Category: High Street
Centre Half: Scarf
Friday marks midsummer. Try telling that to the clouds, the rain, the wind and the temperature. It’s the pay back and karma for last summer. But it still hurts. Maybe that’s why I’m loving the colour, the fluidity and the fun of men wearing silk scarves.
(All pics pinterest)
It just brightens the day.
Laters, Kate x
Izipiziz x
Wow! The shops in Deal are getting good!..just the right side of vintage, affordable and desirable. In one shop – The Hoxton Store – they also had a glasses brand from France – izipizi – I’d never seen before offering sunnies, reading glasses, baby glasses and blue light glasses for working with screens. Classic shapes, bright colours and around the £40 price point. Winner, winner chicken dinner.
(All pics Pinterest)
J’aime.
Laters, Kate x
Summer showers x
The weather is still strange here, if the sun shines it’s getting warm, but we can have sudden cold carrying squalls arriving from nowhere. In the evening, no matter how blue the sky has been, the temperature is still dropping away steeply. It means the transitional wardrobe is in full swing with the similar layers of winter, except they are lighter and looser: cotton instead of wool, silk instead of cotton, bare feet and summer colours…
(All pics Pinterest)
Oh for the days summer simplicity..
Laters, Kate x
Trend 3
The fickle winds of fashion never stop blowing raspberries; Not long ago I was reading about the terminal death of the short-sleeved jacket and I remember thinking the very act of writing those words was probably like a summoning of the phoenix from the ashes, because the thing about hates is that they have a tendency to come around again….and just a little change can make a radical shift in emphasis.
(All pics Pinterest)
Never say never.
Laters, Kate x
Trend 2
Easy, gentle, coloured with summer, the satin skirt is an easy addition to any wardrobe. Dress up or dress down. T-shirt or baggy jumper, it’s the transitional bridge that shouts lazy lux and joyful delight.
(All pics Pinterest)
Time to lose the plot and find the fun.
Laters, Kate x
Power seat x
Choice and too much often equals confusion: where once there was just coffee, we now have a list of decision, all meant to supposedly showboat progress and quality. The same is true for jeans: lots of noise and shouting, but most of them have a tang of the emperors new clothes. Except possibly one…
There’s a new jean strutting it’s stuff on the high street: The ribcage, and particularly Levis ribcage straight.
(All pics Pinterest)
Perfect with t-shirts, they manage to feel both transitional and just on the right side of different.
Slam dunk.
Laters, Kate x
Design Hero 1
Those true, authentic, all singing, all dancing design heroes – the things that not only work well, look good, but also punch high above their weight in terms of financial outlay and usability. And for us, this £12 Nisse Ikea chair has to be up there at the top…we bought 6 of them for the garden four years ago, more as a stop-gap than anything else, but they’ve proved their weight in gold: They spend their lives outside, except when we have dinner parties or Christmas or birthday, then they get wiped down and in they come, still looking as good as the day we bought them. They’re light, flexible, sturdy and generally a brucie bargain – it helps that their light is shining more brightly at the moment as our ‘proper’ dining room chairs have gone to be re-woven, re-caned, re-woke…
(This is a pic of one of the less trashed seats…one was so bad it could be used as a commode. That’s baaaaaad.)
But you’d never know these were the ugly sister.
(All pics Ikea)
Tres chic and tres cheap.
Laters, Kate x
Bella’s Room x
The makeover of Bella’s bedroom is limping to it’s conclusion – there’s stuff to be hung on the walls and I still haven’t ordered the blinds, but most stuff is out of boxes. We’re also waiting for a delivery of this sofabed from Made – such a relief not to be blowing up airbeds any more. At £299 in green velvet with its midcentury styling it feels a bit of a bargain..
Of course there was the usual disagreement on colour – Bella wanted yellow. I put my foot down and said she’d thank me in five years time.
I also have my eye on this bed in a box for Charlie’s room because that would mean no more airbeds. Ever.
Surprisingly it’s more expensive at £399 so it’s going to have to wait.
Laters, Kate x
Bright White Light x
There was this article I read last week that on initial skimming was talking my artisanal language – it’s message was make sure it’s the stuff you hold and use every day are your investment pieces because this is where quality and appreciation will sing. Except that’s when I had a lightbulb moment because it’s so not true – in fact, the real truth is the very opposite: We need the stuff we use every day to be simple and replaceable because their constant use means the chances of them being broken wracks up and who wants to shed tears on a daily basis? I know we have a white mismatched dinner service that I’m sure started off as a two bogoffs from Tesco. It’s been added to over the years, but it’s core has remained the same: mismatched but matched simplicity with a lack of drama when a piece inevitably breaks.
(From Argos £7.99 for 12 piece set)
I’ve been noticing this boomerang effect a lot lately, where you think one thing leads to a certain consequence when in fact, the opposite happens: Take the row over Facebook…the premise is we’re all connected. But in truth is it segregation with the tribes who share our views leading to intolerance, division and stress? It’s food for thought.
(From Argos £58 for a 18 piece set)
(From Habitat reduced from £60 to £30 for a 12 piece set)
Maybe we need to be more careful where real value lies, but what I do know is taking a walk on the cheap side of the tracks means there’s so much more left in the kitty for the real stars to shine: The ones that get used every day but have no danger of being dropped..
Laters, Kate x
High Times x
January to easily represents the bleak recognition of the aftermath: The twinkly lights are gone, the weather is foul and last months credit card bills are circling like starving carrion.
But the first signs of spring are out there – the first glimpse of snowdrops, the first hint of cotton clothing appearing on the high street.
H&M have some impressive staples to offer – on trend blouses, softly hanging silk shirts, high waisted tie trousers and easy wear long sleeved dresses…
(Pics from Pinterest)
It’s temptation – but it’s sensible temptation.
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 