from jemma: dear diary…the V&A

I headed to the V&A today (Victoria and Albert museum), but before I arrived there I stopped off in Angel. Angel is a great place to go for breakfast and quiet stroll in the mornings. It’s not too crazy, but the right amount of busy-ness to keep you stimulated. They have cute, old world charm restaurants and great vintage stores. The vintage stores are a little more on the pricey side here, the selection is unique and a bit more carefully curated. I adore Annie’s for its reference to the Victorian era. I can’t get enough of the delicate Victorian lace.

The V&A fascinates me every time. I love the location. Situated in the more upper class area of London – South Kensington – you can expect to see a vast majority of pleasant “sloanes” walking about, well dressed and full of charm.

As you walk into the grand entrance of the museum you instantly feel ready to get soaked in culture. I headed straight to the Asia and India section. I was drawn there due to the familiarity of the Free People aesthetic.

Seeing the chintz costumes of the 1600 was mind blowing. A fashion made from Indian painted cotton. In the 1600s, Chintz fabric was a huge fashion statement amongst women  — dresses constructed in England made from beautiful hand painted fabric in south east India was the main “fashion” of this era.

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I was in awe of the fine Bengali muslin praised as “woven air”, painted so beautifully, they looked so delicate and light. I stood for hours admiring the beautiful aesthetics from Asia and India. Every time I leave the V&A I always feel like I’ve travelled a little around the world and that enlightens me.

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around the South Kensington/Chelsea area you get some pretty well dressed people. One of the best Art collages around is situated here “the royal academy of Art”, so you get the incredibly unique art students strolling around. You have a lot of celebrities and models living here. Here are some details that I enjoyed while walking around Kensington. ( above)

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After the day was over I met up with my two BFF’s for a drink at Jaguar Shoes Old city. This area is far too cool for school it often hurts my head thinking where all the absurdly “cool” people came from. It’s pretty entertaining. We had a glass of wine and a great catch up then headed home. The day was perfect!

from jemma: dear diary, this is camden town

Today I headed to Camden to soak up a little bit of Indie rock/ punk culture. It fascinates me every time. I turned up the Foals as I walked up Camden road and soaked in the sub culture that has evolved there. There is a huge punk culture mixed in with a little mod. Expect to see girls and guys wearing Dr martins everywhere or girls adopting that Dita Von Teese look.

It will sure enliven you.

I headed to my favorite cafe the spiral lounge. An all raw and organic cafe which has a beautiful view over the canal – bought my favorite smoothie of almonds, spinach, avocado, wheatgrass, spirulina, chia and xylitol then headed into the hustle and bustle of the Camden stables.

I love vintage shopping in Camden, I always find great things in Episode. There was so many fashion trends that evolved in London which makes for extremely great vintage shopping. The mods, the rockers and the punks! Now all these fashion movements from bygone eras have cumulated into an assortment of eclectic fashions.

The fashion here is influenced by grungy music and indie rock. Long known for its music heritage, certain pubs are favorite meeting spots for local musicians such as Amy Winehouse. There are many live music venues from various pubs to the famous Jazz Cafe, KoKo & The Roundhouse theatre. Boys walk around in the tightest of skinny jeans while girls look they have been rocking out hard to bands all night.

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At mid afternoon I headed to The Hawley Arms, where you can experience great British pub food and the indie culture all-in-one. Amy Winehouse is a local while Kelly Osbourne, Katy Perry and the like pop their heads in now and again.

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Today was inspiring for sure, the weather is mild and my mind is ticking over time. After some lentil soup, rose wine and my friend flooding the bathroom – I’m ready for some sleep!

job alert – philly stores!

we have two job openings in our home town!

we are looking for a store manager for our adrmore store – for more info and to apply click here.

and we need a visual assistant store manager at our king of prussia store – for more info and to apply click here.

*did you know we have a careers page on facebook? check it out here and like the page to get updates whenever our stores are hiring :)!*

final guest post from honestly…wtf

Thank you to our friends at Free People for including us in their Guest Blogger Series. Honestly, it’s been a blast! We thought we’d finalize our series with another set of photos that truly inspire us. xx, Erica & Lauren

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thank you so much ladies! it’s been an honor having you on our blog :)

namaste

i am completely in love with our latest vintage loves vignette, “namaste!” the selection of indian printed dresses, worn denim and woven bags are right up my alley.  i especially love the length of a lot of the dresses and that they’re shorter for going into spring and summer. perfect summer festival dress, anyone?!?

coincidentally, one of our fp girls came in today wearing a vintage dress just like the ones above! i love how she styled it with a wide belt and boots.

lou just happened to be walking by and we couldn’t resist putting her in the photo :)

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and since its not quite warm enough yet, these dresses look awesome paired with tights, boots and a faux fur jacket too!

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and here is our amazing vintage team at the vignette shoot, being awesome:

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namaste!

north star bar

last week my friend geron played a short set at the north star bar- it’s been a while since i’ve been to a show there, actually. i think it’s because of the location- it’s a little out of the way, over in the art museum area -but it’s such a great venue to see bands in before they get big.

upon entering the corner pub you’re met with the same bar that has been there since prohibition, mahogany bar top, wooden ceiling fans, tin roof and all.  walk towards the back and go through a door on your right to get to the stage area, a wide open room with wood floors.  the stage is covered with well worn oriental carpets and in front, a staircase leads down to a lounge area with bright green walls that could probably tell some great stories… i thought i’d share a few pics from the other night!

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image 1; image 2; all others by me.

geron’s first single will be available very soon on itunes!

from jemma: dear diary, i’m in london!

This week I’m fortunate enough to be in London, my old home town!!! I’m so excited that I get the opportunity to come and visit this vibrant, electric city full of character, old world charm and WOW fashion.

I wanted to give everyone a bit of insight into my trip oversees, so I’ll be updating on my shopping, eating, and general perusing of the city. Prior to my flight I stopped off in NYC to stay with my sister and her lovely cat poppy. She recently moved into an apartment in Williamsburg. It’s such an airy, inspiring place – a perfect stay before my long haul flight to heathrow.

my flight was a night flight from JFK, the most uncomfortable flight I have ever had, I could NOT sleep, so I indulged in the new release movies that were on offer.

After 6 hours we finally came close to touching down. I slid open the window shutter and was greeted with a thick cushion of clouds – typical British weather!

What excites me about London is the eccentric fashion. Oxford street comes alive with high street brands throwing must-have trends into a visionary display. With that in mind I headed straight there to get a little bit of a fashion fix. I must warn you though it’s pretty tiring, afterwards you will sure need a cup of coffee in Costa Coffee perhaps?!

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Stay turned for more of my guide through London!

inspired by: tord boontje

we’ve posted some of dutch artist tord boontje’s work before, but i was checking out his website recently and i had to share these photos of some of his pieces. the integration of such unique, bizarre-looking furniture in natural outdoor settings has a feel that’s very alice in wonderland. they also kinda remind me of really rare animals being photographed on a safari or something, if that makes any sense…

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