STRIPED STYLE GIVEAWAY: CABBAGES & ROSES

When I was a little girl, I had two requirements when it came to dresses. They had to pouf and they had to twirl...

Something that wouldn't be a problem in this fun skirt from Cabbages & Roses! And I have to say the philosophy translates well to my style of curtains too - billowy and flowy. But it's not just the style of these pieces that initially sparked my interest in this company - it's actually their latest book featuring the impeccable designs of founder Christina Strutt.  

At Home With Country features the very classic style of Cabbages & Roses in every type of home - from city apartment to rural farmhouse - showing exactly how these vintage textiles can work in any environment.  I was lucky enough to catch up with Christina and ask her a bit more about her inspirations for one of my favorite topics - the crossover from fashion to home design!

What is your process for creating the C&R design collections?

The first thing I do is panic - as I am always late. Second, I visit Paris fabric collections. Hopefully I will have had some inspiration during the few days before, but as we are always so busy, the inspiration (if I am lucky) comes on the Eurostar train to Paris. I expect normal designers have thought vaguely of what their collection will be about a long time before fabric buying. I am never this organized. For the next collection though, I might just go abroad for a few days of concentrated work without e-mail and without telephone - it is these two distractions (and my addiction to them) that prevents creative flow!

We depend on finding most of our clothing fabrics in Paris. I am drawn to fabrics that I think nobody else will use - unfortunately the criteria for uniqueness is expense. I believe, though, that there is no point in creating anything that looks ordinary as it is perfectly possible to buy 'ordinary' in a million places at half the cost.

Six months later the collections miraculously come together and they have found a theme of their own. Last winter it became Atonement (the film), without me realizing until we were at photography stage. This summer the stripes kept appearing and it turned itself into a French themed collection.

Which comes first the fashion or the home line? Or do you design them separately?

They are usually designed quite separately, but we are trying very hard to coordinate the timing – which is proving quite difficult as the production of home and fashion fabrics are out of sync and it will take a while to make them work together.

I always have a dilemma as to whether to use our home fabric designs in fashion, but my fear is that people might feel a little 'Von Trapp-ish' - as in The Sound of Music. I, however, have never minded about dressing like curtains - I think it is a charming way to dress! We are working on a new collection, which I think would be as beautiful hanging at a window as on a body - so this might be called the Von Trapp collection!

Why do you think stripes are such a trend right now? And, how do the prints translate differently when used in fashion and the home lines, or vice versa?

Cabbages & Roses has always used stripes; we have had a stripe t shirt in our collection for the past ten years! I find stripes (always horizontal never vertical!)- eye catching and chic. They are definitely a classic. This applies to home furnishings as well - although only in the home do I find vertical stripes acceptable! The scale of the stripe is very important - in the home the wider the better, however in fashion wide stripes are distinctly unflattering and we would never use them. Whilst stripes are chic, they can also be worn to dress down an outfit. In our upcoming winter collection, we encourage wearing stripes with a tartan suit, stripes with florals, in fact stripes with everything!

Even stripes with black tights, it looks like! I love the versatility of this classic style and the latest pieces from the Cabbages & Roses collection. I'm hoping you do too, dear readers, as that's exactly what we'll be giving away today! Just pop over to their website to peruse all their goods and leave a comment (with your contact info!) below letting us know what your favorites are. The winner will receive her choice of one striped clothing and striped home item to celebrate this very French-inspired summer collection!

At Home with Country by Christina Strutt. CICO Books, $29.95; www.cicobooks.com Photo Credit: Edina van der Wyck