Moda Operandi

Moda Operandi is a dream of a website, where one can pre order clothes and accessories from the runway - known as trunkshows. The website also has select designers who sell items too.  I came across this coat by Marc Jacobs and this pink is one of my favourite colours and is in a beautiful cut.

Rose cashmere wrap coat by Marc Jacobs

Images are from http://modaoperandi.com/marc-jacobs/fw-2013/rtw-1319/item/rose-cashmere-wrap-coat-171951

Projects

Konrad Filip (1874-1940)

Peonies in a Vase

One of my projects this spring is to study and paint peonies.  I started to a couple of years ago but abandoned this after not being true to myself by getting distracted and affected by other happenings in my life. In addition to this I want to learn portrait painting.

"This luxuriant still-life with its intense pinks contrasted with the sharply defined dark-green leaves and stems appears to float in mid-air owing to the virtual transparency of the glass vase. Filip imbues his subject-matter with great voluptuousness. In this picture Filip makes little attempt to produce a realistic botanical likeness. Instead, he is far more interested in inspiring a certain set of emotional responses in the spectator relating to the strong visual impact of the image. Filip is part of the same tradition as the Symbolist painter Odilon Redon in that the aim is not to achieve the mimetic precision of more conventional academic painters such as Fantin- Latour but instead to generate a chain of visual and sensual resonances in the spectator in much the same way that Baudelaire and Rimbaud had sought to do with their highly evocative synaesthetic poetry in the latter part of the 19th century. The painter encourages us to embark on a journey of free association where our senses are brought into play to produce a complex emotional and aesthetic response.

Filip was a Croatian painter born in 1874 in Zagreb. He studied at the Vienna Academy and also at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. For much of his life he lived and worked in Munich where he died in 1940." Source  http://www.haninafinearts.com/art/art_single.asp?artid=450

A list of things I'd like to do and achieve for the remainder of my life and in no particular order are:

1) Paint and study peonies

2) Learn to paint portraits

3) Make a film

4) Buy a place for myself with a garden

5) Visit South America

6) Visit Provence

7) Eat healthy food

8) Exercise on a regular basis- running, jogging, cycling

9) Fit yoga and pilates into my daily routine

10) Be happier with myself

11) Create a small library

12) Learn to play the guitar

13) Pass my driving test

14) Pass my professional qualification

15) Tailor my vintage dresses

16) Wear more of my vintage dresses

17) Attend sample sales to get good bargains

18) Learn flower arranging

19) Cook more

20) Plant roses and other beautiful flowers in my garden

21) Create a herb garden

22) Volunteer for youth drama club

23) Go to the theatre a few times a year

24) Read books for the non fiction book club

25) Read more poetry

26) Write a book

27) Write a play

28) Visit South East Asia

29) Relax

Konrad Filip (1874-1940)

Peonies in a Vase

miu miu

On keeping a notebook

I came across this fantastic site called http://www.brainpickings.org and wanted to share this.

Joan Didion an American author best known for her novels and her literary journalism

She sees the deepest value of the notebook as a reconciliation tool for the self and all of its iterations:

I think we are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not. Otherwise they turn up unannounced and surprise us, come hammering on the mind’s door at 4 a.m. of a bad night and demand to know who deserted them, who betrayed them, who is going to make amends. We forget all too soon the things we thought we could never forget. We forget the loves and the betrayals alike, forget what we whispered and what we screamed, forget who we were.

[…]

It is a good idea, then, to keep in touch, and I suppose that keeping in touch is what notebooks are all about. And we are all on our own when it comes to keeping those lines open to ourselves: your notebook will never help me, nor mine you.

 Reproduced from www.brainpickings.org

What's in your bag?

Several years ago I was obsessed with photography and Flickr. I took part in a "What's in your bag" group and wanted to revisit this question to see how much my lifestyle has changed with time.

My bag contains on a daily basis:

A mobile phone
My Purse
A book- currently Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
A magazine- often the free Stylist distributed widely in London, Tank magazine or The Gentlewoman magazine
A moleskine purple daily diary
A small moleskine purple notebook
A small Map book of London-  I struggle to cope with maps on my phone, it takes a while to load and the blue flashing arrow is rarely accurate, I almost was late to an interview a year ago while relying on this, thankfully friendly strangers helped me when I frantically sought the obscure street in the dark evening. Tip for non-Londoners- London is a crazy place regarding streets and finding places - always travel to get to appointments super early. I find my little map book so reassuring.
Receipts
Old train tickets
A few pens
Lip balm- Neals yard and Korres wild rose
Tanin lipstick by Bite beauty
Lip brush
Small mirror
Keys

muted dreams

I have been reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and I am now currently reading Thinking Fast and slow by Daniel Kahneman.

I have been feeling in limbo and realise that I need to live in the present, life is terrible thinking about what if's and wondering why the people in your life choose to ignore you. This has been painful for me as I had previously sacrificed my personal plans (time and money) to keep in touch with friends  "past" friends

 I used to volunteer for a trust and someone there once said if everyone kept in touch with everyone nothing would get done. Such true words. Life is getting on with what you want to get done. You can't really count on others to care, help,support you or even ask how things are- I learnt the hard way.

Therefore I am putting together a bucket list for my plans for the rest of my expected life..... I may post this on this blog.....

Me-time inspiration

Magazine inspiration- Self Service

Hair

Lightning

When I was 13/14 years old I wished that I could be American.  I used to watch programmes on TV about American mathematicians and people who would risk their lives (physically and socially) taking little rest, chasing thunderstorms to capture the perfect photos of lightning and to understand lightning.  I still find this to be the most romantic of endeavors seeking things and knowledge higher than ourselves. Being passionate about science and wild serious ventures seems only possible and dare I say acceptable in the US, no other nation embraces this so fully.  The first book I really loved was Chaos by James Gleick I was then 16 years old. I'm a geek at heart. This is my excuse to save up for Prism glasses ;)

If you are into Mathematics and fancy reading some books which aren't too heavy I recommend:

The man who loved only numbers
Natures numbers
Uncle Petros and the Goldback Conjecture

Love Like Poison (Un Poison Violent) (2010)

If you like films and particularly French films then you should watch this one if you haven't already. This one is probably one of the best French films I have seen.  There is an interesting interview with the director Katell Quillévéré here:

http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/10369/1/love-like-poison-katell-quillevere

images are stills from the film from www.dazeddigital.com

South Asian jewellery reading list- from the V&A website

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/reading-list-south-asian-jewellery/

Aziz, Abdul, Arms and Jewellery of the Indian Mughuls, Lahore, 1947

Bala Krishnan, Usha R. and Meera Sushil Kumar Dance of the Peacock; Jewellery Traditions of India, India Book House Limited, 1999

Balfour, Ian, Famous Diamonds, Christie's (3rd edition), 1997

Bala Krishnan, Usha, Jewels of the Nizams, New Delhi, 2001

Bolon, Carol Radcliffe and Amita Vohra Sarin, Metaphors in Gold: The Jewelry of India, Asian Art, vol. VI, No. 4, Fall 1993, pp. 11-33

Brijbhushan, J. Masterpieces of Indian Jewellery, Bombay, 1979

Brunel, F. Jewellery of India. Five Thousand Years of Tradition, New Delhi, 1972

Chandra, Rai Govind, Indo-Greek Jewellery, New Delhi, 1979

Dongerkery, Kamala S. Jewelry and Personal Adornment in India, New Delhi, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, 1970

Filliozat, J. and  P.Z. Pattabiramin, Parures Divines du Sud de l'Inde, Publications de  P.Z. l'Institut Français d'Indologie, no. 29, Pondicherry, 1966

Haque, Zulekha, Gahana. Jewellery of Bangladesh, Dhaka, 1984

Havell, E.B. The Art Industries of the Madras Presidency. I Jewellery, Journal of Indian Art and Industry, vol.IV (April 1891), no.34, pp.7 and 8 and plates. Continued in vol.V no.40 (October 1892), pp.29-34 and plates, and vol.VI, no.48 (October 1894), pp.70-1 and plates.

Hendley, T.H. Indian Jewellery, The Journal of Indian Art and Industry, vol.XII, nos. 95 (July 1906) to 107 (July 1909).  Low Price Publications reprint edition, Delhi, 1991
Hendley, T.H. Memorials of the Jeypore Exhibition, vol.III, London, 1883

Ivanov, A.A., V.G. Lukonin and L.S. Smesova  Oriental Jewellery from the Collection of the Special Treasury and State Hermitage Oriental Department, Moscow, 1984

Jacob, S.S. and T.H. Hendley Jeypore Enamels, London, 1886

Jagannathan, Shakunthala  Jewellery, in Arts and Crafts of Tamilnadu, edited by Nanditha Krishna, Mapin Publishing, 1992, pp. 68-85

Jain, Jyotindra and Aarti Aggrawala National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum, New Delhi, Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing, 1989

Jenkins, Marilyn and Manuel Keene  Islamic Jewelry in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1982

Keene, Manuel with Salam Kaoukji  Treasury of the World; Jewelled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals, Thames & Hudson in association with the al-Sabah Collection. Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait National Museum, London 2001

Keene, Manuel, The Enamel Road, from Siena, Paris, London and Lisbon, leads to Lucknow, in Beatriz Chadour-Sampson and Nigel Israel, eds, Jewelled Arts of Mughal India, Jewellery Studies vol. 10, 2004, pp. 99-123

Khalidi, Omar Romance of the Golconda Diamonds, Mapin Publishing pvt., Middletown, 1999

Latif, Momin  Bijoux Moghols/Mughal Jewellery, Brussels, 1982

Loth, A.M. Fascicule IX-Les Bijoux; La Vie Publique et Privée dans l'Inde Ancienne,
Paris,1972

Maclagan, E.D. Monograph on the Gold and Silver Works of the Punjab 1888-9, Lahore, 1890

Marshall, John, Buddhist Gold Jewellery, Archaeological Survey of India. Annual
Report 1902-3

Meen, V.B. and A.D. Tushingham, Crown Jewels of Iran, University of Toronto Press,
1968

Melikian-Chirvani, A.S., The Jewelled Objects of Hindustan, in Beatriz Chadour-Sampson and Nigel Israel, eds, Jewelled Arts of Mughal India, Jewellery Studies vol. 10, 2004, pp. 9-32

Milstein, Rachel, Indian Jewellery in an Illustrated A'in-i Akbari in Na'ama Brosh, ed. Jewellery and Goldsmithing in the Islamic World.  International Symposium, The  Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1991, pp. 105-12

Nandagopal, Choodamani and Vatsala Iyenagar, Temple Treasures. Vol. II. Temple Jewellery, The Crafts Council of Karnataka, 1997

From http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/reading-list-south-asian-jewellery/

Nigam, M.L. Indian Jewellery, Lustre Press, Roli Books, New Delhi, 1999

Pal, M.K. and B.K.Royburman, Jewellery and Ornaments in India - A Historical Outline, Census of India 1971, series I, paper no.1, New Delhi, 1970

Piacenti, Kirsten Aschengreen, Susan Stronge, Cristina Del Mare, Rita Sharma et al., Gioielli dall'India dai Moghul al Novecento, La Rinascente, Milan, 1996

Postel, Michael Ear Ornaments of Ancient India, Bombay, 1989

Pressmar, Emma  Indische Ringe, Frankfurt am Main, 1982

Spink, Michael (ed.)  Islamic Jewellery, London, 1986

Spink & Son LTD.  Islamic and Hindu Jewellery, London, 1988

Stronge, Susan, Mughal Jewellery, Jewellery Studies, vol.I, 1983-4, London, pp.49-53 and pls. IIB and III
Stronge, Susan, Jewels for the Mughal Court, The V&A Album 5,  London, 1986, pp.308-17
Stronge, Susan, Indian Jewellery and the West: Stylistic Exchanges 1750-1930 Journal of South
Asian Studies, 6, 1990, pp. 143-155
Stronge, Susan, (ed.) The Jewels of India, Marg Pubs., Bombay, 1995
Stronge, Susan, The Myth of the Timur Ruby,  Jewellery Studies, vol. 7, 1996, pp. 5-12
Stronge, Susan, Cartier and the East, Jewellery Studies, volume 9, 2001, pp. 65-77
Stronge, Susan, Nima Smith and James Harle, A Golden Treasury; Jewellery from the Indian Subcontinent, London, 1988

Untracht, Oppi, Traditional Jewelry of India, Thames and Hudson, London, 1997

Vassallo E Silva, Nuno, Jewels and Gems in Goa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century, in Susan Stronge, ed., The Jewels of India, Marg Publications, Bombay 1995, pp. 53-62

Vassallo E Silva, Nuno, Jewels for the Great Mughal: Goa a Centre of the Gem Trade in the Orient, in Beatriz Chadour-Sampson and Nigel Israel, eds, Jewelled Arts of Mughal India, Jewellery Studies vol. 10, 2004, pp. 41-51

Victoria And Albert Museum: The Indian Heritage; Court Life and Arts Under Mughal Rule, London, 1982

Weihreter, Hans Schätze der Menschen und Götter; Alter Goldschmuck aus Indian, Museum Villa Rot, Burgrieden-Rot, 1993, 11/95

Vintage dreams chapter 1

sourced by Frock n Roll - vintage dress 60s-70s period, label unknown(model is not me, source ebay site)

I'm sure you have felt super excited when you came across something which you instantly love but you never knew existed before,  like a book you read that becomes your favourite, a poem that makes you feel better and reflective, a piece of jewellery that you happen you see when walking past shops and becomes your signature piece.....

Well I came across this dress and it kinda shrieked "this is so meeeee", sure it's not a dress to be worn often especially as my field of work is formal wear but it a dress for beautiful days. I have a few vintage clothes, some which I regret buying but this one is The Queen.

Recently I have been favouring simple colours and cuts, timeless pieces and simple designs as part of my day to day wardrobe. Scandanavian brands lead in the style type of  simple but classic plus some quirky cuts.