Making Life more Beautiful
Burberry is famous for the Trench coat. Yes, the coat the senior officers wore in the trenches in the First World War. This autumn Christopher Bailey has excelled himself with a marvellous set of hand painted trench coats and other … Continued
Esme, Kit and I went to see the knitting exhibition at Bermondsey. We were rather disappointed. Compared to our marvellous free museums (like the V&A) paying £8.80 each meant this was an expensive treat. So the fact that the exhibition space … Continued
According to Wallis Simpson “A woman cannot be too rich or too thin.” She talking about herself, of course. She aimed to become Queen (consort) of the United Kingdom, one of the richest women in the world. And she was … Continued
I recently posted about natural grey hair, and my own decision to stop bleaching and colouring my hair. I got a great reaction from my friend Michala who tweeted that like grey hair, “Afro hair just needs to be embraced for … Continued
In Romania recently I naturally took a close interest in fashion, fabric, style and stitching. I was unaware that Matisse had painted many versions of the Romanian blouse. But how inspirational are these images? Matisse’s love of textiles and his … Continued
Is there an English style? What we see, in our towns and cities, is women in leggings and baggy jumpers and men in shapeless jackets and jeans. What we imagine is pinstripes and bowlers, tweed skirts and cosy woolies, Wellington … Continued
I wanted to post about the variety of colouring that occurs naturally in humans. Eyes, hair, skin – textures, hues, shapes. I searched the Internet. I was a bit disappointed. In order to get reliable photographs of natural beauty I … Continued
When I first started sewing my teacher suggested that we all buy a “wardrobe” pattern. These patterns, which during the 1980s when I was learning to sew, were especially aimed at workwear, have a longer history. Here is one from … Continued
A delegation from Notting Hill Housing recently visited Romania, where we went to learn about housing, health and education, integration into Europe, social challenges, and issues for Romanians in the UK. After a couple of days in Bucharest we went … Continued
Now fur is controversial and I am not entirely sure why, when leather is all the rage. Hides, with fur intact, were worn by mankind especially in cold climates and are durable, warm, flexible and beautiful. Indigenous people in arctic … Continued