COLUMBIA ROAD FLOWER MARKET

 There’s no doubt that East London’s Columbia Road flower market is the place to be on a Sunday, just a short walk away from Brick Lane’s PUMA YARD, it hosts live music, a farmers market, coffee pit stops, cafe’s and of course, the flower stalls overspilling with freshly cut or grown greenery. The sound of merchants trying to out shout each other is deafening as you walk down Columbia Road (GET YOUR ROSES £5 A BUNCH!), and always brings a smile to my face. 

For lunch I stopped by Printers and Stationers, an old printing workshop converted into an eatery just off the square where you can watch the buskers play, it’s the perfect chill out spot for a beer a beer and pulled pork sandwich, as well as being just around the corner from the fresh Oyster bar. The flower market is open from 8am to 4pm on Sundays only.   

Helpful tip: turn up around 4pm, closing time, for bunches of flowers for £2 or £3!

YARD SNAP

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Wearing: Yohji Yamamoto trench, Theory dress, Celine shoes, MFP bracelet, Miu Miu sunglasses

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Last Saturday the UK blogging clan got together for a yard sale in Susie’s yard (pictured above), the whole day was a lot of fun, if not a little hard core in the morning with bargain hunters queuing from 9.30am! You’ve got to be in it, to win it, eh? In the afternoon it was barbecues and sunshine and we all got to relax a little. The sale came at the perfect time for me, as I’d just moved house, I was ruthless with my selling; my highest price being £50 for some Nicholas Kirkwood shoes! Thank you to those who made it, it was a pleasure meeting all of you and I’m already seriously looking forward to the next one! 

Photos by Kit Lee

GOING FOR GREY

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Wearing: A.F. Vandevorst dress, Hussein Chalayan X PUMA shoes

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I only recently found out that Hussein Chalayan was the creative director for PUMA! When choosing some pieces from the PHC collection I felt I couldn’t pass up these beautiful grey leather high tops, availably exclusively at the PUMA Carnaby Street store. Having a look through his past collections for the brand, it’s definitely the shoes that are continually catching my eye; minimal aesthetic but practical and comfortable, it’s a perfect match I think!

Thanks to Jen for the photos! 

WAISTCOATAPHOBIA

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Wearing: Haider Ackermann waistcoat, Acne tank, skirt made by me, Alexander Wang brogues, Miu Miu sunglasses, Helmut Lang cuff, Dominic Jones beetle ring

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I’ve had this waistcoat in my wardrobe for well over a year, whilst I love the minimal design, I’ve been finding it tricky to wear and it’s only so far seen the light of day once. I think I feel this way about all waistcoats; they are quite dressy and almost feel like an unnecessary addition to an outfit. I finally triumphed yesterday, by wearing this piece with a simple sheer tank and plain skirt. Yay to not being a waistcoataphobe anymore!

Thanks Jen for the photos! 

EASY PEASY MANICURE

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Wearing: Mood by Me shirt, complex geometries skirt, Nail varnish by Barry M and Chanel

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The manicure I’m addicted to at the moment is this super easy DIY; you just cut triangle shapes out of masking tape and stick them over your cuticles, all you need to do then is paint over the top and peel off! I’m loving having the underneath triangle natural, but it would work so well with other colours too. So far this week I’ve had grey and then last night switched to navy satin, but what I’m really craving is a matt/shiny combo. I need to get myself some matt top coat ASAP!

LIFE’S A BEACH

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Wearing: PUMA hat, Yohji Yamamoto trench, Alexander Wang tank, Jil Sander trousers

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Last Saturday I headed to the Roundhouse in Camden, for their Pop-up beach with some friends. It was insanely hot (I soon ditched the black trench), so we grabbed a jug of Pimms and some deckchairs and lay out to sizzle. It as pretty surreal being surrounded by sun and sand, with London’s city scape just about visible over the pastel crates, and yet still very relaxing.

The beach is open for August so head down there when you have a few free hours. There’s quite a family vibe in the morning but as soon as the 2 for 1 cocktails start, people soon crawl out of the woodwork.

Thank you to Matthew for the shots of moi 

YARDSALE

This time next week I’ll be scooping up my bags and heading over to Susie’s yard! I’m moving house.. today, so have been scrupulously sifting through my wardrobe, trying to narrow it down to pieces that I actually wear.

I seem to love collecting hats, despite the fact that I never really wear them! I’ll be selling my ACNE leather cowboy hat seen here, and my Jaeger trucker hat, because hats should not just be decorative objects, they should be loved too! I think we’re planning on having food, drink and even live music; so come to the yard, even just to hang out for the festival vibes. See you next week!

HIGH SUMMER

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Wearing: PUMA top, skirt made by me, Celine shoes, Moxham bracelet, Dominic Jones rings, Miu Miu sunglasses

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The weathers been pretty amazing this last week, I got to enjoy it by heading down to the countryside mid week for my Brother’s graduation/Mum’s birthday. I spent a lot of time enjoying the sun in my Auntie’s beautiful garden with a glass of wine. One day holiday!

All I want to be wearing right now is a white tee or simple shirt, I knew when I picked out this PUMA top it would be perfect for the heat, as well as being drawn the to the perforated back and sleeve panels, which felt like perfect SS12 wear. I’m also really into the unusual neckline, that and it’s increasable which is perfect for me. As for the skirt, I made it in half an hour before leaving for the train; you know when you need something and you just don’t have it? I need to do this 30 minute makeover more often!

Thanks to my Mum, the birthday girl for helping me out with these shots!

THE LAUNCH OF PUMA YARD

On Friday night I headed down to the opening of PUMA YARD on Brick Lane, the interactive new space from PUMA Social. The anticipation has been building up around east London with Brick Lane walls painted, and pointing you to the Jamaican themed social club. 

There’s lots to see and do on entry, from dozens of rum cocktails to try, incredible Jamaican barbecue food- I tried the curried goat with plantain, which was awesome, as well as a sprint track, photo booths, a Bob Marley Listening Wall with headphones plugged into shoes, and games tables with everything from checkers to ping-pong. 

Groove Armada supported by Redlight and Kissy Sell Out played the headline set on the launch night, who were totally incredible, the perfect music to dance the night away to, and I can’t quite remember dragging my ass home after a few of those delicious cocktails! 

There’s a lot more amazing events to come from the Boiler room at Truman Brewery- where all the PUMA YARD events will be hosted over the next 17 days, from live music from Professor Green to Cool Rummings (a cocktail making competition to complete a rum cocktail in the time Jamaica took to lap the bob sled course)

I’ll be heading down over the week so hope to see you guys there! 

Check PUMA YARD for more event details.

SHOWING YOU MY WARDROBE

Sorry for kind of dropping off the face of the earth this week, I’ve been busy blogging for Puma, which I’m very excited about; posts will be emerging soon enough! In the meantime here are some outfits I shot with Kit Lee this week for Jackie Dixon’s Show Me Your Wardrobe. Some of my favourite outfits at the moment and always black and white, it’s only when I laid my five outfits on the bed that I thought oh jeez! I’ve got a monochrome addiction.

Thank you so much Kit and Jackie for featuring me!