Boutique Love // Eclectic Eccentricity

Hey lovelies,


It's been quite some time since we last showcased some of the boutique labels that we covert over here at Twee Towers, so today we're sharing a few of the jewellery additions we've recently added to our collections from the wonderful, Eclectic Eccentricity!


Eclectic Eccentricity began as a humble, weekend hobby of gift shop manager, Lucy as she scoured antique shops and markets for pretty trinkets and exquisite gems to make into darling pieces of jewellery. It has since grown into a magnificent treasure trove for those seeking unique designs with plenty of personality... not to mention the fact that the brand is now a celeb favourite and regularly graces the pages of Marie Claire, Grazia and Vogue!


Back in December, we were luck enough to be involved in EE's '12 days of Christmas' project, in which they very kindly gifted us a few of their Seeing Stars Necklaces... a mighty fine choice for us Space Nerds, one would like to add! We were over the moon when the lovely team featured She Dressed in Black as their blog of the day and we loved answering a few of their Christmas themed questions over on their blog!


When it comes to jewellery, both of us like to keep iit quite minimal, favouring extra special pieces that have a story to tell, which is exactly why we love EE. Each piece is carefully created using a mix of vintage treasures & whimsical jewels, woven together with a charming backstory.We think that they make the best gifts and our bank balances were pleased to find that they come at exceptionally, affordable prices!


Our ears pricked up when EE announced that new stock was about to hit the shelves and you can not imagine our giddyness as we unwrapped these beautifully, packaged goodies that the postman left on our doorstep...







 With a life long fondness for Native American culture, Rhi chose the stunning, 'Quill Turquoise Feather Necklace', a genuine Native American carved bone feather pendant, finished with a smaller brass feather and three faceted turquoise beads. The perfect accompaniment to floaty, bohemian, summer staples.






 Lamenting rainy Sunday's spent painting and listening to old records, Lauren chose the miniature metal gramophone with small brass note charm. Harking back to musical delights of the Golden Twenties, there's nothing sweeter than the nostalgic, skip and cackle of an old gramophone to add a musical note to this summer's festival ensembles!






 Little M's recent fascination with all thing pre-historic will certainly be making an impact on Rhi's wardrobe in the coming months with the inclusion of this vintage brass stegosaurus (there's also a T-rex option!) pendant finished with a brass leaf, forest green rose and genuine amber bead!






 With a penchant for pretty pocketwatches, the 'It's About Time' pocket watch necklace' is sure to make a regular appearance out with Lauren! Want to know another secret? If you flip it over, you can even see the mechanism working, spectacular! Sadly, this beaut has been out of stock on the site, but we'll share some snaps once  it's winged its way to us!  Take a look at the EE shop to browse the full collection, or visit their blog for inspirations, special offers and sneaky peaks of new collections!  


Much love,
L&R xx

Topshop Ties the Knot!

One

Hipster brides-to-be rejoice! Church bells are ringing & confetti is being thrown over at the church of Sir Philip Green, because on Tuesday, Topshop unveiled their very first BRIDAL line! Gasp! Excuse us for a moment while we turn into swooning idiots.



Two

With no weddings to plan or attend this year, we can't quite work out why we're so excited either, but we’re thrilled to see that bridal wear is finally getting a style makeover! The capsule collection, ‘Tie the Knot’ is collaboration between Topshop and UK designer, Richard Nicoll, taking Nicoll's signature style of casual, femininity, tinged with a grunge vibe, influenced by the UK high street.


The collection consists of seven dresses in classic fabrics of chiffon, lace & silk, beautiful shift dresses and stunning flowy dresses, in a feminine palette of white & blush.



Three

Whilst a few of the dresses are probably too similar to those lurking in the depths of the Twee Towers wardrobes (lace shift dress we’re talking about you, too cute!) we love that Topshop are encouraging the innovativeness that currently resides on the UK high street to creep into this market, and pushing British designers to take on the task of creating bridal wear that is both modern & affordable.


What does everyone else think? Would you wear good old Toppers on your wedding day?

On other news, we both have the day off today to tackle... the garden. Wish.Us.Luck.

Much love,
L&R xx

Lauren's Wishlist: Mint & Lemon

I know it's getting old but I still can't quite drag away from all things lemon and mint. So, instead of purchasing anything else, I've decided my bank account will love me a whole lot more, if I put together a mini dream wishlist of a few of my favourite items!

The funny thing is, usually when is comes to creating wishlists, I'm terrible. Ask me what I would like for my birthday or as a Christmas gift a couple of weeks before and I cannot think of a thing. Anything that does pop into my head, I talk myself out of just as quickly. I'm also terrible at receiving gifts, I'm told I say thank you way too much at the best of times. 

That said, if just so happens that someone fancies sending any of these marvels my way, I'm not going to complain too much...

1. Vintage Telephone

2. Record Player

3. Mint Green Calls, iPhone Case

4. Nailpolish, Chanel

5. Vile Bodies, Evelyn Waugh

6. 1950s Vintage Tea Set

7. Books V. Cigarettes, George Orwell

8. A shiny new, Nissan Figaro

Pretty, please! 

Much love, 

Lauren xx

Twee Treats Giveaway Winner...

So we went a bit old school and wrote out all the entries from across the twitter, facebook & blog comments and stuck them all into a bowler hat! And so, one is positively delighted to announce that the winner of our Twee Treats One Year giveaway is...

(okay, it's pretty difficult to unfold a piece of paper with one hand!)

Megan Jane!! Congratulations, if you pop your postal address on an email to us, we'll get your box of treats sent out to you :)

Thanks so much to everyone who entered and for all the sweet comments... and don't worry folks, that was only the anniversary of the day we moved into Twee Towers, we still have our She Dressed in Black anniversary coming up in July, keep an eye out for another giveaway ;)

Much love,

Lauren (and Rhi soon - she's home tomorrow!) xx

Cute Find // Dainty Shop Fronts

Oh my, how much do we want this shop!! This local property catches our eye every time we pass it, with its art deco features, stained glass windows & the cutest garden terrace round the back. We've been daydreaming about turning it into a cafe/teeny outdoor cinema! Now that it's just been painted up, it just looks even sweeter. This mysterious object of our affections has absolutely no signage so we have no idea what it's currently or what it shall be used for but we want, want, want!!
Another lovely find this week... if you're looking to get organised in the coming months, the darling Clemence from Oh So Lovely Things, is giving away this free printables this week on her blog! We picked up the weekly blog planner, don't know about you but we constantly have ideas crammed into our journals, drafted on blogger, and floating around in our whatsapp inboxes so it's refreshing to come to reflect and write down a definite schedule for the week ahead... especially if it's as pretty as this one!

For non-bloggers, Clemence has also created the free 'week at a glance' printable perfect for keeping on track of your week! Go and have a look, her blog is the sweetest!
Much love,
L&R xx

Twee Troubles // Childhood Outfit Posts

Hey lovelies,


After a spending an hour giggling our way through our boxes of childhood photographs, we were mildy bemused to find that things hadn't changed very much in the styling stakes over the past 23 years. We are ashamed to admit that we appear to have been stuck in a two decade long style rut, desperately clinging on to the comforting familiarity of our youth. We must apologise dear Mothers, our pleas for pink shiny things in our younger days were unfounded, and we can only say that you dressed us well... most of the time.


There probably should be something said for our dressing like three year olds at the age of 23, but we find ourselves irresistibly drawn to collars, frills, florals and ankle socks, not to mention, the fringe. Recently, one mentioned that we had reached that god awful stage in our lives where one finds that fashion has discovered that it cannot reinvent the wheel and churns out previous trends of bygone eras. Gosh, no that cannot be the case! Tell us it isn't so!?


Maybe by evaluating these pictures, we can begin to seek out new directions. So here we bring you, the best and worst of our childhood outfit posts...

Sailor Style

We like to think we coined the term, nauti-cool. Doing sailor collars long before this year's trend. Note, Lauren's mum's epic perm & the way she matches her shirt to the sofa and Rhi's sister Ellie working shower cap chic. We were all surprised that one didn't pull through to the fashion forefront.

FloralsA Lauren & Rhianna childhood staple. Our Mum's dragged us around Laura Ashley waaaaay too much. We can still remember the dread of that shop being mentioned on a Saturday morning during Live & Kicking.  




Disney FanaticWe were bigtime Disney fanatics. Tee's, shorts, pj's, dungarees, converse (until a member of housekeeping in Florida half-inched Lola's pair), matching legging & jumper sets. GIVE US MINNIE MOUSE. 

 Pretty detailingBeautiful dresses in dreamy fabrics




Work AttireWhilst Rhi opts for a practical nursing outfit for a shift in the teddy hospital, Lola drives the trains in style (polka dot crop tops and jelly shoes), just what National Rail needs today. 

 HoxtonShe was always going to live there...

 Mint Green Raincoats & Chelsea BootsRaincoat in minty green, gingham shirt with the top button done up & chelsea boots... have we seen this look before? Swap the jeans for something skinnier and Lauren, has not changed.... few more front teeth mind. 


Polka dotsAlways!

 Matching with DollsDressing like dolls continues to be a daily source of inspiration

ALMIGHTY Fringes... that continue to dominate our lives and our faces. We have since stopped letting our mum's trim them, badly. 



 Fashion Faux-PasWe're not all perfect okay. We had our bad days too. Namely, multi-coloured puffa jackets and purple leggings. 

 Double-figure styleUpon reaching the grand old age of 10, we scored a (local) modelling deal. This was backstage preparing ourselves in sports dresses and Tammy girl tee-shirts. There was also a picture from around this time where we were wearing a lot of velvet and lace... and not in a good way, we'll keep that off the internets for now. 

Sorry Ellie, please forgive us. 

Much love, 

L&R xx

Tremendous Tips for Braving Spring Flea-Markets!

As the Spring season draws in, there is nothing better than getting up early on a Sunday morning and going for a meander around a flea market. One of the must-do's on the agenda of Lola & James' Berlin adventure was getting to one of the hugely popular flea markets that were littered around the City. After checking out a few online first, they opted for the Arkonaplatz market, located in the Mitte district, advertised as a haven for fans of Sixties & Seventies. Nom. 


The problem is, with the warmer weather also comes the larger crowd and the competition to bag yourself exquisite antiques and beautiful bargains heats up! At this time of year you need a plan as well as a good eye and it's also easy to feel overwhelmed by the vast array of knick-knacks on offer. So today we are sharing our top tips, that will hopefully help you have a successful trip around the flea-markets and as girls that love shopping, we like to think we know a thing or two... 







1. Arrive early - we're starting with an obvious one, it goes without saying. Not only are you putting yourself in the same privileged position as the rest of the savvy, flea-market frequenters to bag the bargains first, but it's also wise to be careful of item hoppers - a self-penned term ;)! That is, vendors browsing around the market early on, buying items and selling it on their own stall later in the day at an increased price! Apparently, it happens a lot more frequently than you think and sometimes items can jump from several stalls throughout the day and the price multiply each time!

2. Take cash - another obvious tip but in a day and age where we rely on carrying around our cash cards, it's so, so easy to forget to cash out for occasions like this and it would be simply tragic (we're not even being dramatic, tragic!) to miss out on something that you love, purely because you didn't have the cash on you!

3. Have an initial browse - As we mentioned earlier, it's really easy to be overwhelmed by the fast pace  and bumble of people crammed into compact markets not to mention the thousands upon thousands of items on offer.... just where do you start? We found that the best thing to do was to have an initial browse up and down all the aisles to get a feel for what sort of things were on offer before heading back to take a closer look at the things which caught our eye! Remember, most flea markets are open all day (9am-5pm) so take your time :) 



4. Make a wish list - it's so much easier to find something you'll love for years to come if it's something that will have a place in your home. Make a wishlist beforehand, even if you divert from the list for a couple of impromptu bought items, it keeps a sense of focus when browsing amongst the variety of knick-knacks available... it's easy to get carried away with no-so-practical purchases when it's all sittin' pretty! 



5. Buy old - Resist the urge to buy something new. At the Arkonaplatz market, vendors had also set up darling stalls full of home-made and vintage looking jewellery (Egyptian inspired beetle jewels & cameo necklaces, gah!) as lovely as they looked, it seems a shame to browse around a flea market, only to come home with something brand new that you could search out online. Keep to the old and the antique and then you'll truely feel like you've found a treasure!



6. Colour vision - Seems silly but it does work...use colour to scan out items from your favourite eras. Colour pops of bright orange kept catching my attention and pulling me towards wonderful stands full of 60s and 70s delights!


7. Do your research - This really does help! If you have access to internet on your phone, use it! This way you have a much greater idea of how much an item is really worth before you pay or barter... you could even show the vendor the prices that you've found to see if this will encourage them to knock off a little more dollar! James fell in love with a beautiful sounding harmonica from the 50s on one of the stalls, the vendor was adament that the price offered was a bargain... a quick browse on ebay soon uncovered that you could get them a little cheaper online! There's nothing worse than feeling fooled by a confident seller! 



8. Stay friendly & polite - although it might not aid your quest for lustrous bargains too much, remember that the majority of items on offer are probably from private collections or the seller's own possessions. Be respectful of sentimental value and use this to your advantage to find out as much information as you can about the items - it's always lovely to have a bit of backstory! 





9. Take a tape measure - At Twee Towers, practicality is not always our forte... remember we bought our sofa without even considering the shape or size of the living room before moving in... luckily it fitted! For bulkier, house hold items, being able to measure will be a useful tool and will save you tediously lugging around a chest of drawers only to find it's too big to fit anywhere!





10. Look past the wear and tear - we all get suckered in by pretty, visual merchandising and artistic set ups but some of the best antique junk looks just like it sounds... junk! We stumbled across a stall that at first glance looked like boxes upon boxes of recycled metal, on closer inspection they housed the most charming, ornate brass door knobs that would make an amazing feature on wooden drawers and dressers... and sooo much cheaper than you would pay elsewhere! At Twee Towers we live by the mantra that almost everything can be fixed, scrubbed up and upcycled!



11. A bonus tip - enjoy yourself! How often do you get to spend a day drifting around troves of vintage and antique treasure? Buying is much more interesting when you have to work to find your goods! 



We hope you enjoyed today's tips... happy shopping :)
Much love, L&R xx