Showing posts with label Dior. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dior. Show all posts

Wednesday, 20 March 2013

London's calling - with Millennium Hotels


I was feeling a little frazzled because of work, and having not taken any holiday in ages, decided to take a well deserved couple of days off. I’ve lived in London all my life but there’s so much to see and do, I’ve barely scratched the surface. When researching London hotels, I discovered that Millennium Hotels were having a massive sale on rooms – meaning that the nightly rate was far cheaper than that of a Holiday Inn or Travelodge. RESULT. I stayed in Kensington which is a lovely little area, even when it feels like it’s -10 degrees outside. The room was a warm and cosy haven:


...with an amazingly comfy bed:


Some sneaky mirror pics whilst checking out the bathroom:


For lunch we went to Ask and had their Mediterranean Terrina. It’s warming. It’s tasty. It goes amazingly with a carafe of Shiraz. It just ticks all the right boxes:


Kind of lost track of the time – I blame the wine – so there wasn’t a whole lot of daylight left to sight see in. Instead we kept warm and chilled at the hotel, drinking copious amounts of green tea. We braved the chill later on to go out for Brazilian food:


We ate devoured chicken, bacon and pineapple skewers, ribs and sweet potato fries, all washed down with a Brazilian twist on sangria. After a good night's sleep in the world’s most amazing bed, we went to The Riding House CafĂ© [as reviewed here] for chorizo hash browns:


Our plans to visit the Tower of London were put on hold as there was a little bit of a blizzard going on. And the Imperial War Museum is closed until July 2013 which I was really gutted about :( Instead we sought refuge in the British Museum where they have awesome exhibitions on Japan and Egypt. Later in the afternoon we went to the London Aquarium as I’d never been before and have always wanted to go:


We stayed until closing time and walked along the Southbank watching the sun set:


 Having built up a considerable appetite, we went to Maxwells in Covent Garden for burgers and milkshakes:


I hadn’t been to Maxwells since I was little and their burgers were amazing. Seriously, like Meat Liquor good. Maybe better. Maxwells do MONDAY MADNESS where there is up to 50% off meals… highly recommended. I wasn’t a fan of their shakes though so grabbed a hot chocolate on the way back to the hotel:


Hot chocolate... the perfect way to warm up. That plus a bath. I really over did it with the bubbles. Bubbles EVERYWHERE. Think housekeeping would’ve had a heart attack if they saw quite how many bubbles were in that bathroom. The next morning we ate porridge in bed...


… meaning that we could get out nice and early for the V&A museum (another first which we’d never done before). I loved the fashion section with Givenchy lace:


… lacy collars:


… statement jewellery from Dior:


But I would’ve preferred this dress without the ostrich feathers....


Everything else about the museum was a photographer’s dream:


By late afternoon, our shoulders were aching from having rucksacks slung over them all day. 
It was time for a well deserved rest:


We sat in the most beautiful surroundings:


… and ate an incredible steak and ale pie:


A pie that was so satisfying, and so coma inducing, we didn’t stay for much longer after that. Back to mine for films and – you’ve guessed it – more food. Because you can never have too much food.


Sunday, 27 November 2011

Shoes for Show: The Sculptural Art of High Heels

A couple of weeks ago I attended the “Shoes for Show” exhibition in London. It only ran in Brick Lane for a few days and being the shoe-a-holic that I am, I jumped at the chance.  

It all sounded good on paper so a couple of weekends back, I travelled into Central London to go and perve on the pretty shoes. Except the pretty shoes were nowhere to be found. My Google Maps led me to the wrong location – a charming, secluded area where I had visions of being knifed so got back onto the main road ASAP. I finally found the right number but when I got there, the Polish security guy sighed a loud sigh (I guess he had this a lot) and redirected me to another part of Brick Lane. Which I couldn’t find.

I was confused. I was lost. I was smelling amazing Brick Lane food and was damn hungry. I very nearly gave up. But thank goodness I didn't!

Finally found it. It was like a little abandoned warehouse, very simple and minimalist. One thing I’d worried about is that it’d be uber strict with lots of security personnel and photography prohibited. Not the case at all. There was one male “guard” who stayed out of the way and didn’t seem too bothered about anything. And people left, right and centre were snapping away. So I had no qualms about getting my camera out.

Manolo Blahniks. Oh my.


The charm wrapped around the heel, the lattice 
detail and the colour all make me melt a little inside.


These Vivienne Westwoods are not my cup o’ tea but 
they do remind me all of the Creepers all over 
the blogsphere at the moment.


Nikes! Can you imagine Nike Town selling these? I can’t.


Perhaps the weirdest shoes I’ve ever laid my eyes on. 
Not one, but two elevated heels so in theory, quite a 
sturdy pair of shoes. But then check out the weird shape 
of the heels…  And bath shoes? Really? I can’t imagine 
anyone wearing these by the poolside. 
Not even Lady GaGa. 
And that’s saying something.



No explanation needed here! 
Have already shared my thoughts of the Armadillo.


Don’t know about anyone else, but in these I see Litas. 
But really funky, velvety, glitzy / sparkly ones.


These are art. ‘Nuff said.


Simple, classic and yet, no less worthy of interest.


And these? I was lost for words then. And I still am now.


An artsy revamp of the gladiator sandal


A print like this would be amazing on a dress. 



And my favourites:


Alice in Wonderland shoes!
The delicate tea cup charms, 
the key, the fob watch, the 
foliage… all a bit OTT but at 
the same time fabulous 
for this very reason.


Get a load of these! Stunningly beautiful with 
the embellishment detail but just not practical. 
But even those who don't "get" shoes would 
have to admit that these are pure art. If 
Louboutin sell these as flats, I would 
snap these up in a heartbeat,
 no questions asked.


I actually liked these! A good mix of “hard” meets 
“soft” with the glitzy champagne-like colour 
combined with the spiky / studded exterior. 
These would get you noticed!

And now over to you! Do any of these fill you with horror? And which of these are love at first sight?

And for the latter, to wear or to have displayed in your home as expensive-but-totally-worth-it art?