Rough Luxe
'A little bit of luxury in a rough part of London. A little bit of rough in a luxurious London.' The Rough Luxe Hotel, situated near St Pancras station, is an absolute gem. Not only are the rooms immaculate and enchanting, the overall experience will make you question how you think about hotels.
'A little bit of luxury in a rough part of London. A little bit of rough in a luxurious London.'
The Rough Luxe Hotel, situated near St Pancras station, is an absolute gem. Not only are the rooms immaculate and enchanting, the overall experience will make you question how you think about hotels. It's a B&B by all counts but leaves you feeling as though you've visited the home of a far-flung family friend, rather than a luxury hotel in central London.
Each of the ten rooms, in this Grade II listed building, are entirely unique in design. The site was renovated in 2008 by Rabih Hage, layers of wallpaper and paint were partially stripped away leaving behind a mosaic created from the historic remains of contrasting textures and fabrics. While the hotel doesn't boast a large selection of amenities (you wont find a spa, gym or even television in your room) it does deliver exceedingly well on other accounts - notably, hospitality.
After arriving, I inadvertently launched a defense on how the hotel ought to create a Twitter account to the manager, Leo Rabelo. He aptly nodded and seemed interested, though not too overwhelmingly keen. The next morning I woke to find a tweet from the newly established @stayroughluxe stating that I'd have to try the homemade baba ghanoush later that day. I tottered downstairs to congratulate Leo on his newly found place in the world of social media and found myself captivated by the breakfast. Freshly squeezed juice, croissants, delicious bread, jams, eggs, porridge, and really good coffee... I could have stayed in that garden all day. Needless to say, the temptation of Lebanese food was too good to resist so later that afternoon I returned with Laurel to take Leo up on his offer. Countless hours later and we were still all sitting in the garden drinking wine and discussing the deep complexities of life (and Leo's dog's website). The best part? This wasn't any sort of special treatment. All the guests I saw were making themselves at home - a few girls were even up late making noodles in the kitchen.
Rough Luxe Hotel is located at 1 Birkenhead Street, London. Rooms start at £177
Big thanks to Laurel for having taken a few of these photos. Also, thank you Leo and Antonio for welcoming me to the world of Rough Luxe. I'm officially hooked.
SAVE.THE.DATE
So, ummm, what are you doing on September 14th? Oh, no plans, huh?
If you're based in London then you should definitely pop down for Charlie May's womenswear presentation. Everyone is welcome and all you need to do is RSVP to INFO@CHARLIE-MAY.CO.UK if you'd like to attend. You probably already know of Charlie from her crazy inspirational blog, Girl a la Mode. She designed some kick-butt modified Doc Martens that I wore to last LFW and a couple of months ago I showed a peek into her studio and the designs she has been creating. I'll be at her presentation all day - sipping drinks and drooling over all the beautiful items. I'd love to see you there!
Contemplation
Currently, I'm sitting at the gate waiting on a flight back home to Zurich. I've just spent the last two days working on a new project in Stockholm. There's a memory card in my bag stuffed full of photos that I can't wait to show you.
Currently, I'm sitting at the gate waiting on a flight back home to Zurich. I've just spent the last two days working on a new project in Stockholm. There's a memory card in my bag stuffed full of photos that I can't wait to show you. For now though, here's a quick photo from my trip last week to London. More on the incredible hotel I stayed at coming up tomorrow. Okay, we're boarding so that's all from me. Till later. xx
Wearing: Halston Heritage dress via Mardrobe. Photo by Laurel Dailey at the Rough Luxe Hotel.
Silver toes
These shoes have been hanging around in my wardrobe for months without ever being worn. Yesterday I decided to wag my unsteady DIY hand at them in an effort to recreate them into something more interesting. So, behold my silver toed lace-ups.
For this little project I used shoes from Next, paint brush and acrylic silver matte paint from Jumbo and cotton buds from Boots. I painted over the toe with the paint brush first and then went over it a second time using the cotton buds to give it a more chunky uneven finish. Last, I painted the laces and va-va-vooom... they were created. Now, let's see if I ever actually wear them.
Tübingen
Unexpectedly, I wound up spending the last two days in Tübingen - a German town stuffed full of shutters and fachwerk buildings. It's so beautiful and had me feeling as though I'd stumbled onto a movie set. Surely real people don't live behind those walls?
Wearing: Trouvé t-shirt, Levi shorts, Michael Kors belt and Converse.
Mondrian
I knew I'd seen that print before... Miuccia Prada seems to have borrowed some ideas from the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian. He developed Neo-Plasticism back in 1917. A white base was painted with a grid of black vertical and horizontal lines. Primary colours were also added, creating a pop of dispersed colour. YSL created a dress back in 1965 that was a more direct version of the iconic print. Prada's collection, I'd argue, has come a long way from that. The colours are deeper and the lines more varied, creating a more nuanced and representation of Mondrian's original concept - an excellent job of paying homage to the original work without copying it directly... Zara, take note.
Ok, am off to Germany for a couple of days and officially done talking about Prada, I promise.
Keystone Crescent
Spending a week in London with LA photographer Laurel Dailey was absolute bliss. We met last year on a little project for Quiksilver and she kindly made the trip back out to the UK to shoot my friend's wedding. We discovered this little gem of a street, called Keystone Crescent, thanks to a midnight stroll with our wonderful host Leo from the Rough Luxe.
Spending a week in London with LA photographer Laurel Dailey was absolute bliss. We met last year on a little project for Quiksilver and she kindly made the trip back out to the UK to shoot my friend's wedding. We discovered this little gem of a street, called Keystone Crescent, thanks to a midnight stroll with our wonderful host Leo from the Rough Luxe. The next morning we ventured back out to see it in the daylight with ice-cream cones from McDonald's. It's the quaintest English street set in the heart of bustling London... but on closer inspection it shows the mark of recent times. Oversized CCTV cameras, graffiti, a Chinese take away shop plus heaps of tv antennas and wires sit beside old fashioned mailboxes and pretty potted flowers. That's London for you.
Wearing: M Missoni bouclé coat (via My-Wardrobe), Cutler and Gross sunglasses & Philippe Audibert bracelet (via Monnier Frères), 7 for all Mankind skinny jeans and Wanted Carlton leopard loafers.
Prada
Oh, Prada. You get me every time. Each season you're unexpected and at first a bit bizarre but you mix things up and unleash new trends like nobody else. You managed to throw the predicted silhouette on its head with your 1920s style dropped waists and hip slung belts. Don't even get me started on the curved heel of your boots... it's Wonka, it's trippy, and it's so right.
Amelia Earhart seems to have made babies with Big Foot and I like it.
Gramercy Park
Stepping inside the Gramercy Park Hotel is akin to being transported to an entirely separate world. A world dissimilar to ones own, where all is still and grand yet rooted in a Bohemian subculture that harks back to years past. It's as if you're Alice and you've just tumbled down the rabbit hole.
Stepping inside the Gramercy Park Hotel is akin to being transported to an entirely separate world. A world dissimilar to ones own, where all is still and grand yet rooted in a Bohemian subculture that harks back to years past. It's as if you're Alice and you've just tumbled down the rabbit hole. It is simultaneously surreal, dark, and comforting - a perfected combination of elements that leaves you wishing you could stay forever wrapped in its allure.
Established in 1925, the hotel has a varied past. Humphrey Bogart married his first wife at the hotel, the Kennedy family stayed on the second floor for several months, and during the Great Depression Babe Ruth often frequented the bar. In 1958 the hotel was bought by Herbert Weissberg, prices dropped and the location embraced a more bohemian character. In the 1970s Bob Marley and Bob Dylan frequently visited. Everyone from Madonna to David Bowie have made the hotel their home.
After Weissberg's death in 2003 the hotel was sold to Ian Schrager. Co-founder of Studio 54 and often credited with co-creating the Boutique Hotel genre, it was under Schrager that the hotel was renovated in collaboration with artist Julian Schnabel. Today the hotel hosts a vast collection of 20th century masterpieces. Original works of art by Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Damien Hirst, Richard Prince and Keith Haring line the walls and make the viewer feel as if art is being democratized in front of them. Stand in your bedroom slippers, sip a cocktail in the Rose Bar, and be inspired by the vast wealth of paintings that sit all around you.
The Gramercy Park Hotel is such an enchanting place to stay that you'll struggle to leave. While there I didn't have the slightest interest in venturing out into the city. I could have spent all morning on the roof top terrace sipping lattes or lying in the Japanese soaking bath. Just next to the hotel is Gramercy Park. It's the only private park in New York but as a resident of the hotel you'll be granted access. My only regret is that I stayed for just one night.
Gramercy Park Hotel is located at 2 Lexington Avenue, New York. Rooms start at $345
What's up doc?
The past month has been a blur.
Four weeks spent away from home, six flights boarded, seven beds slept in, one new niece, two friends wed and countless burgers eaten. The summer has slipped by. Today I'm sitting in a flat in east London watching a thick sky of grey cloud. Tomorrow I'll be back in Zurich. For now, here's a little peek into what I've been up to. Photos taken in NY, St Louis, and London...
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Broken Hearted Postcard
There's nothing I love more than a slouchy oversized mens jumper... especially when it's grey, made from the softest yarn, and emblazoned with a big broken heart. Simple basic pieces that have been reworked into something special are what I'm most into these days.
There's nothing I love more than a slouchy oversized mens jumper... especially when it's grey, made from the softest yarn, and emblazoned with a big broken heart. Simple basic pieces that have been reworked into something special are what I'm most into these days. Hope everyone's having a wonderful weekend and soaking up the last few drops of summer.
Elizabeth Lau jumper & Topshop ring. Photos taken in the Gramercy Park Hotel.
The little prince...
Gimme, gimme, gimme...
Why is it that spring collections always catch me off guard? Isn't it still summer?! How are we talking about next spring already. I've barely gotten my head around AW for crying out loud. Never you mind though because the future looks bright. Whenever I get an e-mail from Patouf with the brand's latest collection I am delighted and scramble to get the file unzipped as quickly as possible. This season did not disappoint. I'm drooling over the warm colour palette, unexpected shapes (hello ankle grazing wide legs), alien-esque robotic shoulders, and cut away knit detailing...
Anna Angseryd is incredible at reinterpreting her brand each season. When I first spotted her in the courtyard at Somerset House her collection was gorgeous but far girlier than the designs shown here. Over the past few seasons she’s worked with tougher fabrics, brought in military prints, and has created silhouettes that, at first make me scratch my head, but then have me swooning.
Patouf is, without a doubt, my favourite Swedish brand - and that’s saying a lot. Talent is pouring out of the country at the moment. In the wake of Acne’s monumental success there’s a perennial buzz floating above all things Scandinavian. The country’s design aesthetic seems to have captured the zietgeist of the moment. It’s minimal and raw and yet authentically rooted in something culturally historic. Each season I fall harder and deeper in love with the brand. The 'Patouf girl' seems to be coming into herself. She might have her prim side but there’s a part that’s much darker and more refined - something that's resonating with me at the moment.
Not trash.
I learnt a lesson on this day: never leave your drink on the ground and walk away to take photos... durrr. It was so hot and the only refuge on this little wee island that the Statue of Liberty sat on was my huge Coke that I waited hours in line to get. And then, just like that, a little man came and tossed it into the bin. Oh, the misery. This incident is what caused my grumpy face in the second to last shot... it's not because I hate taking photos for you guys (I hate people who throw away my drinks).
Anyway, this dress is freaking awesome - especially on a hot day. The side vents let in a kick-butt breeze and the back blows up in the wind. Plus, the print is pretty cute and I'm currently digging the high-front-low-back style.
Wearing: UO dress, Hanky Panky bandeau, Rainbow sandals, Half N' Half One Language bag, and Super sunglasses.
Timex King
Meet the Timex Andros...
I'm officially obsessed with this little J.Crew/Timex collaboration. One part raw durability, one part shiny faux-Rolex styling - I want it so badly. It's so perfect in all it's simplicity that I can't quite imagine how I've been living without it for all these years. Get on my wrist you little sucker and I promise we'll live happily ever after.