Magazine Addiction

I have to admit I am an absolute sucker for glossy magazines – sadly it’s an affliction I have suffered my entire adult life!  For many years I carted around boxes of magazines that I could not bear to part with, and after 14 house moves fate decided to take a hand.  Unknown to us, the then house had a natural spring under the garage floor, after an autumn of several weeks of rain the spring spouted forth!  The boxes holding the magazines were soaked leaving a proportion of the collection ruined.  As disappointed as I was it was apparent that I finally move on and stop hoarding.  A major clear-out was in order, surprisingly the experience was very therapeutic, plus we suddenly had a garage.  I still buy more magazines than I should, but the only title I now keep is ‘The World of Interiors’.  Other titles are passed on - better someone else enjoys the pleasure. 

Last weekend I was in Bath and bought a couple of the quarterly mags, issue 7 of ‘Port’, a global publication that mixes the traditional and contemporary, it is marked as ‘Intelligent’ magazine for men, yes it is very slick with well written and researched articles proving a very eclectic mix.  This issue has an interiors profile of the late ‘Joseph Ettedgui’ known as the creator of modern retail and who built the eponymous chain of ‘Joseph’ shops.  I have to say his stylish west London penthouse that he shared with his family is the model of elegant restraint as were his clothes.  The magazine’s editorial is different – one article that stands out is ‘Corpses’ a letter from New Orleans, recounting the problems of burying the deceased!  The closing page interview with Philip Parker, MD & head cutter at Henry Poole & Co in Savile Row is enlightening.

My other purchase was issue 14 of ‘Acne Paper’, published bi-annually by super cool Stockholm based fashion label Acne.  Initially it reminds me of the original Andy Warhol ‘Interview’ mag in format.  This issue is totally dedicated to the Manhattan district of New York, it’s a fairly weighty coffee table style book, printed on matt tactile paper.  The photographic layouts are absolutely superb.  There’s a funny and honest interview with ‘Simon Doonan’ creative ambassador for Barneys department store New York, his window displays always have the ability to shock and inspire.  Photo essays of New York movers & shakers by Brigitte Lacombe, a feature on the delicious Manhattan Cocktail, beautiful fashion shoot in Central park by Andreas Larsson.  There certainly is a lot to read in this gorgeous publication, plus it offers a wonderful insight to life in New York.

Shropshire Bound

All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy!  Recent days off from running the shop has been spent making major changes to what was the gift & accessories room.  It has been refurbished and fitted to accommodate relaxed casual footwear for men/women plus cool clothes for kids age 8 – 12 by must have label ‘Scotch & Soda’ mini me range ‘Shrunk Scotch’ & ‘Scotch Re Belle’.  Now that it’s finished a proper day off was needed. 

In a previous business of ours we stocked Baileys Homeware  & Garden, having only ordered stock at trade shows we had never visited their emporium near Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire.  Their recent award by The Telegraph Magazine as winner of ‘Best Homewares Retailer’ prompted me to think we should pay a visit.  From Tetbury it’s a fairly straightforward trip – only bottleneck is passing through Gloucester.  We arrived at Bridstow in 1.25 hours.  Baileys is housed in a cluster of sympathetically restored farm buildings.  The ethos of founders Mark & Sally is to recycle and reuse bringing life to old objects; in fact they have published two successful books on the subject.  The emporium is a series of quirky rooms full of simple, stylish not over designed items for the home – plus a wonderful selection of reconditioned vintage items.   The choice of products is amazing, from a mundane ball of string to a deep comfy sofa perfect for that duvet day.

We finished off the visit with a light lunch in the ‘Tabernacle Tearoom’ which is a reconstructed defunct corrugated-iron chapel  that has been turned in to a lovely light airy café.  Don’t expect gastro food & fancy coffees – just good honest homemade sandwiches, soup, and a selection of cakes, we had smoked chicken & rocket rolls, cafetiere of coffee – everything was delicious. 

Tabernacle Tearoom

After lunch we drove to Hay-on-Wye which is a favourite destination.  The journey is pleasant as the Welsh Border countryside is breathtakingly beautiful.  I find Hay-on-Wye is always busy even on a dull day as it was for us.  Hay is known as ‘The Town of Books’, every other shop is a bookseller – absolute mecca for bookworms!  Each year there is the ‘HayLiterary Festival’ with British & international authors giving talks about their latest works.  The town itself has an interesting mix of architectural styles; there is a strong bohemian vibe in the air – ideal for those who have a laidback attitude to life.  The journey home was approximately two hours.  Another point worth mentioning is that this part of England is landlocked without good motorway connections; property prices are lower, making this the perfect destination for those wanting to retreat & escape the speed of modern life.

Choccywoccydoodah

After spending a long but productive day visiting fashion agencies south & north of the Thames buying for spring/summer 2013 it was time for some respite.  We had a couple of hours before catching the late train home and decided to indulge in a little retail therapy.  First call was Selfridges; it always has a very invigorating vibe – loud music pumping out putting shoppers into a relaxed spending mood!  My mission was to find new spectacle frames, I have been looking for a while and as I wear them throughout the day I am particular about how they look so the style had to be right.  On the top floor is ‘David Clulow Opticals’, perfect for finding specs with a point of difference.  After several try-ons I finally settled for a pair of ‘Philippe Starck’ for Alain Mikli a French brand, strangely I had bought the same brand in Paris several years ago – probably the Francophile in me.  A must in Selfridges is the W.H. Smith concession, here you will find all the glossy fashion titles that are hard to track down, we bought issue 2 of Rankin ’Hunger’ mag and a new title ‘Bespoke’.  

Bosideng

Oxford street is always busy with pedestrians so we take a detour via South Molton Street, as you enter on the right is ‘Bosideng’ menswear store an amazing piece of architecture built on the site of  nondescript  60’s pub.  Next door is the legendary ‘Browns Fashion’ emporium, in the men’s window I spied a coat to covet by ‘Ann  Demeulemeester’ – it’s on my wish list.  Next stop was Liberty’s department store, our all-time favourite, never fails to inspire – really clever displays & stock chosen with an educated discerning eye.  At the back of Liberty’s is the world famous destination Carnaby Street and just off to the left is Fouberts Place.

  

Choccywoccydoodah

I had read about ‘Choccywoccydodah’ the quirky, fun, but very decadent cake/chocolate shop which started in Brighton.  The interior is totally off the wall & wacky; on sale are specialist one-off sculptured fantasy cakes & chocolate gifts.  I adore marshmallows and could not resist buying a large bag of fruit flavour ones.  It was time to head over to Paddington and home.  Our next London fix won’t be too long as we have to return a week later to finish our buying for spring/summer 2013.

London Town

Recent trips to London have been very arduous to say the least.  We find ourselves leaving Tetbury at 7am for an 11am appointment.  After Slough the volume of traffic on the M4 slows the journey down – then there is worse to come in central London – just bumper to bumper.  The other drawback is the £38 parking fee, £10 congestion charge – makes it an expensive trip.  Friends had suggested it might be more cost effective & much quicker by train.  Having decided to let “the train take the strain” I checked out the website of Raileasy and found to my amazement a return ticket travelling from Kemble to Paddington for £40 – an offer I took up!  Kemble is only ten minutes from Tetbury & parking is easy.  Kemble has a great independently run station café serving bacon/sausage baps and really good coffee – perfect while waiting for the train which was departs at 09.19.  We arrived in Paddington at 10.37 – much quicker than driving.

The purpose of this trip was a mix of business and pleasure.  From Paddington we travelled by tube over to Holborn – pretty packed with visitors going to the Olympic Games at Stratford.  We left the tube and walked over to Lambs Conduit Street, Bloomsbury to our first appointment at the “Oliver Spencer” showroom.  We have admired this label for a long time – his signature is ‘seen but not heard’ which sits perfectly alongside our ever growing menswear brands. 

Thornback & Peel Rugby Street

French's Dairy

Interior of Ben Pentreath

Interior of Ben Pentreath 

The French House

Lambs Conduit Street

Lambs Conduit Street

After placing the order for spring/summer 2013 we decided to explore the area.  The atmosphere is slightly bohemian – no boring lack lustre chain stores, but interesting diverse shops run by like-minded people.  There’s a great choice of café/restaurants with pavement seating – perfect for people watching.  Just of Lambs Conduit Street is Rugby Street which has a good selecting of interesting shops French’s Dairy now a costume jewellery shop run by Maggie Owen, from who we have bought wholesale when we sold jewellery.  Her jewellery brands always had a point of difference.  Two doors down from Maggie is Ben Pentreath a small shop crammed full of carefully chosen products and a variety of antiques.  We bought a set of sturdy robust ‘Perigord’ wine glasses as we are forever breaking glassware.  Ben has an excellent blog that is well worth following.

The Courtyard Royal Academy

It was time to head over to central London for an appointment with ‘Nicole Farhi’.  We have rested this label for two seasons.  The spring/summer collection is strong and back on track, aware that our customers would like to see it back in store; we placed an order for 2013.  After Farhi we had engineered some free time by booking a later train home and went to Royal Academy Summer Exhibition - a must each year.  The first work you see is in the central courtyard ’From Landscape To Portrait’ by Chris Wilkinson RA.  An extremely strong arresting statement made from timber, stainless steel & concrete.  Inside the central Wohl hall has been painted a rich red, perfect backdrop for the abstract paintings.  We made our way to The Associates Gallery,   which was hung with smaller works in a wave design.  Personally the large gallery didn’t work as I prefer to see the smaller works hung in the small ‘Weston Room’ it’s a far more intimate setting.  The show is extremely divers with work by both talented young & old.  We particularly like work ‘no: 623’ (£66,000) by Martin Creeds a green neon sign the word ‘Dogs’ which could be interpreted in a manner of many things.  A more affordable price bracket was ‘Street Painting’ of Bath by Francis Callaghan at £380.  One work I really coveted was ‘Larousse’ a book sculpture by AlexanderKorzer-Robinson at £2,000 – clever use of defunct old encyclopaedia book.

The Atrium at Fortnum's

En route back to the tube we hit the tourist trail and went to ‘Fortnum & Mason’ to view the gorgeous food and confectionary on display.  To avoid the crowds on Piccadilly we took the more refined route back to the tube via Jermyn Street.  Here you will find Paxton &Whitfield Cheesemongers who have been trading for 200 hundred years, also English perfumers ‘Floris’ who have been trading for 280 years.  The tube was packed, at Paddington we met up with a friend Jo Clark (photographers agent) for coffee and a catch-up at ‘Paul’ French bakery – staff very friendly but the coffee and hot chocolate was pretty awful – so don’t bother.  The train departed at 19.48 and we arrived at Kemble 21.19, definitely a much easier way to travel to London.

Fortnum's Confectionery

Fortnum's Clock

Jermyn Street

Jermyn Street

Visiting "Universal Works".

Viewing spring/summer collection 2013

Our spring/summer 2013 buying period has just started – our first visit has been to one of our favourite menswear brands “Universal Works”, a laidback slightly relaxed tailored look that takes inspiration from traditional British work wear clothing.   It’s not slavish to fashion trends – just simple classic cut clothes that are timeless.  In store soon will be the autumn/winter collection which we are confident will be a hit with our customers.  The colour pallet is muted tones of grey, khaki, blue jackets, chinos, shirts & knits made from natural fabrics and yarns.  The garments are not mass produced, but made by skilled workers in small factories. 

After placing our spring/summer order we made our way to 37 Lambs Conduit Street WC1 where Universal Works have just opened their first ever shop.  Here we met friendly & enthusiastic manager David who explained the ethos and concept of the store.  The interior is simple and low-key, perfect backdrop for the collection.  Stripped/distressed wood floor, white walls & quirky fittings – fireplace grate was filled with a display of socks.  The bold black “UV” wall/ceiling logo pulls the scheme together.  We are in no doubt the shop will be a success in this cool and stylish enclave of London.

Shop Interior

Making Of • Set Fashionology N°7 • AW 2012 Shoot

New to Fashion Dispensary this autumn/winter 2012 is German brand 'SET'.  This label totally embodies the "language of women's fashion" - the chicness of France, style of Italy combined with German expertise.  The designers have a cosmopolitan attitude - casual & self confident but extremely versatile, perfect for individuals with an eye for detail, harmony of colours & fabrics, premium brand quality at affordable price.  Watch the DVD for a preview of what we are stocking, creative director Maya Junger is wearing a gorgeous black leather biker jacket that we have ordered.  The models featured are Anna Selezvena and heartthrob Paraskevas Boubourakas.

Pastoral Idle

Being self-employed has lots of benefits, but in this economic climate there are highs & lows.  I spend six days working in our business, no holidays - that is survival!  Don’t feel too sorry, living and working here for the last eight years has lots of plus’s.  Tetbury is a beautiful historic Cotswold market town, largely made up of independent businesses.  Literally on the doorstep is the most gorgeous countryside imaginable, perfect for walking our bearded collie Hettie.  I thought it would be nice to share one of our favourite walks with you.

Hettie prepares to leave the house

St Mary's Church Tetbury

It was a glorious sunny day as we left the house heading down Silver Street over the Wiltshire Bridge towards the old tanyard and on to the fields.  Part of the walk takes us across the land of the Prince of Wales Duchy Estate.  The fields are organic pasture mixed with a plethora of wild flowers.  Hettie loves to roam free chasing deer, pheasants and retrieving sticks.  The beauty of this walk is that I rarely see anyone else - great for collecting your thoughts.  A favourite destination en route is the Highgrove Estate Close Farm ‘Veg Shed’ - recently relocated from Cherrington.  This purpose built shop/shed is a mecca for those that appreciate the value of organically grown produce.  We often buy a selection of vegetables to oven roast for supper.  Another must have are the freshly picked salad leaves ready to wash and devour; they really do have more flavour than the ready washed supermarket variety.

Horses graze in the adjacent field

'Bella' The Close Farm Shire Horse

Heading towards the Bath road

Bath Road

Bath Bridge 

Each Thursday Highgrove Close Farm has a large veg cart that is pulled into Tetbury by a Shire horse that also earns her keep working the land.  It’s parked by the old market house and is a magnet for locals and tourists.  Reading this you will probably think I have painted a picture of rural idle in this beautiful part of the Cotswolds.  Idyllic it is, but we have worked hard at our business over the last eight years thinking up new ideas to keep it fresh and one step ahead of  competitors so that we can  continue living and trading here.

Home!

Roasted Vegetables