococo bed?..sigh)
This is when Designer versus High Street works..when there’s a symbiotic relationship that we can all feel inspired by rather than a parasitical one that destroys as it feeds.
And at £85 a light?
Bring it on!
Laters, Kate x
Woolly Wonders..
Halfway through the winter and I’ve reached that point where my jumpers are no longer in a good place; The life and soul has been worn and washed out of their sorry, bobbly seams. And it certainly doesn’t help when I see objects of desire like these from Pringle of Scotland AW14.
Which is odd, because when I was at Secondary school we were all divided into tribes depending on what we wore, the main two being ‘Trendies’ and ‘casuals’ – Trendies were the middle class kids who wore their baggy, ripped, holey clothes as a source of pride. Whilst the Casuals – the rougher kids on free school meals – revelled in the allure of Designer labels. Their uniform of choice was a Burberry-check box-pleat skirt, Pringle twin set and knee high riding boots set off with layers and layers of heavy gold chains, worn with the same intent as medieval weaponry.
But after nearly two hundred years in the business, Pringle is moving with the times. Massimo Nicosia is pushing boundaries and experimenting with innovation whilst still retaining a relatable Collection.
He’s recruited Architect and material engineer Richard Beckett and started working with 3d printing.
(All photos from Style.com)
Weaving together heritage with modern flair he’s made a seamless leap to the future.
I think it’s time I looked ahead too….
Laters, Kate x
Bohemian Spirit.. x
Special clothes only come out for special occasions, but a special rug? It’s a red carpet under your feet every day.
Alexander McQueen spent three years designing this Collection for the Rug Company, taking their craftsmanship to new, couture levels.
Like iridescent jewels they weave a spell of fantasy and wonder.
Sarah Burton enthuses, “The Rug Company shares similar values to Alexander McQueen. It’s about offering a product that is precious and luxurious that showcases the best of British design and traditional craftsmanship.”
It’s a little bit of McQueen on earth,
Laters, Kate x
No Shift in the Mood x
(Photo: The Telegraph)
There’s been no let up in the UK weather – January was the wettest in 248 years and February hasn’t been much better. A 74.8 ft wave’s been recorded off Penzanze, Cornwall which, if confirmed will be the highest ever off the coast of Britain – a mere five times the height of a double decker bus..
(Photo: Solent news and photo agency)
The British haven’t lost their sense of humour. Yet.
(first photo by John McLellan, second photo by James Dadzitis)
But 25 miles of Somerset are under 3.2 billion cubic feet of water. This is Sam Notaro’s house – against the odds, he’s doing his damnedest to protect it, after all a man’s home is his castle. Literally. The moat came for free..
In London we’re OK – the Houses of Parliament will be under before we are. But that doesn’t mean everything is rosy…The River Thames is under serious stress and our local Commons have turned into swamps (let Molly off the lead and you’re lucky to see her head) and new rivers and springs keep oozing out of the sodden ground.
I can’t let the kids out in the garden either as it’s seriously awash with Molly’s sloppy poos transformed into puddles of filthy fluids that are nigh on impossible to pick up. I fear the only solution is to invent a liquid hydrogen gun and zap the buggers (the poo’s guys..the poo’s…).
Hmmmmmm I can almost smell a money spinner…sort of…
Laters, Kate x
Isa Arfen x
A mixture of new and found, Isa Arfen is the London-based label started in 2011 by Serafina Sama.
Serafina graduated from Central Saint Martins School of Art & Design in 2006 and has since built up an impressive portfolio of experience: Marni, Lanvin, Marc Jacobs, Chloe, Louis Vuitton, Acne and Charlotte Olympia. It shows.
The label captures and enhances the subtle shift in the fashion mood – Soft but with feminine confidence..A walking statement of drama without causing offence.
Serafina says: ‘To me, fashion is about desire, beauty and fun. It’s not about dressing up in a costume. Isa Arfen is about a real woman dressing for her real life and really enjoying it.’
Edible..
Charismatic, eclectic, elegant and exuberant…it lights me up like a Lee Broom light.
Laters, Kate x
Dr James Barry x
Last week I was very fortunate to visit The Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret just by London Bridge with the wonderful Julie from Vintage Attitude. Hidden away, up a steep spiral staircase and nestled in the dark timbers of the attic of an old church the museum is caught in a sleepy, rather delicious time warp.
It was part of St Thomas’s hospital – a hospital that was described as ancient way back in 1215…
On one side is the herb garret and apothecary. And on the other – the oldest surviving operating theatre in Europe.
What stories these walls could tell.
But what really caught my eye was this picture of James (Miranda) Barry, an amazing woman who overcame the general prohibition on women studying Medicine by disguising herself as a man to become the first female British surgeon. Barry qualified in Medicine in 1812 and went onto train as a surgeon at St. Thomas’s. In January 1813, she qualified as a Regimental Surgeon at the Royal College of Surgeons and over the next fifty years she rose through the ranks to become Inspector General of the Hospitals in the British Army. No mean feat – and she must’ve been good because in Cape Town in 1826 this vegetarian, teetotalling surgeon performed the first documented successful Caesarean Section where both mother and baby survived. Barry even met Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War, who noted in her memoirs:
‘He kept me standing in the midst of quite a crowd of soldiers, Commissariat, servants, camp followers etc every one of who behaved like a gentlemen during the scolding I received while (she) behaved like a brute…After he was dead, I was told that (she) was a woman..I should say that (she) was the most hardened creature I ever met.’
Barry spent most of her laters years with her constant companion and manservant John (in the picture with her above) and it was only on her deathbed that she was finally discovered to be a woman. Barry was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery in London in 1865.
What a truly remarkable human being with an incredible story of which this must only be the very tip of the iceberg..an unsung heroine who surely should at the very least share the same historical podium as Florence Nightingale?…I am desperate to know more and now feel compelled to visit Kensal Green Cemetery to find her grave…I can’t help but wonder which name is on her headstone?…and what it might say?
Laters, Kate x
Natasha Law x
Natasha Law is the down to earth, incredibly talented older sister of Actor Jude Law. With her natural, caught in the moment works she manages to find the simplest of lines to create pictures that are both intimate and vibrant.
What would I give to have one on my walls??
A lot!!..also quite fancy that green leather skirt…
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 