Category: women
Row Like a Girl x
Turn off Big Brother with it’s endless whining voice of entitlement and check out the Row Like a Girl team, now halfway through the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic race. They’re four British girls: Lauren Norton (skipper), Olivia Bolesworth, Bella Collins and Georgina Purdy who are hoping to become the youngest four ever to row the distance and break 2 world records in the process…just a mere 3,000 miles.
They’re part of 26 teams taking part facing sleep deprivation and exhaustion with a continual pattern of two hour on/off shifts, extreme weather conditions including 30-40 ft waves, and health issues with salt sores, blisters and possible infections…
Not something to be taken lightly…
But there’s something saintly about their bloodyminded combination of fun and fierce conviction. They bridge the gap between girly girls and inner strength, racing under the banner ‘strong is the new skinny’ and laughing in the jaws of adversity, making it all look like the most glamorous, fabulous romp on the planet. As I type, the girls are in a strong second but things are looking promisingly awful for the whole fleet with significant headwinds of excess of twenty knots expected…
Really..who needs reality TV?
Laters, Kate x
Hats Off!
Hats are having a moment..the humble bobble is back big time..so maybe there’s hope for the rest hitting the mainstream again.
It would be fun. Hats may not speak, but they say volumes about an outfit.
All of these tempting delights are by the talented Karen Henriksen, a milliner working in London who’s perfected the tightrope between modern and timeless.
(All pictures Karen Henriksen and Pinterest)
Oh to have a few precious hours trying them all on and pouting in a fetchingly foxed antique mirror. Such stuff dreams are made of.
Laters, Kate x
Vingil x
It’s spotlight time for Xenia Kigaeva from Russia and her label Vingil. Think stratospheric cosy knit factor, deep depth of richness and texture and a visceral resonance with the season.
She graduated in costume design. Does it show?
They are the pinnacle of defence against the dark arts of winter. Just accessorise with wellies and a large dog.
Laters, Kate x
Eye Fear No Evil x
Sometimes I play that game in my head where you choose the people, dead or alive (Halloween is round the corner, though pre-buried state is preferred) that you’d love to sit down with large bottles of wine and have dinner with. The jewellery designer Solange Azagury-Partridge is definitely on the list. Self made, self taught, she looks at gems with a totally different eye. Her scary pieces cross the divide between just being brilliant Halloween bling with craft and humour to pieces you could flaunt all year round.
The heart of darkness..
The bleeding heart.
Something to scare the children.
Or just everyone..
(Scare the husband with the price..)
Need to make a point? This is the heart plucker ring..
As worn by Charlize Theron as evil Queen Ravenna in Snow White and the Huntsman.
Yep. She’s that good.
Laters, Kate x
Circle of Life x
Do you believe in serendipity? The digging out of our basement has been put on hold as we’ve taken the expensive decision to expand the works slightly. It was going to be L-shaped with this bit of the ‘L’ being the boiler room, but now the front wall’s been taken down to make way for the steels, it’s easy to see it would be possible to square the room off and gain an extra 2 metres in depth. Except this means more money..and going through Party Wall again as we’ve moved the goal posts. No pain, no gain. But..
Guess what the builders found?
A bag of Smallholder And Home Gardener newspapers, dated from WW2..which although interesting, wouldn’t be gold to the average person on the Clapham omnibus..
Except Mrs Smallholder, who wrote for the paper was a relative! Well, I say relative..Auntie Ethel (Mrs Samllholder) was the wife of Uncle George, who was the brother of one of the two midwives that adopted my Grandmother, Beryl Archer when she was born, and became her father-figure. The story of my Grandmother’s adoption has always been a family mystery. After her death, I found an article she’d written for a magazine about Norfolk, it read: ‘Beryl Maccafrey Archer was the fourth child of a hospital matron and an administrator. As a baby she was ‘adopted’ by two middle-aged nurses during the First World War, though to this day she has no idea why ‘I can only assume it was for safe-keeping during the east coast bombardment,’ she says now. Later she came to know her two older sisters and a brother, who all continued to live at home with their parents in Devon whilst she continued living with her ‘Aunts’ in Great Yarmouth. Effectively Mopsie (her family nickname) was brought up independently by 4 loving, caring adults who never had children of their own and adored her – she always said she had a far better life with them then her siblings ever did at ‘home’. I still have all the evocative, timeless stories Mopsie wrote about her childhood, written with love, clarity and humour about a time now long gone…before my children came along I started putting them together to turn them into a book..maybe it’s a project I’ll have to return to..serendipity…
Laters, Kate x
Fast and Fearless x
I have a new hero: Doctor Clare Miller, haematologist. A gloriously gutsy wonder woman who’s size belies her inner and outer strength. Let me explain why…
For the last 6 weeks, there’s been a reality tv programme on BBC 2 called Special Forces – Ultimate Hell Week, it’s been following 29 civilian but extreme adventure sports people being put through a facsimile of Special Forces selection tasks. Over a continual 10 days, the ever dwindling group faced two days with five elite fighting units from around the world: The US Navy Seals, Yamam (Israel’s elite counter terror unit), Navsog (the Philippine’s Special Forces), the exquisitely menacing Spetnaz of Russia and the British SAS, all with the aim of extracting a final winner.
It was a trip to the dark side. Each unit had their own unique way of forensically inflicting gruelling, soul-sapping situations to expose vast wells of pain and expose any mental weakness.
The final was on Sunday..and just 6 people remained, including 2 women. Not that this was set up as men v women, despite none of the elite forces allowing women in their ranks. Instead it was about opportunity and equality – the women doing exactly the same as the men. After 9 days, another night of no sleep and intensive interrogation by the British SAS, 3 remained – one woman, two men:
Miller: High energy, high pressure, fearless, pragmatic, brainy and only 5 ft 4 and weighing 8 stone 7lbs (55 kg).
Bent: The giner ninja complete with deadpan coolness and a wink.
Brassington: A carbon copy action man made real.
Immediately they had to run their final race – 15 km over Welsh mountains, carrying 20kg packs, navigating themselves and answering questions enroute with wrong answers encurring time penalties. The SAS guy was looking forward to this one as he didn’t believe a woman had the strength to finish.
Miller came in first.
Bent second.
Brassington third.
They were congratulated and then told SAS guy would need to talk to the colleagues who’d seen them through the full 10 days before making a decision. It felt like the perfect opportunity to opt out of a potentially difficult political decision.
They said of Miller: It’s changed our view on women.
They said of Bent:
Who turned up on the first day in a pair of flowery shoes, never judge a book by it’s cover.
They said of Brassington: He’s perfect SAS material.
So who did they want to win? They said, no question, it had to be ‘The Machine’. Day in, day out, The Machine would get the job done, no matter what. Except we didn’t know who The Machine was.
Until they announced the winner……..
The deserving, the mindblowing, the one and only Dr. Clare Miller!
Go that woman! I bow down to your utter brilliance and determination – There’s not many people in this world who can make the army eats it’s words. You didn’t just have to be good..you had to be made of titanium.
Laters, Kate x
Style Icon x
Carla Sozzani, a truly remarkable woman.
An italian, born in 1947 she was a longtime fashion editor at Vogue and Elle before spreading her wings into writing books, staging exhibitions, retail and design.
In 1990, she opened Galleria Carla Sozzoni at 10 Corso Como, Milan. Originally a vacant garage, it was intended only as an exhibition space, now it houses a bookstore, fashion and design store, roof garden, hotel and cafe and is a true cultural sanctuary.
In collaborations with others, there are now three other 10 Corso Como’s in the world, in Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai.
She says she got into retail through the editors desire to communicate, to share and get feedback. ‘I cannot please everybody, but it is important to have one eye.’
(All pictures Google)
Sozzani dresses in a simple way, functional, yet full of character. There’s a sense of permanent calm at the heart of a storm. Happy in her own skin, with strong personal integrity, she knows what she likes and shines with contentment and understanding.
Rare combinations.
Laters, Kate x
Curtain Call x
If I wasn’t part of the Curvy Chick’s Club, this is where I would buy my lingerie.
At Rose Fulbright. Because I love the sense of an iron fist in a satin glove – that nostalgic, firm silhouette and structure that begs to be paired with soft, pink maribou feathers, Parisian boudoirs and exotic perfumes.
The fact that the Company is run by a 26 year old woman, Rose Fulbright-Vickers, and is manufactured in the UK with a strong ethical conscience is a further Brucie bonus.
But it’s the up-front bra-fastenings that ‘ve really caught my eye.
I wrote a blog post back in Dec. 2013, a cry from the heart about the need for decent nightwear for big-busted beauties. In a nutshell, I wanted to find a company that sold bra-sized nightwear that would halt my girls from rolling under my armpits at night, which didn’t involve primary coloured cotton elastane but instead celebrated a girl’s primal desire for satin, silk, bows and just a little bit of frou frou. All these years later, these bra’s are the closest lingerie I’ve seen to that dream..all they need are the appropriate sizing and a skirt on the bra to transform them into a camisole top..(and then the addition of some slinky french knickers/matching pajamas) (and a monogram please)(and all in pleasing pastels) and we’d be there..
It does seem incredible that all this time later, fashion is still ignoring boobs, despite the average UK size being 36D. That’s a huge market waiting to be tapped. Until things change, I’ll just have to admire the aesthetic of Rose Fulbright from afar, my nose pressed up against the candle-lit, handblown, lust-loving glass.
Laters, Kate x
Patia Davis x
There’s a cultural disease that’s particularly prevalent in cities..we zone into something good and look to exploit it commercially, turning into something far removed from it’s roots, cheapened with an air of pretentiousness. Take the rapidly breeding multitude of coffee shops springing up like weeds, churning out reproduction vintage – what once was a necessity – bought from jumble sales because the owners couldn’t afford anything else, is now a ‘look’ for which a premium can be charged. It just doesn’t smell right.
Patia Davis, potter extraordinaire and her colleagues at Wobage Farm Craft Workshop, Ross on Wye are the polar opposite, their knowledge and understanding comes from the timeless depth of landscape which is then, like rare treasure, translated into Art; Deep, craggy, dreamy, sensuous, glorious and gutsy, the perfect marriage of beauty and practicality.
Going through the seismic shift of clearing out anything superfluous in the house (the children where lucky to survive..) I only want things that I can use and love. How I would love to own one of Patia Davis’ bowls..particularly her slipware..there’s a richness of colour, a deftness. The trails, featherings and brushmarks sing of skill yet freedom.
Wobage also offers workshops and courses with a recommended range of accommodation: Come learn to pot whilst staying in an authentic Mongolian Yurt? I think that could be my idea of heaven.
Laters, Kate x
For Kirsty With Love x
Because caring is sharing: This is the stunning work of New Zealand artist, illustrator and overall creative, Kirsty Warman who I’ve been a fan of since I first saw and followed her Blog. I’ve been dying to do a Blog post on her..but I didn’t think it would take this direction…
Just recently, Kirsty was approached by VIDA, the Google venture backed ecommerce platform that brings together designers and makers from around the world to create original and inspiring fashion in a socially conscious way. They wanted Kirsty to collaborate with them to turn her Art into clothes – and it’s happening..right now!
Over the next week, if her designs hit the 3+ orders each, VIDA will produce her unique designs..how cools is that?
Furthermore, for every VIDA product produced, the company pledges to help the makers in Karachi, Pakistan with literacy programmes. It’s a win, win..
At around $40 USD this is too good to miss..and add VIDA VOICES at the checkout and you even get a 20% discount..
Click here to sale effortlessly through to her shop..you know you want too!
I’ll see you there..
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 