Forever Fashion: Viv Does Vegan

Vivienne Westwood has designed a range of gorgeous Anglomania Melissa shoes entitled 'Lady Dragon'.

Totally sexy, hot and vegan, these little numbers won't make your feet hot and sticky...quite the opposite. Made from MELFLEX plastic, a patented, hypo-allergenic, recyclable, and flexible PVC, these little babies will keep you comfortable and slip-free. They even smell faintly of sweets!

In an assortment of shades, there's a colour for everyone, we buy ours here!

Forever Fashion: Comfortable, Cool and fragrant free, when working out in Bamboo!

Many moons ago on a whim, I bought some bamboo socks from my local health food store. Everyone in the shop was raving about them, I thought they must have dull lives or were on commission or something, but I bought them anyway to use for working out. It may sound daft, but it took a really long time for me to realise how good they are. When my feet are comfortable, I don’t notice them. One day I went to the gym and had forgotten my bamboo socks, when I came out my feet felt awful, puffy, sticky, saw and I had blisters. Then I realised.

With new found respect for my bamboo socks I checked out where they came from. A great little, planet supporting, carbon positive company called Bam and to my delight I discovered they do Bamboo sports clothing as well. As my old kit was starting to look like pyjamas I purchased a couple of tops and some shorts. They arrived the next day, informing me that they have planted trees in my name as a result of my purchase.

I put my new bamboo outfit to the test. One outfit, one week, 5 sessions, 1.5 hours per session, high intensity (lots of sweating). The results are impressive. To sum it up, comfortable, cool and fragrant free! Bamboo is 3-4 times more absorbent than cotton, so if those kitchen rolls have the power of 1 elephant in a sheet then my bamboo outfit definitely ropes in its family and mates as well. All the moisture is absorbed away from the skin, keeping it comfortable, the absorbed moisture in the material seems to work in a cooling effect so by the end of my work out I am not left feeling hot and sticky. Finally, at the end of the week my gear was surprisingly whiff free, there was a slight odour under one of the under arm areas! This is due to the anti bacterial properties of the bamboo which does not support the growth of bacteria, so no smell!

Check out Bam's full range of clothing here. Reading through their website alone gave me a giggle!

Lydia Vine

Art & Culture: ‘Home’ exhibition launches Rodhus

The ‘Home’ exhibition celebrates the launch of Rodhus, a design resource centre and professional environment for designers. Set up by Richard Ainsworth, with the help of Abbi Kiki, Rodhus is a creative hub, offering workspace and professional services all under one roof.  

As part of the ‘Rodhus’ launch, the ‘Home’ exhibition showcases the work of talented designers and makers; from artwork and home accessories to lighting and furniture. The combination of the designers work all in one space creates an exciting and quirky show with an air of urban chic about it. Many of the pieces on display wouldn’t look out of place in the glossy pages of Elle Decoration, proving that local talent is thriving.

The highlights for me were Sylph Baier’s handthrown earthenware ceramics, Rachel Eardley’s quirky original drawings and Elsy and Vine’s knitted lambswool cushions, all vying to be in my home!

The ‘Home’ exhibition takes place from 21^st June until 25^th July at the Rodhus Gallery, Brighton. Check it out!

Carly Gordon

Lifestyle & Home: ECO BAGS OF STYLE

The other day I was in a shop, a regular kind of shop, and I witnessed something that made me a little bit happy. The shop assistant – a regular kind of man, early twenties at a guess, openly harranged a customer, loudly and without embarrassment, about his decision to insist on a huge plastic bag, despite his very tiny purchase (four batteries). This cheered me up no end, and for a second, I felt a glimmer of hope for humankind.

Plastic bags have become something rather shameful and old fashioned. Demanding one now seems very petulant and diva-ish, and a missed opportunity to totally accessorise your groceries. Think of the shopper bag as the forth dimension of style; a well chosen tote says more about you and your philosophy than a designer handbag ever could.

Proof positive that the plastic years will soon be consigned to history, there are loads of great tote bags around , they are widely available, and already have cult status (I'm not a plastic bag anyone?). Here are some that jumped out at me, all beautiful in their own way, well designed, and above all, useful! And just the thing for batteries.

Practical and aesthetically pleasing tote - £26
From Erin at Folksy
Looks very sturdy and has inside pockets, is fully lined, really nice simple design, matching make-up bag also available (but not included – exciting coordination opportunity!).

Chintz frenzy tote - £20
From Penny Fancy Bags at Folksy
Great shape, wonderful fabric, very deep with interior pocket and ribbon tie. A very sweet and unusual bag.

Tartan madness - £25
From The Girl From The North Country at Folksy
Love the handle, and the mixed up tartan is ace. Two inside pockets and nicely lined. Not massive but enough for the ten items or less aisle.

Woven from waterlilies $30
From Elegance Thai at Etsy
Lovely shopping bag, zips up and inner pockets – the distinctive multicoloured fibre is striking and unusual.

Blow the budget - $95
From Minus at Etsy
Beautifully simple style, and I love the slouch. Looks well crafted and designed, and takes a good amount of stuff thanks to the fold top.

Geometric psychedelic - $16
From jgnerer at Etsy
Simple bag, but nicely done and I love the fabric! A great splash of colour – feed your inner raver.

Feisty pattern, happy colours - $22
From Darumado
Designed for lunch, so a bit of a diversion, but a great replacement for smaller plastic bags. Great print, comes with matching fabric case for utensils and machine washable.

Many good bags, innovative idea
Bags of Change
From Bags of Change
Bags of change create lovely vibrant eco shoppers and totes, with a clever twist – just show your bag to participating shops and receive discounts on local and sustainable goods. A shopping bag that saves you money on shopping – inspired.

Sophy Colbert

Art & Culture: Get creative with a new Niki Jones Notebook

For those of you who love journaling, writing or just doodling and like somewhere really special to do it, check out these beautiful note books from Niki Jones. The selection of great colours and patterns of the silkscreen printed covers gives them their beauty and the textured pages of the recycled paper gives them a rustic and vintage feel. They are handmade, stitched and bound in India, so each one is unique.

They are 20 x 17 cm, perfect for slotting in your handbag and carrying with you where ever you go and they have 100 pages, so lots of space for really getting stuck in.

These notebooks will surely ignite your creativity and inspire you to do your best work.

Lydia Vine

Forever Fashion: LFLECT – SAFE CYCLING IN STYLE

It's important to be visible when you are on a bike, but sometimes it's a challenge to be stylish, fashion forward, and be safe at the same time. Although I value my life highly, I also care about how I look (i.e. I'm pretty vain), and sometimes your options feel pretty limited in the world of bike apparel. But this is changing. Companies like Cyclechic, Velorution and Amsterdammers have great bikes and interesting accessories, and are serving the community of people for whom cycling is pretty much their main form of transport and they want to do it in style. We want to be safe, but we also want to look good!

Always on the look out for stuff to wear whilst cycling that won't make me look like a nineties raver, I was very happy to come across LFLEC from Lost Values. A great range of knitted accessories, and, excitingly, some haberdashery bits and bobs you can use to customise your own clothes, all made with reflective wool that shines brightly at night when illuminated, making you ultra visible when out cycling in the dark. Highly practical, everything in this range is also very beautiful. All the knitted stuff is handmade in the UK using wool from the Scottish Highlands.

It's very hard to choose any one item as I really like all these things, but one thing that particularly caught my was the reflective lace, decorated with tiny cycling figures, in a range of colours and style, for you to add to your clothes as an elegant trim that will make you shine and shimmer like an angel on two wheels.

Be seen, be safe, be stylish!

Don't forget: Bike Week 2010 is almost upon us! Check out the website and find out what's happening near you.

Sophy Colbert

Health & Beauty: Japanese Rose

Korres Japanese Rose shower gel has a light and refreshing rose scent that lathers up a treat. With aloe vera, vitamin C, Vitamin E and antioxidant enzymes to take care of your skin and improve skin tone, this little number is perfect for soaping golden summer skin.