September 8, 2016

Summer of Love; Barcelona & Sitges

I’ve been making the most of the surprisingly sunny British summer but had a moment to experience some proper heat on a weekend trip to Barcelona celebrating a wedding and generally getting out and about. Barcelona is one of my favourite cities due to amazing architecture, beautiful pristine clean streets and a rich artistic heritage. Barcelona also has some half decent beaches in the centre, making it a dreamy location, plus some more impressive ones on the outskirts, Castelldefels and Sitges. The wedding took me to a quaint suburb, Sarria where I was hosted in a stunning farmhouse and ate the best Spanish and European food til I couldn’t move! I had an action packed weekend and came back needing another holiday but it was all worth it!

Selfie from the amazing balcony at Hotel Zenit

Selfies in Sitges

Sitges town and the Church of Sant Bartomeu & Santa Tecla, & Castelldefels

Ended my day in Sitges admiring a chilled out cat and eating Octopus with Fried Spinach balls

Sagrada Familia

Park Guell and Gaudi’s House

Stunning church in Sarria and wedding of the year!

Wedding outfit and new Rosa Pietsch jewellery coming soon to Realm of Treasure

African print pre wedding party and vintage day on the beach outfits

November 4, 2015

Dreaming of Ibiza and Formentera

Now that winter has properly arrived here in London it seems like the perfect moment to mentally revisit my Ibiza and Formentera break – a girls trip this September. Its definitely helping me get over my winter blues even if I’m now am itching to be transported to any hot place with a beach right now. For now the pics will have to do. My trip wasn’t the typical 18 to 30’s clubbing venture and I was pleasantly surprised to see how much more the island has to offer. The landscape is dramatic and the north of the island- where we stayed is calm and serene. Plus I even got to do business when visiting the famous hippy market, Punta Arabi, in Es Canar. I brought some amazing pieces back for my market stall at Broadway market‘s schoolyard and will be also adding them soon to www.realmoftreasure.com

Amazing scenery near the Punta Arabi market of Es Canar

Punta Arabi

Hotel Beach

Giant cocktails

Getting the boat from the harbour to Formentera

Beautiful but weird and desert like Formentera

Salt lakes- this is how the make it – the trip was even educational

Stunning Formentera beach

Famous Formentera sunset

Day party at Playa d’En Bossa for a tame bunch who couldn’t handle a proper Ibiza night out! Maybe next time?

Me wearing an amazing necklace from the hippy market

June 17, 2015

LCM SS16 – Girl in a Man’s World

Polkadots, boobs and big hair at the Lewis and Leigh + Petrie Magazine LCM opening party at The Cuckoo Club

Despite being a girly girl most of the time I’m always pleasantly surprised by the London menswear scene, especially during London Collections Men. This season, LCM SS16, I was struck by the variety of style from colourful prints to all black and everything I saw was wearable- I was even imagining some pieces in my wardrobe. There is always a buzz in the air during LCM as it gets more established each year and gets closer to the status of London Fashion Week, although many people prefer LCM. The usual faces such as Tinie Temper, Labrynth and David Gandy were around supporting some of the UK’s best emerging menswear designers & heritage brands. On a random note I was luckily given late entry, after initial refusal, to a show after the doors closed as some celebs arrived who security allowed to be late (5 mins to be fair) at Maharishi- if any one knows who they were (black guy with dreads and a small crew) send them my thanks- would have been gutted if I missed it!

The lovely Ada Zanditon at the Ada + Nik presentation & me wearing jewellery from my boutique Realm of Treasure.

Caption this – Ada with Nik Thakkar and models

My first time trying black Water- by BLK

The Maharishi Finale

The bar at the Belstaff presentation where I binge drank Moroccan mint tea to the extent I didn’t even spot David Gandy!

Only 3 shades of grey but loved Grey – Scale’s use of my favourite non colour at The Hospital Club exhibition

Also spotted a LCM dedicated section in Selfridges . Casely – Hayford was the first to catch my eye

June 16, 2015

The Finale; Graduate Fashion Week 2015

The final part of my Graduate Fashion Week experience involved the exhibition – where I could literally have spent all day admiring the innovative, colourful and quirky creations. It was great to find out about the talent coning from Fashion Schools that I was not previously familiar with, especially Nottingham Trent and Northumbria University. I also attended the International showcase bringing together the worlds best emerging design talent. Graduate experience is always the highlight of my fashion year and am already counting down to the next one!

Grace Weller of Bath Spa University was selected as the George Gold Award winner last year and this years winner was Hannah Wallace’s.

A favourite from last years award show

Amanda Roughley was shortlisted for an award in association with the Ethical Fashion Forum

These one pieces by Sally Jane Atkinson Lyon had me dreaming of being back in the Caribbean

June 15, 2015

Graduate Fashion Week 2015, Centro / Ouverture

Even though the fashion calendar has swiftly moved on and I’ve currently been enjoying London Collections Men, LCM SS16, I still want to share the amazingness of my Graduate Fashion Week experience. My second show was the Ouverture / Centro school of Fashion in Mexico. Due to the vibrancy of Mexican culture I expected a colourful, and energetic show which is exactly what I got. There was a range of luxurious fabrics from floaty chiffons to cosy tweeds plus sculptural shapes and prints to suit all tastes. The only thing missing was a beach and Tequila!

June 10, 2015

Graduate Fashion Week; UCA Rochester

Me in a Textiles Federation dress at the Royal College of Art

The last few weeks have been the most exciting time in the fashion calendar with Graduate Fashion Week. Its a time of great innovation and the birthing of the future’s fashion greats! With over 20 shows in total and lots going on in my life atm I sadly missed a lot of it but what I managed to catch was mesmerising. My first show; UCA Rochester, courtesy of Lewis and Leigh PR, set the bar high and I clearly had an enhanced view 😉 !

June 5, 2015

Holidays Part 2; Paradise in St Lucia

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Am writing this at a time of major change in my life- new job/ career which is fantastic but has also been a quite stressful few weeks. So this is the perfect time for me to reminisce on my blissful time in St Lucia last month where I spent time with my mum who lives there. It was an active trip but I enjoyed every second and restored my energy each evening when chilling on my mums balcony which has a stunning view of the sea and famous mountains and world heritage site, the Pitons. Although I love the beach I could never be a holiday beach bum so managed to pack in trekking through the rainforest, visiting the volcano and sulphur springs, attending the St Lucia Jazz festival, going to a fish themed street party and catching lizards with the national trust on Maria Island! I also got to learn more about the work of the Vieux Fort Children’s home which is being funded by the Jermaine Defoe foundation. You can learn more about there work on their Facebook page- feel free to add them; https://www.facebook.com/vieux.home?fref=ts. or check out their wesite http://thevieuxfortchildrenssociety.weebly.com/who-are-we.html. Due to the good whether, fresh food and general good vibes I still managed to come back refreshed- albeit a bit tired!

At the hot Suphur Springs on the volcano

At Jalouse beach in between the pitons- its down a steep hill so we took this cute buggy

My grans local beach!

Wild plants, fruit in the rainforest

Stunning view from Mums balcony and the adorable resident dog

Eating Langoustine and turtle at the fish festival

My friend from neighbouring Guadeloupe chilling at my mums local beach

Saw some classic calypso and more modern soca at the St Lucia Jazz festival mini concert in Vieux Fort

The beautiful beach, Lizards and view from Maria Islands where I went with the National Trust to watch their lizard survey. One of the poor creatures got panicked and shed its tail in front of my eyes. I had only just learnt they can do this so was quite stunned!

On a boat ride past the Pitons to Anse Chastenet beach, famous for snorkellig. I saw some beautiful fish but called it a day after seeing a young Barracuda and what I thought was a snake but in fact a yellow eel!

One of my final trips and birthday treat involved a meal at Hotel Chocolat’s restaurant and hotel. They only have shops in the UK but the cocoa comes from this plantation. The meal was curry and rice infused with Cacao nibs and it actually went well together. Dessert speaks for itself!

The beauty of the Islands continued to the skies with this incredible cloud formation en route back to the UK. God really is the Great Artist!

May 14, 2015

Holidays Part One, Jamaica & Trinidad

Am currently feeling refreshed and jetlagged at the same time having just returned from a trip to my Caribbean homelands Jamaica and St Lucia- plus a day in Trinidad. I’m lucky enough to have family living in my two favourite Islands- mum in St Lucia and grandad in Jamaica so got to spend time with loved ones, get an experience of real life on the Islands whilst doing some touristy stuff – a perfect mix! I started off in Jamaica where I’ve been the past few years in a row but I always find it equally amusing simply watching the energetic often hot headed people and the hustle and bustle in the local markets. I also arrived in time for the annual curry festival. Coming here makes me realise where my passion for food comes from as Jamaicans love their food that they have individual festivals for national favourite food types such as the Crab fest, Jerk Chicken fest, Fried fish Fest and Breadfruit fest(Caribbean starchy vegetable) – these are just the ones I ‘ve seen recently so there are probably more. I made the most of the food and drink and of course the beach.

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7 miles of white sand in Negril

With mum at the curry fest in Savanna La Mar

Curried goat

Curried prawn

Jerk pork – Jamaicans are not afraid to see where their meat comes from!

Teaching grandad to selfie

Grandads puppy

Cocktails at a beach bar negril. Am wearing jewellery from www.realmoftreasure.com

Guinness cheesecake at the airport- Jamaica has the best alcoholic treats!

Spotted this unfortunate lonely fish washed up on the shore in Trinidad

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Beautiful morning on Macqueripe beach, Trinidad, before flying to St Lucia in the afternoon- a busy 2 days! Oh and i spotted Levi Roots on my plane after seeing Nick Canon in Negril- my lack of pics shows I’m not too much of a celeb follower as it took me too long to put the faces to names.

April 17, 2015

Lewis and Leigh PR AW15 Press Day

A press day is always a welcome end to my less than thrilling day job so I eagerly counted down the hours and then headed to Graphic Bar in Soho where Lewis and Leigh
PR held their AW15 press day. There was a chilled out party vibe as House of Alt provided a background of classic R & B tunes- if it wasn’t so early and a school night it would have been hard to get me out of there as some of my old time faves were churned out- and it made me feel good that the younger kids were aware of the soundtrack of my youth! On top of a great ambiance each corner of the bar had an exciting visual treat ranging from cool graphic prints, extravagant hats and bath bombs that made me hungry ( well hungrier than usual ).

Phiney Pet

Stvdio 5 cosmetics- still wishing these were edible!

April 10, 2015

United Nude Brick Lane Pop Up Launch

I was excited to find out that one of my favourite shoe brands, United Nude decided to open a pop up shop in my end of London Town, in Brick Lane’s Truman Brewery. The launch party was a relaxed evening of drinks and live music from the angelic voice of Bronagh. United Nude shoes have everything I love about fashion, colour, bold structures, cool prints and general quirkiness. Whilst they have a range of perfect shoes for making a statement they also have a good selection of classic styles that can be worn to work or on casual occasions. I opted for a bright gold pair with a silver heal which I bought from their Flagship shop in Covent Garden a while ago which have done a great job of brightening up my shoe collection which has gradually become and array of colours. Here were some of my faves from the launch;