For Kicks x
Electric, exuberant, eclectic and charismatic.
I think I have a new style crush…
Laters, Kate x
Happy Haunting…..
MWaaaah-ha-ha-haaaaaa…..
xxx
The Circus..
I’ve been swimming around my goldfish bowl wondering what’s a girl to do? How’s it possible to write a follow on post to THAT party? From all the bubbling laughter and excess champagne I’m propelled into my first ever bout of poster’s block. Confessions of a disco queen..I’m writing in circles…it just doesn’t feel right to comment on the latest autumn trend…
It’s also half term…so how about a nostalgic trip to the circus? Which not only the kids loved..but I did too..
Laters, Kate x
Thank you! xxx
Laters….much laters….Kate xxxxx
WELCOME to the Maison Bentley Style Blog Paaardy!
SO delighted you could come..please step aboard the Christina O..the iconic yacht of Aristotle and Jackie Kennedy Onassis..let’s skip over the water into blue sky dreaming for we’ll be sailing the seven seas ending at the bottom of the rainbow..watch out for shooting stars and dazzling delights..
Some Cristal Champagne? Please – I insist..we need to raise a glass to the frivolity and the successful porting of this Blog..long may she float!
Just be careful..Ditta Von Tease is reclining in one of the glasses..
Today I couldn’t resist the lure of vintage…it’s hard to beat an Ossie Clark dress with all the flow and curve in just the right places..a touch of bohemian chic amongst the sleekness..
Teamed with an outrageous pair of Nicholas Kirkwood kicks..no change from a grand but then they are appliquéd in iridescent moonstones..and who’s counting?
My clutch? Vintage Chanel..it’s a bit of a fav..
And this little rock? It’s the diamond Richard Burton gave to Elizabeth Taylor..
The earrings are a nod to my seventies dress..black diamond briolette hoops courtesy of First dibs.
Feel free to mingle..come join the noise and indulge..Billie Holiday and her band her playing in the ballroom..
Be a dancing butterfly and walk amongst egos, clink glasses, breathe the air and laugh!
all the following pics courtesy of the Daily Mail. Nice people..
I hear Marilyn is somewhere in the crowds..and there’s a rumour Elvis is going to sing..
But don’t get too drunk distracted… I have all these other wonderful Parties for you to head off too..work your way through the list if you dare..please send them all my love!….and remember….you can always come back!
musingsofglamour.wordpress.com
www.fashionmayann.wordpress.com
www.fashionwithfeli.wordpress.com
cocktailsandcountrytales.wordpress.com
www.streetzblog.com or www.sniperwells.wordpress.com
erincampbellblog.wordpress.com
overthehillonroute54.wordpress.com
Laters, Kate xxxxx
Blog Paaardy!
Do we need a reason to celebrate? NOOOOO! But it has been a smooth transition to this effectively new Blog ‘Maison Bentley Style’..I had no idea you could change your url and still manage to hold everything together, but you can and I am very grateful!……So let’s get this disco ball rolling!!
The rules of the game:
1. You are ALL invited! to accept, please leave your Blog address in the comments below.
2. The party will take place on Sunday 27 October starting at 9.00am GMT but don’t worry if you’re on the other side of the world..because of all the time differences the last party went on for 2 days!
3. Write a welcoming post with ‘Welcome to the Maison Bentley Style Blog Party’ Somewhere on the page..think of it as the welcome mat to your Blog. It’ll make people feel connected and part of the fun, feel free to talk about your Blog and what people can expect to find – the last time we did this everyone experienced a huge surge in stats and followers so it’s really worth doing some house cleaning and tarting up the paintwork..have some nibbles handy and a glass of something special ready..music anyone? If you’re behind UK time, think about putting up your post Saturday night.
4. We live in a virtual world..so this is YOUR chance to wear/interior design/gourmet your food/dream the dream to WHATEVER LEVEL YOU FANCY..that little Chanel number you’ve always lusted? It’s in your wardrobe..in your taylored-to-fit size too..those Valentino shoes? On your feet! You live in in a CASTLE? REALLY? The sky is the limit..put up pictures and let us know because all you need to do is tell us in your post! And quite frankly, the more outrageous..the more outrageous! To give you an idea, this was last partie’s post.
5. This post will stay up till Saturday evening, then I will list all the participants in a new post for Sunday..and then it’s super simple..we fly around on our magic cyber carpets and visit all the names on the list…and try not to get too drunk!
Can’t wait!!
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style x
Are we all here? hope so! I think I’ve done it…but I suspect time and the dreaded stats will be the only way to truly know. I do plan a visual face lift FOR THE BLOG (sigh) at some point, but I think it might be wise to let all these technical bits bed down first. Feel free to look around and play ‘spot the difference’..it’s going to take a while to settle but hey, there’s a Blog Party to think about and Vintage Attitude is already buffing her baby cham! I’m rapidly writing invitations as I type and full details will follow in the next post..
But onto matters close to my heart..on my many wanderings round the web I stumbled across Mr Gugu & Miss Go. and was particularly enamoured of their sweatshirts (I’m thinking pencil leather midi with dramatic statement necklace combo?), not only do they offer their own ingenious designs from a whole cornucopia of ideas that would put an Oscar winning bobby dazzler on Mary Katranzou’s face, but you can also upload your own photos or artwork (Holzfeder?(who is running a fantastic charity campaign on her blog – well worth checking out by the way) and The Crazy Bag Lady? up for it?!) it would create a properly personally dramatic and unique piece..and all for 55 euros (about £47) including European delivery…bargain!
Based on a carpet! J’adore!
There’s something about this one..
Would you? Could you?!
The Christmas party?
There’s a fine line between bling and sing, but these are just sirening how terribly hashtag buy.me.now…..
Laters, Kate x
Something in the air..
Photo by Joel Robinson
The winds of change are a blowin’….
Anna and I have been thinking hard and we’ve made the decision to split MasonBentley into our distinctive fortes. I’ll carry on the Blog which will subtly change to Maison Bentley Style, whilst Anna will continue with her label under the name ‘Anna Mason’ and when we need to support each other, we will…think of us as the wrinklier versions of Rosie Assoulin and Leandra Medine…
This does mean there will be changes to the Blog – I’m hoping these won’t take long or be too complicated but the upheaval does mean the perfect excuse for another Blog Party to celebrate a re-launch. Watch this space for more info.
We’ll also be using this time to write a letter to ourselves for the future at FutureMe.org – you are always your best mentor and champion and sometimes, just sometimes we need that extra something to grow bigger and better wings..write yourself a letter now, saying where you want to be in a years time…and see if it comes true..
Laters, Kate x
A special day x
Today is my daughter Bella’s seventh birthday. She was my IVF baby, born after six years of heartache, seven miscarriages and 2 years of no pregnancies (which I am sure was psychological..but it really didn’t help). With her birth on this day all those years ago I finally became a Mummy.
I still carry the scar tissue..infertility is a time I wouldn’t wish on anyone – you beat yourself up for the futility of hoping, nose permanently pressed against the glass, it becomes personal. A retina searing pain that makes you disappear under the burden of inner reflection..the only person to blame being you. Something so simple, so natural…so unachievable.
We literally threw everything we had at it..and we were oh so lucky. The tides finally turned and she arrived..the most beautiful baby I had ever seen..a fairy child. And she remains the most beautiful inside and out child to this day…the rarest and most delicate of gifts. I celebrate.
Laters, Kate x
So Good x
THE MANIFESTO AS WRITTEN BY TOOGOOD
WHEREAS for too long we have witnessed the honest clothing of working people being stolen and arrogated in the name of so-called utility wear and industrial chic;
WHEREAS in an age of digital reproduction the individual is beset on all sides by the bastions of mercantilism and commerce, those false profiteers who prescribe with one hand and proscribe with the other, while forcing allcomers into constrictive sartorial templates;
WHEREAS the entrenched power bases of couture houses and multinationals mete and dole grotesque sumptuary laws to a compliant populace in the form of biannual ‘seasons’, weaving obsolescence into the very fabric of their garments;
WE HEREBY reject and reprehend the cruel diktats of the discredited fashionista treadmill: the voracious cycle in which spring/summer is devoured by autumn/winter, and autumn/winter is in turn devoured by spring/summer. Let them be rendered obsolete by the very inconstancy they thrive upon — we want it to happen! We will create only when we choose to create. Never again shall free thinkers be in thrall to the caprices of chainstore buyers or of marketing consultants!
OUR AIMS are simple, our methods straightforward. We shall sweep aside the crumbling detritus of plutocrat designers and clear the way for a new aesthetic rooted in individuality and honesty, a liberating mode that is available to all, male and female, old and young. We celebrate the craft and the toil of the workers — not faceless serfs running up disposable fads in farflung sweatshops, but named artisans with pride in their labour.
WE SHALL harness the techniques and forms of this mechanised age and return them to the people. The inherent worth of any object lies not in the pronouncements of the self-appointed arbiters of collective taste, but in provenance and the craftsmanship of manufacture.
The Beekeeper
The Road sweeper
The Oilrigger.
The Courier
The Chemist
The Mechanic
Each coat is groundly based in the the workwear of a specific trade – authentic and pactical. There is no gender bias instead they are available in 6 sizes to enhance or disguise individual frames.
Unique labels inside each garment celebrate the workmanship and craft of each process and layer of creativity: The buyer, the seller, the manufacturer right back to the designer and pattern cutter. A simple, clear badge of pride.
Integrity, style, class and…excitement.
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 
