from jemma: dear diary…department shopping in london

London has some of the best department stores around – all offering a different shopping environment.

Today I headed to Liberty’s, my favorite store of all time. I love the Tudor relation and the creaking floorboards. It makes shopping there a delicate experience.   I’m the biggest fan of liberty fabric – I’m drawn to everything that has it, so you can imagine my eyes are wide open every time I’m in there!

As I walked through the main entrance there was a huge hanging display coming from the ceiling. It kind of translated into a basketball net, which makes sense as there was a private event being held there that day for the launch of the Nike air and liberty print collaboration.

For a quick afternoon snack Leon is a beautiful organic cafe. It’s fast delivered and no fuss. I had the sweet potato falafel and cloudy apple juice with mint and lime. Yum!

The second department store I headed to was Selfridges. In contrast to Liberty’s this is a very upbeat shopping experience. Expect loud music, bright colors and flashing lights.  A perfect place to shop Friday after work to pick up something to wear out on the weekends. It will sure get you bumping!

new3

So after a lovely day of strolling around being a magpie, I headed home. Below are 4 photos that make me smile. Flowers outside liberty, old bentley racer, shopping for spring clothes and yes, of course I couldn’t help myself – a royal wedding mug!

new4

Tomorrow I’m heading to broadway market – I hear the fashion there is happening on the weekend, so I aim to do some street style. I’m also going to head to buckingham palace – why not :)

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.

3

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.

4

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)

5

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.

photo3

photo4

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.

photo5

photo6

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!

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?!

photo (3)2

photo (3)3

Stay turned for more of my guide through London!

NYC photo diary

i mentioned last week that i was lucky enough to be able to go to our april catalog shoot in nyc… well here is a little visual diary of the trip!

on the train ride up i could barely contain my excitement for the day ahead…

we shot in milk studios, an amazing warehouse-like space in the meatpacking district.

1

IMG_2462

this was my first time attending a catalog shoot, and i just wanted to soak in every detail.

IMG_2458

multi-tasking :)

IMG_2477

shoes lined up and ready to go.

IMG_2511

our creative director, doub, chats with photographer guy aroch.

IMG_2468

the fp crew, pre shooting.

IMG_2452

a beautiful day in nyc!

NYC photo diary

jemma and i were in new york on thursday night and friday last week for a couple of meetings, and to work on a free people guide to nyc! the guide will be posted on the blog as soon as its finished so keep an eye out ;) – in the meantime, here’s a photo diary from our trip – of course we wore free people the whole time!

IMG_0831

IMG_0836

IMG_0834

IMG_0843

IMG_0861

IMG_0878

IMG_0888

IMG_1049

IMG_1054

IMG_0910

IMG_0914

IMG_0913

IMG_0918

IMG_0923

IMG_0934

IMG_1061

IMG_0969

IMG_1005

IMG_1084

IMG_0945

IMG_0949

IMG_1089

IMG_0956

IMG_1080

IMG_1045

IMG_1099

IMG_1092

IMG_0966

IMG_0965

IMG_1134

all photos by jemma and me.

jemma wore: sleeveless wonder wong dress, rails crinkle plaid shirt.

julia wore: fp lace inset flare, furry capelet, tribe printed scarf, always easy maxi, we the free solid v neck tee, accent on sherpa jacket.

july catalog: a travel diary

in april 2010 our catalog team went to california to shoot our first wholesale catalog, and then road tripped to dolores, colorado to shoot our july catalog at the beautiful dunton hot springs. our wonderful producer put together this travel diary of their journey.

trip8

trip2

trip4

trip7

trip3

trip1

stay tuned for much more from behind the scenes of the catalog shoot ;)

Your February Horoscope Has Arrived!! Thank You, Tracy Allen!

Thank you ALL for your comments, and especially your patience. Now let’s not waste time — read on for your fave February forecast.

Read More