January 13, 2015

Savvy Sonya..

Julie de Libran, the relatively new Designer at Sonya Rykiel has come up with some glorious and gutsy vocals for her 2015 Pre-fall Collection, including a masterclass in how to wear flares..

The proportions are magnificent, with classic details on sleeve lengths, cuffs and pockets.

She imbues the most mundane textures with emotion.

This clash of cobalt and animal mixed with the perfect updated boot and a flash of patterned tight..

(All photos Style.com)

A classy act from a Designer one step ahead of perceptions and preconceptions.

You can hear it glow.

Laters, Kate x

January 12, 2015

Dog Days x

Dog days…or perhaps the title should be: Cycle of Fat..the story of a mother’s waistline?..

Y’see every term starts with good intentions…healthy eating, increase of exercise and determination. And every time it all slips then slides away…why??

1. Because the start of every term requires unblocking the dam of jobs that have been stored up throughout the holidays..to the term time..when of course you’ll have time..hoho

2. It takes a while to crack the routine again: Early mornings, new after school clubs, hockey sticks, gum guards, out-grown shoes, lost PE kits.. but you do and it gets there..so you take the plunge and add in the exercise..adapt to the new routine and wait in hope for the endorphins to kick in (exercise equals endorphins equals happy mum equals not shooting the kids..or so they say) it takes it’s time – no pain, no gain..but you get there.

3. You take pride in the transforming you. Almost back to pre-second baby weight. Yay!

4. Then disaster strikes: School holidays..back to cooking through the day, no walking to and from school, cupboards now over-flowing with kids ‘stuff’ and temptation, meals out, no time to go to pilates or a run – no babysitters, everything is slower now you’re working as a pack, and generally there’s a festival of sorts: Christmas, Easter, Summer Holiday which means much ~~much~~ more alcohol and calories are ~~tripled~~ doubled..

5. So in the time it takes for the holiday to end…you’re back to where you started..

I was talking about this, trying to pin the butterfly down with a friend who’s a personal trainer: She’s got all the stuff in her house to do 15 mins a day to keep the dogs at bay (we’re talking fat cells..)..but she can’t make that mental/physical jump either. On these child-centric weeks it’s incredibly hard to focus the mind and do exercise ‘properly’ so the brain says, why bother, we just want to enjoy this time? We decided it made a difference when you could do activities with your kids, like tennis..but that means waiting till they’re of an age when it becomes worth while. Mine are a bit young and without the stamina, and you really don’t want to book a court just to adjudicate a fight. But we agreed that the problem is, if you don’t even try, the middle-age waist-line just builds up..and so does your age..I can confirm, the older you get, the harder it is to shift..

The truth is, heart on sleeve and tits on a platter: Exercise at this stage of life isn’t for improvement and a parade of rude health, it’s just to standstill..otherwise when the time comes to finally be able to play a genuine game of tennis with the kids…I’ll be the one oozing gently on my mobility scooter..

Food for thought..

Laters, Kate x

January 10, 2015

Mih – Damn Fine x

There’s a great sale on at MiH with some damn fine denim…I went for a pair of Marrakesh flares reduced from £174 to £52.20, they arrived true to size, beautiful fit with suede soft denim with just enough elastic for a good cling – what’s more, even though they were a sale item, they arrived with a gift of a midnight blue canvas tote bag with silver..I’d show you a picture ‘cept Bella’s already run away with it. Top Marks.

Laters, Kate x

January 9, 2015

Poppies..

These arrived in the post yesterday….a final Christmas present from The Husband…somehow perfectly poignant..

Laters, Kate x

January 8, 2015

Je Suis Charlie x

Laters, Kate x

January 8, 2015

Stella Zoe x

The UK series of Strictly has been over for nearly a month, but I’m still missing girl-crush, Zoe Ball. An absolute natural on the TV, who wears her heart on her heart – it’s surprisingly hard to find a decent photo that does her sartorial and character justice, but squish your eyes and you could believe she’s rolled in from a rollicking night on the tiles with lipstick on more than her collar..but always the supreme professional.

Believe me, Zoe’s got the glam rockster chic look down to a fine art. In the final she wore this witty little number by Stella McCartney – but threw out the rule book on clumsy flats and went sky-high..

(All photos Google.com)

That’s ma girl..

Laters, Kate x

January 7, 2015

Shining Light..

Lindsey Adelman light-creations are an empathy grab to the heart, snaring you between brutal, industrial chic and fragile organic forms..

Strangely enough, the girl-with-the-design eye-started her life wearing another coat – that of reader and dreamer. The magic happened in 1992 whilst Lindsey was working as an editorial assistant at the Smithsonian Institution, she walked into the Exhibition Fabrication Department and saw an industrial designer sculpting French fries out of foam for a show on American work…”I think they were for a McDonald’s drive-thru set or something,” she says. But somewhere a connection was made: dreams could be made into reality…and she immediately enrolled at RISD to study design…

Her first lights evolved from playing with off-the-shelf parts: ‘The structures I’ve made come out of an interest in function’ She explains, ‘You have this idea of spreading out points of light in a space, then developing a system of materials and energy..till it ends up looking like a tree because a tree already has it figured out!’

Her Company, Lindsey Adelman, based in Mannhatten, New York, now supports a staff of 20 and deals in commissions from around the world worth tens of thousands of dollars per light…but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t lost her roots..

Her first foray light is still available to order for the bargain price of $145.25. The catch? You have to make it yourself…heaven!

…And it comes with a European wiring option…

Laters, Kate x

January 6, 2015

The Sales x

(Picture from Style.com)

Can ideas grow old and desires outdated? Tastes certainly change and a subtle alteration can update the mundane, but how fast does fashion really run? Does a Season-behind-item really matter when the eye-watering price tag is suitably slashed? So whispers the seductive red-lipped temptation that is the January Sales, hip-swaying us in with a promise and a kiss to that shopper’s minefield of potential disaster and paradise..pick it right and get the prize for half the dosh…get it wrong and it’s a turkey turd festering in the darkest corner of your wardrobe forever..

I always thought the January Sales were the perfect opportunity to invest in a classic..the softest cashmere jumper, a timeless camel coat..an iconic silk blouse. But I’ve now seen the light: The Sales are not about anonymity and being conservative, but taking a risk and finding that one standout piece to love and hold forever, something cutting edge, different, unusual with independent thought, something that can mix the refined with everyday. And pieces like that takes time to find..

Thankfully, the fashion posts of the last year have provided a fine quality control to navigate the choppy waters of desire against fads and fly-by-nights, and the Collection that remains an earworm my head is Peter Pilotto AW15..so I took a deep breath and secretly went on a coat hunt – and this is where technology now makes such a difference…with websites such as ‘Search the Sales’ you can pin-point exactly what you’re looking for, they find it for the cheapest price available….and then (thankfully for Christopher Credit) you find it’s already sold out..

Next stop, Ebay…

Laters, Kate x

January 5, 2015

Haute Spot x

I have a sentimental weakness for the twinkling lights of Christmas – come tomorrow night, ours will be packed away for another year, marking the end of what has been a really rather lovely Christmas break…if self-indulgence is an art, there’s been just the right mix of celebrations and duvet days: The school routine and early mornings kick-off tomorrow and are going to be a seismic shock to the system..but now, excesses be damned, at least there’s something back in the tank to start the juggling again..and the harsh reality of New Year resolutions can wait another week: I like this feeling of cosy hibernation..

But if I had money to burn in this post-Christmas-spending-month-of-bill-contemplation, this fire-pit would be the object of my desires: Created by hand by the Artist Melissa Crisp and inspired by the north woods of Minnesota where the artist’s mother grew up it’s a living, breathing, visual delight..

Imagine the leaping shadows holding the cold of a winter frost at bay – that wonderful mix of being out in the elements, but warm…But until such times as the Lottery turns in my favour (as The Husband pointed out: would help if a bought a ticket), I shall just dream: There’re enough memories to keep flames burning…and simple candlelight and open fires aren’t a bad replacement..particularly if the candles are Jo Malone..sigh…and so once more into the darkness of winter we go..

Laters, Kate x