Pearly Pop Up

On a beautiful September weekend, in a historic Huguenot house in Spitalfields, I welcomed visitors to my very first Pearly Pop Up shop. It was a fitting place to give a first 'outing' to the collection that had taken inspiration from the kings and queens of the east end with their finery of pearl buttons.

For those who know me, Spitalfields and this house in Princelet St was somewhere that I lived for 13 years. When I moved there many years ago, the area was totally unrecognisable to the gentrified and tourist haunt it is today. Houses lay empty, Spitalfields market was a mere shell with no sight of shops and Brick Lane market was where you would scavenge for treasure on pavement stalls. On a Sunday morning, I would get up in the small hours, buy a cream cheese bagel from the famous Brick Lane Bagel Bake and then rummage for scraps of fabrics, haberdashery and ephemera within the piles of clothes that were tipped onto the ground. 

Now the area is transformed, pavement stalls have been replaced with the organised market of Trumans Brewery. The second hand surprises of discarded homes have been replaced with artisan crafts and designer wares. Spitalfields has undergone a huge transformation.  

The house at 4 Princelet Street has remained constant throughout all this change. It is a house known for film shoots and for countless period dramas that have been made there. Paint is milky and flaking with layers of generations from soft dusty Georgian colours to 'recent' stippled thirties paint of dark browns and rich greens. Beauty lies within it's frugal grandeur. 

So to this house I returned with my first collection. Fresh ideas drawn from the past and designed with the elegant simplicity of timeless modernity. Although I love vintage, clothes have to stand the test of time and suit the lives we live now. 

Enjoy a tour of the Pearly  Pop Up! 

Welcome to the Pearly Pop Up!

Portobello  Nottingham Lace Skirt hangs in the shuttered window

Pearly Queen Dress 

Pearly King Cushion 

 Daisy in the Pearly Queen Drress

Celebrate the Pearly Kings and Queens Harvest Festival in London this weekend. This Sunday, 25th September, starting at the Guildhall at 1.30pm and then parading through the streets to St Mary Le Bow church at 3pm for a service of thanksgiving.