Category: Family life
The Fableists x
(Bella wearing Baseball shirt £20)
The driving force behind The Fableist’s children’s label has nothing to do with fashion, it has nothing to do with faddy designs or even seasonal clothes. The name comes from the amalgamation of two words – ‘fables’ – for the telling of stories and most importantly, where each piece of clothing comes from, and ‘activist’ – what it’s going to take to change this industry around. The simple focus of the brand is the wish to do the best for our children and that this should never involve child labour or harmful chemicals.
(Charlie wearing Recycle tee £16)
But that doesn’t mean the fashion doesn’t exist..
Look through the Collection and you’ll find their Chore coat..utilitarian to a seam – can be worn by either boys or girls..timeless, versatile and a wardrobe staple winter or summer.
(Bella wearing Charlie’s Breton tee! £20)
Or their Smock Dress? A tom-boys delight..a dress that isn’t girly based on a vintage dress found in a Parisienne flea market. How perfect?
(Charlie wearing Brain tee £16)
Every element has been thought of and thought through, from the biodegradable PVC packaging to passports and labels made from re-cycled paper and rhino poo. Certainly had my scamps laughing!
At the heart of so much fashion today is a grotty portrait of a dusty, broken world where profit comes before anything else.
What a joy then to discover a Company that is prepared to buck the trend.
The Fableists are chicken soup for children clothes – rich, deep and soulful. They recognise that our future is the little people..and their future needs a planet.
Cool clothes and a good heart?
It’s a rare combination that deserves our support.
Laters, Kate x
A Day in The Life..
6.30 am alarm goes off. Children have been up for sometime like very large dancing elephant mice. Manage to put the inevitable off, listening to Radio 4 till 7.00, but I know it’s a busy day. Shower. Dress. Need to get a post up – thankfully written the day before – I’m out all morning. Re-check notes, address, battery in camera, put a wash in the machine, find oyster card, mediate a fight, oversee teeth cleaning, hair brushing, shoes on, school bags, ready to go…
8.00 Head out the door on the school run..there’s a fight over who shuts the door. I suggest that if I shut the door first they might not be able to get out..Charlie not happy with this logic.
8.50 Head to the train station. Notice my Vans have two nice holes in them. Damn Vans.
10.00 Meeting in Clerkenwell (Great part of London – history oozing from every corner) with the inspirational Matt Cooper, the driving force behind The Fableists – a seriously cool children’s clothing label, built to last and save the planet. What’s not to love? – but more in a future post.
11.00 Checking out the clothes and loving the fact I can buy stuff for Bella..and hand it on to Charlie.
11.30 Grab a quick coffee and phone a friend who’s recovering from an op. Do a quick email catch up. It’s a beautiful day in London. Head back on the tube via a supermarket shop for supper.
Makes me laugh.
1.00 Home. Realise I should’ve grabbed something for lunch as well. Have to make do with a hot cross bun, some cheese and blueberries..but at least the hot cross bun was made by my fair hands at Creative Coffee yesterday. Run round the house and do a quick tidy up.
1.30 Start to write. Always have to put pen to paper once a day otherwise it feels wrong. Set alarms on my phone so I don’t lose track of precious time. Check the blog but no time to reply to comments. Slack.
3.00 Head off to collect the kids from school. Remember to take snacks otherwise I’ll have my arm eaten off. In the whole scheme of things this is only a little patch of green, but it’s one of my great joys walking through it every day.
4.00 Homework. A relatively quick affair today as I’ve promised them we’ll make use of the gorgeous weather (could be snowing next week knowing the UK) and head out to the Common again. We may live in a City, but we make use of what we have.
They insist on wearing their new t-shirts from The Fableists.
5.00 Picnic tea with hot chocolate. A must. It’s our second picnic of the week..a record this year. ANY year..in fact it’s the first year Charlie hasn’t been too knackered by this time of the day, after school, to do things like this. It’s always a balance with kids..doing things..over doing things and then taking the kick-back…
6.00 – 8.00 No time for photos. Just manic. Getting baths done. Hair. Teeth. Stories read. Trying to get ready to go out at the same time. Attempting to stop blood being spilt. Trying to catch up on the Blog. Trying to get everything together – uniforms laid out, bags packed by the door as I don’t want to do it at midnight. Sort the washing in the machine. Husband back at 8.00. I’m already late..run!
8.00 pm – Mums night out at a local Kareoke bar. Always good for a laugh! A fun night setting the world to rights with some great gals.
Get home close to midnight. Up at 3.30 am to give Bella some medicine to stop the Chinese water torture coughing.
Alarm goes off at 6.30 am…and because I was out morning and evening, there’s no post written…it’s also Book Club tonight..and we’re out to dinner tomorrow…honest to God, there’s no rest for the wicked…just crack on…and no run managed yesterday..must remedy that today…and do an internet food shop..and Bella’s gym today and I have hundreds of emails..and…and…write a list and set alarms on phone…and start..
Laters, Kate x
Pretty Bling…
I was initially trawling for an ear cuff I’d squirrelled away a picture of..just a simple band with the words ‘I CAN’T HEAR YOU’ pressed in – why should teenagers have all the fun? Surely these are a must for any frazzled mum?? I tracked them down..they’re by the designer Ryan Storer, but their not made any more..gutted. My only hope will be Ebay…
Then got the urge to find some more ear cuffs with words..but I’ve been side-tracked by these..thought they were a) Stunning and b) the best price I’ve seen..so I’m sharing..
Love rocks articulated flower hair clip £38.00 from ASOS.
Love Rocks multiple stone articulated hair clip £40.00 ASOS.
Enjoy your sunday – blue, blue skies here and rumours of 18 degrees! Surely some mistake?!
Laters, Kate x
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
Moments in Time x
There’s one New Years Resolution I’ve slam dunked..I’ve embraced growing younger gracefully by going back to school.
Each week I’ve been studiously at my desk at Putney School of Art learning properly about Photography…and I’ve loved it.
It’s not that I didn’t like the photos I was taking..I just didn’t really know how I was doing it and whether I could do it better. A bit like our brains or computers, we now have these incredible beasts of cameras that we rarely take out of first gear..
Thinking about short term, long term, quality, light, composition…it’s such a peaceful place away from the clamour of family life and I have thoroughly appreciated the time to think of nothing else other than the moment.
Some of these photos were taken on a field trip we did as a class around the streets of London, others are from my beautiful nieces christening last weekend.
Watching for a photo is like waiting for little pockets of opportunity. Often I think – if only they’d look up. But then the sweet spot happens and it’s like the nectar of the Gods.
Is the process getting something right? Or does it go beyond that? All I know is that to break the rules, you first have to know them..and that learning as an adult is the best drug ever.
Laters, Kate x
Happy Valentines! xxx
You live with me always.
Your love will carry me all my days,
as I will live my life, cherishing
my love for you.
Even when we are finally parted,
I will remember,
and search for you.
Earthly love,
Pedestrian and earthbound
Soaring into the sky.
XXXXXX
The Sapeurs.. xxx
Suave and sophisticated, the title Sapeur comes from la SAPE, an abbreviation of Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes – The Society of Tastemakers and Elegant People. Over the past twenty five years it’s emerged as a brightly coloured African subculture inspired by the myth of Parisian elegance and Dandyism.
Mostly centred around Brazzaville and Kinshasa, the adjacent Capitals of the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo respectively, the Sapeurs cultivate their refined gentility amid their countries war-torn, extreme poverty.
But despite this nations history, Sapeurs are pacifists – for them style is about being respectful with a pure attitude and impeccable manners.
Creativity is paramount – although many will spend whatever they have on clothes, it’s not about the money, it’s about style and being flamboyant in oneself, despite the circumstances.
(All the pictures above by Baudouin Mouanda)
They are ordinary people, with ordinary jobs who break free by transforming their dusty pavements into fabulous fashion runways. But the truth is these characters are teachers, creatures of spirit with a powerful, requisite flair and passion.
(Photo by Hector Mediavilla)
Sharp and sly, like poetry in motion with their hearts turned to the sun, they demand that there can be great riches in small spaces..their irresistible sense of pride says you can be whatever you want to be…and sometimes we all need that fairytale.
(Photo by Hector Mediavilla)
A very short documentary – worth watching! x
To those that say their style is part of a legacy of cultural imperialism and a post-colonial carry-over they say:
‘White people invented the clothes..but we turned them into an art form’
Personally, I doff my bright yellow trilby to them.
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
Friday..
Friday started off as a totally normal day. Bella had her class assembly so I went in to school to watch, collecting a happy Charlie from his class to sit with us and enjoy it as a younger sibling. The assembly was fantastic – the kids were so grown up and displayed such blossoming confidence. I said my farewells and went on to meet a friend at London Bridge to discuss her new shoe Collection. As I stepped out of the tube my mobile rang..It was the school – Charlie, who I’d just literally said good bye to wasn’t feeling well and had a temperature what would I like to do? I rang my parents and they said they’d collect him and in the mean time the school nurse gave him some Calpol. Phone rang again..my mother – they’d picked him up but despite the Calpol his temperature was still high, he had a red face, was not looking good and was complaining of a sore neck. What should they do? It was friday, the doctors surgery was closed..we both could hear the warning bells..I said take him to the paediatric A & E at our local hospital and I’d meet them there. Better safe than sorry. By the time I got there my laughing child was curled up asleep on a hospital bed radiating heat and looking very small. It was one of those times when you know you’ve reached a cross roads – to recovery or a darker place. We were lucky..it wasn’t meningitis but a nasty virus – the fever broke and Charlie started responding to us, but my heart so goes out to any parent with a sick child..it’s a gut wrenching place to be. And even when the worst’s been avoided – we all got to go home with Charlie under strict observation – the potential weight of it stays with you for a long time..I swear The Husband and I have looked worse than him all weekend with eyes like piss holes in the snow just from the sheer depletion of emotional energy.
But when all’s said and done….it’s a price you’re more than happy to pay.
Laters, Kate x
Onesie Made Good..
Not a new clip..but if you’re struggling with any bad weather, cabin fever and young children it’s worth sharing. Besides, it was the first thing I ever saw that made me take the onesie seriously…sort of.
Enjoy..and remember – laugh. Don’t cry…..
Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 