Vintage treasures have arrived re-created and beautified by Mini McGhee. Hand made in Scotland all of the pieces are one-offs and are lovely heirlooms. We are working on a new collaboration ‘Olive Loves Mini McGhee’ that we will be launching soon but you will have to wait a little bit longer to see just what we are working on!
All of the pieces from Mini McGhee will be available on our website soon but we couldn’t wait to give you a sneak preview. Laundry bags £29 and shoe bags £22 created from hand embroidered linen vintage table cloths, grosgrains and printed cottons are gorgeous enough to hang on any wall or in a row on some vintage coat hooks. Be imaginative and use them for storing lots of different things inside.
Treasure a hand knitted baby blanket from Mini McGhee in a beautiful vintage embroidered bag £59 or onr of her striped felted blankets £46.
I love the new collection from Brights and Stripes that has just arrived. Inspired by 1970’s wallpapers the prints are bold and bright and quite brilliant.
The collection has grown up a little and for those of you who wanted bigger sizes the collection now includes sizes upto 4 to 5 years. The new Spring Summer 2010 collection is now availble from on-line shop.
As soon as the new collection from Mini Rodini arrived I took home a few pieces. It’s always interesting, sometime unpredictable, to see what Olive’s reaction is. Mini Rodini instantly received the big thumbs up. It’s not always clear why individual things are such a bit hit with kids but as Olive says she loves to wear her Panda Bow Tie Tee and Panda Print Leggings aka her “Panda Suit’”an expression that I love!
Panda Bow Tie Tee £22
When I began working on my concept for Olive Loves Alfie I was on a mission to leave the pink, frilly fru fru world behind. I could have been accussed of banging on about it but it was a constant source of frustation to me. Why did boys have to dress as though they were aspiring to be boring middle aged men and why did girls have to dress as though they were aspiring to being princesses. I was told time and time again that my idea would fall flat on it’s face but unswayed I knew I wasn’t the only person out there happy enough to encourage kids to embrace their individuality and to challenge grown ups who had fallen into the trap of gender sterotyping.
Paint Splash Bubble Dress £34
Almost 4 years later the conversation is now very different and I am definatley not on my own. There are some wonderful designers out there creating great clothes for kids.
Making new discoveries has always been one of my favourite things. Finding Tokyo Milk , in a tiny artisan perfumerie in a quiet Parisien back street in the Marais, last month is quite possibly my favourite find of the season.
The hand glittered packaging make everything Tokyo Milk produce a miniature work of art that is almost collectable. That is before you even check out the actual product! Let me know if you ever get beyond admiring their oversized blocks of wrapped soaps and actually open them. If you do take the gorgeous glittered wrapping and stick it around an old jam jar and give it a new lease of life by using it as a tea light holder.
Check out their new collection in our boutique or on our on-line shop.
We have a lovely selection in our boutique that is also available on our on-line shop Tokyo Milk.
You can expect to see much more here from Tokyo Milk next year.
Last weekend my friend and photographer Nicola Hippisley took her daughter Orla to play in the Autumn leaves in Epping Forest. Orla was wrapped up in a Barts hat, gloves from Melton and a Spotty Otter down filled jacket that Nicky bought from our boutique.
As always Nicky took some lovely pictures and here are just 2 of them. With a studio in Red Square in Stoke Newington Nicky specialises in portrait photography of children and families. Watch out for a Christmas offer that we are going to be running with Nicky giving our customers a discount on a photographic session with her. If you want to have a look at her work check out www.nicolahippisley.com
If you are in need of winter warmers we have just had a new delivery of hats, gloves and scarves from Barts and Melton. There are some great retro inspired hand knitted styles from new born to 14 years old and a fantastic colourful range of gloves and mittens. We have started adding these new collections to our website this week and it should all be there for you to see in time for the weekend!
Olive and I spent a beautiful day with one of my oldest and closest friends at Burnham Beeches a beautiful ancient woodland in Buckinghamshire. Wandering around largely beech woodland it has an air of mystery and is the perfect place for an adventure especially during the autumn when the light and colours are incredible. Close to Pinewood and Shepperton Studios scenes from Robin Hood, The Crying Game and Harry Potter were all filmed here.
Olive wrapped up warm in a new fun fur coat from Mini Rodini (£55) available from our boutique and mail order from 12 months to 10 years. I love their collection for SS10 which will be available to everyone from our on-line shop in January/February 2010.
Wrap up warm and take a trip there with a copy of our Bumper Book Of Nature £16.99.
When I am buying I love seeing how different people present their collections. Justine from Cotton and Milk told a lovely story with vintage props, black and white vintage photographs, metal coat hangers wrapped in ribbon and a huge vintage tin that she kept her stationery in. And the collection?…vintage inspired, beautifully styled and perfectly made merino wool pieces to treasure.
My Grandma had dozens of old biscuit tins and toffee tins that she kept her treasures in. I used to love looking through them every summer when I went to visit her in Lancashire. I still have some of them now with her button collection as it was probably 50 years ago. They have become memory boxes with hand written notes, cuttings from local newspaper, old watches and spectacle frames that all paint a picture of her life. At the age of 6 Olive is starting to be as interested in their contents as I remember being.
Yeah the new SS09 collection from Boo Foo Woo in Japan has arrived and we love it. The jackets are reversible with oversized coloured enamel poppers and everything comes along with a knitted or beads badge or key-ring. It isn’t on line yet but you can call the store for details.
No Added Sugar’s new look book arrived today and the long and short of it is that we love it as much as we love their Spring Summer 09 collection. Its printed on newsprint paper in newspaper format and is packed with great photography. Our very own press bunny should have been working but she just couldn’t put it down! The collection has ‘grown up’ and by popular demand is now going up to age 12. We just wish that some of the pieces were big enough for us to wear too. If I was you I would get hold of a copy of the look book before they all disappear.
Our selection from their collection is already available in our boutique and will be available from our website next week.
Our press bunny on her tea break!
