all mine

I'm a jewellery girl. I love necklaces, bracelets, cuffs, rings, chains, pendants, earrings, stones of all kinds... need i go on? I believe that a good piece of jewellery can change an outfit. And with Assad Mounser you could be wearing a tracksuit and still look fabulous. Amanda Assad Mounser is a 32 year old New Yawker who used to design for Moschino and now creates "phunky phresh" necklaces and bracelets that are crazy, over the top and just how I like my jewellery - Attention Grabbing. These are STATEMENT pieces. These are necklaces that declare "i'm here. now buy me a goddamn drink". What I like about my Assad Mounser necklace is the mish mash of all the different elements. There are heavy metal spikes, colourful beads and a plethora of different coloured chains. There is even some Givenchy-esque cubes hanging off the bottom. It's a heavy necklace, yes, but it is bloody spectacular. It's a necklace that isn't run of the mill or everyday - but totally unique and incredibly, painfully hip (trust me, an hour in this bad boy and your neck starts to protest). I first got exposed to them through the liberty website, one of my guilty pleasures is scrolling through there, imagining what I would buy if there myself. Then I saw them draped over Abbey Lee in the March issue of Vogue Australia. Then I found out they were stocked in none other than my favourite store in the whole world - Lands End. The points were stacking up in favour for getting a piece of Assad Mounser. 

And then they went on sale. 

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Er-dem's de ones.

Erdem for Liberty - Liberty.co.uk

Something I have always loved about Erdem is his quintessential british-ness. Even though he might not actually be British (read: Turkish), and even though from the outset his clothes might not have that London-Cool stamp to them, once you look a little closer it's alarmingly clear that he has that London Look downpat. Because for me, British style will forever be tied up to those ideas of aristocracy, country shooting parties and dressing for dinner that pervaded the movies I saw, the novels I read and the dreams I dreamt as a child and younger teen. Erdem's clothes have that floral touch that sing of quintessential, and stereotypical,  tea parties with cucumber sandwiches and jugs of ice tea. But then their teeny tiny hemlines, their bracelet sleeves, their high necklines, their nipped in waists and hints of shoulder definition bring an element of cool to the party that you wouldn't usually find in Barbour and Pearls. Erdem designs for that British girl that you always see stamped over the Best Dressed Lists, she mixes high and low with reckless abandon, nicking her 'grandmother's tea dress' and pairing it with 'a tuxedo jacket from the 1930s' and 'Vivienne Westwood Boots'. She's got a mother who was a Bright Young Thing, a sister who was a Tatler Babe of the Month and a father who foots the bill.

Sure, you've got Christopher Kane for the fashion-types and Marios Schwab for the cool kids, you've got Richard Nicoll for the directionals and Mark Fast for the parties. But you've got Erdem for England, I think. Because really, if fashion boils down to it, the quintessential, heart-of-england piece isn't a Union Jack Dress, isn't a band tee shirt, isn't even a Barbour... it's a floral dress that's bright and crisp and fresh, just like the slip of a thing who's wearing it. She's got funny little boots on and a leather jacket as well, to toughen it up. But really when you need to toughen something up, that means that deep down inside it's as soft and delicate as an English Rose. Just with redder lips. 

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wise words on a wednesday

"I CAN’T THINK OF ANYTHING MORE CONFUSING OR OVERWHELMING THAN HAVING A BIG WALK-IN WARDROBE. IT WOULD EXHAUST ME HAVING TO SIFT THROUGH THAT MANY CLOTHES. IF YOU KNOW WHAT WORKS FOR YOUR BODY, YOU CAN ACTUALLY TURN 15 OR 20 GREAT ITEMS INTO A HUNDRED OUTFITS…

IF YOU HAVE TOO MANY OPTIONS, I FIND THAT YOU ACTUALLY END UP LOSING YOUR DIRECTION AND THE SENSE OF WHO YOU ARE."

Yasmin Sewell

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lady liberty

"the chosen resort of the artistic shopper"
Oscar Wilde

it strikes many people as very, very weird that my favourite subject at university is history. i just love it - i lap it up - it is my bread and butter and my pudding. Give me history and I am happy, and never more so when I'm wading through journal articles in the belly of the fisher library stacks, or swotting up on anything (and everything) from prostitution in victorian london to re-patriation of assyrian bas reliefs to fashion as a class indicator in pre-revolution france. I'll read about it, learn about it and deeply, deeply love it as long as it happened about a century ago.

libertylondon.co.uk

So, then, it's really no wonder that my favourite store in the whole of the world is Liberty of London. Land's End does hold a particular place in my heart and Colette in Paris is a marvel of design, space and style, but in terms of combining my two great loves, Liberty trumps them all. For within this faux-Tudor building with its dark timber beams and vaulted ceilings lie a store literally filled with history and fashion smarts. Within this store where Oscar Wilde once walked you can peruse Dries Van Noten, shrug into a Josh Goot dress and slip into Nicholar Kirkwood heels. It is a mind-boggling headfuck to get your noggin around - the same rooms where once fob watches, ruffled shirts and waistcoats must have hung are now the ethreads of over 60 celebrated world designers, a specific 'scarf' room and yards and yards of charming liberty print as far as the eye can see.

the scarf room's display of hermes scarves

Liberty is having a bit of a moment. Yasmin Sewell - everyone's favourite fashion buyer - is creative director, and under her watchful eye (and flawless taste) Liberty has undergone a marvelous transformation. Lagging behind in the fashion stakes, Liberty has now shot forward with exclusives of Michael Van Der Ham's gorgeous sequin/leather/silk/crepe de chine piece-meal collection, Eddie Borgo jewelry and Racquel Allegra gypsy bohemia threads. If that's not enough, the shoe room alone should entice you. Think a space dedicated to shoes in the most incredible way - shoes hung from ceilings, shoes perched on the shelves of shoe cases, shoes shoes shoes (and not a drop to drink). What I loved was the room I nominated 'the aussie hang out'. Yasmin Sewell is certainly a bit of a patriot, one of the women's fashion rooms was stocked with Josh Goot, Richard Nicoll and Michelle Jank. For antipodeans with a fashion bent this store gives a lot of comfort in bizarre ways.




The best thing about Liberty, though, is the space itself. Within that Tudor building is a an atrium of light and air - the dark timber is off played with natural light and huge floor to ceiling mirrors propped up against the walls (not hanging, darling) to open up the interior. Everything is spaced out, in some rooms clothes hang on all four walls but the middle is bare save for a minimalist couch or two, leaving you free to wander and browse with relative ease. Even when packed this store is not claustrophobic, and the most clumsiest of girls (hello!) can feel relatively safe.

one of liberty's great merchandising displays. love the jungle theme!

When I was there I could see Yasmin's touch everywhere. She has a light, effortless yet utterly charming way about her - the scarf room was totally her (and reminded me of the belt space in Browns she started up) - that can turn a shop into a destination. I know, I know, I'm a little biased towards my ultimate style icon Yasmin. But the fact of the matter is, she is not only truly stylish but also supremely talented at what she does (which happens to be fashion, natch). She's a buyer with true taste and vision, she was one of the first to pick up on Christopher Kane and now Michael Van Der Ham, Ileana Makri and Dress Up, and not only that but she knows how to create a welcoming and inviting space for clothes, beauty, accessories and everything in between. It's pragmatic i suppose - if people buy, her job is safe - but i truly feel as if Liberty is not hampering for your money, but hampering for your time.

Yasmin Sewell hard at work at the 'Open Call' Liberty London buying day

If you are an artistic shopper then Liberty is THE place for you. I've gabbed on about fashion but Liberty also has everything from flowers to furniture. If you have a little thing for history then Libty is THE place for you. The store that pioneered the pre-raphaelite aesthete movement with its liberty prints and fabric peddling is too well-entrenched in British fashion history to be anything but.

But, aside from all this, if you want a shop to be more than a shop, to be an experience (and a happy one at that), that, even if it doesn't result in shopping bags, still leaves you with that giddy 'new purchase' buzz, then Liberty is the shop for you. It's a shop for shoppers, and by god, I am one of those.

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