Category: retro
Hellfire!
Wearing a pair of knock-out shoes is like delivering an ironic joke with perfect rumpled nonchalance; If you’ve gone out in a sack, they’ll still make your outfit.
So it’s been a bit of a joy to discover Miss L Fire (with bases in both the UK and US) and it’s heady mixture of new and found..
Bright and compelling, silly but sharp they’re a pop pickers party bag.
Designed with retro in mind, they’re not slavish reproductions but vintage with a twist.
And very happy to burn rubber with a pink tongue to poke out at unbelievers. 
I think I’m in love. I just want to dance down the summer streets to the mellow sounds of the slapped strings of a double bass accompanied by low husky vocals to carry me home.
Laters, Kate x
Badge of Honour..
When something is highlighted as a major trend is it already too late to embrace it as true fashion condemned a follower rather than an adventurer?..
Does the fact something is popular reduce it currency, making it smaller, grubbier..repetitive?
Can it become overused..or liberated?
With stripes there’s a reason it nags away at you, an appeal, an intrinsic quality passed down through nature and the centuries..
Like it?
Then take it and turn it into a world a possibilities with courageous style.
(All photos from Pinterest)
Because there’s always room to negotiate a different way…
Laters, Kate x
Still Thinking Ahead x
One of the surprise pieces I bought this year was a vintage 1940’s coat. A surprise because of the shape..it’s dark brown sheepskin with pure american football style shoulders. And my, those shoulders make you feel gooooooooood…I call it my bitch coat…
Perfectly balancing out the flare..
The shorter shape works too..
I think I need another one..
Laters, Kate x
Vintage Classic Car Boot x
If at heart you’re an emotional scientist when it comes to clothes, you’ll find it harder than the coating of Apollo 13 to resist the temptation of a vintage car boot..
The South Bank Vintage Classic Car Boot took place this weekend in London and was the bright, sunlit intermission on a rather cold, grey, damp couple of days. It’s a wicked combination of vintage cars..and everything else besides..go for a wander..go for a rummage..you never know what delights you’ll find..
One of which was Julie from Vintageattitude with her own stall! She always has such inventive, creative offerings..dog coats on the table (check out that tablecloth!), pom pom lampshades..and my personal favourite..hanging at the back..summer jackets made from vintage tableclothes..genius.
(A close up of her rather fabulous skirt. So true…I love her style.)
I want this fridge..
This is the poshest buggy I have ever seen..it converts into a tricycle when the baby converts to a toddler..and then hopefully a little hatchback..and then maybe a small maisonette??
This guys coat was made from a GI bag..Buster’s pretty cool too..
Such joy…I often feel that modern offerings are just the plastic parody of the past – it’s so much better to liberate the originals and I came away with bulging bags..but more on that in another post..
Laters, Kate x
MiH Magic x
MiH, the original British jean brand have brought out their easy wear, always stare SS15 Collection.
With their love of denim and lashings of groovy inspiration, their designs are classic, pragmatic, clever and very independent.
You really sense it’s an high energy, slow process with thought and quality poured in.
They catch the nostalgic vibe of pre-mass market, when things were built to last and gently soften in the sun, improving with age and use.
To be worn collecting sea-shells on a sandy beach..or blinged up with statement jewellery at a posh party in London.
They work.
Wholesome, exhilarating food for the eyes, I can eat it all standing up…and always want more.
Laters, Kate x
Hey, Goodlooking..
Chloe SS15: If the seventies are being re-invented for Summer 2015, then the detail is in the pockets..large, luscious and lovely..
Groovy threads to hang loose and take you to the maxi..
Far out ‘n’ foxy..
Dream on, cool beans with peace, love and harmony..
Catch you on the flipside for a boogie..
Laters, Kate x
AG for Alexa..
Alexa Chung has made her first foray into serious fashion by designing a 20 piece collection for the Californian label AG. It’s a career she’s always dressed for – but is being famous enough?
My expectations were high..I wanted frank and forthright with a street awareness…and a determination to do her own thing, all delivered with a kick and a wink..
Well..I like the buttons. But if this really is a throw back collection honouring the late sixties and seventies, I’d have preferred them in brass..
You could say it’s nice and polite..which would be polite..
Or you could say this looks like something you could stumble into on a rack in the deepest, darkest depths of Marks and Sparks..not even Per Una label..
And if you said this was from Gap, I would believe you.
Tame and lacking flair..the collection is like going to taste a beautiful rich merlot..and finding it’s slightly warm water from a plastic cup instead. There’s going to be a lot of seriously good denim this year – Sonya Rykiel and Gucci being just two casing points. In comparison, this collection falls way off the mark. It will sell out..but that says more about our society than good design…
Laters, Kate x
Forever Party!
(All photos from tumblr)
It’s not what you wear…it’s the way that you wear it…
Laters, Kate x
Making a Point..
Vans. Fail safe, classic and easy…but could there be room for change?
What about pointy Vans like these by Nicholas Kirkwood now viewed from above??
Sneakers with a heel and now sneakers with a point..who would’ve thought it. But this actually feels like a rather nostalgic nod to the once must-wear pointed flats of the eighties..and it’s always nice to find a forward moving mash…
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 