Mother’s day – just another over commercialised day like Valentines?  Maybe, but I wonder how many people know the true meaning of Mothering Sunday in the UK?  It was in fact a Christian religious day which fell on the 4^th Sunday of Lent and was when parishioners returned to their mother church i.e. the one they were baptised at.  The American mother’s day which is celebrated in May, was created by Anna Jarvis who wanted to honour the peace activist work that her mother had done before she died as well as honouring all mothers, reasoning that they generally do more for us than anyone else.  Although the founder of it, she actually protested against the commercialisation of the day, suggesting that sentiment should be shown in hand written letters not through purchasing cards and gifts.  Since World War II, when American soldiers came over to the UK, the day here is now more like the American one when people treat their mothers to cards, flowers and gifts but still remains on the 4^th Sunday of lent.

I decided to celebrate it a few days early this year with Mum.  I have long enjoyed scouring the variety of kitsch shops that Rochester has to offer so jumped at the chance of being invited, with a guest, to attend an evening at the shop Pink Flamingo to celebrate their 5^th birthday.  Pink Flamingo also has another branch in Whitstable and is a ladies clothes, shoes and accessories shop.

For the occasion I decided to embrace the Americana look seen at London Fashion Weekend and wore my nautical stripe blue, ¾ length sleeve dress by Winser with a denim jacket from Oasis.  I then added a pop of red with my LK Bennett wedge sandals and Floozie heart shaped bag.  I also added a scarf tied to the bag to give a unique twist, seen by Elie Saab; the scarf was une souvenir de Paris and features the Eiffel Tower.  I did my hair in what the industry is calling the grown up bunches as seen at Marni.  These are simple to create but look like you have really made the effort.  Divide the hair in a centre parting and then leave a small strand from each half loose whilst tying the rest in normal bunches.  Then wrap the left over strand around the band to hide it and pin with a kirby grip.  I swept a turquoise blue eye shadow from an old Virgin Vie palette over my lids to create the ocean eyes seen by Diane Von Furstenberg this season.

On arrival in Rochester Mum and I treated ourselves to a coffee and cake in Fleur de Thé.  This is a beautiful tea room, where all the shabby chic decorative items are also for sale along with refreshments.  I had a slice of their Oreo cake and it really was a huge portion that although nice, left me feeling quite sick.

Next stop was Rocket, a shop that specialises in vintage design clothing and I bought a lovely 1950’s style turquoise skirt with white polka dots on.  I’m thinking I might purchase one of the taffeta underskirts to really set this off.

We browsed Kiss Kiss Heart, owned by the same people as Rocket but with a greater emphasis on the homeware than the clothes and I liked so many things in there especially a floral Fiorelli bag; but settled for a butterfly shaped ceramic dish.

By then it was getting on for 5pm so we made our way up the high street to Pink Flamingo.  On arrival we were treated to a glass of pink fizz and there were some cupcakes decorated with pink flamingos and a variety of sweets on offer.

Pink Flamingo stocks Great Plains London, Cath Kidston and Irregular Choice, amongst other brands.  Irregular Choice shoes were created by British born designer, Dan Sullivan in 1999.  His vision was to create truly unique shoes rather than the neutral and black shoes that dominated the market.  His designs are influenced by his punk rock era upbringing on the Kings Road coupled with his extensive travel around the world.

On this special open evening, there was 20% off anything purchased and a chance to win either a pair of Irregular Choice shoes or a Cath Kidston bag.  Unfortunately I wasn’t the lucky winner of either.

I tried on various pairs of Irregular Choice shoes, feeling that there should be a bit of this originality in my shoe collection however in the end I didn’t think I would be brave enough or quirky enough to pull them off.  I may pluck up the courage at a future date as each shoe truly is a work of art in its own right.

 

Mum bought a pair of sandals by Lunar which I had also had my eye on and I bought a Great Plains mint coloured top.

Together we spent over £30 and so received a free goodie bag.  The goodie bag contained some Tamaris lip balm and hand cream, some shoe horns and a bracelet.

All shopped out, I then treated Mum to a meal and Prosecco at Pizza Express.  My Mum really is my best friend and I love that I can talk to her about anything and she listens and advises without judgement.  I can always rely on her to be honest with me, even if it’s not always what I want to hear.  However many times we mess up, we can always rely on our mothers to love and forgive us. Commercialised or not, I think it is only right that we celebrate all our mothers do for us – not just on this one day but throughout the year.

Let me know what you did with your Mum on her special day.