Highstreet Highlight: Hobbs NW3

Dennis the Fox belt: £39

Floating Feather dress: £159 (mainline Hobbs)

Margo the Mouse leather keyring: £14 (was £29) 

Owl tee: £35

Honey Bee earrings: £29

Ollie the Owl purse: £59

Ollie the Owl belt: £39

Dennis the Fox earrings: £24 (was £35)

British brand Hobbs started life in 1981, originally producing shoes before developing a contemporary clothing collection. Today the brand produces quintessentially British pieces under a number of sub-brands within the Hobbs family and my favourite by far is NW3. Here you will find such gems as the Dennis the Fox leather belt - which has its buckle at the back and the fox detail at the front making it perfect for cinching in dresses and tops! And how could anyone resist the Ollie the Owl and Margo the Mouse items? I really love the use of traditional, British wild animals in the NW3 range! Also gorgeous is the Floating Feather dress from the main Hobbs range. My only gripe is the shape as I'm not sure it would suit me... but I may just have to pop into a Hobbs to find out for sure ;)

Let Lily Know: What do you think of these pieces? Have you ever bought anything from Hobbs?

Jewellery Collection: Storage . . .

As a self-confessed jewellery-addict, I have a somewhat vast collection of jewellery stashed away in boxes and drawers, but my everyday items are kept in these little stacking boxes that sit at easy reach on my hallowed dressing table! The boxes are ideal as I can see exactly where everything is - there are no dark corners for that pesky missing stud earring to hide away in! I bought the boxes from a little boutique called Rose Hill in the Brighton Lanes, but they are by Lisbeth Dahl who I know is stocked in quite a few boutiques so you may spot them on your travels too! Oliver Bonas do a version of these boxes too, and at £9.50 for a set of four, you can't really go wrong!

To give you an example of the contents - the top-left box is where I keep my absolute favourite items - these include my Lucy Jade Sylvester moonstone ring, my aqua chalcedony ring, a pair of leaf and silver droplet earrings from the brilliant Jewel Thief, and a solid silver flamingo pendant that I wear on my favourite long chain when I take a break from wearing the silver key that usually sits on the chain (my all-time most worn necklace!)

The medium-left box contains my dangly earrings (I'm sure there is a more technical term for them, but 'dangly' is all that springs to mind! haha). Most of these are inexpensive favourites from the likes of Accessorize, Topshop, the V&A shop etc that I've picked up over the years. 

The top-right box contains rings I'm more likely to wear on a night out. The swarovski skull ring came from Pretty Eccentric - a Brighton boutique that sells some amazing, unique jewellery and accessorise! The solid silver ring used to belong to my aunt but she gave it to me years ago when she was having a clear-out. The ball spins round and can be detatched, so it's perfect to fiddle with! It is also a great statement ring with some real weight to it! The pretty tear drop and scribble heart stud earrings were christmas gifts that I'm currently getting a lot of wear out of.

The medium sized box on the right contains the rest of my stud earrings. There are a mix here of highstreet and independant brands. Of the ones you can see in the picture, the little silver wings are from Pia - I love them, they look so nice on!; the owls are from Claire's Accessorise though I admit I've never actually worn them; and the Swarovski skulls are Butler & Wilson. The rest come from 'proper jewellery shops' and were gifts so I can't link-you-up I'm afraid! The largest boxes contain the rest of my ring collection (plus some pendants awaiting chains) to the right, and some bracelets and a little brooch of a frog on a lily pad to the left.

 

I hope you enjoyed that little nosey through my every-day jewellery collection and that you like the way I store them. It works for me! Before I found these boxes I used to keep most of these things on a little ceramic tray, but it made finding pairs of earrings in a hurry very tricky and things would get tarnished due to being exposed to the air all the time. So, I am really pleased with these boxes and would definately recommend them to anyone looking for a new way to store their bits and bobs!

As mentioned, similar boxes can be bought online from Oliver Bonas here.

Let Lily Know: How do you store your most reached-for jewellery?

Lily Loves: Paul & Joe cosmetics . . .

These blush sticks from Paul & Joe's 2012 Spring Collection are quite simply too perfect to ever even consider using - yet I want to own them all! Inspired by brand-owner Sophie Albou's love of cats, the products feature cute little top-hat-wearing cat faces carved into the blush stick. One of these will set you back £21 (buy here) - a bit much for something I'd never use, but oh... they are so purr-fect! (Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun!) Also lovely are these face & eye combos (below) which feature tones suitable to contour, highlight and add a touch of colour to both the eyes and face. They come in beautiful card boxes that hark back to vintage powder-box designs featuring elegant patterns, and the make-up pan itself features another exquisitely pretty kitty in keeping with the feline theme . . .

 For me, Paul & Joe is the perfect dressing-table brand. The products are always so thoughtfully presented and luxuriously packaged that I'd almost feel ashamed to spoil them by using them, but they would look so elegant decorating a dressing table. I have some of the limited edition Alice in Wonderland collection the brand did a couple of years ago - still boxed and un-used. It's nice to get it out and peek at it now and then and marvel at how special it is. 

Let Lily Know: Do you own any Paul & Joe cosmetics? Would you be able to use them if you did?! Haha :)

Jewellery Collection: Fox doll necklace...

This adorable, articluated fox doll necklace was a gift for my birthday last year from one of my BFFs. Heavilly inspired by Servane Gaxotte's doll pendants (blogged about here), this foxy little lady came with a more down-to-earth Forever 21 price tag which only serves to make her all the more wearable! I love foxes, and I haven't been able to get the Servane Gaxotte doll pendants out of my head, so this was the perfect addition to my jewellery collection. My BFFs know me so well!

Let Lily Know: Have you found any brilliant jewellery in a highstreet shop like Forever 21?

Lily Loves: Bett Norris portraits . . .

Above: David Bowie (buy here) | Grace Jones (buy here)

Above: Silvia Plath (buy here) | Virginia Woolf (buy here)

These striking portraits are the work of Bristol-based illustrator Bett Norris. As well as these depictions of heavyweight writers and musicians, Bett also creates brilliant portraits of other such cultural icons as Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo and Edith Piaf, all in her distinctive illustrative style. Bett is great at portraying a real sense of someone's character, both through her portraiture and through her 'Treasures' pieces. Here, imagined artefacts and personal treasures from the subjects of her portraits are gathered together and presented in pieces you could really spend a very long time gazing at! I can't think of anything better than to have one of these Treaures prints hanging on my wall next to one of the Portraits. Hurry up pay-day!

Treasures:

Above: Treaure - Silvia Plath (buy here)

Above: Treasure - Frida Kahlo (buy here)

More Bett Norris:

Website | Blog | Etsy | Facebook

All images are from Bett Norris' etsy shop - I really encourage you to take a look at it :)

Jewellery Collection: Alex Monroe

I was very lucky to receive these pieces by Alex Monroe from my boyfriend for Christmas. They came tucked in black velvet Liberty of London pouches in a perfectly purple gift box wrapped up with a bow. Unwrapping the gift felt so special and I love the jewellery to bits! The necklace features a really detailed silver feather whilst the bracelet houses a little cluster of seed pods embellished with pearls. Perfect considering my love of nature-inspired jewellery!   

In other news, Lily in the Labyrinth is now on Facebook. Please take a peek and remember to 'like' the page to keep up-to-date with the latest blog posts via the convenience of your news feed :)

Lily Loves: The Storybook Rabbit . . .

Clockwise from top left:

- 'Love What You Do' small plate - £19 approx

- 'Bonjour Wilfred & his Girlfriend' plate - £32 approx

- A range of plates from The Storybook Rabbit

- 'Bow & Flower Deer' small plate - £19 approx

These adorable, upcycled vintage plates featuring whimsical illustrations of the cutest creatures come from Etsy shop, The Storybook Rabbit (what a lovely name!). The work of Sydney-based Kelly, many of the plates, cups and dishes feature loving depictions of her own pet rabbit, Juno and French bulldog, Wilfred. Be sure to take a peek at Kelly's blog Made by White to see the little critters in real life (warning: cuteness overload!)

Shop | Blog | Facebook

Jewellery Collection: Wired Jewellery...

I was recently lucky enough to win the #GollyGosh Wired Jewellery giveaway! I was so surprised to win and very excited to own these pieces from the brilliant Wired Jewellery. My prize consisted of this adorable Chalkboard Ring and a Copper Sideways Cross Necklace (available in bracelet-form here). I've been enjoying doodling on the chalkboard ring to my heart's content, decorating it with patterns, peace signs and faces!

Make sure you check out Vicky's brilliant blog #GollyGosh for regular posts brimming with amazing jewellery - although, a warning, if you're trying to impose a spending ban upon yourself, the finds on this blog will tempt you out of it quicker than you can say "oh well, start on Monday"!

Thank you Vicky for this very generous prize :)

Lily loves: Jewellery dupes!

If you like . . .

... this £2,270 9ct yellow gold, engraved topaz locking Poison Ring with key on chain from jewellery maker William Llewellyn Griffiths, but could never imagine spending so much... 

Then you'll love . . .

 ...this Topshop dupe! A steal at just £12.50, Topshop's Cleopatra's Box Ring may not be as luxurious, well-finished or long-lasting, but with a saving of £2257.50, it will mean you have some money left to live the rest of your life on.

Later: I've actually been toying with removing this blog post. To be honest, I'm not sure how comfortable I am with Topshop so blantently copying the work of another jewellery designer - right down to the pattern on the band - but the William Llewellyn Griffiths version is so unbelievably far out of most people's price range that, out of initial pure excitement at finding a cheaper alternative, I couldn't resist sharing this dupe. In other words, I know which piece I and others would rather have... but I also know which piece is realistically affordable to own!

Have you found any jewellery dupes?

I have decided I will not be purchasing this Topshop ring as I would just feel too guilty.

What are your thoughts on such dupes?