Wide Eyed July 31, 2009

I discovered this amazing website yesterday, a real treasure trove, full of delights especially so if you have to buy a present for a baby. Bianca and Family also restore furniture. Look at the beautiful school desks that were featured on Apartment Therapy.

The magnets above reminded me of a few things which I’ve seen that are as kitsch and I love. I went to Saigon earlier this year and spotted the selection of toys below.

Last week I went to see Walking In My Mind and was delighted to look into Yoshitomo Nara’s student shack and his display of toys and dolls.

What I really want to get is these earrings from Les Nereides’s diffusion line, N2 which are also available as a brooch and cute hair grips.

But if wearing kitsch is not for you, there is always decoration. This wallpaper from Nono fits the bill.

Or buy this beautiful tree designed by Millicent & Frank. Although I think it’s the little deers that complete the look.

ColouRING July 15, 2009

I’ve been meaning to blog about these crayon rings for awhile now.  I found some time today to do so. They are designed by Timothy Liles a Boston based designer whose day job is with Converse.

These rings are cast in washable crayon and are sold as a set of 8 and available to buy onThe Future Perfect. Great for the sudden creativity attack and for making like a kid again and drawing on some walls.

All The Jazz June 7, 2009

I have a confession to make. I am an apple snob. Always have been, always will be. I remember the horrid little apples that were always in the Children’s Day goodie bag. I used to give them away and I am thankful that I am never to see those awful Washington apples again.

The problem with apples that don’t quite make the mark is the powder-like texture. Crunchiness is crucial to deliciousness in apples.

Pink Lady apples were a favourite for awhile but are now in second place to the snazzily named Jazz apples. Initially only sold in Waitrose, Sainsbury’s now offer them with a 1/3 off promotion, which means these crunchy, juicy apples are now available at a friendly-to-the-pocket price. Both Jazz and Pink Lady varieties not only taste great but look very rosy.

With the temperatures rising and dropping, I have been eating quite a lot of apples. I’ve enjoyed biting into a Jazz apple when it’s sunny and finding a pot of Zuivelhoeve yoghurt with apple and cinnamon compote very heartwarming and soothing with temperatures have dropped. This yoghurt is so delicious that upon discovering it, I have appointed myself as an apple and cinnamon yoghurt evangelist.

When I think of quite ordinary fruits like apples and pears, I think of how simple and inspiring these fruits are in design. From the yellow apples on my black patent shoes to my Orla Kiely grey pear print duvet cover. I remember obsessing over a pear pendant that was sold on day-lab but they’ve stopped shipping internationally, I was unable to buy it. I looked at the site today again and found some other lovely apple and pear necklaces.

As a fan of wearing fruity jewellery, I admit that fruits as inspiration work best as kitchen products. I love Yoyo Ceramics‘ kitchen tidy. Sold as a pair of an apple and a pear, they are available in four colours and will brighten anyone’s kitchen or even dressing table.

Luckily for me, working for Orla Kiely means being surrounded by print. The pear print is a favourite and I often reach out for the green apples and pears mug to have my coffee in and it pleases me ever so much, each time.

Bright Like Neon Love April 8, 2009

My love for neon comes and goes. No, what I want to say is my love for neon washes over me like a big wave and it simmers down. And then it comes back again.

My love for neon has been reignited by a recent trip to Primark and finding this neon plimsolls. Perhaps it was the recent post about jelly that reminded me of the joy in seeing neon colours on things.

Designers have dabbled with neon here and there. Influenced and inspired by highlighter pens there has been plenty of bright offerings over the seasons, usually around Spring/Summer seasons.  One of my favourite rings is a neon pink acrylic diamond by AMT.

I love Paul Smith’s summer scarf offering in highlighter green, pink and yellow available from My Wardrobe. New York Magazine raved about  Michael Kors neon outfit on the runway but what caught my eye were the shoes. That neon toecap is very nice.

My favourite neon item is a folded purse from Orla Kiely which is completely sold out from a few seasons ago. I managed to get hold of the flat purse in the sample sale but will not rest until I find the oversized patent yellow leather folded purse with a kisslock coin section. Marc Jacobs seems to introduce neon bags on and off again.

Susie Bubble had a few months ago experimented with some neon pompom balls under a sheer dress. It looks amazing and a nice way to introduce some fluoro to jazz up (or should I say electro-fy) an outfit.

The choices are endless with neon. Whether you want a full on neon outfit (I have in my wardrobe an excellent neon yellow Hoss tank top and an asymmetrical neon pink top) or you just wanted to inject a little fluoro-power (accessories are great), there’s something out there. I quite like simple black dresses brightened up with neon tights.

And when you’re walking about have a listen to Cut Copy’s Bright Like Neon Love.

It’s in the Cards March 23, 2009

One of my bestfriends is having her birthday party soon. The theme she has chosen is off Alice in Wonderland. She’ll be having a Madhatter’s Tea Party in Callooh Callay, a bar in Shoreditch so named as a nod to a Lewis Carroll poem. Naturally the design aspects of such a theme has been on the cards of late. I ffffound this Russian prison deck which led me to look for more in this direction. Playing cards have always fascinated. And for a long time they were the first thing to spring to mind when you heard the words “inflight entertainment”.  They provide the perfect canvas for designers to play around with and magicians love this easy-to-carry prop for demonstrating magic tricks. I wondered about playing cards in fashion…

I thought of Topshop’s AW08 Alice in Wonderland inspired collection which I thought was better on paper than in execution. I only came away with some heart print underwear which are cute but nothing out of the ordinary. I am surprised that although the suits make really easy prints for design, I’ve not actually seen much out there. Apart from hearts, the other suits have not really made it as a design for print. It is a bit of a shame really as you can see above clubs make quite a nice little alternative to flowers as a print. I met Elizabeth Lau in Paris a couple of years ago and was really pleased to see her name pop up in quite a few places recently. The amicable designer has a lovely approach with her use of love hearts in her quirky designs. This dress is a nice little example of what I was hoping to find when researching playing cards.

Accessories are the finishing touches, so I was pleased to find the handmade jewellery from Joolz found via this blog. The multi-strand pearl necklace is accented with butterlies made out of  vintage playing cards.

Hola Silver Birds February 26, 2009

I have to thank my sister for leading me to Joanna Rutter and her pretty silver birds. Birds have in the last few years gain a popularity in fashion and jewellery. It can get quite difficult to see something special when a motif has been used over and over again.

It is remarkable that Joanna Rutter can produce such simple jewellery that you want badly. I wouldn’t say that there’s anything especially unique about it but there’s a gentleness about the designs. And a sense that time has been spent designing and making these.

Having bookmarked this last summer I looked at the designs again today and was pleased to see that I still wanted.  If you read her blog, you will see that it is bursting with inspiration and a sort of quiet appreciation of all things nice- not unlike her jewellery.

Her pretty pieces are available to buy here.

Tache-tastic February 11, 2009

The moustache has been a big source of amusement and entertainment for me. It all started with Dali and his moustache. From the day when Tyler and I went around the supermarket  with fake moustaches looking for treacle to make gingerbreadmen to the night at The Egg where I danced quite seriously with a moustache above my lip.

And so the obsession continued, one work Christmas do we were given fake moustaches to wear over lunch, much to everyone’s delight.  Although I would have been equally happy with the moustache pencils.

One of Guy’s first presents to me was a serious fat man’s tache which I hang by my door like it’s for sale. And then came the Moustache Envy badges Sarah bought for me. This year for my birthday, my lovely friends found a moustache ring for me from Tatty Devine.  It’s a beautiful ring and great for instant fancydress occasions.

I am delighted to see the number of moustache products out there. Clearly, moustaches make people happy. Here’s a blog with many a hairy post and if you wanted to go out dancing in London, there’s the Moustache Bar in Dalston or in Paris, here’s a club for moustachioed boys and girls.

Let’s start from the very beginning… December 9, 2008

About a year ago, on my regular browse on day-lab, I fell in love with these vintage jumbo initial pins. This time last year, day-lab still shipped internationally, but there were no “A”s or “Q”s or even “K”s. I continued to check, almost obsessively to see if perhaps one day, Amy would find more of these dead stock and upload them on her site. Instead of finding the correct letters in this style, the site was updated with more varieties of initial jewellery. And still to no avail. There was nothing in these letters. It suddenly felt like I was playing a very bad game of scrabble. Speaking of which I did buy some scrabble tile earrings from Brick Lane ages ago and was pleased that “A” and “Q” made up 11 points on their own.

I remember my mum buying my dad embroidered hankies with the letter “Q” in the corner. They were just so classy and made a special gift for the gentleman, that is my dad.

I guess those hankies had something to do with my need to get my hands on something similar.  I had a flash of genius. I was going to save a search on Ebay for initial. So for awhile now, I have been getting daily results for initials. Unfortunately this has resulted in some pretty ugly pieces of jewellery, and mostly in the letters that I wanted.

In October, I was in Paris for work. The apartment in Montmartre is next to the best junk shop in the world. Outside the window display is filled with heads of dolls, leather partridge pins in French colours. This shop as my friends had predicted had my name all over it. I spent a good hour and more in this teeny-tiny shop, the size of a medium bathroom. I found some gifts for everyone and myself! I walked out with wooden blocks of letters in beautiful fonts, a plastic red sailboat brooch (which I have unfortunately lost- boo) and a vintage thin gold leather belt (which is already falling apart 2 months on).  I spent much of that hour looking through a tiny box that was filled with vintage initial brooches. And again, no chance pour moi.  A feeling of stubborness came over me and I decided to buy a “Y”. I was going to tell people that it is not always about the initial, but also the end. My name ends with “Y”, so this brooch is mine.  I convinced myself that I was more than qualified to be wearing a “Y”.

I stopped looking.

And on Saturday, we went to Broadway Market to get some brunch. It was a gorgeous day with a clear blue sky. And something caught my eye. And there amongst the beautiful bird hairbands and pearl brooches that were being sold by Jessie Chorley and Buddug lay some pretty decent-sized initials. A quick scan and I found them. Quite easily my new favourite earrings.

I went to bed yesterday satisfied with my weekend find and listened to Serge Gainsbourg’s Initiales B.B.