The Hendersons Will All Be There

Last weekend I had the pleasure of singing an old favourite Beatles tune for about 30 minutes after visiting the newest addition to Rochester High Street. Reader, I give you:

Situated in the wonkiest shop in Rochester, possibly the world, The Hendersons is a treasure trove for vintage lovers and discerning shoppers alike. I know the shop well, by which I mean I know the physical shop, as I used to live in the tiny flat below!

I had heard rumblings of the shop opening as The Hendersons have held a stall for months at the Rochester Flea. Mr H and I are known for a deep and enduring love of a good rifle about for treasures, but we’re so overwhelmed with charity shops in Rochester that a bit of careful curation makes a real difference to my mental state, and therefore my likelihood to have a proper look around.

 

See? Happy as Larry.

 

There was a rather fabulous orange sectional sofa in the store that looked decidedly 70’s, but I didn’t manage to get a picture, because there was someone purchasing it!

The reasons that I am chuffed to bits about The Hendersons opening in Rochester are thus:

• Small entrepreneurship (especially where women are employed in key roles) is ace
• The Hendersons is run by a young couple – see, the youth of today aren’t too bad after all!
• That shop gets so much attention because of it’s unusual shape, that there should be something in there to benefit from it all!
• Their stock and styling is so deliciously on point that it makes me feel excited for Rochester. The more design-y and bespoke that Rochester gets, the better, in my book.
• Stores like this breed other stores like this, which makes people like me want to stay in Kent. We don’t need to go to London to get fabulous homewares, or to find that perfect gift for that friend that likes things just so.
• I bought a candle from there that smells good and though it cost a lot more than I would usually spend on a candle I didn’t feel remotely guilty because I am supporting a small business. Altruism for the win! (not sure it actually counts as altruism but I don’t care)

Mr H and I had a good all poke about, we got lovely attentive (but not too attentive) service and afterwards we got a delicious piece of cake from Bruno’s French Bakes to celebrate.

All in all, not a bad Saturday indeed.

Wedding Planning: The Shoes

I am aware that this post is terribly superficial, but for once (well….more than once but WHO’S COUNTING) I remain unapologetic.

You see, since my return to the UK, wedding planning has ramped up a notch or two, because we suddenly realised we had 150 people to feed and drink in just under six months time (check out my new countdown to the right), so we thought we better actually make sure that there’s something for them to do when they arrive.

Obviously the first point of action to address was my wedding shoes. I give you:

Okay, first things first, they never tell you at Blogging School* that it’s really hard to take pictures of your own feet that don’t look tremendously weird. Secondly, please disregard all the visible cat hair. Third of all, how great are these shoes? I adore them.

I’m not what you would usually call a ‘glittery’ kind of a gal, although I have my moments. I had my heart originally set on these pair of Rachel Simpson Blush Suede shoes, but when walking through Debenham’s last week, my eyes spotted these new beauties. At £26 they were over £150 cheaper than the Rachel Simpson ones. I’m not a millionaire but I’m also not opposed to spending money for good quality. I really had to convince myself to buy this cheaper pair! It’s totally absurd.

You may agree that I’ve fallen down the wedding industry hole, you know, the one that tells you that your wedding is the best day of your life and that you can totally justify spending three times as much on something because it’s for your ‘wedding’. The thing is, I want to be as generous as I can at my wedding, both in spirit and materially, for myself and my guests. I very much doubt Mr H and I will ever throw as big a party ever again. I want it to be amazing. But I also don’t want to bankrupt myself, and more to the point I don’t want to lose sight of my own personal values – the ones I use to independently judge the worth of something, rather than just swallowing the copy of wedding blogs that tell me that more somehow always means more.

In summary: I bought some new shoes to wear at my wedding. They were cheap and I LOVE THEM.

* Who am I kidding, I certainly did not go to Blogging School. Perhaps I should?

Colette Patterns: Wardrobe Architect

I’m currently planning for 2015 to be the year that I get back into sewing in a major way. Colette Patterns have recently restarted their Wardrobe Architect Series, where they present worksheets and discussions on finding your personal style and curating the wardrobe you feel most like yourself in. I have a feeling this is exactly what I’ve been looking for.

My relationship with my clothes can be generously described as love/hate. I love looking stylish, because it makes me feel great, but I hate that a bad outfit day can also send me off into a terrible mood. Most of my current clothes are from a couple of years ago when I was a little bit lighter, so don’t currently fit as well as I’d like, some are old faithfuls and some are ridiculous impulse purchases which look bloody horrible on. I’d like to have a wardrobe full of things I can just throw on, and not only look good but feel like myself in. There’s nothing worse than being out in the shops and catching a reflection that inspires a “what the hell was I thinking?” moment.

I’ve pulled together some photos of the outfits over the last few years that I felt amazing in. I’m going to use these to guide me through the Wardrobe Architect series, and hopefully by the end, I’ll have a better idea of what I want to create with some new clothes, but also what I’ve liked on my body before!

1. The Orpington Charity Shop Dress

 

I adored this dress but I made a bit of a botch job on it. I bought it shortly after discovering the WONDER that is Orpington/Petts Wood Charity shops, shortly after moving to the UK. I realised that shopping in the more salubrious areas, shall we say, meant that there were often amazing bargains to be had. This dress had an exposed back with criss-crossing straps, and was about 20cm longer and two sizes bigger when I bought it. I painstakingly took it up by hand before I had my sewing machine and wore the dress to death.

2. The Bletchley Park Floral Extravaganza

Let’s be honest, this outfit rocks because of my hair. It was a bit windswept by this point but I wore this to the 40’s themed day at the former Codebreaking home of the UK. If you have seen The Imitation Game with Bucket Crunderdunder in it, this is where it’s set. This was about four years ago now, and I ended up wearing that dress to death. I always felt pretty and ladylike in it, and the shape was a little va-va-voom too, the sassiness of which can never be underestimated. That cashmere cardigan was another cheap and cheerful charity shop buy, which I ended up wearing until two not-very-chic holes appeared at my elbows. Definitely a possible make.

3. The Starry Tunic

I also wore this dress until if fell apart (a theme perhaps?). I love navy blue and I really like this shape on me. Now that I’m more comfortable wearing leggings I think a few more tunics could be the order of the day. Simple, lazy chic. That’s what we like, right? Also: hair looks fabulously shiny. I always feel better about my style when my hair is clean and shiny.

4. The Weekend Getaway Jacket

I love this photo of me, and it’s very evocative of a period in my life just before virtually everything changed. Plus I bloody loved that jacket, which, you guessed it, I wore until it got holes in it and fell apart. This outfit was pretty much a Sam uniform for me – long sleeved T-shirt, jeans and a 3/4 sleeve lightweight jacket. I like the look a lot, but could probably be a bit more pulled together by some awesome necklaces. PS, this was in West Sussex and we stayed at the Shepherd’s Return. 10/10 would recommend.

5. The New York Hair

So I fell in love with Christina Hendricks in a big way back in the hey day of Mad Med, and bit the bullet and went redhead for about six months. I loved it, but financially the upkeep was a bit of a struggle, so in the end I reverted to brunette. But I also went through a phase of wearing my hair curly more often, and I adore the way this style looks in this photo. I’m also digging the bright lipstick and the holy-hell-I’m-excited grin on my face.

6. The Crochet Wonder Sleeves

This was my 24th birthday party and I’d found this dress in Oxfam a few months before. It’s awesome, right? I put this in here basically as a reminder that my body was pretty banging at one point in the not-so-distant past, but also that some key vintage pieces in a well rounded wardrobe is never a bad thing. I still have that dress!

7. The Gold Brocade Planking Dress

Don’t judge me. I’m not passed out, I am simply lying down on the hotel floor shaking with the giggles trying to make my colleagues laugh. We went away for some of our friends’ birthdays and we were getting ready and feeling tipsy. This photo makes me laugh, because I feel proud of the extent that I am willing to embarrass myself to get a laugh out of people. I’m not one to curate a careful selection of photos of myself to impress people. Well, not too much anyway. PLUS THAT DRESS. It’s the best. A great shape, a high but not too high rounded neckline, and proper sleeves, out of a to die for fabric. This is definitely something I could make!

~

It’s been fun to look at some of the shapes I’ve liked in the past, as well as fabrics that make me feel the feelings. I’m going to come back to this post throughout the year and add to my Wardrobe Architect Series and share with you my results! Stay tuned folks.

Your Daily Cool: Das T-Shirt Automat

I mean, for fuxake. This is not only the funniest fashion I have seen in a long time, it’s also a totally excellent concept. Them Australians know how to do shit.

Das T-shirt Automat is essentially a drive (walk) through t shirt printer, in Johnston Street, Fitzroy (Melbourne). It’s a retail space created out of a house, and dammit if it doesn’t look awesome.

This is entrepreneurship at its best. Check them out and plz buy me a tshirt while you’re there.

Merrily We Stroll Along

It’s Autumn therefore coat, hat and brooch weather! (Taken with Instagram)

24 And There’s So Much More

Saturday was my 24th birthday! Yay! It was actually one of the most delicious days I’ve had in a while. The BF and our friend Steve had been out painting the town red the night before, so once they’d both imbibed a sustaining bacon and egg bagel and some fresh coffee we walked down Rochester High Street.

Well, they walked, I pranced. I pranced down the street in my new brogues. I’m far more attached to them than I should be. It’s not very Buddhist of me. Ho hum. They’re real leather and HARRIS TWEED. I saw them featured on Domestic Sluttery, and I not-very-casually forwarded the page to the BF with the heading “WANT”. He got the hint.

In the eve, we headed to Cafe Moroc for a wonderful birthday dinner. Bear with me whilst I gush: if you are looking for somewhere in Rochester for dinner that is intimate, has great food and incredible service – go to Cafe Moroc. I’ve rarely been so delighted with a restaurant. They don’t know the thanks that is about to hit them in the face. Watch out boys…you’re about to get thanked.

Please excuse the grainy photos! The food was utterly sublime, and several bottles of complimentary fizz were provided as a surprise. It was just lovely. Great food, great wine and wonderful company. It was a life-affirming dinner, and what more could you want for your birthday?

The BF’s sister (BFS) and I having a wee cuddle

There were more bottles of wine than people by this stage, but I was very well behaved. After the food, we had another we drink in the pub across the road, and then on to Oliver’s for a little boogie. This was a bit of a mistake as the anonymous bum gropers were out in full force and my friend D and I found ourselves being manhandled on the dance floor. Ne’ermind. D is a wee lass but she can death stare up there with the best of them. She wasn’t even looking at me and I was frightened.

I pranced home (still wearing the brogues – I haven’t taken them off in three days) as 2:00am rang in, even managing to take my make-up off, brush my teeth, take two nurofen (in advance) and drink a litre of water before snuggling into bed. I must be growing up!

Vintage Finds

You may be able to tell by my extravagant moves and general flailing about that I was terribly excited to find this new tweed suit from the vintage Demelza Boutique in Rochester (Demelza, incidentally,  is a charity that supports children in hospices – a noble cause indeed. They also run a smashing vintage boutique not ten minutes walk from my house).

Bonafide tweed, with navy and white wool, and a single breasted, three buttoned jacket and faux leather belt. It is everything anyone could have hoped and dreamed for. It was the find of the year for me, and I saw fit to wear it today with the beret above, some black pumps and my Rochester Vintage Society membership badge.

England is finally having its Summer about six years after we’d all agreed that it would, so today was what they technically call fucking hot, and so tweed was rather a poor choice. But hey ho, beauty is pain.

I adore the outfit, and need to find ways to wear it in everyday life. It makes me feel like a combination of Evita and someone from the French Resistance. Also, like I can’t be trusted around a pistol. But perhaps I never could be trusted to begin with!

Oh Stylish One

I wont pretend that on occasion it’s not wildly and deeply irritating to have a boyfriend who generally looks rad. I’d venture to say it is about 80% of the time.

The terribly frustrating part about it is that it’s not even something that just ‘happens’. He works at it. Not only is he quite excellent looking and sufficiently beardy for my tastes, but he also puts consistent effort into looking good. I could bear it more easily if it were just a case of no effort and he just rolls out of bed looking ‘on trend’ as they say in the States. He actually irons his shirts on a Sunday night, to be ready for Monday. He polishes his shoes and takes care of his ridiculously eccentric Holland Esquire suits. What’s wrong with him?

Or more to the point, what’s wrong with me? You see, this post isn’t actually about the BF at all, it’s about me (no surprises there). Why is it that the person I live with is able to take care of his belongings and look good, whilst Muggins over here has accidentally coined a new game at work. The game where my colleagues guess where the hole in my clothes will be today.

There is ALWAYS a hole, you see. Sometimes I’m not even aware of it until I go to work, and then it seems glaringly obvious. But more often than not, I actually know the hole is there, but for some reason I believe I can artistically/strategically place my clothing in a way that renders said hole invisible to the naked eye. It’s this exact approach that has resulted in more than one slightly awkward stare from a colleague.

This dress was £5 (awesome) from an Op Shop in Orpington. The hem is held up with sticky tape.

I like the idea of looking your best for others. I generally like it because it makes me feel better and more desirable too. So in actual fact it’s probably more about me than it is about others (again with the surprises, Sam!). Still. I do find it  ridiculously hard to take care of my belongings and to consistently put the effort in. I can’t even be relied upon to go shopping for new clothes (the horror!).

The longer I thought about this today, the stranger the concept seemed to me, especially as I do believe that you are what you wear (to a certain extent). I dress pretty artistically, because that’s how I see myself and that’s how I want other’s to see me. But I wonder how much control what I wear actually has over other’s perceptions of me. I mean, the recurring elbow hole in my orange cashmere cardigan – does that say ‘she wears good quality colourful clothes and looks rad’ or does that say ‘she wears good quality eccentric clothes but looks dead tired and HELLO THERE ELBOW MY LITTLE FRIEND’? Who’s to say?

I guess in the end, the way I present myself is (whether I like it or not) at least honest. I think I look like someone who generally has it together, but the odd metaphoric hole in my getup gives the game away. It could be worse.

Remember the Days of the Old School Yard…

Despite the fact that I haven’t gotten out of my pyjamas today, there was a time, not too long ago, when I was considered to be quite the snappy dresser.

I was cyber stalking the lovely Ms Emma Bergmeier of Dropstitch, when I suddenly remembered these snaps taken by her in February, 2008 at the opening of Beck’s Music Box for the Perth International Arts Festival.

That’s quite the grimace you’ve got going on there, Sam.

Good hair though. I cut it myself, after a brief but intense period of wanting to look like Agyness Deyn. Came out looking more like a busty Missy Higgins, but I quite liked it.

I still have the dress. I bought it for $85 from Harry High Pants and love it so much that I lugged it all the way to the UK. I can’t remember the last time I wore it – actually I think it was my Mum’s 50th (a story for another time, let me tell you), but I do ache to whip out that bustle again.

These photos remind me of the Best Summer of My Life. I was working as an actor in the festival, had just lain eyes on the BF and began to sort-of-fancy-him-from-afar. He had mutton chops at the time and his costume was a top hat and tails. He looked like Abraham Lincoln. My best friend Ebony and I went out every night and partied with crazy Scottish boys and we laughed so much. I remember drinking ridiculous amounts of beer and dancing in circles. It was bliss.

Rachel Rachel Rachel

I love me some Rachel Weisz. I think she is pretty much class on legs, and I love this look. Simple but fashionable and at the same time elegant, so you look at her and just know she’s got her thing going on. I’m in the middle of coat-hunting, and I have to say, a faux-fur lined trench coat would be dee-vine.

Top marks, Ms Weisz.