It really couldn’t be a better Christmas present with which to end the blog year! British heritage and humour are back on the ‘old school’ timetable. And this year, there is even more to enjoy, thanks to some brilliant home-grown talent and a host of exciting new ‘col-abs’. From Scottish baronial style to the influence of old school tailoring, the blog discovers there are some crackers that aren’t just for Christmas.

Old school style

Hark back if you will a couple of blog years to Whimsical Interior Style where all this joy began. You might need to rootle around in your satchels, but it is there in the blog archive and has been kindly read by many pupils (er, readers) worldwide.

The new old school curriculum consists of a heritage mix of Scottish baronial style tartan combined with the smartest old school blazer and city tailored stripes. A look that is peppered with St Trinian’s-style mischief. Quality of materials is reassuringly high and there’s often an element of surprise with both scale of pattern and finishing touches.

Although old school style is home-grown in the UK, it is an interior and fashion style that is not only alive and well with our preppy neighbours in the US but is being appreciated by Spanish and Romanian designers too.

Head girls and boys

Which brings me to some utterly brilliant ‘head girls and boys’ who have been leading this style with gusto.

Top marks and blog end-of-term cups go to the hugely talented Sarah Corbett-Winder who styles herself ‘The Wardrobe Whisperer’ at The Kipper Club. Sarah is also notable for some striking fashion and interior design collaborations with Birdie Fortescue, Monsoon, Nicola Harding and Farrow and Ball.

Sarah entertaininngly presents her work with great style and hilarious social media posts.

Blog end-of-term-cups

End-of-term blog cups are also awarded to Studio Ham for their beautifully styled new Highland Collection; Scottish castles for extraordinary locations; OKA for old school style hosting ideas; Mind the Gap for large-scale tartan wallpapers; Sophie Conran for creating Felix, a proper old school comfy sofa (with large back) upholstered in broad stripes; La Veste for old school fashion with quirky finishing touches (La Veste are having a pop-up from 15 – 21st December at Shreeji Newsagent, 6 Chiltern St, London W1U 7PT from 10 am to 6 pm).

Then there are just two more cups to award. One for NiX by Nicola Harding’s Curtain Call sofa in Regatta stripe for it’s all-round jaunty glamour;

And the final cup goes to Birkentree Highland Silver Sap, a luxury mixer companion to spirits made from the sap of ancient Scottish birch trees. Because no self-respecting tuck shop or drinks trolley should be without it.

Old school vintage

My online vintage shop goes old school with this c.1980s/early 90s Royal Creamware tankard (no longer in production) which is in immaculate condition and would either make a wonderful gift as a large mug, pencil/paintbrush holder or vase.

It has this delightful double twist Georgian style handle with rose/leaf designs where the handle attaches to the mug. It holds approximately 1.25 pints of liquid and is 14.5 cm high x 9.5 cm diameter. Available now at £35 plus £5.49 shipping in my online vintage shop.

Thank you

Finally, thank you so much for reading this.

If you would like to subscribe to the blog for no cost, advert free posts, then please use the subscribe button at the end of a post. You will then receive an email alert, usually once a month for the next (non-AI generated!) post which will mostly be on interior style (including plenty of antiques and vintage), to garden or heritage themes.

Visual storytelling for newspapers, magazines, books and brands has been my trade as an interior stylist and journalist. The blog offers a little more of this life-long passion.

And as we head towards the Winter Solstice and this festive time of year, I would also like to wish you a very Happy Christmas.

Charis x