FairyFiligree

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Love Yourself

How much do YOU love yourself?

beauty infographic v2 1 Cost of Beauty Infographic

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Loving shoes whilst blogging means looking out for new designs and designers. Discovering Pol Engels, designer of what is so far a little known brand from Belgium called Biography, has been an interesting experience. He describes his shoes as 'a representation of someone's life', born with the desire to be as unique and individual as possible. Started in 2006, the Italian-made shoes are especially designed to emphasise the quirkiness, the magic and the distinctiveness of the wearer. That is quite a statement which I feel explains so much about why and how women choose the shoes they wear on their feet.

Pol Engels graduated at the Antwerp Fashion Academy together with fellow students Martin Margiela, Dries Van Nooten and Ann de Meulemeester. In the years after his graduation he built a solid reputation as an artist and designed costumes for theatre maker Jan Fabre.

Pol Engels in his showroom

Those in the know in Belgium, appreciate that the designer is more of an artist who's not so much into promoting his brand as he is into creating fantasy shoes, even though he's had the opportunity to show them off on a large scale - in collaboration with Galliano and Martin Margiella.

The brand is called 'Biography by Engels-Strijbol'. Biography in fact consists of a designer duo, namely Pol Engels and Katrien Strijbol who is also the co founder of the lovely fashion label 'Just in case'.

Biography shoes are not for sale in shops but through presentations. During these presentations you can try the shoes and have the shoes of your choice made to order. This way of working gives you the chance to order designer shoes at a reasonable price. Pol also designs amazing dance shoes for those who like Tango and Salsa!

Here is where you can find more Biography shoes to enjoy...

https://www.facebook.com/engelsstrijbol.biography?fref=ts

http://www.virtualshoemuseum.com/exclusive-workshop-presentation-shoe-label-biography

And here is a promo shot in a day in East London - Enjoy the show.....

http://vimeo.com/54622451

Thursday, November 8, 2012

The Dala Horse

Thanks to QuiltQuints

I discovered the Dala Horse thanks to my son's Swedish girlfriend, to my trip to Sweden and to the great many times this tiny colourful horse turned up in all things Swedish. This horse represents small carved wooden horses which were actually toys created for small children in Sweden. A legend says that the first Dala Horse toy was created some time in the early 1700s during a war. A hungry soldier asked a family for food and in return he created a little wooden horse as a thank you. For every meal, he would make a horse.....Such a sweet story isn't it? Now the Dala Horse is part and parcel of Swedish tradition and you see this form on so many lovely items. I picked some of the best I could find to share with you....

Thanks to designbirdie

Thanks to QuiltwhinnyTrails

Thanks to SwedeHeartCreations

Thanks to AliceinStitchesArts

Thanks to lovehandmade

Thanks to MonkVintage

Thanks to fromparistohelsinki

Monday, October 22, 2012

Quality, ladies.... Quality

Remember those round tins of Quality Street chocolates? Which ones do you always pick and choose from the selection?

Friday, October 12, 2012

With Silver round my Neck

Maltese Filigree is experiencing a slow revival thanks to the creation of innovative jewellery made in the traditional way using sterling silver. This is a small selection of extraordinary hand crafted silver collar necklaces, which, apart from being the latest in fashion musts, are simply too exquisite to ignore.

Ravishing, original, delicate and sturdy at the same time.

All the necklaces shown here are made by filigree maker Kevin Attard.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The Roaring Twenties

The 1920s, the Roaring '20s as they were called, have inspired me to create this blog post because the fashion styles of the era were simply so very stunning. Such refinery, such delicate hand-made items... Here is what I found on Etsy. You can find the links to more pictures of each item at the very bottom of this post....