Kingdom Of Style

QUICK MARCH!

Ok troops, one more day left to enter Week 2 of the ShopStyle/JohnLewis competition.  This weeks theme is Miltary Chic. Quick march, just follow the link above.

Queen Marie 

Butterflies, Bags and Borrowed Shoes...

Gathering together bits and bobs to for my little trip to the forest, I came upon a whole host of other treasures that I had to take along too! -

A vintage butterfly print Hermes skirt which I wear as dress

A darling vintage gold evening bag, a gift from Suzanne aka Punk Glam Queen

A pair of Queen Michelles Miu Miu sandals...

Now I feel duty bound to tell you, you had better get used to seeing a couple of things in the next couple of weeks

1. These trees and woods!  Not because I am always skulking about in woodland but because yesterday was the only dry, sunny day there has been in months, so I took lots and lots of pictures...

2. Me in Cropped Trousers!  I dug out these ancient Gap ones and I had forgotten how much I love the look of them.  It goes without saying I have heaps of them. Bin Bag mountain here I come...

(Floral tiara, gap cropped trousers, silk parka, borrowed shoes)

Now excuse me, I'm going to leg it, in case Queen Michelle needs her miu miu's back!!!

Queen Marie

x

m&m...

A few weeks ago, I got an email from the lovely maria, who made the amazing rabbit dress* about her friend maria who is also lovely and a very talented photgrapher.

Her work is stunning but some of the shots in particular made me smile. They are whimsical and wonderful and they make me want to go and buy new shoes right this very second...

Happy feet indeed!

Queen Marie

* The lovely rabbit dress hangs on the back of my door and is the first thing I see every day when I open my eyes. It never fails to make me smile...

The most fragrant brew...

Opening the cupboard every day to make some tea, I think how much I love the smell of earl grey.

So much in fact that I was maybe thinking about trying an earl grey fragrance.

So far the only one I can seem to find is this Demeter one...

Has anyone used this? Does it smell like the real thing? or has anyone come across something else that smells even better?

Any help would be much appreciated and of course it goes without saying that the next time you are anywhere near The Kingdom, the tea is on me...

Thank You.

Queen Marie

x

This bear won't bite...

It will come as no surprise that Princess Jenny has asked Santa for more ears.

So of course when I found these little bear ones, complete with a little crown, I knew I had to snap them right up...

It will also come as no surprise, that I couldn't resist having a little try when I went down to the woods today...

I know I said I wouldn't bite, but you do know, if you stand too close with a cupcake, I'll chomp your hand clean off...

Just warning you...

Queen Marie

Tea on the balcony...

How wonderful would it be, to live in an apartment that had a teacup for a balcony?

Much as I love it, it would perhaps be a tad impractical to move all the way to Japan just to sit in a big teacup.

Better instead to stay in Scotland and sit on a big teacup...

A teacup like this stool made by Holly Palmer...

Inspired by Alice in Wonderland you can find them at the wonderful Baltic Mill .

Do I love them, hell yeah!

Can I afford one, hell no!

One little bigcup will set you back a cool £140!

Ah well, A Queen can dream...

Queen Marie

x

Maybe start small...

Nothing says Christmas quite like Reindeers.

I love reindeers.

So much so, that earlier this year I got myself some antlers*! Not little bitty fake ones! but full on, I'll have your eye out type ones...

Maybe you would like some antlers too, but want to start small!

What better, than these little suede white clip ones. A steal at only $18.50 by lithefider 

If you're still not sure about antlers, what about just popping a whole darling little dear on your head?

Like this pretty little headband called "Primrose Sanctuary" ($42)  by mythunderstood 

Queen Marie

* mine were from here

Cheesecake And Glitter

Sorry, I've been a bad blogger today. Rather than writing my usual second post earlier I've been eating cheesecake, drinking lots of tea, listening to Silverfish, watching scary movies and pondering all the anxiety dreams I've been having, such as one I had last night where I was supposed to be DJing at a techno night but I'd forgotten my records! In the dream I found a box of records and when I asked who's they were someone said they were Gary Glitter's!!! I shouldn't imagine Gary Glitters record collection would be suitable for a techno gig! Weird. And to top it all I have a honking great big cold sore on my nose!

But I shall be a good little blogger, kind of, and write something of some vague worth. OK, maybe not worth exactly as it's going to play out like this: Hartmann Nordenholz is a label I've mentioned before. I like the new collection and feel some splattered, smudged and generally f**ked up stripes are a necessity.

Now if you don't mind I'm going to get back to my cheesecake and Gary Glitter's record collection.

Queen Michelle

Reigned In

Blogland, Blogosphere, Blogworld - whatever your want to call it - can warp our vision of things dramatically, especially where fashion is concerned.

When one absorbs oneself in fashion blogs, which admittedly I don't do as much as I probably should, it's easy to get a skewed view of what constitutes an actual mainstream trend, as opposed to a blog specific trend.

On the blogs I do get the time to read I often hear things like "I'm so sick of the denim shorts, white tank combo", or "I see these shoes on everyone", the reality is more like they have seen the shorts and tee combo or the shoes on the blogs they follow rather than on the people they see everyday on the street. It's easy to think that something has been 'done' when you are used to seeing it on bloggers. But bloggers, though it doesn't always feel like it, only take up a teeny fraction of the fashion loving populace and don't necessarily represent what the majority of what women/girls/men/boys are actually wearing. Susie recently talked about something similar when she says how often we claim to be sick of the things we see or have.

I was recently interviewed by a gorgeous young lady called Emma (hi Emma!), who asked me "where is the Kingdom". Upon thinking for  a moment I concluded that for Queen Marie and I the Kingdom is in our heads. It's contained within our own little universe and that's why we can exist impervious to blog trends, and not care that "everyone" has these shoes or that jacket.

One thing I have noticed though, when I popped my head out of the Kingdom confines for a brief while, in the context of blog trends, is the prolification of the harness. I have expressed surprise at this before given that when I first started talking about my own appreciation of a harness there were none to be had, except the elusive Sass & Bide one from many seasons ago.

Now things have changed so much. Whilst they haven't really penetrated the outside world, ie your average gal in the street (and editorials don't count), within the confines of blogs they very much have. It's been weird and wonderful to watch this blog trend happen in real time. To see something grow from S&M obscurity to being embraced by all kinds of girls. Of course for me that means the harness is now no longer something I need to trawl around questionable sex shops to procure, but instead can go onto Etsy and find a plethora of harnesses for much cheapness, and without the seediness of the sex shop environment.

I don't know how many of you have perhaps caught the 'sickness' Susie speaks of, and really couldn't be doing with more harnesses but me, well, I can't get enough of them and never will. They are as basic and functional as belts to me.

When Mark emailed me about his own harnesses on Etsy, I got the same swell of excitement as I always do when another design is at my disposal.

These are some of the most ornate ones I've seen on Etsy and more akin to the glorious Fleet Ilya.

So if you aren't 'over' harnesses then you could do worse than get yourself one of these lovelies.

Queen Michelle

Nail Me

So, today my Awards Dress arrived.

It's not often you get the chance to touch one of your dream dresses let alone know you are getting to wear it. It came with a note saying that I may need help getting into it and/or a diagram. Please, I'm a pro - I was in that dress in 30 seconds flat! I wish I could show you it now, but when you see it you'll know why it's a dream dress for me. All I will say it that there might be few strange looks heading my way when I march into the Old Fruitmarket wearing this sucker! Amidst a certain sea of flounce, satin and high glamour I shall enter like something from the future, or a nightmare depending on how you look at it.

I knew the dress was going to be spectacular so I treated myself to a pair of boots equally spectacular. They seem fitting somehow, with the nail heel. Yup, a pair of Martin Margiela ankle boots, complete with nail heel.

I will of course get lots of wear from these far beyond the awards night, but they match the dress in strange and different way (the dress is black) - let's say texture will be key. Of course, I have been known to change my mind at the last minute, but so far I think I have the outfit nailed. Geddit?!

Queen Michelle