New Blue Shoes

I bought new blue shoes yesterday, on the way home from my first day of my new work, walking back from Westminster to Clerkenwell because of the tube strike and the puncture on my bike wheel.

I went into a shop thinking (in the immortal words of Eve Rice in her classic children's book and one that has stuck with me through the years): "I want new blue, nice blue, nice new blue shoes." 

... And I found some! What are the chances?

Shoes: Callaloo, Jones Bootmaker

Pop back soon to see them styled... And happy May Day to one and all!

After Audrey

A few weeks ago, my dear Mama and I went on shopping together on Portobello Road for my birthday. We started out at What Katie Did, getting me kitted out with a full vintage underwear ensemble, which was great fun. We then carried on to browse various shops and stalls at the north end of the market. The day ended up turning into quite the shopping spree as the right things kept cropping up and I let my mother indulge me. (I did also buy her a friendship bracelet as a memento of our fun day, so it wasn't all about me...)

By coincidence, the shopping trip ended up taking on quite an Audrey Hepburn theme. Firstly, my fancy was captured by a print of Audrey by an illustrator called Stanley Chow at one stall. I pondered it for a while, before opting to have a wander and return if I decided I wanted it.

In the meantime, we tried on some clothes here and there, and stumbled across a lovely little black dress  with a rather '60s evening/cocktail feel, at a great price and with a great fit. After buying that, I remembered a fun necklace I'd seen on the way into the market, and wondered if it might go nicely with the dress. People were starting to pack up this point, and I thought we may have missed out, but happily the stall was still there. And the necklace fit perfectly with the dress! I was pleased, as I felt the two together made a sort of nod - without being a patent copy of - Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's. The dress was a classic look, while the necklace brought a slightly unusual, modern element to things.

This weekend, I had the opportunity to bring them together for the first time when I went out to Piano, a piano bar in Kensington, with The Cat as part of my birthday celebrations. I teamed the dress and necklace with the amazing vintage Dior gloves my mother got me as another birthday present (ain't she wonderful?), my What Katie Did suspender belt and seamed stockings, kitten heels from Jones Bootmaker and 'pearl' earrings (a Christmas present from my mother years ago).

We had a great night out too, enjoying the jazz and the atmosphere. It was a lovely, chilled Sunday night vibe but we're now planning to go back one night in the week, when there's apparently a pianist who takes requests and a sort of open mic set up. Sounds fabulous!

Oh, and back to the shopping spree... My mother talked me into letting her get me the Audrey print in the end as well.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, dear readers!

It's Easter today, and the clocks have sprung forward too... And yet, sadly, it still doesn't feel quite like spring is here. I woke up to some glorious sun but unfortunately the clouds came in and covered him up. At least there hasn't been any random snowfalls, like there was yesterday! And The Cat and I did manage to hunt down a patch of daffodils and signs of life to serve as a backdrop to my Easter outfit post.

It's that cold here that at first I was hesitant to remove my coat...

But then I realised that, really, I had to take my coat off to show off my new Easter frock... As you may remember from my Easter post last year, I've been embracing the old tradition of having something new to wear for Easter Sunday for the past few years. As before, I've not bought any clothes in a while, so it was special to wear not only my new dress, but my new jacket too! The dress was from the old reliable Beyond Retro (the Cheshire Street branch on this occasion) while the jacket was purchased from Cow in Sheffield on my recent visit up there, where I had more luck than I did at the Nottingham branch back in summer 2011.

The shade of colours in the dress inspired me to partner them with this wonderful 1950s cocktail hat which I bought last year. I'd wanted a hat with a veil for a while and then a friend was DJ-ing at a night where hats were demanded, so I had the perfect reason to go out hunting for one. I struck gold at Cloud Cuckoo Land, a wee vintage shop just off Camden Passage, near Angel. It's a really wonderful shop, which I was pleased to discover. I told the lady this, to which she responded, 'Thank you - that's just what I needed to hear today'. It felt like a happy exchange to have brightened her day with a few nice words after she had brightened my day when I found the hat, after having almost given up after a long search through many shops. And it was nice to be able to wear it again today because, to be honest, it's not really an 'everyday wear' kind of item. Of course, I got some funny looks when I was out and about but they're like water off a duck's back. More important is the fact that I got some nice smiles as people admired my Easter bonnet. 

And I saw this little chap bouncing around the local park when we were taking outfit shots. I wonder if he's a friend of the guy I snapped last year at Easter?

Hope you've all had a beautiful and joyous Easter. Alleluia, Christ is risen! 

Fabhatrix (Love Letter from Edinburgh)

After an incredibly mild Christmas and New Year, winter has come to London and snow has been falling these past few days. Aside from causing me to joyfully skip and dance in the snowfall, the sudden need to pull down my winter hats has spurred me on to write this long overdue post about Fabhatrix.

You will have glimpsed Fabhatrix before on this blog. Like a friend of a friend who has caught your attention once or twice at a party and intrigued you, but to whom you have never had the chance to speak. This summer just gone, one of their creations appeared at the Chap Olympiad, a whole long half-year since you first caught wind of them on an autumn visit to Kew Gardens.

And now, the purpose of this post is to formally introduce you.

I first became aware of Fabhatrix when getting to know a workmate who is now one of my best friends here in London. Somehow, on one occasion or another, it came up in conversation that her mother was a milliner, with a hat shop in Edinburgh. I was enchanted by this fact - how wonderfully exotic to have a milliner in the family! I swore to myself, and to my friend, that I would visit the shop when I next had the good fortune to be in Edinburgh.

In September 2011, I found myself in Scotland to meet up with The Cat's parents, who were visiting from abroad. Fabhatrix was firmly on the 'must see' list. As it was around my birthday time, my mum had said I could buy a hat for myself as a birthday present from her. Which was rather a nice thought, my mum buying a hat for me made by my friend's mum.

But I was slightly nervous about visiting the shop... What if I just didn't like any of the hats in there? What would I say to my friend if I thought them all hideous? What would I say to her mother, who was expecting me at the shop?

But there was no fear of that!

The problem turned out to be having to select just one out of the wonderful selection. Fortunately I had some sense of what I wanted, which was a cloche, so that focused my attention a little and I ended up walking out with this little number:

Hastily snapped before catching a train from Edinburgh Waverley...

... Oh, yes, and this little number too. So much for choosing just one:

In rural Nottinghamshire over Christmas 2011

And that wasn't the last Fabhatrix hat given as a gift within my family. No, with my dad's 60th birthday that year, I wanted to get him something useful and fittingly dignified for a new sextarian. So I offered to replace his beanie with a tweed flatcap. With a family trip up to Edinburgh for Hogmanay 2011, it was the perfect chance to purchase his belated birthday cap. So back to Fabhatrix it was. The focus of their workshop is women's hats but we found something for my dad in the hand-picked selection of men's hats they source and sell.

Somehow, I don't have a close-up photo of his hat but here's a snap of him, behatted, walking down the street in Edinburgh with my mum. Oh yes, and while we were trying on hats for dad, Mum couldn't resist trying on a few herself and ended up walking out with one too!

Mum and Dad in their Fabhatrix hats

Mum outside the shop, on Edinburgh's Grassmarket

So, next time you're in Edinburgh, I absolutely urge you to make a visit. Or you can check out their more limited but terribly convenient online store, even if you have no hope of visiting Edinburgh now or anytime soon. Oh, and they do bespoke hats too, if you're feeling like being particularly fancy and commissioning something perfect for a special outfit.

And I just have to end by making absolutely clear that I'm not raving about Fabhatrix just because I'm a friend of the family that own and run it. Though I probably don't really need to clarify that because anyone can see for themselves that I'm just raving about them because they are so unarguably, well, fab!

Let It Rain, Let It Rain, Let It Rain

Kensington Palace's Advent calendar, based on Queen Victoria's diaries

Well, the Christmas forecast is frightful

But London will be delightful

 As I don't need no train

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain...

Fortnum & Mason Christmas windows

This year I'm spending Christmas in London, which is just wonderful. There's been lots of rain here in the UK, causing a wee bit of chaos, but I don't have to fret about any travel plans or crowds because I'm staying put. Everything is wrapped up (literally and metaphorically) so I can just spend the next few days relaxing, go to my regular church for the Christmas services, cook up a simple Christmas lunch on Tuesday, and enjoy the peacefulness that descends on the capital over the break, perhaps partaking in a cycle around its empty streets on Boxing Day, weather permitting.

I got the final grocery shop out of the way yesterday so today I enjoyed a visit to Kensington Palace to see their Advent calendar installation, on the last day before they close for Christmas. Against my expectations, I have come to adore Kensington Palace, after discovering it when they had the Enchanted Palace installation during recent refurbishment works. It recently reopened in all its glory and has maintained the fairytale element. A full post to come on that...

More installments in the Kensington Palace Advent calendar

When I was kicked out at 5pm, I went for a walk and ended up passing Fortnum & Mason, so naturally stopped to look at their Christmas display. Sadly, it was slightly disappointing when compared against last year's offering. The main windows, fronting Piccadilly, recount the tale of Dick Whittington, but the figures looked a bit cheap and kitsch to me - like a bad local history museum. The backdrops in the Duke Street windows seemed similarly tacky and obvious. While some of the displays of food and beverages was quite beautiful and artfull, I definitely preferred last year's displays, which were more like the window display version of an editorial fashion shoot, in which the products almost seemed an incidental element in bewitching and abstract scenes.

Still, even for someone who isn't generally seduced by gratuitious displays of food, there were definitely some appealling moments:

Anyway, I hope that you, my lovely readers, all have a wonderful Christmas, however and wherever you choose to celebrate. And I hope that those people who are travelling to be with loved ones have safe and undisrupted journeys, come rain, snow or shine.





Love Letter to Abe

I just have to take a moment to sing high praises of Abe Books.  They've been on the internet scene for ages so you've probably come across them before but I just wanted to remind everyone how brilliant they are, especially if you're after anything vaguely obscure.  

Selection from feature on '30 Old Books Worth Buying for the Cover Alone'

I'm just gushing right now because I've managed to pick up two books that are really useful for my research for less than £15 combined, including postage.  One of them I've referenced at the British Library but the other I've not been able to see because there was some problem when I tried to order it up.  Now, because of this wonderful online shop, I can have both volumes of this pair, dating to 1910 and 1911, at home to consult at my leisure.

Selection from feature on 'Britain in Pictures'

So, hurrah for Abe Books!  I urge you to check them as your first port of call when you're shopping online.  You can get books, many out of print or obscure, for an absolute song more often than not.  You can also pick up massively expensive, rare antiques if you fancy it and have money to spare...  Even if you don't, it's lovely looking through the frequent compilations they feature on the site.  I love that they have a bit of a wicked sense of humour too, with themes such as 'Depressing Russian Literature'.

The other great thing about the site is that it brings together a collection of lots of independent sellers, rather than being one massive superstore, so you're supporting little guys by buying from there.  Of course, it still doesn't beat the pleasure of browsing through a real-world second-hand bookshop, inhaling the unmistakable smell of old books and stumbling accidentally across hidden delights...  But then again, I doubt I would have found those two specific books I was after if I'd just been browsing in a local bookshop so, for that purpose, it is practically unbeatable.

Note!  This is not an affiliate or sponsored post, despite sounding like a total sales pitch!  I'm not benefitting at all from promoting Abe Books.  I just think they're awesome, pure and simple.  And when I'm not at work these days, I'm holed up at home with my thesis writing so I'm going just a wee bit book crazy... 

Delicious Windows at Fortnum & Mason

Yesterday I went to an exhibition on Soviet architecture at the Royal Academy of Arts, which I rather enjoyed.  I would write more about the things I learnt there and trawl the internet for some pictures by architects and artists who particularly took my fancy but, as you may or may not have noticed, I've been rather word-lite on posts at the moment and this is because I'm snowed under with course work.  However, I want to keep my blog swimming along and it's nice to take wee breaks now and again, so I'm hastily posting every now and then.

As such, today's post is not going to be on Communism and architecture but rather, the shop windows at Fortnum & Mason!  Yes, upon emerging onto Piccadilly after the exhibition, my friend and I decided to go have tea in Fortnum & Mason.  I happened to get incredibly distracted by the windows...  For quite a while...  In fact, my friend decided to leave me to it while she went in to look around at actual food and beverages...

As you can probably tell, I wasn't overly bothered by the food on display and just went a bit nuts photographing all the details.  Note: I don't really have a weird foot fixation, despite the fact they feature rather heavily in my snaps.

I love that French Railways House (1960-2) is reflected in this picture and
Burlington House is in the one with the peacock lady.  Seems appropriate somehow.

Aren't they just fabulous though!  Evidence that the fine artistic eye of Fortnum & Mason's creative director, Paul Symes, does much more to get one drooling than the food inside the building.  Everything was just so exquisite and detailed, I could have stayed there for hours admiring it but I was called inside to afternoon tea which was, admittedly, also quite good.

I also just want to note, for anyone who doesn't already read her blog, the lovely Miss Kelly-Marie at Harem of Peacocks recently had her Beyond Retro windows appear alongside Fortnum & Mason in Drapers magazine.  Fabulous news and well-deserved.