The Swelle Life's DESIGNSKOOL

Floral Friday! Wallington's Walled Garden

Now we enter the walled garden at Wallington at last. After a beautiful walk in, past the mansion and past the lush lily pond with baby coots frollicking about and a bed floating in it, I came upon the wall and went through the wood and iron door. On the other side was the most stunningly landscaped garden with sheep grazing on the green hills that overlook this romantic dreamland.

 
 
  

I love the texture of this plant that I don't know the name of.

 

 
    
   

 

   
     

 

Photos © The Swelle Life

Versailles Series: Marie Antoinette's Petite Chambre

I've been dying to get back to my tour of Versailles! We're back on track now with Marie Antoinette's bedroom. I know what you're thinking, "This can't be it." Well, this was just one, her bedroom in the Petite Trianon, her private chateau (which really was private - husband Louis had to ask permission to enter, not that he really cared to).

It's very modest in contrast to its salons, though surely better than anything we have, but still very small (which is why the angles in the photos are short):

Either she was incredibly petite or she liked to sleep in the fetal position. I don't think she had a choice here!

The reflection in the mirror looks odd due to my crude eradicating of the tourists (yes, I know I am one, too, we're all guilty of ruining each other's photos) 

Marie Antoinette's other 'throne'

Now I found this a bit odd. As you stand in the doorway to her bedroom you will find a tiny salon to the left. I guess this was her ensuite sitting room and there's nothing strange about that, but it just felt so awkward, kind of shoehorned into the space. Though still lovely and not lacking in the handcrafted detail of the grand salons, done in white with gorgeous silvery blue tapestry accented with lots of gilt, of course.

That second mirror on the outside wall seems strangely placed?

 
    

Lots more to come next week (and the next week, and the next week...)!

Photos © The Swelle Life

Cupcake Monday! Pretty Parasol Toppers

 

Pink paper drink parasols from Gracious Bridal

As mentioned in last week's Cupcake Monday, I had planned to post on a certain highly respected French patisserie in Toronto. I did go in on Saturday, a day where the temperature was 46 degress Celcius with the humidex (that's 115 for Fahrenheit folks). The tiny shop had no air-con, and if the lights had been on I would have mistaken it for the surface of the sun. I'm still not sure. It was so suffocating that my husband had to go outside - into 46 degrees - to get some relief. Now sporting an even thicker sweat moustache, I bought some decadent looking Mississippi Mud Pie brownie-type desserts for my bestie who was having us for dinner that night and got the heck out. The next stop was across the street for dinner wine at the Summerhill LCBO and it's the most impressive alchohol selling establishment around, it's massive and very posh, they have a tasting room and other neat things and I hope they didn't mind that I cooled my bum in one of their open refrigerators for a minute.

So instead, I'm doing a parasol theme. I've noticed a few women about town using parasols and I like it! One was a pretty ivory lace and it reminded me that I should get one and that it won't look weird on the street. I love a wide-brimmed hat, and my mother-in-law gave me a black one that is very chic and I love it, but on the really hot days (that's nearly all of them in Ontario summer) you just can't have anything on your head if you're going to be out for a while. So the parasol makes a lot of sense.

(I saw several cupcakes with parasols but most were of the standard girlie drink variety, and there were some more innovative ones but the photos let them down - always a heartbreaker!)

 
I don't know where this originated, and it has nothing to do with food, but it's gorgeous!

Floral Friday! The Walk Into Wallington

(Apologies for missing Versailles which I promised for yesterday. We travelled back to Toronto to find that the cable and internet were out. So Rogers made a liar out of me. Ach. However, I am flagellating myself for not delivering, it's way overdue.) 

The proper title of this post is actually 'The Walk Into Wallington's Walled Garden' but that's a big of a tongue twister. Last week I showed you the incredible pond, dense with lily pads and frollicky baby coons, which is actually what's behind this gate after you've walked a couple of minutes through the forest:

And we continue the tour which makes no chronological sense at all because I'm taking you back to the beginning!

 

The mansion at Wallington is a real treasure trove of curiosities. Last year I showed you the dollhouse rooms but there's so much more and I'll get to it one day ...

   

Next week we finally get into the walled garden which is so beautiful you won't be able to stand it.

Photos © The Swelle Life

My Latest Shoot: Judith Frankland

 

I wanted to share a few photos from a shoot I did recently for a magazine feature I'm doing on Judith Frankland - you may know this outrageously fun designer from her column of fashion fairytales here at The Swelle Life,  Frankly Frankland.

I'm showing mostly head shots as the issue isn't out until fall and I have to keep the full-lengths for the spread. I really love the hair. It was done by Joanne Lodge of Tickety Boo salon in Whitley Bay and is the perfect complement to Judith's boldy feminine and vivid designs.

And big thanks to my lovely model Sophie who nailed it in all her 5'11" glory!

 
 

 

Photos © Denise Grayson at The Swelle Life
Clothes and styling by Judith Frankland
Hair by Joanne Lodge at Tickety Boo
Model: Sophie
Makeup by Denise Grayson

Swelle Review: Crepe Butterfly Dress at Zalando.co.uk

   

Recently I was asked by Zalando.co.uk to review one of their items, and remaining true to form I went straight for the cute summer dresses. I was given a £40 voucher to spend and chose this cute Crepe Burnout Butterfly Dress at £44.95 by Ruby Rocks.

I wanted something easy and cool for the oppressively hot and humid Toronto weather I was about to be dealing with - it's brutal! - but something that still covered and had some shape. I liked the crochet edging all over the dress and thought the band on the loose waist would nicely accommodate my plans to shamelessly indulge in Toronto's fantastic food - so far so good! The crepe is nice and light and a lovely deep pewter colour. For those who don't love their arms (me at the moment), the short drop sleeves are the perfect style for coolness and coverage, and the wide crochet in lieu of a seam acts like little vents.

The dress has side slits edged in crochet which were a surprise as they weren't shown or mentioned on the product page, and at first I was worried they would make the dress a bit more 'leggy' than I'd like, but they are on the shorter side and aren't particularly revealing. All modesty remains intact and they're a cute feature.

I should also mention this dress is very comfortable, so much so that I slept in it last night! I'd like to blame lingering jet lag for my laziness, please.

Cupcake Monday Revisited: (Still) Sew Yummy

(Today I was travelling, we're going between families while we're here in Ontario for our summer visit home, and now the time zone is five hours behind the UK so things might be a little off here and there(like this post), but I do plan to be blogging regularly.)

Before leaving Toronto this morning I had hoped to pick up some pastries and Cupcake Monday subjects from Petite Thuet but the sign said 'Ferme' on Monday. I'm not being cute, it did say it in French and I like that.  There's an interesting story behind the man, renowned and controversial Alsatian chef Marc Thuet, who apparently has wrapped up his second season of Conviction Kitchen, a TV series in which he opens a high-end restaurant in Toronto from scratch and staffs it with convicted criminals. No murderers, I checked. It's hard to prepare food with butter knives.

Just one or two doors down is Pastis where we had a great French dinner on Saturday night, and I noticed a few other French places that warrant exploration in the dense with goodness Rosedale area. I know where I'll be focussing my attention when we go back, things have changed from last year as they tend to in the city.

The house fish soup at Pastis was divine as was their Assiette Gourmand which included a mini creme brulee, profiterole and double chocolate torte which was like firm butter and was served with a pistachio creme. We each ordered one and must have been nuts not to just share but I guess it's just not a successful dining night out if I'm not doubled over in cramps on the way out. I also had Steak Frites and I'm sure they cook the frites in duck fat, and they give you a ton, so I felt like I'd eaten a bowling ball and not one of those little 5-pins either.

The photo I'm showing has absolutely nothing to do with this post! To save time and get Cupcake Monday up (which I blew by writing a lot) I dug out an old edition, one I didn't even remember when I saw it so I'm hoping it'll be new to you, too!

This sewing machine topper was made a few years ago by the amazing cupcake sculptress Zalita who I featured in the not so final Cupcake Monday post and earlier with her utterly charming vintage tea party cupcake. They may not be a tie-in but all of these things sure are adorable and amazing.

Hopefully I'll be able to show some Petite Thuet next Monday...

Floral Friday: Six Baby Birds and a Bed in a Pond

First - I've been travelling this week and am now in Toronto for my summer visit home. Next week I will get back to Interiors and Exteriors on Thursday and finish showing you Marie Antoinette's domain at Versailles...

I think Monet would have appreciated this scene. Carrying on from last Friday's intro to my visit to the walled garden at Wallington in Northumberland (in the north east of England in case you're not familiar), I take you to the pond which was a wonderful surprise on my way to the gardens. After walking through a forest we came upon the lily pad covered water and I noticed some movement on the surface - it was six fluffy black baby birds! I think they were coots, a marsh bird. They were so light that as they ran with their spindly legs the lily pads didn't even move.

 

Two other babies look for food amongst the firm yellow flowers:

 

What is that off in the distance?

Why, a bed of course!

I can't find anything about this bed which makes it even more mysterious. It's an installation, but who put it there? I don't really care why, it was neat. Like a (very) small-scale Cristo and Jean-Claude.

It started to pour. Luckily this was on my way out after being through the garden (see some of those next week) and it wasn't enough to deter me from taking another shot:

Photos © The Swelle Life

Cupcake Monday! A Favourite Truffle

 

In a case of "one for you, one for me" (at least it wasn't two for me), I couldn't resist temptation when buying my daughter's teacher's thank you gift. (We're on our way back to Canada on Wednesday.) I went with something from Charbonnel et Walker and saw their dusted pink strawberry truffles which are a favourite. I usually stay away from the super sweet which is how I find white chocolate, but there's something about their strawberry filling that gives me cravings.

I shared them with my husband and it's a good thing I saw him before he went out the door to get Baby Swelle from school - he had some of the dust on his nose. I don't think it could ever be a good thing to show up at your kid's school with white powder on your nose. "It's truffle dust, I swear. I'm just fancy that way!"

   I popped them in my 1935 art deco liqueur glasses just for fun

Photos © The Swelle Life

Floral Friday! Contrasts at Wallington

I went back to Wallington in Northumberland today to photograph their stunning walled garden which I missed when I visited last year. And had I actually known what I was missing I wouldn't never have been able to leave. Last time, I spent a couple of hours in the mansion, particularly in the dollhouse rooms which you can see here and here (I never did post anywhere near what I had altogether, I hope to dig out the rest one day).

These gardens quickly became my new favourite place and I'd love to go back with a picnic and just take it all in without my eyeball pressed against the viewfinder. A serene, huge pond covered in lily pads with baby coots (a black marsh bird) running atop greeted us on the way to the garden gate, and I couldn't pull myself away. (Somewhere my husband is nodding firmly and slowly with eyes glazed over.) Oh! And there was a red and white bed floating in it! Come back next Friday to see what I'm talking about.

To start, here are some of my favourite shots from a small patch in their enormous and breathtaking garden. The gardener seems to have wanted to create a bit of drama and planted a few varieties of vivid flowers with leaves so dark they appeared black. I especially love the first photo, the flowers appear as if they were painted.

 
 
  
 
 
 
 

Photos © The Swelle Life

Dior Fall Haute Couture...Things Have Changed

On Monday, the house of Christian Dior presented its first haute couture collection without John Galliano. We all know why. At this point, even dogs know it, so I won't go into it.

Names for an illustrious replacement have been tossed around. But for now, the house is dealing with the situation as Alexander McQueen did with Sarah Burton and have promoted the second in command to the lead designer role. Bill Gaytten got to do what he wanted for Dior this time out. I suspect he was behind the previous few collections as well, under Galliano's direction or creating in the style of to make it appear so. Who knows. Fashion is a glorious illusion in all kinds of ways.

At first glance of the opening looks, there's no doubt which brand this collection represents. The sharply feminine Dior silhouette that celebrates the tiny waist with those full flirty skirts is alive and well, but that seems to be a ploy to ease us in before things take an unfamilar turn. It's clear someone is trying out a new vision.

Style.com's Tim Blanks identifies three architectural influences, two of which I can plainly see as they're quite literal:

The Memphis movement of the 80s

A Frank Gehry skirt with the Memphis movement accenting the look in Stephen Jones' pastel pink sphere hat which is total fun

And I'm guessing as to where Jean-Michel Frank figures in, is it within the texture as opposed to structure?

  

And here's where things boomeranged in a new direction before returning to quintessential Dior style in a finale of those voluminous ball gowns (above). I think an entire collection like this (below) would have resulted in even sourer faces in the seats.

Then things went pear-shaped. Tim Blanks described the most awkward conclusion to the show:

"Then came Karlie Kloss, dressed as a Pierrot, sad clown all alone in the spotlight as the soundtrack failed and glitter showered down. But the stardust missed her by this much. And that felt like some kind of crazy cosmic metaphor."

 

Was this spectacle meant to be a replacement for, or distraction from, Galliano's famous end of show bow? Surely. And it may have worked, if it worked!

Seems a certain ghost is having a play at Dior.

Photos from Style.com

Reminiscing...the Catalogue Days

 
Pure 1972 awesomeness. And I'm pretty sure that's Shelley Hack.

Last week I unexpectedly got two women's clothing catalogues in the post. I took them out of their cellophane and while flipping through I had a flashback to when I was little. (This is where everything gets that hazy yellow glow, and you can imagine the narrator from Wonder Years if you want, but I'm a girl.)

I remember watching some fine late 1970s television - because it was the late 1970s, don't laugh! - on a massive wooden cabinet set on moss green carpet at my grandmother's  house, when I was called in to the kitchen by my mom and aunts. They had that excited sing-song voice that indicated I was going to get something. I entered the kitchen with dilated pupils and saw the new Simpsons Sears spring/summer catalogue on the table. It was opened to a page with three girls in ponytails, each wearing a different version of a pastel and white outfit with a big flower on it somewhere. Pink, baby blue, and I think lilac. All in glorious polyester of course. Everything was. We were lucky that way then.

I was a bit torn trying to choose one. I liked that the lilac was a dress and the pink a top and skirt, but I really loved the baby blue and it was a pant suit. I was a dress girl, what to do. I don't remember actually owning any of those outfits, maybe the choice wound up being an unsurmountable challenge.

Girls today have no idea just how lucky they are....

Cupcake Monday! Ladurée and Neat Pasta

  

I feel a bit silly showing macarons yet again, but people like to look at them! My theory to support is that they make people happy to see them because 1) they're round and there's something about round that is aesthetically pleasing for some reason 2) they're colourful and colour makes us feel good 3)  we're masochists and like to torture ourselves by looking at tasty things that most of us can't readily procure.

These were a most well-received present from Mr. Swelle to me and Baby Swelle from his recent trip to Tuscany. I think I drooled a bit when I saw that glorious pistachio bag with the flaxen braided handles. Obviously these are not Italian, they came from the Ladurée at Charles de Gaulle aiprort where apparently patience was running short, and therefore the flavours were chosen in haste. But you can't go wrong, can you? This was the first time I tried the chocolate. I've never selected chocolate when I bought a box, figuring why would you have chocolate when there are so many gorgeous flavours to try? Turns out I was missing out, the chocolate was divine.

I have to say Pierre Hermé is my absolute favourite for macarons, but you can't beat Ladurée for packaging, decor and all-round decadence, an homage to their patron saint, Marie Antoinettte. Speaking of her, the silk tapestry under the box is a souvenir I brought home from my visit to Versailles, and it was based on a design commissioned for the tragic Queen.

And especially for Baby Swelle, the pasta freak of the family, 'Pasta Loca' from Tuscany in all kinds of neat shapes with colours and flavours from various vegetables. It's exceptionally tasty with a splash of olive oil and fresh parmesan. I accidentally overcooked it and it was still worlds apart from the other allegedly Italian pasta I've bought here when cooked al dente.

(Yes, you can see the wipe streaks on our lacquer table. I am aware of it.)

Caaaashmere!

Cashmere is one of those few universally adored things,  who wouldn't want to feel incredible softness against their skin? There's a reason premium toilet paper boasts of its likeness to it! (It's still not quite the same, though I appreciate the effort.)

So where do we get the fibres that make the coveted cashmere knitwear we all lust after so luxurious? The cashmere goat, and the whitest and therefore finest is said to come from Mongolia who produce the second largest quanties behind China. If I had access to a baby cashmere goat I'd be rubbing my face in it, too. It doesn't get softer than the little ones.

The double fleece hair, consisting of of a fine, soft undercoat mingled with a straighter and much coarser outer coating, is naturally shed during the spring moulting season and collected for the textile industry (the goats don't even know what they're missing!). It then goes through a mechanical process called de-hairing that separates the coarse hairs from the fine hair, preparing it be dyed and converted into yarn, fabrics and garments.

I used to make felts and have used cashmere fibres which I blended with fine merino. This produced the most gorgeously soft felts, and whenever I worked with the cashmere I had to snap myself out my ritual of rubbing the wispy fibres through my fingers. And I admit to sitting with the 'top' - that's when fibres that have been carded and combed for feltmaking - in my hands as if I'm holding a little bunny. That is some magical hair.

Floral Friday! Neighbourhood Gardens (and Bad Dog Owners)

I walk home along the beach every day after taking my daughter to school (despite being knocked off my feet by a dog that charged full speed into my shins thanks to its owner throwing  a ball just over my head, and having a pug relieve itself in the brown way right beside me as I sat on a bench brushing the sand off my feet - the toff who owned him was on his mobile, looked over 'during' at the scene which could not have been more graphic, but kept walking. I had to call after him and was repeatedly ignored until I shouted "You have got to be kidding!" at which point he came back, feigning ignorance.) 

What's this post about? Right, one day last week on my walk I paid particular attention to the gardens of the houses on the seafront (which all have brilliantly painted doors. Which reminds me, we're overdue for a Painted Houses post.) It had just rained and the flowers looked absolutely beautiful with raindrops resting on their petals. They were in prime bloom. Today I had my camera with me, minus the lens I like to use to shoot flowers, but I took some pictures anyway. I noticed that a lot of the flowers were now in their ''twilight" phase and they had lost a bit of their lustre - rougher edges, fallen petals. But I went ahead anyway, trusting they still had something to give. The pink peonies certainly did, they were still gorgeous and I resisted rubbing my face in them. Do they compel you to do that, too?

Note: I do love dogs. It's the odd owner that could use a swat on the nose with a newspaper. That woman didn't even help me up after I face planted in the sand!

 
   
   

 

Photos © The Swelle Life

Hooray for Hoodies

This post is sponsored; however, the content is original (obviously)

Admittedly, I am well past the hoodie phase of dressing. But I do remember the days, during my raver era (not the candy kind, I never had fun fur pants) when a hoodie was essential kit for comfort when leaving a club at 8am. The hood and its accomplice, big dark sunglasses, were the perfect cover when I needed to walk the streets home, incognito, amongst the productive, early risers who were on their way to work on a sunny Sunday morning. It felt conspicuous and awkward to be caught out being nocturnal, and it was then I realised I would never succeed at being a vampire.

Looking at BANK Fashions Women's Hoodies I see a few styles that have nice details beyond the standard issue. Ribbon ties add a soft touch, duffle fastenings are neat and remind me of Paddington Bear which is always a good thing, and the red military style makes me want to grab some xylophone sticks and play some notes on its sequined frogging. Very cute.

I cannot end a post about hoodies without mentioning what just may be (let's hope) the craziest hoody ever conceived of. Our Judith of Frankly Frankland is a huge Tupac fan. She could not resist snapping up a most ridiculous piece of memorabilia. It's a huge, hooded, white sweatshirt with Tupac's image on the front. He's wearing his blue gangsta bandana on his head - a real one! - and a big gold chain around his neck - a real one! - with a diamonte cross hanging from it. It's like thug découpage. Note to self: photograph Judith wearing that awesome mess very soon.

Wear Your Jeans for Genes and Help UK Kids

If you're not a jeans person (I was until I 'outgrew' all of mine, I like to think of it as a growth spurt that got confused and went the wrong direction), you may want to rethink your position for one day this autumn.

Jeans for Genes are the UK children's charity that aims to change the world for children with genetic disorders. A worthy mission indeed.

Jeans for Genes Day is their annual fundraising event and takes place on Friday 7th October. The aim is to ask your colleagues at work or the children at school to wear their jeans for the Day and make a donation.

For details of how you can get involved, visit the Jeans for Genes website.

And there's an official t-shirt which you can see on my lovely model Sophie. (That's right, I have a stand-in. It's best that way.) Jeans for Genes held a design competition in partnership with the London College of Fashion (LCF), and the winning design went to LCF's Lianne Miller. This limited edition black tee is being worn on all kinds of neat people and you can see them at the Jeans for Genes blog.

Remember the date! Friday 7th October. Plenty of time to make sure you fit into those jeans.

Photo © The Swelle Life