Guest Blog: All I Want For Christmas with Franki Durbin – Discontinued Wedgwood Demitasse Cups and Saucers
BY The LUXE Editors
Alright darlin’, fancy a cuppa? [Photo: chinasearch.co.uk]
Hello poppets. Today’s ‘All I Want For Christmas’ is a guest post by the very lovely Franki Durbin, a Dallas-based interior designer and blogger. Check out her lifestyle blog for grown ups, Life in a Venti Cup, and spin-off Life in a Sippy Cup with the focus on wee stylistas-in-training and their mamas.
What: Wedgwood bone china demitasse cups and saucers from the now discontinued Grand Tour collection, each set showcasing a landmark from a major European city. I own both London sets (the British Museum and St. Paul’s Cathedral) as well as the Palazzo Vecchio from Florence, yet somehow never acquired the San Marco, Venice set, or either of the Paris sets (Notre Dame and Palais du Luxembourg).
Who: Wedgwood
Where: That’s the problem, I don’t know where to buy them! My only hope is to keep checking replacements.com and ebay. Or perhaps your lovely readers can help me out!
Why: I was 22 when I purchased these, and hadn’t begun to travel abroad yet. Now that I’ve acquired some great stamps in my passport and have actually been to these great cities, it would mean so much to me to complete the set. Especially since my missing sets are from two of my absolute favourite destinations, and they symbolise several things I’m still passionate about today: craftsmanship, artistry (especially illustration), espresso, travel, architecture and art.
How much: If the price is right…
Guest Blog: All I Want For Christmas with Vanessa Jackman – Original Favor Girl Poster from the 1950s
BY The LUXE Editors
Open your eyes, love!
Dear hearts, today’s ‘All I Want For Christmas’ is a guest post by the fab Aussie lawyer turned London-dwelling photographer, Vanessa Jackman. You can check out Vanessa’s snaps from the streets of London, New York, Paris and other fashion hot stops on her eponymous blog, vanessajackman.blogspot.com.
What: Vintage advertising poster for the French Favor bicycle and motorcycle company.
Who: Pierre Bellenger, artist.
Where: Original vintage poster store Galerie Montmartre. 197b Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia. T: +61 3 9486 8686. W: galeriemontmartre.com.
Why: I adore quirky, original French vintage posters, and this one caught my eye as soon as I walked in the door. I love the colours, the movement of the girl’s hair as she rides the motorcycle, and the way she is applying her lipstick! Probably not the ideal thing to do while cruising about on a bike, but it makes for a super cute poster.
How much: Price on application, although I’m so disappointed it’s already been sold. Hopefully, they’ll source another one on their next buying trip and someone will buy it for me as a gift.
Brook & Lyn Single Roped Duo Necklace [Photo: brookandlyn.com]
Dear readers, as NYFW continues, we’ve got another treat for you – juicy tidbits from Mimi Jung, contemporary jewellery designer, renowned blogger, and all-around creative consultant at Brook & Lyn.
The blog portion of Brook & Lyn documents everything from Mimi’s daily ‘looks’ to recipes and fashion events. We’re smitten with her ridiculously chic, understated-with-a-quirk style; so it’s not surprising that her striking jewellery line has got our knickers in a twist. Bringing together unusual materials like hand crochet borders, micro fibre roping and semi-precious rough cut stones; the big, chunky, statement necklaces and bracelets get you noticed for all the right reasons.
Going coo-coo for cocoa at Patrick Roger [photo: Paris by Mouth]
If you read our first guest post by Istanbul Eats, you’ll know that we’ve been asking some of our fave bloggers to appear here on LUXEtasy as occasional guest writers. This time, we bring you food-lovin’ Yankpats in Paris Barbra Austin and Meg Zimbeck, editors of the fabulous Paris By Mouth, a website dedicated to the edible pleasures in the City of Lights, with a crew of name-drop-worthy contributors. For LUXEtasy, the gals tell us their favourite sweets and where to get them. Hips be damned (or as Barbra suggests, get your leg over a Vélib’), et on y va!

Red (and green) hot chilli peppers
Here at LUXE City Guides, we believe in getting a local’s perspective. After all, our guides are written by editors who are resident in each destination. The whole wide world of the internet has also opened our eyes to plenty of fantastic blogs, many of which are written by locals who are clearly passionate about their city. We’ve asked some of our faves to appear here on LUXEtasy as occasional guest writers. To start, we bring you Yigal and Ansel of the self-explanatory Istanbul Eats, who take us on a lipsmacking tour through the area of Aksaray, or as they’ve dubbed it, Little Urfa, near the ancient centre Sultanahmet. So, without further ado, let’s hand it over to the boys.



