Therefore it would be rude not to show you some bits!
I haven’t had time to do anything for a while, my crazy working hours and commute make it a bit tricky but I’m hoping as the nights get lighter I will get more motivated!
For now here are some pics of past makes for you to have a gander at.
Remnant heart.
Corsages.
Retro pinny
Another retro pinny
Personalised pet beds
Hair slide
So that’s just a little taster of the bits and bobs I’ve done/do. Hope you’ve enjoyed the little look.
That time of year is rapidly approaching, where couples in love fight for a dinner reservation and singles cry into their wine at the lack of cards on their door mat. Or is it?
Now I generally let this one day of the year pass me by with little more than a cursory glance in Clinton’s heart festooned windows but this year will be different. No, a miracle hasn’t taken place, I have not found some poor unsuspecting man to buy me overpriced chocolates. Instead, I shall be heading off to the It’s A Wonderful Vintage Love Boat Ball! This will also be my official 30th brithday celebration so feel free to send a cocktail my way!
This is the second event put on by Olivia Farnesy of Moon on a Stick PR and it’s sure to be every bit as wonderful as the Christmas ball which I blogged about here. It will be a packed evening with a live jazz ensemble, the cream of London’s swing dance DJs, love tarot and psychic readings and a red carpet gang plank. There will even be swing dance speed dating, burlesque and much much more! All taking place on a beautiful 1920s styled boat on the Thames. Whether single or loved up, head on down to one of Time Out’s top 10 Valentine’s events and indulge in a bit of vintage glamour. You could really enter into the spirit and go for a full-on nautical theme to your outfit!
I will be there along with Lady K Loves, Bettina Scarlett and The Vanity Box.
A little taster of the last ball……………..
‘It’s a Wonderful’ Winter Vintage Ball from Promo Video on Vimeo.
Hope to see you all there!
That’s it folks. Today is my last day in my twenties and what a decade it’s been!
I’ve decided to take a little time to reflect on the past decade as I enter into the next.
I started my twenties with my first and only love, Rory. Sadly no longer in touch but I have such fond memories of him, there was no big dramatic bust up, we just drifted apart, too young to make it work.
I have attempted to follow a few dreams in the last ten years, none of them quite worked out the way I hoped when I set off but one of these days one of them HAS to work out!
A decade that saw me undertake professional dance training, living in New Zealand, twice, move to London, move back to my home town of Edinburgh and back to London again, give up a career in property only to have the recession force me back into it, make lots of friends, lose lots and rekindle some old friendships, discover a passion for all things retro and vintage, transform my look and style and so much more.
My twenties have been one hell of a roller coaster, not always good but then life rarely ever is.
The biggest decision I made in my twenties was to cut the emotionally and at times physically damaging relationships with my immediate family. While it’s sad I had to make that choice it was the best thing I ever did and there’s a very good possibility I wouldn’t be as happy as i am now had I not.
Tonight I will set my hair in rollers ready to start my thirties as I intend to continue them, looking and feeling utterly fabulous, inside and out.
The biggest achievement of my twenties by far is making peace with myself. Yes I wobble but at long last I am mostly content to just be me. Too loud, often too reclusive, stubborn, wobbly thighed, messy, passionate, spontaneous, cat crazy and I like to think as unique as everyone else out there.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you on the other side of 29!
A friend has just pointed me in the direction of a nifty thing called a monthly beauty box. There are several companies that do it and I’ve decided to go with Amarya.
Every month for the princely sum of £10 I will get a full sized beauty product and some samples of others.
My reason for going with this company is all the brands are organic as well as being paraben, SLS and other nasties free.
So not only will I get to try some brands I have always wanted to try, I also get to impart this wisdom with you lot and for very little money!
I will be starting on my repro clothing reviews very shortly, I’ve just had something of a bad week with a trapped nerve in my back so not been up to much writing, I’ll be back soon enough though, maybe even tomorrow
Hope you’re all fabulous x
I have been meaning to pop along to one of these for a very long time but somehow never quite got round to it. Then at new year the lovely Cam from Bow & Crossbones said she would be at the next Spitalfields fair. So what better excuse to pop along!
Very from The Vanity Box was also going so we made a date, shopping and something to eat were the order of the day. And what a day it turned out to be, I had a lovely time yet again.
Overall I was really impressed with the quality of items on offer, sometimes it can just feel a bit like a jumble sale but there were a lot of really great pieces, I could have bought a lot more than I did! If Verity had her way I most certainly would have, as it was she made me buy several things I was umming and ahing over.
First things first, my attire and styling for the day, it wouldn’t do to go to such a thing looking like a scruff.
I decided to try a rolled fringe for the first time and I rather like the result, even better is it held perfectly all day.
My outfit was a grey pencil skirt from Vivien of Holloway, simple fitted black jumper from Primark, seamed tights, patent brogues from eBay (which I must replace soon!), a brooch I added after the picture and my lovely new faux fur Jacket from ASOS in the sale. I was pushed for time as I left so apologies I don’t have a pic of the full outfit and ignore the weird expression on my face.
Now on with the goodies!
First find was this adorable pinny, which was drawing a lot of interest, so I nabbed it before anyone else got a chance! Deliciously kitsch.
Next on the list was a lovely cream jumper with embroidery and bead detail.
Next was a really cute little pink top that Verity thrust at me and told me I had to buy, being a good girl I did!
Now for something a little different…………Passing a stall there were two glass bottles on a table, one shaped like a whippet/greyhound, the other like a cat. A cat! It was far too cool to let anyone else have so have it I did. In case you hadn’t noticed, I am mildly obsessed with cats, probably goes a long way to explaining why I’m single but just look at it!
Lastly (or so I thought) we stopped at Bow and Crossbones to say hello and I picked up a few bits for my hair. Not the greatest picture, sorry!
By this stage Verity’s son had had more than enough of traipsing round the stalls with us so off we went in search of food. Spotted a fish and chip restaurant and headed there. Typically it turned out to be a 50s diner style place and with us sat in the window we drew rather a lot of attention with several people taking our picture. It even prompted Jake to ask if he was famous!
I took a quick little pic of the counter area, I wish I’d taken more, it was a great little place and the food was really nice too, we recommended the scampi.
As we were about to head to the tube station to go home we spotted a large vintage shop called Absolute Vintage. What a find! Packed with hundreds of shoes, bags, mens, ladies, everything and all really reasonably priced. Shoes are arranged in size order making it easy to rummage for a gem that will fit you. In the end I was once again told to buy a pair of shoes, despite the fact I never wear gold, apparently I had to have them! They are rather fabulous though.
Finally, this time we really were on our way home. I popped back with Verity and we watched a bit of telly (just don’t ask what, it was very odd). Once again she forced me to buy another gem. One she had bought for herself but in the end wasn’t quite right for her, surprise surprise it was right for me.
And that, at long last, is everything. I had a fabulous day and am thrilled with my purchases. It really was an affordable fair, the sellers were lovely, all happy to haggle, with very few pieces horribly overpriced. I was very impressed and will definitely become a regular. They are held all over the country so check where nearest one is and head down for some bargains!
Following on from my blog about plus size pin up models in the UK, I have decided that this year I will do a series of blogs about all the fabulous reproduction companies. Where possible I will buy items for myself then offer reviews on fit etc, always including my own measurements and dress size so you can really understand the review.
This will not be a quick series, sadly I am not made of money so buying things will be a slow and steady task! I have a few items already that I can offer a review on and will start on those this weekend.
If there are retailers I can visit, I will also offer a review on the shopping experience, so important to all of us and something I think the independent boutiques do so much better than most. My experiences so far have been fabulous. I’d like to say I’ll be a mystery shopper but if any of them happen to stumble across my blog I’m a bit hard to miss with the hair!
I’m off for now, need to get ready to head off to judy’s Affordable Vintage Fair in Spitalfields with the lovely Verity from The Vanity box.
Have a lovely day everyone.
Yesterday evening I was perusing some of my favourite British retro reproduction websites looking for something to wear to an event I have coming up in February. I also looked at one of my favourite US sites and something quite distinctive struck me. We seem to either be lacking in plus size pin up models in the UK or our retailers just aren’t using them.
Now I appreciate if you are a stockist then you use the manufacturers images but what about the rest? I’m of the not waif thin body type and as much as I adore our home grown models, a lot of them deliciously curvy, it would be nice to see the odd garment modelled on a larger body. Not fat you understand but one closer to my own. Many women find it difficult to know what will suit them so when shopping online it is so much easier if you can gauge what something will look like on YOU and not the size 10 model.
In contrast, one very big US site uses models of a variety of shapes and sizes who are all gorgeous and indeed aspirational, as I believe all models, whatever their size, should be.
I also want to add, I love our home grown pin up models, I’ve met a few personally and they are stunning, naturally gorgeous women, not something that can always be said for some of the American girls. I think our girls are distinctively British and I love that.
I also love that the pin up scene is far more diverse than the mainstream fashion market, thank heavens! We do have girls with hips and bums and boobs, we have more athletic girls, slim, boyish, curvy, tall, petite, average we have them all. For that I truly rejoice. However, they are all slim.
What are your thoughts? Do we need more diversity of size? Are you happy with the British approach? Am I wrong to feel unrepresented? Am i blind and there are in fact an abundance of slightly larger models? Am I way off the mark and should crawl back under that there rock!?
Discuss.
I generally dislike new year. It’s a lot of pressure to have a good time and it costs a ludicrous amount just to get into the local pub. I have therefore been boycotting it for a couple of years. This year I was persuaded to go out by the lovely Bettina Scarlett and Verity from The Vanity Box and I am so glad they did!
A fabulous couple of days was had by all. We started off early in the day all going round to Verity’s to drink cocktails and inevitably end up in a last minute rush to get ready despite having hours to do it.
I’m very new to the scene but everyone was absolutely lovely and made me feel so welcome. I can also now do the stroll and sort of a bit of jive, again, the lovely Verity gave me a bit of a lesson before we went out. Still terrified when someone asks me to dance though, fear of failure and imperfection seems to haunt this former dance student rather a lot.
I wore a Hell Bunny circle dress for the evening, with white petticoat and big knickers so that when the skirts flew up dancing people weren’t presented with too much of my ample posterior! Shoes are New Look and underwear by Marks and Spencer. Ladies, if you are ample in the bust area and need a good strapless bra, M&S do a fabulous bra which has the silicon around the cups as well as through the back straps. This isn’t on all of their strapless range so do check but they are the only ones I have ever found that don’t budge all evening, even with enthusiastic dancing. Clutch also M&S.
My eye make-up was done by Verity (of The Vanity Box). If you are going to any events and she happens to be there, I most definitely recommend you treat yourself to hair and or make-up by these lovely ladies. You won’t regret getting in touch with your inner pin-up even if it isn’t your usual style.
I was also lucky enough to meet the very gorgeous Kessie of Lady K Loves (and got a sneak peak of some new pieces she has coming up) and equally gorgeous Cam of Bow & Crossbones.
New Year’s day was spent surprisingly hangover free, munching on sausage sandwiches and playing a bit of Dance on Broadway (I think that’s what it was called) on the Wii.
I finally made it home some time in the evening by now feeling a little the worse for wear but with a big cheesy grin on my face and fabulous memories to take home with me. Can’t wait for the next night out and to catch up with all these lovely people again. Thanks to you all for a wonderful start to my year!
