Category: vintage
My Summer Beauty..
This was a purchase from my vintage wander to Stoke Newington..and I love it. It hasn’t made the holiday packing cut purely on the basis the material is quite heavy, which means it holds it shape wonderfully..and is perfect for those cool English summer evenings. I wear it with a pair of wedges, my vintage Mulberry bag and a big smile….puurrrrfick!
Laters, Kate x
The Chap Olympiad..
On Saturday we headed with the lovely Fairy to the Chap Olympiad..a vintage celebration of Britain’s sporting ineptitude where sensational cravats take precedence over sweaty lycra and more points are awarded for maintaining immaculate trouser creases than ever crossing the finishing line..
(Fairy and the Husband)
Set in leafy Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, London and surrounded by gorgeous Georgian houses with the sun shining, it was a pretty idyllic setting..
And the Pimms wasn’t bad either..
The competitors took their dressage very seriously..
Rarely have I seen Boris Bikes put to such good use than in the Tea Pursuit..
Only a few cups were broken..
Umbrella jousting..
Poor show..this was taken far too seriously..
So if you every fancy a wonderfully eccentric English day out it’s a date for the diary..just don’t forget a suitably spiffing picnic to match…and book early – it sells out fast.
Laters, Kate x
A Stitch in Time..
The Joy of the blogsphere is the treasure hunt that is discovering all the ideas and amazing products out there in the big wide world. This beauty was first spotted by the lovely Andreannadais on her Blog, but it was so good I feel the need to spread the love a bit further..
Harvey and Quinn is a jewellery company set up by Rachel Harvey and lucy Quinn that specialises in creating jewellery that is both nostalgic and contemporary. Their main source of inspiration are vintage buttons and the wealth of workmanship and wonder they have to offer.
They say: ‘For us each button tells a story, an intriguing glimpse of a forgotten past.’
It also helps that their pricing is incredibly sensible, starting at £32.00 and rising for special bespoke pieces.
For me they represent every thing I love: A forgotten quality item turned into a beautiful butterfly ready to fly forever. The magpie within is singing with joy..
Laters, Kate x
Cool Running..
I look at this kitchen and my heart lights up. Then I think: Where’s the fridge?
Arrrr ok. Pure Love. But how big actually is it? Not that I’ve developed a thing about fridges, except I have. It’s one of the reasons we’re re-doing our kitchen..the fridge is too small. So now I’m obsessed by them…
And it really doesn’t help when I find Companies like this – The Vintage Fridge Company, dedicated to unearthing relics of the past and smoothly integrating them into a modern-day antique heirloom, proud to take their place in any room. I remember my Grandparent’s house in Greece having an ‘icebox’ at the back – and it worked, even in those high temperatures though milk was still a luxury and tinned carnation milk was always the order of the day – it gave the tea a unique, memorable flavour. But that old icebox would be the sort of thing these guys would take on, except after their magic, milk wouldn’t be a problem.
Spot the fridge..
Or this one..part of the perfect island unit..
If you have to have something functional, why not make it count for something?
The perfect trade-off between practicality and beauty..
They also offer the option of taking a modern fridge and cladding it in old..
Or if utterly modern is your thing check out he Formula one beauties that are the Meneghini beasts..
This is the version Nigella Lawson has. Sigh.
Sadly all these options – the reconditioned vintage and the new – cost from £7000 upwards to £16400 plus…So whilst it’s good to know the humble fridge can be more than defiantly average, I will just have to dream I have the budget to indulge..until then, I’l start doing the Lottery. Again. And put on my thinking cap…
Laters, Kate x
(Photos of top kitchen from remodilista.com)
Fashionably White..
(All images from Tumblr)
Sometimes simple is simple…
Laters, Kate x
Swarm x
Over the next few months The Husband and I are planning a little re-vamp of our house: We bought it over ten years ago as two flats and have spent much of that time doing various pretty major structural projects whilst juggling two babies. Now it’s finally the time to give it a bit of a silky lustre and add those finishing touches – the fun bits I’ve been waiting oh-so-long-for – like finding a stained glass panel for the front door where the council security glass still remains..oh joy unbounded!
It means I’ve been spending far too long in our downstairs toilet where the old interior design mags live – I’m following the principal that if it’s old and I still like it, it’s passed the ‘test of time’ test with flying colours and will last forever more. It was in a 2011 edition of Elle Decoration I found a small article about the artist Leslie Oschmann which caught my eye – she uses old canvases to make bags or to cover vintage chairs before sealing them with protective lacquer..
I love her whole aesthetic..taking something and making it more beautiful and useful. Each piece exuding character and warmth. These chairs make my heart sing.
Leslie originally came from the States where she worked with Companies such as Anthropologie before she took a complete life-style change, moving to Amsterdam, buying a bike and starting her own studio Swarm.
‘I learnt that I needed to get back to touching objects, not just trying to display or sell them..I missed the tactile’
What she does epitomises everything I love and want to embrace – classic, timeless quirky ideas with a touch of age used with care to make something both practical and beautiful that serenely stands out.
Shouldn’t be too hard then………
Laters, Kate x
Stunning Shibori..
(From Fausto Puglisi Resort 2015)
There’s a quiet revolution happening which originally had it’s routes in Japanese culture but for me will always sing of the seventies: Shibori tie dying.. 
(From Fausto Puglisi Resort 2015)
But now it’s far removed from flower garlands and hippy communes and is steadily seeping it’s way onto the catwalk..
(From Fausto Puglisi Resort 2015)
Even Michael Kors Resort 2015 can’t resist..
From MiH jeans who have a particularly fine range this season all in glorious indigos.
But the joy is this is something that anyone can do – especially with inspiration and advice available all over the web:
I love this video..I want to be there and play!
One of the best written tutorials I’ve found is this one from Honestlywtf, making all sorts of shapes and techniques look utterly effortless and astonishingly beautiful..imagine these as individual napkins on a summer table… 
Or doing these techniques on a dark denim shirt with bleach instead of dye?? And I’ve just looked….and Honesltywtf have a tutorial for that as well!
Suddenly I really, really want to get my hands dirty….
Laters, Kate x
THE RESULTS! x
Pray silence for the Grand Announcement: This vintage lipstick case plus my favourite red lipstick will be travelling off to the talented and amazing Winner of the inaugural Design Your Own Espadrille Competition. The judges found the decision incredibly hard – the competition was fierce and the standard high and many had sleepless nights agonising over their choice…but we do have a result…the design with the most votes was……..drum roll please.…..
No. 4! Which was by………me! So I’m handing it on to the next successful original entry which was…..roll those drums..
No. 5! By the lovely Vasiliki Machaira at Delightfully Peculiar! Huge congrats to you, you are our first ever winner!
To reveal the identities of the other entrants…No. 1 was made by none other than the irrepressible Julie at Vintage Attitude! Who else?!
No 2 was made by…me again!
No.3 was made by the wonderful Amanda at Sew Deputy who I hope has signed up for the next BBC Sewing Bee..
No.6 was made by me, Bella and Charlie.
And No.7 was made by the talented Virginia Romo at virginiaromo.com – I still want to know how you did your design – was it with a bleach pen? But then how did you do the colours??! I think this design got swamped by all the larger photos as the beauty is in the very fine detail…
A Big round of applause and a huge thank you for all those who took part – you are all stars! And congrats and a flowing bottle of champagne to Vasiliki! Now…who’s for a large, cold, bubbly glass?!
Laters, Kate x
Rose Tinted x
(Women welders from World War II)
There are some clothes that my mother hates…but I love – Utility wear comes under that heading. I suspect it’s a generation thing..my Grandmother hated brass beds associating them with poverty, the Husband’s mother hates our wooden floorboards preferring her perceived luxury of fitted carpets. Then there’s the ongoing discussions between the benefits of a free-standing kitchen rather than a fitted one. We definitely see things with different eyes depending on our subliminal associations.
I love a good Chore coat, like this one from Toast. But my mother would see small, grubby, repetitive work with a touch of coarse. Clothes reduced to their bare essentials with aprons and housecoats abandoned for their practical purposes because the undercurrent of domestic containment is just too strong.
But for me there’s an intrinsic quality – I embrace the practicality, the structured comfort, the soft detailing, the wholesome vintage charm. Instead of servitude and drudgery it represents a time when we took pride in making things from scratch..when it seemed there was more space to breathe.
(Also from Toast)
(By Sisters by Sibling SS14)
Of course, you could just see them as brilliant coats, perfect for layering in this bridging the weather time till the lazy days of summer truly hit…
Laters, Kate x
Tracks x
Have you seen the trailer, or even seen the film Tracks? It’s a film adaptation of Australian’s Robyn Davidson’s memoirs about her journey across thousands of kilometres of dessert from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean in 1977.
What caught my eye was not just her story: She’s always maintained she didn’t know why she decided to walk across Australia with camels but I think we can all relate to that idea of growing wings and flying away.
But I also loved her style – no longer in the world of princesses, it harks back to the innocent days when labels were an irrelevance and you wore something because it was comfortable and you loved it. Her style is as natural as breathing air.
(Original photo of Robyn)
There’s a powerful sense of self to roam in your own world where you are Queen.
Rich, raw and rather wonderful I shall watch and learn.
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 