Imps&Elfs originated in 1997 as ‘a modest children’s label without frills and fancies, which concentrates on the shape of the child. Fons Cohen is the owner and founder and Jaqueline Streng is the designer. Based in South Amsterdam their Baby (Sleep) and Toddler (Walk) collections have transcended borders and are sold widely all over the world.

Here at Mash n Gravy, we are delighted to showcase the ‘Talk’ collection (3 years to 8 years in our store) which concentrates on a capsule collection of every day items of exceptional quality and superior fit.

Jaqueline Streng considers children to be ‘the most precious gift on earth‘ and this is evident in her choice of delightfully soft, light as a feather fabrics for this seasons tops and tees.

Imps&Elfs works with MADE-BY, a subsiduary of the Dutch Solidaridad fair trade organization, to clean up the production process.

MADE-By is an umbrella label used by about twenty fashion brands to show consumers that their clothes are produced in a sustainable manner. Brands affiliated to MADE-BY use biological cotton and work together with sewing factories which have a social code of conduct, thereby focusing on environmental and working conditions throughout the entire production chain.

New Promotion

We feel that Imps&Elfs Talk Collection fits the Mash n Gravy profile as it has style, a sense of humour, subtle colour schemes punctuated by unexpected shots of colour, not to mention it’s green credentials. So excited are we at the inclusion of the brand in our store that we’d like to offer a short lived discount code for 2 days only for our valued customers to see indeed why we are so blown away.

Please enter IMPS20 at the checkout when shopping to enjoy 20% off all products within our Imps&Elfs collection until 26th August.

Mary McCartney’s collaboration with Mini A Ture has been a runaway success and has been widely sported by celebrity offspring.

The T-Shirt has been featured in this weeks Grazia and Billie Pipers son was also snapped wearing one at the ‘In The Night Garden Live’ event.

You can buy this Mini A Ture t-shirt from mashngravy…

Captain Chaos and Major Disaster are going to see Julia Donaldson’s ‘Stick Man’ in Edinburgh next week. I wonder if the Paparazzi will be lying in wait for us. Better put them in Mini A Ture just in case!

What we did this weekend…

Met up with old friends…

and made some new ones.

Found the Gruffalo’s House…

Before getting ready for an important first day…

Since 1985, Amsterdam based fashion brand Scotch and Soda has been expanding steadily. Their clothing, for both adults and children, is the definition of fusion fashion, mixing vintage and varsity to create a unique line of well made clothing.

The brand began, over 20 yeras ago, with a casual line of menswear, before adding their first children’s line, Scotch Shrunk, for boys aged 4-12 years.

The Scotch Shrunk line for boys follows the same principles as the adult brand – no frills, no fuss – and is an exact replica of the menswear line. The only difference is, it is sized for children instead of adults, hence its nick name: ‘Shrunk in Amsterdam‘!

Looking ever forward, Scotch and Soda have introduced an additional kidswear collection, Scotch R’Belle, their first girl’s line, which we have just purchased for Mash n Gravy for season Spring/Summer 2011. The collection shares the same laidback vibe as the boys line, but with much more sophistication and femininity.

The company partakes in minimal traditional marketing, saying “the clothes do the talking”. Scotch and Soda want kids to love their clothes and have fun wearing them, nothing more, nothing less.

Their laidback motto matches their laidback style, with everything from tropical prints, florals and mechanic style shirts, to posh striped jumpers, cardigans and preppy varsity tops.

Universal and timeless this label produces premium quality, cool kids clothing. We have begun to upload a selection in store and there is plenty more to follow.

The boys were feeling Crafty

In our relentless quest to bring you the freshest trends, we are delighted to introduce Angels’ Face to our store and announce the arrival of the new season collection from Bodebo.

Mash n Gravy HQ has become a riot of colour with frills and ribbon spilling out everywhere.

Perfect as a present, Angel’s Face, have also designed a stylish hat box which doubles, not only as beautiful presentation, but also as practical storage for the skirt when not being worn.

Little girls across the land who are lucky enough to own one of these will want to wear it to parties, weddings, ballet, dressing up and even with wellingtons in the rain. I know I would if they made them in my size!

Not content with pettiskirts, we have even more finery from France in the form of avant-garde kids fashion label BOdeBO. Now in our third season together, and therefore, no stranger to Mash n Gravy, founded in 2001, BOdeBO lives up to it’s iconic year of birth, presenting ultra-modern pieces where form is just as important as function. These deceptively simple pieces are quite architectural in structure, making use of cuts, colour and detail that create a strong visual impact. With a loyal fan base that includes artists and advertising execs, little girls will enjoy these fun dresses.

Look out for the mittens, scarf and tights which are pretty unique.

To begin the season we’d like to offer our newsletter readers 20% off these brands for a short time only (code ends on Thursday the 12th of August) using the discount code GIRLS20.

What we did this weekend.

We converted this…

To this…

Then This…

Finding ourselves with a glut of courgettes and tomatoes after all the rain we decided to make ‘Glutney‘, a wonderful recipe for chutney using excess garden produce, or indeed store bought fruit and veg which is likely to be thrown away if not used, courtesy of Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s ‘River Cottage Year’

Find the recipe here : www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

In the UK we throwaway 8.3 million tonnes of food and drink every year. Most of this is avoidable and could have been eaten, if only we’d planned, stored or managed it better.

We throw away food for two main reasons – buying too much, and disposing of items because they’re not used in time. Among this enormous quantity, which we dispose of, is 860,000 tonnes of fresh vegetables and salads and 500,000 tonnes of fresh fruit. As well as being damaging to the environment, food waste produces 20 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. This is food which we could have consumed and costs the average household £480 per yer, rising to £680 per year for a families with children.

Most of us don’t yet realise just how much food waste we produce but in our house we’ve resolved to take a good look at each bendy carrot or bruised apple just in case there is a chance that it can be incorporated into a dish, or even just juiced before being consigned to the compost heap.

We are about to take delivery of our first order of Kangol hats for children which enthuses us no end. It is a brand which is familiar to us all and it’s logo is instantly recognisable. The brand, in recent years (okay, 20 years ago!) has been brought to the fore by musicians such as The Beastie Boys and James Todd Smith, better known as LL Cool J, but it has a rich history which we thought that you might be interested in.

In 1918, after WW1, Jaques Spreiregen returned to civilian life and set himself up in business as an importer of Basque berets from France. Marketing them as a post war must have, fashion item, Jaques became increasingly involved in the production and distribution of berets over the next 20 years. In 1938, with many imitators, Jaques created the brand Kangol to distinguish his headwear from that of the competition. The most widely believed theory on the origins of the
name is that Jaques combined the K from knitting, the ANG from angora and the OL from wool.

Officially born in Cleator, Cumbria, Kangol provided berets for the British army in WW2, most noteably for General Bernard Montgomery and also for the British Olympic Team in 1948.

The swinging sixties saw the brand go global and was adopted by The Beatles and included in collections by Pierre Cardin and Mary Quant. In the early eighties Graham Smith designed a range of hats for the British Airways cabin crew. Infact, in 1983 Princess Diana appeared in Vogue wearing one of his creations. This was also the year in which the kangaroo was incorporated into the logo. Many suggestions were made for the graphic, but as the Americans had been going into stores asking for ‘kangaroo’ hats, it was decided not to fight it.

Sported by the likes of Eric B and Rakim, Slick Rick, Grand Master Flash and the aforementioned LL Cool J, Kangol became synonymous with the label touting Hip Hop generation. Kangol caps and hats became the essential accessory in this rising sub culture of designer desirable labels. Almost overnight the ’504′ became the cool fashion accessory.

Today Kangol produces a wide range of head wear which transcends generations and cultures. Not just Hip Hop, not just heritage. Kangol is a fashion fusion, taking the very best of British heritage and retro hip hop to create a fashion forward brand. Here at Mash n Gravy we would like to introduce a new generation of stylish little people to this iconic brand.

Dodged the rain yet again on a camping trip to Loch Lomond with friends

Imps&Elfs originated in 1997 as ‘a modest children’s label without frills and fancies, which concentrates on the shape of the child. Fons Cohen is the owner and founder and Jaqueline Streng is the designer. Based in South Amsterdam their Baby (Sleep) and Toddler (Walk) collections have transcended borders and are sold widely all over the world.

Here at Mash n Gravy, we are delighted to showcase the ‘Talk’ collection ( 3 years to 7 years in our store) which concentrates on a capsule collection of every day items of exceptional quality and superior fit.

Jaqueline Streng considers children to be ‘the most precious gift on earth‘ and this is evident in her choice of delightfully soft, light as a feather fabrics for this seasons tops and tees.

Imps&Elfs works with MADE-BY, a subsiduary of the Dutch Solidaridad fair trade organization, to clean up the production process.

MADE-By is an umbrella label used by about twenty fashion brands to show consumers that their clothes are produced in a sustainable manner. Brands affiliated to MADE-BY use biological cotton and work together with sewing factories which have a social code of conduct, thereby focusing on environmental and working conditions throughout the entire production chain.

We feel that Imps& Elfs Talk Collection fits the Mash n Gravy profile as it has style, a sense of humour, subtle colour schemes punctuated by unexpected shots of colour, not to mention it’s green credentials. We have been so blown away by this first delivery that we’ve had to vocalise our excitement in the form of this post before we’ve had the garments photographed. Keep your eyes peeled, as the collection will be available to purchase soon. In the mean time, please enjoy these styling shots – a taste of what will soon be on offer.