One of the best spring collections on our high street, comes from Hobbs specifically from NW3 and you don’t have to live in Hampstead, the NW3 postcode, to wear it. In fact, I think this collection is more Chalk Farm, as it’s a little bit quirky. Ever since NW3 launched, they have consistently produced well designed, fun and interesting clothes and accessories. These are some of the great pieces out this season.

My favourite jacket this summer is the NW3 Keats jacket  a quilted jacket in soft chambray. Think Barbara Good of the seventies comedy, The Good Life, I can just imagine her, wearing it with a flared mid length cord skirt or some stonewash denim dungarees and with her trademark headscarf and wellies of course! But you could wear it with skinny or high-rise flared jeans in indigo, or neutral chinos. The NW3 Sophia Dress, could be straight from the 1960’s, it has 3 tiers with a cut out flower pattern along the edges. This dress is perfect for petite pear shapes. It is mid-thigh, so wear with similar colour tights and some chunky block heeled sandals. The NW3 Edith Crepe Dress is really flattering, great if you want to create curves or if you are curvy already. The detailing and fabric make this dress, with the soft pleats that fall from the waist, the pleated bodice and the zig zag sheared waist. This dress would be perfect for a summer wedding.

A word to the wise, NW3 dresses are quite girlie, if you would prefer a more grown-up silhouette check out Hobbs, there are lots of great shift dresses currently on sale.

For the perfect pressie for a friend or sister, it’s worth looking at NW3 for their jewellery collection. The NW3 Horseshoe Earrings, would be a great gift and they are very reasonably priced at £16.00, if you really like the person you are buying a gift for, then there is a matching NW3 Horseshoe Necklace at £25.00 and Bracelet at £19.00. If you don’t like your jewellery Horsey, then there are the NW3 Bird Earrings with matching Necklace and Bracelet. If you suffer from Ornithophobia (that’s the fear of birds) which I do, (I was ten, it cornered me next to the welsh dresser, it was traumatic!) Anyway…there is an alternative, how could anyone take offence to a wishbone? The NW3 Wishbone Necklace comes with matching Bracelet.

So, NW3 do gorgeous jewellery, but they also do great shoes. For a classic pair of flat leather sandals, check out the NW3 Maude Sandal, at £79.00, they are pricey, but they are a wardrobe staple, so you will be able to wear them year upon year. The Maude comes in turquoise, clay, and black. If you like to channel your Arlene Philips at the weekends, or you just love a shiny party shoe, then the NW3 Millie Sandal is the sandal of your dreams. They have a vintage ballroom look, even the leather, looks as if it has seen some dance floor action. For a more wearable colour, opt for mint green. Fancy towering over your boyfriend or husband?, the NW3 Tiggy Wedges are a whole 10 cm of cork wedge. These sandals will go with anything and everything, they come in interwoven brown leather and are crazily high, but utterly fantastic with it.

When I was searching for my own wedding dress, ‘The One’, that almost made the cut, was made from an Ossie Clark original vintage pattern, from a shop called Hope & Harlequin in Brighton. If you ever happen to be in Brighton, check out H&H, it’s an amazing shop selling vintage clothes and a selection of wedding dresses. The reason I fell in love with this dress, was it was really flattering for my pear shape figure. Cut under the bust and flaring out, the dress missed out all my problem areas and made me feel a dress size smaller, which is what well cut clothes can do for you. I opted for ‘The Other One’ in the end, because the Ossie Clark dress was seriously low cut and I would have been the blushing bride in more than one sense of the word!

Ossie Clark was born in 1942, he was married to Celia Birtwell, a textile designer, who designed vibrant and expressive prints for Ossie Clark’s designs. If you visit  The Tate, you can see Ossie and Celia in David Hockney’s 1970’s painting, Mr & Mrs Clark and Percy. Ossie Clark’s heyday as a designer was in the sixties and seventies, he designed stage costumes for Liza Minnelli and The Beatles, but generally he was known for his beautiful clothes for real women and that is why his vintage pieces, still stand the test of time so well. Lots of vintage clothes are cut so small, us girls have no hope of getting an arm through, never mind a bottom, but Ossie Clark pieces are different.

Ossie Clark came to a grisly end at only 54 years of age, but his collections live on. His vintage pieces fetch thousands on auction sites and his clothes are hugely sought after. Celia Birtwell is still working today, producing beautiful prints, there are also some vintage Ossie Clark pieces on her website, (but be warned… the prices will make your eyes water)

The good news is… you can buy a bit of Ossie Clark or Celia Birtwell on the high street.

Debenhams have created a collection based on Ossie Clark’s original designs, sadly, I don’t think Celia Birtwell was consulted, but there are a couple of lovely pieces, that are just like Ossie Clark originals. The Black vintage iconic maxi dress which is such a classic black dress, you won’t ever become bored of wearing it and the Ivory woven Shaftsbury blouse which is just a gorgeous blouse. And if it’s a Celia Birtwell print you would like to own, she has just created a collection for Uniqlo which is on sale now, the collection includes, dresses, blouses, trousers, T-shirts, Totes and scarves.

I really would have loved to have seen Celia’s prints on Ossie Clark’s designs on our high street…maybe next year.

One of the biggest trends currently on the high street and staying with us until summer, is black and white, this is a brilliantly wearable trend and very stylish. All black may sometimes be quite hard to carry off , but punctuated with a bit of white here and there, everyone can find a positive from this negative colour combination. If you are brave enough to wear some Humbug stripey jeans, Topshop and M&S Limited Collection both have their own versions. Or if it’s a stripey jumper you fancy, Phase Eight, Hobbs and M&S Limited Collection, have three very different styles this season. But if you are not ready to go all the way with black and white, there are some great monochrome accessories out there too.

Here’s more of what the high street has to offer…

Longsleeve Spot Shirt £38.00, Topshop, NW3 Shooting Stars Dress £75.00, Hobbs London. Bluebell Dress £159, Hobbs London , Mini Spot Scarf £39.00, Jigsaw, Mans Tie, Management Striped Tie £27.00, French Connection. Boxy Block Bag £65.00, French Connection. Ponte academy blazer £37.99, Gap. Super Skinny Anchor Print Pants £34.95, Gap. Limited Collection Striped Blouse £12.00, Marks and Spencer.

Lavender Blue

The third and final wedding was Liz’s. Liz and Damien got married in Handcross Park, an old school in Sussex. This wedding was like being on the set of a period film. The venue and setting were grand, an old red brick building covered in ivy with huge rooms, some panelled with dark wood and some with amazing carved ceilings and chandeliers. The grounds were stunning, manicured and vast, with a pavilion in the middle and a sunken pond with lily pads.

They arrived in style, in a vintage Daimler in gunmetal grey, classic and understated. The ceremony took place in another of Handcross’s statement rooms and Liz’s sister-in-law played the piano, during the ceremony.

Liz organised and planned her own wedding, with a little help from Inspired Weddings, she arranged her own flowers, she kept the colours classic, with a mixture of violet, white and blue and this colour palette was used throughout the wedding. She designed all of the name cards herself, hand printing them on to old luggage tags, with printed blue birds and butterflies and she also designed the menus in the same style and the food on the menu was locally sourced, which was important to Liz and Damien.

Liz included some lovely details, like the small table of photos of her late mother Alison and her grandmother in vintage picture frames, along with two vases of Lily of the Valley, which were the flower used in her mother’s own wedding bouquet.

Liz’s dress and hair was also reminiscent of a period drama, the dress, more traditional than the other two, but elegant, classic and demure, cut underneath the bust, with a corseted bodice and laced down the back. Her hair was loose curls and pinned to one side. Her shoes were simple silver courts.

Photos by Andy Mays (Inspired Photos Images)

Good Day Sunshine

Debbie and Ged are a bit Rock and Roll (like The Beatles, definitely not The Quo). They had the blessing in Fletcher Moss Botanical Gardens, Didsbury, having been married that morning, joined by their boys.

They chose a little clearing between the trees for their ceremony, the trees were decorated with ribbons, flowers on the ground marked your approach. There was lots of dappled sunlight, close friends and family and some fella played the guitar sitting on a log. An open-air theatre were mid-performance in the background, (not planned, but a genius addition)

After the blessing, they cycled on a tandem, yes that’s a TANDEM, (Ged is a bike fanatic) from the gardens, to a pub that meant a lot to them, they drank a bottle of champagne, with more friends, then cycled across the road for steak and frites and a proper pud at Albert’s Restaurant After lunch, Debbie & Ged got on their bike once more, cycled a few hundred yards down that same road, to the reception at The Albert Club, a private members bowling and tennis club, that used to be an old Gentleman’s Club, dating back from 1874. This place is full of character, hidden by tall trees and with it’s own vintage bowling green.

Back in Albert’s, the best man made a speech that was both funny and emotional and would  have melted the hardest of hearts, (he wasn’t even put off by the raucous heckling in the background) then it was disco dancing, a fantastic array of sarnies, cakes and retro sweets, then more dancing into the night.

Debbie found her amazing dress at a vintage wedding fair in Harrogate. It was possibly late 1920′s or early 30′s and even though it was vintage, it was a perfect fit for Debbie. It was silk chiffon, with sheer bell sleeves and an illusion neckline with a small embroidered silver dot. Even though this dress was very old, it looked like a dress from a later era, a Biba or Ozzie Clark from the 60′s or 70′s and it must have been very well made all those years ago, to withstand all that cycling and dancing

Thanks to Lauren Hyde for the photos

If you know anyone getting married in the next twelve months, share this blog with them to offer some inspiration (and to prove you’re taking an interest!). This summer I was lucky enough to attend three weddings and I felt really privileged watching three lovely girls getting married and witnessing the creativity they put into their day. Us girls are really good at organising weddings and though, all three dresses and days were very different, they each complemented their personalities perfectly. This blog will be in three parts, so read on…

Caravan Of Love

Belinda was the first to get married. Belinda & Ben’s wedding took place at Brick House Farm in Kent. Belinda’s day was a little bit ‘music festival’ with guest camping and gypsy caravans and a little bit ‘village fete’

Everything at this wedding seemed to be handmade or homemade, all lovingly created by a member of their family, but actually a wedding planner couldn’t have done a better job, every detail was creative, but simply done, from the blackboard and chalked table plan to the plain carafes with garden flowers.

They were married in a beautiful rustic barn with twinkley fairy lights, we all sat on hay bales, Ivy (their two year old) even wore her stripy wellies with her bridesmaid dress. Lunch was in an old style canvas marquee, with wooden trestle tables, each name card was tied to a different vintage toy plastic animal. There was a wedding ‘Bake Off’ with a table of delicious homemade cakes and continuing with the fete theme, there was a coconut shy outside. This all took place in front of a beautiful lake with its own lake house and rowing boat, which provided the backdrop for some amazing photos of the bride and groom. Later that evening, there was dancing, then hot dogs around the campfire.

I sourced Belinda’s dress for her and spookily, it was called ‘The Belle’ from Belle & Bunty and stunning it was too. A 1930’s inspired dress, glam, in flowing satin, with godet inserts and a corsage of roses placed under the bust. Belinda did her own hair and make-up with a little help from her sisters.

Photography by Emma Case

Happy Bonfire Night!

We all love a bit of sparkle from time to time and Christmas is only 48 shopping days away, so now could be a great time to buy the perfect sparkly/shiny purse or clutch bag for all those Christmas parties. My lovely Mum has an amazing collection of beaded 1920s & 1930s purses that I borrow when I am in need something special. She has traipsed around many antique fairs to find them (with three bored and shouty kids in tow!). Obviously we all haven’t got the time or want to punish our kids that much, to hunt around second hand markets or antique fairs, so I have done the searching for you.

Claire phoned me from the train last night on her way back from the Queens Diamond Jubilee reception at Buckingham Palace, she met the Queen and Prince Philip, she said the strangest moment was, she and a small group of guests were talking amongst themselves, when up Prince Philip wanders to join in the chat. She met and shared recipes with Heston Blumenthal, (well she chatted with him anyway) and she commented how beautiful Beatrice and Eugenie were, although she hasn’t yet given me the lowdown on what they were both wearing.

Claire’s Outfit

Spotty French connection Dress £39.99 reduced from £140.00 from TK Maxx.

Velvet Tux Style Vintage Jacket borrowed from me (originally my mums)

Art deco vintage brooch (borrowed from my mum)

Leather Black Clutch (not pictured) Claires own

Shoes M&S Claire’s own

Spotty Tights Primark £2.50

My sister is going to Buckingham Palace next week for work reasons and will be meeting the Queen, so she has asked me to come up with an outfit. It’s an evening do and my brief is ‘day dress on a shoestring’. This has got to be an inexpensive outfit, as apparently, ‘there are better ways to spend your money than on clothes’ (we know that’s just not right Claire!)

I will be borrowing, charity shopping, and bargain hunting and hopefully will come up with something ‘Fit for a Queen’. I shall post a photo of Claire in the chosen outfit next week.

Emma x

The sun is shining and it is saturday…marvellous. If you have any spare time between domestic stuff and enjoying yourself, then check out these two great jackets, you may think you do not need a transitional jacket, but oh yes you do, (you will get lots of wear out of it) The mac or parka is fine, but because of our fabulous british weather, they end up being worn far too much and sometimes, something slightly smarter is called for. If you are rich, then Boden have got a tartan jacket (they describe as tweed), The British Tweed Blazer that’s really very nice, at £149 .

For a cheaper option, this Topshop jacket is £45 and is pretty lovely too. And if you want cheaper still, check out charity shops near you, those lovely old dears love their fitted tweed jackets and are donating mad! Also if you have a chance this weekend, check Boden out online, even if it’s just for the fantastic 1960’s beatnik styling, they have some really great pieces this season, the peplum top and matching tapered cropped trousers, look like they are a classic vintage find.  Emma x