Little Red Vintage – TAPE PARADE

I live in a countryside area of north Surrey by a river, and regularly encounter foxes, badgers, swans, geese and ducks. James is very much a badger guy but I am particularly fond of the foxes: the beautiful colour of their fur, the elegant way they move and their crafty reputation. I smile whenever I drive past them. At the moment there’s lots of young foxes in the streets near my house, sometimes when I head home I catch them playing.

I am upset whenever I see a dead fox on the road – up to 50% of the UK fox population are killed by cars! They are not vermin and pose very little threat to humans, and frequent calls to instigate a fox cull are spurred on by sensationalist and impartial media reports. Did you know for every one attack on humans by a fox, there are over 5,000 from domestic (i.e. trained) dogs?

So here is my fox t-shirt – I bought this from Aubin & Wills (as well as a matching fox mug) shortly before they closed in January and everything was about 85% off (hallelujah). I made the skirt with my Mum: the fabric is covered in African animals and was originally bought by my Grandma in 1960s Ethiopia! (and some bows here). Lastly my new necklace is from my recent trip to Liverpool, found in Little Red Vintage.

Do you have a favourite fox? I’m partial to Mr Tod from the Beatrix Potter books as well as the Janacek opera The Cunning Little Vixen (incidentally that animated version is amazing) and whatever the fox in Farthing Wood was called. Possibly he was just called Fox. For more on foxes read here.

(Credit PETA)

(Lucha Libre – a mexican restaurant we visited on the first night)

Have you ever been to Liverpool? The moment I set foot on scouser soil I felt strangely at home. Whether it was just being in a busy populated city following the rural Devon villages we’d been visiting or some vague part of my brain remembering happy primary school trips into Liverpool, I felt really happy to be back. One of my favourite people I met during university was from Liverpool and I was fondly reminded of him whilst surrounded by that distinctive accent. I spent most of my time in the Unity Theatre preparing and performing the show, but the hour or so I spent wandering around I explored nearby Bold Street and their HUGE array of aesthetically charming shops.

CLAUDIA PINK

(exterior and interior of Claudia Pink)

Claudia Pink was the most gorgeous array of unique necklaces, exotic earrings and dazzling brooches. It was lovely to chat to Claudia herself and find out more about the business and her design process.

LITTLE RED VINTAGE

Stellar visual merchandising from Little Red Vintage, I felt a little as though I had wandered into a fantasy, candy-coloured dressing room crossed with a Sofia Coppola film. I absolutely loved these neon, translucent plastic pom-pom chandeliers.

BOLD STREET SWEETS

(exterior and interior of Bold Street Sweets)

It’s a giant sweet shop. With old fashioned pick and mix. American sweets. Lucky Charms. Dark chocolate M’n’Ms (my personal all-time favourite sweet). Yay!

ARK

(interior and exterior of ARK)

Apparently Ark is not a one-off Liverpool independent store but a fairly large chain with stores around the country, so the fact I’d never come across it before is indicative of my own poor knowledge of the outside world (i.e. life past Zone 6). These photos were all taken in their vintage basement where I found the most amazing silver dress. I’m not sure if all the stores have a vintage section but this one was huge and laid out beautifully!

BOLD STREET COFFEE

Hendrix and coffee.