16 9 09

I am absolutely in love with everything velvet at the moment! The item that I want the most is this gorgeous biker jacket by Christopher Kane (but it is £848!!!!!!! ouch!!) it is so so so so perfect! Damn I wish I was rich! :'(



There are, however, some more affordable items on the high street. I found these two in TopShop:


Dress £35


Shrug £30

23 6 09

Whilst I was in New York I was looking forward to going to the vintage market I had heard so much about in Hell's Kitchen, but unfortunately I couldn't find it!!! (If anybody could tell me exactly where it is that would be great!) I was quite disappointed but I did find some really good vintage shops in the East Village. I can't remember what the name of the shop was, but it was super cheap! I found two gorgeous beaded cardigans for $30 each, after seeing similar ones in a shop nearby for $70!!!









In the same shop I also found an original 1960s coat in a beautiful green colour, but it had a fur collar so I didn't get it. I did however get these two dresses; both of them need taking up at the bottom, and with a little bit of (poor) photoshop magic I can see what they will look like after I make them shorter!







I also went to the Lulu Guinness shop in Greenwich Village and got myself an adorable vanity case. I love the 50s pattern all over it! But I feel like it's too pretty to actually use!



I had a little furry friend supervising me whilst I was taking the photos, but she got tired and fell asleep! :)

5 5 09

I wish that I knew about the website Vintageous.com when I had my school prom, I would have loved to have worn any one of these fabulous dresses. I imagine that films like Hairspray have made these kind of dresses really popular for school proms, but nobody wore anything like this at mine! I wish I could go back and wear one of these dresses, probably the red one, or the pink one with bows, in fact I don't think I would have been able to chose!









Actually, when I was looking through the Vintageous website, I came across a dress that was acutally used IN the movie Hairspray! How cool is that?!!

28 4 09

I am soooo gutted that I missed the opportunity to buy this dress. Everything about it was perfect; the shape, the colour, the print! It was a little bit expensive for me so I waited a bit to see if I could save up, but alas, I was too late!





See, how pretty is that?!
Have you had anything fabulous that you missed out on?

20 4 09

The weather was absolutely gorgeous today, so my boyfriend and I decided to have a picnic at Hainault Forest near where we live. I made some home-made fried chicken, which was amazingly delicious even if I do say so myself! I also wore my new dress that I got from work, you can see it in a picture my boyf took with his old polaroid camera:



Hope you all enjoyed today's sunshine! I am off to get some dinner xxx

16 4 09

I have just discovered a fantastic website that sells vintage couture, it's called (not surprisingly) Vintage Couture. It has loads of designers, and also some anonymous items that are equally as gorgeous! Here are my favourite picks from the collection:



Pierre Cardin Coat £654 and Dress £335



Christian Dior Dress £804 and Nina Ricci Dress £2,547



Chanel Suit £4,024 and Chanel Earrings £150



1950s Evening Dress £805 and 1950s Suit £201

12 4 09

A little while ago I made this dress from a vintage 50's dress pattern. I lost interest in sewing for a while but now I'm eager to get some new patterns and start making some things to wear!



Here are some of my favourites that I'm thinking of buying and making:


1960s Dress Pattern from Best Vintage Patterns


1950s Dress Pattern from Best Vintage Patterns


1950s Dress Pattern from Moms Patterns


I am also really lusting after this coat from Etsy but unfortunately including the shipping to the UK it's about £60, which I know isn't much for a coat but I'm so skint at the moment! Plus, summer is approaching so I think it might be a bit of a useless purchase... but I want it so badly!! Please pleeeease somebody buy it for me! I will love you forever!

I might have to resort in making something for myself in a similar fabric. I found this pattern (the one on the right) which is sort of similar:


1950s Coat Pattern from Best Vintage Patterns

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter tomorrow! My mum is cooking us a BIG turkey dinner!! I can't wait! xxx

31 3 09

I have been catching up on Season 2 of Mad Men - the most glamorous program on telly! I have only watched the first 4 episodes so don't ruin anything for me! If you have not seen it then you need to start watching it right now!!
Not only are the story-lines captivating (with the most gorgeous lead ever, Jon Hamm, above) but the fashion is to DIE for. Here are some of my favourite outfits from what I have seen so far:


Betty has always been one of my favourites. She is so glamorous, even when she goes horse riding she looks impeccable (unfortunately they didn't have a picture of her in her riding outfit, but there was a gorgeous tweed blazer involved!) Looking at pictures of Betty makes me want to grow out my fringe (yet again!) and dye my hair blonde! The pink cocktail dress she is wearing here is the exact kind of thing that is making me want to get into costume design.


I think Peggy has been having quite a few really good outfits this season; I love a good check and these are some of my favourites.


The evening-wear and cocktail dresses have been absolutely gorgeous. I am in love with Peggy's red dress here; the peter-pan collar, the bow - it's fabulous!


Men, listen up! This is a goooood look. Not so much Pete, but the guy on the left looks so freakin cool! Why oh why was I not born long enough ago to have lived through an era like this??!

24 3 09

Phew! It feel like it's been forever since I last did a proper post! I have been so busy lately I just haven't found the time. As well as working in the shop, I am now the official blogger for Vivien of Holloway!! Woop! You can read the blog here.

I was buying a birthday gift for my mum earlier in the month and spied a lovely dress in TopShop that I had to get. I mostly love it for the print, which reminds me of tea parties, but it's also made from jersey which makes it super soft and so comfortable to wear. The weather was nice for a while but has been getting rubbish again lately so I have put myself in a more idyllic location!



I also spent a whopping £16 on magazines! Oops!! The first one was Lula, which is the first ever issue I have bought and I was not disappointed! It has the most beautiful photography I have ever seen.



And the second one was a magazine called Amelia's Magazine, and it said it was the last issue that they were ever going to publish so, of course, I had to have it! I flicked through and it looked really cool, with loads of illustrations:









So, how have you all been? Done anything exciting lately? xxx

10 3 09

If, like me, you are a lover of 50's rockabilly and pin-up style clothing then I have found the perfect shop for you - Vivien of Holloway.
It sells seriously sexy dresses with matching boleros and seperates in a variety of fabrics (polka dot, gingham, floral, tartan) and also petticoats, belts and flowers in loads of different colours to complete the look. There is so much choice, the only problem is figuring out which one you want! You might recognise the full-skirt 50's dress from our fellow blogger, Ranna from Only Shallow.



Also, (because I am such a good blogger!!) I managed to snag Vivien herself for a quick chat:

What year did you open the shop?
I am not sure, but I have never worked for anyone else I have been making Vintage style clothing and selling them since I was 15 - so over 20 years.

Are you interested in vintage clothing? If so, where are your favourite places to shop?
I love Vintage clothing, but respect it, so it is good to have reproduction to party in. Also, the sizes in Vintage are quite resticted as people were generally smaller then. I started wearing Vintage clothing when I was about 10. I prefer Vintage fairs for shopping as you get many dealers under one roof, there is a new one at Cecil Sharp house in Camden I am going to check out on 5th April.
 
What's your favourite vintage period?
I love the late 40's early 50's styles. Such Glamour.

Where did the inspiration for your designs come from?
I design what I would like to wear myself. So I need get moving for Summer now, making more seperates or I won't have a thing to wear!

Here's a selection from the website:

















Vivien also sells 40's style dresses and trousers. I love the grey trousers, they would be great for a Katherine Hepburn look.







I think my favourite is the red/black polka dot pencil dress, which I am seriously going to have to buy myself soon!
If you want to see more of what's on offer go to www.vivienofholloway.com or for an even BIGGER selection (I bet you didn't think it was possible, huh?!) you can visit the shop in Camden at:

The Arches,
49 Kentish Town Road,
London NW1 8NX

Open: Tuesday until Saturday - 10am to 6pm.
(Closed Sunday and Monday)

The actual store is above a motorbike shop, which is really cool! And if you do decide to pop into the shop, I will be working there for a few Saturdays so come in and say hi!