Afternoon Tea at the Fig Tree Coffee Lounge and Tea Room

 

Afternoon Tea at the Fig Tree Coffee Lounge and Tea Room at Christique Antique Centre

After a few hours of shopping in Dorking we ended up at the café at Christique Antique Centre, called the Fig Tree Coffee Lounge and Tea Room.  To get to the café you will go through the most alluring vintage and antique jewellery section, where glass cabinets so proudly show off their treasures, and basically it is just impossible to get to the café without buying a few pieces that one really needs!

The sun shone so beautifully on us while we were enjoying our cream tea

Afternoon Tea at the Fig Tree Coffee Lounge and Tea Room

The café is such a welcoming place, with these big windows instead of a dark ceiling, that let in all the lovely winter sun and show some nice greenery – of course including a fig tree!  We arrived at lunch time and at least I was didn’t know how I would ever be able to choose what to have, after seeing all the lovely dishes that the other guests were enjoying!

We finally decided to go for the cream tea, and it was generously portioned with two big homemade scones per person (there were three of us, and we managed 1. 1/3 each!), some glorious butter that I don’t know how they made as it was so light and tasty! – and of course lots of strawberry jam and clotted cream.  We all chose the Darjeeling tea, which was a nice change from my usual English Breakfast, and a new favourite.  It was such an enjoyable afternoon tea, as you could tell that everything had been made with thought and care, and the surroundings were so peaceful even though all the little tables in the café were taken – it clearly is a very popular spot in Dorking!

A delicious cream – I can second that!

Oh how I adore these kitschy little vintage teacup collections! 

My vintage teacup heaven at Christique Antique Centre

I just adore this little teacup – can you see what a funny little foot it has?  I wonder what fabulous tea parties it has seen in its days?!

The fabulous thing here is that after your lunch or tea you can continue to wander through the shop Christique and admire the jewellery, furniture, paintings, glassware… you name it!  In one section we ran into all these charming little tea cups, and it just reinforced my wish to collect lots of different teacups and saucers, so that I can have my own little Mad Hatter’s Tea Party in the future!

Christique Antique Centre

11 West Street, Dorking

RH4 1BL

 

I am very pleased to give the Fig Tree Coffee Lounge and Tea Room 5/5 Decades of Elegance Rings:

Aladdin’s Cave at Christique Antique Centre

A stunning old picture, ca 1920s, that so beautifully overlooks the vintage jewellery  

So I spent a lot of time in Dorking last week, going through the never-ending treasure troves that are the antique and vintage shops: I visited two divine afternoon tea cafés and found the most glorious vintage glassware in the shape of champagne coupes and wine glasses.  I had a reeeeeally long wander through Christique Antique Centre, as around every corner you find something new that you just HAVE to have!  Love it.

Rummaging through these cabinets and imagining what stories the vintage pieces would tell if they could speak…

I will write a few posts on Christique and I wanted to start out by taking you to their vintage clothing and accessories section, which is located up a winding staircase in which you will bump your head in the low tudor style ceiling if you are not careful!  It is all part of the charm!!

An old wedding dress just waiting to be worn again – pretty sure you could find a whole outfit for your wedding in this shop – check out the fabulous gold heels on the right!

In there you just want to get dresses up in one of the beautiful gowns hanging from the rails, drape some pearls around your neck and wear lots of red lipstick, 20s style!

Just one of the rails with beautiful pieces of vintage clothing.  I would recommend going to a vintage shop to buy for example a dress if you are going to a wedding.  It is just lovely to see the exquisite designs and also knowing that no one else will wear the same dress! 

You can spend hours sifting through the clothes here… and yes, I know that vintage furs are a hot topic – is it alright to buy them or not?  Would be interested to hear your thoughts on it… would you wear vintage fur? 

Diving in, head first into this glorious treasure trove of vintage jewellery and accessories!

I have a couple of weddings coming up this year, so I am definitely coming back here for some fabulous accessories that will go with my dresses!  I am quite tempted to wear a hat but I will be travelling quite far for both weddings, so might have to give that a miss… but when one tries on these beauties it is hard to think rationally!

Esher Hall Antiques & Fine Art Fair, 10-12 October 2014

Happy Friday dearest!  I know that some of you guys live out in Surrey and so I wanted to let you know about a lovely antiques fair which is on next weekend, 10-12 October at Esher Hall.  The reason why I am extra excited about the fair is that Richard Ogden, where I am currently working, will be exhibiting there for the first time – and they will be bringing some glorious pieces along:

Esher Hall Antiques & Fine Art Fair, 10-12 October

The fair was launched in 2008, and features around 30 specialist exhibitors who will bring us the finest town and country furniture, jewellery, silver, paintings, oriental carpets, glass, mirrors, and lots of other decorative works of art!

Vintage aquamarine and diamond brooch Harvey & Gore

I was delighted to see that one of my favourite pieces from the Harvey & Gore collection that we showcase here at Richard Ogden is featuring on the front page of the exhibition brochure!  It is an exquisite 75 carat (!) aquamarine and diamond clip brooch, where the aquamarine displays an exceptional colour.  The brilliant cut diamonds and graduating tapered baguette diamonds are also doing their best to woo us with their incredible sparkle and fire and the back of the brooch reveals an intricate platinum mounted honeycomb structure, which acts like a grid to hold the diamonds.  The origin is almost certainly 1950s America.  We swoon!

So I do hope to see you at the fair, I for one can’t wait to see what else it holds!  And the admission is £5 or you can print your own free ticket from their website here: The Esher Hall Antiques Fair.  I do hope to see you there!

Esher Hall Antiques & Fine Art Fair

Esher Hall, Sandown Park Racecourse
Esher
Surrey, KT10 9AJ

A trip to The Jolly Farmers pub in Surrey

Hello my dear, I hope you had a wonderful bank holiday weekend – even though parts of it did take place in the rain!  I had a great time and on Sunday I visited this lovely pub in the Surrey countryside – and I knew as soon as I walked in that I would just have to share it with you!

It is called the Jolly Farmers and you will find it just outside the charming town of Reigate:

The Jolly Farmers 

Oh how I love it when they turn these beautiful old buildings into something as cosy as a pub, where you can spend a lazy afternoon in the company of your loved ones.  It also gives me the perfect excuse to write about it, since the building is ever so antique and fits the image of the blog perfectly:

Let’s pop inside!

You can see the timber frame inside the building in the photo above.  It really is one of my favourite features in old English houses, and you might remember that we looked at a few more of those in the blog post A tennis tournament and an English garden tea party.  When we step inside we are able to continue admiring this lovely old architecture:

Such a warm and welcoming atmosphere

The bar and deli at the Jolly Farmers

Before my visit I read about the deli on their website (you can find it here: the Jolly Farmers Deli) and I was very much looking forward to checking it out!  They have all these mouthwatering local products for sale and the best part is that so many of them can be found on the restaurant menu, so you can test drive them before stocking up on your favourites!

The Deli at the Jolly Farmers Reigate

The most lovely selection of jams, honey – home made and locally produced, “alongside a few of life’s essentials”

… very innovative displays – not to mention the sweet packaging…

The restaurant section with paintings on the wall that are for sale if you fall in love with any of them! 

We had a lovely lunch in the pub and I can warmly recommend the fish ‘n chips – even though it took me forever to decide as everything looked amazing.  I loved the fact that they had home-made elderflower and raspberry drinks on the menu – as well as home-made milkshakes, yum!  It is so nice to know that all this thought and effort has going into creating such an alluring menu, which then lives up to your expectations!

The walls of the restaurant section feature some fabulous paintings by a local artist, and they are all up for grabs with price tags and “sold to”-signs on them.  At the back of the restaurant there is a big terrace with a dining area, which I am sure has been very popular during the summer!

… no surprise there once you try the food!

I was also very pleased to see that all of their hard work has paid off in the form of various awards, like the one above.  I am so looking forward to visiting again, as there were a couple of dishes on the menu that I just can’t wait to try…

The Jolly Farmers, Reigate Road, Buckland, Surrey, RH3 7BG

1960s glamour from Vintage Shrewd

There are a few women in history whose sense of style influenced the whole world around them to the degree that when we today see a specific style of outfit, our thoughts are immediately drawn to that person.  Well, I immediately thought of a beautiful lady on Saturday, when I popped by Vintage Shrewd and saw this beautiful wool skirt and matching suit jacket.  Yep, Jackie O was my first thought:

Chanel-style 1960’s dress and suit jacket at Vintage Shrewd

Jacqueline Bouvier was a mere 24 years old when she married John F. Kennedy, yet she already presented a sophisticated style and taste.  She had a love for classic, tailored suits and ladylike dresses in strong, solid colours and very much influenced the style of the ladies in the sixties.

This dress and jacket are indeed from the 60s, and this what I just love about vintage shops: you find the most stunning pieces for no money at all, as this little combo is yours for just £75 ..!  I also that the high street chains are just getting ridiculously expensive now (a dress for £150 – it is so not reasonable!) so all the more reason to turn to vintage, where you can get pieces that will last another few decades for a fraction of the price!

A close up of this beautiful, soft pink suit jacket

Can you imagine wearing this with a fabulous handbag and some heels to work?  I didn’t buy it as I had to hurry to another appointment, but I am really having second thoughts about it.  It would be the perfect outfit for a day at work in the antique shop!

Some more treasures in the Shrewd-window…

… and a few more pieces in a heavenly blue-colour scheme

And above are two more sneak peeks into the current Shrewd collection… as the days are suddenly getting a bit chillier these autumny-coloured ensembles looked very appealing to me!

A tennis tournament and an English garden tea party

Happy Monday to you my dear, I hope you had a lovely weekend!  I had the most divine Sunday afternoon at a village tennis tournament in Surrey, where four hours just flew past!  The walk to the house where the event was held took us past some of the most picturesque English countryside houses:

I would absolutely love to live in a timber framed farmhouse like this one!

If any one of you lovely readers know anything about English architecture I would love to hear your thoughts on the houses in this post.

I am just fascinated with these old houses in the Surrey countryside.  It really is the most divine thing to drive down those winding roads lined with these beautiful old houses and walls! 

The house where the tournament was held is one of the most impressive buildings that I have seen in Surrey, and it created the perfect backdrop to the day:

Such a beautiful place to have a summer tea party!

We all brought our folding chairs and blankets and sat down outside the fence to the tennis court:

The beautiful tennis court where the tournament was held

After the semi-finals everyone queued up outside the kitchen window and were handed a cup of tea and a plate of sandwiches and cakes – so very Alice in Wonderland’s tea party!  I had one of the best carrot cakes to date…

I managed to get a quick snapshot before all the cakes were gone… you can see in the bottom right corner how someone has already had a nibble of the most divine carrot cake…!

I can’t wait to have my own garden one day, where we can have the most fabulous tea parties!  Part of the fun would be to go through my vintage and antique jewellery collection to find the perfect match for my dress of the day.  Yesterday I hadn’t brought too many things with me so I ended up wearing a pair of pearl and gold earrings from South Africa and my turquoise flowy summer dress:

It was such a warm day that I opted for a very light dress and just a few simple pieces of jewellery

And here I am – enjoying my tea and cakes far too much!  I wore my great-aunt’s watch, which I thought was so suitable for the occasion – and I also wore my Audrey Hepburn-style sunglasses but I didn’t get a photo of that!  The day was so hot that I was glad that I only went for this little summer dress and nothing warmer! 

It Is A Wonderful World

Good morning my dear, isn’t it just the best thing when summer surprises us like this and the sun shines her pretty face at us all day long?  The parks of London are filled with people having picnics and dogs running around, bursting of summer happiness – this, if anything, is bliss!

Forget-Me-Not – my favourite flower, in a Surrey garden

And this is why I felt like today’s post would be an inspirational one.  I want to share with you some photos that have been inspiring me this week, whether it comes to blogging, putting together an outfit for the day, learning more about specific antiques or dreaming away to the next far away holiday…

Apple tree blossoms

… and with all the recent trips to South Africa these little fellas obviously wanted to get involved:

I just love how this sweet little guy takes his time before he goes for a swim… of course with all the others cheering him on from the warm rocks!

Continuing the walk in South Africa – is there anything better than really beautiful architecture?  Here some mosaic steps in Cape Town

… not to mention the stunning collection at the Jewel Tree in Cape Town, which always inspires me to learn more about antiques

I would love to find out what inspires you.  Sometimes it is things that we take for granted so stop for a moment and have a think about it.  It could be a walk in the park or some beautiful colours… and do feel free to share your thoughts with us below!

An English Christmas Fairytale…

Hello my dear!  Today’s post is a completely unexpected one, as I had planned to just write a short message wishing you a Merry Christmas and that we will be back again on 6th of January, however things don’t always turn out the way we expect them to…

16th century cottage.  This room used to hold cattle and the open fire used to be in the bottom right corner of the photo

Yesterday we went to a Christmas party at some friends’ house, and upon entering the house I just couldn’t believe what a Christmas Wonderland we had arrived at!  All the decorations were so beautifully set up and the backdrop of this old cottage just made it all perfect.

16th century cottage, Christmas decorations

We found out that the house used to be an old dairy that dated back to 1560, so before it became a proper home they would keep cattle on the ground floor (the room that you can see in the photos above).  There was a big open fire in the middle of the room and the smoke would rise up to and spread across the ceiling – and most likely leave through the windows that at the time weren’t glazed.

Peeking into the living room from the kitchen – I absolutely adore the beams in the ceilings

A hundred odd years later they added on the wall that you can see closest to us in the photo above and then they built the first floor, so that people could move in and enjoy the warmth that would rise from the animals.

A charming old winding staircase…

The entrance from the living room to the kitchen, where all these beautiful Christmas decorations create such a cosy atmosphere… 

The 16th century brick wall is still standing strong, and you can see how time has painted its mark on it 

A love note found in the house… We can read “Greeting!” on the front page and “With Lilian’s Love” on the back, and when we open it up:

“May Good Fortune add fuel to your fire, And assist you always to keep the Pot à’boiling!”

And now that we have looked at the antique side of things, let’s admire the beautiful Christmas decorations:

Homemade orange and cinnamon Christmas decorations – these smell divine!

Christmas window decorations

So with this Christmas fairytale post I would like to wish you all the most wonderful Christmas.  Enjoy the holiday in the company of your loved ones and thank you for hanging out here on the blog in 2013!  It really has been such a lovely year with lots of beautiful jewellery crossing the Decades of Elegance-threshold, and numerous vintage and antique shops opening their doors for us.

A big thank you also to the lovely vintage shops that keep showing their support for us – I would like to send some very special Christmas sparkle to Vintage Shrewd, Arabella Bianco and the Jewel Tree.

We are back again on 6 January 2014 – Happy Holidays!

Vintage Dress Alterations and Late Summer Roses

Good morning lovely!  I wanted to start this week with a few photos of late summer flowers that I came across at the weekend – straight from the garden:

Arthur Bell Rose and Gerrie Hoek Dahlia in the background

Orange Roses

I mentioned in an earlier post that I bought two glorious 1960’s dresses in the Shrewd sale, and that I would have to have them resized.  Well, I finally dropped them off with Liz Robinson in Dorking where she pinned them onto me for that perfect fit.  We will see the results next week – oh so very excited!

My two 1960’s dresses – one baby blue and one white and golden with typical 60’s buttons.  Marilyn is also excitedly waiting to see the results!

Liz is a wonderful seamstress whose acquaintance we will make very soon, but for now I can let you know that she is able to help with alterations, and specialises in vintage wear and wedding dresses.  Do let me know if you would like to get in touch with her – she is based in Dorking.

Fanny’s Farm Shop in Surrey

On one of the late summer evenings we found ourselves driving around in the beautiful countryside of Surrey, when suddenly there were signs to Fanny’s Farm Shop.  The name rang a bell with all of us, so we decided to check it out.  It turned out to be one of the most charming shops that I have ever been to!  Come along now, I would love to show you around:

Fanny’s Farm Shop, Merstham Surrey

Fanny’s Farm Shop, Merstham Surrey

Fanny opened her farm shop in 1979, selling vegetables and flowers.  Today her farm shop is renowned for its cream teas, honey, eggs, award winning marmalades – and you can still find the most scrumptious vegetables and beautiful flowers in the shop.

When browsing her website for this post I stumbled across the most wonderful gift idea: Cream Tea by Post!  You just place an order for a basket of scones, jam and clotted cream and it will all be delivered to your friend’s place.  What an amazing gift idea it is – I can’t imagine receiving anything more wonderful in the post!!

This little fellow was keeping an eye on his grounds and showing his teddy bear who’s the boss!

We parked our car in the very special parking lot (you will see later what I mean) and walked down a gravel path with the most charming flower arrangements:

The shop was so beautifully decorated – inside and outside!

The lovely Paddington Bear was lucky enough to share a shalf with some home-made marmalade 

In the shop rows and rows of organic, home-made marmalade, jams, organic eggs, honey, sausages were lining the walls and I barely knew where to start my shopping trip!

I love the sweet details throughout the shop – like this mannequin bee keeper in the garden

After browsing the shop we came through to the back-garden, where some beautifully set tables were just waiting for us – offering a lovely and serene place to enjoy lunch or afternoon tea.

In the background you can see the Treehouse 

At the back of the garden we could see their famous Treehouse – the most divine little hideaway where they serve Morning Coffee, Cream Tea and Lunch.  It seems that you can book it for birthday parties/engagement parties, business meetings or just for any lovely occasion that deserves a special venue.  For bookings etc. click here to get to Fanny’s website.

Relaxing in the late summer evening

In every window, corner, on all the tables and shelves were the most charming little details.  For example this row of gentlemen looking in on all the customers in the shop.

You can find everything here – from food to books, paintings… you name it!

The tables were all decorated individually and I of course loved this vintage-style table

The book section – with a range of other things…

I loved the parking signs outside the shop:

The Eccentric Parking Bay

This is where the Grandmas’ park

Grumpy Granddad Parking

Heeey!  How come we parked in this one!?

So hop in the car and enjoy a few hours on a Saturday or Sunday at this glorious countryside haven.  Start with a scrumptious breakfast, or some wonderful afternoon tea, before you do your food shopping.

It was great to do the grocery shopping here, and knowing that we were supporting a bunch of local traders.  Not to mention how great it was to come home with a huge amount of yummy food!