The wonders of London

One of my favourite things about London is the chameleon ways of the city: it changes from one street to another and takes you through narrow little roads with rows of colourful houses, to streets with quirky boutiques and fantastic pubs…

New Kings Road on a rainy yet fabulous day!

New Kings Road by Parsons Green is one of the places that keep surprising me over and over again.  Here you get everything from amazing little pop up second hand shops, to the glorious Deuxieme and Deuxieme Too that I wrote about the other week – not to mention the allure of a handful of amazingly cozy pubs, where you end up spending a lazy afternoon in the company of some good friends.

So Miss S and I found ourselves at a lovely café by Parsons Green the other day, and given the beautiful palette of colours that she was wearing, obviously our favourite 1920s cocktail ring had to make an appearance.  I just love how you can bring something almost a hundred years old to the table, and match it up so well with what we wear today.  Oh the joys of vintage!

A close-up of these glittering beauties

I have said it before, and trust me – I will say it again – do put on that beautiful piece of jewellery tomorrow, which you have safely tucked away at home!  Match it up, dress it down – it is completely up to you how want to show it to the world, but I can promise you that we can’t wait to see it!

I am having major hair-envy!!

Now go out and explore your London – or Stockholm, Cape Town, New York, Helsinki, Berlin, Melbourne or Oslo – and enjoy the gorgeous shops, bars, parks and restaurants that we so take for granted.  And don’t forget to put on that special piece of jewellery – or maybe you will find a new treasure here…

Midwinter burst of colours

Some mornings just require a burst of colours to remind us of spring!

Ring with an agate and garnets from the late 19th century/beginning of the 20th century 

I love the ring above as it comes from a time when Art Nouveau was at its height – the turn of the century just over a hundred years ago.  I will come back to Art Nouveau in a future post, but you will find that the designs from that time are very distinct, heavily inspired by nature.

Stunning Surrey sky

One of the last poppies of 2012

Sweets for my sweet…

Once upon a time there was a grey and foggy old town called London, where people went about their business in the mist and the rain.  They were however quietly longing for that little something which would bring sunshine to the parks and the streets…

Then one day a ray of light suddenly burst out from 70 Long Acre in Covent Garden, in the shape of the most glorious sweets haven ever known to mankind, SugarSin:

The vintage style presented by Voutique goes hand-in-hand with SugarSin‘s beautiful look   

The sisters Anna and Josefin started the shop as they wanted to “create a special place where people could indulge in their own favourite treat” – umm yes please, I say!

Everything is just divine, from the carefully decorated shelves and tables, to the beautiful colours on the walls, to the old fashioned glass jars that bring back an air of times gone by:

The Voutique-team refuelling at SugarSin during LFW

Sea salted almonds for all!

It is Alice in Wonderland meets Vintage – it is Pippi Longstocking meets Honeydukes Sweetshop (Harry Potter people!) … not to mention the sweets – the sweets! – which will melt in your mouth and leave you with a feeling of zero gravity.

Gosh it is so worth a visit – and for all of you Scandinavians in London, missing your favourite sweets from back home, fret no more!  Marabou, Plopp, Gott och Blandat, Djungelvrål – it is all here just waiting for you… enjoy!

http://sugarsin.co.uk/

LFW crowd watching at Somerset House

So I told you in my previous post that London has been flooded with incredibly well/quirky/funky dressed people this week; well this is what you can expect if you pop into town this week:

Fashionistas can be found literally around every corner, and I am sure these girls didn’t know they had paparazzi on their heels!

A collection of designer handbags and shoes were embellishing the Strand outside Somerset House

My contribution for the day – and the green vintage agate ring received some well-deserved attention, although you can barely see it here! 

 

It was like entering the set of Gossip Girl, where colourful purses were fighting for attention with stunning hairstyles and huge shades!

I would say that outside was just as much of a catwalk as inside!

Photographers and bloggers were snapping away all over the place

Maybe next year I will try and attend some of the shows – this was however a fun peek into one of London’s most buzzing weeks!

 

London Fashion Week with a side of vintage

This weekend central London transformed into a huge catwalk as London Fashion Week came to town.  Together with the stylish crew from Voutique we decided to bring an air of glorious vintage to the scene:

Stunning retro styles from Voutique outside SugarSin on 70 Long Acre, Covent Garden (a separate post about SugarSin is coming up later in the week, so stay tuned!) 

Fashion Scout at Freemasons’ Hall

Fashion Scout is one of the UK’s greatest fashion showcases for emerging as well as established design.  The queue outside the hall presented its own catwalk with the most fashionable swarm of fashion enthusiasts (above)

Voutique then continued its journey down to Somerset House, where London Fashion Week was hosted.

Isn’t vintage just such a breath of fresh air with its delightful colours?

The most amazing retro sunglasses that topped off this gorgeous vintage look

The Voutique crew just about to head into Somerset House for LFW – more about that later!

Afternoon tea with a side of glamour

Any excuse to wear a favourite piece of jewellery… 

… my hair is up in a ponytail with a few small braids on both sides for that lovely boho chic touch…

Get the girls together and go for some tea and scones – and don’t forget to use it as an excuse to wear your favourite pieces of jewellery, as it is the perfect time to get just a bit more dressed up! 

I wanted to wear my favourite earrings the other day – a pair of 1920s style ones – but as my friend and I went to a rather rustic French café I didn’t want to look too overdressed – ahh the constant battle!

Well, I ended up pairing up the earrings with this very subtle, dark grey top from COS, which comes with the most divine black bow on one shoulder.  The contrast that it creates with the sparkling earrings was just what I was looking for, as it lets the jewellery stand out just the right amount.  And COS really is one of my favourite shops for laid back, yet beautifully tailored clothes, that just always seem to work with vintage jewellery!

So I hope this inspires you to wear those earrings or that bracelet that might be just a little bit too shimmery, as I think all jewellery is made to be worn and should not be tucked away for that “special occasion” that might just come around once or twice – instead wear it and enjoy it as much as you can!

Deuxieme Too… J’adore!

The other day I found myself on New Kings Road, browsing for that perfect whatever-gorgeous-falls-into-my-lap and ended up in Deuxième Too – the little sister shop to Deuxieme, my favourite dress agency/vintage shop in London.  I will write about Deuxieme another time, but it is the most amazing shop and I have found some of my favourite dresses there, for the fraction of their original price – who wouldn’t love that!?

Deuxieme Too, 70 New Kings Road, London

Deuxieme Too specialise on the more high-end designer items, and because they are second hand or vintage they are obviously far more affordable than your general designer wear!  And this is where you can find that one off-special dress for your birthday, or a gorgeous coat that you have been saving up for, just to find the right one.

Umm yes please…!

A gorgeous pair of Stella McCartney heels for those special days in the office

Of course there is jewellery…

Love the way everything is so beautifully displayed – here in a stunning vintage suitcase

So bring your girlfriends along and browse the most beautiful shoes, jewellery and clothes – you are bound to find something amazing, I know I constantly do!

It is raining lingerie and pearls…

… just a small reminder for you dear that Voutique’s Valentine’s Day Competition is still running for a few more days and the lucky winner is drawn on Valentine’s Day!

Some gorgeous vintage lingerie could be yours from Itsy Bitsy Vintage – not to mention our favourite vintage pearl necklace!  And Voutique have made it very easy for us to enter the competition – all we need to do is enter our email address in the form which you can find here.

Good luck!

Welcoming the Year of the Snake

This weekend Chinese New Year was celebrated all around the world, and I found myself at my friends’ house where the tables were succumbing under the weight of ten amazing courses!  I obviously had to wear the 1960s snake necklace for good luck…

Photography by Tien Nguyen

Every dish also carries its own meaning, so for example one must serve noodles uncut, as they symbolise a long life.  The beautifully marbled eggs symbolised fertility… and so the list continues!

And apparently the things you do on this first day of the year also represent what the next year will be like, so make sure you do super awesome things that you enjoy, and do surround yourself with your loved ones!

A small preview of the lunch…

Fish is a symbol of prosperity and surplus, which is why it is a must at any Chinese New Year meal!

Kung Hei Fat Choi my dear – Happy New Year!

Winter beauty and the sparkle of a citrine

Beautiful colour scale of taupe, cream and this clear orange citrine colour

Mademoiselle H was wearing the most beautiful winter colours on Sunday and when we realised how well this silver citrine ring went with her look, the camera just had to make an appearance!

Taupe is one of my absolute favourite colours as it goes so well with a rainbow of other shades – often unexpected ones, like our orange citrine.

I also fell in love with H’s stunning taupe coloured nail varnish!

So what is a Citrine then?  Well, it is a member of the quartz mineral group and can sometimes look like the rather pricey topaz gem stone, which is a contributing factor to why it is such a popular choice for jewellery!

It is also the alternative birthstone to November-born beauties, in addition to their gorgeous topaz.  We already know that it brings love and joy to its owners so who would say no to wearing one of these fabulous stones!?