Kingdom Of Style

Killing two birds with one stone...

Or should that be two boys!

This week the shopstyle/john lewis competition  is a chance to put together a dream outfit for your perfect man or a perfect outfit for your dream man*

No surprise that a parka is always high up on my list, but so too are duffle coats! Some people think they are a little bit geeky and a little bit geography teacher, but I've never felt that way. Apparently neither did Stussy who did a collaboration with Gloverall away back in 2007.

Getting your hands on one of these could be quite tricky, so maybe better to just go for the classic Gloverall.  Lucky for you or your prince you can snaffle one at my-wardrobe  with a whopping 30% off (just enter 'treat30' at checkout)

A navy one would be perfect over this amazing Lars Anderson striped t.

Although smart has its place, I much prefer garments that seem loved and lived in (not slept in!)

I love love love Lars Anderson.

You can find this one at the wonderful Blackbird

Now if you will excuse me, I'm off to think about the perfect sneakers...

Queen Marie

*(Princess Gwen is in charge of the shopping faeries on this one xxx)

Why leave it luck?

When you can help things along a little with this...

This little four leaf clover is the most perfect little gift and at only £4.50, I want to buy one for everyone!

If you can't wait for me to get them, you can buy it today from the wonderful Hidden Art Shop

Queen Marie

x

Laugh it up kid...

It was my father's birthday on Friday.

It was also my mum and dad's wedding anniversary. My dad always said he picked his birthday so that he would never forget their anniversary! My nieces Princess Laura and Princess Jenny were also in attendance, and little Miss Bossy (Laura) decided she wanted to take the pictures, including some of me for here.

She stuck the camera right up in my face, started snapping and then said "did you know when you smile you look like a chipmunk?"...

A chipmunk! a freakin' chipmunk.

You may have a point, but laugh it up while you can kid! cos we have the same cheeks...

*evil cackle*

Queen/Aunt Marie

xx

Darling! you look like a big duster...

A very chic and  elegant duster.

But a duster none the less...

(Jason Wu cashmere and ostrich coat)

One costs only £4.50 from Ostriches Online

While the other costs £4705.00 from Net-a-porter

Which one do you prefer?

Queen Marie

x

stars and sunshine...

It goes without saying that sequins were the first thing I picked to put with my starry headband.

I wish this blog had a 'touchy feely' button, so that you could feel this jacket. This vintage jacket is beyond sequinny! It has sequins upon sequins. It is positively encrusted with sequin joy and yet it still light to wear. It is a thing of wonder...

The point of these posts was to say, that it can be the smallest things that inspire you. In this case my new headbands. The other thing to remember is - always keep your eyes open, because that's when you find things in the most unexpected places. And in case you wondered, I found both my headbands in the children's department in Sainsbury's at the whopping cost of £2.50 each!!!!

Remember that things look better, when you look at them in a different way...

Queen Marie

x

glittering stars and starry glitter...

Nothing makes me happier than something new to pop upon my head.

Except maybe, two new things to pop upon my head!

It was these that inspired the woodland dressing up last week.

I started with the starry glitter, that was the perfect match for one of my favourite

going out tops...

Then it was a matter of putting on a vintage raw silk ballgown skirt, my trusty converse and my

Zara coat ( one of only two things I have ever owned from Zara! the other one is a scarf. Remember! Zara hates me) and I was ready for a shiny walk in the woods...

Queen Marie

x

She's a Lady! not a frog...

As I sure most of you know, this stunning creature below is Winona from Daddy Likey  aka Lady Winona of Likey...

As well as having the best eyebrows in Portland if not indeed the whole planet, she is also one of the funniest girls alive. I know we have said it a hundred times before, but one of the best things about blogging is becoming friends with other bloggers. Lady Winona is one of our oldest, so words can't quire describe how excited we are that she is just about to bring a book out. A real honest to goodness, buy it in your bookstore book!

I have laughed out loud so many times, I am starting to piss people off in the studio. But I don't care.

Published on November 9th by the charming Sasquatch Books make sure you buy a copy...

Congratulations Winona.

We love you!

Queen Marie

Wendy And Le Blob

Generally speaking I don't allow myself to think about jewellery. For me jewellery, in gold or silver, is a total luxury and one I have rarely allowed myself - most of my jewellery, though none of it blindingly expensive, has been gifts, mostly from the Queen Mum.

I appreciate jewellery from afar. One day perhaps, when I am a famous and wealthy something, I shall treat myself to an incredible piece of jewellery, ideally the black onyx skull ring from the gorgeous Wendy Brandes. I have thought about that ring many times! If I were the marrying kind of girl, that would be my wedding ring.

Of course if I were in a position to buy that ring myself I would have to have a few other pieces too.

The reason I love Wendy's pieces is the thought and research she puts into them, which is why I am espcially enamoured by the Vivat Regina collection where she gives us lots of history about the person who inspired the piece.

When an email dropped into the Kingdom inbox telling us about a jewellery designer/shop called Le Blob, I visited the site because the name seemed somewhat odd and I was very curious as to how attractive 'blob' jewellery would be! I was actually more than pleasantly surprised.

The designs aren't so much blobby as simple and organic. There are no harsh or straight lines - all the precious metal is beautifully fluid. Of course my eyes lit up when I saw there were bone designs in there too.

My two favourite pieces are the claw ring and the bone necklace.

Queen Michelle

Sound Garden

As you can imagine, with a Palace with two people who can DJ living in it headphones are pretty important to us. Prince B and I are sound nazis and take our headphones seriously, although I tend to be swayed more towards what they look like at times rather than the ambient noise reduction.

Currently the DJ phones we are using are some severely beat up Sennheiser HD280 Pro's. They are pretty ugly but the spec was good for the price. I must admit that when it came time to buying them I did whine "but the Sony MDR-V700DJ's are soooo much prettier!", however I went with the Sennheisers because I knew they'd get trashed and they have actually lasted amazingly well.

For normal iPod/laptop listening I am currently use Sony MDR-V150's which have excellent sound quality, but do look a tad dull. So I had a poke around t'internet to see if I could find some more aesthetically pleasing headphones.

80's Purple came up with the goods with these Eskuche phones. They look real purty in rose gold!
Also loving these orange and white WESC ones, also from 80's Purple. These also claim to be suitable for DJing. They look good enough to eat, but don't look very sturdy for DJing in my opinion. I could be wrong of course.

Most exciting though are these AudioChi headphones, a pair of which I happen to have gotten my grubby mitts on. Not only are they amazing to look at, the sound quality is absolutely superb; crisp, clear with excellent noise reduction - they will definitely block out all the annoying noises on the bus!

They come in an array of colours with the most divine quilting detail on the arch.

They may be small but they sure pack a punch:

• 40mm Titanium Mylar drivers
• Frequency response: 16~22KHz
• 32 ohm impedance
• 1.2m detachable cable
• Rated power: 30mW
• Maximum power: 100mW (1.79V)
• Sensitivity: 113 dB +/- 3 dB
• Channel balance:  +/- 3 dB at 1 KHz

I couldn't use them to DJ but when they look this good I wouldn't want to shove them into a record bag anyway.

If actual headphones don't excite you much then how about this lovely beanie with headphones applique?

Or pehaps this cracking poster?

Queen Michelle

Here And Beyond

And Beyond is the brainchild of designers Jolanda van den Broek and Brigitte Hendrix who both graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam.

Their current collection, entitled The Undaunted, explores the symbolism of the flag. Upon looking at the collection I admit that, aside from the shapes and billowing fabrics, I didn't quite see the correlation between the symbolism and the garments. I am assuming the delicious flame palette on some pieces represents the burning of flags perhaps? Not sure, however it doesn't detract from the fact I think the collection is very wearable which is possibly because they haven't gotten too conceptual when exploring their idea.

Queen Michelle