Kingdom Of Style

Park Life

I do like a morning walk in the park with the Royal Hounds. I live near several pretty and leafy parks which makes me feel a little like I'm in the countryside without having to endure the isolation of the actual countryside.

Sunday morning was a perfect park day. Sunny but not too hot and reasonably quiet. As much as I like the park, it cannot beat how much Amber likes the park. She lives and breathes it! One day I shall film Amber on the way to the park - never a more excited dog will you set eyes upon! Mostly the excitement revolves around the fact she gets to play with her ball.

Amber The Amazing Acrobatic Dog. Even I didn't realise the park could be this much fun!

Queen Michelle

Fashion Rocks

We have all been very exposed to Susie Bubbles wardrobe - from her many outfits posts on Style Bubble, and some will have seen her outfits posts on The Fashion Spot or other wardrobe based show and tell type sites. But there is one single thing I covet in Susie's wardrobe from the very second I set eyes upon it. Her pair of vertical striped black and white tights. I'm not sure where she got them, but I knew I had to hunt down a pair for myself.

After coming across millions of pairs of horizontal stripes I finally found a pair from a site called Sock Dreams. Unfortunately they were hold ups and not tights, but beggars can't be choosers so I ordered them anyway and they are great, except they aren't very long. More like almost thigh high socks, therefore not much use in short skirt scenarios. So I turned to good old Celeste Stein, and she did indeed have a pair of vertical striped tights in her vast collection.

I got the Sock Dream ones about a month or so ago and have worn them through the city centre to work without any comments or snickering. However, on Saturday Queen Marie and I went to the Glasgow Craft Mafia craft and vintage fare at the Queen Margaret Union then onto the Barras in search of some vintage bargains. That's when I ran into the comments and stares.

To be blunt most of the people who frequent the Barras are a not exactly the brightest bunch however considering how famed these 'rough diamond' Glaswegian types are for their patter, I was at least expecting some funny and original remarks. Not so. Three counts of "stock of rock" (ho, ho, never would have thought of that one) and two "stripey tights!" (really?? I didn't notice!) I was getting really bored by the obvious, unimaginative quips.

By the time we had found ourselves inside a little bit selling antiques I clocked four men in their late 40's whispering and nudging to each other and staring over. I was left no option but to turn and shout over "yes, I am wearing striped tights". Needless to say that put their gas at a peep.

Why are people so insular? How can a pair of bloody striped tights illicit such shock and horror when we see people walking along the street with huge knife slashes across their faces, yet no-one bats and eyelid at that?

All these people do is make me more determined to wear them. Idiots.

Queen Michelle

1989 the number another summer...

The charming Rebekah of the splendid Fashion-Stylist tagged me to share my seven songs of summer.

As I type the rain is pissing down and the wind is howling down the chimney, but were I to hear any of the following, it would seem like summer in my head...

1. Fight the Power - Public Enemy
(Makes me think of festivals especially T in the Park)

2. Summertime - Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince
(Can't argue with a feel good classic pop tune)

3. Just in Time - Frank Sinatra
( Feels like a drowsy afternoon, daydreaming)

4. Knights of The Jaguar - Rolando
( Dancing in the Campsies as the summer sun was rising. Truly truly 'a moment')

5. Daylight - Kelly Rowland
(No snobbery in The Kingdom, this is a laid back slice of modern summer)

6. Are you going with me - Pat Metheny
( For when you have been up all night, it's about 8am, lying on a sofa with someone special, talking quietly and you just start to drift into sleep. Bliss)

7. West Side Story - Leonard Bernstein
(Singing loudly, dancing madly, pretending I am both a Shark and a Jet)

Feel free to share the sound of your summer.

Right, I am off to put the central heating and a jumper on.

Queen Marie

A step too far...

Far far too far!

Sometimes I come across things on the wonderful interweb that are so wrong, that I shout NO NO NO at the screen. But when I came across Heelarious I realised I would have to call in the big guns. This calls for Sister Wolf and some extreme language - go sister!

Apparently these 'high heel crib shoes for babies' are extremely funny, completely soft, fully functional and May cause extreme smiling and hysterical laughter when in use (this is completely normal).

I gotta tell you, I'm not smiling or laughing...

Queen Marie

Bringing bathtubs back to life...

I love it when designers find another use for an object that may otherwise go to a sad end.
Here is another one.
Clever but expensive at £2620, brought to you by product designer Max McMurdo of reestore

Reestore is a line of green products based on the recycling of old home products. Taking everyday waste objects and turning them into charming yet functional pieces of furniture and accessories, Reestore attempts to “avoid traditional eco materials in favor of contemporary finishes, fabrics, and, above all, style.”

Clever and cool but I don't know how comfy it would be!

Queen Marie

A new ring in the City of Kings...

The lovely Stacey from Lapisette wrote to tell me about their new concept collection 'Form'
Each month they will create a new ring representing their idea of form and nature as one solid piece, combining intricate, organic shapes found in nature with solid sterling silver. The ring captures a stone's pure silhouette with an uninterrupted material and finish.

This is FORM ONE which will cost $275

For some reason this ring makes me think of the white city of Minas Tirith in The Lord of The Rings

Which would make it perfect for The King of Men and A Queen of the Kingdom of Style

Queen Marie

Just for the record...

We love vinyl.
We hold it in highest and eternal esteem.
But sadly we know, not everyone feels the same.
Some people even throw their old records away.
This makes us sad. But what makes us happy is when someone does something to give these poor discarded records a second lease of life.
Coming back as a cake stand! Yum Yum!

Brought to you by those clever girls at Lunacy for £30

Another super clever idea are handmade cd cases made of recycled records, made by artyfakt on etsy.
At only $52, each one is unique and I love love love them.

Strangely, I have this very Sergio Mendes record and if anyone tried to turn it into a cake plate or box, I would have them locked up in the tower so fast, their head would spin for a week. Tee Hee

Queen Marie

Every minute counts...

The last Subculture of the month is always a special one because Domsco is back in town.

To make sure that I enjoy every single dancing minute, there will be no disco naps and no resting of eyes! I plan to be down nice and early to dance away the cares of the week gone by!
Sir Samuel Beckett once said - Dance first, Think later! It's the natural order...

So make sure you dance tonight wherever you may be...

Queen Marie

Don't mess with the mafia!

Especially the Glasgow Craft Mafia!
They'll stich you up good*

Queen Michelle and I shall be in attendance today and in view of our penury will hopefully not be tempted beyond endurance. If you are in town, you too should visit!

Queen Marie

(* I was obviously channeling our dear chum enc when I made this quip)

come on and touch...

The charming Jonny from Weber Shandwick got in touch a couple of weeks ago and asked if I would like to 'have a play' with the new Samsung F480 phone.
I said it would be my pleasure as I am a sucker for Samsung and all their shiny blackness

As shiny and black as my beloved tv

In the Kingdom we always say - "God is in the details"
and I have to say Samsung have paid attention to some details and seem to have totally missed others.
The box and packaging is a designers dream. The stock is GF Smith colourplan or some other delicious thing and it made opening the box a total delight. The phone itself too is a delightful little black box and the large screen bright, shiny and lovely.
This phone is packed full of gadgets, most of which I have still to use! A 5meg camera, fm radio, mp3 music player to name but a few. What makes this phone special is the touchscreen. To be perfectlty honest although the touchscreen menu functions really well, I find the scrolling through a bit jumpy and keep having to scroll back and forward until I find what I want. This could just be due to the fact that I am a bit clumsy, but practise may cure that.
I found it strange that in view of the camera function and the delicous big screen, that the phone did not come with a carrying case or pouch. I have taken to carrying mine in a little red silk pouch

Called 'Tocco' which is Italian for touch, this little phone is well worth touching up. Fnar Fnar.

Queen Marie

ps - HOLY SHAZAM BATMAN!

I forgot to mention THE BEST thing! - the phone has built in music recognition. You just record a little snippet of the song, wait a minute and up it pops with the artist and title. Sometimes even with an image! I tried it with a really old obscure DMX Krew thing and up it popped. GENIUS!!!!