Bright sunlight

Just found these two rather amusing photographs of me here. They were taken a few weeks ago outside university. I was in a big rush and the sun was shining very brightly in my eyes hence the odd expression and furrowed brow! Anyway I decided to share them as I am a big fan of this matching kimono and skirt which my ma snapped up in a charity shop. The headpiece and necklace were made by my ma and the jelly shoes I was given,


Lally xx

Self-Portrait in a Velvet Dress

After a week of delightful weather today it has rained all day! Never mind  I dressed up in delicious turquoises' and snapped some pictures of myself as Frida (note my eyebrows). My brother gave me Self-Portrait in a Velvet Dress: Frida's Wardrobe for christmas so I used photographs from it as inspiration and took my own self-portrait in a velvet dress; all be it one from a charity shop!

This picture is a particularly beautiful I think, Frida's hair is wonderful! All the clothes I am wearing are from charity shops. The necklace was purchased from an amazing lady at Portobello market last summer.  She told me she got it in Pakistan and its actually for a horse (!)

Anyway I recently handed in my thesis, jolly exciting! Tomorrow I am visiting Eltham Palace for the first time with a few friends from university as a celebration of our great endeavour. I hope you are all having a lovely week and making the most of this rainy weather (its great for doing all those dull tasks that are avoided on sunny days!)

Lally xx

An art round up

The last few days have been filled with painting and sewing. I've embarked on several projects. Here is the evidence!
1, 2 & 3. The Gremlins and their pets sat for their portrait
4 & 5. The beginnings of a Frida shrine
6. A fat parrot embroidery
7. Me with a chicken embroidery in progress

All these items are going towards projects; the painting as part of my couples series and the embroidery and Frida shrine as part of The Frida Experiment, a project in collaboration with my mum (Penny MacBeth), Susie Chaikin, Rose Tydeman and myself. More about it soon!

Lally x

The ghost of Lanhydrock

Hello from the depths of Cornwall. I have spent the last week at home having a lovely break from my thesis! On Sunday we took a little trip to Lanhydrock, a lovely National Trust house just outside Bodmin. I have great memories of trips there when I was small but haven't visited in years so it was quite delightful to see it all again. I dressed accordingly (of course) in a 1920s theatre costume, ditsy pink bed jacket and a hat stolen from my ma! The minty green and peachy combination turned out to blend perfectly with the interiors of the house and I think I ended up looking a bit like a ghost of times past.

 Lanhydrock is a wonderful house, particularly fascinating for its upstairs/downstairs layout. The house was rebuilt following a fire in the 1880s and was designed to house all the mode cons of the day. The kitchens are particularly unique in their layout with a dry pantry, bakery, creamery, dairy and butchery amongst many others! I was particularly happy to see how thoughtfully put together the scenes and rooms were, with real attention to detail, the items displayed really enhanced the experience. They have been trialling the use of smells and sounds too which I always think works wonderfully and is so much better than complete reenactments as it allows a little mystery. We had a lovely time wandering about inspecting the rooms and came away with renewed fascination for Victorian England! My mum purchased me a book on Victorian servants and I have been reading it intently; its been a great interest of mine since making a Victorian dolls house as child (complete with a family named the snootypoos hehe!)

Lally x x

Lazy Sunday

 Sunday is my favourite day, I usually spend it in a lazy haze; like a fat cat I stretch and yawn. I listen to  radio 4, catch up on housework and drink endless cups of coffee. Although I laze around I do still like to dress up, I can't stand lounging about in jim jams (that is reserved for illness only.)

On this cold Sunday I am wearing a concoction of my favourite items, the t shirt is my favourite ever. The print is based on one by CollierCampbell called Bauhaus. It's obviously been many others favourite too as it has little stitches at the elbows where it has worn through in it's former lives.
The skirt and waistcoat I bought from a lady at Port Elliot Festival last year. The headband was made  Penny MacBeth (my mum). My red clogs are from ebay and are completely falling to pieces but I love them still.

I also like to paint on Sundays. Although recently I have been painting a lot all the time, I recently completed the painting below. Its of Josh and I, the backdrop is based on the same print as my t shirt. I have lots more planned and hope to build a while series of couples so stay tuned.

Lally

Kaffe Fassett: a life in colour

A few evenings ago I visited the preview of Kaffe Fassett: a life in colour, the new exhibition from the Fashion and Textile Museum. It was such a delightful evening and as you can see above I got to chat with the curator Sue Timney. You can read a full review of the exhibition on my other blog but I wanted to share some pictures here as it was a hugely inspirational night for me. I love Fassett's needlepoint cushions especially the Buddha and these little Victorian children. My other favourites are his interiors, his book Glorious Interiors is a must buy; it has inspired my life and aesthetic in so many ways. I am now after a full cabbage dinner set so I can recreate Kaffe's amazing garden table scene.

Below are some delights from glorious interiors

                    Kaffe Fassett's Living room

                            Mosaic garden

 

Doing the Macaroni

 So I told you there would be some changes around here huh? Namely I changed it all around a bit, its a work in progress but hopefully I'll get there soon. Anyway here are a few photographs taken quite a while ago (i.e before christmas, before writing a thesis took over my life). I originally took them as part of my university group project however they weren't quite suitable so they have been left languishing in a file on my computer. The wig was found by my mum in the greatest fancy dress shop in my home town, its an ex theatre piece, we sewed some flowers and a large bow on for added frillyness. The dress was another find of my mum's, its a 1930s theatre costume. They were largely inspired by Marie Antoinette but the make up has something of the Macaroni about it; must be all that blusher!

Image credits (Image)


** In other news if you fancy an evening filled with fashionable delights come along to the British Library's Fashion LATE event on March 1st hosted by myself and friends! To buy a ticket and read more about the event click here!