Our 12 Days of Christmas Gift Guide. Days 5 - 8
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
Caroline’s Hand Blocked Scarf.
On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
The Jacket 01
One of the things I’ve really enjoyed about working with Caroline and Charlie on Gladstone / Hellen is that we all have the same common goal: we want to make wear-forever pieces that aren’t over-designed and that use perfect fabrics.
And I think that that’s what I’ve achieved with the Jacket 01, which comes in three different fabrics; a wool flannel, a merino wool, and a cotton cord.
We set out to create a jacket that was a sort of hybrid of formal and informal, something that might work in a smart restaurant as well as on a long walk in the country. And so, it is comfortable, loose, structured and slightly formal all at the same time. It hangs so well because the fabric is the best that there is and because the shoulders are gently dropped at the seam, and there is a curved back yoke. Unusually for a jacket of this style it is fully lined in cotton, as are the pockets, which helps that hang.
I chose to work with a factory in the heart of Huddersfield – Dugdale Bros – to make the wool jackets because Huddersfield really is the heart of wool weaving in the UK. If you’re making something from British flannel, you want it to be woven in Huddersfield.
The jackets are designed to work for men and for women.
Oh, and the icing on the cake with this jacket? The buttons are made here in the UK, from milk casein.
Read more about our jackets here.
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
The Ceramic Teacup & Saucer.
I’ve always found the idea of British ceramics exciting, the fact that they are made of British clay with skilled British hands is so important. People and earth and fire and water coming together; it’s a special kind of alchemy.
Jono Smart and Emily Stephen’s work is amongst the most sought-after in the country, with collections selling out in minutes. Their launches are a bit like Glastonbury ticket sales; you get online at the anointed hour and hope for the best (but, remember not to refresh!). I have collected their work on and off for some time now and using it always feels special.
Jono and Emily don’t do many ‘made to order’ commissions, but they agreed to work with us, I think, because we get on well together and because we share common beliefs and goals; in the importance of British craft and its survival and in friendship and partnerships.
No two of these are quite the same, which is extra special.
On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
The Ceramic Vase
This is made by ceramicist Tim Lake. I’ve known Tim for years, and he worked with Charlie and I when we curated all of the craft at The Good LIfe Experience. He is a super-nice man, which is vital but the first thing that struck me about Tim -the thing that got my heart racing- was his hand-built kiln, made from brick. It’s beautiful.
Using Cornish clay, Tim creates instantly recognisable earthenware pieces that are genuine representations of their material, with each one slightly different from the last. He is focussed on high quality creations that stand the test of time, both in durability and style.
