Hailee Steinfeld

How adorable does Hailee look in the new Miu Miu campaign? I would like this ensemble for autumn. Image found here. Did anyone see her in true grit? she was fantastic.

Something Sweet

Hello my petals hope you all had a lovely weekend, I decided to tackle some more macaroon baking and I was really chuffed with the results. I followed this recipe and it was very straight forward, except for the piping with a plastic food bag, I think I need to invest in an actual piping bag to get more aesthetically pleasing results , as mine tend to look a bit misshapen I also swapped the black food colouring in the ganache for green.

I also made one of my favourite cupcake recipes Pistachio and White Chocolate, here is the recipe if you're interested in making them too.

110g unsalted butter diced

110g golden caster sugar

finely grated orange zest

2 medium eggs separated

75ml of milk

140g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

25g shelled raw pistachio nuts coarsely chopped

25g white chocolate drops

Topping

pistachio nuts ground

75g apricot jam

Preheat oven 170c fan/190c

Cream the butter and sugar in a food processor until almost white, incorporate the orange zest and egg yolks, then the milk and then beat until homogenised. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Sift the flour and baking powder twice, then fold into the butter mixture, add the salt, the pistachios and chocolate chips

Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then fold into the cake mixture, as lightly as possible. Fill 12-14 paper cake cups and fill two thirds full with the cake mixture, place in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

For the topping, melt the jam in a small saucepan on a medium heat, take off the heat and brush tops of cooled cupcakes, sprinkle on pistachio and add chocolate drops

I made the cakes for friends and we went on a very long walk yesterday, the weather was so lovely.

Lipstick & Mustard

I have been lusting after Danielle Scutt's jewellery ever since I saw it in a magazine, and I have now finally got a pair of her earrings. I love how kitsch and 80s they are, they are a bit heavy (how does Beyonce cope with big earrings?) but not too bad! I love quirky, amusing accessories I like to have fun with my ensembles. I do feel I need the necklace that goes with it now. I am wearing them with a 1980s mustard dress, I have been wanting to find the perfect mustard dress ever since watching The Last Time I Saw Paris,  this is sadly not anything like the one Elizabeth wears, but I do love mustard, the colour and the condiment. The hat is 1950s, which I always have difficulty wearing, I think I wear it back to front, the way its suppose to be worn makes it look like a cap, which I do not like

My dream dress

Gotta love a peplum

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend!

Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky 2009

Madds & Anna

To continue with the Parisian theme I thought I would share with you my thoughts on Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, I was rather excited about this film as I am a fan of Madds Mikkelsen, and Anna Mouglalis has the kind of beauty that has you mesmerised. The film centres on Coco and Igor's affair and how it deeply affects his music and his marriage and how aloof Coco is to everything. The film lacked any real passion and emotion, it just felt stilted and a bit dull to me. However the costumes and set design were rather beautiful. Has anyone else seen it? Did you enjoy it? I think because I loved Coco Before Chanel 2009 I perhaps had high expectations about this and was expecting to discover more about Coco. 


One thing I did notice is how the overtly modern décor represented Katarina's (Igor's wife) entrapment in a loveless marriage and her illness in a body that is letting her down, she tries her best to make Coco's home her own but is ultimately left feeling alone in the cold surroundings. It is similar to film noir in the way that sets and lighting are used to create certain emotions. Concomitantly, it also is a signifier of Coco's cool exterior, it not only reflects her style but the way she conveys her emotions. 

Monochrome décor

Coco & Igor

Katarina, Igor's wife

Anyway, yesterday I decided to pose in my monochrome bathroom and pretend I was Coco, with a faux bob, crazy yes.

Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life (2010)

Because I am still living in Paris in my head I have continued to keep up the Parisian theme. Last week I watched Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life, it was a good film, not amazing but a must see if you are a Gainsbourg fan. I particularly enjoyed the opening sequence cartoon, as well as the 'monster' that follows him about during the film,  the way the monster moved reminded me of Doug Jones, who plays the faun in Pans Labyrinth; very creepy but elegant. 

The monster figure

The film starts off with Serge's childhood in Paris, as the Nazi occupation starts to become apparent in Paris. It then jumps to Serge as struggling artist, and then follows on to his singing career. Including his brief affair with Bridgette Bardot and his relationship with Jane Birkin, and his eventual decline in popularity. Since watching the film I have been listening to Gainsbourg none stop (I was not a fan before). 

I cannot stop listening to Bonnie and Clyde, thought this making of video was intriguing. Are any of you Gainsbourg fans?

Style Icon: Natasha Khan

I fell in love with Bat For Lashes last year her music is ethereal and beautiful as is her style. She has a penchant for eccentric head gear, which makes me love her even more. Her music makes me want to run through a forest with no shoes on, which is a good thing.

Love these trousers

Stunning

This make up is magical

Always love peacock feathers

I want this swan hat

Love this jacket

Watch the above interview the antique marxophone makes the most amazing sounds

Tried to credit most pictures, all found via google.

My Own Macaroons

Today me and my lovely made our first attempt at making macaroons. They went surprisingly well, considering we used a home made piping device (plastic bag, got real messy). We then had a stab at making salted caramel filling, but misread the instructions. It just ended up runny so I have been smothering them and quickly devouring before it drips everywhere. Have any of you had any new adventures with baking recently?

The Little Hut (1957)

On Monday I watched The Little Hut, an absolutely delightful romantic comedy, starring Ava Gardner, David Niven and Stewart Granger. Ava plays Lady Susan Ashlow, who is married to Sir Philip Ashlow, played by Stewart. Sir Philip, is a practical and neglectful husband who is consumed by his career and spends the majority of his time away from his beautiful wife. Susan tries her best to make Philip jealous by spending all her time with his best friend and ex-flame, Henry, played by Niven, going so far as to showing her husband and her in-laws footage of the two of them frolicking on a beach, it is all to no avail. Henry is romantic and desperately in love with Susan and plays along with games, but she is only interested in making Philip jealous. But fate takes over when all three of them end up ship wrecked on a desert island, and pragmatic Philip begins to believe that there might be more going on between his best friend and wife. 

Ava is one of my favourite Hollywood beauties, and she just sizzles in this film, she had an earthy kind of sexiness that was so natural. 

With her co-stars Niven, Chiari and Granger

All images are from this fantastic tumblr and here too.