Category: summer
So Far..
The plan this sumer is to find the perfect beach dress within a reasonable budget, made with the ravishing timbre of towelling. Apart from the lux offering of Lisa Marie (sigh), this picture above represents the biggest research success so far – it’s called a surf dress – which makes total sense: practical and for a purpose. The downside is that it’s not symmetrical (sadly I’m a sucker for 2 patch pockets or one large, central kangaroo pouch), it’s from Australia and personally, I’d like a longer version. But the price is good: £47.43 plus postage, so if anyone’s interested it comes from here. Now I know these dresses are a genre I’ve looked at other surf dresses, but infuriatingly, they’re either made from fleece, covered in logos or they don’t have the v-neck..and that v-neck is crucial…it’s what stops it from being a sack.
Then I thought: just concentrate on the utilitarian shape – what’s appealing is the boxy shape with the neck-line and the pockets..which is just like a painters or fisherman’s smock…then elongate for a dress.
And they’re pretty totes-amaze just as a summer top..imagine with a pair of cut off denim shorts?..this one is from..wait for it..Amazon! at £27.48..bargain..! The lacing is divine..as is the pocket.
I think they would work..except I can’t find a pattern..
These are my top pattern picks so far..a possibility..
Liking the pouch..worried the shapes not square enough..and it’s a vintage 6-8.
Would ‘A’ work in towelling??
Slowly it’s starting to make sense – it’s good to highlight what you love and want..but it’s still a work in progress..
Laters, Kate x
Birkies.. x
The rise of the Birkie shows no sign of abating, indeed it’s all praise for the fashion trend that works with any outfit, any where and even keeps the chiropractor smiling.
Except I have one unexpected niggle..the most comfortable shoe ever they might..but eewch! Give them a while and they can put up a pong that gives a goat cheese factory on a hot day a run for it’s money (I don’t think this happens to everyone, but google ‘smelly birks’ and there are enough results to prove I’m not an isolated incident)..mine reeked so badly they spent the winter months tied up in a plastic bag in the bottom drawer of our freezer in an attempt to kill off the evil, perpetrating bacteria. Sadly it worked for all of 5 mins..the time it took for them to de-frost. Loathed to throw them away, I’ve finally come up with a solution that thankfully seems to work..a regular wiping down with bleach..it makes the leather for a bit hard..but rather that than inflicting chemical warfare on the local neighbourhood and resident small furry animal population..
The company aren’t resting on their classic laurels either but are continually bringing out different colours and updating styles with subtle, clever changes – one of the best being the addition of coloured soles. Red?
Or Pink?
They are the no-brainer-must-have shoe of the summer…it’s just deciding how many pairs which ones to buy..decisions, decisions..
Laters, Kate x
Life’s a Beach.. x
My personal crush with Lisa Marie Fernandez started last year with her delicious towelling cover-ups. This season she doesn’t disappoint…easy, breezy summer dresses with perfect proportions and edible edging.
There’s more cheeky towelling..
(All Lisa Marie Fernandez pictures from Matches and Net-a-porter)
And the cutest bikini ever..Fernandez manages to walk that sophisticated but essential line between utilitarian and chic…in a fabulous pair of gladiators with no sign of foot-slap or lace louche…
I still love the whole idea of towelling as summer clothes. Why isn’t it more popular? It’s the summer beach dress that’s missing from my wardrobe..that sense of something warm and cuddly to throw on when you’re trying to eek out the last few hours of a perfect summers day, that magical time the dusk starts to draw in and shadows lengthen and a g’n’t tastes especially good..I’ve looked for cheaper brands but there’s very little..unless you’re a child…never thought I’d be jealous of childrens’ clothes…but take away the polka dots and I am.
This is the second year I’ve lusted after the impossible, so this time I have a cunning and devious plan because where there’s a will, there’s a way. Watch this space..
Laters, Kate x
Morden Hall Park x
My book club book (due for discussion next week) is H for Hawk, a memoir by author Helen Macdonald about raising a Goshawk in a time of grief. So it was pretty thrilling to go to the Morden Hall Park Country Fayre on Bank Holiday monday to see live birds in action.
Morden Hall Park is a National Trust property right at the end of the Northern line where the river Wandle, the river used by William Morris to power his factory, flows powerfully through.
It’s a place that manages to marry urban and country in seamless unity..and this Fayre was no exception.
A barn owl flying over one of Charlie’s class mates.
Full of people but still far from the Madding crowds, there were salt of the earth stalls like this man, quietly making the most beautiful and realistic flys for fishing.
In the grounds blacksmiths and basket weavers were practising their fine arts.
There was even time to catch bubbles..
With miniature steam trains, ferret racing, dog shows, lots of animals as well as traditional stalls..and not so traditional ones…it was a genuinely great and unexpected day out.
But that’s the nature of Morden Hall Park – they really like to embrace the wild. In July they’re holding a Big Camp weekend with the opportunity to set up an overnight camp in the same field that Lord Nelson tethered his horse whilst he fished in the River Wandle and two days of ranger led activities with dinner cooked on a camp fire and story telling. Just gutted we’ll be away…next time Rodders, next time..
Laters, Kate x
Charlie’s shoes..
You turn your back on Charlie, turn round again and something has changed in a way that invariably brings a smile..
With the fake summer he got a simple pair of sandals..but he’s invented a new way to wear them. And he’s now wearing all his lycra trainers with a cross too..
Now..where are those nail scissors??
Laters, Kate x
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
Chambray love..
Soft, louche, lounging and easy..
Could this be the ultimate denim dress? The cuffs are to die for..
(All pictures J.Crew)
Timeless pieces that quietly scream elegant summer living..
Laters, Kate x
Beach Hair, Don’t Care x
We”re away to the Kent coast for a week for walks along the sea, rock pools and cricket on the sand.
It’s going to be windswept hair all the way..
Laters, Kate x
If the Shoe Fits..
There was no transitioning..suddenly London hit spring and we’ve been bathed in sunshine all week. It’s the sort of weather where you want to loll on fresh, green grass and let your voice get weary from talking, not smoking. In honour, I wore my first official pair of summer shoes yesterday – my two year old pair of Swedish Hasbeens, and admittedly the walking was spliced between cycling and chasing the kids on the common..but there were no blisters at the end of the day. Result. But these beauties do need getting used to with their distinctive dry-bone no-give wooden soles – like the best things in life, they need time to wear-in. In Sweden, long before it became a trend, they’d do this by wearing them with socks – it allows the leather to give a little extra whilst avoiding the rubbing…and you can’t find a nicer pair of socks than these at Free People.
It takes it away from the Japanese school girl look and gives it back to nature and folk dancing..a technical and aesthetic tour de force.
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 