Kingdom Of Style

Let's hear it for the ladies...

Earlier today, the lovely Kathy pointed me in the direction of The Runny Bunny

I think I have maybe been out in the sun too long, but as this ceramic filled weekend draws to a close,

these wonderful figures seem plausible, charming and I would happily give any of them a home...

The Victorian Rat Lady $30

The Victorian Lady Bunny $60.00

And to finish, I give you a regular girl.

After everything we have seen this weekend, she's so normal it looks freaky...

Cindy Girl $20.00

Queen Marie

Feelin' Mellow Yellow...

Risking heatstroke, I thought I would attempt to bring some order to the Holy Grotto corner.

I haven't touched it all year and it has all gone a bit wild.

But when I went to start, I noticed that the buttercups have become all intwined with the yellow poppies.

I know strictly one is a weed and one is a flower but I don't have the heart to separate them, and to be frank, in the garden of life, I feel like a weed more often than I do a flower, so I shall let them be ...

Queen Marie

Alter and Kiss...

Alter És Kis was the leading fashion house in Central Europe which began in 1829 in Budapest, Hungary, producing tailor-made clothing for the high society, including the Viennese royal family. 

In 1866 the Magyar Bazár said “The whole country is familiar with their reputation. There is no doubt every woman… is familiar with the shop’s best characteristics... Generations before, women used to buy their endowment garments at the Alter És Kiss shop, and now, so do their grandchildren.”

.

Alter&Kiss  has been revived this year by its new creators, Central St. Martins graduates Gabor Fabricius and Mei Mei Ding, with the devoted support of the Alter family.

"Does my bum look big in this?"

"Indeed Your Highness, it is the size of The Royal Opera House!"

"Wonderful"

It is still early days, but when  designers declare 'Absinthe' to be their favourite colour, I have absolutely no option but to grant them an immediate Royal Appointment to The Kingdom... 

Queen Marie

What can you say about Shary...

If you are anything like me, the first thing you will say is 'Oh'

Such a small word, but it was accompanied a very big reaction- a gasp and a physical start backwards from the screen.

Em, Katanaville and Suzanne referred yesterday to the work of Canadian artist Shary Boyle

who works in sculpture, drawing, painting and performance, so I headed over to her site to take a look.

I sometimes worry that I am becoming visually jaded, then something like Shary happens...

Snowball

My two favourites strangely enough are in Paisley Museum which is not far from here.  

Haunt

La Bete

Boyle's ceramic figures are a way for her to explore themes relating to beauty, femininity and mortality.

I would urge you to explore her work now...

Queen Marie

ps - I would be remiss in my Royal duties, if I did not take the opportunity to remind you once again to watch La Belle et la Bete by Jean Cocteau...

A flower too far...

You know me and flowers!

You know me and  china!

So you would think that the work by British Design duo Committee for Lladro would be right up my street

The following pieces, called 'Evolution of Love'  were unveiled at this year's Maison Objet show.

They say -

"The love of a couple, whose evolution is depicted by a truly characteristic element in the creations of this porcelain brand: handmade flowers, made petal by petal. Therefore, the designers’ proposal consists of three couples made of white porcelain covered progressively by flowers, signifying the growth of their feelings. This trilogy comes to a close with a spectacular creation, covered with the greatest number of flowers ever created in the history of Lladró: over a thousand flowers covering the characters’ bodies."

I say -

"Holy Crap on a cracker 

This stuff is freaking me right out..."

*shudder*

Queen Marie

If Tiffany made Moon Boots...

Then they would maybe look a little like this...

Being a contrary kind of a Queen, I choose the first real sunny day of the year to talk to you about by new Rubber Duck boots

Mine came from Moxsie*

Eik Braun Ottosen ,the man behind the Rubber Duck brand is also a caring sharing type fellow.

Eik wants us all to smile! 

The (SMILE) Project is founded upon the values of INSPIRE, CREATE and SMILE, Rubber Duck created the (SMILE) Project to benefit a worthy cause, proving that the company’s values are not mere marketing fluff. With every Rubber Duck Shoe purchase, Moxsie donates $5 to the (SMILE) Project to benefit orphans in Thailand. In addition, we’ll send the purchaser a free rubber ducky with the shoes they bought!

Now if you will excuse me, I'm off to put my boots on and do a rain dance...

Queen Marie

x

* Thank You Ahmed xxx

My heart belongs to Moxsie...

Imagine a store with as much heart as it has vision and style...

A store run by people who care about other people...

A store that specializes in independent style from around the world.

Moxsie is that store.

And it is a store with a mission...

 The mission is threefold: support and find talented independent designers to tell their story, provide world class customer service, and give back. During the checkout process, a buyer has the choice to donate part of Moxsie's proceeds to charity.  The charities include The Hunger Project, March of Dimes,

Save the Children and the Autism Society of America, to name but a few.

Just because they care doesn't mean they don't care about looking good.

My parcel arrived wrapped in yummy brown tissue paper with a big blue paper ribbon.  

Never underestimate the importance of tissue paper people!

Shopping and giving all in one place, that's Moxsie

Queen Marie

x

Biker Jacket Of Sequins

My Topshop sequin jacket arrived and I must admit that I am so pleased I caved in and bought it as it's the perfect summer biker jacket. The oyster base with the matt silver sequins is a purty combination indeed.

It's also suprisingly not that heavy considering the amount of sequins on it and the misisng ones are very nice touch indeed.

All I need is for this damn heat to f**ck off and I can wear it!

Queen Michelle

Knitwear In Summer

Today is VERY hot and as a result my brain feel like mush. My feet hurt no matter what shoes I wear, all my clothes are too heavy, even the light ones, and my face looks like a freaking oil slick. Basically I feel as far removed from fashion as it's possible to be. This is why I hate summer. Thank heavens we only get a few short days of very hot weather before Scotland returns to it's more natural, spring-like temperatures.

So yeah, fashion. I like this knitwear designer which makes this post completely ridiculous given my rant above. He's called Derek Lawlor and is a Central Saint Martins MA Graduate, but due aforemention brain mush that's as much info as I'm willing to write. Oh, except he makes pretty loopy, dresses that I like very much indeed.

Queen Michelle

He Ain't Heavy...No Actually He Is

My poor Prince is having to endure all manner of disturbing music that I am currently listening to as I continue digging deep into my musical archives.

Back in the late 80's I discovered SubPop - the label from Seattle that would go on to spawn Nirvana. But before Nirvana came along there was a bunch of amazing bands already doing great things, and one of them was TAD. Along with the Melvins and Mudhoney, Tad was one of my favourite bands to come out of Seattle. I never got to see any of them live sadly. I saw Nirvana in '92 but wasn't really that into what they did past 'Bleach', although Kurt Cobain was undeniably very handsome and I cried when he died.

Tad Doyle, the massive frontman, has the best 'grunge' voice ever. This is not my favourite song on God's Balls by any stretch of the imagination, but Tad video's are hard to come by on YouTube.Ideally it would Behemoth.

Queen Michelle