My new (old) 1940's suit!

Hello darling readers!

Phew, what a busy week I've had and I've rather neglected you all.
I started out the week on nightshifts, and then started jury duty so it's been all go-go-go!

But yesterday morning, as I was about to leave the flat, my fur-collared, 1940's wool suit arrived with a kindly postie. Wow! Well I was so excited I immediately changed into it and set out into the cold wearing it with my beloved 'Pop Boutique' blouse that actually looks very vintage and my 1930's cardi underneath the jacket for added warmth!
After completing my days jury duties, I popped home, changed into my trusty 'Clarks' heels, and headed off out for a lovely pal of mine's leaving drinks with the work chums. A few g&t's and a McDonalds later, I arrived home and demanded a thoroughly tired Mr Mike snap a few shots of my new suit!
(please ignore windswept hair, it is tooo long and uncontrollable... I need it cut!)

 

 1940's suit: ebay, £15.76 (incl postage!).

Blouse: charity shop, £4.

Yves Saint Laurent belt: charity shop, £1.50

The jacket, being rather bulky, plus a little large for me, when done up it makes me look rather podgy I think (it does nothing for my bust!), but nonetheless, I rather love this fabulous two-piece! And as you can see, the skirt goes so fabulously with my blouse. I can already tell I am going to get rather a lot of wear out of this!

 

Resin bracelets: Evolution, £1.

Pip pip! xx

Hair experiments!

I decided to try rolling my fringe using a hair rat today, and finishing with some flowers.
I was pretty pleased with the results!

Unfortunately I then decided that, due to me being on a nightshift tonight, this lovely hair was unlikely to remain intact for the duration, so I redid it in a more secure plaited style with small victory rolls at the front...

Pip pip xx

A very belated Christmas pressie post!

Hola lovely people,

I know it's really quite belated, but I have FINALLY gotten around to taking some snaps of some of my wonderful Christmas presents. So I am going to share these pictures whilst I sit here drinking a G&T and trying desperately to stay up as late as possible (I am working a nightshift for the next three nights, so I need to get into the routine of sleeping through the day).

 

Two beautiful old suitcases to add to my collection!

 I didn't even know that those travel stickers on suitcases you always see in films were even a real thing until I got the case on the right! 

These gorgeous vintage nappa gloves were in my stocking from my dad and step-mum.

And beneath it is a book called 'Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas', published in 1971 and full of lovely illustrations!

Mr Mike got me this crackle-glaze phrenology head, they remind me of the phrenology head and palmistry hands we had in our family home when I was little.

That beautiful glass bauble has a clasp in the middle and is from my mumma.

A beautiful sailorette dress from my dear friend Luci (who has recently had a beautiful baby girl, Congratulations!!).

The dear yellow stocking was knitted for me by a family friend when I was a baby, and comes out every christmas! 

The bag in the background is a lovely brown leather handbag I recieved from my friends in our Secret Santa.

I got a load of cookie cutters this christmas from various people, as well as some lovely christmas cupcake cases, so I am going to have to do some serious baking in 2011!

And the orange ladybird is an old (though I'm not sure how old) portable radio. Alas, I cannot get it working, but I will find it a home because, well, isn't it cute?

This pair of silver bird ornaments hold photos in the little hanging flower frames. One of them has lost it's top branches, and the frames need a bit of fixing up, but oh my, I love them!

 

The union jack wooden bunting on brown twine and these books are all from Mr Mike!

The 'Figure Drawing and Fashion Designing for the Press' book has no publisher's date but from what I can work out is from about 1930 and is a beautiful old paperback book.

The pile of colourful covers are a selection of educational guide books for different aspects of sport and ranging in date from 1959 to 1970, with some colourful quaint, and some frankly very amusing little illustrations and diagrams!

This is a veiled red felt tilt hat made by my incredibly talented nan 'Trishe Darling'!

These vintage patterns were from my auntie, as was the brooch.

The Vogue pattern is from 1955, and the other is a McCall's 1960 pattern.

The booch....oh, the brooch! It's a gold coach with jewels (though it's missing a few) and is a commemorative brooch of the royal coronation in 1953!

I got 'The Unforgettable Glenn Miller' 12".

A red and white vintage childs toy mangle...yes that's right, a mangle! I might actually give it a try one day!

And I adore these old ceramic wall birds, I've always wanted a nice set. Just need to find the perfect wall space for them now!

 

A beautiful edition of 'Complete Needlecraft', printed in the 1940's from what I can work out, though it's hard to tell as there has been many reprints and the book itself is undated). This I can now add to my growing collection of lovely vintage sewing books on my shelves.

I got a beautiful vintage nail set too, in a little case.

And a foot! This foot is amazing...it is a hollow plastic leg with cement-weighted toes and was once upon a time used to display hoisery one would assume! My dad and step mum found this for me, and did some clever snooping, after discovering the name 'Martyn Fisher' printed on the bottom of the foot, aquired a pair of unopened 'Martyn Fisher' tights to go alongside it! How clever! I need to find a place to display my new leg, I may even use it as a vase, fancy that!

And last but not least...

Me and Mr Mike were treated jointly to this television from my parents...

we were given the popcorn containers as a clue and had to venture upstairs to find the tv. And I must say, Mr Mike actually did a little jumpy up and down dance in excitement upon discovery!

Christmas with my nearest and dearest is always a special thing, and with only being able to travel home on christmas eve and then spending the duration of my time at home feeling incredibly unwell and anable to hold very much of a conversation, I feel that I never quite got to express my appreciation to my family for their wonderfulness.

SO...

Thanks you to my mumma, step dad Ian, wee sister Izzy, brother Jake, dad, step mum Rosie, Mr Mike, nan and grandad and my aunt uncle and cousins for their brilliance, and sorry I was such terrible company! I love you all!

Pip pip xx

Embroidery, James Long and London Fashion Week!

Just a quick post from me tonight!

I was reminiscing about my degree and looking back on some past work, and stumbled across these photos of some work I had the honour of getting to be involved in!

Below is a photo I took of some serious embroidery I worked on for the menswear designer James Long on his collection for his show in London Fashion Week AW09...

 

 

I worked on this showpiece alongside my friend Rebecca and the lovely designer/ebroidery king Scott Ramsay Kyle; we spent three whole weeks of almost uninterrupted embroidery (in the design studios, on the bus, in bed). Me and Rebecca's nicknames at the studios were 'Dot & Deirdre' due to our days being spent sat in the corner wearing our fur coats and gossiping whilst eating buscuits and doing the ebroidery!
But, I'm sure you'll agree that the result were worth it. Especially sitting at LFW watching the finished piece come down the catwalk!

 

The home of this picture can be found here. 

Pip pip xx

Thanks postie!

This morning, after crawling into bed at 9am having just returned from a terrible nightshift at work, I was awoken twice as I tried to sleep throughout the day. Now, our buzzer for the flat is terrifyingly loud and gives me a heart attack EVERY time it goes...so at first I of course wasn't best pleased to be awoken from my slumber. But as I opened the door, I was both times greeted by a postie delivering me exciting things I had ordered earlier in the week (why they couldn't have come with the same postie, I really don't know).
This is what was delivered...

 

The sandals are Clarks Originals bought new from ebay for £14.99, and are a lovely cream leather. I'm not a fan of my feet, so I generally shy away from sandals, but these are a perfect sandal because they are a nice non toe-revealing style, with a bit of a heel but not too much that they will be uncomfortable (fingers crossed). And although not strictly a repro shoe, they are nicely reminiscent of a simple 40's sandal too. I am excited about my coming holiday to Spain in early March, and have been on the look out for some lovely summer staples for my hols. I am fully aware it's not likely to be sweltering heat where we're going (average temp 19 degrees C at that time of year), but it is my first time abroad in 8 years....and I am damn well going to make the most of it! These sandals will hopefully be perfect for said holiday!

 

I am going to invest in some more flower hair clips in varying colours, so I can clip them onto my 

sandals to brighten them up and coordinate them with my outfits!

Next is the book "The 1940's Look" by Mike Brown, which I have read much about on the internet and finally committed to buying, and gosh am I glad I did! This book is not for someone looking to learn how to create a 40's look, but one for those of you wanting to learn a more in depth and speific history behind the different aspects of the 40's look for men, women and children. Full of a wealth of information and beautiful images and adverts of the era, the book puts aspects of design/fashion/beauty into a more specific context and I am very excited to read it properly!

In fact, I am off to read it now, pip pip! xx

Some amazing World War II photography...

 Berlin-Prague-Vienna 65 years later.

This is an image by someone called Sergey Larenkov, who superimposes original World War II images over photos of the modern day setting, to create these beautiful and haunting images. Click the link above to see more if his images.

These are the inspiration shots for someone callled Nick J Stone who has created a similar series based on shots of post-bombing sites in Norwich. Being my home town, his series Blitz Ghosts amazes me; seeing places I know and recognise as they were during the Blitz is an incredible thing!

Please go and check out these rather incredible images.
Here is my favourite!

Aylsham Road, Norwich, April 1942 and present day.

And thank you to the darling Retro Chick for bringing them to my attention via her facebook page!

Pip pip xx

Snoodlebug's fabulous giveaway!

For those of you that don't know or havent yet stumbled across it...

Lisa of Snoodlebug is giving away a gorgeous 1940's simplicity sewing book!

 

Snoodlebug's blog- head over to enter the giveaway yourself! 

 Pip pip! xx

Charity shop haul!

Well today I caught up on some much needed charity shop action! It's been a while since I've had a chance to pop down to my local charity shops, so I took advantage of my day off work to trawl a few for treasures.
I picked up some fabulous things...
(My bedraggled head has been excluded from these photos...I had just been swimming!)

 

Grey homemade shirt dress- £6

 Yellow cardigan- £3

I want to change the buttons on the dress, they are currently a bit too big for the buttonholes. A nice green set will be a lovely contrast I think, and I might even do a bit of embroidery on it to brighten

it up!

 

Homemade polka dot beige and black dress-  £4.50

 

Forties style black floral skirt- £3.50

I think this will be nice and light for summer weather!

 

Vintage green and white nylon 'St Michael' polo shirt- £4.50

(Mr Mike's hand is playing with an unseen chrome yo-yo I got him, 

which he described as one of his favourite christmas presents, oh the simple things eh?)

And my steal of the day...

 

 Navy pinstripe Vivienne Westwood 'MAN' suiting material trousers- £10!

  

Back buckle detail on the trousers (a feature I have always been slightly in love with on a good pair of mens trousers)

 

Inside the waistband.

The Westwood trousers are gorgeous, like much of her suiting they are quite an old fashioned, classic style! They are a teeny bit small for Mr Mike but we're considering keeping them for special occasions, or if they can be prized from my hands, we may just sell them. But I think we'll keep them, they are too nice.

And on another note, if you get a chance, do go see 'The King's Speech'...it's absolutely amazing! Gorgeously executed and full of interesting history.

Pip pip! xx

Songs that won the war.

 

Thank you Sainsbury's!

I just picked this CD up from Sainsbury's for a meagre £1. Ridiculous!

Featuring Glenn Miller, Doris Day, The Ink Spots and The Andrews Sisters...Amazing!

Pip pip xx

Rosie Alia Millinery

Oh my, I really must get back into my hat making!
It's been ever so long!

My Nan is a fabulous hat maker, selling her "Trishe Darling" hats and headpieces in a couple of shops and she also does hat making workshops and such like! So I suspect she in some way sparked and encouraged my interest in hats (as well as my love of vintage influencing my hat obsession)! She has taught me a couple of her clever techniques, but I really want her to teach me more....it's just a matter of being able to get some time to go back and visit her properly! Oh damn you, work!

 

This is a me sporting a "Trishe Darling" creation!

I have sold my hats in the past, and my Nan sold one of mine in one of her stockists' hat shop too, which is great as someone paid £75 for it! I only got a smallish cut of that, but still, the though of someone wanting to pay that much for one of my simpler designs is amazing!
Paloma Faith also owns one of my facsinators!
In my second year at uni, I produced headpieces for Georgia Nash, who is a fabulous womenswear designer. She was completing her graduate collection based on "The Nutcracker" and I was asked to help with the headpieces. These are some of the photos of said pieces...

 

Pearl encrusted fascinator with Nutcracker.

 

Beaded bow facinator with trickling bead-work on veil.

 

Purse and bow headpiece with bead-work.

 

Image from the Fashion156 blog. 

 

 Image from the Fashion156 blog.

Now I need to get back into my millinery, after all the hectic-ness of finishing uni and going out into the real world of work!

Pip pip! xx

La Soiree

Hello darling readers,

As mentioned in my previous post, on friday evening after work, me and Mr Mike headed off for a lovely evening at La Soiree. Mr Mike came to collect me from work, where I changed into my new heels, and we trotted off for a lovely meal at the restaurant at Grace Bar in the West End.

 

This is the outfit I wore:

Red dress, a gift from the parents.

Black felt pillbox hat, a "Trishe Darling" creation handmade by my Nan.

1930's beaded cardigan, a gift.

Belt, chairty shop.

I also wore black tights with red seams, H&M.

And my new Clark's heels.

Oh hai serious face!

For starters I scoffed breaded Camembert on a bed of rocket with cranberries. And for mains we both had a half-roast chicken with chips and coleslaw and BBQ sauce, all washed down with a couple of G&T's. Yummy scrummy.
Next we hopped on the tube and set off for the south bank bog top! When we got there, it was all rather exciting! There was a bar in the first area, so I had another G&T and we bought some popcorn for the show from a proper popcprn machine! This excited me!

 

 

Sorry for the rather blurry images from inside the tent, it was dark and having only an Iphone

(without a flash) for photographs, this was the result!

When we got inside the main tent we were upgraded to the front row, how kind! I was slightly nervous, as I am slightly (and by slightly, I mean severely) phobic of having to interact at shows, being picked on or embarassed! Yes, I am a bt of a spoilsport, it's just a phobia I've had since I was little! So I generally shy away from being on the front row fo such events, but it was all fine and we had a rather fantastic view!

 

Our view of the tent and the stage before the event started...

Now the tent, when we got inside, was absolutely amazing! It was a spiegeltent, which is constructed from detailed wooden panelling, with stained glass windows all around. I literally can't fathom how something so beautiful and detailed can be put up as just a temporary and movable structure! It makes my brain hurt to wonder.

The show itself was fabulous! I highly recommend it, it was a lot of the acts I'd had seen before with the previous show La Clique, but so good and it didn't feel too familiar. My highlight was when one of The English Gents, dressed in his suited finery, did some amazing moves around an old-fashioned lamp post that defy gravity and suspend belief! 

 The English Gents

Oh how I wish all men still wore sock suspenders!

And Captain Frodo, who is a double jointed contortionist dressed in tennis gear and fits himself through tennis rackets whist struggling to balance upon a stool and talk into his microphone...all sorts of hilarity ensues, including the part when he falls of the stage whilst tangled and contorted within both tennis rackets!

You really must go see it if you get a chance folks!

After the show, we headed home. We took a quick walk along the Thames, as I (as much as I moan about living in London) am always captivated by the twinkling lights and calming sounds of the Thames at night.

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend!

Pip pip! xx

Adorable...

Just watch it!

 Mr Mike showed me it this morning at 6am when I was getting ready for work. It's just so adorable!
 Here is the original version, which has a beautiful video...

 

Pip pip! xx

Hello gorgeous new shoes!

Phew, is it really only wednesday today? Roll on friday evening I say!

I am finally in the company of Mr Mike as he returned to our nest after being home with his family. So last night we had a nice takeaway as a treat after a hard day of work (note to self: stop eating takeaways so regularly!) and watched a film on the sofa. Ah the simple pleasures!

I also splashed out on some treats on the net on sunday, one being tickets to La Soiree on friday after work....which is an ever-so-needed nice end to the week! We are incredibly excited about La Soiree, and had been meaning to book tickets for aaages! I am also very excited to have a chance to dress up (not that I'm not generally rather overdress in normal day-to-day life) in a nice dress, heels, and one of the hats/fascinators I made, or one my Nan made. This very much excites me!

 

And talking of dressing up,

...these are the shoes I am going to wear!

Aren't they gorgeous. I know they are a pretty simple design, but yet I am very excited about their arrival! They are nicer in "person" than in the photo, very classic, and as yet (in my brief trot to the cornershop), extraordinarily comfy! 

I have been meaning to purchase some Clarks shoes for a while now, after advice due to my constant inability to find shoes that don't hurt my feet! So when I discovered them in the sale, I kind of just had to have them. They were £39.99 in the sale, which is still a lot for me, BUT fully worth it if it means I can have some (hopefully) comfy heels. I'll have to wait and see how my feet fare after our night out on friday!

Is it possible to be in love with a pair of shoes? 

Because I might well be. 

Now, to buy them in navy? Hmmmm. 

 Pip pip! xx