Bermondsey Street Festival

Last Saturday it was Bermondsey Street Festival and the area surrounding the street was all dressed up for the occasion. I have been trying to find a flat in Bermondsey Street since the first moment I discovered it and after seven years of living in London, I still love the atmosphere in this little area of the city. The street feels like a village, it's full of little cafes and interesting restaurants and pubs, deli shops, local boutiques, a sweet park with tennis courts and the cool, bright orange building of the fashion and textile museum. Not to mention the new addition to the block, Bermondsey Square with its independent cinema and Saturday morning local farmers' market. So far, I haven't been able to live right there but I have always been very close and just a few minutes away. 

So when we heard that the fifth Bermondsey Street Festival would be happening last Saturday, we knew we had to go. The weather was glorious, sunny and warm all day. The street was full of stalls and performance stages, and the park had become an open air food market. Overall, it was just lovely. We strolled, had a delicious roast and enjoyed a fashion catwalk in the tennis court. 

Too bad we had to leave in the early hours of the afternoon as I wasn't feeling very well. And I have been home sick since then...

Brissi

It seems that all I do lately is looking for furniture...And I have just discovered a new shop that I absolutely adore: Brissi.

These lamps will have to make it to my new flat at some point...

Karen Walker

Yesterday I made an *incredible* discovery: Karen Walker, one of my new favourite fashion designers, is a New Zealander!

New Zealand, here I come!

I Want One

Amazing handmade ruffle rose cushions from That Funky Boutique.

Fashion Night Out

In London there is always something to do and as long as you have got good company to enjoy the city with, you are going to have a pretty fun life! My friend Natalie from nhReprise asked me if I wanted to join her tonight to a walk down to fashionable Bond Street for London Fashion Night Out and I am so glad she did! We had so much fun! We met right after work at De Beers and started our ascending walk from there. Bond street was more glamorous than ever. All the shops were open and shining and crowded with beautiful people. So many gorgeous models were wandering around and there was such a great atmosphere. Each shop organised something special and we really enjoyed all the freebies. My favourite shops of the street were Louis Vuitton, Mulberry and Tiffany.

At the entrance of the Louis Vuitton megastore were three models dressed like French maids and holding balloon dogs on a leash, it was such a great way to welcome people in!

 

Natalie and I were offered a sweet lemonade and wandered around the shop. I saw so many beautiful things to add to my wish list! The shop was super glittery, I loved it.

 

Inside the Mulberry shop there were make-up artists and beauticians painting nails and faces. I would have loved to have a mini and glittery Mulberry tree painted on my cheek but the queue was way too long. Despite the crowd, I still enjoyed walking around the shop, looking at all those beautiful handbags and luckily I was able to grab a goody bag before leaving, and so did Natalie. The Mulberry tote bag is in itself beautiful but we got even more excited about its content. Inside the bag were a cool fox mask, which we wore right away, Mulberry animals stickers, a Clarins lotion and bright pink nail wrappers.

Our last stop was Tiffany. We were attracted in by disco balls hanging from the ceilings and catchy music, not to mention the flower arrangements that reminded me so much of our wedding's. 

In almost every shop there was a photobooth and they all got pretty creative: we saw a London cab at Dior, NYC yellow cabs at DKNY, red carpet style at Jimmy Choo, and a fairy tale inspired photobooth at Mulberry. At Tiffany a long queue of people were waiting to get into a silver, glittery photobooth to have Andy Warhol style pictures taken. Natalie and I decided to join the queue and I am so happy we did. The pictures turned out very cool and while waiting we were served delicious mini hamburgers and lovely cones of popcorn with Tiffany-blue sugar melted on top!

 

Such a great evening! Thank you Natalie, and thank you Vogue and thank you London! I'll be back next year!

My Type of Bride

2011 has definitely been "THE" wedding year, with all the royal weddings around the world,  celebrities' weddings, see Kate Moss and Lily Allen, and less famous ceremonies (but nontheless beautiful!), like Vale and Rob's (ha ha), and now the ever so cool Sofia Coppola has joined the club. 

There have been all sorts of weddings this year. Some were definitely better than others (e.g. Kate Moss's vs Kim Kardashian's!) and some were just super cool (e.g. Vale and Rob's ). The lastest addition on the 2011 brides' list is Sofia Coppola who got married in Italy last Saturday. I have always been a big fan of Sofia's style and I love her choice for a not-very-bridal-dress. For the big day, instead of going all princess-crazy, Sofia wore a beautiful, custom-made, lavender, short Azzedine Alaia dress. I love the high round neckline (my wedding gown had a high round neckline!) and the pleated full skirt. Definitely my type of bride!

I realise that her choice was quite unconventional and am curious to hear your comments. Did you like it? What type of bride are you? Traditional? Unconventional? Glamorous? Romantic? Sexy? I'd like to know.