My London mini break


A few days off-island and I've taken the train to London for a couple of nights to stay with a friend. The main event of the trip was a dental appointment on Friday, but when Ann suggested I come to visit her in Borough there was no good reason why not. I'm looking rather pleased with myself after not only successfully navigating the underground, but also having come away for almost a week with only this tiny suitcase. No shopping sprees planned therefore no holdalls or bags within a bag this time.


This is the view from the guest bedroom - what a wonderful profusion of green. Ann had told me there was a fox that visited sometimes, but I didn't realise it would be bold enough to snooze on her shed roof!


There was a fox cub too which is a bit more inquisitive, coming all the way up to the patio doors to peer in from time to time. Sod's law meant that I never had my camera to hand to capture that though.


A fifteen minute walk from Ann's home is the Fashion and Textile Museum, currently the venue for the Orla Kiely "A Life in Pattern" exhibition - what a treat for me! 



It's funny that you only have to see things once to know that you really, really need them.




What an absolute joy it was to see the master of pattern play at work like this. 



I'm not sure if it were the clothes or the handbags which were the most exciting aspect of the show. Although I do know that the handbags caused me to have the most longing. I didn't count them, but as you can see they spanned every colour of the rainbow. A genuine Orla Kiely handbag is now on my bucket/wish list.





After much deliberation, I decided that this was my number one handbag. If you come across this on eBay, do please let me know. I've already done a search there of the 129 OK bags on offer and nothing sparks joy as this one does. I'm not going to settle just for the sake of it, but will be keeping an eye out too on the Orla Kiely website to see if a new style appears that makes my heart do somersaults as this bag does.


These oversized frocks were the masterstroke of the whole show, suspended in huge space, halfway through the exhibition for maximum impact. The scale of them is difficult to comprehend until you see them like this...



I'm not really sure if my pattern play comes up to scratch in this environment. Getting dressed that morning I was happy with my outfit, but compared to all of this, I'm dwarfed by the competition and quite rightly so. Anyhow, just for the record I'm wearing an H&M jacket, trousers from TK Maxx by Carolina Bell, shoes from TK Maxx by Head Over Heels, cardi by Atmosphere, handbag by Superbia and necklace was a gift from Sasha.


The exhibition runs until the 23rd September and if you can get to it then I'd say "Do!" For details of opening times and prices see the Fashion and Textile Museum website here.

Ann and I did a bit more gadding about in London together which I'll share with you on Wednesday. In the meantime, I can report that I'm home again and that I've survived the trial of another tooth extraction with only a bit of facial swelling to show for it. The year of the teeth continues apace! 

Anna x

Share:
Created by bo design