Welcome to our September edition.
How is it September?! It’s not as though we feel cheated out of summer, as it certainly felt like a long, hot one this year. The dry, scorched gardens are starting to green a little, and I noticed a crisp edge to the air during the mornings this week. The seasons are changing, and so are our routines. With the shock of the alarm in the morning, an empty house during the day and time indoors in the evening, it feels like change is here. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the extremes that the back-to-school feeling brings – summer colliding with autumn, carefree days replaced with diarised routine…
In many ways, September feels like a new year reboot. This year, I’m feeling ready, and actually quite excited – for the garden planning, for new-season knitwear and denim, for the dahlias, for kitchen suppers, and for something flower-related and very exciting I’m launching in just over a week. There’s a lot happening, and I can’t wait to dive into it all.
I hope you find something that inspires in this edition and wishing you a very happy September.
With Love,
Willow
*This is monthly free edition, but every week, I send out emails to my paid subscribers with flowery, fashion, food and wellness content - ideas to inspire, create and nurture. Plus videos, chat and much more. I hope you will join us!
PS. this is a long read so might be best to read in app/web browser (just in case it cuts off in your email).
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Willow Loves!
What I’m loving this month…
Cashmere-infused, slouchy comfort in a go-with-everything hue
Our new floral Loving Cup in Bordeaux - the perfect Autumn vase?!
A spirit-lifting rhinestone-embellished cashmere-blend neckerchief
Willow Loves… (6 more!)
(scroll to the end for our paid subscribers)
The Autumn Wardrobe Update
13 new season sartorial essentials to invest in or update…
Cashmere Baby T-Shirt, Very Wide Leg Trouser, Technical Bomber Jacket, Flowing Lingerie Midi-Dress, Flexi Tie Mary Janes, Elastic Sporty Ballerina Flats, Puff Sleeve Denim Shirt.
Boogie Silk Pant, Mariselle Silk Paisley Print Dress, Beaded Swing Clutch, Leather Belt In Vanilla Cream, Jabbar Ruche Trainers, The Chelsea Jacket.
For styling tips with links click here.
Hopping Mad
Have you noticed that the hedgerows are suddenly full of hops? Garlands of tiny, lime-green, dangly, acorn-shaped balls weaving themselves into the hedges? I absolutely love them and now is their moment.
They do make driving at the moment rather dangerous however, as I’m on permanent hop-spotting duty. A telegraph pole on the A40 wrapped entirely from top to bottom very nearly put me in an early grave! But luckily, you can also buy not just forage them. I bought mine from here.
The aim is to buy them now, when they are in season and then let them dry. They’re so pretty for Christmas decorating; they might even replace the traditional spruce garlands this year.
My Last Supper
Our guest this month is Vivien Wong, co-founder of the sweet-snacking-super-start-up, Little Moons - ice cream mochi which is made by enrobing beautiful gelato in a sweet soft dough called mochi, traditionally from Japan and is made from rice dough and traditional filled with red bean paste. Initially supplied to high end restaurants such as Nobu and Sushi Samba, Little Moons is now available in supermarkets.
Vivien chooses her last supper of dreams in balearic bliss with her mother’s cooking and of course, some little moons for a sweet treat...
As always we ask:
What would you have for your last meal on earth? A drink, a starter, a main course and pudding? You never get full and you can be wherever you want in the world…
My last meal would definitely be a long one. I’d invite my immediate family and my closest girlfriends - the ones who feel like family. The people who’ve seen me at my worst and stayed, and, perhaps even more rarely, the ones who’ve genuinely celebrated my wins. I would also include all my dogs, past and present.
We’d be barefoot on a sandy beach in Ibiza at sunset. I’d be wearing a completely impractical pink Valentino kaftan and far too much sparkly jewellery.
We’d start with very cold Alfred Gratien champagne, a completely unnecessary 1kg tin of caviar and really good crisps cooked in olive oil.
My non-alcoholic drink would be freshly squeezed Thai orange juice. There’s something about oranges in Thailand - they’re slightly more citrusy but somehow also perfectly sweet. I’ve never found orange juice quite like it anywhere else.
For a starter, I’d have my mum’s Hokkien mee with belacan sambal and her belacan fried chicken wings. It’s the food I grew up with and probably the food that tastes most like home to me.
Main course would be another of my mum’s dishes: pork cooked in black vinegar with fragrant Thai jasmine rice, alongside roast duck from Four Seasons on Queensway and stir-fried choi sum grown in my own garden.
And pudding would be very simple: perfectly ripe sliced mango, Musang King durian from Malaysia and a pair of Raspberry Little Moons cut in half.
So essentially: Ibiza, my favourite people, my mum’s cooking, a ridiculous amount of caviar and Little Moons for pudding. I can’t think of a better way to go.
Visit littlemoons.com| Follow @thevivienwong @littlemoonsmochi
Recipe - Pear and frangipane galette
By Tart London
A rustic, buttery galette filled with sweet, tender pears and a rich, almond frangipane. The finishing touch of bourbon wash adds a hint of depth and warmth, elevating this simple dessert to something special.
Sweet pastry
2 – 3 pears
Egg wash
Brown Demerara sugar, for dusting
1 tsp cinnamon
Frangipani:
70g soft butter
170g caster sugar
170g ground almond
2 tbsp flour
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Optional:
2 tbsp bourbon
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
First make the frangipani:
Add the almond flour, sugar, vanilla and butter to a bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment. Mix until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Scrape down the bowl. Add the flour and mix until just combined.
To make the galette:
Heat oven to 180c. Roll out the pastry and place on baking parchment. Spoon on the frangipani leaving a good inch of pastry on all sides. Thinly slice the pears and spread over the frangipani.
Fold up the sides of the pastry, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with demerara sugar and cinnamon.
Place the bourbon, sugar and vanilla in a small pan and simmer for a couple of minutes, poor over the pears and dot with a few pieces of butter.
Place the tart in the oven and cook for about 40 minutes.
Serve either straight away or can be served cold.
Reheats fine if you want to cook it in advance.
Visit tart-london.com | Follow @tart_london
September Arts & Culture
What to see, visit & plan this month…
New season telly for when the nights draw in: look out for The Gentleman Series 2 on Netflix, The Blame on ITV, Number 10 on Channel 4, Pride and Prejudice on Netflix.
Sign up to Create Academy for my courses and SO many more to learn more creative skills this season (currently 20% off)….
Get tickets to see Gillian Anderson in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Soho Place from 21 September
Visit the Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art at the V&A before it closes on 8th November.
Go and see As You Like It at Shakespeare’s Globe from 9 September until 25 October
Book The 90’s: Art & Fashion, Tate Britain from 8 October
Book ahead for Kristin Scott Thomas star in The Cherry Orchard at Harold Pinter Theatre from 3 October
Plan ahead for Painting the French Riviera at The Royal Academy from 2 October
Where else should we go this month or book ahead for?
PS. Willow Loves (6 more!)
Summer essentials, to make getting dressed easy, breezy, fun!
