Doing the do

My hair is currently a long, unruly mane, which needs an abundance of lovely products to get it looking spit spot day-to-day. Over the cold, cold winter months, my long locks been a bit dehydrated, so I've been trying to pump some moisture back into my tresses, and with few finishing touches from these products, it's starting to come up roses just in time for Spring.

Tatty Devine comes to the Toon

I have long been a fan of Tatty Devine,  the ultimate laser cut perspex jewellery supremos.

Ever since first discovering them at the age of 14, I've been bowled over by their super-cool jewellery and accessories, and have made a fair few purchases over the years; their iconic name necklaces, plectrum earrings and spectacle neckwear.

This summer, BALTIC Shop, one of my favourite North East shopping destinations, part BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and TD's larget North East stockist, welcome the Tatty Devine team, who'll be hosting the region's first Bunting Necklace Workshops. Aspiring jewellery makers can work with the team in choosing their own necklace components and create a bunting masterpiece all for themselves.

The two workshops, running on Saturday 13th July, are sure to sell out quick, so to book your place on this super exclusive workshop, hot-foot it over to BALTIC Shop to get your hands on some tickets, or click here to book online. 

Tatty Devine Bunting Necklace Workshops

Saturday 13 July 2013

Workshop Times: 12.00 and 14.30

£35.00 per person

BALTIC SHOP, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead

All images courtesy of BALTIC and Tatty Devine

& Other Stories

I know, I know: who hasn't blogged about H&M's new brand this week? But, it's all for good reason.

& Other Stories, created by the teams behind the brilliant high-street collections from H&M and Cos, now bring us this new brand. The brand's collections aren't depicted by trends, but 'stories' which will develop each season. They've integrated some brilliant video 'Shop the Story' sequences, showing the clothes on real people (definately where eCommerce is heading) and this week launched their London HQ on Regent Street.

The ready-to-wear clothes, accessories and shoes are the type of staples which you need in your wardrobe; simple colour, shapes and styles. My idea of utter style heaven. Pass me my credit card - here are my picks:

Block heel sandals £65 / Claire Vivier for & Other Stories Notebook Holder £29

Leather clutch £55 / Sleeveless shirt £39 

Knitted top £29 / Leather belt £29 

What's your favourite story this season?

& Other Stories

256—258 Regent Street

London, W1B 3AF 

Caroline Issa for LK Bennett

This week, I invited along to one of my favourite department stores, Fenwick Newcastle, to have a sneaky peek at Tank Magazine editor Caroline Issa's limited edition collaboration with LK Bennett.

The capsule collection, comprising of footwear and bags, are absolutely exquisite and so detailed; the craftsmanship is astounding. Issa, inspired by her travels to Thailand, has pair the neutral tones of leather and canvas with hot pink, green, yellow and red embroidery to such beautiful effect. I'll let the images speak for themselves. Absolutely gorgeous.

It's brilliant that we have this collection available to buy in the North East and that brands and retailers are recognising the high demand for these high-end products in the region. Hats off to Fenwick!

Prices for the accessories start at a very reasonable £245 for footwear and £275 for bags - a snip when you think of the craftsmanship involved.

The collection is exclusively available at Fenwick Newcastle and other LK Bennett flagship locations.

Jan/Feb 2013: Some snaps

Tim Walker poster from his brilliant Story Teller exhibition at Somerset House, finally in situ above the bed; Big Sis and me ready for a day out in London town; Heaven in a can; Aesop goodies from Beauty Expert; the best coffee from Ouseburn Coffee Company at Tynemouth Market; old shipping lights in ORA Tynemouth;  Rob Ryan mugs from Joe for our 5 year anniversary <3; the snowy seafront near our flat; gorgeous new wooden blinds in the bedroom; visiting Redhouse in Newcastle for a birthday pie; citizenM Bankside; the fabulous pop-up Chanel beauty store in Covent Garden; lights in citizenM reception area; cocktails and martinis in DUKES London; Sophie Hulme for Globetrotter - want, need, love. 

'Tis the Season

The last couple of weeks have been filled with festive cheer in the form of decorating our flat, ready for the Big Man coming to town; visiting Christmas markets, baking, deciding on Christmas wrapping schemes and heading to London to see the bright lights of Oxford and Regent Street (along with a bit of shopping in Liberty, of course).

It's our first Christmas in the flat so decorating and making plans for the holidays has felt extra special.

What have you been doing to prepare for the festive season?

Advanced Style

Impeccable style fascinates me. It transcends age, as proven by the photographer Ari Seth Cohen who captures immaculately presented older men and women on his blog, Advanced Style.

I am well and truly in awe of everyone featured on his blog - I can only hope I look as good and make such bold style statements when I reach a more experienced age. Here are some of my favourites.

And of course, no mention of style at a more mature age would be complete without the incomparably brilliant, Iris Apfel. "More is more, less is a bore."

All images from Advanced Style by Ari Seth Cohen

Cath Kidston Newcastle Store & Giveaway winners.

At the end of last week, I ventured into Newcastle to check out the new stand alone Cath Kidston store. Set over 2 floors on the beautiful Grainger Street, the store has a great mix of fashion, homeware, childrenswear and Christmas merchandise, along with some lovely, considered displays for the store including a wall full of framed Newcastle paraphernalia.

I spoke to CK Newcastle's store manager, Alex, to find out a bit more about the store:

Welcome to Newcastle! I’m so pleased Newcastle finally has it’s own stand-alone store, following on from the success of CK’s concession in Fenwick. How does it feel to have a base in the North East? Thank you. We are all really excited about the new store and being able to offer Newcastle a chance to see the whole product range. From just being open a couple of days, we can already see that everyone is really as excited as we are here. The reception has been fantastic.

What can CK’s Newcastle fans expect from the store? 
I’m really excited by the faces of our customers as they walk through the doors of the new store. They will be taken aback by so much colour and brightness. It’s such an expressive brand, so uplifting.

CK is all about print – which prints do you think will be most popular with Newcastle’s CK fans?
Print is so important to Cath Kidston, all of our prints are unique and inspired by Vintage. The products are colourful and fun and bring a smile to your face. Our spot prints are really popular and spray flower in our china is a best seller, both these prints are very classic Cath Kidston and never go out of style or date.

As the festive season is upon us, does the store have anything special lined up for it’s Newcastle customers this Christmas? 
We have opening promotions going on over our launch day and the weekend. We also have a shopping spree competition for the customer to win £250 shopping spree with Cath Kidston.

And now to reveal the winners of the Cath Kidston giveaway.

After randomly selecting names out of a hat (well, a decorative bowl in this case), the winners are...

Cath Kidston Laptop Case - Sophie-Anne from Decisions, Decisions
Cath Kidston Tote Bag - Katie Coward

Well done ladies. If you could please drop me an email with your address details in, that would be marvellous.

Cath Kidston - New Store Opening - Newcastle, UK

This week sees a real treat for North East fans of British brand, Cath Kidston: we are finally getting our own stand-alone CK store in Newcastle upon Tyne.

The brand have had a small concession based in Fenwick Newcastle for some time now, and now to help strengthen the brand presence in the North East, CK now has it's very own space. Set over 2 floors on the Toon's wonderful Grainger Street, the store will feature products from homeware, kidswear and accessories through to fashion and special one-off vintage pieces, all including CK's iconic print designs.

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED: 
To celebrate the store opening, I've teamed up with Cath Kidston to offer a special giveaway for readers of AMB. I'm exclusively giving away a beautiful spotty tote bag and laptop case to 2 lucky winners. Simply leave a comment below stating which item you'd prefer to win and why, and I will randomly select 2 winners to receive these wonderful prizes courtesy of Cath Kidston.

Only open to UK residents,  and the winners will be announced at the beginning of next week alongside a Q&A with the Newcastle's store manager and a look at the store. So get to commenting quick sharp! 

The store opened today, 8th November, so if you're one of the lucky few who've had a chance to visit already, tweet me what you like about the store @alicemarybarnes.

 Cath Kidston, 136 - 138 Grainger Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 5AF 

The Gentlewoman Autumn/Winter 2012

My favourite magazine has released it's A/W 2012 issue.

Behold The Gentlewoman.

And can you think of a better cover star than Angela Landsbury? I think not. Enjoy.

Best in show

I am unprecedentedly behind with the Spring/Summer 2013 collections.

Whilst I catch up on all things Spring, here's Prada's latest collection. 22nd Century geisha? That'll do me for SS13.

Boo George for Toast A/W 2012

I am a huge fan of photographer Boo George, especially his backstage shots from fashion shows which always capture the chaos brilliantly. His photographs for Toast's A/W 2012/13 campaign are sheer perfection - as it the casting. Sara Blomqvist, Anna de Rijk? Sheer beauty.

For more images from the campaign, see Toast's Pinterest site. 

Mantra

This week's inspiration. Found via Black, White, Yellow.

The Late Shows, Newcastle

On Friday and Saturday night, 2012's The Late Shows took place around cultural venues in the North East of England. The Late Shows, part of international Museums at Night festivities, is an inspiring, after dark programme of events and exhibitions centering on the cultural venues in NewcastleGateshead that are usually closed in the evening. There are so many brilliant venues to go and visit, and this year I decided to head to a couple of the newer venues on the list.