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!
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!
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 :)
*Exclusive limited edition Free People Gift Bags with every purchase of $100 or more while supplies last (pictured above)
*Free People Feather Hair Extensions with every $50 or more while supplies last
We are so excited to have you attend our Coachella fashion show, it’s going to be a BLAST. Free People models, amazing music, and tons of new product, it doesn’t get better than that!
It’s also our store’s third BIRTHDAY so in celebration we are going to have light refreshments and tons of sweets:)
Don’t be camera shy either, we are going to have a photographer at the event to document the show for our Free People blog
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.
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.
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)
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!
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.
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.
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!
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?!
marais USA was founded in 2007 by two parsons school of design students named catherine chen and haley boyd. while in school they both worked as waitresses around new york city and throughout their college years of shoe shopping in the city, found a need for simple but fashionable shoe styles that were still affordable. from this discovery their company was born, and they now work in brooklyn designing “essential” shoes for girls like them, who want to be stylish but don’t want to break the bank. their inspiration comes from a summer spent in le marais, the eclectic paris neighborhood known for its shopping, where there is “literally something for everyone” – a philosophy that holds true for their company as well.
le marais, paris
it’s fitting that the three shoe styles we’re carrying right now from marais are each completely different, too. i took some inspiration from their website, where they feature four very different “marais girls,” and found three very different gals here at our office who each loved a different pair of their shoes!
i made a collage for each one of them using images they keep around their desks as inspiration –you can see how different their styles are just looking at these images…
i love mood boards…especially when they incorporate objects and fabrics in addition to just images. i think its why i’m always so drawn to my coworkers’ desk spaces, as they’re each like a little personal mood board. here are some that i’ve collected from around the web.
pamela love:
ksubi:
charlotte ronson:
nicholas k:
rag and bone:
rodarte:
erin wasson:
marchesa:
i think i need to re-organize my desk space… again.
i just got an email with the subject “patti smith and store 808” and i had to blink a couple of times and make sure i was reading correctly- but a couple of our fp girls in boston did in fact get to meet patti smith herself at a book signing and lecture that took place last week at the museum of fine arts. i am so jealous… since reading her book she has become a huge inspiration for me, and i wish i had known her story sooner and gone to one of her appearances because to hear her speak in person would be life changing.
luckily our fp girls took some great notes! here’s a recap of the event from ava, our MIT in boston.
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Last week Christine (our assistant store manager) and I had the opportunity to go meet Patti Smith at the Museum of Fine Arts for a book signing and lecture….. It was an amazing experience! We snapped a few photos, and jotted down quotes from her lecture.
We first went to the book signing – we could barely contain our excitement while waiting in line, along with our Sales Associate Kaly. We had the opportunity to talk to her at the table, and were completely star struck – she was so nice, completely approachable and laid back. I’m sure I mumbled something dumb to Patti about her being wonderful.
After the book signing we went into the auditorium, and when we saw her guitar on stage – we knew we were in for a special treat! She read excerpts from Just Kids, told stories, took questions and even sang a couple of songs.
patti’s guitar, from “objects of life”
I jotted down some quotes below that I was scribbling in my note book. When Patti saw Kaly holding her notebook, she asked her “Are you a writer?” and Kaly said, “No, I’m an artist.” and Patti replied “You can always spot writers and artists because they always keep their notebook close!”
A lot of Patti’s talk emphasized the importance of labor within the realm of art.
“The goal of an artist is to magnify one’s vision to make it flesh. … A true artist’s ultimate goal is not celebrity.”
patti’s jacket with rimbaud pin, from “objects of life”
On Fashion:
At one point Patti was reading from her book, and came to a passage that mentioned a long blue raincoat and she stopped, and said “I had to mention that rain coat. I’m a coat freak. In fact, I was signing books earlier and I was coveting at least two people’s coats!”
“All my outfits had names… Actually, the whole history of new wave film I had in two drawers.”
handmade tambourine, from “objects of life”
On Song Origins:
As an opening to her song Wing – she said “I always screw up when I do this song. I wrote it, but it sort of expresses my state of mind as a young girl of 20, before I met Robert Mapplethorpe…”
I was free
needed nobody
it was beautiful
it was beautiful
Talking about how she came up with the song Grateful, right before she sang it:
“I was feeling a little low– and I was standing there so sad and I had this vision of Jerry Garcia and he smiled at me and shook his hair, and this song came into my head so I named it ‘Grateful.’ It felt like a gift from Jerry…. Life is tough, but things work out.”
suitcase from “objects of life”
Talking about NYC:
“I went to NYC the way I usually did things- not having any money, not knowing where I was going to stay, not telling where I was going. Truthfully I still often travel that way… It’s exciting!”
“We lived at the Chelsea Hotel. Everyday was an adventure… some people accuse me of name dropping in my book. I can’t help it everyone. Everyone was there in the late 60s.”
About Boston:
When Robert asked me to write this book he was here in Boston, so I always have a special sense of him when I am here.
Audience questions:
What do you think about audiobooks?
“I’ll never not love books. I love the paper and to hold it. However, there’s a lot of trash that is being written that doesn’t deserve to be a beautiful object….. I was against color tv when it came out. You people think I am so cutting edge, but I never want anything to change.”
She did reveal she’s doing an audiobook of Just Kids, even though she didn’t know what a Kindle was about a year ago.
paintbrush from “objects of life”
I’m a 20 year old unemployed painter. How do I grow up to be as cool as you? (Patti’s response to this was one of our favorite moments!)
“I never knew a 20 year old employed painter!
The main reason I went to NYC wasn’t to be a rich, famous artist, but to get a job. We do what we can in order to survive. Work really hard to magnify your vision. Don’t worry about selling work. Just evolve. Work hard.
If you mean you don’t have a job – GET ONE! I was always aware that you need to work in order to have food, or materials. If you mean you aren’t selling it, don’t worry about it.
First thing: Do good work. Worry about selling it later. Make it first.
People think “oh, if you are a punk rocker you don’t work….. Uh… sorry!
I got married, scrubbed floors, raised children, and I was still an artist everyday. Unfortunately, I was not a very good housekeeper.”
(She then sang My Blakean Year)
What historical woman would you consider to be punk rock?
“Joan of Arc!”
How do you feel about being called the Godmother of Punk?
“To me people worrying about who was, who is punk rock, it’s like when my husband and brother in law would make fantasy baseball teams and argue for hours and hour about who was better… it’s all theoretical.
First it was Princess of Piss. Then Queen of punk, now Godmother. Next I’ll be the Dinosaur.”
In a room full of 400 people, it felt like we were sitting in a living room just hanging out. She ended her lecture by leading the entire crowd in an acapella sing along of ‘Because the Night’ (one of my favorite songs of ALLLLLL TIME) after reading the excerpt about hearing it on the radio while walking down the street- it was absolutely amazing!
Our lingerie buyer has teamed one of our latest bralettes with items that archieve a very fashion forward demure look. We couldn’t think of a more stylish way to
channel this lingerie as outerwear trend.
Teamed with a simple tea length black skirt a leopard belt and block heels. It’s a perrrrfect transitional piece as the warmer days are slowly creeping in!
Here’s another designer that we have featured in our March book –
ODYLYNE, is derived from all things beautiful. A simple concept and blend of bohemian and vintage styles with a touch of modern, clean lines. The inspiration behind the designs are also deeply rooted in the hippie chic world…where female artist set trends while breaking the rules of tongue-in-cheek fashion. The concept stays true to its original theme of creating the whimsical drama of mystery and sexiness without all the fuss. It just feels good and makes being a goddess pretty damn effortless.
The dress is a show stopper and can be easily dressed up or down. Here’s a little interview about the brand
i am very excited to welcome our guest bloggers for the month of march, erica and lauren of the amazing blog honestly…wtf! these ladies are a constant source of inspiration for DIY projects, art, fashion and more, and i’m thrilled they will be sharing some of their projects and inspiration, as well as an exclusive DIY for free people this month – and keep an eye out on our website for some items from erica’s awesome line the 2 bandits!
~*~
Lauren and I, a fashion stylist and designer respectively, started Honestly…WTF several months ago as a way for us to document a shared love of art, DIYs, travel, and most importantly, fashion. We were beyond thrilled when Free People asked us to contribute to their guest blogger series with a few things that inspire us. Honestly, we can trace our love of Free People as far back as we can remember (circa 1990s)! And so in true FP spirit, we are sharing a handful of images from a DIY Tepee Sewing Workshop we hosted on my family’s ranch in California last Fall. After 3 days of handling 400 yards of heavy canvas, sewing 160 button holes, carving 40 willow pins, attaching 36 stress patches and ripping through 20 spools of thread, we successfully made a beautiful 20 foot tepee. Stay tuned this Spring when we paint the outside of the canvas and decorate the inside!
if you haven’t already, check out erica and lauren’s blog here.
earlier this week i had the wonderful opportunity to visit the studio of floral and event designer sullivan owen, which just opened in queens village in philadelphia. i love talking to people who are passionate about what they do…their love for their craft is infectious. i could have spent an entire day in her beautiful studio listening to her talk about the artistry behind floral arrangements and watching her work.
when designing her studio space, sullivan wanted to use a soothing palette with shades of soft gray and white so that when entering the space, your attention goes straight to the flowers. indeed- when i walked in, my eyes were immediately drawn to the pops of color peppering the studio.
when she was younger, sullivan worked at one of the first urban outfitters stores. she recalls the president of the company visiting often to chat with employees and see how the store was doing, and it was a huge inspiration for her to see someone with a dream who was able to make such a successful career out of it. her dream was to tie together her fine arts background with her love of flowers, which is exactly what she is doing today.
in addition to floral arrangements, sullivan owen offers complete event design – from mood boards and color palettes to textiles like bouquet wraps and table linens. to her it is about creating an entire atmosphere- an idea that reminded me very much of our free people stores.
bits of inspiration from around the studio: vintage knick knacks, beaded belts, books and handmade table linens from her own wedding.
a beautiful wall of vases and jars that can be rented for events – with the exception of the shelf of vintage glass bottles, which are her private collection inherited from her grandfather and serve as inspiration.
when i arrived, sullivan was in the back finishing up an arrangement, and i sat and watched while she talked excitedly about how the floral industry is starting to attract a younger audience of people who appreciate the fine arts. with her own background in the arts, her approach to putting together an arrangement is very much like an artist painting a picture – paying special attention to color and texture, and layering in a way that is also almost like fashion.
a mood board hangs over her work table and incorporates fashion, color and landscape – all things she thinks about when putting together a bouquet.
the flowers sullivan works with are all very special – for example at top left, a ranunculus that comes from japan where these delicate flowers are designed to be perfect. the one at bottom right is a dutch variety of the ranunculus, with a really unique color gradation. at top right is the anemone, a beautiful black and white flower with hints of purple that is one of her favorites to work with.
above and below are what she calls the “spare parts vase” – where the flowers go if they’re cut the wrong length, the stems break or they just don’t make it into a final design. she doesn’t like to throw them away, plus they’re quite beautiful!
she gave me a quick little lesson in putting together the above bouquet, and then i tried my own:
i think i could use some help… luckily sullivan is going to be holding classes at her studio so you can go learn all about how to put together the perfect bouquet, and then take it home with you :) i will definitely be attending! you can find more info on the classes here.
the studio is open by appointment only – i definitely recommend checking it out. go see the website for more info and to see more photos of her incredible work: sullivanowen.com.
