Manning Cartell

With the Mercedes-Benz fashion week kicking off the world series in a number of days, it is safe to say that the scent of swatches and the thrum of thread needles are looming in the air. While designers showcasing this year are knee deep in fine fabrics and plasters [those fabric scissors are lethal!], I find myself searching through a bible worth of new designers with contemporary concepts that promise to bring Spring 2014 Collections to life this season. It was at this moment that I encountered Manning Cartell.  

A label that prides itself in combining the finest in fashion savvy oxymoron’s, masculine and feminine, light and dark, dream and reality, extravagant and restrained, cements itself as one of my “Lines to Lust Over”. Manning Cartell combines effortless style with contemporary trends finding a more than fashionable medium between polished and undone.

Established nine years ago in the land of sunshine and bondi beach, Australia, Manning Cartell has been impeccable at holding its fashion weight and is fast becoming a new wave generation favourite!

Here are a few Little Londonist Favourites from collections: 

'Back to Paris' mini dress- £158.21

Intertwined Lace Strapless Dress- £276.19

Intertwined Lace Sheath Dress- £276.19

Concrete Catwalk Coat- £432.27

Enamel Rib Peplum Dress-£261.84

Man the fashion front line with these delectable pieces from Manning Cartell- you can find them here. 

Clos Maggiore

France is without doubt one of my favorite European Holiday destinations. 

Every corner of the nation is saturated with delicious eateries, cultural jewels and unique clothing boutiques. However due to recent work commitments, gallivanting around the Arc de Triomphe, baguette and beret in hand is a hobby that I haven’t been able to indulge in as much as I would have liked to for Summer 2013.

In search of a taste of Haute French cuisine for my Staycation, I came across Clos Maggiore in the depths of London’s cultural hub- Covent Garden and ‘Sacrebleu’ was it something to shout about!

Hidden behind an unassuming doorway on London’s bustling King Street, you are welcomed into a still oasis by a delightfully charming maitre d’. I’d previously heard that Clos Maggiore was crowned “London’s most romantic restaurant” but it is only upon entering the initial foyer door of the restaurant that you understand how true this really is.

A Tuscan inspired haven with a billowing fireplace planted in the middle of the main dining room- a Carrie Bradshaw closet inspired gasp was the only sound that managed to escape my [hungry] mouth. [For my male readers- thats like the Megan Fox scene in the Transformers- don’t even try and deny it!]

The ceiling is intertwined with beautiful white blossoms fitting for balmy summer nights, and I’m told that the glass roof retracts on hot summers days [although I’m yet to experience this marvel].  

We were handed a wine book the length of a novel to cruise over while we chowed down on delicious cuts of bread fresh from a Wicca basket. Slightly judgmental of me, but I feel you can always deduce how the courses to follow will fare based on a restaurants bread basket- and my slice of warm and crusty French baguette definitely had me eagerly awaiting my following rounds.

After an internal battle between dish choices and carrying out my standard surveillance of surrounding tables choices [warning: everything looks scrumptious.], I decided on the Honey Glazed Breast of Goosnargh Duck accompanied by Roasted Red Plums & Endive Meunière drizzled with Ruby Port Sauce.

This dish tasted as phenomenal as it looks. The Red Plums were succulent and enhanced the sweetness of the duck breast which was washed down well with our choice of Pinot Blanc ‘Les Princes Abbes’. 

Culinary senses: soaring, restaurant plate: empty.  

A game of Dessert Menu Roulette later [it makes life more interesting!] we settled for the Praline ‘Paris Brest’ & Toasted Salted Hazelnuts.

I could have happily devoured a few of these intricately crafted desserts, they were delectable! An amazing combination of sweet and salty hazelnuts had me literally doing cheer-squad cartwheels for the chef! Go on, have a closer look...

For anyone visiting on date night [or otherwise], make sure you sit in the conservatory- fine wine and contemporary French cuisine in beautiful surroundings is definitely a recipe for success.

Bon Appétit readers!  

Keeping it 'Monreal'

Wimbledon may well be over and the fizz may have just settled on the celebratory Lanson that was popped across the nation [those little tennis champagne jackets were narly], but that doesn’t mean that tennis fever can’t well continue on into the ‘embers!

My line to lust-over at the moment happens to be Monreal London. Having launched earlier this year, Monreal is the creation of Stefanï Grosse. Combining 16 years of fashion with a flare for the feat that is the game of tennis, Grosse launched the first Monreal Collection comprising of 7 seriously delightful tennis dresses adorned by white tailored undershorts and a delectable zip-front jacket that would take you from the courts to Claridges with the bat of a well mascara’d eyelid.

Merging fabrics with the highest quality and performance potential from Italy with contemporary silhouettes and trends [Mesh & Colour block anyone?], Monreal London is fast becoming my brand of choice for off-court affairs too! Take this gorgeous number

Rock it with a pair of dangerously high gladiator heels and you’ll ensure to have the fashion pack swooning with your every strut [or serve- which ever you prefer!]

You can find these beauties in retailers such as Wigmore sports in Harrods, Yoox.com and The Queens Club or just head on over to Monreal.

Stir up a racket [get it?] with these tennis inspired creations! 

The Saatchi Soiree

The Saatchi Gallery is one of my favorite landmarks. Located on the Kings Road, encapsulated by the Duke of York’s Square it plays home to some of the most exquisite pieces of innovative art that London has to offer.

It has been residence to some of my favourite showcases over the years such as the Hermès' Festival des Métiers exhibition and the HUGO capsule collection exhibition so after a few iced americano’s [the humidity has been killing me!], I decided to bound over with a few friends to check out the latest dose of contemporary art that the gallery had to show us.

Gallery’s tend to overwhelm you sometimes, but that is what I love about The Saatchi. Divided into individual gallery spaces over a small number of floors gives you a methodical approach to checking out all of the ‘rad’ art rather than mindlessly wandering the halls, tilting your head inquisitively and passing vague pretentious comments [I must admit- I do this sometimes!]

The domineering exhibition at The Saatchi at present is ‘Paper’. Showcasing art transformed from unlikely materials such as old shopping bags [a personal favourite], clippings of the New York Times and much more, the exhibition is subject to a mass amount of “ooo’s” and “aahhh’s” from the general viewing public [it managed to evoke an “Oh my god!” out of me.]

It really was incredible to see how 2D materials are used to create 3D installations, like this beauty..

I had an extreme want to run around with a kite after this one!

I was seriously amazed by this guy. Based on a giant boxer by Jose Lerma and Hector Madera, it fills the vast white gallery with a shock of overwhelming colour and structure.

This interactive light projection definitely took up a lot of our time whilst visiting The Saatchi.

It’s just so fun! Triangle like objects sense your movement and follow you as you move around the projection screen.

After a failed attempt at The YMCA [we realised there were only 3 of us and 4 letters- just basic mathematics really!] we raced along to the New Order: British Art Today chapter of the Gallery.

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Admittedly so, there were some pieces that I didn’t really relate to in this part of the exhibition but that’s the fun about art! What you observe and draw from it tends to be completely different from the person analyzing the same piece next to you [we had a heated debate as to whether a piece of art was a jaw line of a shattered mirror], and that is OK.

It was all just a bit too much for this guy...

Obviously feeling inspired to create some of our own art...

My shoes are a studded pair from Topshop [they’re ridiculously old so unfortunately are no longer available on the website!], Skirt is a petite skater number from  Topshop that you can find here, Shirt from Alice & Olivia and bag is courtesy of Prada that you can lust over here.

This 43 artist exhibition demonstrates that paper has evolved over the years into art itself, rather than its usual form as a canvas. And if paper doesn’t float your origami boat, there is no shorter of other alternative art to view. Definitely check it out!

Sea you Later London!

I love my city.

It has seen me through break ups, break downs, breaking dawns [yes I watched Twilight here too] and everything in between. But sometimes a girl needs a break from the busy city life and migrate to a destination where the air is crisp, the constant soundtrack of laughter and waves lapping up against the rocky shore plays in the background and candy floss is a mandatory trimming to any outfit!

Throwing caution to the wind, I grabbed my two favorite accessories- my best friend, J, and my Prada Saffiano Tote, and headed to Southend-on- Sea. A short, travel-sized wine bottle filled 40 minute train journey from London Liverpool St Station later we arrived and were greeted by glorious sunshine bounding off of the waves.

Upon doing a mission impossible style descent down the cliffs that over look the pier and coastline, we meandered our way across the seafront [seven miles in total- just in case you were up for the challenge readers] and stumbled across The Sands Bistro, Restaurant & Bar and decided to take a little nose around- best idea we had all trip!

We were welcomed on to a large wooden dining deck, overlooking the clear blue sea adorned with beautiful white and Wicca couches [the kind that you only see outdoors when you’re abroad] and panels of glass encasing the deck.

Que sharp intake of breath.

I had a cheeky peek over at the table next to us who had decided to order, from what my detective skills tells me, the seafood linguine – it looked incredible! The burgers also looked absolutely delicious, but having over dosed on our fair share of ice creams and candy floss [mandatory on a trip to the sea side] we decided to stick with our vino and some fresh warm batons of bread.

Sipping White Wine, chowing down on crisp bread and gossiping away with my bestfriend is pretty much my idea of an ideal afternoon. 

Definitely a must visit if you happen to be in Southend-on-Sea.

Refuelled and raring to go again, we carried on our sniff around the coastline and came across one of my favourite places as a child- Adventure Island [yes it is just as fun as what it says on the tin]

  B-lining, and possibly mowing down a few children- sorry kids!, we headed for the dodgems where we zipped around for the entire afternoon.  

After multiple laps of the dodgems and hours of splashing around while artfully avoiding soggy shoes - we decided it was time to head back to the city.

The call of milling crowds, beeps of fed up taxi drivers and obligatory sighs of city workers behind slow walkers were summoning me back-it would’ve been rude to ignore my Lustful London!

  

Beverley Hills Bakery

I like sweet things.

I was always the kid who would be traced back to by the mysterious finger print in the cakes icing [I became quite notorious for this- the serial icing stealer if you will.]

The Beverley Hills Bakery combined 3 of my favorite things last week-surprises, post and sweet treats! After a long day, I came home to find a mysterious box sitting on my doorstep. Feeling like a child on Christmas morning- I ripped open the box [causing grievous bodily harm due to overzealous scissor use- naturally], to reveal a sweet little gingham lined tin, like the kind that your mother used to store, or in my case hide, freshly baked treats in...

16 scrumptious fresh and hand-baked cupcakes all for me!

 The lightest and most flavorsome sponge, topped with an iceberg of icing...

I know you liked that, let’s have another look...

Having sampled my fair share of cupcakes over the years, I was seriously impressed with these bad-boys. What makes them even more impressive is that all delicious goods are freshly prepared on the morning of delivery and absolutely no pre-mixes are used so you can really taste the difference in the freshness of the goods.

Whether you want to devour them yourself or treat a certain special someone, the Beverley Hills Bakery is the perfect way to make somebody’s day!