Humble Designs

Shhh... I'm sneaking up on some of my first guests to get a shot of the finished house before it's really ready. Rough around the edges is probably the best way to describe where we are now. There's still a fair bit of raw skirting boards and taped up edges around, not to mention the two major jobs that need to be done on the roof terrace and the downstairs garden. 

Despite still being in some disarray, the first 12 days in the house have been and gone, we've painted some more, hung some things, talked endlessly about the sofa layout and had an antique wardrobe arrive in an old palette that stank of fish which then nearly broke both Robbie and our lovely new neighbours' backs when we tried to get it up the stairs.

I will do a post on buying antique real wood furniture for far cheaper than MDF later on - the downside is that it's some heavy sh*t.

The little house has come alive from being lived in and to embrace a cliché  it feels like home in a way that nowhere has before. As I keep telling family and friends; our sweat and blood has literally sunk into these floorboards. 

The bedroom is slowly being assembled. The new wardrobe compliments an old chest of drawers and the floor perfectly. I got it from Ebay for £110 (similar here) to replace an MDF piece of rubbish that I panic-bought last year for £250 that died in the move. Antique wood pieces are always cheaper than new MDF and if you look after them, will look after you forever. Ebay can be a hassle but is worth it for things like this. 

God I love these floors. Robbie did such a good job on filling the gaps that the upstairs retains all of its heat and they are smooth to walk on. So nice to have kept some of the original parts of the house and have them used anew. I wonder when these were last trodden on by human feet. It could have been back in 1890 when the house is dated to - it certainly looked like it when we uncovered them.

Each morning, we wake up and open the terrace door to the South which lets in the breeze and sprinkles a little extra sun down our stairs. A cup of coffee on the roof is such a lovely way to start the day. 

We are using the spare room as a study and general work space. The view onto the terrace is gorgeous and the grape vine keeps it private too.

Merlin, our house owl and a gift from my grandmother 'to watch over' us is fiercely guarding the stairs.

So nice to have the space to keep well stocked up on the everyday essentials.

Our living and dining room is fast becoming my favourite place in the house. The table - also bought from Ebay - is a sturdy piece of pine which extends to seat 8 people when necessary - though I'm sure I'll manage to get more around it. Our two John Lewis ex- showroom sofas (Ebay again, and 2/3rds of the original price) compliment eachother perfectly and also divide the space up in just the right way. Once the pictures are properly hung, this space will be so peaceful.  For my living room Pinterest board and other inspiration, take a look over here. For now, I'm off to finish bits and pieces.

#Happy

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The Dalston Department Store

The Dalston Department Store was on last week Thursday through to Sunday as a bit of an experiment by the owners of an incredible building come office space; Star House on Richmond Road. It looks like they'll be back in various guises until the end of November, so I'm not playing my irritating trick of telling you about something you can't attend. This time around, the store stocked a mixture of jewellers, home furnishings and clothes, with about 15 different stores to choose from but without that market-like feel that so many of these things have. 

The house, once you've found it has an intriguing, sparse entrance with a warehouse lift to the basement which makes you feel a little like you're in The London Dungeons for a moment, until you step out into the light, beautifully lit space of the store. The owners have a background in store fittings and experiential but they only had a week to put this together, so you can see how clever they were at making do with what they had. I particularly like the lights. 

I was first told about it by Ginny of Fred and Ginny, the lovely vintage seller from the Primrose Hill Vintage Fair I posted about last week. She was there with an even more alluring array of pieces including a vintage YSL Khaki green coat with velvet lined sleeves and collar and a tartan interior lining. This was about 1 inch too big for me on the shoulders. Thankfully, as otherwise I would be £250 the worse for it. 

The main appeal of DDS for me was the jewellery. Katie Monroe was there with some of her signature rose gold knuckle rings, as worn by Ferne Cotton most recently. 

My favourite was Jessica de Lotz. I'm biased because she's a NW5 gal like myself and lovely to chat to but her jewellery is stunning and totally original too. She makes bespoke wax seals, stamps sealing wax with them and then casts them with the lost wax technique. The result as you can see is beautifully tactile and textured pieces with organic sculptural forms and an imprint in the middle. I'm very tempted to get my family seal done by her some time in this lifetime and will be attending her open studio to talk about it more... watch this space.

Claire English's animal skeleton inspired pieces caught my eye too. My Christmas list is getting worryingly long... 

Follow DDS on Facebook to see what's next. We chatted to the building owner as we walked out and he's got some great ideas. This will be the place to avoid the usual mundane roundabout of Christmas shopping this year. I'll see you there. 

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Old Hat

This post isn't all old hat I promise. Yes, the Primrose Hill Vintage Fair has been and gone however I discovered a fabulous new Vintage seller at the fair and will be following her to the Dalston Department Store pop up next week where you're welcome to join me. 

Last Sunday, I joined Sara and Holly for a spot of vintage shopping at Cecil House Primrose Hill. The venue is an old community hall giving the whole affair a real school fête feel. The fairs are arranged by Vintage Fashion London who can be found here - next one coming up in November. 

Because the vendors who come to the fair are independent there's a real mix of price ranges to reflect the mix of vintage labels on show. Retrouvé (the lovely seller who will be at Dalston) had a vast collection of Sambo dresses in silks of all colours. These are gorgeous 60s originals with flattering cinched in waists and elegant necklines. I only just stopped myself from buying a real K Middy number in Royal Blue. 

 So if this and my previous post on BLITZ has sufficiently whetted your appetite for a little bit of old world glamour, you'll be very excited to hear about the Dalston Department Store which opens next week. In the words of Ginny, the lady behind  Retrouvé's:

"Bringing together a carefully curated selection of up-and-coming UK brands & collaborating with East London Design Show, Dalston Department Store will house independent menswear, womens wear, jewellery, interior & product designer brands. So peeps, here's your chance to peruse Retrouvé's pop-up store amongst other fabulous brands, including Dlux luxury sheepskin, Katie Rowland jewellery, menswear outdoor brand D.S.DUNDEE."

So as you can see there's vintage and more to be had in abundance. I'll be going down on Thursday night to *shock horror* shop and drink. Don't tell anyone but do come along too. All the details here. 

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Blitzing vintage

It's the weekend before pay day, It's freezing, I spent the week in towering work heels and last year I threw away my best winter flat boots (they had finally had it). So what to do? Heading down to Brick Lane to play dress-up and eat bagels seemed wise.

This wasn't a deliberate solution at all, but I was so excited at my serendiptous encounter with Blitz - London's biggest vintage warehouse, complete with its own coffee shop and all that I feel obliged to tell you all about it.

Blitz is the sister warehouse to the Brick Lane 'Vintage Store' - as in the one actually called that. It's further down Bricklane towards curryville and off on a little side street to the left. It's heaven in there.

Vintage burberry macs at £95, Vintage and newish Barbours for between £100-£200, Chanellesque quilted leather handbags at £18, 50s diva sunnies for £30, varsity felt jackets... you name it, they've got it.

They also had everything I was looking for for Winter at vast expense on Net-a-porter. I'd managed to persuade myself that when I finally got paid, it would be time to invest in the black leather riding boots that I've lusted after for ages and some high waisted smart leather shorts. I chanced upon both at Blitz, whilst cooing over brown leather loafers and arctic fox stoles.

The boots:

Reduced from £55 to £15 (this is admittedly because they had been sized wrong at 3, whereas they were actually a 5 so they had sat pretty waiting for me to notice the mistake and steadily reducing in price all the while).

The shorts:

£25 and in all shapes colours and sizes. This was the first pair I saw and I immediately fell in love. They fit like a (leather) glove and will go with everything this season. I could not be any more pleased.

Next time you're in Brick Lane, vintage shopping forget the over-priced Vintage stores and head straight here. I won't be wasting my time rifling through dusty rails anywhere else in the vicinity.

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Thrifty Fifties

It's autumn, every instinct says to put your dresses into an early hibernation and live in last year's ski leggings... After all, other people can't tell they're ski-wear, can they?

The item that can save us now is the perfect '50s dress. How better to channel a little optimism than with a piece of post war fashion?

I recently overheard a friend of mine talking about how much the '50s trend pisses her off: 'Why look back to an era of sexism, little housewives with cinched waists and no lives?' Well on the '50s, things may not have been at their best, but they were certainly changing faster than they had before thanks to womens' involvement in the war effort and their reluctance to go back. The 50s was also an era of renewed creativity, fashion DIY, Vogue pattern books, knitting and altering, stretching every last penny. 

It wasn't until Coco Chanel started pioneering comfort and elegance combined for womenswear that the nipped in waists gave way to the cacophony of garments now available to us (disclaimer: this is a massive over simplification of fashion history). 

A/W 2012 Lanvin, Pucci, Dior

However, the cinched waists of 50s style kept and keeps coming back. Why? Not as a reminder of women's subordination, but because they follow a woman's natural shape, fit, flatter, are practical for walking in or even running for the bus and can work in all kinds of fabrics.

In keeping with the thrifty spirit of the 50s, these dresses are often to be found at bargain prices since they have lived once already and are not so old as to have earned the title 'antique'. We have bought a few 50's gems over the years ranging from £20 to £50, including what we hope was once a wedding dress from The Stables Market in Camden, this gorgeous evening number with a dropped back from Brick Lane, and a recent purchase from Margate (see review here). This has to be the perfect trans seasonal trend. 

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