Filed under: Accessories, cakes, Christmas, Fairytales, Fashion, Jewellery | Tags: accessories, Alice in Wonderland, ballet, Central St Martins, Christmas, designer, Disaya, gift, Jewellery, London, magic, nutcracker, tea party, whimsical
Some people favour jewellery with clean, simple, lines; minimalists who worship all that is streamlined, elegant and pure. I am not one of these people. This surely comes as no surprise.
Who in their right mind could get excited about such dullness when jewellery and accessories can allow you to express your individuality, little hints of your personality glinting merrily on your fingers or twinkling intriguingly around your throat.
One of the most exciting jewellery brands I’ve seen for years twinkled at me from afar, an acquaintance posted a picture of a collection on Instagram, and I HAD to know where they were from… Disaya, came the answer.
Disaya is the brainchild of award-winning Central St. Martins graduate Disaya Sorakraikitikul, including jewellery, accessories, Ready To Wear . She is obviously very influenced by her surroundings, that particular creativity that London seems to breed so well, along with that playfulness mixed with sophistication that perhaps best describes her style.
Launched in 2007, Disaya’s range caused quite a stir, being immediately picked up by over 70 stockists on launching. It’s really quite easy to see why, as everything she designs is so full of eccentricity and has a unique charm. The pieces are designed in-house and combined with local craftsmanship to ensure Disaya’s exacting standards are met – some supposedly whimsical ranges suffer from poor quality and finishing which renders them rather tacky, in my eyes, but Disaya is head and shoulders above all other pretenders to the throne.
Disaya was The next two years saw Disaya’s stockists increase by 50%, and it is now sold in over 20 countries at various prestigious retailers including: Henri Bendels, Le Bon Marche, Seibu, Harrods and Harvey Nichols, as well as at the flagship store in Gaysorn shopping mall located in Bangkok.
Quirky and fun without being too childish is a difficult act to pull off, but Disaya have charm and wearability in bucketloads. I covet the entire Nutcracker collection, just launching this month, but so much else besides!
My standout favourite pieces have to be the Nutcracker gentlemen rings and the adorable Teddy Bear Nutcracker costume necklace – reminiscent of traditional folk-ish German Christmas decorations, they make me want to snuggle up in a huge cosy jumper while drinking mulled wine and raiding the festive chocolate box. Not that I need much persuading.
Oh and the stags head pieces, too, topped with matching pearls. And the carnivalesque horses, straight from a fairground carousel!
So beautifully enamelled, too, and gorgeous colours. Leafing through the new SS13 Lookbook I see so many pieces I would give a home to in the blink of an eye. look at that frowning face necklace! Love, love, LOVE.
Disaya also show the same imagination in their other accessories and have the most magical prints in their clothing, too. They look like something a grown up Alice in Wonderland or a modern day Marie Antoinette wold like to wear.
For me the jewellery is the most easily wearable, simply because you can mix it in with whatever you happen to be wearing. Some days I just want a touch of whimsicality, other days I may wish for head-to-toe fantastical. With Disaya, you may plump for that one special piece, or an entire outfit, and I love having that choice within a range.
The whole collection is launching on Disaya.com later this month, but some pieces from previous collections are available from My Flash Trash – my favourites there are the stackable strawberry shortcake rings and the darling little Gentlemen’s Accessories earring set. Great attention to detail for such itty bitty things.
I have seen so many takes on tea cup and cake-inspired cutesy accessories, but for me, Disaya does it best, and with her unique stamp on each piece they make. They are just beautiful ornaments in and of themselves – one could certainly display them in a cabinet – for me they carry a certain air of mystery and intrigue; like little objet d’art freshly plucked from a shadow box.
Disaya are even collaborating their unique style with a tea manufacturer, and of course the packaging is to die for and stamped with their inimitable charm:
“Introducing Disaya’s ‘Tea muskerteers’ ,our special collaboration with No. 57, Comes in 3 stylish flovours, including Macaroon Black Tea, Rice Pudding white tea and Apple crumble Green Tea. They are perfect Christmas present material ! Coming to stores soon…”
Your best bet is to keep an eye on their website, and think about liking their Facebook page to keep up to date with the latest news and pictures from their collections.
I can’t wait to see what they do next, it’s safe to say I am totally obsessed with Disaya. Teacups, moustaches and cats, oh my!
Filed under: Embroidery, Etsy, Jewellery | Tags: embroidery, Etsy, flowers, handmade, Jewellery, London, Modern, necklace, UK, Wild Embroidery
In a lazy Sunday morning browse, I came across a recently opened shop called Wild Embroidery, based in London and run by a very talented lady called Lu, who embroiders beautiful designs onto pendants, making them wearable little pieces of art.
There is something very pleasing about their simplicity, and also for the fact you are wearing a little picture that someone has hand stitched, I think.
Pretty but not at all twee, the embroidered pieces are made to order and presented in chunky vintage-toned bronze frames and fob-like chains.
I must admit to hankering after the daisy…I love daisies – and they happen to relate strongly to one of my favourite books ever: The Hounds of the Morrigan by Pat O’Shea. Oh! And the dandelion one, too. Daisies and dandelions represent two of the characters, and it calms me to see them. You can only really understand this if you have read the book. Sorry. 😉
Of course I also have a special liking for the Nightingale necklace, too (for obvious reasons). 🙂
“the nightingale is in love with the plum blossoms
she sings for them every night.
she can only peck once in a while, but never touch…
such is her punishment.”
Until next time, my lovelies,
Miss Nightingale
x
Filed under: Accessories, Antique, Etsy, Jewellery, Necklaces, Trinkets, Vintage | Tags: designer, Etsy, Hardware, Jess Amity, Jewellery, Jewelry, Reclaimed, Recycled
The juxtaposition of beauty and decay shall ever win my heart, and the gorgeous range of handmade jewellery by Jess Amity perfectly encapsulates this look.
Using antique hardware (a piece rescued from an old drawer backplate in the Daemon necklace, for example), Jess Amity creates uniquely wearable pieces of art that imbue the glamour of the past – very luxe Deco gypsy – with a modern, exotic twist.
It’s that pairing of imperfect, faded grandeur with little nuggets of the new that I love so much. This one, made with an antique drawer-pull and milky chips of labdorite and moonstone, looks like a cluster of mistletoe dusted with icing sugar, somehow. Simply beautiful.
The range encompasses a wide variety of styles and prices – from $11 to $633 – but all of them obviously made with love, and with that sympathetic re-imagining of otherwise forgotten objects.
Jess Amity gives us an insight into her collection by explaining how her background shapes her inspirations:
Having been brought to life in a globe trotting existence, I have lived in many places and have experienced many wondrous things. I am inspired by dreams, gypsies, tribal nomads, jungle warriors, floating through hazy clouds, concrete and rust, amoebous particles floating through the ocean of life and the desert’s desolate, yet primitive beauty.
I have a degree in fine art photography, but have the inability to contain myself within set boundaries. Because I constantly find myself dreaming and thinking “wouldn’t it be cool if…,” and because I loathe the current consumer society of mass produced, personality lacking, low quality goods, I apply my talents to many areas and live in a handmade and embellished world.
(The Carnelian Spiderwebs Necklace, above, was the first item I saw in the collection and remains one of my favourites; it has an opulent simplicity to it, if that makes any sense? Love, love, love).
I approach all projects the same way that I approach life, with grand dreams, fingers crossed, the ability to love imperfections and the ability to see beauty in unlikely places.
The use of unusual stones in combination with the antique hardware creates a kind of perfect harmony – look how beautifully the chipped patina of the drawer-pull, below, is complimented and echoed in chunky chips of white turquoise. Stunning.
Jess Amity also sells a selection of vintage clothing and accessories, which are well-chosen and lovely, but you can probably tell that it’s her eclectic jewellery designs that have stolen my heart. 😉
Do go and browse the whole shop HERE – it’s well worth your time to snoop around and drool, as I have been doing!