YESTERDAY GIRL

Style Me Vintage - A note from the cover girl

2012-01-27T07:25:00.000-08:00

It would be very difficult for me to write anything but a glowing review for this book, you might say. Not only am I on the cover of said book, I feature inside it alongside my best friends, and indeed, the book is the baby of one of these gals.

Style Me Vintage: Clothes, is the the third in the Style Me Vintage series, the first focussed on hair and the second, make up. This edition is all about the clothes, and there is no better person to write about vintage clothing than Naomi Thompson, the personal shopper with an expert eye and avid collector of all things pretty and old.

What Naomi set out to do with this book, is create something that is not only as beautiful to look at as our favourite vintage frocks, but a really useful and informative guide that anyone who is making their first steps into vintage can really use. Not only has Naomi achieved this, but she has also made a brilliant reference guide for those of us who already consider ourselves experts to some degree or another.

The book features a mixture of stock photos and beautifully shot images of models handpicked by Naomi (including the entire Vintage Mafia). It was great fun watching Naomi in her element choosing outfits for us all to create the perfect looks that she wanted to showcase. The book also features reproduction clothing which I think is really great, as the average vintage gal relies on a good bit of repro from time to time.

Style Me Vintage tells us all about how styles were influenced by what was going on in the world at the time and seeing the spectrum of changing styles from the 1920s - 1980s is really fascinating. One of my favourite things about the book is that all the colourful and beautiful prints in the background of the pages are actually close-up photographs of fabric from vintage garments owned by Naomi. It is the detail like this that makes the book such a pleasure to read.

Just for fun, here is a sneeky peak of some pictures of yours truly modelling for the 1950s:

The book has already sold out on Amazon (huzzzah!) but you can get your moon-manicured fingers on one here.

Well done Naomi, I couldn't be a prouder cover girl! I only wish this beautiful book had been around when I was just beginning my vintage adventure....

Who's that girl?

The Breton Stripe

2012-01-13T09:48:00.000-08:00

The Breton stripe has become a classic look; stylish, timeless and genderless. The stripes make me think of Coco Chanel, Brigitte Bardot and Audrey Hepburn. It makes me think of capri pants, sea air and sunglasses. Originally worn by French fisherman, it quickly became a symbol of casual and chic fashion.

Brigitte Bardot

Wallis Simpson

Marilyn Monroe

Audrey Tatou as Coco Chanel

Audrey Hepburn

There are many incarnations of the original Breton style stripe and it is a look cheaply and easily put together in an outfit. Take my top below. It cost £6.99 in The Gap Sale. I have teamed it with trusty Freddies of Pinewood jeans and a hot chocolate...(I can pretend its a Summer's day in Brittany all I want, but it's January in rainy london).

You can of course buy a proper ones, from boating shops and directly from France such as from here. They will be lined and more heavy duty than buying a cotton one from the high street, however if you are looking for something to create a look rather than go fishing in, then i don't think it matters. I am really please with the Gap ones. Like original Breton shirts, the shoulders are quite large and hang down passed your actual shoulders, and the sleeves leave enough length to have a small turn up. I love the red, but as they are so cheap, I've decided I'm going to go back and buy the navy too.

I don't have all that many non-vintage items in my wardrobe that I don't have to worry about when throwing in the washing machine, so finding something that I like and is classic like this is a real god send.

Maidenform and me

2012-01-03T14:52:00.000-08:00

Maidenform is a brand name I have been familiar with for a number of years, however, in truth I don't recall ever actually having stopped to look at the brand and the products. Silly me! I always equated it to Avon, in that its been around a long time (90 years this year!), has a following of what I assume are 'older' women, though I always believed it to be a 'trusty' brand.

Last month I was graciously sent some Maidenform underwear to test drive. I was sent the High Waist Brief and the Bustier, both from The Pretty Collection.

Any vintage girl will know, that the secret to creating that the authentic vintage look is having the correct shape, and the secret to having the correct shape is having the correct underwear. Being sucked in and pushed up in all the right places is very important ;-)

Unless you are a die hard vintage lover and wear only vintage underwear, you will know that buying good reproduction undercrackers can be tricky. Firstly, some repro brands can be expensive, and in my experience, even if they look authentic, they may not necessarily have the fit very well or provide the right shape. Also, in a quest to be authentic, many repro brands use silk or other delicate fabrics that can't be slung in a washing machine.

Before I review the products, here is a little bit about the brand...

Founded in 1922, Maidenform is the most well established shapewear brand

in todayʼs market and has been helping women of all shapes and sizes to

achieve their perfect silhouette for almost 90 years.

Created in the USA by Maidenform founders Ida and William Rosenthal, the

brandʼs first product was a bandeau bra separated by a central seam of

elastic that was sewn into dresses. The idea that all clothes should be

correctly underpinned by strong foundations proved extremely popular as

more and more women sought to achieve their dream silhouette. This

became Maidenformʼs raison dʼetre from then on.

Such was the popularity of Maidenformʼs design and the effect it had on the

female form, that just three years later William patented a world first: the

modern seamed uplift bra. Women everywhere finally found that they could

achieve a defined, feminine shape and Maidenform quickly became a

household name and firm favourite.

By World War Two, Maidenform had achieved such recognition for its

pioneering work in textiles and innovative intimate apparel technology that the

brand was commissioned to manufacture vests for carrier pigeons and

parachutes for the troops, a pivotal moment that secured Maidenformʼs

position as one of the most beloved brands in America.

Maidenform was at the forefront of the advertising boom in the 1950ʼs and

launched some of the most innovative campaigns in history. The 1949 ʻDream

Campaignʼ built a lasting emotional connection with women, while the 1980ʼs

saw the launch of a revolutionary Maidenform campaign that featured male

celebrities.

It is interesting, although not surprising, that for these current collections, Maidenform has enlisted the help of Janie Bryant, the lucky lady in charge of costumes on the set of Mad Men. Well, if darling Joanie is anything to go by, the lady knows a thing or two about shapewear. She says of her work on Mad Men:

'Usually, the television-viewing audience doesnʼt see the foundation pieces,

but itʼs so important to me that the actors not only feel their character on the

outside, but on the inside as well, and that is why intimates plays an integral

role'

It's very true. I don't think I really began to fully understand and appreciate the fit and style of vintage clothes until I started wearing stockings and a girdle, and invested in a good shape bra. It just kinda pulls the whole outfit together, from the inside, out. I'm not saying that everyone should wear vintage style underwear, not at all. Just that if you are wearing underwear that makes you feel good, even before you've put your clothes on, well then you are making a good start.

So, I hear you cry, what is the Maidenform underwear actually like?

Well, in order to review it properly, and without me just telling you, I wanted you to see what it looks like on. I don't mean what it looks like a model on the website, but what it actually looks like on me, and what it feels like too. I wanted to take some pics that showed the underwear off without them being too 'Pin Up'. I was actually really nervous of taking 'serious' pictures of me in my underwear, even though I have posted pin up ones on here before. (My cleavage has actually been photoshopped out because I'm so paranoid about attracting the 'wrong type' of readers, if you know what I mean!)

Just so you know, so that we are not under any illusions here. I am 5'2". My boobs are big, and so is my arse. I have wide hips and hold all my weight on my thighs and behind. I am however, lucky to have a small waist, although that doesn't mean that I don't sometimes appreciate a bit of help in the 'sucking in' department, especially across the tummy.

The Bustier:

Normally, I prefer to wear a balcony style bra and stay away from the Plunge style as I think it can often be ill fitting on larger breasts. However, this bra seems to work just fine for me. There is even a foamy ledge at the bottom of each cup to lift, which I think gives the good shape, rather than allowing the boobs to sort of flop together and downwards, if that makes sense. The top itself has a small 3 bar strap fastening at the back at the top, and as you can see, has a lace panel overlay at the front. It is quite tight to get on, I have to sort of wriggle it on, (its best to apply your make up after putting it on!), but that means when it is on it is fitted as you can see, and does a really good job of pulling in the waist and flattening the tummy. Although it has a shiny finish, which may I add is possibly the only negative, it doesn't ride up and clings to the hips under clothing. I adore this and wash it and wear it repeatedly. It is also an extra warm layer for winter.

The Hi Waist Briefs

As you can see, these are pretty amazing. Pants and super tummy sucking implement all-in-one. Like the bustier they require a certain sort of wriggle dance to get them on over the derriere, but once in place, this means the sucking in panels do their job superbly over the tummy and on the waist. These are super pants. They make you stand up straight, thus improving your posture, they feel really comfortable, they are soft, warm and pretty sexy too I think. I like.

Maidenform, I may be 90 years late, but I am a new fan.

Bustier £32

Hi Waist Brief £28

www.maidenform.co.uk

Photography by Hanson Leatherby

Out with the old, in with the New Year

2011-12-26T11:26:00.000-08:00

I am sat in new pyjamas, sipping gin and eating those yummy cinnamon-y german biscuits - Yes it's Boxing Day and another Christmas is over!!! Now comes what is normally my worst part of the year...the end of it. I don't know what it is, but I often find New Year's eve and the new year itself utterly depressing. I think it maybe that as someone that hankers after the past, knowing another year has gone, and time is moving so fast, just makes me a little sad. I know, its very silly.

This year has been one of immense highs and sadly, horrible lows. I have had the most amount of fun with my girls the Vintage Mafia, launching our Sale and Social and The Ric Rac Club, and generally planning and having fun and shenanigans. I have a wonderful man in my life, I moved house, got a new job, went on a fab holiday with the girls, made loads of incredible new vintage friends and attended numerous amazing events. Life has been good to me and without going in to more detail on the sad part which has occurred at the latter part of the year, the majority of 2011 has been marvellous.

So I am going to try and have a brilliant New Year's Eve and start 2012 with a bang. Positive thinking and all that.

I will leave you with a brief round up from 2011.......

January: Gemma's Birthday....Fun in an art deco elevator

February: completing my first Knitting project!

March: The Vintage Mafia terrify France!

April: the Tweed run!

May: Punting with The New Sheridan Club

June: Swing for Skin on the HMS Belfast

July: the Chap Olympiad!

August: Modelling for Puttin' on the Ritz

September: The launch of The Ric Rac Club!

October: Another Sunday Sale and Social

November: The Rugby Ralph Lauren Tweed Run

December: A 1940s Christmas!

Phew...I'm exhausted just remembering it all!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year dearest readers!

One Ball, Two Dresses, A Thousand Waistcoats: Part 2

2011-12-09T12:20:00.001-08:00

So, back to the ball.

After I clocked off from my shift at the Jeeves Dating Service, I literally bounced backstage to the dressing room. Why? Well, no, I hadn't had too much gin (at this point), I was just so excited about putting on my new frock. Eeeeek!!

Here is why.....

It is a beautiful 1950s floor length gown, with what I like to call a 'Snow White' collar, blue and purple brocade bodice, and gorgeous layers of pink, purple and blue chiffon. It wasn't in the best condition when I bought it from the Vintage Emporium. In fact it looked like someone had been prancing about in a rose bush for a few hours wearing it, as the skirt was tatty and ripped. But, I spent my friday night lovingly repairing it and up to my elbows in a bath full of 60 year old sweat and grime, until it looked practically brand new.

A little jive with our host Viv the Spiv

I can see why it was so tatty though. I spent my whole evening unravelling it from girls stiletto heels, and grinning through my teeth, wanting to scream, 'Get off my dress bitch!' but it survived the night, just about.

Me, Fleur, The Bright Young Twins and the lovely Sophie

Fleur and I danced away illuminated by a man wearing a suit covered in fairy lights

Chap Hop in action

Lindy hoppers extraordinaire

My favourite dancing couple, Russell and Sara

The fine folk from The Vintage News

Of course we found some time for some posing...

And the obligatory toilet/mirror shot

A fine night was had by all, and so we finally crawled into bed at 5am after an hours search for a taxi in Kings Cross, and a half an hour wait in the Kebab shop...in the freezing cold...in a ball gown. Hurrah!

Photography by Hanson Leatherby Photography

Christmas in the 1940s House!

2011-12-07T12:08:00.001-08:00

Myself and Fleur had such fun yesterday morning larking around in the 1940s House at the Imperial War Museum. This wonderful exhibit is closing on the 2nd January, and for its last hurrah, it has been decked out in festive splendour.

We felt right at home during the photoshoot, and I could quite imagine spending a cosy yuletide inside this beautiful replica home.

If you haven't yet been to this exhibition, or if you haven't seen it for a while I recommend that you pay a visit to get you in the christmas mood!

I pulled a right cracker in an Able Grable frock!

Toasting the King and Queen

A Christmas Tipple

Mince Pies!

I am sure that the exhibition replacing it will be wonderful, but I will be sad to say goodbye to the lovely house.

Hope you are feeling festive now!

One Ball, Two Dressses, A Thousand Waistcoats - Part 1

2011-12-05T13:30:00.001-08:00

Official Duties

Saturday night was The Chap Ball aka The 3rd Grand Anarcho-Dandyist Ball aka The Night of a Thousand Waistcoats. Whatever you choose to call it, it is certainly one of the most important dates in the diary of any Chap or Chapette. It is a great excuse to wear a full length gown, wax your moustache, or do both in the case of some of the more eccentric guests.

As last year, I once again filled the post of secretary at the Jeeves Dating Service. This is an important duty to undertake for the guests of the ball who may spot a potential love interest in the crowd. After dictating their message of love to one of the secretaries, it was then delivered by our butler to their beloved. This year I was joined by Gemma, and together we worked as secretaries from different decades. She channelled Miss Lemon from Poirot, while I was more Joanie from Mad Men. I think we worked well together, and loved our contrasting looks. I enjoyed looking strict, as you may be able to tell.

As you may be able to tell from the two images above, I spent a lot of time fiddling with my hair, that is because I was wearing a hair piece!! (Shhhh!) You may recall from recent posts, that my hair is actually quite short at the moment, but in order to create a huge updo, I needed lots of hair! I was really pleased with how real it looked and although I kept fiddling with it, it felt completely secure and survived until 5am.

See below for hair and make up close ups. Fakery alert!!...fake hair...fake lashes...fake brows!!!!

I promise that is actually my face though...

Stay tuned for part 2 when I clocked off from secretarial duties, changed frock, got drunk and danced 'til dawn

Photography by Hanson Leatherby Photography

The Need for Tweed

2011-12-01T14:56:00.001-08:00

Saturday's Tweed Run was super for many reasons:

It didn't rain
We were invited by Rugby Ralph Lauren
We got to wear amaaaazing jackets from Rugby
We all rode Pashleys
There were so many lovely people there
Did I mention it didn't rain?

The super sponsor meant that there was definitely a different feel to last time; there were lots of trendy blogger types, and not a Penny Farthing in sight, but there was still the same inclusive and friendly atmosphere.

There is something extremely appealing about tweed. On almost anyone it quickly adds an air of sophistication and lets face it, men in tweed look mighty fine. Whether you accessorise with a tweed cap or dress head to toe in a three piece tweed suit, tweed makes you feel good and keeps you warm to boot. Plus it's as English as tea and crumpets.

The first group of photographs were taken with a Leica M9P full frame digital rangefinder:

The following photographs were shot on film using a 1950's Leica M3:

Photography by Hanson Leatherby

Mary Mary Quite Contrary

2011-11-27T12:47:00.001-08:00

I was delighted when Shona from Heyday! asked me to model for her again. Luckily enough, me and Le Photographer had a trip to Cambridge planned last weekend so were able to find an interesting location to shoot the outfits. There was an old discarded red telephone box in an orchard now serving as a caravan site which made an interesting backdrop, the trees were all wintry and full of berries and and we were lucky that it was another bright and beautiful autumn day. However, it was bloody freezing posing without a coat...I hope I hid how cold I was well!

The new 1940s Mary dresses are now in a matte fabric which make them really flattering and they seem to disguise any lumpy bits that you may have, like that little bit of podge that hangs over the top of your girdle ;-)

They also have that great quality of being perfect for day or evening wear. They are really versatile and can easily be dressed up for a night out on the tiles as well as worn with a casual cardi for a day at the office.

Something that appeals to me greatly is that they hardly need any ironing, and don't seem to crease at all. Both these dresses had been crushed in a tiny suitcase and not ironed before I put them on...brilliant!

There's something quite sexy about that neckline too. Its really flattering on the bust without showing any cleavage, and the little puff sleeves are simply darling.

The zip at the back is very discreet and make it extremely easy to get in and out of, if like me you do your hair and put your face on before you get dressed!

If you head over to Heyday! now you will find some of these fab dresses in the sale because they were made up half a size smaller, and there is more stock on its way in!

Heyday! Mary 1940s dress in Black and Dynamite £60

Photography by Hanson Leatherby

Sneaky Tweedy Preview

2011-11-24T14:34:00.001-08:00

The Vintage Mafia are so excited about this Saturday's Rugby Ralph Lauren Tweed Run. Its that childish excitement that makes you squeal Eeeek at the thought of it. The April 2011 Tweed Run that I took part in, was honestly the most exciting and fun day out I've ever had in London (and I've lived here all my life!), so taking part on the invitation of Rugby itself, and riding with the rest of the Mafia, and my fella in tow, seems like the most perfect day out.

Not only have we been invited by Rugby to take part, but those of us that don't already own them are being kindly lent beautiful Pashleys to ride. We are lucky gals!

We have also been kindly gifted an item from the Rugby collection to wear on the day. Thanks Ralph!! Boy, we've been spoilt!

Here is a sneek preview of my Rugby Ralph Lauren Special Edition Tweed Run jacket...yikes!!!

The invitation

The instruction manual - Sartorial Advice

How we should look

So stand by folks, there is sure to be a deluge of photographs following Saturdays event!

Up North

2011-11-02T13:13:00.000-07:00

We spent a glorious weekend in Scarborough and Whitby in North Yorkshire. It's terrible really, but I am ashamed to say that I haven't travelled all that much in England (it seems I hardly leave London these days), so when I do, I am always so pleasantly overwhelmed by the beauty and vastness of the green spaces that are to be enjoyed outside of this smoky old town.

We stayed in the aptly named Scarborugh Grand Hotel, a stunning an imposing Victorian building built and designed around the concept of time. It has 4 towers to represent the four seasons, 12 floors for each month, 52 chimneys for the weeks, and 365 rooms for the days of the year. If you were to view it from above you would be able to see that it is also built in the shape of a V for Victoria.

Scarborough itself, although full of old pretty buildings and features and a lovely beach, suffers from the typical seaside town infliction of tacky arcades and crappy shops that seem to take away from the enjoyment of the original aesthetic.

Whitby on the other hand, just half an hour drive away, has an entirely different atmosphere. The town is known for its twice annual Goth Weekend, one of which takes this coming weekend, and flocking of Bram Stoker tourists, who flock to the Abbey that inspired the superb Dracula tale. As it was Halloween, and the Bram Stoker festival, the town was full of all types of brilliantly attired and costumed people, from Goths, steam punks and characters that seem to have walked straight out of Stoker's novel. The atmosphere created by this varied crowd was positively electric and the little town had the feel of inclusiveness for everyone, young and old alike.

What was interesting for us as we wandered around watching the goths and steampunks get asked to pose for photos on every corner, was that for once, we weren't the strangest dressed people there! Although we were actually asked to pose for a photo by one couple who notice us anyway.

Here is a small (!) selection of our holiday snaps........

I hope to see some of you this Saturday at the Ric Rac Club. It's going to be a fab night, so if standing out in the cold staring up at the sky isn't your bag, The Vintage Mafia will have plenty of sparkly bits to keep you entertained.

Toodle pip!

Yesterday Girl Sells

2011-10-24T12:13:00.000-07:00

Its that time again....need to clear out a few bits from the wardrobe to make room for shiny new (old) things.Rather than put them on ebay I thought I would make these items available exclusively to my readers. If you have any questions about any of the items, please drop me a line at yesterdaygirl@hotmail.co.uk. Happy shopping!

This 1940s dress is perfect for winter. It is made from a heavy cotton and is super cosy. It is a lovely sea green and comes with a really unusal belt made from bronze thread. It buttons to the waist, has a side zip and pleated skirt.Measurements: Bust 38" Waist 32" Length from shoulder to skirt hem 39" Hips 40"

Please excuse the creases....I did actually think I'd ironed this...until I put it on the mannequin

A small amount of TLC is needed on the collar

£50.00

This shows the colour closer to the what it really looks like

£40.00

Sale and Social

2011-10-18T13:52:00.000-07:00

This Sunday The Vintage Mafia and friends will be once again taking over that lovely little Shoreditch diner, The Love Shake, and selling off some of our own vintage and repro clothes. Unfortunately, it's the last sale of the year (boo!) however we will not only be joined by the ravishing Red Legs, but also by the incurably glamorous Harriet, and Auntie Maureen will be bringing her collection of menswear for the vintage loving man in your life. What more could you want on a Sunday afternoon?

If you are in London on Sunday and have considered joining us, lets hope that this snapshot of the last sale will push you into making an affirmative decision regarding your attendance.

You may notice from these pics, that since I last blogged many moons ago, I have cut my hair. It all got a bit hot stick frazzled and I woke up one morning with scissors glinting in my eye. Sounds a little manic, and I suppose it was, the urge to chop was unbearable, and I am left with a cute 50s do which feels soooo much healthier. I will probably grow it back to shoulder lengthy, but it definitely needed a good chop for health's sake. Whaddayathink?

Thanks to Hanson Leatherby for the lovely photos

Hope to see you there at the Love Shake, Shoreditch, this Sunday between 4pm and 7pm

The Ric Rac Club, A Photographic Spectacular

2011-09-21T14:50:00.000-07:00

Hello dear readers,

The pictures of The Vintage Mafia's Ric Rac Club night which took place on the 10th September are finally ready for viewing! We had a fab time, and think all of our wonderful guests did too.

The reason the pics weren't uploaded and shared the next day, is because our lovely photographer for the night, appropriately uses a vintage camera and film, so the process is obviously longer, but well worth the wait I think you'll agree!

Hanson Leatherby shoots with film using vintage German and European cameras. He believes that vintage life should be illustarted in true vintage style, and the only way to embody the spirit is to use real equipment of the day.

Some of the pictures offer a behind the scenes peek of us getting ready and setting up the space, and I haven't told the girls that I am putting pictures of us stuffing our faces with pork pies before all the guests arrived!! Sorry girls! I hope I won't be cast out of the Mafia for this, but they are way too funny not to include....

I wore a 1950s powder blue party frock, with beautiful ruffles and hand sewn flowers that I bought from ebay for £30. It was perfect for lots of spinning and dancing!

More from Heyday!

2011-09-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

Here is another peek of the shoot Hanson and I did for Shona and Heyday! We shot quite a few outfits so I'm splitting the posts up not to bombard you with pictures of me ;-)

I am wearing the Bow Top in the new Rose and Pink Stripe fabric. I think you'll agree its mighty pretty and looks superb with the Heyday! red swing trousers....

In my Heyday!

2011-09-11T14:14:00.000-07:00

Last night was the first ever Ric Rac Club hosted by myself and my glamorous comrades, The Vintage Mafia. Thanks to all the marvellous attendees, it was better than we could have ever imagined. You will have to wait a little while for some pictures but in the mean time I have something else to bring to your attention.

I was thrilled when wonderful Shona from Heyday! said she had a new dress design she wanted me to model. The Judy dress is a superbly versatile cotton dress from a 1950s design, which can be worn as a comfortable day dress, or taken into the evening.

The fabric is a cerise version of the Garden Circles fabric that is also used on the Fleur dress, and has pretty little buttons and lovely stitching detail around the neck.

I love!

A Whole Page!

2011-09-08T14:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right....in this weeks Time Out, The Vintage Mafia have a whole page dedicated to our new club night The Ric Rac Club and we also each share our favourite vintage London club nights with you.

We are so proud to be featured...thanks Time Out!!

Bethan's arm added extra ;-)

What a Strumpet!

2011-09-04T12:12:00.000-07:00

On this grey Sunday evening I am absolutely delighted to be able to introduce you to my lovely new sponsors, Hello Strumpet. The super talented Kitty and Wanda are the makers of fabulous vintage inspired hats, collars and accessories for the most glamorous of vintage loving lovelies.

A word from our sponsors....

Havinghad such fun with scissors as children, KittyDuBois & Wanda Von Wink continue their love affair with all thingslacy, frilly, tweedy and delicious with their own accessoriescollection - Strumpet! They long for the days when hat wearing was derigueur and ladies made a real commitment to glamour on adaily basis. Inspired by Hollywood starlets, 1930's travel, AgathaChristie novels and turn of the century magic, spiritualism andsideshows they create tiny cocktail hats for all occasions – weddings,bar mitzvahs, cruise liner launches or indeed, all day,everyday - with a distinctly vintage look providing affordable glamourfor every gal! They carefully source top quality heritage fabrics -harris tweed, cotton velvet, liberty prints - along with re-lovedvintage fabrics and trims and hand-make all of theirpieces at their salon in Edinburgh. They also make cute Peter Pancollars which add a touch of vintage glamour to any tight sweater andare about to add adorable ankle spats to their autumn/ winter range.Shop online at: Hellostrumpet.etsy.comor visit their blog: thedailystrumpet.wordpress.comfor more details

Their fine handcrafted products speak for themselves...

The Minnie

The Fay

The Amelia


The Mamie

Tallulah Ankle Spats

I think my favourites are the Minnie and the Mamie, what about you? They have an absolutely beautiful selection of collars too, which I think are such a good idea to add a touch of glamour to brighten up a plain sweater or cardigan. If you're getting married soon, and haven't decided on headwear yet, then definitely check out their collection of bridal hats. Stunning.

I love Strumpet's use of fabrics too, you can't go wrong with Harris Tweed and Liberty prints!

So ladies, if you are in the market for something beautiful and handmade, for either yourself or a friend, then pay a visit to Scotland's super Strumpet's Kitty and Wanda and their amazing shop here

Jen.x

P.S If you are planning on attending The Vintage Mafia Presents...The Ric Rac Club next Saturday, then you may be in with a chance of winning one of Hello Srumpet's delightful pieces, as they have kindly created a hat especially for our raffle! Thanks girls! (Sadly I'm not allowed to enter myself...)

Its that time again...

2011-08-29T11:38:00.000-07:00

This Summer has been a bit of a washout. Oh ok, so I'm being a terrible cliché again and discussing the weather, but it seems that we had our Summer in April and May this year, and the majority of the time since then, poor old Blighty has been rather dreary. There has hardly been a day when I've left the house without some kind of jacket which is not how I like to think my Summer should be, and now, still in August, there is a positive nip in the air. I smell Autumn just around the corner. So ladies, of course this means, time to start planning the Winter wardrobe!!

Ok, so it might seem a little early, but if you're like me and have to budget your list of wants, then its best to start searching and buying those things as early as possible to ensure that by the time the Winter weather is upon us, you are not caught without thick stockings and sensible shoes!

It will soon be time to put the sandals away and get the weatherproof footwear out. I have just bought a sensible-ish pair of lace up shoes to begin the season with. They are past season Miss L Fire Panama, and ok, they may not be wellies, but for me, Miss Impractical Wardrobe, they are pretty sensible. They also come in an amzing Cobalt blue...less practical for matching with clothes, but super stylish. I got mine on Amazon.

Speaking of Miss L Fire, if you follow them on Facebook, then you will have seen that they have just released images of their Autumn/Winter 2011 collection, and eeeek!!! Its a goody!!! Every year us vintage girls complain about not finding the perfect vintage looking boots and shoes. They have three pairs in this coming season's collection that I think will give me the perfect winter footwear wardrobe

Daywear: I love these Landgirl shoes in Navy. I think they look so comfy and can imagine they look really cute with skirt and blouse combos

Casual: These Ivy ankle boots in green and brown are exactly what I have been looking for. I never seem to have any footwear for when I do anything practical, or if I leave the concrete of the big city. I think these will be a great addition to my wardrobe and are perfect for wintry walks in the countryside

Smart: How bloody fabulous are these Lois boots? Although the other two are gorgeous and really practical, I'm a short girl that likes a heel, and these are super sexy. They also come in Navy and Black. I want now!!

You'll have to wait a little while yet, these beauties aren't even up on the website, but when I purchase my first pair I will be sure to scream about it!

For the last two years, I have purchased my winter coats in the middle of Summer. Last year I planned it that way as I know that its sensible to browse on ebay for out of season garments if you want a bargain. This year it was accidental and actually one of the hottest days of the year! I saw this on a stall for a bargainous 30 quid at War and Peace. How do you like my 1950s faux leopard fur swing coat?

Oh, and don't forget your warm stockings. I swear by these in Winter!

Well the prospect of a bitterly short Summer coming to an end may be depressing, but I think there are many wardobe delights to look forward to in order to cheer me up!

The Vintage Mafia Presents...The Ric Rac Club

2011-08-24T07:38:00.000-07:00

Well hello there,

I have been banished from London for the last week and a half due to some unfortunate circumstances and I missed the Vintage Mafia's Sunday Sale and Social, but I hope that those of you that went had fun and managed to bag yourself a bargain or two.

If you follow the Vintage Mafia on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, (if you do, thanks!) you will know that we have been getting very excited about our first club night The Ric Rac Club, which takes place on Saturday 10th September.

We are all super excited, but also a little nervous. We've tried really hard to think up something a little different. There are lots of great club nights and events that vintage-istas can attend if they want to be amongst people who dress with impeccable vintage style, listen to great bands and dance the night away. However we felt that there can be alot of pressure at these nights to look the part and know the dance moves, which can be a little scary if you are just getting into the vintage scene. So, we wanted to bring together lots of our favourite people, those that have been on the scene for years, and those who haven't. We want to give the kind of people that send us messages saying that they dont know where to meet people who have the same vintage interests an opportunity to come along and say hello to a bunch of fun loving gals who will be happy to introduce them to lots of friendly people.

We will be having a go at DJing ourselves, there will be fun impromptu solo dance lessons (so no pressure to be left without a partner!), an amazing FREE raffle, FREE booze and fun, fun fun!!

If you want to come along, you can book tickets here in advance for the bargainous price of £8, or pay £10 on the door. Or you can reserve yourself an £8 ticket on the door by e-mailing talk@thevintagemafia.com and adding yourself to the reserve list.

If you are one of those lovely people who are new to the scene and doesn't have anyone to go with, feel free to drop me an e-mail and let me know that you'll be attending solo, and I'll make sure that I personally will introduce you to other people who I think you'll get along with.

If you don't know what to expect, here is evidence of other Vintage Mafia nights out, so you can see how it usually ends up....if you think you might like to join us in this extreme silliness, then book your tickets now, they are selling fast!!

Ok, you get the idea! Hope to see you there!! xxx

The Sun Lounger

2011-08-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

Wowsers! The fine folk over at Puttin' on the Ritz have really outdone themselves this time! Ladies, I am proud as punch to present to you the Sun Lounger, a cute as a button 1940s playsuit from Puttin on the Ritz.

As always, tailor made lovingly from a vintage pattern

Ok, so there wasn't much sun, but I did do a small amount of lounging for this shoot. I am modelling the cherry on vanilla cotton version, but it's also available in plain coloured cotton...and maybe even some polka dots!

I adore the ruffled shoulders on the cropped blouse. The square neck is so flattering too

I teamed mine with bamboo bangles, and felt right at home in this beautiful bamboo garden

At £65, this tailor made playsuit is a steal. I'm sure there are a few more hot days left of this British Summer, and I will definitely be stepping out in my Sun Lounger

Happy Birthday Puttin' on the Ritz!

To celebrate the 1st Birthday of this fine shop, Puttin on the Ritz are giving away one of their Lady Swinburn brown faux mink stoles.

Click here for your chance to win!

Many thanks once again to the handsome Hanson Leatherby for his wonderful achievements in the field of photographing me

Vintage at Sunny Southbank: Days 2 & 3

2011-08-05T04:00:00.000-07:00

Day 2 and I was hot, hormonal and grumpy. But I put on a smile and my gorgeous Horrockses frock and headed back to the Southbank for more super selling!

The proud shop keeper and her wrinkled bed sheet

Instead of my stall being positioned next to the Olympiad, on Saturday we moved it into the Vintage Village amongst all the clothes and nic nacs....and also next to the bins. Oh the glamour

To be more precise, in between the bins and the portaloos

The reason I wore my Horrockses dress, was not just because it is fabulous, but because on the mock high street there was a Horrockses shop. It was very pretty indeed, and was full of pretty bed linen made from original Horrockses prints. As I was wearing a Horrockses frock, I was photographed inside the shop and entered into the 'best in show' competition. I also entered two other competitions in there so fingers crossed I win some bed linen or a repro dress!

I didn't stick around on Saturday either as I had a family party to attend in the evening and wasn't feeling my usual cheerful self, so once again I didn't really get much an idea of what was going on across the festival. What I did experience was food. Lots of it. They had a great food area with some really yummy looking choices. My fave was the mac and cheese stall!

On Sunday a mass of glamorous vintage bloggers and lovely chums appeared and spent some time hanging around the Chap stall which meant I got to enjoy their company and their outfits.

Miss Hannah, Charly of LandGirl 1980, Shona of Heyday! fame, and me

I wore my other current favourite dress, a 1950s barkcloth leaf print beauty with a corseted tie at the front. The giant hat made another appearance. I actually bought it on Friday at the festival and it never left my head! I found a similar one for Bethan on the same stall so we were hat twins all weekend and managed to keep poking people in the eye with our brims. He he....


I finally met Charlotte from Tuppence Ha'penny!

Sunday evening we all finally got to relax and try and have some fun. I had a wander around, danced with the girls and actually had a lovely evening.

I stumbled upon the Let It Rock 50s club and wish I'd payed it a visit earlier in the weekend because it was fab!

Although all the different spaces were spread apart and some people have said that it made the atmosphere appear slightly lacking, I actually think that there was a really nice feel to the whole place. Whether or not you are into the same era and music or clothes style, you were surrounded by people who were all there to enjoy themselves. It was so great to be among friends all weekend, even if many of them were busy and working themselves on various projects around the site, seeing so many familiar faces and friends from the vintage community around all weekend was certainly a big plus.

Patriotic Minna and my hat twin Bethan


Me and Fleur. Hot, exhausted but happy

So yes, I had a great time. But I understand that other people that didn't had valid reasons. I think I would have been annoyed if I'd paid £60 a day. Especially as that didn't even include the headline 'revue' acts each night. I know others working there had horrible experience too, but lucky me, my boss was my best pal, and I was actually getting paid, and hanging out with all my chums at the same time.

Lets hope that by next year all the problems can finally be ironed out, and everyone that wants to be involved, and is passionate about vintage, is able to enjoy themselves as much as I did.

Vintage at Sunny Southbank: Day 1

2011-08-03T12:49:00.000-07:00

This weekend Wayne Hemingway brought his Vintage festival to the Southbank. I was slightly dubious, not only because I'd heard some horror stories from last year, but because I wasn't sure how it was going to work. The fliers didnt communicate very clearly what was free and what you got exclusively if you paid for a £60 ticket.

However, I was looking forward to it because I love this old town of mine and I love Vintage, and as a bonus, I was asked to work for the Chap Magazine for the weekend which meant I go to hang out with all my favourite people, and get free passes all weekend.

I'm not going to bore you with a step by step guide to what I did all weekend. I spent the majority of my time peddling Chap magazines and Bounder's moustache wax to the great British public...oh and posing for photos...lots and lots of photos. The Chap crowd became a sort of freak show for the tourists and I was starting to get slightly peeved when people continued to take pictures of me even when I was stuffing my face with greasy chips.

Wearing my current favourite frock; a white a blue atomic print waffle fabric big ball of amazingness, we set up the stall under the London Eye, and then the first daily Chap Olympiad began.

We tried to get our MC Mr Langlois a bigger loudhailer but couldn't find one

The opening Ceremony and the smoking of the Olympic pipe

The Games begin! Mr Marlowe takes on a passing boy scout at the Lobster Joust

I then had to stop taking pictures of the games and start selling magazines! But only until I stole someones child as an excuse to go on the pretty carousel.

There were some interesting characters hanging around, and looking less than normal ourselves, we seemed to attract them. I got accosted by this Chaplin chap at one point...

Hanging out with fellow blogger Margaret of Penny Dreadful in our 50s frocks

As a favour to the wonder Tally Ho! cycle tours who let us store all our equipment in their lock up over night, we helped them cycle all the beautiful Pashleys back to the storage for them. Oh such a chore!

Ruthy and Bethy looking ready to ride

And that was Friday. I had a brief wander around the vintage village which was the free part, but I only went inside the Royal Festival Hall for a quick G & T in the late afternoon and didnt stick around for the evening as I was tired and wanted to get some beauty sleep for the long weekend ahead. There was a bit of a faff in the morning when we went to collect our passes which was really annoying at the time, but in hindsight, and as someone who works in events, I can't imagine what it is like to organise something of this scale and not have a few teething problems. Besides, I had fun, and that's all that matters right?

Stay tuned for the rest of the weekend...

Faking It

2011-07-26T13:03:00.000-07:00

I have discussed this with my vintage girlfriends many a time. If we were to go on Snog, Marry, Avoid, (a make-under programme in which badly dressed, over styled and generally 'fake' looking individuals are stripped of all their make up, fake nails etc) we would probably matchup to those orange/mahogany skinned girls with horrible looking ratty hair extensions. Vintage girls love fakery. I enjoy looking like my face has been painted on. I have spent years perfecting this look and take pride in my eyebrows. I dont want them to look real. My aim is to look a bit like a mannequin head with a painted face. When I let my hair go to its natural brown it freaked me out becuase I could no longer draw my eyebrows on black, and my look had lost some of its drama. (I've recently dyed my hair and painted my eyebrows back to black).

Not only are my eyebrows very fake, and my make up look anything but natural, I haven't been outside the house with my hair in its natural straight state for years, I often wear fake nails too, and even when I'm not I NEVER go out with unpainted finger and toe nails.

Last night I thought I would try some semi-permanent lashes. After a photo shoot last week in which I was wearing the most spectacular lashes I thought it might be nice to give them a go on a more permanent basis.

I'm not altogether unpleased with my normal lashes. Naturally they are quite fanned out, so mascara makes them appear quite long. However I HATE the fact that the end lashes are shorter than the middle ones. Not at all like that perfect vision of sweeping lashes opening up the eye by appearing longer at the ends. So I purchased Eylure semi permanent individual lashes and decided to give them a whirl.

Before

After

Both pictures are without mascara or eyeliner

Application:

Tricky in the least. I applied 4 of the individual 'bunches' to each eye, and this took me almost an hour. You are advised to use tweezers but I found it was easier to use my fingers. I kept dropping them when I used the tweezers or putting them in place completely wonky. The glue doesn't seem to be enough either. More than half the little bottle is now gone after one application but I have only used a third of the packet of lashes.

Effect:

You can see from my before and after pictures that the result is an impressive but natural looking set of lovely long lashes. Applying mascara over them was easy and I didn't feel at any point like I was going to pull them out with the mascara wand.

Staying power:

Its only been one day since I put them on and one of the bunches fell off today. However, I think that might be a fault of my application. I think it might be wise to get a friend to help next time. After applying them as advised I actually have since swept the gluey wand across the top of the join of lashes and they definitely feel more secure. Whether or not they will last 4 weeks remains to be seen......

A Rainbow of Good Sports

2011-07-19T11:54:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the Chap and Chapette's non-sporting event of the year, The Chap Olympiad. A chance for the well dressed of London, (and those dedicated non-Londoners) to picnic in the sun, take part in alot of silliness, and promenade around the beautiful Bedford Gardens in their Summer finery. Or not. This year instead of all of the above we all huddled under umbrellas, moaned alot and then drank even more. Cries of 'it's a ruddy monsoon' and 'call this Summer??' could be heard echoing around the square. But did we let it ruin the day? Did we hell! In fact, when the sun momentarily came out from under its blanket, we were so grateful that it made the rain nothing more than a teeny obstacle that must be endured in order for us to truly deserve the title of 'British'.

As much as I was looking forward to attending the Olympiad, the thing I was MOST excited about was the unveiling of our Vintage Mafia team uniform. Well we couldn't compete in any old un-matching outfits could we?? The amazing Shona of Heyday! after lots of faffing from us, managed to get us 6 amazing custom Fleur dresses made up in rainbow colours, then we had each of our initials embroidered on them. Yay!! I was Miss Purple.

Aren't they simply darling?! The event that we were taking part in was a new event for this year entitled 'Ironing Board Surfing' in which one team member was to be carried across the course on the ironing board without spilling their drink. Well, Naomi wasn't exactly 'surfing' on the ironing board, nor did she have a drink, but we still won! We did have a little help from someone pretending to be Gemma (who sadly couldn't attend). That's the thing about the Olympiad, its a bit of silliness, and celebrates 'non' sporting prowess, so if you are competitive, its best not to take part because the choosing of the winners is not exactly what one might describe as fair!

I had possibly the best number a spy could ever ask for

I also took part in the 'Breifcase Phalanx' in which Chaps had to break through a phalanx of briefcase beating chaps to see who could deliver me, the secretary, a message to type on the typewriter first. Well it all got rather boisterous and a wee bit scary, at one point I thought I was going to end up with the table upturned on top of me under a pile of drunken chaps!!

As I am a rubbish blogger, I failed to take any photos, and my 'official' photographer is yet to develop the ones he took, but I'm sure that the following video made by Fleur will illustrate the day to you better than any badly taken pics. Enjoy!

Seeing Red: The Big Band Frock from Puttin' On The Ritz

2011-07-01T04:53:00.000-07:00

I am utterly delighted to present to you this wonderful 1940s frock from Puttin' On The Ritz. If you've never had any clothing tailor made for you, I recommend you treat yourself, and what better place to start than with The Big Band dress, new from Puttin' on the Ritz's Summer collection.

The Big Band dress is based on an original 1940s dress pattern and is made from 100% light cotton fabric. As well as this superb red it is also available in cream, pale yellow, coral pink, pistachio green, and dresden blue. It has a gently puffed sleeve, button to the waist front, and darling little belt. The colour is so unbelievably vibrant and reminds me of when you see footage of the 1940s in colour, and people's clothes look extra bright as you are used to seeing them in black and white.

I couldn't help but accesorize mine with my parasol, and not just because it matched nicely, (but because the searing sun was burning holes in my retinas.) But, this frock is truely perfect for every occasion. It works well for the day, in the office, a promenade through the park, maybe a little jitterbug or even a stroll by moonlight....

Big Band dress £95.00

Many thanks to the wonderful Hanson Leatherby for his photographic talents

Has it really been THAT long???

2011-06-23T12:41:00.000-07:00

Cripes, it's been a month since my last post!! I can assure you this wasn't intentional, although I'm grateful for a little break to be honest. The last month has been a surreal whirlwind (a good one ;-) ) but I suppose thats always the way....life just creeps up on you when you least expect it.

I'm not going to try and recall everything I've done in the last month, but I will mention Swing For Skin (about 3 weeks after all the other bloggers) just because it was such a fab event and for a brilliant cause.

Photos courtesy of the superbly talented Mr. Hanson Leatherby

Last weekend was Fleur, Bethan and Torquil's joint birthday party. It was a cake fest, filled with glamorous vintage types, set to a backdrop of metal music (yes really). It was super fun to see so many lovely people. Fleur has blogged about it here and has some lovely pics.

Fleur celebrated turning 30 by eating herself

Time for some big and exciting news!! We've been planning and plotting away at Mafia Towers for a while now, and I am excited to announce that the Vintage Mafia's Sunday Sale and Social will be taking place at The Love Shake in Shoreditch on Sunday 3rd July. Not only will be exclusively hiring out that fabulous little diner to sell off some of our own personal vintage and repro clothing collections, but we are doing it in a really great venue, where you can hang out in a booth, eat burgers, get sozzled on boozy milkshakes, listen to super music, and generally have a great time with other vintage lovelies. If you are in town that day, it would great to see you there! (P.s....Shhhhhh! We have something even more exciting planned for September, but I didn't tell you that)

Well if Mother Nature ever actually pulls her finger out, and remembers that the bout of sunshine we had in April does not constitute Summer, I might actually enjoy putting on a pretty frock and a pair of sandals. I've got through two umbrellas so far in June....destroyed by the unseasonal torrent of misery bestowed upon us from the skies. Lets hope things brighten up soon as there are some great events to look forward to in the 7th month....

The Event

The Chap Olympiad

Saturday 16th July

Wonderful collage pilfered from Diary of a Vintage Girl

The annual celebration of foppish tomfoolery from The Chap magazine, featuring games such as the Martini Relay, Hop, Skip and G&T, Umbrella Jousting and Cucumber Sandwich Discus. Winning is irrelevant, trying is frowned upon and cheating is positively encouraged

This year the Vintage Mafia are taking part as a team....and yes, we have a matching team outfit planned. I'm particularly looking forward to carrying Naomi in the Ironing Board Surfing competition. Book your tickets here!

The Club Night
Rock n' Rolio

Saturday 2nd July

I must go to this. By blogging about it I am tying myself into some kind of contract that means I will actually go. I've heard great things and the line up for this one is particularly good. Plus its always great to support local East London club nights. The guest DJ will be Diddy Wah, the live act is Lewis Floyd Henry. You can find details of the event here.

As always, to get you in the mood, the good people at Rock n Rolio have produced this promo mix for you to enjoy....

The Exhibition
Toulouse -Latrec and Jane Avril: Beyond The Moulin Rouge
16th June -18th September

Prostitutes, cabaret...absinthe. Need I go on. This looks unbelievably fascinating.

Nicknamed La Mélinite after a powerful form of explosive, the dancer Jane Avril was one of the stars of the Moulin Rouge. Her fame was assured by a series of dazzlingly inventive posters designed by the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Jane Avril became an emblematic figure in Lautrec’s world of dancers, cabaret singers, musicians and prostitutes. This landmark exhibition is the first to celebrate this remarkable creative partnership which has to come to define the world of the Moulin Rouge. Bringing together Toulouse-Lautrec's most famous paintings, posters and prints from international collections, it captures the excitement and spectacle of bohemian Paris in the 1890s.

Learn more about the exhibition here

I promise to not leave it a month before my next post, and maybe even include something about vintage fashion and an outfit post if your really lucky. Yes, I know...bad blogger.

My Vintage Style: Narrowing It Down

2011-05-26T09:55:00.000-07:00

When I started becoming obsessed with vintage clothing I was overwhelmed with a general love for the mid-20th Century. At first the look of any woman from around 1930 to 1960 filled me with excitement. I wanted to rush to my nearest vintage shop and buy something, anything, suitably 'old'. I soon realised that my love was mainly for the 1940s and 1950s. I've always had a thing for the 50s. It started with the music.

The 1950s represents an age when, post war, parts of the world were slowly beginning to get things back together again. Young people finally had discovered 'youth' mostly through this 'crazy' new music, and through new expressions in fashions that were created exclusively for them. Up until then, if you look at clothing for young people, it was almost strictly smaller versions of what their parents had been wearing.

As lovely as they both look, dressing like your mum is never ideal

The 1950s saw the introduction of what I believe one of the most important items of fashion of the 20th Century. The humble pair of jeans. Before the 1950s jeans would have been exclusively worn as work wear. Now, because of something that happened in that decade, jeans are a staple in almost everybodies wardrobe. It was now okay for Teddy Girls to walk around in their tomboy get ups, and for men to abandon their button down shirts and replace them with the t-shirt.

Edwardian retro: Teddy Girls

That's where my vintage fashion obsession started, but it quickly began to move back in time. Growing up, I had always had a fascination with World War II. My dad would take me to the Imperial War Museum and the Cabinet War Rooms, (where I now work) and I was obsessed, obsessed, with Goodnight Sweetheart. I remember thinking that Pheobe was the most beautiful woman ever, and that I wanted to dress up like her. So when I became interested in vintage I started to buy 1940s clothing, practise the hairstyles, and generally, it took over my life as I previously knew it. For me personally, my favourite things to own from that decade, are items that you know can be linked to the war period; like CC41 Utility items, and patriotic prints and accessories.

Dervla Kirwin as Pheobe Bamford in Goodnight Sweetheart

However, after nearly four years, without realising it, I now have a wardrobe full of clothing that fits me well and suits my shape. And as far as my knowledge tells me, it is all mostly from the years between 1947- 1956. I LOVE clothes from earlier in the 1940s, I truly do. But I just don't feel that they suit my body shape as much as the latter 40s and early 50s. I'm small, and the boxier cut of earlier 40s clothing just makes me look, well frankly like a box. I have an hourglass figure shape, but horribly short legs and dreaded 'cankles' (for those of you that aren't familiar with this horrible affliction, it's when your calf and ankle become one, basically leaving you without any ankle to speak of) so benefit from a fuller skirt to make my ankles appear slimmer. Or, the tighter skirts from later in my chosen period also help to elongate my body and accentuate my curves (hopefully detracting attention from my cankles!). Obviously there were women in the 1940s who had the same body shape as me and still looked great, but the difference is, I now have a choice about what era of clothing I wear, and I choose to be vain and pick the exact era that suits me best! That is the beauty of wearing vintage clothing!

I found this wonderful website Fashion Era, on which someone has drawn up the fashion silhouettes from almost every year of the 20th Century. They have some rules about posting images onto websites so you will have to make do with some links for now. This is where the silhouette that I love starts. It's a simple day dress from 1947, but the neck line and shoulders have become rounder and softer, and the skirt is very full, accentuating the waist. Go back just a year earlier and this dress from 1946, although stunning and extremely elegant, has overall, much squarer lines. You can see the accentuated waistline here though, a nod to the New Look, that is just around the corner. So back in 1947 and Dior's extravagant New Look introduces that famous silhouette; full skirt, tiny waist, curvy chest and massive hat!

I have picked a couple of designs from the next few years that I like. This suit from 1949 is not too dissimilar to suits from the early 40s such as this one from 1942, but there is more of an emphasis placed on the shape of the waist, and the overall look is alot more 'grown up' perhaps. The shape of this suit blows me away. Everything about it screams 'I AM WOMAN!' That's one sexy piece of fabric.

So here are a few styles from the later part of this era that I just adore to wear, and that I think suit me the most. The wonderful images are from here.

The thing about fashion is that it's supposed to be fun. It's an expression of who we are, and how we want the rest of the world to see us. The moment you become obsessive about specific dates and getting it so authentically correct in case that idiot at the 40s Weekender points out that your hat is 4 years too early for your shoes, then your kind of missing the point. Yes, I have come to the conclusion after a few years of collecting and wearing vintage that between these dates the clothes that I like most and think suit me best were made. However, if I see a dress from 1943 that I like, and will look nice, then maybe I will buy it, and I won't feel bad about it either.

Vintage Picnic-ing

2011-05-23T06:41:00.000-07:00

Last month we had a beautiful picnic in the balmy April heat wave. As I sit in my bed post tooth extraction waiting for the pain to finally subside, I can't help but day dream about wearing a pretty frock, and being out in the beautiful sunshine again. I adore picnics (who doesn't?!) I think being a born and bred Town girl, I love any opportunity to eat outside, and put my bare feet in the grass. So, searching through Etsy, I picked a few things to create a stylish vintage picnic.

Blend in with the borders in these floral beauties:

Find here on Etsy

Buy here on Etsy

Find here on Etsy


Find here on Etsy

Carry your tasty treats in a yummy hamper:

Find here on Etsy

Don't forget your sun protection:

Buy here on Etsy

Find here on Etsy

Anyone for tennis?

Find here on Etsy

For when you grow tired of the bird song:

Buy here

Happy Picnic-ing!

Punts, Picnics and Pretty Frocks

2011-05-15T13:31:00.000-07:00

I would have had this post out sooner if it were not for the great Blogger crash of 2011....

Coming from rather humble roots, I can't say that punting is an activity that I have happened to try before. However, knowing that Oxford is a beautiful city, and rather liking the idea of sitting in a punt, moving lazily down a river while a man with a big stick propels me along, I was thrilled when The New Sheridan Club announced their annual punting and picnic trip.

Myself and Fleur travelled up on the train while the skies threatened rain, but we were lucky that it held off all day until literally the moment we stepped out the punt.

I wore my new to me, Horrockses dress which is simply a dream to wear and Fleur wore the prettiest floral yellow frock with added ruffley bits!

Here are some pretty pics and a silly video....

I absolutely loved punting and will definitely endeavour to do it again, but maybe next time I will go to Cambridge, just to show I'm not biased...

Also, me and the gals have started a Facebook page, Twitter and Tumblr for the Vintage Mafia as we have some projects lined up....its also just a good way to follow our collective silliness and vintage adventures ;-)

A Struggle......and a frock

2011-05-05T09:46:00.000-07:00

Yes...unfortunately that is what blogging feels like this week. I have been off work ill (with both a stomach bug and chest infection???...FML) and spent three days trying to write up my blog post for the Royal Wedding day and the long weekend. I give up. Something annoying is going on with my computer/blogger and it won't let me upload certain pictures, which would simply make the blog post a big long rambling load of words and nothing pretty to look at. So while I can't upload those pictures, I can, at the moment still upload this picture of my newest Swirl dress. While I'm feeling miserable and sorry for myself, its the little things in life (namely pretty vintage frocks) that still have the ability to make me smile.

My gorgeous 1950s frock has big bunches of grapes printed in orange and pink. It is slightly shorter than I would like but luckily has enough fabric on the hem for me to take down. I am wearing my Rocket Originals Judy shoes.

The photo is taken at the RHS Wisley gardens where we went on Sunday to see Gemma sing with the Panama Cafe Orchestra. She of course looked stunning and sounded superb.

After we watched Gem sing, we frolicked around the rockery and in the long grass and generally just enjoyed being somewhere beautiful outside London. Apart from the chilly wind, it was a beautiful day!

L-R Bethan, Me, Shona, Naomi and Fleur

Right! Back to bed for me ;-)

Vintage Shennanigans After Hours at the Churchill War Rooms

2011-04-24T13:39:00.000-07:00

Calling all culture vultures and vintage fashion fans!! You are invited to spend the evening of Friday 13th May at the Churchill War Rooms as part of the Museums at Night celebrations from 6-10pm for an array of after-hours 1940s themed entertainment.

Get yourself in the mood with authentic music of the era, before visiting the Vintage Boudoir, a team of fabulous Forties fashion experts, including myself, Lisa, Fleur and Gemma, will be on hand to transform you, with 1940s hair and make-up. There will even be a dressing up box complete with period clothes and accessories to try on. When you’re transformed, make sure you have your picture taken by the original No.10 Downing Street door in the Churchill Museum!

History buffs will enjoy the chance to chat to the Director and pick his brain about the great wartime leader and those who want to find out more about the historically significant site can join one of the informal guided tours taking place throughout the evening.

Do come and say hello, me an the girls are going to be having lots of fun in our vintage boudoir. I think this will be a really great night and an exciting chance to explore the Churchill War Rooms after hours!

Adults only
Admission: Adults £15.95, Seniors and Students £12.80, Visitors with disabilities £9.60 (Carer admitted free of charge) Book your ticket by calling 020 7416 543

Lipstick Review: No 7 and Poppy King

2011-04-15T16:27:00.000-07:00

Once again, I'm back on the trail of finding the perfect red lipstick. This time I've been lucky enough to trial the new lipstick for Boots No 7 range, which is a collaboration with designer Poppy King. Poppy is a self styled lipstick queen who started her own cosmetics company as a teenager and has had huge success at home in Australia. She is also a very glamorous vintage gal.

I genuinely adore No 7 products so was very excited by this range. If you're like me and you get excited by some pretty packaging then you will see that this range does not disappoint. It comes in a cute little box which automatically makes it seem slightly 'higher end' and the tube itself is a shimmery purple, just like the No 7 mascara I reviewed a while back.

The lipsticks are what I would call 'vintage sized' and are reminiscent of the smaller lipsticks of yesteryear, which are practical for slipping into a teeny 30s beaded bag (or stuffing down your bra).

Appropriately the colour that I was sent to try is called History and looks in the tube like a deep red.

For each lipstick in the range there is also a lip gloss of the same name

Here is a short video from designer Poppy King talking about History

Application

I applied straight on to my lips without any balm or primer. I didn't use lip liner as I wanted to see if it stayed or bled.

Application with this lipstick is really nice. It is creamy and slightly translucent, therefore it needs a couple of layers to build up the colour, but gives you the option to have it slightly lighter for more of a day shade. It stayed for a couple of hours, until I ate and reapplied, and didn't bleed.

I have found before from reviewing lipsticks and comparing with friends, that colours can look completely different on one person than they do on another.

Of course, all of our natural lip colours are different and this does effect the way the colour looks on each of us.

Poppy says in the above video that when you wear this red lipstick 'you're going to feel a boldness, and like anything is possible' This may be true if perhaps you are not accustomed to wearing red lipstick on a daily basis, but I think that it doesn't have the same striking boldness of pigment that MAC's Russian Red has for example. But again, that may be because on my lips I found History to have more of a dark rose red pigment. That's not to say that I don't like the colour. I have alot of red lipsticks....more than I can wear, but I actually think that I can find a place for this in my 'daily wear' category of lipsticks. History will be great for when I am out and about and want to reapply quickly, maybe even without looking in the mirror, because of its moistness and translucent quality I don't have to worry too much about getting it obviously out of place around my lips.

My camera is rubbish...this makes it look alot more subtle than it actually is, although it does show the rose colour

It's £12 price tag means its not the cheapest of lipsticks, but not shockingly expensive either. Its what I would expect to pay for a No 7 product, however remember that it is smaller than a normal, full size tube.

I rate No 7 and Poppy King's History lipstick 8/10

You can see the other shades in the range here

These are Poppy's tips for getting your lipstick to last:

Choose lipsticks that have less glossy formulations.
Apply lipstick straight from the tube.
Blot with a tissue and apply again.
Apply lip liner over the entire lip before applying lipstick.
Take off the lipstick after lunch and re-apply from the beginning. This should last you right through the afternoon

In case you haven't seen it yet, here is Fleur's tutorial on 1940s glamorous lipstick application:

Disclosure: I was sent this free lipstick to review. All views and opinions expressed are my own.

Vintage London - The Tweed Run 2011

2011-04-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

The registration process for the 3rd annual London Tweed Run was over in a flash. Nigh on 500 places were snapped up online in a matter of minutes leaving many a disgruntled wannabe Tweed Runner bemoaning the process, and if I hadn't managed to bag myself a ticket in those brief minutes back in January I too would not have been best pleased.

However...hurrah for me!! Myself and Fleur sat, laptops on knees, eagerly awaiting the moment we could register, and found ourselves as Runners numbers 143 and 187!!

There was just one catch about my being part of the 'metropolitan bicycle ride with a bit of style'.....I don't own a bike, nor have I ridden one for about 10 years. But, after one begging e-mail and alot of finger crossing, the wonderful people at Pashley agreed to lend us bicycles!!! And not just any old bicycles but Special Edition Pashley Brittanias!!!!!! HUZZAH!

We both agreed we weren't going to wear Tweed...we'll leave that to the Gents. After all, they wear it awfully well. With an early blast of Summer, why not get out a pretty Summer frock and let it flutter behind in the breeze (being careful of course that it doesn't get caught in the spokes and drag you into the curb).

Naomi used her special skills to blag herself a ticket last minute....yay! and was lent a beautiful Pashley from Tally Ho! Cycle Tours.

Double yay! Go Team Pashley!

Fleur took part in the Tweed Run last year, but I wasn't really sure what I had let myself in for. As we hopped on a bus to the meeting point next to St.Pauls Cathedral, anticipation was quickly mounting....what if I'd forgotten how to ride a bike???

I needn't have feared, the Pashley Brittania is not so much a bike, but more a stylish extension of my carefully put together outfit.....as we moved across the sunny streets of London I felt as though I were gliding round the corners and that people were admiring my blue steed with a glint of green in their eyes.

As someone who has lived in London their whole life I can honestly say that this is the most fun I have ever had travelling across this big old town.

Watching the faces of the Saturday afternoon shoppers on Oxford Street being prevented from crossing the road by a throng of exceedingly well dressed eccentrics all ringing their bicycle bells was a blast! As was cycling alongside Ewan McGregor, drifting along under the aromatic scent of pipe smoke, singing Kate Bush as we cycled down The Mall, and finally collapsing into bed that night! The saddest part of the day was seeing my beloved Pashley being taken away....boo hoo! I am going to get me one of those!

I am so glad I participated in this fabulously English happening, which brought together two of my favourite things; vintage and London Town, and introduced me to cycling, which might just well be a new favourite.

The queue for tea!!!

Photo from GQStyle

From GQStyle

Here is a video someone filmed from on top of a roof near Old Street.I love the sound of the contrasting angry car horns and lovely ringing bicycle bells. About 10 seconds in you can see me and Fleur pass in front on the bus stop down the bottom right hand corner....

This time lapse video is superb.You can follow the whole Tweed Run in 4 minutes!

There are somebrlliant photos on Flickr, and Fleur has some nice ones that I'm sure she post soon,and a quick google search will provide plenty more.

There is a wonderful blog post following one family's Tweed Run here, and a superb account in chapters here.

My New Love

2011-04-07T14:42:00.000-07:00

I got them for my birthday......

From Miss L Fire

Carmen would be proud

Fleurs en France

2011-03-28T12:36:00.000-07:00

Last year Shona at Heyday! produced the Fleur dress, inspired my beautiful friend Fleur and her love of 1940s wrap dresses. Last Summer we saw the English Rose design, but Shona has introduced two new ones for Summer 2011; English Rose on Black, and Daisy Chain on Black.

On our little holiday, we were lucky enough to get to test run the new Fleur dress designs for this Summer from Heyday!

As a fan of the mighty 1940s wrap dress, finding an affordable and authentic reproduction that looks this great is very exciting!

What follows are some posey pictures of Le Maf in their Fleurs. Enjoy!

I adore the Daisy Chain on Black version. If you collect and wear mid Century vintage then more than likely the majority black clothes you own will be evening wear. So its great to have a black cotton day dress. Yippee!

Having tried on both designs I can't decide which I like better...

The dress is so versatile as the black fabric on both allow them to easily convert to a smarter evening look. But they look equally as great worn with a lovely pair of sandals and basket bag for the perfect Summer day outfit!

This dress is perfect for:

Playing in wendy houses


Pretending you are a crab

Lounging on outdoor sofas in France

Swinging

Drinking pretty pink booze

Another favourite feature for me of any dress is pockets...I get very excited by pockets! The Fleur has pretty little front pockets, the must have feature of any good wrap dress.

The dresses have been produced in limited numbers so be quick, I'm sure they are going to be a must have this Summer for vintage lovers. As you can probably tell...I'm a big fan!

Click here to get your hands on a Fleur

The Jolliest of Holidays

2011-03-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

Hello strangers! Its been far too long! In the last few weeks I have started a new job, moved house and been on holiday, so there has been no time for blogging I'm afraid!

On Thursday I returned from an amazing trip to Nice, France with my beloved friends and partners in crime. This was the first holiday for the Vintage Mafia, and I hope the first of many more to come!

We were lucky enough to be staying with Naomi's mum who lives in a fab house in the picturesque village of Valbonne. Her beautiful home was the perfect retreat for our lazy holiday. We planned to sleep, eat lots of cheese, drink lots of wine, explore and soak up some French culture. We did all of the above in abundance. We ate like Queens and have all put on inches around our waistlines (gasp!!!).

The Mafia on holiday were:

Lisa

Naomi


Gemma

Fleur

Bethan

and Moi

Between us we took about a Gazillion photos, so I'm not going to bore you. I know that looking at other peoples holiday pictures can be more than a trifle yawnsome. So I will show you some of the bits that I feel you may be interested in.

We took a day trip to Grasse, which is still known today as the world's Capital of Perfume and has been so since the 17th Century. If you have seen the film Perfume it may ring a bell.

They have lots of wonderful museums and one in particular was rather spectacular. It had the most amazing collection of perfume bottles. Here is a small example of what we saw there

We also visited Cannes, on what must have been the windiest day in history! We had pictured ourselves promenading on the beachfront in our finest vintage regalia, the reality was actually us climbing up a hill, screaming in gale force winds, with our hair working itself into an afro in the wind. But we had fun!!!

Gem held on for dear life...

Fleur shelters behind a tree as her wide legged trousers turned into a kite in the wind

The closest we got to the beach at Cannes was this painting in the museum

We spent alot of time reading and snoozing, sometimes by choice, but also because it rained heavily for a couple days and we had no choice but to stay in the house. (We were secretly pleased about that)

The Vintage Booky Club

Before we went away we all decided to buy matching jumpsuits (don't ask why!) which we could laze about in. Well, we did enjoy wearing said jumpsuits. There is something utterly wonderful about swanning around with your friends in matching outfits. Although, I will be the first to admit that we do look slightly....erm...eccentric in these pictures!

He he....well less said about that the better methinks....

That is all for now, but I will be back soon with another post about what else we got up to on holiday which includes a super stylish project.

Here's a sneak peek...

Knit Number 2

2011-02-27T11:25:00.000-08:00

After my first successful attempt at knitting the 3 hour sweater, I was keen to have another go. This time I used the proper size needles that the pattern states....last time I was a rebel and used a smaller set, so the result is a much looser knit...which was much quicker. The shape looks much more 30s and I even customized it slightly. Instead of the button above the hole, I extended the knit into two long ties that I have formed into a bow!

I slightly buggered up the sleeves....some how, while I was probably watching tv and not concentrating, and managed to make them too wide. You can see from this picture there is a bit of a bulge where I had to sew the extra wool into the seam, but you can't notice it really when my arms aren't up. I also chose not to do the ribbing on the sleeves just to have a bit of contrast to the ribbing on the front and back.

I definitely have the knitting bug!

Getting Set

2011-02-24T13:21:00.000-08:00

Hello all, hope you are well. This post is long overdue, and is a response to those lovely followers who have asked me to show how I set my hair.
So...it's not a pretty process, but here goes!

You will need....

A heap of foam rollers

I put mine in this little travel squirty bottle

It's not a 'set' if you don't have the lotion

Tail comb for sectioning

You will also need a good hairbrush for brushing out the curls. I recommend a Mason Pearson, but it is in no way essential. You can get cheaper boar bristle ones. Just as long as the teeth can get through your curls without making them static or frizzy.

Ok, so I suppose to show you the full effects of the set I have to show you the 'before' picture. So here I am, fresh from the shower, (with hardly any make up on) and with hair left to dry naturally. I had a perm about 10 months ago, and it is still there although not dramatic. Without the perm my hair is poker straight, and in terms of vintage styling, a subtle perm just helps to make the set last longer and the curls bouncier.

Please excuse the no make up, miserable bedtime face

I normally set my hair dry. Alot of people find that it works better for them wet setting it, but I find that the setting lotion provides sufficient moisture. I do need to use quite a bit though, and I don't dilute it either as many gals do. Rather than just spritzing my hair all over, I spray each individual section with a couple of squirts after I have sectioned it off ready for rolling. I have alot of hair and if I spritz it all first it just sucks up all the moisture and drys quickly before I have a chance to set it.

First of all I add one or two curlers to the seperated fringe area. It depends what sort of fringe you want to create. In this case, I am only using one. I cut my fringe the other day, so it is quite short and is behaving itself, so one curler is sufficient to shape it nicely.

Please excuse very evil eyes

Next I add two curlers to the side of my parting with the least amount of hair, and three to the side with the most amount. You can see I have just rolled horizontally upwards and under towards the scalp.

Next I roughly part it down the back and set it in two rows of three rollers, before wrapping it up in a head scarf for the night. I am lucky that I sleep on my front, so sleeping in curlers doesn't bother me at all.

The Next Morning....

I tend to take the rollers out before I do my make up. I think it gives the curls a chance to drop ever so slightly to make brushing out easier. I don't know if it makes much difference but has just become part of my morning routine.

You can see how the fringe has gone into a roll that can be styled almost as it is if you want.

Next I brush out each section from underneath. The brushing is very important and is basically what shapes the style. Once your hair has been set, you should practice moulding it into different types of curl with your brush. Whether you want to keep the curls bigger and bouncy, or make them sleeker and shaped together and curled under into a page boy style. Everybodies hair is different as well so just play around with your own hair and get to understand what it will and wont do. Also this is just a set that works for me. It is really simple and there are probably other ones that may suit your hair better. Google hair setting patterns and just practice, practice, practice!

Ta Da!

Styled with a couple of pin curls in the fringe

You may want to add a bit of frizz ease serum to the ends...you can see I have quite a bit of frizz here, but have actually run out of serum! It normally calms down a bit after a couple of hours and a bit more brushing.

Well that's it. Truth be known I actually don't like it too much fresh from a set. I find it a little too curly. End of day 1 and day 2 looks the best to me. That's when I can brush it and it will really react to my brushing rather than fighting it and jumping back into the tight curls. My hair is quite short at the moment though and that also contributes to extra curliness!

The Vintage Dilemma

2011-02-15T11:28:00.000-08:00

My name is Jennifer and I am a vintage addict.

It's a dilemma that has been brought to my attention by the long cold winter and the impracticality of my vintage wardrobe. For the last 3 years, my modern wardrobe, full of clothes from high street stores like H&M and Topshop has slowly been depleted; given away to friends, charity shops or sold on ebay. I now have a wardrobe that I am proud of, full of amazing vintage finery, each item unique and not bought on a whim, (well, mostly) but pondered over, checked for fading and imperfections, and measurements checked...and checked again. A vintage wardrobe is an investment, a collection of dearly loved possessions that I know have a monetary worth and that I can one day sell on to someone else who will love them dearly.

My most treasured vintage posessions....that are impossibly painful

However I have been recently alerted to the fact that I may have been too hasty in getting rid of my modern clothes. It has been rather cold in old Blighty, those of you in the far flung corners of the globe may have even (rather embarassingly for us) been alerted to the chaos that the Nation succumbed to when snow fell, (as it is likely to do) just before Christmas. Well I do like snow, but my suede 1940s shoes don't. I searched for boots and found vintage sheepskin ones that were very warm, but slightly ill fitting. Hmmm. My ridiculousy vintaged-addled brain just will not allow me to buy anything that doesn't look period enough, therefore for the sake of 'vintage' fashion I have been cold on more than one occasion. I have warm vintage coats, but they can be very expensive and sometimes no matter how many layers you put on under your dress, its not the same as being able to go to a shop full of clothes designed for the season and being able to pick something out in your size. Don't get me wrong, I do buy from the high street. For example, one of the girls caught on to the fact that Zara were selling some lovely vintage inspired knits and skirts this winter, so when the January sale started I made my way to Zara and invested in a lovely cardigan and 40s style skirt. Clarks, as usual have had some wonderful shoes in their Originals range, inspired by their own early designs.

Vintage Rain Protection Perfection

Another area where I feel I would be warmer/possibly more comfortable, if I just felt more myself being a bit more un-vintage is the matter of stockings/tights. I feel weird if I don't have a seam running up the back of my leg, but there are days when I wish I didn't have to fiddle around with suspender belts and girdles. I hate black tights, and there is nothing worse than a pretty floral vintage dress ruined by a pair of heavy black tights. In the spring I may wear nude tights, but it still feels weird to me not to have a seam, and I have yet to find a good quality pair of nude seamed tights that will last for more than one wear.

Ok, so I sound like a vintage snob moaning about ridiculous self imposed restrictions, but it's just a frame of mind I have gotten myself in. Creating an authentic look has become my obsession. I know I am not alone in this. Some of my girlfriends have said the same thing. We were talking about the fact that we do perhaps have to open ourselves up to the fact that there are nice vintage inspired clothing out there, and we don't have to feel guilty if we buy it. Perhaps by living in our little vintage bubble we are actually missing out on nice clothing. There is of course something to be said for the practically of clothing that can be thrown in the washing machine. Thank goodness for reproduction clothing brands such as Heyday!, Freddies of Pinewood, Rocket Originals and Puttin' On The Ritz to name but a few, who have given us the best of both worlds, providing replicas of period clothing that can be washed to suit the practical modern day standards that we are used to. As wonderful as these clothing companies are, you have to pay for the privilege. The time, care and attention that goes into creating authentic reproduction clothing doesn't come cheap.

Beuatiful Repro Fleur dress from Heyday!

So this is the vintage dilemma....am I just too vintage? I know that when Summer finally arrives my high vintage standards need not be lowered, as every vintage gal knows that Summer is the season when we can really be ourselves. The abundance of pretty vintage cotton frocks that are withering unloved in my wardrobe at the moment will finally be set free again, and along with vintage sandals and when it get it's really hot *gasp* no stockings/tights/or restrictive undergarments. But, for a change this Summer, I may just take a little peek at what the shops have to offer us vintage girls, as I may be missing out on some beautiful clothes, and maybe, just maybe I'll try and be a little less vintage......

Vintage Specs Appeal

2011-02-08T15:02:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

Hope you are well on this fine Tuesday eve. I have just gotten home from my second Tap dancing class, and my feet are super tired! Tap is so much fun, and much more difficult than I remembered, but I haven't done it since I was 6 so I'll give myself a break!

Getting Speccy

I have had to wear glasses when on computers and reading for about four years, but I'm a bit naughty and don't always wear them when I should be. As a result (or perhaps its just ageing) my eyes have gotten worse, and rather than just get a new prescription put into my current frames, I thought I'd treat myself to some new ones just in time for my new job. The pair I have had for a couple of years are reproduction lucite cats eyes glasses from Opera Opera. This is a really great shop in Covent Garden that sells spectacles from almost any decade you can think of, both vintage and reproduction. Unfortunately though, it's not cheap. This pair set me back more than £200! At the time I saved up for them and I do love them so, but I felt that it was time for a new style.

The High Street opticians in the UK, I personally think, have an appalling choice of frame styles. At work I see people from all over the world. I have noticed that French and American people often have really unusual and stylish frames, all different colours, shapes and period styles. In Britain everyone seems to be wearing the same rectangular frame with wide arms in garish colours. But fear not my ocularly challenged vintage loving friends! There are some fabulous frames out there for you.

As you can see, I have gone for a much more 1940s frame. They are really delicate and round, and (excuse the horrible yellow photo) a lovely mottled red and brown. I took the risk of buying them online, but cheekily went into Opera Opera before hand and tried on similar styles (that I can't afford!) to ensure that they suited me first. The brand is Anglo American and I bought them from Retrospecs for roughly £100 less than it would have cost me for a similar style at Opera Opera. Whaddayathink??

Another great online shop to buy glasses is Dead Mens Spex. They have a really great choice of vintage frames at excellent prices. You may have seen them mentioned before on Diary of a Vintage Girl as Fleur has a beautiful pair from there. They also have an ebay shop.

Fleur's Fabulous Frames!

Of course you can buy vintage frames on ebay, in charity shops and at car boot sales. You may even find an old pair of Granny's lying around in the attic, and you can simply get your prescription put into them. This is a cheap option. I also know people who have gone abroad to buy glasses because it is much cheaper and as I said before, there is much more choice.

Do you have vintage glasses or know where you can find good reproductions?

Cheerio! J.x

Yesterday Girl Reviews: No7 Exquisite Curl Mascara

2011-02-07T14:56:00.000-08:00

I was a lucky girl this week and was sent the new No.7 Mascara from boots to try. Exquisite Curl is beautifully packaged in a curvacious shimmering purple steel coloured tube. Underneath the name it says 'For beautiful curve and volume'. Well I don't know about you, but I can never get enough curve or volume in all areas of styling.

I am very sceptical about new beauty products. As women we are constantly promised that these products are going to change the way we apply our lipstick/nail varnish/deodorant/hairspray etc, etc etc....but let's be honest, they rarely live up to their promise.

Mascara is one of the more expensive cosmetic products, and one I unashamedly tend to buy whatever is on promotion. I've yet to find my perfect mascara, and have found a few that I hate. For example, remember a few years back when someone thought they were being clever by designing a mascara wand that had a comb on the end instead of a brush?? A truly terrible idea.

How successful a mascara is really depends on the length, shape and thickness of your lashes. I would give my natural lashes a 7/10. They are relatively long and sit upright without having to use a lash curler on a daily basis (although they benefit from a good curling on a night out). The only draw back and what is a real annoyance to me, is that on my right eye, at the outer corner of the top lashes, where they are supposed to be longer and fan outwards, they are actually shorter than the middle. Ok, so no one else will probably notice, but I do!! I normally try to layer on the mascara in this area, which can obviously lead to crumbling or clumps.

Giving it a try

The wand itself is curved in shape. The brush is nice and thick and the big sturdy lid/handle makes it feel solid in your hand. I found that the shape of the brush was just the right length to fit across my top lashes in one sweep, and the brush really seemed to grip the lashes. As I swept upwards immediately noticed that the lashes were being seperated and pulled upwards in a nice natural 'curve'. I gave a couple more sweeps of the brush in the corners and another layer over the main lash area. I know everyone differs in their opinion of whether or not to apply mascara to their bottom lashes, but I do with the very end of the brush, and very lightly.

The overall effect is very impressive. I really like the brush and the shape of the 'curl' that this successfully gives to my lashes. I definitely think that they look like they have been shaped with an eye lash curler and look alot longer than usual. This is not a mascara that creates a dramatic effect in terms of big, black lashes for a heavy evening look, (although I haven't applied with my eyeliner, which may change the look) but a really pretty look, similar to that achieved by a pair of really good long, natural looking false lashes. Of course, you may find that the effect of the curl looks even more dramatic on you if you have naturally more droopy lashes. The curl effect serves to open up the eye, which can only be a good thing, the packaging is nice and understated and the price is about average. I do recommend this product if you haven't yet found 'your mascara' and would like to try something new that actually does what it promises to do.

My rating: 9/10

Boots No 7 Exquisite Curl Mascara
Introductory price £10.50 will be £13.50

On the No7 facebook fan page there is a competition where you can win lots of amazing prizes including a pampering weekend. Exquisite Curl creates curvaceous, flirty lashes, so in order to win you have to upload your best wink. Take a peek.....

But I'm not a knitter......am I?

2011-02-03T13:01:00.000-08:00

I know how to knit....sort of. I have knitted countless scarves, blankets, basically simple things that do not require me to be able to read patterns. However, since I have been blogging and reading other peoples blogs, I have grown jealous of all the marvellous women out there who can knit up a storm and create the most darling things, all by their own hand. My biggest inspiration to give knitting a proper chance is my fabulous gal Lisa. She is a wonder, and seeing her wear her lovely knits has made me very jealous indeed. Not long ago she knitted the 3 hour sweater and mentioned that it is probably a good beginners pattern. My friend Bethan, who like me, is a novice knitter, came back from a couple of weeks at her folks over Christmas wearing the 3 hour sweater that she had made herself. So, I thought, sod it, I'll give it a go.

As Marty McFly once said,

If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything

Look what I did!

Ok so it's far from perfect. For a start I buggered up a bit of the ribbng at the back and then I couldn't find a nice button and just sewed this grey one on until I could find a nicer one. There weren't many holes, just some gapey bits from the sewing up that I had to sort out.

Today I remembered that I have this amazing vintage V for Victory button with a tiny dot dot dot dash morse coding on the bottom, so now I'm going to swap the button over.

Sorry, bad picture...but amazing button!

Speaking of knits, the other week at work I remarked that I needed some new warm gloves as I lost one of mine. A lovely friend of mine who has worked at the museum for 26 years, since it opened remarked 'I'll knit you some!' I told her that she didn't have to but she insisted. Then today she showed up at work with these

How lovely! She is so sweet...and so are the gloves. They are a lovely soft pink with cream detailing, and they are really warm and cosy!

Well I hope I have inspired other novice knitters to give it a go! There are so many lovely knitters out there in blogland who would be willing to answer any questions and give you advice, I'm sure. Good luck!

You can find the 3 Hour Sweater pattern here

Find Your Vintage Size with Beyond Retro Online

2011-01-29T09:46:00.000-08:00

We all know how annoying it is when you are trying to buy vintage online and the seller simply states the size as 8-10, or even worse just Medium. Well, Beyond Retro, a vintage shop that I have purchased alot of my wardrobe from, have thought up a very clever little device to ease your searching and ease your mind when buying vintage, at their new online store.

I've mentioned Beyond Retro a few times before. I frequent their East End shop, although I have noticed that since the whole Mad Men trend for vintage fashion explosion, the price of their select Mid-Century section has gone up a bit. I used to be able to always find a decent day dress for around £30-£35, but that price seems to have gone up by £5-£10, which is noticeable. However, there are still bargains to be had.

Anyway, the new online store has a little slide device on the side of the screen which allows you to input your bust, hip, waist and even preferred length measurements. Every vintage dresser knows the importance of knowing your measurements. I think this is a really good idea and saves you the heartache of stumbling upon what would be the perfect dress, only 10 inches too big. You can also search by colour and thankfully, era.

The prices are quite reasonable, although I think they do seem a little more expensive than the in store prices, but perhaps that is becuse they select better quality vintage for the online store (quite often you will find buttons missing/stains etc in store).

The massive positive is that you don't actually have to visit the store. No offence to Beyond Retro and its patrons, but I often find it slightly overbearing, especially when busy. The East London one is fully of hipster clones, it plays very loud music (god, I sound like a granny) , and is full of way too many shiny/lycra/70s things for my taste. But each to their own.

To sum up, I think that this is a great new online shop for us unsociable internet addicted mid-century dressers, and that they are definitely onto something when it comes to ease of internet shopping with their magic slide-y measurement device. Now, all we need to do is get ebay and etsy to install one....

Happy Shopping peeps!

A Super Sunday

2011-01-26T07:23:00.000-08:00

On Sunday the Vintage Mafia celebrate the birthday of our fabulous thirties filly Gemma. We started the day at her AMAZING 1930s pad which was a tennis retreat and has retained its original features. You can see more about it on Gem's blog here. We arrived to a yummy spread of crumpets, tea, bubbly biccys and cakes, all served on the most beautiful art deco china.

Claire, Lena, Bethan and Naomi

Gemma was a domestic goddess and the food just kept appearing. Here she is creating cucumber sandwiches. Yum!

Then we gave her her pressies. Here she is enjoying her setting lotion. I think she may need a little help with the application ;-)

This may be my favourite photos from the day. After exploring the gorgeous corridors and running around like children in a hotel, we did some posing in the superb gated lift.

We then said goodbye to Lena and Claire and headed to meet Fleur at All Fired Up, a pottery painting cafe. I have to say, I got a C in my GSCE Art, and I'm not very good at painting. I tend to spend alot of time trying to be a perfectionist, when actually its kind of pointless because it will look like it took me 2 minutes. Here I am concentrating on my masterpiece

The finished piece! Well the underneath of it anyway. This is the Vintage Mafia version of Bro's Before Ho's. Every vintage girl should have this as her mantra.


Artist hard at work!

The pretty finished piece!

Forget the pottery, look at Bethan's Ballerina Swirl dress!!!

Quite rightfully, the artistic Birthday girl showed us all up with her beautifully painted Clarice Cliffesque bowl. She's a clever girl is our Gem!

I have good news...I have got a new job! Yay for me! I won't be leaving my current workplace though, which is good because I am very fond of it indeed, but more money, which means....more frocks!

Yesterday Girl made it (just) into the UK's Top 10 Vintage Fashion Blogs here. I'm not sure how it's calculated, through some sort of data collection that I don't understand, but either way I'm thrilled!

Cheerio.x