Thursday, 9 October 2008
Rupert Sanderson
I was hoping to write this post tonight and mention the talk I went to on Tuesday night, An audience with Rupert Sanderson. I was going to take some photographs of the shoes and post some that I took at the event. Sadly I heard late this afternoon that my cousin's boyfriend had died, unexpectedly, and it rather shocked me. Despite never meeting him I feel terribly sad, especially as there is no real explanation for this sudden, tragic, turn of events. I also feel extremely guilty that I am upset, for him, for my cousin, for her family. So I am not really feeling like writing about shoes tonight. I hope you understand, and I will write it just as soon as I can.
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
Emily London: Couture Milliner
...
When I first started looking for my wedding dress I thought I would wear a vintage gown so I went straight to my favourite vintage shop (and old neighbour in my beloved Primrose Hill): Shikasuki. As you know by now, I didn't end up buying a vintage gown but I did fall in love with the millinery on exhibition there... hats by Emily-London. Emily offered to make me a hat/headpiece for my wedding which I could commission to include peacock feathers and I am seriously considering taking her up on the option. That or commissioning a hat to go with my going-away dress which I could wear to the many weddings we are attending later in the summer.
...
Oyster apostrophe with feathers and diamantés...
I wanted to share with you some of her designs - I have chosen some of my favourites - but she also does custom made commissions (see the butterflies below) and hires vintage pieces for weddings as well. Enjoy.
...
Chocolate lace beret with metallic flower and quills...
In fact, Emily says: "Having a bespoke hat or headpiece privately commissioned, particularly for your wedding day, is a wonderfully enjoyable process from the initial concept to the final stitch. It is a delightful and original way to have a unique and special piece designed and made exclusively for you. As a milliner, private commissions are my most enjoyable pieces to make. They enable me creatively to interpret the client's concept and then engage with her throughout the making process so that the end result goes beyond even her first hopes and expectations. The feeling of a customer taking her hat or headpiece away, knowing that she absolutely adores it and that it will be privately treasured forever, brings with it for me a wonderful sense of pride and creative energy".
...
Chocolate brown felt twist with pheasant feather(A/W 08 preview)
...
So, if you are interested in having a hat or headpiece made for your wedding, or to wear to someone else's wedding, or to Ascot, or just because you fancy a gorgeous hat, get in touch with Emily by e-mailing her at the address on her website.
...
Vintage white fur hat. Available to hire....
Hackle and stripped coque feathers with velvet flower...
butterflies custom made commission(photo by Ian Kelsall)
...
Claret twist pillbox with velvet spray...
All images by Emily-London with the exception of the butterflies which is by Ian Kelsall
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
Save the Date
image by me
...
So, with 8 months left until the wedding we have sent our save the date e-mails (see above, without the blue crosses, obviously) and have attended our formal, family, engagement party. It went really well and all sides of the family present got on very well, which was somewhat of a relief.
8 months is a long time, but what a lot there is left to do. Aside from booking a venue and photographer we have yet to physically book a marquee, caterers (although we have decided who), crockery, tables and so on, transport, bridesmaid dresses, groom's attire, honeymoon, wedding night accommodation... the list is endless and I must stop now before I descend into panic.
Actually, the thing that is panicking me most at the moment is my hen party. I have two sisters and one sister-in-law-to-be. All three are my bridesmaids. One is in Australia, one is in her final year of university, one is a full time fashion designer. All are very busy. Having researched some places I know we need to book asap as many places are already booked for April and May next year. We had an idea. That idea will not work - wrong time for one, too expensive for some, my teaching friends can only come for 2 nights - so it is back to the drawing board. I am starting to wonder if I even want a hen party.
The stag party, of course, is hugely popular, everyone said yes to the proposed date and it is well under way to being organised. This makes me more stressed than ever.
...
Monday, 6 October 2008
I've Been Pseudo Tagged...
...by Peonies, who extended the tagging to anyone that cared to join in.
Today I have:-
1. Gone to work and done lots of it;
2. Worn new shoes;
3. Gone to a powerplating class; and
4. Bought and watched Sex and the City the film.
To do:-
1. Sort out meeting with vendor of Whatevertheyares - she is now not answering the telephone either;
2. Backlog of laundry, some of which is left over from the sailing holiday. Was forced to put the heating on yesterday evening to get things dry - some clothes were still damp despite being washed at the start of last week. It's not good for the clothes, the house or my sanity...;
3. Thank you letters to friends and family for the engagement presents we received at the weekend;
4. Write a new to-do list, one that doesn't make me feel like I am about to explode.
Guilty Pleasures:-
1. Reading Vogue or Tatler stood up in the kitchen with a cup of tea;
2. Designer shoes from e-bay (top quality shoes at Topshop prices);
3. Sex and the City;
4. Facebooking stalking other peoples weddings (usually at lunchtime).
Random Facts:-
1. I am finding it hard not to wear my wedding shoes - I have had to hide them;
2. I would rather go barefoot than wear odd socks;
3. If I am early it is a surprise to everyone including myself;
4. My favourite drink is a cup of tea. Unless champagne is on offer.
I tag:-
1. CeeCee
2. Posies and Pearls
3. Red Frame
4. Baby, picture this
Today I have:-
1. Gone to work and done lots of it;
2. Worn new shoes;
3. Gone to a powerplating class; and
4. Bought and watched Sex and the City the film.
To do:-
1. Sort out meeting with vendor of Whatevertheyares - she is now not answering the telephone either;
2. Backlog of laundry, some of which is left over from the sailing holiday. Was forced to put the heating on yesterday evening to get things dry - some clothes were still damp despite being washed at the start of last week. It's not good for the clothes, the house or my sanity...;
3. Thank you letters to friends and family for the engagement presents we received at the weekend;
4. Write a new to-do list, one that doesn't make me feel like I am about to explode.
Guilty Pleasures:-
1. Reading Vogue or Tatler stood up in the kitchen with a cup of tea;
2. Designer shoes from e-bay (top quality shoes at Topshop prices);
3. Sex and the City;
4. Facebooking stalking other peoples weddings (usually at lunchtime).
Random Facts:-
1. I am finding it hard not to wear my wedding shoes - I have had to hide them;
2. I would rather go barefoot than wear odd socks;
3. If I am early it is a surprise to everyone including myself;
4. My favourite drink is a cup of tea. Unless champagne is on offer.
I tag:-
1. CeeCee
2. Posies and Pearls
3. Red Frame
4. Baby, picture this
Friday, 3 October 2008
Posies & Pearls
Image by Hannah of posiesandpearls.blogspot.com/iced-online.com/...
News flash...! Hannah or The Cwtch has a new blog! Already a favourite vendor of mine, Hannah makes the most beautiful vintage inspired cakes and Posies and Pearls is her scrapbook behind her business - Iced Online. A few weeks ago I posted an inspiration board full of her cakes and I am so delighted that she has decided to share her inspiration with the world too - and what a fab name. It conjures up for me images of 1940s weddings - and guess what? That is what she is writing about at the moment...
...
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Autumn to Spring
1 October: Autumn is here. To be honest it's felt autumnal for a while; that orangey, rather American light, which illuminates the branches of the trees in grains of amber sunlight; that slightly crisp chill to the morning air; the sense of new starts and back to school. I sat on a wall last week for a snatched lunch break in the afternoon sun and brown leaves drifted down from the tree above, landing all around me.
October is I think the most colourful month: the warmth of summer still just about remembered in the oranges and yellows and reds of the leaves, the cosiness of November coming more sharply into focus. Halloween, Bonfire Night, house parties and family birthdays.
And after autumn will come winter. The dying months of autumn will leave the dead of winter. But my spirit will not be dead and buried. No, for there is Christmas, Sunday roasts and chilled walks, mulled wine and spiced apple juice to drink in pubs, there will be carols to sing and board games to play. And after Christmas comes my birthday, celebrated with friends in London and then with family in the French Alps a couple of weeks later.
In February comes our anniversary, this time seven years. No seven year itch for us, instead marriage, a mere four months after. February should also bring the return of my long-lost beautiful sister A1, tanned and healthy from an Australian year, sewing machine at the ready to help her somewhat stressed older yet smaller sister with all the sewing that she still hasn't done.
And then to March, that long and beastly month, with cold rains and lazy winds before yielding to April, Easter, of daffodils, of trips northwards to Yorkshire and Shropshire. Of planning, of making, of cleaning and organising. My spring cleaning next year will be a watershed: I shall neatly shake out and fold up my single self and pack it away into boxes, carefully wrapped in tissue paper, to be opened and looked at by future children and grandchildren and in times of remembrance, by myself on a future lonely night. I shall store it on the top shelf of the wardrobe that we do not yet own and instead try on for size the life labelled wife.
October is I think the most colourful month: the warmth of summer still just about remembered in the oranges and yellows and reds of the leaves, the cosiness of November coming more sharply into focus. Halloween, Bonfire Night, house parties and family birthdays.
And after autumn will come winter. The dying months of autumn will leave the dead of winter. But my spirit will not be dead and buried. No, for there is Christmas, Sunday roasts and chilled walks, mulled wine and spiced apple juice to drink in pubs, there will be carols to sing and board games to play. And after Christmas comes my birthday, celebrated with friends in London and then with family in the French Alps a couple of weeks later.
In February comes our anniversary, this time seven years. No seven year itch for us, instead marriage, a mere four months after. February should also bring the return of my long-lost beautiful sister A1, tanned and healthy from an Australian year, sewing machine at the ready to help her somewhat stressed older yet smaller sister with all the sewing that she still hasn't done.
And then to March, that long and beastly month, with cold rains and lazy winds before yielding to April, Easter, of daffodils, of trips northwards to Yorkshire and Shropshire. Of planning, of making, of cleaning and organising. My spring cleaning next year will be a watershed: I shall neatly shake out and fold up my single self and pack it away into boxes, carefully wrapped in tissue paper, to be opened and looked at by future children and grandchildren and in times of remembrance, by myself on a future lonely night. I shall store it on the top shelf of the wardrobe that we do not yet own and instead try on for size the life labelled wife.
...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)