A global field guide to design, (life)style and secret finds
est. 2007

Archive: Sep 2009

  1. Shopping in London: Kitsune’s pop-up shop

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    In the midst of all the fashion week madness in London last week, Kitsuné kicked off their international project with a pop-up shop at Shop at Bluebird (click here for my recent shop tour). I hadn't encountered the French fashion/music label until recently, but I'm rather loving their AW09 collection, The Graduate, which takes its cues from the 1967 film.

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    Think wardrobe classics like navy pea coats and slimline corduroy jackets for boys and '60s-style swing coats for girls. The collection is kinda reminiscent of fellow French label A.P.C, only ever so slightly more sophisticated.

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    Until 12 October at Shop at Bluebird.

    The Pop Up Kitsuné Store at The Shop at Bluebird
    350 Kings Road
    London SW3 5UU
    Tel. 020 7351 3873
    Nearest tube: Sloan Square

    Opening hours:
    Monday to Saturday 10am-7pm.
    Sunday 11am-6pm

  2. Wee find: Tatty Devine’s Pearlies

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    Loving the Pearly pieces from Tatty Devine's AW09 collection, Button Up, which pay tribute to the East End's royal dynasty of Pearly Kings and Queens. Reflecting the hand-crafted and emblematic hallmarks of a traditional Pearlie's costume, there are hand-stitched buttons adorning heart brooches, anchor necklaces and bow earrings, starting at £18.

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    If you love all things Pearlie, then you might want to check out this incredible exhibition of Pearlie portraits (see top and below) by photographer Harry Dutton. It's currently on show in Tatty Devine's Brick Lane store. Just look at the detail in those costumes!

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    Tatty Devine are donating £1 from every sale of a Pearly King brooch or necklace to charity through the Pearly Kings and Queens Association. Gorgeous graphic jewellery - and a perfect London souvenir!

    Tatty Devine
    236 Brick Lane
    London E2 7EB
    Tel. 020 7739 9191
    Opening hours:
    Tuesday to Sunday 11am-6pm
    Nearest tube: Liverpool Street

    Click here for a Wee Birdy map.

  3. Wee find: The Empress Dowager’s New Jewels

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    I’ve been meaning to post about the multi-faceted talents of The Likkle Girl Who Wurves Pwetty Things, one of Wee Birdy’s long-time supporters and bloggy-pals. Writing a blog has its good times and bad, but one of the most unexpected joys is stumbling across some kindred like-minded souls who have been incredibly supportive as well as lots of fun.

    When she’s not cooking up a storm in the kitchen, Sydney-based Likkle Girl is blogging about her incredible fashion finds (I love this canvas faux fox stole from one of her favourite designers, Slow and Steady wins the Race)…

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    her thrifty road trip adventures in Australia…

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    and making these extraordinarily beautiful fabric necklaces, which she has dubbed The Empress Dowager’s New Jewels

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    The pieces are hand-stitched using a variety of vibrant prints and discontinued Marmimekko fabric to create a string of ‘jewels’, which her grandmother referred to as ‘jiap-boh’ (literally ‘join cloth’ in the Teochew dialect). 

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    And here I am modelling my 'New Jewels' this morning ...

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    New additions have recently been added to her online shop (click here to check it out), but Sydney-siders may also like to view the Likkle Girl’s work in person when she pops up at The Little Bazaar (‘An Out-of-the-Ordinary Handmade Jewellery & Objects Market’) at The Beresford tomorrow, Saturday 26 September from 11am-6pm. Click here to check out all the details.

  4. London Fashion Week: Peter Jensen SS10

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    I really loved Peter Jensen's spring/summer 2010 presentation at the Institute of Contemporary Arts yesterday. Firstly, it was away from the catwalks (and the associated crowds, queues and depressing fashion hierarchy) and I watched the first half of the collection in relative solitude. Secondly, I've always enjoyed Jensen's playful take on the traditional runway show (see last season's Charlotte Mann backdrops), and this season was no exception.

    Collaborating with artist Laurie Simmons, Jensen created pieces from his collection in miniature, and dressed them on tiny cut-out dolls. The miniature cardboard cut-outs were lined up along the mantle, where I later glimpsed Colin McDowell resting both hands and leaning right in to inspect them in detail. Detail is key here, as the tiny fabric garments were not just cut from real-size fabric - rather, Jensen painstakingly scaled down the fabric with tiny knits and hand-stitched embroidery.

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    The miniatures were shot in Simmons' dollhouse and then scaled back up to life-size portraits, which were dotted around the exhibition space. For the presentation, Jensen sent real-life models (with doll-like cut-out hair) to wander around the rooms and pose next to the cut-outs. 

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    The collection itself was inspired by '50s American classics, so there were lots of twinsets, swing jackets and shift dresses, which were rendered in technicolour glory (think buttercup yellows, poppy reds and bubblegum pinks). The dollhouse theme was further explored with Jensen playing with the sense of proportion and size through the use of giant ginghams, oversized watermelon bags and a super-sized ric-rac motif. It was unashamedly girlish with tulle skirts, ruffles and swan prints, and my, it was pretty.

    Click here to view the full collection.

  5. Shopping in London: Shop at Bluebird

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    I finally paid Shop at Bluebird a long, overdue visit last week, and I’m delighted to report that it’s looking better – and dare I say more accessible  – than ever. But it’s difficult not to be impressed and a little over-awed by the listed art-deco location alone (the former Bluebird garage), let alone the beautifully edited collection of fashion, books, music, homewares, vintage, and skincare products.

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    While it’s loosely divided into departments, all sorts of found objects, accessories and artworks are scattered throughout the 10,000 square foot space. Here, for example, you’ll find 1950s American glass milk bottles (£18) sitting on an oversized French farmhouse table, next to a rack of glorious Erdem frocks.

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    I really loved the selection of vintage greeting cards as well as the fabulous brioche mould pendant lights by Sally and Mark Bailey. The range of playful pastel-coloured ceramics by Berlin-based Kuehn Keramik was also a highlight.

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    The women’s fashion department is extensive and carefully considered, with labels ranging from Jasmine de Milo, Alexander Wang, Peter Jensen to Elizabeth and James, Luella and Richard Nicoll. Shoe-wise there’s Rupert Sanderson and Vivienne Westwood, while the jewellery cabinets are stuffed with Marni gems, vintage fob watches and Nymphenburg porcelain pendants.

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    There’s also an excellent spa with Micheline Arcier (Prince Charles’ aromatherapist of choice) joining this month along with an exclusive treatment menu. Right now you can pick up skincare products by the likes of Malin + Goetz and Ole Henrikesen, but keep an eye out for Aesop and Bigelow, which should be arriving over the coming months.

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    What’s most appealing is that the shop is constantly evolving, with new designers and pop-up spaces keeping it fresh and relevant. Launching its international project in the pop-up room this week is French label Kitsune (next stop is Colette in Paris). Then there’s Atelier Abigail Ahern, the new homewares concession which brings Islington interiors (and some rather lovely Jonathan Adler ceramics) to the Kings’s Road. I was also (predictably) excited to discover that Rob Ryan will be curating the Christmas shop this year.

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    Whatever you do, don’t leave without a twirl around the spacious dressing rooms, which are in the process of being decorated by individual designers. I’m looking forward to seeing the Bobby Dazzler dressing room (think hand-crafted creature feature!), but I rather liked the room with the incredible sepia photo collage.

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    Shop at Bluebird
    350 King’s Road
    London SW3 5UU
    Tel. 7351 3873
    Nearest tube: Sloan Square
    Click here for a Wee Birdy map.

    Opening hours:
    Monday to Saturday 10am-7pm
    Sunday 11am-6pm

  6. London Fashion Week: a bit of a blur

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    I got off to a bit of a slow start with London Fashion Week this season, due to a sudden and unexpected dash to the hospital to deal with a kidney stone (my husband's, not mine!). But once things were sorted (ouchy!), I headed to Somerset House yesterday to catch up on some of the shows. First up was Mulberry at Claridges, which had been transformed into a fairground attraction complete with carousel horses and hundreds of Tim Walker-esque balloons.

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    The lighting was quite low, so amateur photography was not at its best, but I actually quite like the bluriness in my photos as it captures the 'softly-softly' theme which was portrayed in the uber-femininity of the collection - from the models' wispy crimped hair to the soft puffed sleeves and the delicate pink bows. I also rather liked the fresh prints this season, which revolved around the carousel horse motif. (To see the full collection, head over to Style.com.)

    Speaking of prints, I was captivated at Eley Kishimoto's show, where print and pattern collided and clashed in their trademark glorious fashion. Loved the teal and red geometric print on this smock dress...

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    But their signature charm and quirkiness was ultimately played out in super-sweet details like swan and deer acrylic brooches, crochet square necklines and slouchy socks. I love it when fashion has fun.

  7. Wee trend: Customised vintage plates

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    I’ve noticed this little trend emerging after spotting Lou Rota’s bug-and-bird infested vintage plates at one of my favourite London shops, Caravan, last year (a full Caravan shop tour is on the to-do list!). The plates are customised using homemade and vintage decals. I particularly love the beetles scurrying across this chintz tea plate:

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    They’re mainly used for decorative purposes (they look amazing grouped on a wall) but can be used ‘lightly’, say for serving up cake for afternoon tea. Lou’s vintage plates can be found at Caravan and Liberty in London, and you can buy them online from Not on the High Street.

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    Ninainvorm is one of my favourite bloggers – and her Netherlands home is probably one of my most-visited ‘destinations’ on Flickr.  (I love her patchworked wall of vintage wallpapers.) She also makes ceramics (a combination of slipcasting and hand-shaping), and she screen-prints her own designs (like Scandi-style birdies) on to her work.

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    She also uses vintage items to screen-print as well, like these vintage plates with bunting and birds:

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    You can purchase Nina’s ceramics from her Etsy shop.

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    Le petit oiseau is another gorgeous blog I follow, this time closer to home in the UK. As well as being a real bower bird for lovely vintage finds, she uses decal paper to re-design vintage plates with Tangram-style collages.

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    Check out her Etsy shop at Le petit boutique.

  8. Shopping in London: M.Goldstein

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    As much as I love my modern, minimalist boutiques with carefully-considered stock and refined aesthetic (A.P.C’s new flagship store on Dover Street is a great example), there’s something about the thrill of finding treasure in a real magpie’s nest, where the approach to visual merchandising errs towards the chaotic rather than the simple and streamlined. This is what you can expect to find at M.Goldstein, a small vintage shop on Hackney Road, just at the bottom of Columbia Road.

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    The name comes from the former 1930s owner, a newsagent who by all accounts was no stranger to East London’s shady underworld at the time. A jumble of antiques, paintings and the odd human skull, M.Goldstein is today the brainchild of Nathaniel Lee Jones and Pippa Brooks (formerly of Shop at Maison Bertaux in Soho – how we miss you so! But these days you can find Pippa blogging at Madame Says).

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    It’s not overly or self-consciously styled - in fact, Nathaniel describes it as a bit of a work in progress. There are old drums hanging from the ceiling and mid-century grocery boxes stacked on top of the cabinet, with a Victorian skull sitting on a Gothic stand in the corner.

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    Taking pride of place is a cabinet of curios, which on my visit was filled with a collection of tiny bird skulls, bird eggs and um, dead birds, as well as some really lovely vintage jewellery, hair combs and mantillas. It’s all rather like stepping into the old office of a mad, fashion-loving scientist.

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    I also found a seaside entertainer’s jacket form the ‘30s, some vintage straw hats in the style of Dior’s New Look, and a pair of Eley Kishimoto heels (from Pippa’s personal collection). Nathaniel and Pippa have also started to produce their own small run of garments, like some lovely shirt dresses as well as some screen-printed tees (like this lovely violet number featuring Quentin Crisp).

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    Fingers’ crossed there’s more on the way from this creative duo!

    M.Goldstein
    67 Hackney Road
    London, E2.
    Tel. 07905 325215
    Nearest tube: Old Street
    Click here for a Wee Birdy map.

    Opening hours:
    Thursday to Sunday 10am-6pm

    Click here for more shops in East London.

  9. Wee find: Rae Jones boots

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    I couldn’t believe my eyes a couple of weeks ago – September 1 to be exact – when I walked down to my local café and stumbled upon the first conkers of the season. It’s like somebody orchestrated the Official Arrival of Autumn down to the exact placement of the shiny brown nuts on the footpath.

    I do love the transitional seasons in England, but I can’t get away from the fact that Autumn means that I can finally slip my feet back into my beloved boots, and experiment with fancy hosiery (Eley Kishimoto’s AW09 geometric patterns are high on my wishlist this season).

    One British shoe designer to watch this season is Rae Jones, whose second collection of four core styles – a range of flats, everyday mid-heels, an evening range of high heels and flat winter boots – is inspired by ‘40s designers Beth and Heubert Levine.

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    I particularly love the tan flat boots (see top), with its diamond pattern detail and folded-down top. Prices start at £160, and are available from Poste Mistress and Labour of Love. Keep an eye on her website, which should be transactional by the end of September.
    www.raejones.com

  10. Birdy pick of the week

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    Quite a few of you have tipped me about Green & Spring's luxe range of organic body care products, which feature a delightful bunch of twittering birdies on the beautifully-designed packaging. The range is made in Britain, using flowers and herbs which are native to the UK, and are free from parabens, petrochemicals and synthetic colours and fragrances. You can pick them up online, or check out the full collection at Liberty.

  11. Shopping in London: What Katie Did

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    Fans of London’s burlesque scene may already be familiar with What Katie Did, the British-based label behind luxe vintage-style lingerie and hosiery. In fact, the Notting Hill shop, tucked away at the back of Portobello Green arcade, is one of London’s few locations where burlesque performers can get fully kitted out – from their nipple pasties and corsolettes to proper silk stockings and feathered fans.

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    But you don’t have to be into burlesque to get something (saucy) out of What Katie Did’s delightful collection of vintage-inspired lingerie and shapewear. In fact, those of you who love their vintage fashion, particularly cinched-in styles from the ‘40s and ‘50s, will rejoice in their range of shapewear and girdles made specifically to pull you in and create a silhouette of your wildest Mad Men-inspired dreams.

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    I really love their collection of bullet bras (£27.50) – the peach satin version is particularly gorgeous – as well as their fancy frilly knickers (£14), available in sizes 10 to 18. Keep an eye out for their excellent range of authentic seamed stockings, which are made in an old-fashioned British factory on a machine that actually stitches the seams together, as well as the seam-look stockings from £4.50.

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    You can also sign up for one of their workshops, where you can learn how to make your own nipple tassle or fascinator over tea and cake. Crafty and raunchy, oh my!

    What Katie Did
    26 Portobello Green
    281 Portobello Road
    London, W10 5TZ
    Tel. 0845 430 8943
    Nearest tube: Ladbroke Grove
    Click here for a Wee Birdy map.

    Opening Hours:
    Monday to Saturday 10am - 6pm
    Sunday 12 noon - 6pm

    Click here for more good shops in Notting Hill.