FREE LOVE AND BLUE DAISIES

FIRST THINGS FIRST,

POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, 

JESSIE AND THE ALIX OF BOHEMIA 

FREE LOVE WAISTCOAT AT COACHELLA:

 THROWING US HER SEVENTIES GROOVY GROUPIE  IN A TOPPER WE MADE FOR HER. BRONZED YOGA BUNNY MEETS ANITA PALLENGBERG COOL. 
(AND THAT IS A VERY SPECIFIC VARIETY THEY ONLY GROW IN CALIFORNIA)

AND SPEAKING OF NOTABLE OUTERWEAR, WE'LL MOVE INTO OUR BLUE PERIOD:

IT STARTED, AS MOST THINGS BEGIN FOR US, BY SWATCHING SOME HEAVENLY BLUES FOR A CUSTOM LORELEI JACKET FOR EMMA.

PICASSO SAYS:

WHEN I RUN OUT OF RED I USE BLUE

BUT REALLY WE DON'T NEED TO EXHAUST OUR ROUGE SUPPLY TO BE SWAYED BY SHADES OF INDIGO AND CERULEAN,

WE GO BLUE PRETTY EASILY.

EMMA CHOOSES JAPANESE INDIGO DAISIES, SOME INDIAN BATIK FOR PIPING AND SOME OLD LACE FROM FRANCE.

AND THEN THIS WAS EMMA'S LORELI JACKET:

WE KNOW SHE DOESN'T BELONG TO US BUT WE HAD TO PUT HER ON FOR A BLURRY BATHROOM PHOTO BEFORE WE HANDED HER OVER.

PARTING IS SUCH SWEET SORROW, THOUGH SHE HAS A GOOD HOME WITH DARLING EMMA IN NOTTING HILL.

DON'T GET US WRONG, WE LOVE ALL OF OUR CHILDREN EQUALLY,

BUT THIS BLUE JEAN BABY WAS PARTICULARLY HARD TO PART WITH. 

(CUE MORE BLUES)

JACKETS ARE HANDMADE IN LONDON AND ONE OF A KIND. 
BECAUSE THATS THE WAY WE DO IT DARLINGS- UNIQUE, C'EST CHIC.
GET YOUR OWN, EMAIL US HERE.

A THANK YOU NOTE FROM ME.

Dear Barbara and Chiara,

Nine weeks ago, you landed in London and came to us:

Barbara and Chiara, our first day of meeting. 

And now that nine weeks have passed (so quickly), you will know that even though we (ALIX of BOHEMIA) speak as a 'WE', we are really just an 'I'.
As in, before you came along, to lend your talents and your time, this was a one woman show: one bohemian bunny and a sewing machine. So I will step out of the comfort of the collective voice to address you in a much smaller voice to say THANK YOU. 

Perhaps I can begin by telling you how humbled I am to have had you working with me.  
I am very touched by your commitment, enthusiasm and dedication.

Before I knew you, if I am honest, I really didn't want to have interns. I wanted to control everything myself and I didn't want anyone to help.You taught me that having support is a gift to be cherished. 
And I taught you about hummous and handwritten tags.

We didn't really speak the same language, (your English certainly improved and you tolerated my horrendous Italian) and we learned what you call an 'English seam' I call a 'French seam', but when it came to the garments there was an understanding and a shared passion, a pursuit of creating something beautiful together. 

Thank you for sharing your amazing gifts and knowledge with me. Damn, you girls are clever with a needle and thread. 

Thank you for always being flexible and going with the flow; adapting to whatever place we happened to be working out of that day. 

Thank you for tolerating that jerk of a landlord. 

Thank you for being patient when the power kept going out, and when the sewing machine broke.  

Thank you for not complaining when I made you rip out seams and start again because I am a maniac. 

Thank you for your joy! You were always smiling. 

Thank you for not judging me for wearing a bathrobe 60% of the time and for being on the brink of a nervous breakdown 80% of the time.

The girls and I in a bohemian huddle.

Thank you for my beautiful Orchid. 


Thank you for believing in my dream of Bohemia, even when I doubted it.

I will miss having dim sum together and I will miss our vocabulary lessons. I will particularly miss hearing you sing along to the music in the background as the sewing machine was running. It is a little lonely without you here. I miss my posse! I kind of got used to traveling in a pack.

Thank you for investing your time in me. I love you my darling Italian angels, I can't wait to see all the beauty of your future. I am so proud of you! 

Bravo et merci miei cari.

Love your sister in Bohemia,

Alix 

Beautiful Barbara in the ALIX of BOHEMIA Pink Pom dress

 The bella Chiara models the same over breakfast, 9 weeks later. 

BOHEMIANS: HOLLY AND JUNIPER

WE LOVE IT WHEN COOL CHICKS SWING THROUGH LONDON TOWN AND GIVE US A GINGLE FOR A GLASS AT THE PROVIDORES IN BETWEEN SIGHT-SEEING AND OTHER MORE IMPORTANT OBLIGATIONS.

EVEN BETTER WHEN SAID COOL GIRL SHOWS UP TO MEET YOU WEARING ONE OF YOUR OWN, 

THE ALIX OF BOHEMIA JUNIPER BLOUSE. 

(FLATTERY WILL GET YOU EVERYWHERE, WE MAY EVEN BUY THE DRINKS)

THE BEAUTY BRUNETTE ANSWERS SOME QUESTIONS:

NAME: Holly

DAY JOB: Photography curator, Graduate student in Museologie

RESIDENCE: La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland (birthplace of Le Corbusier)

HOLIDAY: Italy

BREAKFAST: Espresso

CITY: Beijing

TIPPLE: Porto

TOOLS: Ashtanga yoga, sunshine, charcoal pencils

VICES cheese, jewelery, good books

ICON: Marcello, Edie Sedgwick 

ANIMAL SPIRIT: Otter

ART: Photography, Watteau, Fragonard, Zen Buddhist painting, Mies van de Rohe

BOOK: Catcher in the Rye, anything by Vladimir Nabokov or Haruki Murakami

PYJAMAS: oversized striped oxford 

MUSIC: Paul Simon, Death Cab, Gotan Project, Vivaldi

ESSENTIALS: caran d'ache pens, mascara, lipstick, my  iPhone, scarves

FLOWER: Peonies and Lilies

UNIFORM: just about anything with a statement necklace

ERA: 18th Century France

MY BOHEMIA: living surrounded by history 

HOLLY LOOKING AS PRETTY AS A PRESENT IN HER JUNIPER WITH SPOTTED JEANS, AND US, LOOKING PREDICTABLY INSANE, IN WHAT IS SURELY A VERY VERY OLD JUMPER AND A PAINTER'S JACKET FROM THE FRENCH RAG YARD:

ALIX OF BOHEMIA JUNIPER BLOUSE IN CLOVER COTTON WITH PANSIE TIES.
GATHERED NECKLINE, CUFFS AND PEPLUM; HAND-FINISHED THROUGHOUT.
100% COTTON, MACHINE WASH AND LINE DRY
 (HIPPIES HAVE GOT TO HAVE THEIR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT AND WE'LL NEVER BE GROWN UP ENOUGH TO GO TO THE DRY CLEANER)

PICK YOURSELF A JUNIPER, SHE'S $285.00 USD AND MADE TO ORDER JUST FOR YOU MY FRIEND. GO HERE

ARTWORKS: MAMA PYJAMA

OUR FORMATIVE YEARS WE SPENT IN HER STUDIO, SEATED AT THE FOOT OF HER POTTER'S WHEEL. WE SPENT HOURS CRUSHING THE CLAY CURLICUES THAT FLEW FROM HER HANDS BETWEEN OUR FINGERS, AS SHE GENTLY COAXED GRACEFUL FORMS FROM MOUNDS OF MUD.

ALL THIS EARLY EXPOSURE MAY HAVE GONE TO OUR HEADS A BIT,

(WHO KNOWS WHAT KIND OF CHEMICALS WE MAY HAVE INHALED)

BUT CAN WE BRAG ABOUT HER FOR A MINUTE?

SHE IS OUR MAMAN, AFTER ALL.

ENTER, TOTEMS, THE NEW GIRLS,

 FRESH FROM THE KILN:

THINGS MAMAN ALWAYS SAID:

'THE DEVIL'S IN THE DETAIL'

'BEING AN ARTIST IS ALL ABOUT FINDING SOLUTIONS'

'IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DO SOMETHING RIGHT, DON'T DO IT AT ALL'

AMONGST MANY MORE WORDS OF WISDOM 

(MAMAN TALKED A LOT)

BUT, YOU'VE GOT TO HAND IT TO HER,THAT LADY TAKES HER OWN ADVICE:

THE ORIGINAL HIPPIE MAMA HERSELF, WITH US IN FRANCE A FEW YEARS AGO

(OUR QUESTIONABLE HIGHLIGHTS ARE THE DEAD GIVEAWAY TO THE DATE)

FOR MORE OF MAMAN'S WORLD, GO AND VISIT HER

www.daphneverley.com

PINK AND YELLOW ALL OVER

AND SO,

THIS IS THE ALIX OF BOHEMIA SWEET WILLIAM JACKET.

IN RAMBLING RENUNCULUS.

THAT DAMMED SUN REFUSES TO SHINE ECORE SO WE WILL FIND OUR OWN SPRING IN THE FABRICS. 

WE COMBINED THE MOST DIVINE INDIAN BLOCK PRINTED COTTON WITH AN ANTIQUE TABLECLOTH, 

QUILTING BITS HERE AND THERE FOR A BIT OF STRUCTURE, AND FINISHING WITH SOME LIGHT TASSEL ACTION AND SOME STRIPED TURQUOISE PIPING,

AND HOW DID SWEET WILLIE GET BORN?

FIRST WE HAD TO CALL TO THE MUSES AND GET OURSELVES A BIT INSPIRED. 

LETS TALK COLOUR-WAYS, GETAWAYS AND TEXTURE,

TALK DIRTY TO US BAY-BAY,

SHADES OF POMEGRANATE AND CITRUS

ACID ROTHKO

WE COULD WEAR THE SWEET WILLIE WHILST REPOSING IN HERE

CLUTCHING THESE

 THIS IS A VERY GOOD SHADE OF TURQUOISE,

AND WE DO NEED TO FIND OUR BEARINGS FROM TIME TO TIME

 ALWAYS SAY YES TO SAFFRON IN THE BEDROOM

THE OPTIMAL FORM OF TRANSPORT

A PULITZER (MAY THE PRINCESS OF PRINTS REST PEACEFULLY) CORAL PRINT

LIKE OUR JACKET, BEAUTIFUL ON THE INSIDE TOO

 THE WAY THAT STUFF IS MADE. TOO RADICAL.

 A SIMILAR MOTIF, BY OUR BOHEMIAN BUDDY WILLIAM MORRIS.

HENCE, THE SWEET WILLIAM. 

AND WHEN ALL WAS SAID AND DONE, AND WE SECURED THE STORY,

WE WANDERED DOWN THE ROAD TO VISIT OUR FRIEND AND MILINER

MS. JESSICA COLLETT

WHO HAD TO TRY THAT STUFF ON

WILL HER RAMBLING ENGLISH GARDEN HAT.

 AND THEN WE TRY ON A HIPPIE VEIL

WHICH WE LIKE SO MUCH, WE MIGHT EVEN CONSIDER MARRYING ONE DAY, JUST SO WE CAN HAVE A CHANCE TO WEAR IT.

THEN AGAIN, WE MIGHT JUST WEAR THE VEIL AND SKIP THE CEREMONY.

 OH MISS COLLETT

YOU LITTLE ENGLISH ROSE

WITH YOUR RAMBLING ENGLISH HAT

YOUR PEACHY CHEEKS AND FLAXEN HAIR ARE RIGHT IN TIME WITH OUR PALATTE

DIVINE VALENTINE 

GO AND SEE JESSICA'S WORLD AND ALL OF HER HEAD CANDY