Deco decedance - part 2

Waking up on the Saturday morning with the sun streaming into our window was a fabulous start to our weekend of Deco indulgence.

One thing about "posh" hotels is the wonderful bathrooms and robes that they provide you with and Claridges is no exception.

Bath time bliss!!

Bathrobes.

The lovely bath products.

 

Refreshed and ready for the day we headed down to breakfast and what a setting have it in!!

 

 

Silver salt and pepper pots, and individual jams and even the tomato ketchup came in one of these little jars!!

 

 

Stepping out into a lovely warm day we headed to the V&A to see the Glamour of Italian Fashion exhibition and then onto Harvey Nicks 5th floor restaurant for a cocktail or two and lunch.

 

 

 

 

I forgot to take any pictures of my food as it looked so good that I ate it all before I remembered to take pictures - but it was yummy!!!

 

 

I was really excited about the evening as we had tickets to see Angela Lansbury in Blithe Spirit so we jumped in a cab and headed to the theatre.

 

One thing that does always upset me is how people don't dress up for the theatre anymore but never mind the play was amazing and Angela and the whole cast were fabulous.

 

 

Just had to share a couple of outfits for the weekend -

70's does 40's jacket from a charity shop, skirt from a 40's suit, 40's blouse from Shazam vintage and hat vintage 30's from Paris.

Vintage jacket from Retreat Vintage, 40's skirt and blouse from Shazam vintage.

A few pictures of Deco style around the hotel.

 

 

It was such a fabulous stay if not rather indulgent but hey you are only here once, the experience will stay with me forever and we now have a "Claridges Fund" so we can go back again!!

 

 

For now I will leave you with a quote from Spencer Tracy - " When I die I don't want to go to heaven I want to go to Claridges!!"

 

 

 

 

 



 



A weekend of Deco Indulgence - Part one - The arrival!!

Last weekend my lovely Hubby and I stayed once again in one of the most fabulous places to celebrate my 50th birthday - I know it isn't official until later in the year but you only hit that age once so I am allowed to have more than one treat.

 

 

Claridges is the most wonderful place - this was our 2nd stay and the staff welcomed us back as if we were honoured guests.  From the moment you step through the revolving doors into the grand entrance hall you are transported back to a bygone era of Art Deco splendour.

 

 

After checking in we were shown up to our room - which never disappoints - with original wardrobes and walnut writing desk, while we unpacking the door bell rang - yes you have a doorbell and a bottle of champagne and cake arrive with compliments of the hotel.

 

 

The way in!!

 

The room and marble bathroom!!

Plenty of room for all the clothes.

 

Claridges know how to treat a birthday gal!!

 

 Once we unpacked we headed just around the corner to a great restaurant called Hush that I had been wanting to try for while - tucked away in a corner of Mayfair we sat outside in the courtyard - relaxing over a delicious lunch and bottle of wine.

 

 

 

Salmon and saffron fishcakes, sorrel sauce, hand cut chips and green beans.

 

 

 

On arriving back to the hotel we changed for cocktails - in keeping with the tradition of the era of course, then downstairs to the hotel bar to have a drink or two.

 

 

Love the pic of Liz behind us!!

 

 

 

Worn out after a long day we retired to bed - the maid had turned down the sheets, laid out our PJ's, drawn the curtains - sweet dreams until tomorrow.

 

 

 









A little more of what I have been up to

On a bright sunny morning Missy Vintage, Joe Black and his lovely wife Milda packed the car and headed out to Hoveton Hall - a beautiful hall which is available to hire for weddings, other events and the gardens are open during the summer to wander around.

www.hovetonhall.co.uk

 

We were shooting a "vintage sports" story for a well know vintage magazine - I can't release any images yet as it is all under wraps for a while but can show you a few behind the scenes sneaky peeks and a few pictures of my inspiration for the shoot.

 

 

 

 



 

 Saturday saw me at the AGM for the Costumes and Textiles Association which was followed by a fascinating talk by Martin Colan who spoke and showed us examples of Chinese costumes and the meaning behind the textiles - Writing in Threads.

 

 

Sunday and I headed off to Talc a wonderful coffee shop in Norwich to showcase the dresses in a fashion show for  Kerry Parker and Brain Tumour Research - organised by Carmen Kennedy and her photographer daughter Fran - alongside the collection was vintage swimwear from Lulu Vintage and Carmen's own range - Curtains for Cancer by Carmen Hyde Johnson.

 

We sipped Pimms and cocktails in the sunshine, raised lots of money for a good cause.

 

 

 

 

Photos - thanks to Fran Kennedy.

 

So after a few busy weeks it is back in the office for the rest of this week, camping at the weekend then I am taking a well deserved break with my hubby culminating with my birthday treat at Claridges - so watch out for photo overload in coming posts - Deco glamour, cocktails and outfits.

 



 

 

 

 

A week in the life of Miss K

It has been a busy couple of weeks with plans for new services, photo shoots, canvasing for the National vintage awards - you still have time to vote for me here -

 

http://thenationalvintageawards.co.uk/vote2014/

 I am lucky that each day is different spent doing a variety of fabulous things but in the throws of work I managed to have a little fun!!

Jarrolds is a family run department store that we are lucky to have in Norwich and last week they held an event to celebrate all things Spring in their very stylish beauty hall so I went along with the lovely Missy Vintage - we experienced a very relaxing hand and arm massage from Jo Malone, sampled a very smooth rum from the deli and sipped bubbly.

A rather dapper "gent" promoting a fragrance

Swagger and Jacks shoe cleaning service.

 

One of the perfumes that I tried - more of this in a future post.

 

 

The following day was the first of my Vintage Styling workshops with Retreat vintage - you can read more about them on my website and watch out for future dates. https://www.facebook.com/events/1489713234580976/

 

 

A meeting took me into to town so I thought that I would treat myself to a spot of lunch in one of my favourite pubs - Sir Garnet - it was great to have a chill out over a glass of wine and catch up with some magazines that I never get a chance to do these days.

 

 

 

With summer on it's way I spent some time planning some new planting for the garden so we can sit in the sunshine and sip cocktails.

 



 

 

 

 

More planning and adventures to come - no rest for the wicked but I do love my life!!

 

 



 

National Vintage Awards

I have entered the National Vintage Awards - it would be fabulous to be able to go to the ceremony and pay a tribute to my mum - she would have loved it with all the glamour and posh frocks so I would love you all very much if you could follow the link below and get my dresses on the shortlist - I am up against some amazing brands so I doubt that I would win but I would love to be able to go to the awards.

All you need to do is follow the link - scroll down to Best Reproduction then click on me - fabulous miss k - enter your email (you won't get spam if you don't click the box) and then press vote.

http://thenationalvintageawards.co.uk/vote2014/


I may even be able to sell more dresses and then make the other fabulous style that I want to design so please make my day and give me a little vote.


Thank you so much your support is much appreciated.

New Look - the midi length skirt

One of the latest trends for summer is the midi length skirt - not a new statement Dior brought us the New Look in 1947

 

And then Dior re-launched the look with their Spring Summer collection 2013 with a modern take on the original.

 

 

 

 

 This length has been on the fashion radar for a few years  but now it seems to be "the look" of the season with fashionista's spotted wearing the midi length skirt at the shows and parties.

 

Even the fabulous Carrie Bradshaw sported the look in a few episodes.

 

It can be a very flattering length and I love the feminine line of it, works great if you have a fuller hip as it flows over your widest area and then add a killer heel for a fabulous modern vintage inspired look!!

 

I think that I maybe tempted this season - there are quite few fabulous ones on the high street here are 3 of my favourites.

 

 

Blossom Print Hobbs £129, Striped LK Bennett £125 and Jacquard print Top shop £43

 

 

 So watch out for outfit posts this summer with me sporting the "midi" length.

 

Do you like this trend and how would you wear it??

 

 





Spring blooms - garden ideas!!

Our garden has been looking a bit sad recently - we lost a lot of plants a couple of winters ago and we didn't do much with it. Then with the strong winds this winter our fences blew away so we got rather cosy with our next door neighbours but now they are back up again so this Sunday we headed out to the garden centre to buy a few plants to brighten it up a bit.

Lots of digging, pruning and re-discovering the water feature under an over grown olive tree we - well I say we most of the hard graft was done by my lovely hubby while I sat around giving instructions!!

It is still work in progress so I won't post any pictures yet but here are some of the ideas I have been collecting.....................

 

My initial plans were for a Mediterranean style garden as I love the lush green foliage but as with the house the collector in me takes over and I end up with an eclectic mix of vintage pieces that I find on my travels. I also like the idea of picking flowers to put into the house so now I am investigating lots of colourful blooms that I can brighten up the rooms with.

 

 

I love the idea of making the garden into an outdoor room - I am not much of a gardener but potter and like to have a glass of bubbly in the sunshine

Photos to follow when it is how I want it - need to find some fabric for the LLoyd Loom chairs, a couple more chairs and a new table - so watch this space.

How does your garden grow? Do you have an outdoor space or window box - I would love see how you plan yours??