Giveaway // And The Winners Are...

Many thanks to everybody who entered the giveaway this week - we really enjoyed reading about your quirks and charms! The time has come to dip our hands into to our bowler hat and reveal the winner...


First Prize of an A4 Framed 'I Like You' print goes to... Amber Rose of Laughing with Broken Eyes. Congratulations sweets, can't wait to work on your design!


As we've reached the end of our first week, we decided to add a bonus runner up prize of an A5 Framed 'I Like You' print as well! Well done, Rob!


Thanks again and keep your eyes peeled for future giveaways! More exciting things to share with you soon!


We hope you all had a nice weekend! We spent the day in the garden designing more customised prints! Summer is here at last!


L&R

Warming up Twee Towers...

2 weeks ago we had a gathering to celebrate the move (it was great motivation to finish off all the decorating!). We did intend to take lots of pictures of our little soiree, but as it turned out we were just having FAR too much fun playing hostesses to think about snapping all our friends (and maybe we drank just a little too much Twee Punch...!)

Luckily we did remember to get pictures of our cute little candy table before it was demolished! We had a selection of everyones favourites: dolly mixtures, sherbet lemons, flying saucers, jelly beans, marshmallows, donuts and popcorn - was a big hit! (We do have some experience doing these though, Rhi runs a candy buffet and events company with her Mama - Daydream Believer Events.)

The Punch was our own twist on the classic Summery Pimms...

TWEE PUNCH:

Fill a jug with a few handfuls of ice, raspberries, strawberries and cucumber.
LOTS of Pimms.
Quite a lot of Creme de Framboise.
(a few generous splashes of whatever else is lingering in the cupboards... we suped it up with lemon and manderin liquours!)
Top up with Fizzy Flavoured Water (we used Pear and Elderflower!)
Tear off some mint leaves
stir everything around...

Serve and get merry :)

We're planning another party for next month because Lola's turning 23! Stay tuned for that - its going to be super cool, can't wait to share it with you!!

Love R&L x

{{Editors note: We originally posted this with the recommendation that you topped the punch up with Lemonade... However, we later remembered that we used Pear and Elderflower fizzy water, that was what made it so wonderfully special and not your typical Pimms beverage - we may have been slightly intoxicated when we made the punch, hence the memory lapse - Apologies for our error, trust us it is MUCH better with the flavoured water.}}

Irregular Romance & Literature Love

It’s true when they say that romance is found in the most unusual of places…

When sifting through a 1966 copy of playboy I picked up in an AMAZING vintage shop in Berlin earlier this year, I was extremely amused to find that buried amongst its collection of interviews with eminent icons such as Woody Allen, lengthy debates on cinematic highs and social lows of the time, is a spectacular feature, ‘The Playboy Advisor.’

I’ve included my favourite below, the advice offered does not disappoint:

Brilliant, who knew Mr playboy advisor of the sixties had such a sentimental heart?
I’ve never claimed to be a connoisseur of playboy’s shifting ethos throughout the years but I was certainly surprised to encounter such a sincere deliverance of marital advice within its pages.
And Poor Mr T.W – such a horror show proposal for his wife to suggest! I hope they lived their happily ever after...

“I had not intended to love him…”

On a not so dissimilar note, how divine is this copy of Jane Eyre that I picked up in a book shop today! One might say, that such a purchase might be deemed nonessential when one considers that she already owns a copy of this particular Victorian classic, however this cover is simply stunning! The illustration reminded me of the Hannah Frank artwork that we have around the house!
Not only that, you cannot underestimate the absolute glee a literature geek feels upon admiring the combination of a beautiful hardback and the inclusion of an attached ribbon bookmark – delightful!

This particular edition starts with an interesting introduction written by child author Jaqueline Wilson in which she recounts her first experience of reading the book; as a 10 year old with interests and attributes much like the protagonist Jane.

I can’t wait to show Rhianna, think she’d agree that it’d make a truly wonderful addition to our 60s cabinet!

Today, the boy and I also picked up ‘The beautiful and the Damned,’ and ‘The Great Gatsby,’ both by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Having never read any of Fitzgerald’s work, I’m looking forward to immersing myself in the glamorous, thrilling world of the Jazz Age and of all its magnetic ménage!

What have you all been reading recently?

L x

Twee Towers Tour // The Living Room

Room 2: The Living Room

This is probably the room which came together most organically. In all honesty, we weren't sure what we wanted to do with it and we didn't really have a theme in mind when embarking on the home makeover.

Aside from the love-at-first-sight sofa, which we purchased as a lavish treat before we even moved in (we knew it would fit ;) ... ) everything else has been rescued, passed down or created whilst we've been experimenting in the studio and not wanting to part with what we've made.

Although we're enjoying having this as an ongoing project, this room is by no means finished. Here's just glimpse of what we've done so far...




We salvaged this lamp and wicker chest from extremely generous family members! The chest is perfect for stashing dvds and other miscellaneous' items! This floor lamp is one of our faves in the house, we like it's vintagey charm and the fact that despite it's slightly unsteady demeanour, it refuses to topple (seriously though, I wouldn't touch it...). In pride of place in the living room is a beautiful acoustic that belonged to Rhi's dad, it's pretty special. It's always nice to have it to hand for musical outbursts!




Hanging on the wall is an original print by Hannah Frank, called 'Woman and Trees' created in 1931. We're a little obsessed with her artwork and have a selection of her work scattered throughout the house but we'll talk more on Hannah Frank in a later post :)





This cute little cushion is from London Kills Me... sometimes a sentiment rings true (at least, it kills us that we're too busy to go to the city as much as we'd like!)








Above the mantelpiece is an assorted arrangement of things we hold dear. The centerpiece is another original print by Hannah Frank, created in 1950. Our personalised 'I Like You' prints were one of the first things that we made when we moved into the house. What started as something special just for us, quickly generated a lot of interest amongst family and friends, so it was only right that we made it the focal point of the room. Now you can get one for yourself! See here for more details. The photo is the earliest snap we have of the two of us together - we didn't even realise we were friends at this age until recently stumbling upon this picture! We think it was at Rhianna's 5th birthday party. As you can see, we've always been strong advocators of the heavy fringe and pretty dresses!


Keep your eyes out for the She Dressed in Black scrabble tile prints, that we'll be launching in the shop soon...




Covering our coffee table is a lovely floral cloth, that was once a skirt worn by Rhi's Aunt in the 70s... and a Beatles picture book, of course, for daydreaming and instant inspiration.



Little M's Chair




We liked the idea of having sub-themes running throughout the house, we have snippets of lyrics in various rooms and - lots (LOTS!) of Chevrons! The strong graphic pop of the chevron prints break up all our girly and floral bits throughout the house. The lyric we placed in the Living Room is from The Rolling Stones' Get Off Of My Cloud, and carries on from our cloudy display on the mantelpiece.

As it was Jagger's Birthday yesterday (belated HB Mick!) we thought we'd leave you with a little treat in honour of the Birthday Boy himself. Enjoy.



Love L&R x

ps. How beautiful is Brian Jones? Sigh.

We Like You // Giveaway!

Introducing... She Dressed in Black: The Shop!

Our aim is to launch our first collection of pretty garments very soon - but for now, while we're gathering resources and funds we're designing cute one off prints that we had been making exclusively for our families and friends but we're now selling them on our Etsy page - due to popular demand ;)



'I like you...' - Wonderfully charming, these unique prints can illustrate everything from the inner workings of your world, a snapshot of a special event or simply record your individual quirks and charms.

Provide us with between 15-30 key words and phrases (depending on print size) and your preferred colour scheme and we shall do the rest.

Excellent as a gift for a loved one, or to mark a special occasion from Birthdays or Weddings to Christenings... Please email us at info [at] shedressedinblack.co.uk to discuss your specifications. Or you can order from our Etsy Shop or Download the order form directly here.



A Perfect Keepsake of what makes you tick! We have ours pride of place above the mantelpiece.

Stay tuned for more sweet additions to the shop very soon :)




As a Thank You for the overwhelming support we have received so far and to celebrate our launch - we are pleased to announce that we are offering a super special prize of a FREE A4 framed 'I Like You' Print...

You can enter this competition in a number of ways. Each method provides you with an entry to the giveaway, thus increasing your chances of winning!

1. Leave a comment on this post sharing one of your quirks or charms!
2. 'Like' our Facebook page
3. Follow us on Twitter @DressesInBlack
4. Re-Tweet the competition link for a bonus entry :)

Competition ends 31st July 2011 at 12pm BST.

Good luck! Look forward to reading your comments!

Love L&R x

ps. Many thanks to Jo for our sparkly celebratory Bucksfizz treat!

After Dinner Dance Parties...

After Dinner Dance Parties are our nightly ritual... What started as a way to keep our spirits up while doing the dishes, quickly became our way our letting our hair down every evening after dinner... It's a fun way to get out of our 9-5 mindsets and into the creative zone. We try to keep it varied (we like to think we're giving Little M a musical education...) and we thought we'd share our weekly favourites with you!

First on the playlist tonight: The Honey Trees

We stumbled across this gorgeous duo one evening meandering through blogs... We got instant goosebumps when we heard their stunning rendition of Andy Williams' Moon River. Beautiful... Worth a sway to.

Next up: Nana Kinomi

We love 60s Girl Groups. We especially love International 60s Girl Groups - so when we found Nana Kinomi covering The Zombies - I love you... we got pretty excited!

and finally... Munchausen by Proxy

Because we like to get a little bit silly sometimes... and we love Zooey! ("You said who are you-u-u!?") - Apologies if this song ends up stuck in your head all week! We can't get it out of ours!

Happy dancing - Hope you'll join us for the next installment! :)

Love L&R x

Introducing Little M & The Boss

We thought we ought to introduce to the other inhabitants of Twee Towers, as they may get a mention now and again...

Little M

Little M, stands for Myles and/or Little Monster, dependent on mood... Rhi's Baby Boy, he's 2 in December and he is a daily source of fun and inspiration... His favourite things are: Cowboys, Piggy Backs, Hugs, Blueberries and After Dinner Dance Parties.

The Boss

Bruce, our not so little kitten. His favourite things are: Speaking in a French accent, Liasing with commrades in the garden in the eve, and perfecting his cover of Born in The USA.

Say "Hi!" to our boys.

love R&L x

Twee Troubles // An Open Letter to Twinings

Dear Twinings,

We are writing to you to express our utmost vexation at the recent absence of your limited edition ‘Rose Tea’ in our local food supply outlet. One was merrily, skipping down the aisles yesterday morning in anticipation of stocking up on our favourite evening beverage.

To our horror, we discovered…it was no more. This invoked an immediate twee-like rage, to which end we were overwhelmed with the desire to pelt crumpets at the store workers and random passers-by. For which we hold you entirely responsible.

Leaving a dark shadow over our day, we walked home, solemn with rain clouds above our heads (granted, that may just have been the English weather but it adds to the pathetic fallacy of the situation).

Whilst the substitute of your Lavender Earl Grey is pleasant, it cannot hold a candle to the delightful Turkish aromas that pleasures one when sipping upon the ineffable Rose Garden Tea.

One would be most grateful if you could, sort it promptly… please.

Yours,

Lauren & Rhianna x

Twee Towers Tour // The Studio

It's 3 months since we moved into Twee Towers and we have been busy bees styling our space and pulling all our resources of hand-me-downs, junk yard finds and pretty things we've collected over the years to create our dream home!

There has been lots of late nights, paint on clothes/hair/pretty much everywhere else we didn't exactly intend to paint (learning curve!), but we have finally finished and we're now enjoying having somewhere beautiful to work, rest & play.

Over the next few weeks, we'll share room-by-room tours, documenting our eclectic looks, whilst sharing our home styling secrets and tips on how to make both vintage & 'junk' work in any space and for any taste. So keep checking back for the next unveiling!

ROOM 1: The Studio


The studio was the first room we wanted to devote some time to, getting right, finishing & perfecting. We were really lucky to have moved into a home with an amazing conservatory and thought that the light and space would be absolutely perfect for creating our mini projects & future collections!

Here's a few snapshots of the studio thus far...


Sneaky peak at the mood board for our upcoming collection.

Glass vases filled with ribbons & paper poms make a bright, cute alternative to floral displays!

Reading corner. We use this space everyday for our evening catch ups, throwing around ideas and flicking through our immense back catalogue of every magazine you can possibly imagine. The bongos are also readily available for impromtu jam sessions!

Our ever growing collection of fabrics.

Hard at work... honest!

Amazing workbench left behind in the garage by the previous owners... (thanks Uncle M!)

Bunting, bunting everywhere... you'll see a lot more of this around the house. We like pretty fabric triangles hanging about the place!

Toppling stacks.

We love battered old suitcases and especially love having this one on display as it belonged to Rhi's parents - their honeymoon luggage!

Hope you enjoyed noseying at our studio! There'll be lots more to come from this room very soon...

Love L&R x

Hello from Twee Towers...

Hey sweets! Welcome to our little corner of the blogosphere - She Dressed in Black.

We hope you like the space we've stitched together (the beautiful blog design by the wonderful Zoe at Freckled Nest - Thank You x)

So excited to finally be launching our blog - we've got lots to let you in on... behind the scenes peaks into the creation of our first collection, our home - Twee Towers, and our day to day creative experiments, misdemeanours and adventures!

Life is peachy at Twee Towers. R&L x


Feel free to have a rummage around, some quick 'go to' links for you here:

All about us
FAQs
Get in Touch! (we like mail...)
Check out our Shop (more to come very soon...)
Our daily reads