Great coffee, gorgeous gifts and countless little curiosities: Les Trois Garcons

Inconspicuously tucked away down a little Shoreditch back street, Les Trois Garcons is a place make your way to, rather than happen upon. Success, despite lack of passing trade is usually an excellent litmus test for what to expect, and true enough this hidden gem did not disappoint. 

Their coffee is one of the best in London (a bold claim I know) and the service is fabulous. Attentive and friendly without a hint of the pretentious snobbery you may expect from such a location.

A veritable treasure trove of all kinds of trinkets, you’ll be certain to find something that will tickle your fancy! From novelty items to vintage gems, there’s every kind of knick-knack and what’s better, you can combine the experience with a tasty little morsel.

You’ll also find more substantial tasty treats on the menu, from Beef Bourguinion and Malaysian Yellow Chicken Curry, but while the surroundings are playfully opulent, the prices are remarkably reasonable. For the price of your usual M&S salad and obligatory Percy Pigs (we cant resist them on our way to the till either) you could indulge in a beautifully cooked meal here…

So , for your next lunch break unchain yourself from your desk, ditch the layered prawn salad and make for Les Trios Garcons…you’ll be glad you did!

What would you do for a free pair of shoes?

Fans of fashion focused chick lit will be fully aware that today marks the launch of Revenge wears Prada: the DevilReturns, sequel to The Devil Wears Prada. Vogue veteran and author, Lauren Weisberger famously drew on her experiences working as an assistant for Anna Wintour in her creation of the incredibly high maintenance Miranda Priestly. While we all wonder just how much artistic license has been used, both the novel and the film pose the question…what would you endure to achieve your dream job?

For me, my job has usually been the means to an end, with the end usually neatly boxed and comprising tissue paper, dust bags, spare heel tips ad of course…a pair of new shoes.  So, what if you could cut out the middle man – the job?

Today, I found out!  

To celebrate the UK launch of the novel publishers, Harper Collins hosted an event on South Molten street where 40 girls undertook a strut-off to win, among other prizes, a custom pair of shoes. True to London form, it was raining and chilly, but the London ladies threw themselves down the runway in pursuit of the footwear holy grail! Having being strictly warned by event host Lisa Snowdon, that ‘one foot must be on the carpet at all times’, there were some very interesting takes on the Catwalk ‘strut’!

Cheering along to the music, I realized I had a real affinity with these girls, and under different circumstances I’d be strutting with them. The quest for shoes has had me waiting in endless queues, saving for months and enduring some serious pain for my fabulous footwear…

So if the Devil wears Prada, we’d probably swap our soul for a pair of his shoes…

Sun-kissed skin in a flash

The sun has finally got his hat on…hip, hip, hip, hip, hooray!

However, if you cant wait to get your tan the natural way, Clarins are on hand with their stunning splendours range! These lovely products will leave you looking gorgeous and glowing in a flash and without the sun damage too!

Watch my tutorial to find out how...

Parody Prints: Why we all want to be wearing Bucci!

First of all…no, that’s not a typo!

Real fake clothing (confusing, I know) is all the rage at the moment with celebrities falling over themselves to self-post pictures wearing this season’s most ironic clothing. Of course in their case, the real irony is that they are among the privileged few that can afford the real thing!

It’s now so popular that actual brands have emerged where this play-on-brand is their brand. Pioneers in the area include Celebrity favorite Brian Lichtenberg, whose beanies, tees and jumpers have been flaunted by the super trendies. His clients include column space heavy weights like Cara Delevingne, Rihanna and Miley Cyrus.

Key in the parody is the obvious and deliberate nature of the visual pun, which sparks an interesting debate about counterfeiting in general. If this playful ‘homage’ is considered ok (on the basis that it does not purport to be the real thing), where does this leave us when certain fashion designers copy, sorry, are inspired by the work of others? A further development, these creations are now so popular we see all kinds of cheap ‘knock-off’ version springing up in London markets and eBay…fakes of the fakes! Whatever next!

Furthermore, I have to consider the point of it all! I’m not sure what the initial idea behind the concept was all about, but I’d imagine it has something to do with a reaction against mass consumer culture, and excessive brand influence. With hundreds of styles now on offer, and sweaters priced at around £100 each, this point is more than a little undermined I think?

I believe fashion speaks volumes, but I’m not really sure what this newest trend says about us here and now. For the time being I will consider to ponder it, snuggled up in my Celine Dion (Sold Out!) Jumper from Reason…

View more fabulous versions available at byoutifulyou.com…

Handmade Weddings Part 1: The Cake

Those of you who have read my blog before will know I love to make things. So much so, that for my own wedding I made as many things as I possibly could. From customizing my dress, the stationary, the jewellery and the favors (just a few of the elements) it was really important to me that as much as possible had a hand made touch.

I was however fascinated by the idea of making my own cake, but at the time lacked the confidence to undertake this daunting task. In the end I opted for a fantastic Chockywockydoodah creation, which turned out to be one of my favorite purchases, but I continued to be curious surrounding how ‘normal’ people go about making a wedding cake. Even simple things, like getting the icing smooth and shiny were a complete mystery to me!

Then, along came Stefi Jakab and her fabulous cake decorating class. I’ve already written about this fantastic experience in my blog ‘Have your cake and eat it’, as this class gave me the confidence to undertake something I would never have thought myself capable of…after her lesson it occurred to me that it wasn’t as hard as I’d feared.

Like some kind of divine serendipity, the very next week I received a phone call from my best friend who was getting married. I asked her about her cake and she told me that she had decided not to bother, given the expense associated. This was it…the opportunity to make a wedding cake!

So I offered my services and set about doing the best job I possibly could. The first step was making the cake itself. She wanted a fruitcake so I took advice from all around for the very best possible recipe, and 5 weeks ago I made it. This allows time to feed the cake, making it really moist and indulgent when finally eaten. It also helps to preserve it, and a good cake can keep for up to a year….

I diligently ladled brandy over the cake once a week for the weeks that followed, taking care to heat the brandy gently before, which aids absorption. You should also NEVER skewer holes into it as this just helps the cake to dry out from the center.

During this time I also researched patterns and assembled all the tools I needed. Baking (I’ve discovered) is like most things. It’s all about having he right tools and through the joys of eBay I developed a sugar craft kit that Delia herself would be proud of.

With vintage inspired as a vague brief, I set about developing my design and I decided early on that I wanted my three-tier creation to have different layers. The bottom had to resemble some hind of base, and after trawling the Internet for inspiration; I came across a wonderful tutorial to create ruffles.

Texture was also important to me, which led to my decision for the second tier. Quilting is an easy visual effect to create with the aid of a steady hand and a perforator, and provided the perfect compliment to the ruffles on the base.

Finally, I needed a pièce de résistance for the top tier. Wild flowers were a key part of the wedding, which lead me to use little fondant daisies as accents on the bottom two tiers. I wanted to continue the theme with the top, so I opted to cover the whole tier in a mass of pearlised, glitter daisies.

Following a very nervous, 5 ½ hour journey back home to Wales I was able to see my creation assembled. Separated by two polystyrene ‘cakes’ embellished with baby’s breath and various wild flowers, the tiers looked fabulous all displayed together.

I, and the bride were very happy with the result and I can’t thank Stefi enough for her support and encouragement. I now can’t wait for my next sugar craft challenge and look forward to developing my skills and sharing my creations with you all…

I leave you with this…if you want to learn how to do something, just get stuck in and give it a go!