Thought for the week - Love

It's almost Christmas. Step away from the last minute shopping and call a friend instead. Pen a loved one a note or send a text to someone that is on your mind now.

Have a very happy and safe Christmas.

Floral Inspiration - Flair Magazine

Because it's as inspiring today as it was in 1950, because I covet all the 10 issues I don't have ( I just have a measly two..... ) and lastly because out of such creative genius, comes many gems of ideas for many, many people. And last but not least, because the above is a very beautiful spread.

Have a lovely weekend - sit on a bench, eat a mince pie and read a lovely book ( together or separately if you would prefer ).

How to be idle - something for the weekend!

It is going to be mighty nippy this weekend. However, a rest on a well selected park bench maybe just what you need! A haven in the middle of the city, a park bench gives you the freedom to sit as long as you like and read, eat, smoke, sleep or merely let your brain wander as you watch passers by. You can be alone, with your baby, a book or your friends. A little solitude, a little respite or a little company - all for free.

Wrap up warm and find somewhere with a view near you this weekend.

Image from here

Sense - Colour of the year 2010

PANTONE® 15-5519 Turquoise is the colour of the year for 2010. Turquoise has always been the colour representing escape and fantasy, while at the same time restoring our sense of well-being. It is almost a blessing in our lives - a colour of the mind, it affects us mentally - in a good way. It can relax our mind, free us of negative thought and move us into a positive state of being. Who hasn't stood on a beach staring at a summer ocean and felt nothing but happiness?

For many cultures, turquoise has always been a protective talisman, a colour of deep compassion and healing, and a colour of faith and truth.

A little bit green for invigoration and a little bit of blue to calm us down, I couldn't think of a more perfect colour to sail us into 2010.

PS: A fantastic book on colour is the very clever Shannon Fricke's - Sense of Style

Out – Three Favourite stores

Nothing nicer than discovering a gem of a store. These are my favourite three for on-going inspiration.

Petersham Nurseries

You probably all know of Petersham and think ‘I really must go there’. You should. It’s very special and is one of those places you feel better, just to have been in.

To make the most of the visit, take the train to Richmond and walk to Petersham along the river, cutting across the field at the end. A delightful walk whatever the time of year. It also helps Petersham keep the car numbers down, which is essential for them to continue to stay open.

With an award-winning restaurant run by chef Sky Gyngell, the premises also includes a fantastic shop reflecting the extensive travel of the owners. Housed in one of the glass houses, features established brands including Côté Bastide, Astier de Villatte and Claus Porto as well as one off pieces.

You can also just stop for coffee and cake, or amazingly, buy some very good quality plants.

Petersham Nurseries

Off Petersham Road

Richmond

Surrey

TW10 7AG

Egg

I would say my favourite................. Carefully curated and ever-changing, you may find ceramics, clothing or African jewellery. They stock Dosa, Rupert Spiro and an ever-changing selection of artists work. Even their location is delightful. There are two stores, so don’t forget to cross the mews to see the other one.

If the door is locked, they will be more than happy to open for you.

Lastly, take the time to pop into the award-winning pub across the road - the Nag's Head to imbibe in its sublime Bloody Marys.

Egg, 26-27 Kinnerton Street, London SW1 (020 7235 9315).

Persophone Books

With distinctive plain grey jackets and cream labels, every Persophone book looks identical from the outside. Inside, however, is a different story, as each book features a unique endpaper featuring a textile design carefully chosen to match the date and mood of the book.

With two small but perfectly formed bookstores in Lambs Conduit Street and Kensington Church Street, Persephone Books only publishes 81 titles but these are updated, always reflecting the changes in customers' choices.

A lovely place to be.

59 Lamb's Conduit Street
London WC1N 3NB
or
109 Kensington Church Street London W8 7LN.

Thought for the week

A lengthy one for this week, but important. Yesterday morning ( v. v. early at the antiques market ), my friend and I discussed this at length. It is the hardest yet the simplest thing to know who you are and what you are, next to everyone else. It just takes courage.

Out - somewhere special tomorrow

For something completely different tomorrow ....

"Taste is a feeling that makes all the difference between what is beautiful and what is merely showy – and also what is ugly!” the couturier Madeleine Vionnet once said.

Vionnet, lauded as the the “couturier of couturiers”, is being honoured with an exhibition at Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris, which spans her work from the setting up of her house in 1912 to the peak of her creativity in the late 30's.

The show is a visual delight, showing Vionnet’s mastery of sinuous line, proportion and, above all, how to dress the liberated and dynamic female body. Her use of the bias cut, purist geometry and essentialist viewpoint made her one of the most celebrated couturiers of her day, and one of the most influential.

In October the house was relaunched, with a new designer at the helm, ex-Prada designer Roldolfo Paglialunga. With new funding, one hopes that her skill and beauty in design can be re-ignited.

This is not an exhibition for just the fashion lovers amongst you. Her ability to create beautiful garments from a single seam or just two circles will challenge and delight you.

It's only a little trip to Paris after all and its on until 31st January 2010.

Beside myself excited......

Artisan No. 5 - Yishav Garbasv

Times are-a changing...... As we squeeze our way out of this recession, so many of our personal priorities are in perpetual adjustment. One of the most challenging will be the physical and emotional need to slow down. Where did zoom, zoom, zoom get us? About 5 years behind where we started it seems.

Slow food, slow living, slow fashion - all are bubbling up in importance . Lets get excited by artists and designers who look backwards, forwards and sideways in their approach and produce work that archives, curates and records the life of a product or idea.

Yisav Garbasv is a photographer who took the need to slow down literally and physically by using a bulky, large-format camera on her latest and emotional project.

In My Mother's Footsteps, is an exploration of the inheritance of memory, as well as a healing process. Garbasz retraced the steps of her mother across Europe during World War Two.

Often travelling on foot over long distances, having such a large camera forced her to stop and spend time at each location, letting the image come to her, opening herself and the lens to what was there. An emotive, inspiring journey that would never have happened without allowing herself to slow down.

Image from www.yishay.com

Thoughts – Sustainable purchases

We all naturally think about our purchases long and hard now. It doesn’t matter whether you had to initially because of the financial 'difficulty' we are in, because now it seems to come naturally. A little unpleasant all that continual consumption wasn’t it? Think of the pleasure you now have when you do buy something special – how many years ago was it that you felt that?

Luckily there are lots of little companies jumping ahead, thinking about how consumers feel now and creating delightful products that satisfy both our (new) wants and our needs.

Howies has created the Hand-Me-Down project. By creating well-made, well-designed jackets and bags guaranteed to last at least 10 years they hope to share the responsibility of consumption with their customers by encouraging them to hand the items down.

Materials are traditional, organic and chosen for their natural protective qualities. This is to ensure that unnecessary treatments aren’t used, to help the garments last longer and make it easier for them to eventually be recycled.

Numbers are limited and price points reflect the emphasis on quality construction - but the cost should be offset by longevity and the luxury of a clearer conscience.

Take your pick from a jacket or some rather lovely bags.

And one more picture before the weekend...

Tairere - the house I was born in and lived in until I was sixteen. Like a tree that shows its age, rings based around a central core from where you started.

Have a lovely weekend.

Furoshiki - could this be the answer to the It-bag problem?

Bye bye It-bag, Hello Furoshiki.

It's timely  to make something out of nothing. If it looks great and is ethical to boot then we can only be on to a win win.

Furoshiki is traditional Japanese wrapping cloth that has been used since the Nara period to decoratively wrap clothes, food and other goods either as gifts or simply for transportation.

They make great reusable eco-friendly shopping bags and can of course can express your ‘uniqueness’ through the choice of fabric, colour and pattern.

With just a few simple knots, a 30 inch square piece of cloth can be tied to carry your worldly possessions – you could probably even wrap it around last seasons It-bag.

Thought for the week

Goethe's last words. How apt for this week when it's dark before 4pm. Although nesting is wonderful, being an Antipodaen, I'm craving light and warmth and air. Or maybe because it's soon Christmas I'm craving all the things I won't have or be with on the big day. Darkness, and darkness.

Outside we go to make the most of the light.

Creative resource - The Costume Institute of New York

I'm often found at the V & A in London ( in fact heading there later for some research ). If you work in a creative field, I think you will be very pleased to know that the Costume Institute of New York provides free online access to over 25,000 exhibits, with works dating back to the 4th century.

From buttons to Balenciaga, jewellery, clothing and accessories. It's an extraordinary resource and you can link to it here.