bed

A bit of a mismatch of bedlinen and blankets, but I like the colours. We painted the bedroom at home a few months ago (in Farrow & Ball Oval Room Blue, if I remember correctly) - it looks quite striking with the dark wooden bed - a good match, I think. Spring light is finally beginning to trickle in through the windows.

evening ceremony

I have been a fan of Active Child (aka Pat Grossi), Los Angeles chamber-pop harp-yielder and electronic-meets-choral music magician, since his 2010 EP Curtis Lane. Listen to the first new Active Child material since his excellent 2011 full-length debut, You Are All I See, below. The new track, entitled Evening Ceremony, will be included on the soundtrack to the upcoming sci-fi film The Host, and is four-and-a-half minutes of sweeping melancholia, soaring vocals and cascading harp. Incredible.

wish list: burnt orange, midnight blue

Gant Rugger Canvas Chino Shorts.
Ami Raglan Sleeve Jacket.
Pierre Hardy Cube-print Pouch.
A.P.C. Logo Front T-shirt.
Bass Weejuns Larson Loafers.
Carven Contrast-collar Check Shirt.
Ami Bird-print Chino Trousers.
Christian Louboutin Maurice Shopper Bag.
A.P.C. Cotton Chino Trousers.
A. Sauvage Gainsborough Wool tie.
Valextra Logo Embroidered Holdall.
Black Fleece Diagonal-stripe Tie.

All from Matches. Image: Still Life with Lemon by Dawn Sidoli.

candy

Candy, played by French actress Léa Seydoux, is the character dreamt up by Prada as the face of its new fragrance, Candy L'Eau. She features in a series of three short films created by famed directors Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola. Quintessentially Wes and completely amazing, wouldn't you agree?

julian

A heavenly hymn from the Stockholm/Sydney dream pop duo Say Lou Lou.

the british museum (in the snow)

We escaped the snow (oh Lord! Will it ever end?) on Saturday afternoon and took a post-brunch jaunt around the British Museum. I do love an Elgin Marble.

modern vampires of the city

I've been waiting for Vampire Weekend's third album for a long time. Modern Vampires of the City will be released on May 6th, and if Step is anything to go by, we're in for a treat. Enjoy the beautiful monochrome lyrics video below. It makes me desperately pine after New York City...

toast marylebone

Toast celebrated the opening of their newest shop on London’s Marylebone High Street on Thursday evening with a good party. The Flower Appreciation Society did a fabulous job of decking the shop with fresh flowers and Gin & Tonics, served by Sipsmith, were decorated with peppery edible flowers from Greens of Devon. The flowers will be in bloom until Monday, so do pop by if you get the chance.

the crooked billet

The Crooked Billet in Henley-on-Thames - we had lunch here on Sunday. The rabbit stew and roaring fires were the perfect antidote to a chilly mid-March afternoon.

black velvet

We ate supper at London's oldest restaurant, Rules, on Friday evening (crab, steak and toffee pudding). I'd wanted to pay the place a visit for quite some time. Celebratory refreshment (what were we celebrating? I fail to remember. It being a Friday, perhaps...) came in the form of Black Velvet - a rich mix of champagne and Guinness, served in a silver tankard. It is, in fact, a mourner's drink. The cocktail was first created by the bartender of the Brooks's Club in 1861, to mourn the death of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's Prince Consort. (It's supposed to symbolise the black or purple cloth armbands worn by mourners.) My verdict: strangely delicious.

magazine reading: the plant issue 03

Perfect magazine reading for a Saturday afternoon. Discover more here.

carven: part two

Sweater - located and pounced upon. Rejoice.

mozart square

We got up with the lark last Saturday morning and drove down to Chelsea for a spot of antique shopping (at the moment we're on the hunt for a sideboard for the living room and a mirror for the bathroom). Whilst in the neighbourhood, we dropped by the delightful famers' market on Pimlico Road. The market takes place in an area known locally as Orange or Mozart Square (although you won't find this address in any A-Z). All seemed perfect and right with the world for a few moments - we drank hot coffee and looked in shop windows at nice wallpaper and fresh flowers and the air had a freezing, optimistic sweetness about it. The sounds of market chatter and birdsong drifted about the place, whilst a cheerful looking man (he looked much more cheerful in real life, I promise) went about playing his bright red accordion, much to the delight of meandering market shoppers.

six working men

Toast's photographs for their new men’s collection are a (modest) homage to Irving Penn and his great Small Trades series – portraits, shot in 1950/51, of tradesmen in Paris, London, New York, dressed in their work clothes, carrying the tools of their trades. Neil Gavin took the pictures – portraits of six interesting men, including the very talented actor and musician Johnny Flynn (above). View the Toast spring/summer men's collection here, and the lookbook here.

from the vaults: tuscany, 2011

Well, the weather in the UK is beastly. A freezing storm raged and roared and threw itself all over the place yesterday, rattling windows, reddening faces and forcing temperatures to plummet to new lows. In fact, last night was one of the coldest nights of the winter yet...

Whilst sitting here at my computer this morning (ensconced in several jumpers and blankets), I felt the need to dig up a few pictures from a trip we went on back in August 2011... I'm trying to conjure up a little hope I suppose... Winter will eventually fade. (It's got to, surely?) Almost two years ago now, we escaped to the Tuscan hills for a week of sunsets, frescoes and mozzarella. We stayed in a beautiful converted farm house close to the village of Asciano, not far from the breathtaking Renaissance architecture of Siena and deep in the heart of serious wine country. Heaven. Winter may be refusing to release its its arctic grip on us, but I can dream of sunnier times, those past and those yet to come.

once i was an eagle

Terribly excited. Laura Marling has just announced the release of her fourth album. Titled Once I Was An Eagle, the new record will see the light of day on 27th May 2013. It'll be another masterpiece, without question... Listen to a (rather good) teaser track below.

woodlands

My new backpack (from Herschel) - it looks quite at home in the bathroom, no? Botanical and bird prints side by side - such a dream.

carven

I can't get enough of Carven. Ever since creative director Guillaume Henry debuted his first men's collection (spring/summer 2012) for the heritage house, I've been hooked. I desperately covet the neat, short shirts, charming prints and colourful knitwear and coats - in fact I'd happily wear anything and everything Carven, and I definitely wouldn't be able to say that about most other brands. Luckily, the house's e-shop has just opened up its virtual doors. My heart has been firmly set on the embroidered fleece sweater for months now, yet I can't seem to locate a size small for love nor money... As soon as I happen to come across one, I'm pouncing on it!

k1000

I often take pictures with my big digital SLR, every now and again I'll buy a disposable, and I'm forever on Instagram, but I haven't shot on film for years, and you know what, I miss it. So I decided to search on eBay for a 35mm camera, and after a bit of hunting around, this is what arrived with the post yesterday morning. (Did I just buy it because its name makes it sound a bit like a Star Wars robot? Perhaps.) I'm very much looking forward to getting to grips with it...

freaks

I feel like I've hardly enjoyed any new songs that I've listened to over the past couple of weeks, and I spend quite a bit of time trawling through music blogs. Then I came across Freaks, the debut single from New Yorker Jed Nayef. I can't quite describe why this song is so utterly brilliant. It just is. It sounds completely new, but sort of timeless at the same time. (Plus it's got a killer chorus.)

to the summerhouse

Across the lake.


Spring snowdrops.

I've always loved the summerhouse in the grounds of the big house, perhaps even more so than the big house itself. I just really like a round room.

I spent this past weekend with my family back in Hampshire (celebrating my Grandmother's 65th birthday) and whilst there, I paid a visit to The Vyne, a 16th-century country house owned by the National Trust on the outskirts of Sherborne St John, the village in which my grandparents live. I used to work in the Tudor tea-room at The Vyne every Sunday as a teenager along with lots of my school friends. It was a dream weekend job - hardly anybody used to visit during the bleak winter months, so much of our time was spent huddled around a crackling fire, eating countless slices of Victoria sponge cake and drinking hot chocolate. It's always a joy to revisit the place, and the grounds looked exceptionally delightful this weekend, with patches of brilliant white snowdrops covering the lawns and a soft golden light bathing the old buildings. The first days of spring are upon us, at last.

octopus

Ah, the Polpo octopus - a very welcome sight on a bitterly cold day in early March.

gant rugger

Shirts in every colour.

The shop used to be a butchers (in the thirties, I think the shop assistant told me). The decorators made the very wise choice to leave these charming old yellow wall tiles behind. I'm not really sure what the grey surface is beneath them but I like the contrast of textures rather a lot.

Excellent packaging - like oversized sandwich bags!

The sweater.

From the Gant Rugger spring/summer lookbook. (Orange, blue and pink - what a winning combination of colours! *Take note for summer dressing.*)

I just happened to wander into the new Gant Rugger shop in Soho today, and ended up leaving twenty minutes later with a sweater in hand. I couldn't help myself - look at that brilliant shade of blue. (Cornflower, I suppose you'd call it?) The bold use of colour cleverly makes a classic cable knit just that little bit more fresh and exciting. The fit is perfect too. I'm imagining it'll be the perfect piece to throw on over a shirt (or draped and tied over shoulders) come the warmer months... (I mean, they are coming, right?) I'm pining after the mint green version too.

Image of sweater: Mr Porter.

endymion

Tweed shorts for the springtime? (Image from my graduate collection lookbook.)