Category: SS15
Mochi x
There are many kinds of happiness in the world..I’ve just spent an utterly lazy, child-free weekend with the husband that I refuse to regret as I look aghast at the weeks to-do list, slightly lower down that list of love is my passion for beautiful embroidery and textiles..which is all the more ring-starred when it can be married to intelligent, bridging the distance fashion.
Mochi is a brand whose identity lies deep in the love of ancient embroidery and needle craft. It was set up by Palestinian Mochi Ayah Tabai to produce visually stunning, wearable clothes that celebrate world-wide stitching communities.
Handcrafted by local artisans in their own countries, Mochi isn’t a melting pot of ideas but an acknowledgement of what each culture has to offer, from Jaipur, Palestine, Thailand, Uzbekistan to Hungary, all items produced are claimed under their own makers.
A top from Palestine, so easy with a pair of denim shorts.
A summer dress from Jaipur, ideal to dress up or dress down.
Shorts from Uzbekistan.
A crop top and skirt from Thailand.
They appeal to my love of the past, of inherent quality and the deep vein of romanticism I have running though my middle.
It’s a refreshing change from the polyester re-runs of the high street…we can have more, pay less and think we’re clever…or we can just put up our hands and say what we really love.
Laters, Kate x
Hot to trot..
If I had the bucks to blow on a bonny beach bag, Sophie Anderson would be my label of lust.
Full of easy wear, just don’t care boho charm.
Just enough space for the Missoni towel, ray bans and that little bit of x factor…
So good..why just limit it to the beach?
Laters, Kate x
Comedy Stitches x
The brain is a strikingly stretched muscle that sometimes doesn’t want to…hence the gut appeal no-brainer of these back to school beauties from Skinny Dip London: Nostalgic for some, hip for others and pleasantly pleasing on the pocket for all.
Yep. They’re Anya Hindmarch rip offs.
Yep. The bags aren’t leather.
But this is flash-in-the-pan fashion, best bought before it’s sell by date at a discount rate. When it goes..it goes…
Laters, Kate x
Mochi x
There are many kinds of happiness in the world..I’ve just spent an utterly lazy, child-free weekend with the husband that I refuse to regret as I look aghast at the weeks to-do list, slightly lower down that list of love is my passion for beautiful embroidery and textiles..which is all the more ring-starred when it can be married to intelligent, bridging the distance fashion.
Mochi is a brand whose identity lies deep in the love of ancient embroidery and needle craft. It was set up by Palestinian Mochi Ayah Tabai to produce visually stunning, wearable clothes that celebrate world-wide stitching communities.
Handcrafted by local artisans in their own countries, Mochi isn’t a melting pot of ideas but an acknowledgement of what each culture has to offer, from Jaipur, Palestine, Thailand, Uzbekistan to Hungary, all items produced are claimed under their own makers.
A top from Palestine, so easy with a pair of denim shorts.
A summer dress from Jaipur, ideal to dress up or dress down.
Shorts from Uzbekistan.
A crop top and skirt from Thailand.
They appeal to my love of the past, of inherent quality and the deep vein of romanticism I have running though my middle.
It’s a refreshing change from the polyester re-runs of the high street…we can have more, pay less and think we’re clever…or we can just put up our hands and say what we really love.
Laters, Kate x
Cooking..
Damn it’s hot. Feverishly hot enough to melt a bottle..or poach an egg in an unsuspecting armpit..really unpleasant.
It’s hard to find anything to wear that doesn’t stick or itch. The best thing would be a large,cool lake or natural swimming pool but unfortunately my wardrobe’s not large enough, neither is my wallet.
I have found these kimono’s ..
They might not cut it on the school run..
(All kimonos from South Beach Official)
But will be perfect with a large hat for wafting on holiday.
And at only £18, they’re a bargain..
Laters, Kate x
Elina Linardaki x
I didn’t go to Glastonbury this year..but if I had, I would’ve worn a pair of these beauties by Elina Linardaki. (Until it rained of course, and then they’d transform into a pair of hunter wellies, because that’s just how magical they are).
I could do with a pair today..last week it was tights and scarves..this week temperatures are set to hit 36 degrees. London in this kind of heat is not good, we seem to specialise in the really heavy, oppressive variety that saps the very life from your bones where 36 on the thermometer feels more like 46. It’s partly because we’re just not equipped to cope..lots of glass, no shutters, no air con, no swimming pools, just a sprinkler in the garden. We have Prize Day at the kids school today and thank God it’s no blazers, but no doubt we will all gently boil.
I’ll be sitting their, quietly sweating away…dreaming of leather gladiators and a beach….
Laters, Kate x
A Green Summer x
Is there a place for fast, wallet-friendly fashion?
Can you really have your cake and eat it?
Monki would certainly like to think so.
There’s nothing in this post that costs over £50.
But this is a Company with principles..their Care Label represents their ideals regarding organic cotton and their better cotton initiative which is to ensure the cotton they buy uses less chemicals, less water and gives the people involved in production more benefits. It also stands for their Code of Conduct, which all their suppliers must comply with, to ensure decent working standards and conditions for the employees of their suppliers. And finally it’s a promise to minimise the impact of fashion, both in production and regarding landfill, by re-using existing materials and re-cycling them into new cotton, polyester and wool.
With designs like these…..it’s cream teas all round..
Laters, kate x
Babe-li-cious x
Time..the beast that no man can stop. It’s almost the end of summer term, which has nearly the same madness of Christmas with it’s particular frenzy of Sports Days, concerts, exhibitions, class parties and Prize Days. The children finally break up on Thursday, we leave for three days glamping on Friday (yay!), arrive back on Monday..kids leave with their Grandparents for Greece on the Tuesday…(we leave the following week). It feels a bit like being in a tumble dryer. Or a piece of bread dough being pulled and pushed.
And I still need to get my swimwear sorted…I don’t think I’ll ever move away from the retro look..
It was designed for curves..
Best I’ve found so far are from Bettylicious..Great shapes, fab prints.
(Pictures from Bettylicious and Pinterest)
Now it’s just a matter of committing to one quickly as Sports Day starts at 9.30…
Laters, Kate x
Summer Lovin’ x
The weather in the UK has yet to settle down. The majority of the hurrying figures I saw this morning on my way to school were wearing thick tights and scarfs, held tight against the wind. Give it two hours, the sun could be shining and all those layers will peel off in the time it takes for a corn kernel to pop in a hot pan. It’s confusing and disappointing and makes me dream of consistent kingfisher blue skies, warm, heavy air and the compelling rasp of cicadas.
If I won the lottery tomorrow, I’d head straight to Christophe Sauvat and fill my battered leather backpack with all his summer wonders…summer dresses to float in..
Summer tops to laugh in (a glass of rose in one hand, a good book in another…)
And shoes to die for.
We’d pile into the car, fill the petrol tank to brimming and head for the coast…
And keep driving to the sun..through France, stopping wherever to indulge in gastronomic delights to tantalise the tastebuds..or just to admire the view.
Then on to Italy, to visit friends and wrap them up with us in our hedonistic cloud..nostalgic for the past..loving the present.
Before heading to Greece, to pitch a tent and live a completely free few months, brown, barefoot and under the stars, knowing that the best things in life are the simplest.
A girl can dream…
Laters, Kate
Rogue Brogues..
I’ve never been a smoker – I have an issue with burning money to ruin my health..give me a strong glass of red instead and I’ll down it in one revelling in the knowledge it’s allegedly good for my heart. It’s pretty much the same with high heels..why spend a small fortune on objects of torture that look better on the page than on my feet?
Which begs the question, why heels? – and if they’re so fabulous, why don’t men wear them too? Are we women trying to prove we’re a more advanced gender because we can?…or is the joke really on us…
And then there was Heelgate at Cannes this year (which happened after the festival organisers had announced it had made efforts to address the gender imbalance between male and female directors) where women were turned away from the red carpet for wearing flats. Of course, that there was ever a heel code was swiftly denied. But they can’t deny it happened...(At the next A-lister-red-carpet-celebrity-fest I’d love to see parades of women in Docs and men in stilettos all proudly strutting their stuff) (What’s the chance of that?)
The truth, as it generally does, comes down to choice – if heels rock your world, pray indulge and gorge on the many wonderous designs available. If flats are your thing, then all these from Rogues may well float your boat.
They’re designed by Katie Harland, who wanted a shoe that was both functional and full of character. She describes them as ‘A love child from the colour and comfort of trainers and the craft and credentials of brogues.’
They’re simply built from 3 pieces of leather with a choice of neon laces.
There’s a slight platform sole in white, a low cut on the ankle and a narrower fit at the toe.
They hit that magical sweet spot of being cross-seasonal, wear with anything for any event…including running for a bus.
The only shoes I now possess are those I can dance in. On that basis…who’s hidden my credit card?
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 