Saturday, December 21, 2013

Map My Heart


It's that time of year again and you're panic buying. But before you resort to selecting something from the gender specific sections of gift guides, ever so helpfully marked "For Him" and "For Her"*, take a look at Map My Heart**, the debut book from our all time favourite illustrator Dominic Evans A.K.A Dom & Ink. Now, we can wax lyrical about Dom's delectable drawings and on this very blog wrote that he draws what's in our hearts, but we were quite unaware that among his other qualities, he also has the power to cure heartache.

This book, chock-a-block full of beautiful illustrations and funny observations, will be well received by anyone who has ever had their heart tampered with. It's a gift for the giver too as its therapy, interactive style will stop your friend bleating on at you about whichever worthless individual has recently stomped on their heart. Because, whether a heart is wrapped in velvet and encrusted with diamonds or made entirely from ice, it can always be smashed -- luckily Dom, like a more successful version of all the King's horses, is here to put it back together again. 

Here's a peek at the pages of perfection: 

*Note to electrical manufacturers: Women are perfectly capable of using speakers, cameras etc that are not coloured bubblegum pink and whilst some of us may dream of living in Barbie's Dream House, this rule is not applicable to every individual with bumps under their jumper, so please be so kind as to stop it now. 

**Available from all good retailers: Amazon UK, Waterstones, Foyles and the brick and mortar Waterstones in Picadilly.

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Thursday, October 17, 2013

The Shoreditch Fashion Show Returns

Vince Kidd offered some soothing sounds and hypnotized the crowd with his lovely voice. We only wish that his set was a bit longer.
Aphra Shemza's glowing art installation was one of the show-stoppping pieces at the Oval Space.
The Man, The Myth, the Legend - Dom and Ink!
Left: Afrow (pictured right) and her friend looked awesome in their twin-ning jumpsuits - you can find Afrow's super cool blog here.
Right: Illustrator Amanda was as sweet as her outfit - have a looksie at her cute as a button blog here.
Left: Matching fringes and crop tops - we were big fans of these fabulous friends. 
Right: This stylish trio actually all share the same DNA! The girls are fashion blogging twins and have a stylish cousin to boot! 
Left: We fell hard for the headband and fishtail braid combo sported by this adorable event-goer.
Right: Even the staff at TSFS impressed us. Blonde curls and a beanie gets us every time! 
Left: Fashion blogging beauties made us stop in our tracks with an adorable Wednesday Adams-esque collar and a bright yellow coat.
Right: We saw this beautiful headchain on these luscious locks. Khaleesi?
Left: We loved fashion designer Eric's lego frame specs, which made their way here, all the way from a street vendor on St Mark's Place in oh so fabulous New York! Check out Eric's blog here.
Right: This fashion designer's neoprene top is one of her own creations - we were positively envious of it, and her beautiful topknot.
Fashion blogger, Cecily, was as friendly as her pretty pastel palette but we love how she edged things up with her nose ring and leather biker. And those earrings were absolutely regal!
Left: �ffbeat's Anoushka and her friend were killing it! Oh shiiit! 
Right: A delightful Neapolitan of Men's style.
Left: This beautiful couple were coordinated without being too matchy matchy - outstanding.
Right: All dressed in black - Sylvanna's sheer stripey top from Cos, paired with a coat by A.C.F and vintage accessories meant that she stood out in the crowd. 
Siobhan wears...
Black Sweatshirt - Zara
Floral Midi Skirt - Topshop
Black Patent Sandal Platforms - Topshop
Frilly Socks - Topshop
Orange and Pearl Earrings - River Island

Miriam wears...
Tartan Skirt - Zara
Crop Top - Bershka
Gold Wedges - Office
Love Hate Necklace - Tatty Devine

Leaves turning to rust usually signifies the fading light  of summer as the nights begin to draw in, but not last weekend, which marked the return of �ffbeat's Shoreditch Fashion Show -  The event, held at The Oval Space, was absolutely filled to the rafters with well dressed ladies and gents, welcoming the turn of the season and the autumn fashion that accompanies it. It was a fun filled melting pot of fashion, music and art, with a very friendly atmosphere - who said that fashion had to be bitchy? 

For us, the most exciting part of the evening had to be when we FINALLY got to meet the quiff sporting, super cool dude Dom and Ink, whose doodle wall provided event goers with endless entertainment. Disproving the old adage that one should never meet their heroes, Dom is as lovely as his illos are magical! As cool and composed as ever (try as we might to be Stephanie Zinone, we're unfortunately a lot more like those weird cheerleading twins in Grease 2) we screamed like banshees when saw him and garnered many a disapproving glance from the room. We hope that this undignified display won't prevent us from being invited back, because as we left the event on a fashiony high we had but one question on our conjoined minds - when is the next one?

Footnote: After leaving the safe confines of The Oval Space, we were once again roaming free on the streets of Shoreditch and there we encountered something truly alarming - to the girl who had the attitude of Regina George, but was sadly lacking any of her panache, we would like to offer the following words - summer sandals plus a heavy winter coat does not an autumn outfit make. Just because the season lies in between summer and winter it does not mean that it is merely an amalgamation of the two.  

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Wednesday, October 2, 2013

The Shoreditch Fashion Show is Back



You may remember our street style fashion-filled posts (boys, girls, and us!) from offbeat live's The Shoreditch Fashion Show earlier this year and we are happy to report that TSFS is back for its biannual show on October 12th at Oval Space. The event will be mix of fashion, music and art with a fashion show featuring looks from up & coming designers from the top London fashion schools (all mentored by Julien MacDonald!). Vince Kidd, from The Voice UK, will be performing and we can only hope for a reprisal of his Like a Virgin rendition. And if you're feeling like a scrub at the party, never fear as there will be a blow-dry bar which fits perfectly with the sponsorship from Batiste, the dry shampoo gurus. Also, our illustrious illustrator friend Dom from Dom & Ink promises to showcase something special at TSFS. After falling in love with his mermaid illustration, we can't hardly wait to see what he will debut! 

Of course we will be at the event, so make sure you say hello if you see us frolicking with the crowd. For more information about the event and ticket information, please check out the TSFS website. Also let us know in the comments below if you think you will be attending! See you all there!

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Monday, July 8, 2013

Ink My Heart

Usually the arrival of the postman only serves to remind us that reality is desperate to thwart our eternal optimism. However the other week was different and with the post was a much needed sign that unicorns really do walk among us, as we received this wonderful parcel of illustrations from the lovely Dom & Ink! As though put together by magical elves, it was full of all our favourite things - dinosaurs, mermaids, top knots and birds!



We could not help but notice the uncanny resemblance to G. Dragon & Taeyang from the K-pop band, Big Bang, that the fine fellas in the print below bear. How did Dom & Ink know they are the secret patron saints of this blog? We have no idea, but our mouths simultaneously dropped in amazement at the sight!
We fell hard for Dom & Ink's divine doodling when we saw his Top Knot print at The Shoreditch Fashion Show; so now when we aren't colouring in, we'll be keeping an eye out for Map My Heart, Dom & Ink's forthcoming book, which we were thrilled to learn will contain UNICORNS! It has been added to the first draft of our Christmas letter to the world's favourite sugar daddy, St. Nicholas, along with this outrageously awesome Grease 2 inspired phone case.
We always wondered what the male version of us would be like and we think that now we know - Dom & Ink draws what is in our brains and in our hearts! 

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