Cinderella in Prada Tea Dress

If someone said to you, “Your life is the theme for a formal Ball. What outfit most defines you?” would you know how to answer? When asked this last week, my instinctive response was Prada! But apparently that was about as helpful as the suggestion in the book, "If I'm so wonderful, why am I still single?" to sit in café  windows, and every time a man walks in, look up and smile.

This fashion exposé  in E! True Hollywood style was revealed over afternoon tea at Al & Cathy’s. Even before the Mariage Frères tea was fully infused, Cathy had launched into an indepth précis of Australia's version of Cannes Film Festival; the Daylesford Book Ball. Each year, ten books get the Red Carpet treatment, with guests dressing up as their favourite characters.  Then she paused (for dramatic effect), before announcing that Tweed Tea and Wellies has been chosen to star in Daylesford’s Book Ball 2012. So this is what Fame feels like!

Audrey Tautou, Cannes Film Festival 2012

So the Cinderella question posed by my loyal Tweedettes, “What should we wear to the Ball?” Obviously the answer is head-to-toe Prada… but looking at Cathy’s confused face, I sensed more specific guidance was needed. Two days later after seeing photos of quintessentially chic Audrey Tautou in the most beautiful Prada Tea Dress with full pleated skirt and embroidered bodice, at Cannes Film Festival 2012… inspiration struck. Tea Dresses!

Ulyana Sergeenko, Russian fashion designer ,

I've been a Tea Dress fanista since my 20’s; even wore one in Liberty of London fabric as bridesmaid at former Jospehite nun, Sister Sonia’s heavenly garden wedding. For me, the vintage inspired, curve-flattering tea dress with fitted bodice, cinched-in waist and hourglass silhouette conjure up beautiful images of simpler times, afternoon tea parties, Tea Dances and Doris Day swirling around the dance floor singing Tea for Two. Tea Dances back in the 1950’s were the later day equivalent of match.com; even Mother and Father first met and fell truly madly deeply in love whilst waltzing at a Tea Dance in the Thames Memorial Hall. I still have the Tea Dress that Mother wore that day; it’s my favourite outfit for Prêt-à-Portea at The Berkeley.

Thank goodness 1950’s culture is coming back in style (thanks largely to Mad Men, Ulyana Sergeenko and Dior). Cause with hips the width of a classic Buick Cadillac, I rock the Tea Dress.  So maybe Tea Dresses represent a modern day Cinderella moment.  With a Pulitzer Prize, handsome Prince or Press conference not too far, far away. One can hope.

Now if Prada also made glass slippers... I'd be married before midnight.

 Is that helpful Cathy?

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Couture in a Teacup

Ulyana Sergeenko

Life would be so much more glamorous if women wore more day dresses.  Thanks to the impeccable style of glamorous Russian designer Ulyana Sergeenko (wife of Russian insurance billionaire Danil Khachaturox, No. 634 Forbes Billionaire List), the vintage inspired, curve-flattering 1940’s tea dress is having a fashion revival.  Tea Dresses are the Keep Calm and Carry On antidote to comfortable trousers and corporate suits. What I’m particularly excited about is that cinched-in waists and hourglass silhouettes are back in style. About time! It seems Ulyana, Nigella Lawson and Myself are not the only fans of butter (oops sorry, I meant curves). Vera Wang, one of fashion’s most spectacular advocates of Dresses over Trousers and huge fan of a good strong cuppa, has put Tea Dresses with vintage Wedgwood teacup patterns on the catwalk for her 2012 collection. Short of sewing warm scones in the sleeves, Vera Wang’s dresses are just a Petit Four and cucumber sandwich away from being Wearable High Tea.

Rather disappointingly, my teacup collection has yet to hit the catwalk. One can dream. Nonetheless, going teacup shopping (in Tea Dress of course) is almost as endorphic as placing a shiny new pair of Pradas into my shoe cupboard.

Living in the country and 17,000km away from Selfridges hasn’t remotely curbed my endorphin-inducing  teacup foraging ways. Mainly because there’s a world of vintage teacup treasures to be found in Daylesford's under cover version of Portobello Market in Notting Hill, namely Mill Market.

Many leisurely Sunday afternoons have been spent perusing through the Mill’s 120 antique stalls; almost every second one crammed with Queen Anne, Royal Albert, Villeroy & Boch, Wedgwood, Rosenthal, Royal Doulton and the fabulous chintz of Royal Winton. Teacups are best purchased with side plate, of course. Where will you put the homemade scones otherwise? The most expensive teacup 3-piece at Mill Market is around $40 - $70. This could be for a 1920’s Foley. Or an even rarer 1885 Majolica Lily of the Valley by German manufacturer, Villeroy & Boch.  However the majority of authentic fine china 3-piece sets range between $15 -$30. Incredible value when you think that a new Rosenthal Versace Les Reves Byzantins Tea Cup and Saucer sell for £145.

I've never given much thought as to why the Tea is in Tweed, Tea & Wellies, beyond knowing that I love collecting beautiful teacups. Until the other day, when I had an inspired (possibly Mensa worthy) revelation about why I’m so teacup obsessed. The worlds of bone china cups and fashion are intertwined. Genius. Could I possibly have just discovered the Butterfly Effect of Fashion?

The genius continues. Butterflies are notably the hottest design motif of 2012; in fashion and in fine bone china! Not exactly new inspiration given that the Butterfly has been ping-ponging between fashion and teacups for over 100 years.

It all started back in Edwardian days when Downtown Abbey could have been a reality TV show. Young designer, Daisy Makeig-Jones designed a metallic glazed porcelain (lusterware) range for Wedgwood based on illustrated children’s’ books of the 1890’s. Wedgwood called the collection “Fairyland Lustre.” Heavily detailed, brightly hued, two handled teacups with names like "Fairy Gondola", "Butterfly Women" and "Leap-frogging Elves" appealed to the public, starved of whimsy from the difficult post-war years. Wedgwood stopped producing "Fairyland" in 1929. Today Makeig-Jones' work, in particular “Butterfly Woman” is a rare collector’s item, spending more time in and out of Sotheby’s and prestigious museums (including the London V&A) than in service at morning tea.

Archive Butterfly, Jasper Conran Blue Butterfly, Harlequin Butterfly

Wedgwood clearly loves their famous 1920’s Fairyland butterfly because they recently revived it in fine style across three new collections. In the heritage Archive collection, with an art nouveau Butterfly design that pays tribute to the era of its celebrity predecessor. Whereas Harlequin Butterfly is a more modern interpretation, with gold and pink floral design, gold banding and an ornate butterfly handle. 

And the piece de resistance, Blue Butterfly; a Wedgwood collaboration with fashion designer Jasper Conran (son of design icon, Terence Conran). This simple, yet beautiful cup appears to be the Tipping Point that shifted fashion's attention back to porcelain cup patterns. The Butterfly pattern in particular.

Anna Sui was the first to be mesmorised by The  Butterfly Effect; threading her iconic butterfly motif across collections for the last few years. Her latest tribute are Butterfly Tights, a hot favourite with New York fashionistas. 

The rest of the fashion industry are now seeing the writing in the tea leaves and racing around with large butterfly nets.

Over one quarter of the catwalk collections in 2012 have included butterfly motifs in one way or another. The king of couture, Valentino made beautifully delicate neck detailing out of butterflies. Helen Mirren attended the Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2012 catwalk show during Milan Fashion Week wearing a stunning floral and butterfly printed dress with long sleeves by Dolce & Gabbana. Burberry is creating butterfly accessories. Even Gucci put the butterfly centre stage in their Autumn/Winter 2012 Menswear Collection.

All this to say...Its a beautiful world we live in when Butterflies can influence fairytales, teacups, history, fashion, design and Valentino. Time for a cuppa (and some online shopping for tea dresses by Ulyana Sergeenko.)

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Sleeping with The Golden Fleece

My Woolrest Golden Fleece wool underlay arrived in the post yesterday. Not a moment too soon. Living in a 1850’s cottage built with the insulation qualities of a Collette Dinnigan silk gown, is taking its toll on my beauty sleep. The house is so cold at night that I’ve taken to sleeping in neoprene skiwear (circa 1980’s). Genius solution except I’ve chunked up a bit since the last time ski-ing 18 years ago, so the neoprene one-piece is a smidgeon too tight. In fact, I can barely breathe, which is perfectly fine because it takes my mind off the cold. If this sheepishly warm bed fleece hadn't arrived today, I was considering moving into the former nuns' bedrooms at The Convent Gallery. Technically heritage preserved rooms but they do look mighty cosy.

Kiwi woolen bed-wear rocks! I don’t know whether it’s year-round luscious grazing in stunning Lord of the Rings landscapes that makes Kiwi sheepsters just a little more star-studded than sheep from other countries. Maybe it’s living on the doorstep of Antarctica in some of the freshest, unpolluted air in the world, that gives their wool extra weight, shine and fluffiness. Or possibly it’s because New Zealand is the 8th Happiest Country in the World (United Nations World Happiness Report 2012) that somehow translates to Kiwi sheep having such healthy and voluptuous fleeces loved the world over. 

Even the sheep are besotted with their own wool. One particular South Island Merino, Shrek, loved his fleece so much, he hid in a cave for six years to elude shearing. When finally found in 2004, Shrek was carrying an enormous fleece weighing 25 kilograms (now in the Guinness Book of Records); about three times the average fleece. After having 22 kilograms of fine merino wool shorn from his body, Shrek looked anorexic and a little chilly. Thankfully iconic NZ merino clothing brand, Icebreaker, came to Shrek’s rescue, with a custom-made fleece jacket. People often ask me what exactly it is that makes the New Zealand lifestyle so special… well if this much attention is given to the health and happiness of sheep (and there’s 31 million of them), imagine how the population of 4.3 million is living! 


I’m not saying that other countries don’t have great sheep… just that Kiwi sheep and the nation's weavers of woollen magic are Legendary. 


Woolrest created the world’s first wool fleece underlay, back in the days when John Travolta’s hair was almost as fluffy as woolly slippers. Today, Woolrest underlay is the Festival de Cannes' Palme d’Or of bedding (if there was such an award). Imagine the shorn virgin wool from eight A-List Merino and Down sheep, tightly huddled together to create a thick-piled mattress pad. Naturally cushioning your body and reducing the load on pressure points such as hips and shoulders. Then there’s the thermal warmth factor! Woollen fibres are scientifically proven to keep pockets of air close to your body, in a tiny micro-environment. The fibres subsequently disperse heat and moisture from your body; maintaining even body temperature throughout the night. Warm in winter, cool in summer (I can’t quite get my head around how this works but its true nonetheless).


Would love to stay and chat more.. but time for Afternoon Tea in bed. Then maybe a little nap.

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