MY NAME IS SUSAN

In my Utopia, everyone is like the Susan I met today, warm, smiley and unassuming.

She and her equally cute little girl had outfits that were perfect invitations to spring style.

This first photo is...well...everything. Absolutely love it.

Enjoy :)

Yasmin

This here Yasmin is part Singaporean, part Scottish.

When asked what brand her coat, shoes, jeans or t-shirt are, she smiled sweetly and said "I'm a Topshop girl". Essentially, the entire ensemble was bought from the one store. Made me wonder about brand loyalty...and loyalty to what you love in general.

You see, I love Aberdeen, but if you've seen my bio here on the blog, you'd know I'm not originally from here. I've just come from a treat of a holiday in my home country. And it was bliss. And I love Aberdeen. But I suspect I can't do a Yasmin for much longer. It seems to me that I can no longer get that all-in-one satisfaction from one place like she does with Topshop.

I may stay, I may go. These are just thoughts in progress. We can talk about that later.

But for now let's just view Yasmin's style loveliness and be inspired for spring with faux fur.

Enjoy xxx

Jill - She knows TREND

I love me some colour...Jill from TREND MAGAZINE made for a pretty sight in her vivacious burst of an outfit.

She was the seemingly effortless organiser at the helm of affairs at the TREND FASHION LUNCH. I say "seemingly" because I know events like these come with a whole lot of background work and a flurry of preparation on the day. But Jill...no moss, no fuss...just irrepressible elegance. I could take lessons.

Bottom-line was...her outfit simply had the effect of making you smile. The stark contrast from the typical austere colour choices of Aberdonians...now that's the sort of confrontation I like to be faced with. Yes please!

Enjoy :)

Jemma - bon chic, bon genre

Designer label BCBG Max Azria has the acronym BCBG named after French slang "bon chic, bon genre" which translates to "good style, good attitude"

I'm sure you see where I'm going with this...

Met Jemma at the TREND MAGAZINE FASHION LUNCH held at The Malmaison on Friday 14th March. Dress from Karen Millen, coat from Juicy Couture, bag from Louis Vuitton and shoes from BCBG Max Azria.

Loved her well put together style and infectious bubbly personality, and then at the event, she won some of the fabulous raffle prize-picks a few of us had an eye on. Good style, good attitude...and then good luck?

Cheers Jemma!

The CUP CAFE

As it's Pancake Day today...

When I got an email from one of my dear blog followers asking for my assistance for a day of style shopping, I was flattered and looking forward to it.

So I met up with my "client"...let's just call him Lord Grantham (such a lovely proper gentleman he was), and after we had a successful run of rather gentlemanly shopping, he suggested lunch at The CUP CAFE on Little Belmont Street.

We got in and it was a crowded but smart little cafe, with proper treats for breakfast or lunch and lots of tea options. I ordered salmon and scrambled eggs on toast. Sounds pretty standard right? Well no. It was anything but.

I'm not really sure what was drizzled on the accompanying salad, what I'm sure about is that it was delightful. View my plate of sweet and savoury deliciousness.

On Lord Grantham's recommendation, I ordered one of the pyramid infusers. With names like China Gunpowder and African Solstice, and lots more which encouraged similar levels of fascination, it took me a wee while to make up my mind.
I settled for the Green Mango Peach. Yes, it tastes as exotic as it sounds. Who knew making tea could be anything more than...well...making tea?

And then Lord Grantham got me some macaroons to finish off. I'm not much of a sweet tooth so I didn't delve in as much as my friend Ola would have. Ola is my soul sister. And resident sugar consumer. If you're anything like her, you'd live for these.

My verdict?...Please go to The CUP CAFE at least once, and what better day than today Pancake Tuesday? It's likely not to be the last time you go in.

Thank you Lord C.W. Grantham!

Cheers :)

Style Event - PEBBLE SHOP LAUNCH

The PEBBLE SHOP launch party was on 28th February. The quirky, bright store is at 198, Rosemount Place and aptly describes itself as a store for gifts, arts and pretty things, of which there was no short supply.

Everything in store is hand made with majority of the items made or sourced from Aberdeen and environs.

The entrance. Warm and welcoming with all sorts of interesting little vintage knick knacks.

Here's Lorraine, Pebble's owner. She's carrying the bag which was my favourite of the gorgeous display from TWEEDIE BAGS. Tweedie is based in Inverness but with online shopping available on Etsy and their website.

Lorraine's daughter Jilly, being the capable captain of the till. She owns a jewelry making business called BOTTLED TREASURES which I've featured before in the Candy Belle Vintiques post. I left with one of her "Glitter Drops" neck pieces. Love it Jilly :)

And here's Amy, another lovely daughter of Lorraine. Full of hearty smiles through the evening and she circulated the store like a perfect hostess. Her full style will be on the blog soon. Watch this space :)

If you follow Aberdeen Street Style (I refuse to use an acronym...for obvious reasons) on Instagram, you would have seen the style post on Jade. Not only does she have this effortless cool about her, she is also rather creative. Some of her hand-made  items were on display at Pebble. Check out her work at GINGER PICKLE

The scene wasn't female dominated. The boys and the men stopped by too :)

Hand made chocolates. 

A closer photo of my fav TWEEDIE bag. 

Hello! I am a hug...with that intro, who wouldn't want one? :)

I guess when you live in Aberdeen, you need a moment to think on this...

More pretty things

And even more...these were made by ALABASTER BOX 

It's just a wee thing of beauty. No further narrative needed.

This was my favourite item in the entire store, the retro phone. I asked Jilly if it was just for display or if it actually worked. She gave me the store's number and I rang it with my very modern iPhone. Well it rang! Very loud and very clear. With my iPhone forgotten, I squealed in excitement and stared in awe for perhaps a little too long.   
May be a case of misplaced thrill, but in the end I can honestly say, even if yes Steve Jobs did an amazing job with all these new age Apple contraptions, I was reminded that Alexander Graham Bell invented the phone so that people could just talk. With a phone like this, talk and listen will be all you can do...and that for me, is the very business! 

Visit Pebble. They're open to the public from 1st March 2014.

Love and lots of it :)

I went to the water...it didn't come to me

Not that I mean to start to wax poetic but today, I feel the need to type a bit of a longer narrative than I usually do.

You see I know most people who visit street style blogs are there for the style photos, which is why I try to keep my text to a minimum, however the last few days watching the news has given me a reason to chat with you, my dear blog visitors, a little bit more.

Aberdeen is grey. Fact. The weather here is hardly a California dream. Okay. And we grumble about how "rubbish" it is. I'm guilty too. But seeing the floods going on in England gave me perspective. And if you're reading this thinking I'm about to go into a tirade of how lucky we are in Aberdeen blah-di-blah-di-blah...well...truth is...you're absolutely right.

We went to the little rocky beach at the end of Cove Bay and it was a gorgeous, sunny (but cooooold) day. Watching the waves and throwing pebbles into the water, it was fab.

BUT I went to the water...it didn't come to me...to flood my home and destabilise my core, as is happening to our neighbours in England. Let's save a thought and a prayer for them, surely it cannot be easy. And then there are all the other extreme weather conditions we see on the news in other parts of the world.

So my point is this...I decided I might take a departure from the norm of my brief statements, to express my refreshed love for the city we live in.

I don't know...Do you see it the way I do?

Enjoy...

Love and lots of it xxx

MAC n' Nicolla

Hopped and skipped to MAC at Union Square to restock the one and only lipstick I ever use.

At the till I spotted Nicolla - she told me it's a double L but my spell check seems to think otherwise.

Anyway, at the time, she was shopping by herself but still seemed very cheerful...I mention this because it's a feat. You try it out and tell me.

Nicolla's style and smile...we love.

Enjoy...

Ashley - So Prim

I was on a quest to take photos for VERY magazine's February street style issue. I was running late on the deadline so went out with my camera on a Sunday evening style spotting frenzy.

The hard part is introducing yourself and why you, a stranger wants to take photos of someone you only met a few seconds ago. It's okay most times; but sometimes...it's tough.

I recall one of my style 'spotteds' told me point blank that she couldn't give me any money if that's what I was after...That was funny...Or not.

Ashley McAllister. Now what a cool cat she was when I asked to take her photos. Very pleasant. Very prim. Very proper. Her style was all beyond the exterior. More people like her? Yes please!

Enjoy...

Riddle me this...Who looks a total style delight right after painting and decorating?

Sophie Allan.