Archive for fruit
Hobbs pear prints
I have a list as long as my arm of pear and owl wondrousness to blog about – but when I walked past the Hobbs shop near Victoria Station this evening, I HAD to come home and bypass the other treats (coming your way ver ver soon).
Here’s a snap of the shop window, in full pear glory. BTW, I did ask the shop assistant if they would consider selling me the back drop once the pear fest was over, but she was less than enthusiastic. That will not be putting me off though – I intend to hound them until they give in. I’m not sure M would be too happy to have such a large piece of pear art in the stairwell, but maybe he wouldn’t notice if I removed the lightbulb overhead…
Anyway, once inside, gasping at the fact that there were pears on clothes, I rifled through the rails and picked out one or two beauties for your online perusal. It’s rare to see a red pear done well, but this print has it all – summery, retro, fun, fruity, classic and quintessentially pretty.
Here’s a close up of the best colourway in my headspace this evening.
The Gardenia Dress (pictured at the top of the blog post) is an “on trend tutti fruity print” (reads the Hobbs website!). It is made from linen, but is machine washable. Tick. Also, it features a “flattering elastic waist detail”. Ahem. Not a phrase I normally like to pair with descriptions of elegant summer dresses, but when it comes to comfort, I guess anything goes. At least you could make a serious dent on a stodgy lunch and still pull off a statement entrance wearing this dress.
If you can’t justify spending £99 on the dress, but still want the pear print in your repertoire this summer, you could opt for the Cherry Print scarf instead – £39 but lovely nonetheless.
Or, for a Mad Men approach, this Cherries Skirt is really cute: flared, flouncy, below-the-knee, perfect for kitten heels and a big belt.
You won’t believe it – there was a pear pendant too. It’s quite big compared to other pear necklaces I’ve seen. And far from apologetic: it literally is a massive green pear on a chain. But it could be useful if you wanted an impromtu paper weight, or needed to knock out a fruit-hating fiend…
Last but not least, the Lily pear bag to die for. I hardly need say more. A pear sits perfectly in the hand of this delicately drawn lady. With her vintage-inspired dress, wide eyes, ruby red lips and outstretched arm, the pear is placed right where it would most be seen if the bag were clasped tightly under your arm. What’s more, it comes with a detachable patent leather purse in the shape of a pear (see below). I am smitten.
Thanks Hobbs – what a great start to the pear season. And there is more bloggage to come along the same lines – watch this space for a full feature on the latest Orla Kiely pear print dresses.
Marimekko pear quilt
This quilt leaves me lost for words. I simply cannot imagine anything nicer to spread over a pram for an Autumn stroll, or tuck around your knees as you curl up with a good book and a steaming mug of green tea at the end of a long day. The spectacularly poised Marimekko print, the stitch-perfect quilting and equally delectable backing simply could not fail to lift your spirits.
You can see in the sun-dappled photo above that smckey has mastered the art of marrying a traditional craft with twentieth century Scandinavian design, the ultimate in attention to detail and twenty-first century beauty too. You can visit her Etsy shop here for even more examples of quilting heaven (I love Confetti Parade) or take a peek at her blog for an insight into quilting, crafts, and the meaning of life. Phew, finally someone’s come up with an answer to that conundrum.
Getting back to the pear print (which is stipple quilted in green and white on one hundred per cent cotton fabric), you might be interested to know a bit more about the backing fabric – it is “willow orchard” by Alexander Henry. And for more patterns from this particular designer studio, check out a recent (ish) Print & Pattern post here.
The quilt itself is 54″ x 32″, you can machine wash and dry it, it’s utterly unique, it can be posted to your door, and … what else? Well, don’t get me started on how I’d love to redecorate my quasi-study with this quilt hanging on the brick wall above a retro desk and an Eames chair in matching green or contrasting mustard (the one below is from John Lewis).
Pear half hostess
I’m on a roll with the apron theme. Only this time, it’s not owls but pears. And for a change, here is an example of a fantastic pear-based fabric design on a cocoa background. Just perfect if we’re talking about a cooking-related item of clothing, when mentioning chocolate somewhere in the post is de rigeur. How utterly fab would you feel if you managed to bake some of these pear and chocolate cake pots while sporting this pretty half hostess?
Becky handcrafts these aprons in Minnesota and sells them to the world from her Juniperberries Etsy shop here. They come with a large double pocket and straps long enough to tie around the front on back (depending on girth…).
Anyway, back to pears and chocolate: why not try your hand at some macaroons? These vanilla, orange and chocolate, pear and vanilla scrummies are from one of my fave foody/fashion blog reads – Brigadeiro. Alternatively, there is a recipe for chocolate, pear and ginger tart on page 141 of the Green & Black’s Chocolate Recipes book, which I would be v. tempted to try out. (By the way, I can’t wait for the new G&B recipe book to be released – I know I will probably only fawn over the recipes and illustrations rather than actually bake them, but hey ho, you never know. Maybe there’ll be a pear recipe in there too?)
Finally, my love of Lindt’s intense chocolate range is now deep-rooted, following my discovery of their sea salt dark chocolate bar (now available at Waitrose/Ocado) – this stuff is A-mazing. I know there is a pear version of the intense range in the States – I’ve seen it on google, and here it is as proof:
My question is, when can we get our hands on this flavour in the UK? If you have a strong desire to see this in stock, then log in and send Waitrose/Ocado an message here (or an email: customersupport@waitrose.co.uk) and make pear chocolate a reality for everyone in Blighty.
Pears on the beach
Ok, so I’m a little behind with the times, but these 2009 pear Havaianas are to die for. I can’t believe I didn’t know about them until recently, and am gutted they seem to be out of stock in most places now, although I suppose that’s hardly surprising. There are a few online stores where you can still track down a pair (the blue and silver pair here, or the chocolate pair via Amazon US here) but other than that, it’s going to have to be a long and drawn out Ebay search.
Here they are in purple and gold (drool):
And for those of you with late summer breaks still to jet off for, how about a pear-print bikini? It probably won’t match your tasteful flip flops, but don’t let that stop any true pear addicts among you. Grab yourself a bargain from Go Jane online (@gojanedotcom) – this bathing suit is on sale, and also available in yellow….
Finally, for the kids, a pear bathing suit. Again, you can get one from the US here, and as an added bonus, it’s in the clearance section.
Knitted pear dress
OMG. OMG. OMG. I just remembered I haven’t visited Boden for a while, and logged on to check out the new Audrey Dress I have my eye on. When, lo and behold, I saw this cute-as-buttons knitted (cashmere) pear dress for kids! My first question is why oh why it does not come in adult sizes? Secondly, how many of these is it acceptable to covet for a growing toddler?
The pear pattern, plus the knittedness, as well as the retro colourway all make me think of an old skool Clothkits outfit, or bittybambu’s funky pear dress or tunic top on Etsy, also for kids (grrrr, but also awwwww).
Both the Boden and the bittybambu dress could be worn with some soft-as-butter leather shoes for bubbas – such as these silver pear slippers that feature on an earlier blog post, or these turqoise beauties, from Jellybabys.co.uk. Delish. OK, maybe that would be over doing the pears…
Pears in the kitchen
Just spotted this pear coloured KitchenAid mixer (for, and on, sale) online and thought it would be a good introduction to a few pear-related goodies I have waiting in the wings. I love our red version of the mixer, but this shade is so retro it needs to be used to make something very kitsch and probably green. With this end in mind, I am coveting these beautiful copper coloured, pear-shaped cookie cutters from Amazon, which I reckon you could use to make a huge pile of iced biscuits, perfect for mid-morning snacks, afternoon tea, and everything before and after too.
Check out Cookie Creatives by Jennifer for inspiration – it’s a custom cookie boutique (based in the States, of course) and they have made perfect pear biscuits into wedding favours … or whatever they’re called in Britspeak.
Pear coaster
Thanks to Twitter, I have just discovered these crocheted pear coasters by Czech designer Monika Mrozkova, available from Etsy (along with some extremely desirable owl, apple and ladybird items). My cork coasters literally pale into comparison with these bright, cheerful, iconic pear alternatives: I love that each one includes the classic pear contour, but topped with a leaf and a stalk, and tailed with the stubby bottom bit (does that have an official name…?). I can imagine plonking a large cup of jasmine and green tea on this coaster, but it would be aesthetically pleasing to place on it a delicate martini glass (such as this Freud version I am currently coveting), with an olive of course.
D.L. & Co apple and pear candles
Just picked up the May edition of Elle Deco that was helpfully gathering some dust on the coffee table, and while leafing through it, my eye was instantly drawn to these smashing candles in brass containers shaped as apples and pears. Or, as the D.L. & Co website describes them – forbidden fruit. I can’t help thinking you’d be reluctant to ever light them though, Ikea night lights being considerably more economical (if not pear shaped), but they’d definitely add a distinctive burnished glow to the sideboard.
Eric Carle fruit
Despite the fact that I love Eric Carle‘s The Very Hungry Caterpillar, especially the fruity illustrations, I am a little tired of reading it. I’ve probably relayed it to the baby about 10 times over today alone. However, not to be daunted, I thought I should really include it in the list of my favourite fruit-related posts: it’s a classic, no doubt about it. I used to think my favourite page was the one with the icecream cone and the salami – you know the one I’m on about? Actually though, it’s been superceded by the pear page, and the baby seems to agree with me for once.
Claes Oldenburg Dropped Bowl with Scattered Slices and Peels
Thanks to the lovely Sabina for this post. As ever, she is the ultimate arbiter of taste, especially when it comes to anything arty, or anything related to shoes, handbags, divine dresses and languid literature. Enough alliteration; back to Mr Oldenburg. If I ever get to Miami then I will definitely make a bee-line to see this fruity, open-air fountain / sculpture. According to the Claes Oldenburg website, this amazing installation is formed of seventeen elements (eight bowl fragments, four peels, five orange sections). Shame he didn’t think to include any pears, but never mind, I won’t hold it against him.
