With warmer weather comes dreams of entertaining with sparkly parties, endless rounds of cocktails and plenty of celebrations with your favourite people – and with plenty of glitter and sparkle in tow, fashion designer Fleur Wood‘s brand new book “Food Fashion Love” is set to help you do that in style.
Fleur’s début book “Food Fashion Friends” was a hit – pages filled with beautiful ideas for entertaining, recipes from her own archives and beautiful photography, so this second book had a lot to live up to – and live up to it has! This book has Fleur focusing on all things vintage and spiritual, the book as she says, of her soul. Each chapter divided into something beautiful; flowers, love/nurture, rainbow/glitter and even spirit/soul.
As with everything Fleur does, the carefully styled and photographed images are beautifully executed. The “Flowers/Nature” chapter for instance is filled with beautiful pictures accompanying recipes for home-made bath soaks. The Glitter/rainbow chapter , my favourite for photography is of course filled with about as much glitter as one can handle used in the most sparkly of ways. “Vintage/Nostalgia” delves into Fleur’s most prized vintage treasures and even has advice on how to care for vintage garments.
Fleur’s personality is what is really inviting about this book. Each chapter beginning with a personal story that sets the scene for the pages ahead. Pages full of inspirational pictures are commentated by Fleur and evoke that whimsical, feminine beauty that the designer is renowned for. Recipes (captured by Anthony Ong) , each introduced with the significance of the dish for Fleur, round out the chapters, styled and themed for the chapter name. My favourite chapter – “Love/Nuture” – starts with tales and photographs of Fleur’s two sweet children and her own definition of romance and rounds out with a recipe for wholesome chicken soup, and lemony roast chicken.
As someone who values family greatly and the coziness that comes with carefully thought out traditions, the window into Fleur’s own home life and the parts of her life that inspire her, drive her and are huge parts of her being was a beautiful thing to read. Fleur even delves into her spiritual side – unveiling her knowledge of chakras, connecting with the divine, altars, prayer and mediation and even Fleur’s own take on super food recipes. The pages each holding their own allow the book to be dipped in and out of, picked up idly for a momentary burst of inspiration.
I think beautiful books like this can also offer inspiration for weddings as well. That dress below? What a stunning wedding colour palette, the pages of cakes, sweet treats and cocktails? I’d gladly serve up those at a wedding celebration. The flower ice cubes? Just the ticket for a garden party, the three-tier coconut cake? I can imagine that beauty under strung fairy lights and the glittering stars and the stunning table-scape for a family dinner? Beautifully laid and perfectly proper for a wedding.
The book, at over 230 pages, with its beauty and warmth feels like you’re curling up with an old friend with candlelight and sparkly cocktails surrounding you. So I love the idea of this book as a gift to the bride to be or from the bride to her favourite people. Something about it speaks of friendship and the specialness of nurturing relationships with each other.
Images of the book taken by Ms Polka Dot for Polka Dot Bride. Food, Fashion Love by Fleur Wood was sent for editorial consideration in accordance with our disclosure policy.
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