when in ny

Since my recent trip to new york, I've had a couple of emails from people asking about shops that i would recommend stopping by.

you all know that I favour second hand over new stuff (although a little american apparel to keep things topped up doesn't hurt) so rather than embarking on a 5th avenue extraganza, I favoured snooping downtown on the lookout for vintage boutiques and sounding out a couple of flea markets.

although it always helps to share the love where great second hand shops are concerned, I'm generally of the opinion that you can come across a gem anywhere, so lots of my stops included random goodwill or salvation army stores.

the picks below are ones that are refreshingly affordable, because i'm sure like me you're probably sick of bveing told to check out places that, yes, are pretty but also 5 times over your budget.

pippin
112 west 17th street, between 6th and 7th
if you're impartial to a shiny ring or eight, this this jewellry shop. will satisfy your magpie tendencies. the prices range widely and for a nice change there is a large section on the left with cheaper but non the less unique rings, neckaces and broaches fit for any of the swedish princess bloggers.

the antiques garage
112 west 25th st between 6th and 7th
9am-5pm sat and sun open only at the weekends, in the novel setting of an old car park building this market has hundreds of stalls. you can pick up clothes, old jewellry and wardrobe fillers, but it also sells some great old pieces for your house as well as cameras (i bought my polaroid here) and knick knacks form decades gone by. don't forget to do a little sweet talking to haggle down prices.

hells kitchen flea market

west 39th street between 9th & 10th avenues

open 9am to 6pm sat and sun

beneath an underpass in hells kitchen you can almost smell the ghost of edie sedgewick rummaging besides you through old naval jumpers and real fur coats. there are some great clothes stalls here and a tip; you're actually better off going on a day when it is cold and threatening to rain as the vendors are more willing to lower prices and get the hell out of there after selling what they can. i especially liked athena vintages stall; it felt like I could have been in Paris and was presented wonderfully.

fox and fawn
112 suffolk street between rivington and delancey.
if you only go to one place, this is it. you promise? because I swear (i'll tell you the same as I told abby) you'll want to try on everything all at once and curl up in the corner and have someone stroke your head while you dream of bunny rabbits and clothes. and then you'll compose yourself, try on a stack of lovelies and leave with something(s) that you'll cherish, without giving your bank account a massive beating.

there were some places that I didn't manage to stop by (until next summer..) but I've heard good things about them :

screaming mimis
382 Lafayette St.
packed full of handpicked vintage, i get the impression that SM is along the same lines as london's absolute vintage and beyond retro, but a little pricier than some of the earlier mentioned ny stops. however, it is a favourite of stylists and stylish civilians alike who cite it as among the best of the vintage stores in ny.

beacon's closet
88 n. 11th st. brooklyn or 220 5th ave. brooklyn
the tip top vintage mecca will require a trip over the bridge, but you should be heading over there anyway if you know anything about fashion as it has been home to a serious influx of interest since the start of the noughties. not sure about the prices of stock over here, but I've heard it's really worth a visit.

resurrection
123 east 7th street
or 217 mott street
favoured by chloe sevigny, although she does admit that it is a little steep, so screaming mimi's is probably the cheaper option. however the boutique which has opened in an old funeral parlour 12 years ago is one of new yorks most famous stops with nicolas guesquiere, kate moss and well, bloody everyone among it's customers . so i'd go there to get a feel but then go to the smaller shops for a more personal experience.

please be sure to share the love and comment about any other places you think i've missed out or that deserve a mention.

all pics fox and fawn

pour les francophiles

back soon.

the holidays are finally here.

no rest for the wicked (and all that)

i'm straight into a spell of work experience.

there'll be a lot more of that this summer.

more on that soon.

"while-u-wait"

some lovely music and an equally lovely video from the equally lovely francois hardy

for the frenchies and francophiles (that's all of us, then?) happy bastille day!

didn't get time to publish the celebratory post.

so that's coming soon.

eternal child

i'm aware that my posts of late may have read like an extended weather whinge, so although i'm british and really that's what we do (!) i decided to channel this disappointment into considering a summer/winter hybrid dressing strategy. amidst all of this sighing and huffing at the rain, there has been much wardrobe confusion, with my heart darting between lovely summer appropriate denim cut offs (wink, wink kirsty lee) and chunky knitwear ala topshop AW08.

for the moment i'm veering towards the later; which may explain my ears pricking up when I came across Eternal Child's Fall collection. Clearly it was going to be a winner with a name like Tea Party, appealing to the current (and long time) romantic tea and cake fantasy that fills not just our heads, but our ditzy print floral dresses too.

For me, the greatest pieces in the collection are the jumpers. Paired with bare legs or sheer camisoles and undergarment dresses, they seem ideal for the summer-autumn crossover; cool sunny evenings in september. Nineteen-forties with a twist, there are casual skirt suit combos, two tone cable knit cardigans as well as the oversize variety, synoymous with stella mccartney.

Turkish designer Gül Gürdamar graduated from St Martins in 2003, and refreshingly is back in Istanbul, where the brainwork goes into each Eternal Child collection. The brand is stocked internationally, and Tea Party will be available from september.

channelling your inner child, sans pigtail? perfecte!

friday filles

1. luxe

2.&3.karla

4.wendy

5.jessica ann

6.betty

for me, 2008 has brought with it a further influx of incredible new style blogs, and more and more we're turning to fellow bloggers as a source of inspiration. let's celebrate this with a peek at what this weeks cream of the crop have been wearing.

i just like it

dressed so impeccibly.

and she looks so young!

look and learn.

that satchel, those heels, the endless-non-fail floral formula.

let's absorb it all.

inspiration fil(l)es

natalie and lou and olympia and chloe and carine and byrdie.

it's july you say?

um, no it's not july. if it was july, then right now i'd be in my garden feeling all smug in my AA lame bra and demin shorts with a nice tall glass of something fruit flavoured, an equally nice tall stack of glossy magazines and a couple of sweating cats.

but i'm not, so it can't be.

oh, hell. who am i kidding? yes, it's july. and it's raining outside.

puddle jumping rain, not just a little drizzle.

so while i snapped some photographic evidence on my way home from college, i dreamt about APC bikinis and frolicking about at summer camp with lara and daria.

i think i'd be kate's replacement. just because, you know, L and D need someone their own age (hee..)

If, like me, you're finding it difficult to get in the summer mood, absorb the glorious sunny lovely-ness of this old Another Magazine editorial.