Top 5 British Cakes
As the weather cools down, I love to spend time pulling up a recipe on a slow Sunday, taking over the kitchen to make an autumnal treat. Coming home after a chilly walk in the afternoon to a slice of a spiced cake with a (British style) strong cup of tea is one of my favorite weekend activities! Here's a round up of my favorites bakes.
A Day in my Life as a 40-something Small Business Owner
I am a naturally curious person and I love the minutiae of someone’s day to day life. How they organize their day, what they are eating (I’m at that phase in my perimenopausal life where I’m counting my fiber intake), do they cook every night, manage to work out, what are they watching, reading....here's a run down of my day!
Style Edit: Captain Corelli's Mandolin
I love historical movies that are visually inspiring not just for the locations and stories, but also for the costumes. This story inspired me to put together some outfits that felt like they had a touch of this vintage, Mediterranean style about them.
A day in the life of Holly, a teaching artist and sculptor
Meet Holly, a multi talented teaching artist, who owns and operates two businesses - a clay teaching studio and her own line of artistic sculptures and pottery.
Pride & Prejudice Inspired Outfits
The Pride & Prejudice Movie serves not just as an escape into a beautifully presented period movie but also as a personal style inspiration. Many of us share the same fascination with The Bennet Family style. So, here’s our P&S Pride & Prejudice style guide for creating a look like you've straight out of the late 18th century, albeit without the dysentery and maybe a pumpkin spice latte in hand.
Why invest in a Linen Dress?
The chances are that you have a favorite period drama or movie, and the heroine wears beautiful, perfectly crumply vintage dresses, set in gorgeous period houses, full of beautiful old books, perfectly crackled pottery and brooding dark haired love interests. Those beautiful dresses are probably linen and there’s good reason for that.
Packing Linen Dresses for Summer Travel
The ease linen brings when traveling makes it the perfect plus one. Yes, some of us may grumble about those linen crumples, but here's some helpful packing tips to make traveling with linen easier
Marmalade Cake
Buttery and soft with a light citrus flavor and a tart marmalade topping, this cake pairs perfectly with a strong cup of tea on a fresh spring day.
All Creatures Great & Small: Pyne & Smith Style Guide
Vintage style inspiration from a heart warming series that gives viewers a glimpse into English rural life in the 1930s and 40s with just the right mix of sentiment and humour.
The Fair Isle Sweater
Fair Isle sweaters are the perfect match with our linen dresses - layered with a jacket, tights and boots for the perfect style. Read all about how the Fair Isle sweater became the iconic knit we all adore.
Audrey Hepburn, icon of style
A passionate humanitarian, style icon and well known British actress Audrey Hepburn was an inspirational woman, and amazingly - a resistance fighter in WW2.
A day in the life of Betts, an archivist at Harvard University
Our P&S community is a diverse, friendly, intelligent mix of folks from all different back grounds, so to learn about their day to day lives is the best! Meet Betts, an archivist at Harvard University....
Season of the Witch
Meet New York based artist, Stephanie Buscema. Her hand painted, whimsical art pieces are inspired by folklore, mythology, historical design and the natural & supernatural world - her illustrations couldn't be more perfect for this magical time of year.
An easy cake recipe
This recipe is a very simple one that I’ll do on a Sunday afternoon if I’m not feeling like making a big production and the box cake mix makes it ridiculously easy (no judgment needed on my love of boxed cake mixes.)
How to wear your dresses year round
How do you have year round wear with your linen dresses for maximum versatility? I've listed some thoughtfully designed, natural fiber brands that I love and have been tried and tested over the years, with some budget friendly options too.
Our Autumn & Winter inspirations
The changing of the seasons from Summer to Autumn seems to pull me back to my roots, where my childhood in England holds memories of the cooler seasons - chilly walks in wool sweaters and welly boots, stomping on leaves, rosy cheeks, and back home for a cup of tea and a toasted crumpets....
Inspiration behind our Emmeline Check Linen
Our Emmeline Check linen is a homage to a pioneer of womens rights, leader of the British Suffragette movement, Emmeline Goulden.
2021 Gift Giving Guide
A thoughtfully curated selection gift ideas of our favorite offerings! It’s THE most fun experience to receive something that is unique (and possibly even more fun picking out the gift) from this amazing array of goodies, while supporting small businesses and actually making a difference!
A Love Letter to Pinafores
The beauty of the pinafore is that it is truly multipurpose; it can be a sundress, apron, jumper (British for a smock) and layered over almost anything. It works as a dress on its own, can be made of different material, colors and patterns, and comes in different cuts and styles.
Dark Spiced Ginger Cake
This delectable cake recipe is perfect with a cup of tea after a cold winter's walk. A little savoury, a little sweet and a touch of sour with a lemon drizzle topping. Too good not to share!
A Day in the Life of an Illustrator, Romi Lindenberg
Meet Romi, an illustrator based in Israel, who finds inspiration in history, folklore and fairytales and shares with us her day to day life
How To Style A Dress For Wintery Days
Linen often brings to mind summer weather because it is airy and breathable, but it's also a natural insulator making it great for cold weather; especially when layered with other natural fabrics.
Origins & Inspirations Behind Pyne & Smith
Pyne & Smith’s story is one of a love divided between two countries. The beautiful Californian weather may have ignited our passion for linen and all its benefits, but the English countryside inspires the roots of our unique Pyne & Smith patterns and designs.
Our sizing journey - Newly regraded XL, 2X and 3X sizes!
With the exciting arrival of our new Autumn & Winter 2021 Collection comes our newly regraded plus sizes. Learn more about our process here!
The All Day, Every Day Dress
Our No. 34 in Black is our favourite all around wear throughout summer. It’s the perfect little black dress with soft, breathable linen that is incredibly versatile; honestly, the possibilities are endless!
Cold Comfort Farm: A Style Guide
An original love, Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons, gives insight to the personality and essence of Pyne & Smith. Written back in the 1930’s, Stella Gibbons brilliant and witty novel is about a high society, young woman determining how she can support herself as an aspiring writer after both her parents pass away.
How To: Sew on a Button
At Pyne & Smith we support conscious shopping and repairing what we own to minimise waste, promote mindful living and save money! We love helping our customers prolong their wardrobe's life cycle in any way we can...
Linen Care Guide
Linen is a beautiful, hardwearing natural fabric that is easy to maintain. Here are some tips to help you preserve the life of your linen garments!
The Dig: Pyne & Smith Style Guide
Here at Pyne & Smith we have a favourite past time of watching movies purely to appreciate the costume design. This week I found myself (ahem... re-)watching The Dig and admiring the beauty and simplicity of the costumes. Here's how to incorporate The Dig into your Pyne & Smith style...
Swedish Cinnamon Buns Recipe
Swedish cinnamon buns or 'kanelbullar' are typically twisted and tied into little doughy knots, instead of frosting/icing on the top like the USA counterparts, these buns are sprinkled with pearl sugar. The dough in Swedish cinnamon buns is also kneaded with a hint of cardamom for a nice twist on this delicious morning bun!
A day in the life of Funso
Hello! My name is Funso (pronounced fuun-show), which is a name from the Yoruba language and translates to "A gift to my parents from God" - and I'm the gift!
The Importance of Pockets
One of the reasons Pyne & Smith was created was to bring practicality into women’s fashion. This is a desire that has transcended generations, has been a part of gender politics, and even caused struggle and resistance in the past.
Repairing your Linen Garments
Visible mending is a simple method for repairing a garment. Maybe you’ve snagged your dress on something, and a hole has formed, or you have weakened, thread bare areas from friction rubbing...
Behind the scenes: Chapel Asylum Photoshoot
The Asylum Chapel has an unexpected history. Despite what its name suggests, it was not actually a mental health institution, but instead an asylum in the older sense as a place of sanctuary, or more specifically an alms house....
The Tea Dress - Our Muse
Inspired by other indoor garments such as the wrap or a robe, the tea gown was originally created for women to only wear in the privacy of their own home.
Need to know Facts about Linen!
Here at Pyne & Smith we love linen and believe it doesn’t get the attention it fully deserves, so we decided to highlight some facts about linen that you may (if you're already a linen lover) or may not know yet.
Designing a Linen Collection
The process of producing our dresses takes around 4 months from when we have placed our order with our linen mill. We begin work designing our Fall/Winter fabrics in March, with the goal that our collection will launch in September.
Is ethical fashion expensive? No, here's why.....
“Ethically made, sustainable fashion” are words many brands like to make sure you know apply to them. Why are ethically made garments priced higher than high street brands? Why shop with ethical makers like Pyne & Smith?
Who makes our clothes?
Who makes our clothes? Why does it matter? Read on to learn more about how a P&S dress is created....
What is Sustainable Fashion?
Sustainable Fashion is a hot topic term used widely right now, and while I would love to claim to be 100% sustainable, that term is impossible to obtain, because we all use water and power to produce our clothes. However, most brands who use this term are pledging their commitment to our planet, to leave behind a minimal carbon footprint when running a garment business.