Browsing Tag

Notting Hill

Posted on April 30, 2015

Pastel Pink Notting Hill

Coats/ Featured/ London/ Romantique

Notting Hill London Street style pink coat Max & Co

One of my favourite corners of London is Notting Hill. When I lived in Kensigton , it was only a 15 min walk away. The pastel coloured houses instantly put me in a good mood. They look particularly stunning paired with blue skies and remind me of the Bo Kaap quarter in Cape Town. The area is home to my favourite Italian restaurant, Osteria Basilico, as well as Hummingbird Bakery (try the cheescake brownie), lots of amazing brunch places and boutiques.

Notting Hill is always brimming with celebrities: we once bumped into Kate Moss and Agnes Deyn, and on another day it was fellow German Boris Becker with this then pregnant girlfriend Lilly. Just two weeks ago, we wined and dined with Caroline, Princess of Hanover, aka Caroline of Monaco, daughter of Grace Kelly (photographic evidence below)!

Despite all of those glitzy visitors, Notting Hill has managed to keep it’s down-to-earth, authentic flair, offering a variety of great eateries and shops in all price ranges. Avoid Saturdays, when the neighbourhood is flooded with too many tourists!

Notting Hill London Street style pink coat Max & Co

I’m wearing:

A pink coat for the nippy British spring weater, to melt in with the background.

  • Pink coat by Max & co
  • Pink patent Oxford Lace-ups by AGL Attilio Giusti Leombruni
  • Duty pink bag by Coccinelle
yes, that's Mr Romantique in a gingham shirt with Princess Caroline of Hanover!

yes, that’s Mr Romantique in a gingham shirt with Princess Caroline of Hanover!

Notting Hill London Street style pink coat Max & Co

Posted on June 8, 2014

Fashion Brunch in Notting Hill

Accessoires/ London/ Romantique/ Shoes

La Paire Wolf and Badger

Brunch is my favourite meal of the day. Not only because I hail from Berlin where brunch is an obligatory weekend past time. I love sweet breakfast (croissant, Nutella)  merged with savoury goodies such as delicious, runny eggs, cold meats and fresh juices.

“New Toms” restaurant in Notting Hill is a beautifully decorated place with painted, baroque-esque ceilings and a outdoor patio for those (rare) balmy days in London. The stripped-down-to-the-best menu offered delicious brunch options such as Eggs Benedict, homemade blueberry muffins and pain au chocolat for the sweet toothed like me.

Brunch at New Tom's Westbourne Grove

New tom's restaurant Westbourne Grove

Fuelled by great food, we strolled along Westbourne Grove and it’s array of fashionable shops. “Wolf & Badger”is a fashion store that provides a platform for selected, emerging UK designers.  Every weekend, a new independent designer displays their clothes, shoes & jewellery in the shop.

That Saturday was my my lucky day as I discovered the beautiful flats and sandals of La Paire. Founder and designer Amy La displayed a sneak preview of her Autumn/Winter 2014 pointy ballet pumps in the shop. Needless to say, I’m in love with the confetti-glitter flats and the metallic Easter-egg colours of the shoes. Handmade in Spain, they are not only stylish but also fairly priced.

Wolf & Badger was named one of Britain’s best boutiques by British Vogue, make sure you pop by when you visit London. Thanks Wolf & Badger and La Paire, Romantique’s  new favourite shop for ballet flats & sandals!
Wolf and Badger. La Paire ballerina flats AW 2015

GORGEOUS! Impossible to chose, I must have them all!

GORGEOUS! Impossible to chose, I must have them all!

Wolf and Badger. La Paire ballerina flats AW 2015

 

Amy La, founder of La Paire, and myself at Wolf & Badger in Notting Hill.

I’ m wearing:

  • Lace dress from Max & Co
  • Straw bag from Miu Miu
  • Flats from Versace Jeans
  • Macaron necklace from Les Nereides N2 Paris
Posted on March 15, 2014

Spring Super Stripes

Dresses/ Romantique

Stripey summer dress Max and Co

The sunshine arrived this weekend in London and I’m more than happy to leave my thick tights and winter coats in the cupboard (yes, it was warm enough to go out without tights). My summer clothes are still in storage, so I chose to wear a fresh, stripey look for the first warm day of the year. Rather than relying on my trusted navy striped shirts, I went for a more graphic take on the Breton look.  Thick bands of denim blue and beige adorn my two-toned dress with a vertical stripe running through the middle, just for the fun of it.

Striped dress SS2014 Max and Co

I am wearing:

  • Dress from Max and Co SS2014
  • Pointy snake skin flats from Dolce Vita at TK Maxx
  • Pink handbag from Bally
  • Paris Earrings from Les Nereides
  • Trench coat from Stefanel

Stefanel trench coat beige

Banish the Breton this summer and go for big and bold stripes this spring!

Spring day in Notting Hill

Mr Romantique and I went to Notting Hill today for a hearty Honest Burger. Sun hungry Londoners were soaking up the rays outside the bars and restaurants.

Posted on June 25, 2013

Sunshine Sunday in Notting Hill

Dresses/ Travel/ Wardrobe

Notting Hill Yellow Skater Dress

Living in London, going to Notting Hill and strolling along Portobello Road never loses it’s appeal. On Sundays, it’s less crowded and touristy than Saturdays but at the same time  still vibrant and atmospheric. I never get enough walking past the  pastel coloured houses on Portobello Road, nipping into my favourite bakery Hummingbirds for a cheesecake brownie (and hoping to bump into Claudia Schiffer who once bought cupcakes there for her children, according to my then flatmate). Always worth a visit is the cute Biscuiterie bakery for their creative, hand-iced gingerbread house designs and my favourite restaurant, Osteria Basilico. T.H.E. best authentic Italian in London.

And if you’re lucky (or not, depends how you view it!) you might bump into a celeb who walks around completely anonymously among Notting Hill’s colourful crowd. We bumped into Boris Becker and his then heavily pregnant Lily while shopping. On another occasion, we spotted Kate Moss, her daughter and  Agnes Deyn  in front of the American Apparel shop at the top of Portobello Road.

Above : On a chilly London’s summer day, I’m wearing a sunshine yellow circle dress by Calvin Klein bought at TK Maxx in Germany, yellow Pretty Ballerina ballet pumps and a  waist belt by Post & Co.  Circle dresses are like an instant diet: The waist whittling middle and the flared skirt hide hips and thighs. So you can tuck into a Hummingbirds cupcake without a guilty conscience.

A fashionable tourist wearing a pink trench coat and a straw hat. Cute"

A fashionable tourist wearing a pink trench coat and a straw hat. Cute”

 

Notting Hill's many knick-knacks, door knobs...

Notting Hill’s many knick-knacks, door knobs…

Hand iced biscuits from the Biscuiterie. How very fitting for the Wimbledon Tennis Season: An umbrella, strawberries and the centre court!

Hand iced biscuits from the Biscuiterie. How very fitting for the Wimbledon Tennis Season: An umbrella, strawberries and the centre court!

 

I teamed my yellow circle dress with a boucle jacket and a straw bag

I teamed my yellow circle dress with a boucle jacket and a straw bag

Loving the retro tin signs: “Blondes Have More Fun But Brunettes Remember It The Next Day!”

  Black Cat shop Notting Hill

 This friendly fellow will greet you in one of the shops on Pembridge Road!

Posted on October 8, 2011

Boris shopping in Notting Hill

Romantique/ Travel

Portobello Road in Notting Hill at the weekend is a great place to go – fun, lively, urban – and also a favourite spot for celebs to hang out as they can stroll along undisturbed, blending in with the crowd.

When we went to Portobello Road for lunch at our favourite Thai restaurant, I immediately noticed a very tall guy with impossbily bleached hair – after looking closer I recognised “Bobbele” – as we Germans call Boris Becker lovingly. He and his wife Lily quickly headed, unnoticed by the crowds, to their swish Mercedes car with Swiss number plate. They seemed quite strained and didn’t hold hands or showed any other loving gesture.

They shopped carring many bags of T-shirts from “Savage” – a great London T-shirt shops with quirky, unusual designs – at about £20 a pop, they are not even expensive. Boris and Lily seemed to have bought stuff  for all of their family and friends.  Check out London’s savage shop for cool T-Shirt designs.

A few Savage designs:

Nice car Boris!

 

Posted on July 28, 2011

R&R on Portobello Road

Rebel Alexa/ Romantique/ Travel

Portobello Road in Notting Hill is a great, vibrant area of London! This is  the place where we spotted Boris Becker and Kate Moss strolling along, relaxed, unbothered and not noticed by anyone! Everyone minds their own business, it does not matter what you look like or who you are, even if you are Kate Moss! There’s something for everyone here, antiques shops and stands, hip and trendy boutiques, pound shops and great restaurants in the side streets just off Portobello Road. Don’t miss the Hummingbird Bakery for a chocolate brownie cheesecake or one of their legendary Red Velvet muffins!

I’m wearing a skirt from Mango and shoes from TK Maxx. My sister Rebel wears a cardigan from Ralph Lauren bought at TK Maxx.

Portobello Road in Notting Hill ist eine pulsierende Gegend London’s. Here haben wir Boris Becker und Kate Moss entlang schlendern sehen, relaxed und und voellig unerkannt als waere sie eine von uns! Hier steckt niemand die Nase in die Angelegenheiten des anderen, es ist egal was du anziehst oder wer du bist, selbst wenn Dein Name Kate Moss ist! In Notting Hill gibt es etwas fuer jeden: Antik Shops und Staende, Hip, trendy Boutiquen, 1£ shops und leckere Restaurants in den Seitenstrassen. Verpass auf keinen Fall die Hummingbird Bakery und probiere ein Stueck Schokoladenbrownie Kaesekuchen oder den legendaeren Red Velvent Muffin.

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