All Mine. Whimsical Wears for Dazzling Dames

Eyelet You playsuit

Why Cello Moon

Pirate Folk Shirt, 'What's Your Caper' jacket and 'Row Your Boat' shorts

Katherine Pont, a fine arts grad, was designing T-shirts for friends and working as a buyer for a boutique when she started Mine. Eventually, Pont branched out and began designing her own range of clothes and now, six years later, Mine just happens to be one of the coolest labels around town.


That Pont's roots are firmly placed in art rather than traditional design or fashion school studies plays a significant role in her creations. Her collections unfurl in a story-like manner: she thinks of a theme and designs dresses to suit that theme. Luckily, Pont's themes tend to be awesome such as her pirate obsession which bore some of the cutest, tomboyish dresses for the Damsel in this Dress collection.

Pont is currently working on a new range. Keep your eyes peeled.

Little White Lies

Rock- A- Rhyme in Sister Ray

There are a few reasons why Sister Ray is one of the coolest record stores in London:

First of all, it's in Soho- a haven for misfits, artists, rockers, tourists and every other awesome thing under the sun. Secondly, it was on the cover of Oasis' seminal album What's the Story (Morning Glory) and thirdly, Sister Ray stock almost every genre of music you can think of. Also, you won't find any pompous indie kids working behind the counter which is always a bonus, but what really makes Sister Ray a must-visit record store is fairly simple: it's a little shop jammed to the rafters with CDs, vinyls, T-shirts and DVDs. It's a little slice of musical heaven. Sister Ray was almost closed down last year due to declining sales but it's still standing...for now. Yep, that's right. Record stores still matter, downloading hasn't won out yet!

Fine Young Animals

Peking Red 2

Pink Giraffe

Felicity

Cowboy Katie

The first time I saw a painting by Georgia Fiennes I was left speechless. Not in a well-blow-me-down-that's-just-amazing kind of way but more like I'm-looking-at-a-painting-of-a-bull-in-heels-and-I-like-it-is-there-something-wrong-with-me? kind of way. Each of her paintings features an animal in anything but its natural habitat: a giraffe in a teacup; a pig in heels; a cow with peirced ears. The weirdness goes on.

But there's something about Georgia's paintings that makes them very difficult to dismiss as silly or childish. Her paintings are absurd but they're also really good. And really, it's about time someone put humour back into art; Georgia is the brave woman doing it so kudos to her for that!

See her work online at http://www.veryfineanimals.com/

It's not you, it's me

Be warned: Me me me jewellery comes with side effects, but don't panic, they're mainly cool side effects. First of all, Me me me designer Jade Gallup, a ceramics student, makes all her jewellery from porcelain, so a night on the tiles could see you literally shattered if you're not careful. Secondly, Me me me jewellery is so darn cute and unique that you'll have a cue of girls asking you about it all night but for jewellery this sweet, it'll be worth it.

Me me me jewellery is delightfully whimisical and fun. Given that Gallup takes her inspiration from her obsession with all things tacky, like religious iconography and bunny rabbits, her designs tend to be on the quirky side but quirky is way better than boring! It's far better to be just that little bit wrong because it makes you look oh-so-right.

Check out her range at me me me

Awesome auds

One the one hand, I love you. On the other, I hate you. A modern take on 'He loves me, he loves me not'? All I know is that nothing says 'I love/hate you' better than a pair of Knuckledusters. Designed by London fashion designer Audrey Auds as part of her new accessories range, auds, these Knuckledusters could be the best/worst Valentine's Day gift ever. Other sterling items in her collection include beetle hair-clips and thunderbolt clips all made from mirrors, plastic and hair. Yes. Hair. auds jewellery is handmade to order and a little pricey but jewellery this unique and anti-trend is always worth it.

http://www.audslondon.com/

Hawkers & Gawkers

London's street markets are lively places which hark back to the old days when supermarkets did not exist. In fact, many of the orginal markets are still open today, operating from the same site where they first flourished decades ago. Most markets are only open a couple of days a week while others only operate on the weekend so when they are open they're always crowded with shoppers seeking a bargain. Whether it's delicious fresh fruit and vegies you're looking for or vintage teacups and dresses, London's street markets have got it covered.

Personally, my favourite market is Camden Passage in Angel- a vibrant market lining the narrow cobble-stoned pathways near Angel Station. Stalls mingle amongst high profile shops, cafes, pubs and vintage antique stores which makes the stroll through this market an interesting one full of surprises and treats. For example, you can find a minimalist stall run by an eccentric Frenchman selling old black and white photographs of 1920s Flappers and eerie old school photographs dating back to the early 1900s, not to mention an assortment of weird stuff like one or two bird feathers or a rusty old hammer. Walk a little further along and you'll stumble upon the shop of London chocolatier Paul A.Young and Annie's Vintage Shop, a treasure trove of old-school Hollywood glamour.

Overall, Camden Passage is one the quirkier markets around but its got character- an essential aspect of every good street market.

Hello Darkling

In a Guardian cover story last year a very enthusiastic writer proclaimed that 'the world has not seen this kind of profoundly eccentric folk-art minstrel since Kate Bush'. This is just one example of the hyperbole following Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine and yes, it's justified.

At 22, this tall waifish Redhead possesses a voice so strong it could knock the clouds from the sky. Forget Florence and the Machine, her voice IS a machine. She needs no band really but after many years of writing alone she finally put together a band a little over a year ago. To say that the response so far has been overwhelmingly positive is a major understatement. Apart from playing Reading and Glastonbury and co-writing songs with Alex James from Blur, Florence won the Critics Choice award at 2009 Brits and is currently recording 2009s most anticipated release. Sure beats working in retail.

Florence isn't just another run-of-the-mill female singer out to steal Amy Winehouse's soul crown. Although she is trailblazing her contempories, her idiosyncracies and playful personality set her apart from the pack. Her main inspiration is her own imagination which, if her lyrics are anything to go by, is a pretty dark place. Violence features heavily in her songs: 'Girl with One Eye', a song about cutting a girl's eye out; her first single 'Kiss with a Fist', the most upbeat song about domestic violence you'll ever hear and 'My Boy Builds Coffins' a song about, you guessed it, her coffin building boyfriend. Clearly, she is no Duffy- you won't hear any songs of love and loss from Florence and thank the heavens above for that! The last thing we need is another clone.

It is precisely Florence's stunning voice and dark narrative lyrical style which will keep people interested in her long after the current female soul singer fad sweeping the charts becomes boring. Seeing as though boring is a word you could never use to describe Florence, one can only assume she'll survive any trend. Here's to the next ten years, Florence!

MODernism

OOs Britpop jersey dress

80s Ska skirt and dress

70s Paisley shirt dress


60s Mod shirt mini dress




Fashion and music have always enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship. Every major musical movement has had a 'look': Grunge and flannel; Riot Grrl and baby doll dresses; Hippies and flares. True, every genre has its own style but only one fashion label has dressed five musical movements over 50 years. Introducing the Ben Sherman collection: 'Decades of Dresses'.

From humble beginnings in the 60s when Beatlemania was sweeping the world and a new youth movement called Mod was erupting in London, Ben Sherman have always produced clothes to blend with the latest scene. To celebrate, Ben Sherman have collaborated with fashion label PPQ, a label also in tune with the music vibe, to create a range of five uber-cool dresses that encapsulate the mood and feel of five decades of musical history: Mod, Rock, Ska, Britpop and Indie.

Visit Ben Sherman to snap up one of these dresses and transport yourself back to your favourite decade. But be quick! These highly coveted dresses won't be around for long!

Each dress is 175.00 from Ben Sherman

Cool Stuff

Rule Britannia! This is some of the coolest wallpaper I have seen in awhile. Find it at Wonder Walls.

Doth take tea

Antique teacups at Camden Passage Market, Angel.

Fleur Tea Pot and Stop For Tea Gift Set- Whittard of Chelsea.

Like most girls I have a thing for teasets. The search for the perfect tea pot and matching cups and saucers is ongoing and it's only sheer will power that keeps me from purchasing one tea pot a week! But I still love looking and London is the perfect place to look for teasets. Teatime is a national pastime here and given that it's cold for much of the year alot of tea drinking is recommended so owning a special teaset is therefore quite necessary. Street markets are a great place to find authentic antique cups and saucers but for a killer matching set check out some of London's many tea shops like High Tea of Highgate which is the cosiest tea shop I've found in London so far.

Christmas in London

Each year the London high street stores attempt to out do in each other in the who-has-the-best-Christmas-display war. This year the competition was tough. Honourable mentions go to House of Fraser of Oxford Street which was lit from top to bottom and Carnaby Street for the enormous snowmen and snowflakes. However, I couldn't find a better Christmas display than the Santa display at Selfridges. Each of their front windows featured Santa in a different scenario and the detail was immaculate. I couldn't find a sillier or more interesting and inventive display anywhere so I hereby declare Selfridges the winners of high street Christmas wars 2008! I can't wait to see what they do next year!

My Favourite Christmas Tree

I found this Christmas Tree by Dutch designer Jane Schouter of All the Luck in the World and think it's the most original Christmas Tree I've ever seen!

Kitschy Cool

Tatty Devine jewellery is some of the quirkiest jewellery to come out of London. Started in the 90s by two art school friends, Tatty Devine has since grown into one of the coolest jewellery labels in the UK thanks to their unique idea of elevating plastic jewellery to art status. Needless to say, Tatty Devine jewellery isn't your typical jewellery. One of my personal favourites is their very popular 'Horse and Carriage' necklace: a massive plastic necklace made of a carriage being pullled by two galloping horses. Their previous collections are similarly quirky. Take their Movie Mayhem collection for example. Everything you associate with the cinema became plastic fantastic jewellery: popcorn bracelets; movie reel brooches and 3-D glasses as a necklace. Unique but also very kitsch. Check out their latest collection online at http://www.tattydevine.com/.