Mimi Berry at John Lewis, Oxford Street

Back in February I went to see Mimi launch her Spring Summer 2013 range at John Lewis Oxford Street.
Here are some of Mimi's team hard at work making the Eric bag which this season comes in deep pink, marine blue, dove grey and citrine yellow. I love the orange angle poise lamp perched on the work bench.

A visit to Brighton: Age of Reason scarves, Alexa de Castilho jewellery and St Leonards leather bags and purses

A visit to Brighton...

...to the Age of Reason studios a stunning high ceilinged work place, lit up with candles for an afternoon sample sale.

 I am huge fan of Ali's work (blogged about here and here). I love her free flowing drawings, her naughty sense of humour and her choice of colours: vibrant pinky corals, dashes of orange and soothing, flattering greys. I had to visit her sample sale not only to check out her wares, but to see her beautiful studio. I see tantalising glimpses of on Instagram; it did not disappoint and it was lovely to see it in candle-light.

Some Age of Reason scarves and pocket squares

St Leonards leather bags made in simple classic shapes from bridal leather in the most lovely colours (below is green, and white).  These bags are gorgeous.

Alexa de Castilho jewellery: gold, silver, bronze, vintage, skulls, fangs. The first time I have seen Alexa's jewellery, and it is *love*

End of a lovely day *sigh*

Rachel Orme at Handmade in Britain 'London A Celebration' - Oxo Tower Galleries

Make sure you go down to the Handmade In Britain 'London A Celebration' show at Oxo Galleries this weekend (open 12th & 13th May from 11am to 6pm) and seek out Rachel Orme, one of my favourite designer-makers (last blogged about here).  Rachel makes a range of handbags, purses and folio cases using very high quality leathers, some are embossed or laser-etched with floral designs. All of her pieces are lined in Liberty lawn fabrics.

These are the perfect iPad cases, available in a range of colours (that pink is actually bright pink) and lined in Liberty lawn fabrics, fastening with a small magnet. This case can also be used for documents and papers...

yellow Rathbone satchel - adjustable strap, and with strap removed can be used as a clutch

green Rathbone satchel - great for the summer

you probably can't see the texture of the leather - it has a basket-weave effect - so so smart, this bag should be on Bond Street

Venus purses and make-up bags - made from glove leather and suede

this is a white embossed leather handbag (you probably can't tell from my poor quality photo). I say again: Bond Street. Rachel told me she only made 3 of these bags, so grab one while you can.

Miller & Jeeves: Wallace card pouch

These little Wallace card pouch by Miller & Jeeves is just the ticket - big enough for credit cards or Oyster card, or for keeping little bits of jewellery safe when you're on your travels. It's available from Boticca -an on-line boutique that stocks a lot of designer-makers from around the world worth keeping your eye on - and it comes in this brilliant red colour.

More posts on Miller & Jeeves here and here.

Belt up: Old Town, Labour & Wait, Mimi and The Linen Press

Here are some good belts:
Fabulous snake belt style from Old Town

Belts from Mimi

And some from The Linen Press

And finally a bridle leather belt from Labour & Wait - numbers by the notches so there's no hiding your expanding girth.

Mimi's Elsie satchel

Perhaps this blog features too many bags, but this is too good to miss: Mimi's Elsie satchel is on sale, for the first time ever. I have it in yellow - it is as lovely as it looks.

Tamara Fogle's purses and bags

I love those old fashioned 'frame' purses, in fact they are a bit of an obsession (via Mimi, they were the starting point for my interest in British made things), and Tamara Fogle makes a whole range of purses and bags which feature the old fashioned-style frames that make a pleasing snap when they are closed.

Palm purse (I have one of these - large enough for credit cards, cash and other bits and bobs if you want to travel light on a night out, such as mobile phone, lipstick, whatever)

I like this bag that looks like an old fashioned doctor's bag - the Landsdowne, in brilliant red

Tamara also uses antique fabrics such as Hungarian grain sacks; the Grab Bag below uses a quilted Indian textile:

brilliant pencil case from Present & Correct

I have to tell you about this brilliant pencil case, for all you school swots out there. In fact, even if you are too cool for school (or too old) this is a very natty item indeed.

It's hand made in London by the people at Present & Correct - do you know P&C? purveyors of new and vintage stationery which appeals to my inner stationery geek.

I wasn't sure if all the little bits and bobs such as cartridges and a tube of 0.8mm leads would stay in, but it's a very clever design - an envelope with a simple stud closure that keeps everything safe.

envelope closure with small silver stud

all pens, pencils, cartridges stay put

A nice addition is the useful info embossed on the top - prime numbers, pi, primary colours - which is the whole point of it being called a 'homework pencil case'.  In fact it is the ideal pencil case to take into school exams.

homework tips / exams cheats embossed on the top for future reference

seriously amazing handbags from Susannah Hunter

I adore Susannah's bags. They are, quite literally, works of art.  Each handbag is made by hand in her London atelier just off Lamb's Conduit Street, out of soft brightly colour leather, decorated with an arrangement of appliqued flowers, and lined with velvety material.

I particularly like her daisies and anemones which pop up through the seasons on different colourways - for Spring Summer 2011 the daisies are on a pale dove grey haversack: a very handy bag if you have kids and need to have your hands free, but want an alternative to those dreaded 'sensible' mummy-nappy bags. NB - Susannah's bags don't usually feature zips, using magnetic poppers instead which is a consideration for those that want things extra secure.

and there are blue anemones on a white overnight bag: perfect for those Bridget Jones Mini Breaks - I have a vision of St Pancras International, just about to board Eurostar, SH bag in hand...

I also love her seascape which this season is available on the Alex bag:

As befits a work of art, they cost serious amounts of £££ - so you might have to raid the kids' piggy banks for this one.

Dear Diary

Start the new year with a brand new diary.  Hope House Press, based in Leicestershire, make a range of leather bound notebooks and diaries using vintage bookbinding presses.  Notebooks are available in a range of sizes, with either a standard cover, or a more fancy 'wraparound' cover which has an extra flap of leather that is secured with a leather tie.  You can also choose from plain, lined or squared paper.

What I would find very useful, but doesn't seem to be available, is a leather notebook cover for a standard A5 or A6 notebook - the perfect example is Storage.it by Japanese stationer Mark's Inc, (available at Paper Nation) which has spaces for business cards and other bits and bobs.

Cranberry notebook with wraparound cover

Olive notebook with standard cover

birdies

The early bird catches the jewellery.
Becky Crow's silver and copper pheasant earrings

Tatty Devine's etched leather brooch £24

Family Tree's mini bird brooches - Japanese rice paper encased in resin and perspex £8 each

Antoinette's perspex 'rubber duck' brooches for £5 each

Buddug's enamel brooch £30

Music satchel / case / bag to put your sheet music in: Cambridge Satchel Company, Matt Fothergill, Mimi

My daughters' tootling on the recorder hardly justify splashing out on music bags, but these are nice - and could be used as work bags, if only for flat-ish things.
Cambridge Satchel Company (so popular that your Christmas order must be with them by...erm... tomorrow) says a laptop computer could fit into theirs...yours for £73.

Cambridge Satchel Company - (chic and more interesting than black) navy music bag

Matt Fothergill's music satchel is more pricey (£149) but leather looks softer and stitching looks nice.

Matt Fothergill music bag

The one I want is Mimi's Beau, new for AW10 and inspired by a music bag, and costs a lot more than I can find in the girls' piggy banks (even though the going rate for the Tooth Fairy is £1 per tooth; there has been massive inflation since the 1970s). £360.

Mimi Beau bag, music satchel inspired, lovely tan colour

One can dream.

Mimi's new collection

This deserves a post of it's own: Mimi's AW 10 collection is now available on-line. Hurrah! I am a devoted fan of her bags (her classic Elsie satchel is a top favourite) and purses, especially those that have old fashioned clasps...Kitty purse, tan goatskin is in current usage.

Kitty

 but this season she has some new, very tempting zipper purses (sweetly named Burt and Ernie) that come in some very yummy colours - soft gold, pewter...

Burt

Ernie

Dora and Honey bags are back again in new range of colours, and also printed leather, but I rather fancy the Teddy oilskin shopper - it looks like it can hold a lot of gubbins, it's waterproof and best of all it's got a zip to keep everything safe inside.

Teddy