The new TK Maxx store opened on Long Acre last week, and I was very excited about this - I love a good tkrummage. Here's the great unveil (excuse the dreadful pictures, I didn't have my fancy new camera with me).
I had a chance to have a good peek around the shop before it opened at the launch party, and was pleased with what I found - boo to no homeware section - but thankfully there's the Charing Cross Road branch only 5 minutes walk away.
I took a few snaps of things that caught my eye, so here's a very quick gift guide for you all.
Scarves for mum
PJs for the baby sis, perhaps? I love those blue ones!
Gorgeous Patagonia exercise top for the yogini
Pepsi Tshirt for yourself - and why not? Christmas shopping is hard work
Christmas jumper for the day itself
Prada shoes from the Gold Label section for the fashionista
Gooey frosting for the foodie.
I popped back and got a couple of bits for the Boy yesterday, but those are a secret. The new store overall is impressive, spread over 3 floors, the Gold Label section is pretty big, and despite no proper homeware section there are still candles, books, stationery and food items and a great selection of toiletries and bags.
The website itself has some great gifts available to order online, something I didn't realise before that TK Maxx did....voila.
On a recent trip to Croydon, I happened upon the gorgeous collection by Dickins and Jones at House of Fraser, a stunning collection of grown-up ladieswear. Despite not knowing about the range at HoF, I thought the name sounded familiar. When I got home, I realised of course that D&J used to be an upmarket department store on Regent Street, right up until 2006 (where H&M now is).
Their range of clothing, which is exclusive to House of Fraser is "a wonderfully
quintessential British fashion brand for women" with "a distinct heritage feel that has a timeless yet fashionable
appeal." - this is from the blurb from the blurb on the website but it's certainly accurate.
I got this adorable top for just £18 (£20 on sale, with Boy's student discount).
A cute weekend top, wearable with jeans or a skirt. It's available in a range of colours with different patterns on that sweet little pocket, I just love this bird print!
Looking at the website has got me lusting after these gorgeous pyjama bottoms, perfect for cosying up as the winter nights draw in!
The time finally came that I was able to buy my new camera. I LOVE it. It's the Panasonic Lumix GF5 which I bought for the princely sum of £200 inc P&P from this Amazon seller. Miraculously, I only ordered it on Thursday and it arrived on Friday, just in time for the weekend. The low price was due to the box being unsealed and a bit tatty but everything was in there and brand new, so I can live with a tatty box (in all honesty the tattiness is barely perceptible).
This weekend I headed up to my bestie's pad, back in my old North London stomping ground, which was a complete mission as the Northern Line and the Overground were borked. We popped to Muswell Hill for a charity shop raid, collecting some fatty bum-bum snacks and nestled in for the night with When Harry Met Sally, Little Mermaid and Enchanted. Just what the doctor ordered.
This morning, after a bracing brunch at Le Pain Quotidien in Highgate, we headed to Waterlow Park and Highgate Cemetery armed with our cameras for some experimentation.
I'm a beginner to any kind of real photography, but now I have the tools, I am looking forward to taking much better pictures. I'm now trawling the internet for the nicest case and the best memory card for my shiny new toy. I'm loving this cutie from Etsy.
Before heading North yesterday I popped in to look at couple of shops local to me in Sydenham, I came across Doorz, where I reserved an old table for £15, and so when I returned today, I popped around to pick it up. I've been desperate for a desk as I didn't want to use my sewing machine upstairs in the dining room and have to put it away each time I used it, or irritate my flatmate. The new addition is a bit scruffy and is basically a family dining table rather than a desk, but I think it's going to work for me.
What happened to Converse? I had my first pair for almost 10 year. My second pair lasted a year. My third pair, four months. I noticed last week that one of the soles was falling out, which Isn't Good Enough, so I took them straight back to Office, who without quibble offered me a replacement. I decided to go to the other side, and got some Vans.
I absolutely adore Orla Kiely, so it's fitting that the one LFW show that I got to was hers. I loved the SS14 collection, it's incredible. You can watch the official show video here.
The SS14 collection is "inspired by girl guides, brownies and Suzy Bishop, the collection presents a contract of texture, embelishment and 70's inspired silouhettes fused with a modern twist.
I got zero decent photos from the actual show as I am still saving for a proper camera, but here's a handful from the LFW Site.
The Huckleberry bag, based on a binocular case is my personal favourite item from the whole collection - you can see it in yellow in the middle photo.
If you haven't seen Moonrise Kingdom yet, watch it, immediately - trailer here, and learn the ways of the style icon that is Suzy Bishop. An homage to Wes Anderson's most stylish creation:
Back on the subject of Orla, her new footwear collection in conjunction with Clarks was also showcased at the show on Saturday, "...A capsule collection of 6 styles....Incorporating colours iconic of her collections with green, mustard, navy and red colour ways, and a real sense of fun – the collection is representative both of Orla’s design heritage and Clarks’ passion for style and substance."
The "Mary" are my personal favourites.
Orla Kiely and Clarks, Mary
This fashion stuff is a crazy business though, it's September, the temperature is dropping, it's raining almost constantly, and yet were expected to think about clothing for summer? That will never make any sense to me. Here's a couple of my favourites from Orla's AW13 knitwear collection.
Happily, you can get free delivery on purchases through the website this week to celebrate London Fashion Week (and there's mugs and stationery on sale....you're welcome).
My beautiful, clever and very talented friend Ana has created a magazine, and it is amazing. She launched V&Oak (Vintage and One of A Kind) a couple of years ago, an online lifestyle magazine devoted to the vintage and handmade lifestyle, for those of us who are bored of the mainstream and want to adorn ourselves, and our lives with something a bit more unique.
The first bi-annual print edition is now out, and after pre-ordering mine a month ago and eagerly awaiting its arrival, it's finally here in all it's glory, and just as I anticipated, it's fantastic. There's articles on vintage fashion and beauty, vintage shopping tips, quirky home and gift ideas, with beautiful photography throughout, and none of the usual drivel about half-naked celebrities and fake tan.
You can buy V&Oak Issue 1 here for £10 + £2.60 p&p (In the UK). I recommend that you do.
*Disclaimer: I love my friend, she's uber-talented. Thus I bought the magazine out of my own money and wrote about it of my own accord.
Did you do ballet? I did, up until about the age of 7 but I didn't like the teacher. Looking back, she was a great teacher of ballet, but perhaps not for young children! When I was 10 I took up tap dance, and worked my way up quickly from the baby class to the senior class, before quitting because the Friday night classes interfered with my prompt arrival at school discos.
I wish I'd carried on dancing. I admire the discipline, grace and muscle tone of professional dancers but in terms of being any good at it, I think my ship sailed a long time ago. I'll taken to lurking outside the Royal Opera House at lunchtime, creating ballet boards on Pinterest, and watching Black Swan on repeat.
I guess if I don't get to be a ballerina, I can at least smell like one?! Iris Prima, the newest fragrance by Penhaligon's launched today, expertly put together by Alberto Morillas in conjunction with the English National Ballet.
I caught a whiff of this fragrance at the Christmas in July event, sadly I missed the launch itself, and it took my breath away, with its green amber and pink pepper headnotes and basenotes of leather and sandalwood, it really is reminiscent of the ballet.
This charming video was created for the launch of the perfume, featuring dancers talking about what "The Scent of the Ballet" means to them. I think Alberto was spot on.
100ml is £120...one for the Christmas list!
*I saw this fragrance previewed, bu I haven't been paid or compensated in any way for this post. I just really, really like the fragrance!
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