The Vivien of Holloway Experience

Now there’s not many people who have a thing for repro that don’t know about Vivien of Holloway. In fact, it’s one of the few brands kicking out into the mainstream with many a bride, bridesmaid, school leaver or normal woman on the street going there for their special occasion dresses. The full circle dresses are their most well known piece, exuding glamour and being seen on many a red carpet! I myself knew about VoH long before I decided to go feet first into overhauling my look into something more retro. I would regularly browse the website, dreaming of the things I’d one day buy.

And then I did! I have now shopped both online and in store

Online:

The thing I love about VoH is they put the actual measurements of the garments online. They use vintage sizing so unless you’re used to buying vintage you may not immediately know your size. By using the measurements and not the sizes online you can be confident of getting the right size (not full proof but as near as dammit). Just remember no to get a shock when you look at the size label when it arrives!

So I went for the indigo tartan pencil skirt as my very first purchase, finally shaking off the trauma of my school uniform containing a tartan kilt (Lyndsey, if anyone is interested). Something to add to my winter wardrobe, teamed with thick tights, chunky knits and my ever trusty brogues.

I was a little bit bigger when I got it and really I overestimated the size, it has always been a little on the larger size but at the time the size smaller would have been too snug (no stretch). They are beautifully made, two darts at the waist front and back, split at the back for movement. I’ve had a few pencil skirts in my time and I have a large bum and hips, splits seem to always split further than they should with strain, not so the VoH skirts, all seams perfectly intact even under extreme pressure.

For my second purchase/s I decided on a last minute Christmas Eve dash to the store. I am so glad I did! The staff are gorgeous and friendly, there if you need them, leaving you be if you prefer and always ready with a compliment or two!

I went in mostly intending to get a dress for Christmas day and in the end I opted for the Runaround Sue in strawberry print. Now this dress is rather clever. Nips in at the waist, has a slightly wider shoulder line to balance out the hips and the pleats which give the skirt a little volume are on the front, the back of the skirt has no pleating at all, very flattering on the larger bottom! I also like the longer length, I didn’t have to worry about it flying up revealing my knickers on a windy day but it still has a hint of cleavage for a bit of sexiness. I wear this dress to work a lot, for winter it’s been thick tights, chunky knitted cardigan and brogues Now the sun is making an appearance it will be bare legs, cute flats or wedges and a light cardigan.

While in store I thought I’d may as well try on the smaller sized pencil skirt to see if it fit and chose the gorgeous grey sparkly one. Well, one “witwoo” from an enthusiastic sales assistant and who was I to resist. This one was on the very snug side and though I’ve lost a little bit of my winter weight now, unfortunately the seam strain, all my own doing, is clear for all to see! That being said there are no ripped seams, which brings me back to the point about quality of construction. There is no stretch in either of these skirts, this one has been under extreme pressure, I expected there to be the possibility of some seam tears but there have been none. Very impressed.

Again, this skirt got me through winter, chunky tights, brogues and heavy knits. Now summer is here I can lighten it up and carry on wearing to the office.

Dave insisted in getting in on the modeling act......

Overall I recommend Vivien of Holloway to anyone and if you can, make the trip to the shop, it’s so worth it and there are lots of goodies you won’t find online too.

Cinnamon in a bun

Another sunny day, another day that I’m in the mood to bake! Todays treat is sticky cinnamon buns. This is a recipe I found online, tweaked a little as I found parts of the method a little unnecessarily convoluted and one ingredient variation as I didn’t have plain/all purpose flour.

So, for the buns, the ingredients are:

• 4 cups white bread flour
• 1 teaspoon quick yeast
• 1/4 cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup butter

Put the flour and yeast in a bowl, pour in the egg and fork through roughly. In a pan warm the milk, water, sugar and butter until the butter has melted but you can still put your finger in comfortably, you don’t want it too hot or it will kill the yeast! Pour into your bowl but only about 3/4, I often find I have a little too much liquid, adding more if needed. Bring the dough together, it will be a little stickier than you usual bread dough so bear that in mind. Once it is a good dough, not too dry and not too sticky. Knead for 10 minutes then put in a lightly oiled bowl to prove.

Cover with clingfilm and leave until at least doubled in size, it may get a little steamy!

While waiting for your dough to prove, let’s get on with the filling and buttery bath they will bake in.

Buttery bath ingredients:

• 3/4 cup butter
• 3/4 brown sugar
• 1/2 cup pecans (optional, I don’t add these)

Warm the butter gently then add the sugar, whisking until well dissolved. Grease a large baking dish and pour in the buttery mixture. If using the pecans, sprinkle these on top.

Roll filling ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 pecans (optional)

Combine in a bowl and set aside. At this stage, also melt 1/4 cup of butter and set aside.

Now to roll out your dough. This is a little bit tricky as it will fight you all the way trying to spring back! Persevere and roll out as thinly as you can, you will find after a while the dough won’t bounce back nearly so much and you can get it quite thin, I’d say about 0.5cm. Sprinkly on your sugar/cinnamon mix and then roll!

Now to the rolling up, Don’t be afraid to poke and pull at your dough a bit, it can be a bit tricky to get a tight roll and requires a bit of strong arming your lovely soft, bouncy dough!

Now cut into 2cm wide pieces, laying into the buttery bath. Now, as you will see from the finished product pictures to follow, I over filled my dish, when making again, I will put at least a row less in there. Brush with the melted butter.

Cover with clingfilm and leave to prove again until doubled in size, this is when I discovered my overcrowding error. Preheat oven to 190.

Pop into the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Now, mine are a little overdone on top because they were bursting out of the dish. Should I have not been so keen to cook ALL the dough at once, I would have had perfectly browned cinnamon swirls. The finished articles look a bit imperfect but I can assure you they are amazing to eat!

Once out of the oven, turn out, bottoms up, onto a dish, allowing the remaining buttery, sugary syrup to seep down.

The finished, yummy, imperfect bun!

If you have a go at making these, let me know how you get on and if they’re prettier than mine!

 

 

Cheesy baps

I love baking, love it love it love it. Actually, I love cooking in general, almost as much as I love eating!

So today I decided was a bread day, with some sausages in the fridge I changed that to rolls and with parmesan winking at me on another shelf in the fridge cheesy topped rolls it was!

Now there is a common misconception that bread making is a long, arduous task requiring lots of skill. Not so, especially when you have great ingredients and a little bit of practice. I’ve had my fair share of non risers but have found upping the quality of my base ingredients with a few tweaks and I have nearly full-proof bread in a couple of hours with only 20 mins prep.

So, my ingredients (plus a little sugar)

The flour is a think what has been the turning point for the quality of my bread, this stuff is just amazing, ordered from Abel & Cole who I get a weekly veg box from too. I also add about a quarter amount extra of yeast to get a quicker rise (wink wink) when I want my bread in a bit of a hurry.

I have also changed my method slightly, when I first started baking I would double prove, knocking back after the first prove. In all honesty I haven’t worked out the benefit of doing this and now I just knead, shape, prove, bake! For a faster proving time I pop my rolls on top of the warming oven where they benefit form the residual heat.

Ready for the oven, cheese now grated on top

I put them in at 180-190 in my non fan assisted oven for about 25 minutes and they are perfect. They are the best bread I have made to date, absolutely delicious, light and fluffy, full of flavour, I’m so proud of myself!

And one of the best things about home baking other than eating them straight from the oven? You know exactly what has gone in, no hidden raising agents or preservatives. 

Dig in!

Seeing yourself from a new perspective

Have you ever seen a photo of a friend, relative, pet and thought “that looks nothing like them”, caught a glimpse of someone familiar and seeing them as unfamiliar, to the point it’s almost taken your breath away as you see new beauty in them?

We all cherish moments like that, whether it’s the big ones like a mother seeing her daughter in her wedding dress or a moment of exchanged glances with a much loved family pet.

But have you ever had these moments with yourself? Caught yourself in the mirror, the background of a photo, reflection in a shop window? Do you allow yourself those moments?

I was getting ready for bed this evening and went to the bathroom to take off my headscarf and take out my bobby pins. As I stood there in the dull bathroom, lit from the hall light as the bathroom light being on was unnecessary for this quick task, I looked up and caught myself in the mirror and actually stopped and looked. The way my fringe fell as I unpinned it, combined with the light, made me look quite different to usual and in a good way. I actually stopped ad had a good look at myself and it got me to thinking how many other people do this?

Thinking further I realised that these moments are so essential my own self-esteem. To like what you see staring back at you, to pay yourself a silent compliment, is so important I think to keep you going when you don’t feel so great about yourself.

So this little impromptu entry is an instruction. Let yourself catch those moments. Indulge in them. Learn to take a compliment from yourself, it’s even harder than taking one from someone else and the rewards even bigger.

Amarya beauty boxes

In January, a friend on Facebook enlightened me to the existence of monthly beauty boxes, where you pay a fixed amount every month for a selection of surprise beauty products. This most definitely appealed to me, I’m a product junkie but a fussy one so I needed a beauty box that would offer products I actually wanted to use. I try where I can to use natural products, organic, SLS and paraben free too. Luckily, Amarya do a beauty box for the princely sum of £10 per month. For that you get at least one full size product every month along with two or three samples.

My first box was a great start! Full size Zoya nail polish in a gorgeous grey shade, Neom travel candle which smells much better when burning than when unlit and the Essential care avocado moisturiser has been a really lovely substitute for my usual Liz Earle one which ran out about a week ago.

My second box arrived last week and I’d be lying is I said I wasn’t a little disappointed after the brilliance of the first box but taken in isolation it is also a great collection of products. I can’t really give a clear review of any of them, the shampoo is nice but can’t say how good in isolation without a matching conditioner in my opinion. The REN serum is hard to review because I don’t think my skin currently needs it as such but I certainly haven’t had an adverse reaction to it which is always good. The lip balm is lovely but I haven’t used it consistently yet.

The other brilliant thing about the boxes is that you get discount codes every month so you can buy your favourite products or others from the ranges sent at a discounted price.

I highly recommend the Amarya beauty box and if you are a bit of an organic/nasties free product virgin thinking they can’t be as good as the big commercial brands this is a great way to have a try of a variety of brands and products you might never have considered.

Brands I’m hoping to try in the coming months include Dr Hauschka and Jurlique, fingers crossed! It’s like getting sent a surprise present every month and I watch in anticipation for the postie with my little box of goodies arriving, a fabulous, inexpensive way to treat yourself.

Vintage vs Reproduction

I thought I would share my thoughts as to why I wear a lot of retro repro, more than genuine vintage (at the moment).

There are a lot of vintage evangelists out there, who wear very little “new” clothing, there are era evangelists who stick to one period faithfully and historically acurately and then there are people like me, who just enjoy the designs and styles of eras gone past and love dressing up in them, whatever form that takes, new or vintage.

At the moment, I am incredibly time poor, my working week is long and come the weekend I mostly want to unwind and catch up on all the stuff I have no time to do during the week, as well as hang out with my rather attention neglected cats! Time to scour and source genuine vintage items is something I don’t have a lot of and as my choice to start dressing this way was quite a recent one, the easiest way to fill my wardrobe with gorgeously retro items, enough so I can dress the way I want every day, it just made sense to go down the repro route, allowing me to add vintage pieces as I’m lucky enough to find them.

I also don’t have an era I like to stick to, I love the 50s most but 40s tea dresses are also a love of mine. I’d say I don’t really venture beyond the 50s but that’s not to say I never will. It’s less about recreating an era down to the finest detail and more about just loving what I wear every day.

Another massive plus point is that there are so many amazing British repro brands out there, who design and manufacture (where possible) here that I’m doing my bit to support independent businesses and British manufacturing. What’s not to love!

My biggest belief is that we should be allowed to wear what we want, how we want and to look how we want. As long as you’re happy and confident that’s the most important thing.

All because the Lady K Loves……….

First of all, excuse the terrible pun, it’s all I could come up with!

I have been planning this review for a while, I have met the lovely Kessie of Lady K Loves a couple of times now and am very lucky to consider her a friend. Before meeting her though, I had my eye on a few things she makes and was persuaded to try a few things I wouldn’t normally go for. To be clear, I’m a skirts and dresses girl, for the last couple of years if I wear trousers I am met with gasps and perplexed looks, I just don’t wear them!

However, Kessie offered to send me a little goody bag of stuff to try before I buy and I thought I may as well give some capris a go! I am glad I did, they have brought a lot more versatility to my wardrobe while still staying true to my desire of wanting to look like a proper lady at all times (when out in public that is……….).

This just shows how lovely Kessie is, to entrust me with her stock and allow me to decide what I liked enough to buy while also being able to test the sizing. Another plus point of her service is that I got unlucky with a couple of buttons on my Hello Sailor trousers, she asked me to send them back and will get them sorted out for me, wonderful service that is not unique to me.

I also bought the capris and Shirley’s dress, which I will share a few pictures of me wearing. 

So first off, the capris. Super comfy with a bit of stretch so they fit well, I managed to go down a size for a snug fit. I’m a 16 with large hips and bottom and these are an “L”. they have pockets on the front, handy for stuffing a tissue in but lovely and smooth so they don’t create any unflattering lines. They zip up the back with a couple of small buttons at the top for extra security, these take a little practice to do up, most of us are not used to doing up small buttons behind our backs but I love the security they bring to the waist band fitting.

Now onto the Shirley’s dress. Great spring/summer dress, playing on the ever popular nautical theme. This dress is available in several colour ways, I have the red. It’s very flattering, the full skirt is made of panels as opposed to being a full circle which is gathered through the waist. This makes for a slightly more flattering waistline, better for those who perhaps don’t have as nipped in a waist as they would like! These dresses do come up a little smaller on sizing, something Kessie made me aware of so I didn’t feel awful when my borderline size wouldn’t even go on! This dress is a little snug on the bust for me but I am quite blessed in that department so that’s natures fault and not the cut of the dress. The bust is darted and gives a nice flattering shape, if you do fill it the placement and shape of the darting also makes for a lovely bust shape.

I have styled it with a white waist belt and the last couple of pics I have added a petticoat to show there is plenty of fabric in the skirt to allow for that extra bit of frippery.

I cannot recommend Lady K Loves enough and I absolutely love that I’m supporting British designed and made. She’s lovely and incredibly helpful, always happy to answer questions about sizing and what should flatter you most. Go on, treat yourself.