Cold damp and grey. Winter means your feet must be kept warm (and dry) and yet look super stylish. Bye bye delicate shoes it's BOOT TIME!
So here are our top picks of black boots for you to feast your eyes on. (We have more boots in store, including some brown fluffy ones. It's SOOOOO Fluffy!)
Yes I admit, it isn't the most colourful display but we are working on that to jazz it up a bit.
So once again, from left to right -
LK Bennett. Size 6 (eur 39). Leather upper and soles. £42
Alberto Gozzi. Size 7 1/2 (eur 40 1/2). Leather and suede upper. Leather sole. £48
Plinks (we think it says that...hard to read). Size 6 (eur 39). £8
Tods. Size 5 (eur 38). Leather upper and soles. £60£20
Tony Bianco. Size 5 1/2 (eur 38 1/2). Leather upper. Man made sole. £22
5 pairs of boots and so here are 5 ways to wear them - 1. Tuck your jeans in for a casual day look. 2. Wear with bright coloured tights so that when you walk there are flashes of colour. 3. If wearing a dress or skirt, we suggest one that either sits couple of inches higher or just where the boot ends. 4. On your hands so you can walk on all fours. 5. Might have run dry of ideas at 3, so all we can say is wear them with confidence and strut your funky stuff when pounding the pavements!
And if like me you have had Nancy Sinatra singing 'These Boots are made for Walking', then congratulations on your earworm!
Bet you thought I was going to post a video....but no...you will have your earworm ALLLLLLLLLLLL day. Have fun with that! mwahahaha (that is our evil laugh btw.)
Christmas is coming and we are sharing the blog love with fundraising once again, to show off their yearly Light up a Life evening.
Join us at our annual Light up a Life carol service on Thursday 12 December. It’s a chance to take time out over the busy Christmas period to commemorate the lives of loved ones and remember those who are no longer with us. The evening begins at Trinity Hospice with the lighting of our Christmas tree at 6.45pm, followed by a candlelit procession to Holy Trinity Church for the service at 7.15pm. Guest speakers, including Trinity patron Huw Edwards, will be reading at the service. You are also more than welcome to join us afterwards for wine and mince pies.
Kindly sponsored by
For more information about the event please contact Catherine on 0207 7787 1012 or email csykes@trinityhospice.org.uk.
And now I have the urge for some mince pies....is it too early yet?!
We can't avoid it any more. Summer is long dead and it is now blooming cold here in London town. Bye bye lovely summery dresses, and hello lush layers and warm woolly jumpers!
Now we have moved and packed all the summer tops and skirts away, out come the mohair, cashmere and wool (and super static acrylic!) jumpers. Our jumper rail is topped up daily as customers empty it trying to stay warm, and look just as awesome as ever.
We think this jumper is a little bit special though.
Another lovely piece by Dries Van Noten, we have had fun styling this up many ways but decided that just on its own is fine to show it off at its best.
The loose knit, funnel necked jumper is mainly gunmetal grey, but with the smatterings of various colours in wools of varying thickness, we agree that it is perfect for jazzing up a neutral outfit. £55
Made from 100% wool, this 'medium' size 12 (eur 40) has a small, small amount of stretch, but we don't think it would fit a 14.
Over a crisp white shirt, with a turned up collar and navy or beige trousers/skirt is our best way of wearing it, but why not layer it with another thin knit jumper to be super warm? Or throw it over some jeans and t-shirt for a casual outfit.
Come on winter, do your worst. We are all designered up in wool!
This came in with the framed animal prints but we thought it deserved a post of it's own. This is larger than the other prints measuring 13 by 18 inches (34 by 46 cms approx) The print is the cover piece from the "The fairest of the fair" sheet music and the jolly bearded one needs to be loved. £34 Such a happy smiley beard.
It seems to be from 1856, written by William Brough this piece for the stage was published by Thomas German Reed. William Brough (28 April 1826 – 13 March 1870) was an English writer. As a dramatist, he wrote some of the earliest German Reed Entertainments, as well as Victorian burlesques, farces and other pieces. Here is a link to some of the sheet music itself if you fancy having a sing song
Another set of pictures for you to get excited about and decide you need on your wall. These 3 are all £20 each, although only 2 of them are a 'proper' pair, and even those could be easily sepertated and not look strange on their own. The 1st one is the bird one. "Le Merle Couleur De Rose" Dated as 1774. However with a lot of prints nowadays, they may be reproductions. (Part of me wishes they were as then it means a book hasn't been pulled apart to get the original prints from)
Even the lovely people who check things over for us are only "70% sure" they are originals. With a pink mount and thin wooden frame. 11 by 14 inches (28 x36cms) approx The 2nd and 3rd prints are of Pigs and a Zebu.
These are dated as 1799 as when they were published, but again only "70% sure" they are orignals as it is difficult to tell without taking them completely out of the frames (so they tell me). White mounts with thin black wooden frames. 12 by 15 inches (30 x 38cms) approx We hope you have enough wall space to fit these lovely prints in! Bye for now BG
Heads were designed for hats. Although my head seems too big for any of the hats we currently have in stock (no jokes about my big head, thank you very much!)
So for a quick showing off of a select few, Andreea is our very own hat model.
Hat 1 -
This is a green riding hat from Christy's, but as it is not new we are only selling it as fancy dress, and we must be strict on that. FANCY DRESS only. £10.
Hat 2 -
Perfect for Ascot or a winter wedding, this cream feathered design is the only 'wedding' style we have in at the moment. £18.
Hat 3 -
This rain hat is by J.Crew and a M/L, so looks rather large for Andreea, but it will definitely keep you dry from the wet. £12.
Hat 4 -
A 60s feel to this Accessorize wool peaked hat. £6.
Finally Hat 5 -
My favourite (as I have one like it, and yes it fits even my big head!) hat. Wool/Acrylic mix, lined in faux fur. This will keep your ears warm! £6.
As we like to entertain and show of what we have learnt (googled) we shall explain the term, Mad as a Hatter. Are you sitting comfortably? Then we shall begin. In 18th and 19th century England mercury was used when making felt, which was used to make hats of the time. People who worked in these hat factories were exposed daily to trace amounts of the metal, which accumulated within their bodies over time, causing some workers to develop dementia caused by mercury poisoning (called mad hatter syndrome). So there we go.
Also if this talk of hatters has made you think of Alice in Wonderland, then snap! I do love a good old Trailer...Bye for now
BG
So here we are - Just a bit too early for just red and white for Santa, so we added some navy to distract you from the fact that Christmas is coming! Still these colours always look great together and are always on trend at some point in the fashion calendar.
This is our Window Mark IV as every time we got around to finding an outfit, pieces were sold before they even hit the dummies! So sadly you don't get to see the Gap cashmere jumper or the Topshop blue with red spots dress, or the Red boots! But don't think this is second best?! (Or forth best as it is...) We always dress to impress and to catch the eye of everyone passing.
All rather patriotic...
So here we go from lefttoright... Red H&M dress £10 Zara red frill top £4 Paul Smith cardigan £20 Topshop navy and white trim skirt £4 ASOS blue dress (New) £15 Spotty skirt (under dress) £3 White and cream J.Crew t shirt £6 Red jumper £5 Scarf £6 Navy Hobbs trousers £8
Shoes from £5!
The copper pot is very funky, and is £30 Let it be, or fill with some loooooong stemmed floral/twigs for an interesting centre piece,
OK. Bit of a murky weathered Monday, but finally here we are with some of the donations from the AMAZING designer bag mentioned loooong ago.
Another funky YSL 2 piece suit for your viewing pleasure. (Yes Yes I know that it has been at least 3 months since the other spotty YSL suit was posted and sold, but we needed things looked at, to the get the best money for you and for Trinity!)
This one is rather 80's and the frills and pattern take it from simple suit and fun and funky.
Musical black and white print rayon and while the jacket is lined the skirt is not.
Our price £150
Size 10 (eur 38)
This skirt suit has no defects, but the zip on the skirt is stiff. It does work though. Just needs some 'oiling' with a pencil. (handy trick that) Ruffled peplum and shawl collar. Jacket has shiny black plastic button closures. Saint Laurent Rive Gauche label
Monochrome is always in fashion, so why not invest in some vintage YSL black and white?
A few 'remember this' blog posts today. Well 2. This first one is from Fundraising, and it is a re post of the Magnolia Dinner and Quiz event
Trinity is holding a Magnolia Dinner and Quiz at The Mall Galleries on 21 November. The evening starts at 6.45pm and is a chance for family, friends and Trinity supporters to remember loved ones, and to support the vital work that Trinity’s nurses provide to over 2,000 Londoners each year.
Our Magnolia Dinner & Quiz is only a few weeks away! Join us on 21 November at the prestigious Mall Galleries for a fantastic night hosted by BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards, featuring a three course gourmet meal, a live auction and celebrity guests. All the money raised on the night will go towards supporting Trinity's nurses. Tables are £1,500 for a table of 10 or pairs of tickets can be bought for £300. Seating is limited so book now to avoid disappointment!
We have a fantastic array of auction and raffle prizes on offer on the evening including 'A Night to Remember' at the Goring Hotel where HRH Duchess of Cambridge stayed the night before her wedding, a unique fresco in your own home designed and painted by proclaimed artist John Brinklow and tickets to the Grounds and Clubhouse to see the Aegon Tennis Championships 2014 at The Queen's Club.
Due to a few good weeks of sales, we are getting really short of stock!
As you know, we aim to (and do) put out new things everyday. However this means that a few days of no or low amounts of donations means we we run low on stock.
WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF THINGS!
So I might have made things sound a little worse than they are, but Brook Green needs some good quality, fabulous donations, so here we are, begging you to have a pre-Christmas sort out and bring in your unwanted items for us to sell.
We are desperately short of ladies shoes - Any style any size, as long as they are reasonable for sale and a matching pair, we would want them.
Our pile of handbags are also running a little low - Again, any size will be gladly accepted, as long as they are still in a condition to be used.
Finally we are always grateful for Men's clothes and shoes. They don't come in as often and so our rails never seem totally full of men's items.
High street or designer we shall take it all!
We will ask you to Gift Aid them of course, but that will only take seconds of your time and help us raise more funds (at no cost to you!) and your items well get a cool barcode and make all the other non gift aid items jealous...
Of course we will take in anything saleable that comes in - clothes, books, CD's DVD's, bric-a-brac - but those listed are our main wants right now.
If you can donate, please bring your items to the shop, Location of which is here during opening hours 10am - 6pm. It sounds rather obvious but sadly things which are left outside when we are shut are stolen (a very sad thing, we know) or damaged and therefore unsellable.
Another day, another amazing donation from the people of Brook Green!
This was another one of those "Really, you want to give this away!? That is amazing..." moments as we were given this current, bang on trend Burberry Brit trench.
To Quote Burberry, as they say it much better then I ever could... "The iconic trench coat is a symbol of sartorial elegance, master craftsmanship and effortless British style. In English-woven gabardine or reinterpreted in translucent rubber, the trench coat is synonymous with Burberry, constantly evolving, yet true to its heritage."
But isn't it just a mackintosh (mac) under a different name? Well yes, kinda, as it has a military styling it goes form Mac to Trench apparently. So we have all learnt something today!
This is a greeny grey (not quite either colour) with grey metallic buttons, marked as Burberry Brit. (along with a zips and even the poppers...)
A size 8 (eur 36), although we measured it and it would also just fit a size 10 (eur 38) Hand wash only. Finally it has some of the world famous Burberry check by the collar.
Sadly it is not perfect, as there are some white marks on the arm (see photos)
However it is perfect for our wet winter weather! £200
Here it is shown over a Diane Von Furstenberg skirt £40 (size 12, eur 40) and a J.Crew striped top £10 (Size 12, eur 40)
Obviously it would go over pretty much anything, but we suggest a Breton striped top, skinny jeans and ankle boots for a Parisian look, in a British make.
Here we have a new addition to our Brook Green family, so I want you all to play nicely and say hello to Allen.
Another male in the ranks along with Pat and Joshua, Allen is a morning person (well some people have to be!) and is here 3 times a week. What a glutton for punishment!
Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday, Allen is here to take your money and makes all our accessories look brilliant so you all want to buy them all. Our belts and ties have never looked more spiffing.
Allen says "In an earlier life, my career was teaching physics and mathematics in Further Education colleges. After a lengthy period of retirement I decided I should do something worthwhile by volunteering at my local Trinity Hospice Shop, while at the same time getting the opportunity to meet new people. I'm happy to say the volunteers at the Brook Green shop are a friendly crowd."
So here we are, first we had the Dior Jacket blog post, and now we have the Valentino jacket. (But don't forget we have various mens jackets from £8 from Marks and Spencer, Zara man, Gant, etc..) This Valentino one is slightly more summery than the navy Dior one, but just as swish.
This Wool, linen, silk mix jacket is fully lined in silk, again embellished with the little V logo. Single breasted jacket, a size 40 - M/L, has a small tiny tiny mark on the lapels (see photo)
Not as thick as the Dior one, but would look just as good, if not better, over cream chinos we think. (sadly we do not have any cream chinos in stock, but we do have jeans and black tailored trousers instead!) Yours for £75 Bye for now BG
A lovely pile of men's jackets came in today, mainly from Zara man and Gant, but there were two which interested us most.... The first one was this navy, double breasted, Christian Dior blazer.
A beautiful feeling fabric of 100% Pure New Wool, lined in silk emblazoned with the CD logo. We have measured it as a 48 UK size - XL Embellished with amazing gold Dior buttons on the sleeves, it is missing one from the front of the jacket though.
Other than the missing button, all is well. £95 Dry Clean only! Over a pair of cream chinos, we think this would look great. Bye for now
BG
