Gorgeous Gerties in Dorking

This one goes out to all of you vintage lovers – we are popping by Gorgeous Gerties in Dorking

I visited Gorgeous Gerties in Dorking for the first time last week, and was so surprised to find such a wonderful vintage adventure in a town that I thought I knew inside out!  Under their roof you will find a vintage tearoom, an olde world sweet shop, a beautiful collection of vintage jewellery, vintage accessories and vintage crockery – and on top of all this you can also sign up to their creative workshops and get your imagination and creativity going!

Lovely scarves and fabulous dressing gowns – of course in the romantic vintage rose pattern 

You know when you are running through all the shops in London, trying to find a nice present for a friend’s child’s birthday, but everything looks exactly the same?  Well, guess where I will be getting my pressies from now on?

The perfect dress for a little summer princess!

… with a very reasonable ticket to go with it!

A lovely collection of vintage toys and games

Upstairs in this charming 15th century building you are surrounded by vintage fabrics, old vintage patterns for making your own pieces of clothing, a children’s department, a vintage jewellery section and some beautiful items for the house.  I would come love to come here when I am decorating my future house one day, as I can’t imagine a better place to find unique pieces that give the home a very personal touch.

Gorgeous Gerties Vintage Dorking, Surrey

I love this – so very French country

Some charming vintage patterns for all you amazing people who make your own clothes!

Whenever I have spent hours searching the shops in vain for a specific design that I have in mind, I always decide that one day I will design my own clothes!  I might just start collecting vintage patterns like these so that I am prepared for that day when I finally have a sowing machine!

Some lovely vintage fabrics 

The DYI corner at Gorgeous Gerties

The Vintage Jewellery Corner, where I may or may not have bought something….

The shop and café combined is just such a well-thought through concept.  I love how they are promoting independent designers and dealers, as I am always much more inclined to shop at places like this, than at high street chain shops!  They call it a “modern day vintage department store”, which is a perfect description, except that it is so much more charming and intimate than a regular department store!

The olde sweet shop at Gorgeous Gerties

Do pop by for a cream tea! 

 

Peeking into the charming tearoom at Gorgeous Gerties

Through this window we get a preview of what they have to offer in this fabulous “vintage department store”

Gorgeous Gerties

61 West Street

Dorking

RH4 1BS

Michelle Lindsell Wedding Photographer in a Midwinter Night’s Tale

I had the privilege to work with creative wedding photographer Michelle Lindsell the other day and I have so been looking forward to bringing you her beautiful work:

Michelle Lindsell Photography for my album Midvinternatt

We worked together on my Christmas album Midvinternatt.  Midvinternatt means Midwinter’s Night in Swedish, and for the photo shoot I decided to wear my very favourite vintage midnight blue dress from Vintage Shrewd.  It was an absolute joy to work with Michelle – she gave me such brilliant instructions on what to think about to get a certain sentiment in the photo and how to stand to bring out the best in the dress – very important!  I also love how she was able to pick a clearing in the forest in Barnes, London, that turned out to be the perfect backdrop to the photos!

Iida – Midvinternatt by Michelle Lindsell Photography

Michelle is first and foremost a creative wedding photographer and having known her for many years I can only vouch for what a romantic she is, and how perfectly she has found her calling in life, eternalising people’s most romantic moments!  You will see in her photos that she has a way of capturing the stillness and love during a couples’ wedding day – a day that is so often characterised by excitement and buzz.

 Michelle Lindsell Wedding Photography

Michelle Lindsell Photography

I also love how she captures and presents the fun and joyful moments, to that make you feel as though you were present at the very second that the photo was taken:

 Michelle Lindsell Photography

So to all you lovely brides-to-be who are looking for a wedding photographer; take a look on Michelle’s website and see if she might in fact be your dream catcher.

Iida Heikkinen Midvinternatt   Photography by Michelle Lindsell

And if you are curious to take a closer look at my Christmas album, you can find it on iTunes: Iida – Midvinternatt,  There are five tracks on it; a bit of Christmas love from Finland, some from Sweden and a few beloved songs that you might recognise.  Merry Christmas dear!

Christmas Gift Ideas and the beauty of Vintage shopping

Most fabulous collection of vintage clothing and accessories at Vintage Shrewd in Dorking

So it seems like the trend for Christmas shopping this year is choosing sustainable and environmentally friendly presents, which I think is lovely, with vintage and antiques being just what we were looking for!

I visited Vintage Shrewd yesterday – yep, they are also open on Sundays throughout December – and I found a million things that I wanted to buy!  There was a 1960s minidress in bold colours and patterns; a 1940s evening dress with the most delicate buttons at the back; and everything from vintage clutches and handbags to pretty sleepwear and gorgeous coats!

The most beautiful vintage evening dresses at Vintage Shrewd

Just take a look at all the beautiful vintage hats and accessories in the top photo – you are bound to find the perfect present among these!  And the vintage evening dresses above were to die for – I tried on the canary yellow dress to the left and it was the most stunning 1960s piece!  A little bit too big for me, but the right lady will enjoy it for many many years to come.  And how about the red dress to the top right?  Ahhh can someone throw be a party so that I can get all dressed up in an evening dress!?

Some fabulous night attire from Vintage Shrewd

One of my favourite things when it comes to buying vintage is knowing that the person who receives the gift gets something unique.  Their dress won’t be worn by three others at the Christmas drinks, and their handbag won’t adorn every arm on the streets of London, Stockholm, Helsinki and Cape Town!  The fact that the price is just a fraction of what we pay for contemporary fashion and the quality a million times better are obviously just huge bonuses.

Christmas Brooches at Vintage Shrewd

I love these little guys – so very retro! 

I loved this little collection of Christmas brooches – such a fun little talking point when worn to a Christmas party, maybe securing a lovely scarf around your neck…

Christmas Brooches at Vintage Shrewd

So let’s take the opportunity this Christmas to encourage our independent vintage and antiques shops, by buying our Christmas presents there.  Shopping with a good conscience is always a treat, and for me this is definitely one way of making that happen!

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

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! 

Decades of Elegance Loves…

Good morning to you lovely one!  During the course of our journey here on Decades of Elegance we have dived into the most beautiful antique shops, markets and fairs and attended exciting auctions, which has resulted in an extensive and fascinating collection of vintage places to visit.  To give you the chance to plan your trips to the most fabulous ones we are now launching a ‘We Love’-page, which you can find at the top of the blog:

The ‘We Love’-page on Decades of Elegance

All these wonderful places are categorised under Antique / Vintage Shops, Fairs, Auctions, Eat and Drink, Weddings and Afternoon Tea and under these you will find geographical listings of: Brighton, Cape Town, London and Surrey.  Eventually we will include Stockholm and any other fabulous cities that we rate highly for antique and vintage shopping.  The page will also be updated on a regular basis with new, glorious places to visit.

To give you an idea of what you will find on this page, we are travelling back in time today and visiting a small selection of shops from our We Love-page (all the links below will take you to the blog posts about each shop – on the We Love-page the links will take you to the shop’s own websites).  

Let’s start out at the spectacular vintage scene in Brighton:

Stunning vintage dress at Hope & Harlequin in Brighton

Exciting finds at Kate & Aud in Brighton

… and continue to the sunny coasts of Cape Town, where we were mesmerised by The Jewel Tree‘s sparkling collection:

Antique Gold and Pearl Bracelet at the Jewel Tree in Cape Town

We have visited the hustle and bustle of Spitalfields Market, where we indulged in stunning pieces from Arabella Bianco, not to mention the gorgeous designs by Titania Fisher at the Pop Up Vintage Fair:

Arabella Bianco’s beautiful vintage jewellery collection 

Titania Fisher’s stunning design at the Pop Up Vintage Fair

We have ventured out on the gorgeous English countryside to the antique town of Dorking, where Chantecleer Antiques and Christique Antique Centre bring us antiques in the most perfect condition, and where Vintage Shrewd gets a well-deserved 55th spot in Vogue UK’s 100 Best Shops Outside London:

Chantecleer Antiques in Dorking, Surrey

Christique Antique Center, Dorking, Surrey

The fabulous Vintage Shrewd in Dorking, Surrey

We have visited Portobello Market to the point that a guide to this fabulous road was a must: Your Portobello Market Shopping Guide:

Our favourite Portobello Market in Notting Hill – with its own Decades of Elegance-guide!

Our visits to the Frock Me! Vintage Fair in Chelsea and the Blackbird Tea Rooms in Brighton resulted in a trip to vintage clothing heaven and the most amazing afternoon tea experience:

Frock Me! Vintage Fair in Chelsea Town Hall

Afternoon Tea at the Blackbird Tea Rooms in Brighton

… and the numerous visits to antique auctions have brought on so many interesting facts about antique furniture, accessories, jewellery and furnishing that you will find numerous blog posts about them:

Stunning antique jewellery at Lawrences Auctioneers in Bletchingley

So my dear, I hope that you will find the page of utmost use, and we warmly welcome all your thoughts and comments to make sure that it becomes as useful (and pretty) as possible!

All the curious things… Lawrences Auctioneers – Chapter III

So in this last post from the auction viewing at Lawrences in Blethingley I have collected a number of beautiful yet curious things that were up for sale in the auction.  I have also managed to find out the hammer price for quite a few of these pieces:

Georgian Birmingham silver two piece opium pipe – Hammer Price
£150

The most odd piece at the auction would be this silver opium pipe, which I found out sold for £150.  Opium was used widely as a medicine back in the days and we can read the following on Wikipedia:

“Opium is mentioned in the most important medical texts of the ancient world, including the Ebers Papyrus and the writings of Dioscorides, Galen and Avicenna.  Widespread medical use of unprocessed opium continued through the American Civial War before giving way to morphine and its successors, which could be injected at a precisely controlled dosage.” – Wikipedia

Victorian silver inkstand with two cut glass bottles and taper stick on low shapred supports date 1854 makers mark E.B. and J.B. – hammer price £390

Oh I loved this Victorian silver inkstand with glass bottles – how very Alice in Wonderland!  Drink me?

Enamel decorated clips and a 19th Century miniature watercolour portrait

Enamel decorated clips 

Above you can see a set of twelve unusual enamel decorated clips in the form of various flowers.  The case was marked Zarger and sold for £45.  In the top photo on the right you have a 19th Century miniature watercolour on ivory portrait of a seated lady in purple dress.  Gilt framed unsigned inscribed verso Thomas Hargreaves, and the hammer price was £720!

Silver wine etiquette at Lawrences Auctioneers

Heavy brass figures of horses 

A collection of composition dolls that sold for £5

This collection of Lalique perfumes sold for £110

Four Lalique perfumes

This copper water urn, copper teapot brass and wrought iron trivit and two post horns sold for £30

Set of five reproduction oak dining chairs with padded backs and overstuffed seats on baluster turned front supports with stretchers – sold for £60

So check this out: the five oak dining chairs above sold for a mere £60 – how incredibly reasonable!  I say head to your nearest auction and start discovering awesome stuff!!

Early 20th Century Art Nouveau style figure of a seated lady with silver gilt and painted decoration 

Judge by my surprise when I found out that this lovely lady wasn’t sold at the auction.  I think the design is so beautiful and a great example of Art Nouveau, which often portrayed women as well as nature scenes and images.

You can find Lawrences Auctioneers in the beautiful English country village of Bletchingley

Were you surprised by any of the hammer prices for these pieces?  Anything you liked the look of and would have put a bid on?  I would love to read your thoughts below in the comments section!

Antique Fair at Dorking Halls, Surrey

Pistachio and Chocolate gelato outside Cafe Rialto – with the beautiful Surrey hills in the background (please forgive the construction works!)

This weekend went in the air of vintage!  On Saturday afternoon I went to Dorking and visited Chantecleer Antiques (post coming up on Wednesday!) and Shrewd, before trying the fabulous gelato at Cafe Rialto.

Cafe Rialto Gelato, Dorking

I went for my two favourite flavours: pistachio and chocolate, that are both to die for.  My two fellow ice cream lovers however were very brave and tried Rialto’s specialty, Kibana = Kiwi and Banana.  They both loved it, so if you are curious to go for it you will be advised to try a spoonful before getting a whole scoop.  It is such an interesting mixtures, as both the banana and kiwi flavours come through separately – both absolutely yummy.  It is also really refreshing and has this enticing mint green colour.

Until Wednesday Aug 21st you will get a free scoop of ice cream when you buy at least one scoop of ice cream on its own, upon giving the password ELEGANCE of course!

Beautiful costume jewellery at SGS Collectibles, at the Antique Fair at Dorking Halls

On Sunday morning I went to Dorking Halls, which had turned into a big antique heaven with lots and lots of traders showing off their beautiful collections.  I just love browsing all the beautiful pieces of silver, jewellery, accessories and home-ware at these fairs.  It is also so interesting to listen to the trader’s stories about how they started out, their love and dislikes about their chosen careers – and finding the most unique pieces to bring back home is obviously a huge plus!

Green and gold vintage jewellery from SGS Collectibles

I soon came to SGS Collectibles where the most fascinating pieces of dress jewellery (costume jewellery) were on display.  I ended up talking to the trader Sally for almost an hour and I wanted to share with you something very interesting that she taught me: how to wear clip-on earrings.  See, I avoid wearing them because:

1. I can never get them to stay on and

2. They hurt my ears

Apparently the trick is to hold on to your earlobe with two fingers, and gently pull it out so it stretches a bit.  Then you clip on the earring as close to your face as you can, before letting go.  You can now adjust the earrings as you wish and it will happily stay on all day, as it is sitting in the thinner part of the earlobe.  Easy pie!

I adore gold and pearls so obviously these beauties caught my eye 

… and more lovely pieces and designs – all at SGS Collectibles

Sally then showed me her collection of the most colourful necklaces, earrings and accessories – all in wonderful condition, which is so important when you work with antiques and vintage.  I can’t take a trader seriously if their stock isn’t well looked after, as in my eyes it shows their devotion to the trade.

Some glorious sparkle – clip-on earrings

Gold coloured brooch with dazzling rhinestones

Stunning vintage jewellery at SGS Collectibles 

A collection often reflects a trader’s own taste (I know mine does!) and whichever piece Sally showed us looked absolutely gorgeous on her!  So if 50s/60s jewellery is your thing, this is the lady you want to speak to.

Happy colours from the stylish 60s 

My favourite thing about vintage jewellery is the detailed work that has gone into making the pieces

I don’t often rave about vintage handbags, but I must say that the few in Sally’s collection really had me swooning: wonderful condition and I loved the elegant and ladylike designs:

… not to mention the accessories…

I actually ended up buying a beautiful 1940’s leather handbag, which – judging from the condition – doesn’t seem to have been used before.  It reminded me of Audrey Hepburn, as the design is very simple and elegant and will go with more or less everything in my wardrobe.  My favourite part is the clip on the side of the bag, where you can fasten a scarf and get a whole new look to the bag!  Sally had this beautiful, very Scandinavian looking silk scarf, which was like made for the bag, so I had to buy that as well.

My new vintage handbag perfected today’s work outfit, which is a mixture of COS, DKNY and Keds 

The bag is my arm-candy worn to work today and I am just loving it!  Do you have any vintage/antique pieces that you just adore in your wardrobe or jewellery collection?