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

An Interview with Alice Takes a Trip!

Today I'm absolutely delighted to share with you a recent interview we did with Claire and Lauren of my favourite independent label, Alice Takes a Trip. Regular readers of the blog may have caught a glimpse of their fab work, when I picked them for my Boutique Love feature at the start of the year... or every time I share an outfit post as their designs are never off my back! 


I stumbled across this brand whilst I was uni and instantly fell in love with their magical little shop with a sewing machine set up in the corner and Victoriana inspired attire, using exquisite velvet fabrics, embellished with bows and dreamy vintage style lace. Since then, their collection and style has expanded greatly, offering the most charming collection of t-shirts, shorts, jumpers, dresses & bags! I find that the cut of the garments are always perfect (boyfriend fit tees, high waisted 50s fitting shorts), and the prints each season are always exciting and fresh. 


I was absolutely thrilled when they asked me to model for their S/S 12 collection, and got to spend a day getting ready in their lush studio space, having our hair curled, plaited, crimped and top-knotted by the beautiful Jennifer of Jennifer Sarah Hairdressing and flouncing around in a grand hotel for the shoot in my dream wardrobe! They are both so incredibly lovely, so we got in touch again to find out a little more about their brand...


Alice Takes A Trip, Owners & Designers (and sisters!) Lauren & Claire

We got sewing machines from a very young age and have therefore always been interested in fashion. We soon started making our own clothes and so the obvious choice for us was to both go on and study fashion after leaving school - that way we got to learn proper techniques like pattern cutting. 

We established in 2006 - Claire opened a small boutique in the Forum shops in Sheffield while Lauren was at university. At this time Alice Takes a Trip mainly consisted of re-worked vintage and re-worked fun, quirky prom dresses that seemed to get our name on the market as a lot of companies wanted to use them for fashion shoots and shows. When Lauren finished university we decided to take Alice Takes a Trip to the next level and turn it into a brand name. We closed the shop and moved into a design studio to sell online and wholesale to shops and boutiques worldwide. Getting a boutique on ASOS has really boosted our company worldwide. 

Alice in Wonderland, the Victorian Fairytale has always been one of our main sources of inspiration, as every collection we always include a dolly dress. We don't have a set style icon as such, we get our dress inspiration from Victorian Pot Dolls and Victorian Clothing. The rest of our collection ties in with current trends of that season but with an added twist. 

Victorian Inspired Velvet Peter Pan Collar Dress, Alice Takes A Trip

An Alice girl is fashion forward and in with the trends but also wants to be different and stand out from the crowd. Our customers seem very loyal and come back over and over again. We try to add a new mini collection every six weeks to keep the brand fresh.

We have won a few competitions but our favourite and most enjoyable has to be having the chance to be involved with Channel 4's Frock Me TV Show, which was hosted by Alexa Chung & Henry Holland. During the show we designed and made an outfit for one of the contestants - they then went on to win best dressed in the show. We took part in our first trade show a couple of years ago at London Edge and had the smallest stall there, but went on to win the Best Dressed Stall of that Season. We were excited to catch Caryn Franklin browsing our rails at the clothes show and purchasing two of our t-shirts for her daughters.

Most things are done in our studio. That means we do the designing, the making, the photoshoots, the website, and flyer designs and everything else that crops up, so it's all pretty full on. Even though it can be hard, it's what we love doing and we think it's what makes Alice Takes a Trip unique. With Alice contanstly growing we are having some things factory made but have sourced a local factory in the UK to still keep things made in our home town of Sheffield.
 White Leopard Print Faux Rustic Leather Cross Stud T-Shirt, Alice Takes A Trip 

We have something very exciting up our sleeves and are working on an exclusive designer range for Alice Takes a Trip. We don't want to give too much away right now but this should be ready in around 4 weeks. 
We are in the studio from 8am till 6pm every week day and grab a few mins for lunch on the go. It's constantly non-stop but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Our little Alice teams consists of mix musical tastes to it's a constant battle for the ipod. Once your back's turned the song has changed! Ha!
 
To view the full collection visit their website, their ASOS Boutique, or follow on Facebook for first previews of upcoming collections and exclusive special offers! 
Thanks so much lovelies, we can't wait to see what's coming next!
Much love, Lauren xx
PS.  You still have until 12pm (GMT) tomorrow to enter our One Year Giveaway for your chance of winning our fave twee-treats! ♥  Take a look here. 

Lauren Likes // Winged Catwalks of the Sixties

At the age of 10, in our year 6 leavers assembly, we each took it in turns to take to the mike and naively declare what we would like to be when we were older. At that time I had become disenchanted by dreams of being a ballet dancer and with my mum persuading me that being a Spice Girl wasn't a feasible career choice, I had to give up the ghost on that one too. If there's one thing you should know about my mama, it's that during the 90s, she had a serious gripe with the Spice Girls. Only after years of guilt-tripping about the time she persuaded by to buy an Oasis album with my birthday money, rather than the girl power gift to mankind, did I receive my first SG album... at the age of 17). So thus, upon reaching double figures, imagining faraway lands and glamourous outfits, I decided I was ready to take on the world and announced that I was going to be a an air hostess...


As I got a little older, and my interests in the arts grew, I am sad to say that the dream never materialised. I also realised that I'd be rubbish in an emergency and would get bored of serving tiny cans of pop and snacksize pringles to disgruntled and nervous passengers very quickly. It did, however fuel a ebullient interest in the wonderful, winged catwalk that existed in our skies in the Sixties & Seventies.




With the world literally at their feet, the stewardess of the sixties were noted for their notorious glamour; their lives were made up of fabulous tales of mischevious romances with the elite (as well as the Captains!), and discreetly sipping champagne, 30,000 feet over the Atlantic. At that time, the position of an air stewardess was up their with supermodels & actress'. 




Berets and stripes for the French airlines!



The girls were expected to have wit, personality and education and above all, great legs. After the stuffiness of the fifties, airlines went to town in the sixties and fashion began to dominate the skies. With regards to the uniform, conservative blacks and blues were dropped in favour of mesmerising concoctions of eye popping colour blocking, micro minis and even an appearance from the go-go boot! The hostess themselves were marketed as flawless, vivacious pinups, perfectly preened and wonderfully modelled outside the aircraft for press shoots like synchronised swimmers.











Emilio Pucca spearheaded the modernisation of Braniff Airways with their 'End of a plain plane' campaign by using bright geometric shapes, cheeky advertising & the creation of the incredible 'bubble helmet', a charming piece of sixties PVC designed to protect the steward's hair from wind and rain!







Don't you just wish you could have been there!?
And to leave you with something apt for our ventures into the skies today... the lovely, Thunderclap Newman's 'Something in the Air'... enjoy!

Much love, Lauren xx

Lauren Likes // Wartime Love Letters

Hey darlings,

My turn again to shed a little more insight into my 'likes' and as valentines day is almost upon us, this week I'm sharing my penchant towards old-fashioned romance and Wartime Love Letters!

I've been interested in War Literature since school, delving into endless accounts of the horrors of WW1, which were often so heart-breaking but at the same time, incredibly fascinating. Frequently, the narratives confess the camaraderie that existed between the men on the front line but rarely, do you find out about the relationships that underpin that era, those between the men and their beaus.

Before the age of texts and emails, beautifully hand-written letters were the only way to express feelings to loved ones far away and now through online archives, it's possible to read through these personal and ever so lovely exhanges! Yay!

I love the idea that these letters may well have become airlooms, passed down through families, revealing the secrets of an individual's ancestry and how it all started out during such troubling times.

My absolute, favourite has to be the letters between Idris & Winifred, contributed on the BBC's WW2 archive. Sent to his sweetheart at the dawn of the Second World War, Idris uses the most heart-warming words & beautiful musical metaphors to describe his love for Winifred.

Letter source: BBC WW2 Archive - take a look to read all of Idris' letters!

My gosh, I don't even think of myself as an overly romantic person, just a sucker for some well-written words, but gah, just completely lovely! The line, "Our lives are ours to shape as we will" is the sweetest ever. It really struck a chord, it's such a simplistic meesage but an inspirational sentiment to live by.

I can't help but wonder how it all turned out for them both!

I hope you all enjoyed reading :)

Much love,
L xx

January Highlights...

Hey Sweets,

What a lovely start to 2012 January was! Here's our highlights of this months' posts...

After wishing you all a Happy New Year we got stuck into Refreshing & Reviving our studio and She Dressed in Black as a blog...


Our Number 1 highlight was without a doubt making our very first silent film recipe for Chocolate and Violet Cupcakes!



We also really enjoyed showing our experiments from the studio and sharing tutorials for Fancy Pants and Chevron Patchwork Cushion.





Part of our 'Refreshing' was to bring in 'Vinyl Revival' to our After Dinner Dance Parties
Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4



Literature Love - Limehouse Blues and 1969 Playboy




We did a mini shoot to show off our favourite brands from our wardrobes. Rhi picked Jovonna London and Lola showed off her Alice Takes a Trip collection. Plus some behind the scenes snaps...


We reached 100 followers! YAY! So we gave a few somethings away to our followers :)


Lola showed some of her adorable illustrations in response to the question "If you could do anything tomorrow, what would you do?"


Rhi unleashed her inner geek...


We celebrated Twee Tower's regular Colour Wizard Chris' 24th Birthday with cocktails and northern soul...


We shared some more art from around Twee Towers by Rob Ryan


We announced the launch of Stitch n' Bitch


We had some blustery Twee Troubles


And another new feature - Friday Flicks, kicking off with An Affair to Remember, followed by Band A Part

Busy, busy, busy! February is going to be even more hectic here in the Twee Studio so we shall be bringing you some fabulous guest posts - can't wait to let our friends loose on the blog again, hope you'll enjoy them :)

Much love,
R&L xx