Vintage pampering at TART

The inimitable David Carter – hotelier, interior designer and dandy extraordinaire – hosts a range of imaginative events in his beautiful 40 Winks mini-hotel in Mile End. There are Bedtime Story Nights (pyjama-clad guests are entertained by storytellers, while feasting on Godiva chocolates and cocktails), life drawing classes (accompanied by more cocktails) - and then there’s TART, a whole afternoon of pampering, vintage-style – with cucumber sandwiches, cakes and bubbly; vintage hair and make-up sessions; a 50s dressing-up box and massages for when it all gets too much. Set in this gorgeous Georgian townhouse bedecked in all things eclectic, quirky and surreal, it would make a fantastical hen do for a vintage loving bride.

The Vintage Emporium

I love this fantastic vintage space that recently opened just off Brick Lane – it really does live up to its name, with an upstairs café decked-out like an old fashioned tea parlour and a basement beautifully stocked with handpicked vintage wares that range from the Victorian Era to the 50s/60s. There are plenty of Mad Men-style dresses, some great party shoes and accessories and pretty lingerie, all handpicked for their quality (so no sifting through horrible overpriced 90s gear then).

Run by Ollie and Jess, who have spent years trawling markets around the UK and France, it also hosts regular events – life drawing, Victorian bingo, drama classes and knitting nights. The Vintage Emporium is a truly inspiring destination!

A Summer Feast

With just three weeks to go, my fiancé and I decided we needed a treat and headed down to the Pavilion Café in Victoria Park, which is hosting a weekly pop-up restaurant called Elliot’s. The Pavilion is one of our favourite east London spots for coffee or breakfast overlooking the lake.

Elliot’s is a tester for a permanent restaurant soon to open in Borough Market – and all the food was market-fresh, summery and creative (I’ve never tasted such interesting tomatoes – see below!). We had champagne and canapés in the balmy sunlight, made friends with some fellow foodie locals, sat down at long tables laid with pots of flowers picked from the park - and tucked into the perfect summer feast!

Vintage scrapbooking

I’ve long been a fan of Jessie Chorley and Buddug’s beautiful handmade books, jewellery and stationery. Beginning life as a stall on Broadway Market, the creative best-friends since opened a tiny space called The Shop on Columbia Road in London’s East End - recently up-sizing to a "proper" boutique on the same street at number 146.  

Jessie takes fusty old books and re-vitalises them, adapting the body of the book by adding collage, embroidered threads, buttons and stitched pockets to create one-of-a-kind scrapbooks, travel journals or wedding guest books. You can buy one from about £30 or learn how to make them yourself at one of her workshops (which would make a nice creative hen idea too!).  

She’s recently launched a wedding service – offering handmade invites, stationery and favour boxes, all following the old-fashioned collage theme.  

Meanwhile fellow welsh designer Buddug creates whimsical jewellery, plates and tiles from enamel, all adorned with a handwritten script.

A vintage wedding car

I love this super cool vintage wedding car that my friend Sarah photographed on a research trip to Antwerp (another gorgeous city for vintage inspirations). You can imagine a lot of demure retro sundresses in that suitcase on the back, but the married couple were leather-clad bikers! A gang of their mates were waiting outside on Harleys and revved their engines like crazy when the happy couple came out of the church!

The perfect Petersham lunch

I couldn’t visit Petersham Nurseries without getting my camera out and here the results of a recent long, lazy lunch in the sun there. It’s truly a little slice of heaven there – if you don’t get in for lunch (its popular – and pricey), go for tea and cake in the cafe, stroll around the old-fashioned greenhouses and lust after the gorgeous home and garden products in the shop. It’s my idea of the perfect weekend afternoon.

Old-fashioned stationery shop, Berlin

I was in Berlin for a work trip last week and came across R.S.V.P, a charming stationery shop in Mitte – the sort of place that you simply can’t leave without making an unnecessary pencil / notebook / paper purchase.

There were plenty of goods here that could make beautiful name cards or favour tags; scotch tape in tutti-frutti colours, beautiful letterpress-style note cards for thank-you’s, and the perennially useful old-fashioned luggage tags in a range of sizes. And thankfully, you can shop on-line too: http://rsvp-berlin.de/onlineshop

Inspiration from Maison Martin Margiela

I went to the preview of Somerset House's exhibition celebrating 20 years of Belgian designer Maison Martin Margiela and came out completely inspired by his amazing approach to design and fashion. Simple yet inventive ideas like white-washing furniture and stacked-up cardboard boxes to create impact could be translated for weddings, events or home décor… and I loved the display of old invitations to MMM fashion shows from years gone by:

A Flowe(Red) Delivery

Today my desk was turned into a temporary florist’s, when a delivery arrived of sample posies from FLOWE(RED) (buy a bouquet and all profits go to fighting HIV in Africa). My colleague Catrin flexed her new I-Phone Hipstamatic app that makes everything look like a 70s Polaroid to get these lovely pics:

Latest vintage finds

This tablecloth, found by my friend Emma, is so pretty that it almost gets its own blog post… sharing only with some candy-striped deck chairs I found at The Dog and Wardrobe on Broadway Market.