Kingdom Of Style

Full-On Fulton

Scottish designer, Holly Fulton, who graduated in 1999 from Edinburgh College of Art with a BA (Hons) in Fashion, going on to do her MA at the Royal College of Art in London, graduating in 2007, is definitely the mistress of embellishments.

For her latest collection, shown as part of Fashion East, she has collaborated with CRYSTALLIZED Swarovski Elements to help add the extra sparkle to her stand out collection.

Needless to say, anything that is influenced by Bauhaus or "art deco on crack" will get my attention!

The shapes are very modern even though they clearly reference the 20's and 30's - so no flapper dresses in sight.

The mosaic work on her pieces are quite spectacular with laser cut perspex and massive sequins and of course lots of lovely geometric shapes. She's clearly a girl who like to celebrate clothing and it's ability to be bold and bejewelled.

Queen Michelle

Length Of Sheer

For summer I have been longing for a full length sheer skirt - light and airy but with lots of leg coverage. Strangely though long sheer skirts are actually quite hard to find. But of course whenever I want something which is normally quite tricky to source I can be sure that Dree from the Urban Collection will unearth the very gem required, and she did so with bells on.

This incredible sheer skirt with massive side ruffles arrived at my door on Saturday and is the perfect thing to keep me cool whilst keeping the old pins covered. It's obviously meant as evening wear but I slung it on with a really old tee shirt, one of my All Saints leather jackets and Nine West sandals and took the dogs out to play last night. The underskirt was long too but I shortened it so the transparency was more of a feature.

I may need to hack a wee bit off the length as I kept standing on it when I was chasing Bo around, but aside from that it's just perfect.

Queen Michelle

Thrifted Pickers

I popped out on Saturday afternoon to partake in a wee bit of local thrifting. It hasn't been all that good of late with charity shops now getting all seasonal on our asses, which omits any possibility of buying some nice autumny clothes for much cheapness. Instead they are inundated with hideous Primark printed jersey summer tops.

However I did scoop some seriously pointy winklepickers with a cowboy twist for £4.

A little bit Jil Sander, a little bit Lemmy, a whole lot of cheapness.

Queen Michelle

Trusty Tristan

I finally recieved my Tristan Blair wedges on Saturday. They are utterly amazing! Seriously, some of the most comfortable shoes I have ever tried on.

With me craving autumn so much I knew when I bought them back in April that I wanted to wear them with my Les Chiffoniers PVC leggings, Toast sequin waistcoat and a printed tee (in this instance my True tee, which I customised by hacking off the sleeves on a size large and taking it in at the sides, so it's more like a dress because it's a bit longer). It's a really simple, monochromatic oufit with a bit of gloss and shine. OK, it's not an ideal look for June but I'll be wearing it when the weather cools down so I can have some seriously shiny goodness. I will probably throw on a sequin blazer too.

The cuff detail at the top adds an extra wee bit of texture to the suede and patent leather.

And nothing beats prancing around in new shoes, taking photos whilst listening to a bangin' Jeff Mills/Rob Hood mix. Nice.

Queen Michelle

The Boys are Back in Town...

You never know where you are with a ninja!

I suppose that's the point. They are all about stealth. But when you start talking about Ninja Turtles they are taking it to a whole other level.

My mutant ninja turtles have been M.I.A. since I moved to the Far East, taking with them all the little rabbits who make up my rabbit light-table.

As a result, I have been unable to recreate 'The Ninja Zone' in The Royal Garden.

I had looked high and low for them all without success.  But on Friday night I went back up to the loft and moved every single bin bag ( and you know how big that mountain is!) until I found them hiding out at the very back.

So I'm happy to tell you - those turtle boys are back in town...

So while it's off to the garden for the mutants, I'm off to blast some Thin Lizzy, the original bad boys who were back in town...

Queen Marie

Super Duper Sunday Treats...

It's Sunday, you're skint and you know a trip to the shops will result in spending money you don't have.

But still.  Still you want a little something. A trinket, a gee-gaw, a little something special that will put a smile on your face without putting a dent in your pocket.

Surely impossible I hear you say.

Well normally yes, but thanks to the lovely Louise who has a little etsy shop  filled with pretty things for paltry prices, you can give yourself a little sunday treat.

See you over there...

Leather Ribbon Cuff $5

Teacup Necklace $12

Little deer leather bow cuff $5

Leather Bow Tie Necklace $8 - 

(perfect for the dapper chap in your life. I can see Sir Midas cutting a dash in this)

Super and indeed duper.

Queen Marie

x

Bird in a Gilded Cage...

I have never had a pet bird, but that doesn't stop me loving decorative birdcages.

The charming site An Angel at my Table is full of lovely bird things that have me in a flutter...

Petit Oiseau Birdcage £25

Singing Bird in Cage £10

And my absolute favourite, a range of birdcage mirrors £45-£95

Dispatch one of everything to The Palace please.

Queen Marie

Anything but boring!!!

The hats made by the very talented milliner Belle in her etsy shop Boring Sidney are as far removed from boring as it is possible to be...

With a BA in Apparel Design and a Minor in Costume Design, Belle has had the opportunity to design costumes for some 25 plays or musicals over the last 18 years, several ballets, independent film, and a magic show.It was in the theatre that she learned the art of Millinery. It is with a love for the bizarre and quirky, a solid sense of humor, and a driving need to create, that she started Boring Sidney/Belle Millinery 10 years ago. True millinery; hand blocking, creating hat blocks, steaming and building buckram frames is almost a lost art, having apprenticed under a master milliner in the theatre she was lucky enough to learn old world millinery techniques and acquire vintage hat blocks, trims, and fabrics.
Now you have the chance to have her 'dress your head' too.

How could you not love a headpiece called Stigmata $48.00

Rites of Spring $95.00, perfect for summer too!

Dorothy Parker $166.00 witty and wonderful

Queenie $95 - don't mind if I do...

Bella Bella Belle!

Queen Marie

x

On the horns of a dilemma...

For the last couple of weeks, I have been on the horns of a dilemma.

Actually, antlers of a dilemma would be more accurate.

From the very minute I gazed upon the 'antlered beauty' headpiece by the stunningly

 talented Boring Sidney I could think of nothing else...

It wasn't that I wanted antlers, I needed antlers!

So last night I gave in to the inevitable and bought me some.

I can hardly wait for them to arrive or to see my fathers face when he saunters in and catches me wearing them. Oh deep deep joy.

I promise to take proper pictures when they arrive.

Queen Marie

x

Never say never...

In The Kingdom, we have saying - "it's fashion, never say never"...

Some of you may remember away back in December 2007, I pleaded for help with my animal print problem...

Hello! My name is Marie and I have an animal print problem...

It all started innocently enough. A little splash of cowprint. Nothing too heavy, I could handle it...

Then someone offered me some giraffe. 

"No big deal" they said. So I said  "sure, crash me some giraffe..."

The next thing I knew, the lurex zebra was being passed around. Still cool. I know what I'm doing.

I'll only do this in the privacy of the palace, I'd never do it outside. I can handle it...

Then before I knew where I was, I was thinking "I'd like to do some Leopard"

At that point, Queen Michelle staged an intervention saying -

"If you even as much as bring a SLIVER of leopard print into your palace I will know and will punish you! It'll be off to bad taste rehab for you young lady!! 

Don't make me come up that hill....

Posted by: Queen Michelle | Saturday, 15 December 2007 at 20:36"

Fast forward a year and a half and all of a sudden everything's changed. It seems all the cool kids are doing animal print...

"It was this collection that basically started the cogs turning in my head about the possibility of introducing some animal prints back into my wardrobe" Queen Michelle

Luckily for her, my lurex zebra print dress never saw the outside world, so it shall be dispatched to her palace for her to take apart and remake in a zebratastic DIY.

Looking forward to seeing what she does...

Queen Marie