Brighton Morris Men

Who would have thunk it; Brighton has it's very own team of Morris Men, whom I came across when putting out the recycling this evening. Adorned with beards and bells, the group were smacking sticks and waving flags in time with a violin and accordian outside The Iron Duke.


As my dad used to be a Man of Morris himself, much to my mother's bemusement - "he was a hippie at university then suddenly we had moved to Yorkshire and he was wearing bells and running up fells" - and my hometown sees droves of soot-faced dancers flock to its streets for the Holmfirth Folk Festival each year, I had to go down for a bit of foot tapping.


Apparently, the Brighton Morris Men play from St George's Day til September every year, after which they meet each Thursday evening at the Hanover Centre, Southover Street, to practice. Check out their dance programme here.

The baby-blue typewriter

No, I'm not going to do all my work on this from now on - can you imagine not being able to cut and paste, it just doesn't bear thinking about. Instead, it is joining the many items in our flat that are to be looked at, but not used.

It is very pretty to look at though, and with a new ribbon would create some cool typography for home-made cards - hmm, next project...

I found it for £15 in a charity shop in Hove, and it's become the perfect holder for my original Sandie Shaw sheet music (I think she looks beautiful in this photo), which I haven't been able to find a frame for as it's U.S.-sized A4.

Oh, and I can also now pretend to work at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, in preperation for Mad Men Season 4, which, by the way, premiered in America on Sunday - exciting!

Words with...Nina Bon Bina

I fell in love with Nina Bon Bina's delicately embellished, floaty and feminine pieces at Clothes Show London, so caught up with the lady behind the label, Nina Patel, to find out about her gorgeous new collection, design principles and fashion inspirations.

Tell us about your design background:

I studied fashion design at Manchester Met Uni and then was lucky enough to go on to do an internship at Maria Cornejo in New York.

Although our design aesthetics are very different, I learnt a lot through her. Her dresses are often made from one crazy looking pattern piece that’s folded and sewn together with maybe one or two seams that result in beautiful garments.


I definitely learnt that good design doesn’t have to be complicated.

When I came back to the U.K, I fell into designing for the high-street supplier side of the industry, designing for many of the giants, from M&S to Oasis. It was always my goal to set up my own label. My parents are self- employed and always encouraged me to go in that direction. About a year ago I felt it was time to make it happen.

Who are Nina Bon Bina pieces designed for?

My pieces are designed for women that want to look good, are aware of trends and are after key pieces. My collections are full of strong flattering separates and dresses that create instant looks without the fuss of having to layer many pieces or style with lots of accessories to make it work.

Where would you wear a Nina Bon Bina item?

My pieces are versatile, for example my ‘bows a plenty’ blouse for S/S 10 can be worn at the office with a pencil skirt and can look just as good worn with harems or shorts in the day or evening. Dresses like ‘Leila’ and ‘Touch of Paisley’ have been bought for special occasions, for example to wear at Ascot or at a wedding.

The shapes of your collections are simple and classic, yet the embellishments are very intricate. Do you work with the philosophy that beauty is in the detail?

Yes, I do. I think that the beauty in the detail is achieved through intricate embellishments but can equally be achieved through using lovely fabrics, ensuring garments are cut to flatter the body and by making sure all finishings are of a high quality.

All the embellishments are done by hand. How long does this take per item?

It depends on the style. My gypsy-luxe dress for A/W takes 3-4 hours to hand embroider.

How many of each design are made?

The quantities differ per style but I’d say approximately 25-30 pieces per style. I am looking for more stockists and of course would like to increase the number in order to sustain a business, but I will never be producing thousands of pieces per style. I want people to know that they are buying into a small brand and that they’re getting something special.

Which designers do you admire?

For the gorgeously girly collections I admire Lela Rose, Erin Fetherston and Matthew Williamson. I also like a lot of French and Australian brands like Maje and Willow.

What details have you taken from your S/S collection into your new season styles and what's new?

The S/S collection was very floaty and dreamy; I had gorgeous silks and chiffons in smock shapes in pretty pastel colours. For A/W, the feminine handwriting remains but in-keeping with A/W trends, the colour palette is richer, silhouettes have become more fitted and the brass embellishment and zip details give a slightly harder edge to the pieces.

What influences are you drawing on for your autumn/winter Look Book?

The lovely Laetitia, aka Mademoiselle Robot, will be styling the collection and we’re going to keep the look very clean and fresh with simple styling. I love the Kirsten Dunst issue of Lula so we may draw a few influences from that.

Which is your favourite piece in the new collection?

The cobalt sequin dress is my favourite. I love the colour, it’s incredibly flattering to wear and can be worn year after year.

Where can we buy Nina Bon Bina pieces?

At the moment my full collection is only available to buy through www.ninabonbina.co.uk. I also sell through two boutiques in Essex, one in Surrey and one in Lincoln but I’d encourage customers to contact me regarding specific pieces to check if the boutique stocks the styles they’re interested in, as none of the boutiques stock the full collection.

Prices start at £65. The Nina Bon Bina S/S collection will be going into sale 31 July, with selected styles discounted by 20-45 per cent.

A fond farewell to Brighton Traid

I am a big fan of Brighton Traid on Duke Street. Just around the corner from where I work, I've spent many a lunchtime riffling through the rails of quality second-hand, vintage and re-made clothing and trying on beautiful shoes. In fact over the years I've done my bit to keep the shop in business, having bought coats, tops, dresses, boots and bags. And with profits going to fund projects to fight global poverty, it's the best kind of shopping - that of the guilt-free variety.

So I was very sad to hear that the shop will be no more as of September. Talking with one of the, always charmingly dressed, shop assistants, she told me that the rent is now so high that Traid head office has decided to lose its one store outside of London.

Sad face. What will I do with my lunch hour now?

There is, however, a silver lining to this sorry tale. Traid is known for its amazing 'everything £3 down to £1' sales, which it holds at the end of each season, so there is bound to be one mega closing-down sale as the shop sees out it's final weeks.

See you there!

Behind the lens: Tony Stubbings 3

Brighton-based photographer on his signiture shot.

Another model, another test! This time with newcomer Miss Vix. I think this was perhaps her second shoot, and by now I was in my own studio and had borrowed a four-foot industrial ringflash. I was using this device on all my shoots at the time, having long admired Rankin and his effortless use of the device.

Indeed you can see the ringflash alien reflection in her eyes. Eyes, I should add, to die for. She oozed sex and fashion and is an astounding model.

A push on the contrast to bring out the blacks was all the editing I did on this: Between her perfect skin and the ringflash's ability to smooth everything away nothing else was needed.

I've a four-foot square print of the shot on my office wall and it also adorns my
business cards.

Teacup candles

Here they are in all their glory - my first batch of teacup candles (and one in a novelty cupcake pot). Friends and family - guess what you'll be getting next birthday/Christmas.

Making these cute candle cups was pretty easy, albeit rather messy, and all I needed was:

• A variety of vintage tea cups/random resepticles of choice - sourced from charity shops and car boot sales

• Melting wax. I found this lot in a charity shop candle-making kit, but have recently bought a batch from www.artifolk.co.uk.

• Candle wicks from www.candle-wicks.co.uk - apparently 'the best wicks on the web'.

• Wooden barbeque skewers.

• An old pan and an old newspaper.

How to...

So, once you've laid out your old newspaper on your worktop, all you need to do is melt the wax by placing your old pan with the wax in it into a bigger pan of hot water over a hob. Once it has melted so it is entirely clear, position your wick with the base in the middle of the cup (I've just bought a glue gun to fix it down) and pour in the wax so that the cup or resepticle is three quarters full. Use the barbeque skewers to lay across the cups and pinch the wick in place - this will prevent it from sinking into the wax.

For ease of pouring, it's better to have a pan with a pouring lip or a Pyrex jug, as I found out after getting wax all over the kitchen floor.

Leave the wax to cool for an hour of so. When it is completely cool to the touch, you will notice that the wax has sunk in the middle, so you'll need to top it up with more melted wax to ensure a smooth finish.

And that's it, you're done!

The wax in my finished candle cups appears darker in the centre, and I'm not sure why this is. I'm hoping that the better-quality melting wax I've ordered will acheive a more even finish, but if any candle-makers out there have other suggestions, I'd be interested in hearing them.

Fear and loathing at Krater Comedy Club

Comedy gigs are scary things. I can deal with the top-name comedians at big venues – Eddie Izzard and Ross Noble sure get the endorphins pumping - but intimate gigs with little known acts can be more of an ordeal than an enjoyable evening out.

There is nothing more cringe-worthy than seeing a stand-up bomb on stage, and as I’m a bit of an anxiety-ridden wreck at the best of times, it’s just not good for the nerves.

But it’s not just the teeth-clenching empathy that’s the issue. I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be than sat in the front row of a small stand-up gig, a sitting duck, a lamb to the slaughter…and other farmyard animals appropriate for use in similes.

The Fear obviously doesn’t bother other people so much, however, as the Komedia’s Krater Comedy Club is packed every weekend. It’s won awards, The Independent thinks its pretty hot and it’s proved so popular that the venue has just added another night to the weekly bill. You can now see stand-ups perform on a Thursday evening. And so we did, thanks to a friend who works there.

To my surprise, The Fear wasn’t an issue this time. The Fear, it turned out, is no match for The Loathing.

Hello MC Paddy Lennox. From Ireland you say? Well, that’s funny on its own isn’t it. No need to come up with any jokes or hone that wit. How about you just tell the audience what they think about Irish people, make cheap shots about Brighton’s gay population and peoples’ entirely legitimate jobs (thank god no one mentioned social media) and embrace crudeness for crudeness’s sake. Oh, and do that to introduce the evening, in between each act and at the end of the night. Great. That’s. just. great.


Thank you, Joe Lycett’s mother, for Joe Lycett. Joe who makes Paddy, straight-out-of-the-early-90s-club-circuit, Lennox leave the stage. Joe who looks like a little boy lost before getting into his comedic stride with such ease it’s like watching one of your, very funny, best mates up there on stage. Joe who is truly loveable and hilarious.

Joe talks about daftness, middle-class foods, and living at home with said mother. Said mother who is utterly distressed by the Spotify adverts. “But, but I don’t want “bass in my face””, says said mother as her afternoon of classical music in the garden is interrupted.

Of course Joe is incredibly middle class - he knows it and he plays on it. After all, there’s nothing a middle class person likes more than a bit of self-deprecation. Eases the guilt.

There are two more acts before the headline, one a wannabe Jack Dee/Steve Wright whose jokes don’t quite compensate for the incredible awkwardness he intentionally brings to the room, and the other a man who simultaneously looks like a Somerset farmer, city banker and cockney wide-boy. In fact I don’t think he is any of these things. He’s not bad, but by this point of the night people are laughing at pretty much anything – they’re drunk.

For the finale we travel back in time to my year-eight music class. Mr Morgan has left the lads unattended and they’re changing the words in well-known songs to make the girls giggle. They’re overacting the big numbers, pretending they’re on a stadium tour or in a power ballad video. They’re pissing about with the synths and the keyboard effects. Oh no, it’s not the boys from school, it’s Rob Deering. Time to go.

IMAGE by Andy Hollingworth from www.joelycettcomedy.co.uk

Fabulous finds

As it was my hen do last weekend, I spent two days in a drunken stupor and two days in a zombie-like state, unable to speak, eat or even face daylight without experiencing pain. Clever, I am.

So, when I finally felt like a human being again, I thought I'd make up for these somewhat wasted days and throw myself back into my magpie habit.

It goes without saying that I picked up a flowery dress. I'd seen this lovely lilac and white Topshop number with bow-back detail reaching over £30 on Ebay on many an occasion, so was very pleased to spot it in Oxfam for £9.99, and in a size 12 too. How could I say no?


I'm not sure if I've mentioned on the blog before - I've banged on about it off-line enough - but my next project involves making candles in old tea and coffee cups. I've got a cupboard-full of odds and sods I've picked up from car boot sales, wax from a charity shop candle-making kit and wicks and a glue-gun from the net. So I'm all set.

I fear, however, that this may become another obsession, as although I can't fit any more cups in the cupboard, and I don't really drink tea or coffee, I now can't stop myself buying them. Hence, the arrival of the below in our flat this afternoon. Bought from Spiral charity shop around the corner for £3.


It's not just great clothes and homewares that can be found in charity shops. Ooooh no, then I may only spend one-third of my life in them rather than half. If you want named and quality hair and beauty products, it's well worth rooting around.

I found a new Toni and Guy straightening product set for £1 after Christmas (a great time to pick up unwanted presents) and today picked up an unused pot of No7 Lift and Luminate Day Cream (£20.50 new) for just £3.99. Result.


The last in my lists of finds I didn't buy - I very much doubt I'd be able to afford it. Bit I spotted this amazing HMV gramophone in the window of an odd little on the street adjacent to mine.

Oliver's Clock Shop on Cross Street never seems open and looks like someone's front room, yet it's full of amazing old clocks and, more recently, weird and wonderful antiques. I suspect it's a real treasure trove and really must bite the bullet and step inside. This beauty may be the item to make me do just that over the weekend, if only to take a better photo.

Clothes Show London 2010

I recently wrote about the highlights, and lowlights, of Clothes Show London over on bitchbuzz.com, but here are a few extra photos from the day. Pretty things, vintage things and slightly ridiculous things. I'm not sure if I'd go again - if I did I'd skip the Fashion Theatre - but I'm glad that I did this year.

Fashion Fair and exhibitions





Celebrating 50 years of Carnaby Street






Fashion Theatre





Click images to enlarge