When in Bath...

... do as the Romans did and visit the Roman Baths!  And this is exactly what we did when we visited Bath back in October.  Bath is one of my favourite cities in the UK and I have blogged about it before. 

 

Here are some photos of my outfit before we set off.  I had gone for an early 1950s dress (which you can't really see as it is hidden) and jacket.  My favourite era is the mid 1950s - early 1960s but it was nice to go for an earlier look this time.  This dress was purchased on eBay for a bargain price, with the intention that I would wear it to work as it was so cheap.  But when it arrived, I really liked the pattern and decided it was "too nice" for my work.  This often is the case when I purchase vintage clothing for work.  As a result, I wear a mix of repro and vintage to work.

 



And here are some photos taken at the Roman Baths.  I have visited the Baths before but many years ago so it was nice to go again.  I always find it difficult to take outfit photos for this blog whilst I am out and about, as we often need to take a few with different poses and I do wonder what the other people around me must think!

Dress: Vintage from eBay
Jacket: Vintage from Blackout 2 in London
Bag: Vintage from eBay
Shoes: Office (but they have a great vintage style and are so comfortable!)
Earrings: Vintage from the Clerkenwell Fair

Goodwood Revival 2014

Last Sunday, my boyfriend and I attended the Goodwood Revival.  You may remember I blogged about the 2012 Revival here. 

As the weather looked like it was going to be somewhat unsettled for the Sunday, I decided not to wear the outfit that I had originally planned and went with a different outfit which you have already seen on this blog here.  So this post is more about the event rather than my outfit (although I did choose some different accessories to go with the dress this time!)

This year's event was bigger and better than 2012!!  As I didn't attend the 2013 event, I do not know if the changes made were present last year or were new to this year.  For instance, the "Over the Road" area was much bigger and they made more of a feature of the Car Show.  There were just so many cars that we didn't get to see all of them!

Pretty much my favourite car colour!

There was also a dedicated 1950s area this year (which I don't recall there being in 2012) which had hot rods, airstream food vendors and a stage with Rock 'n' Roll bands playing.  Despite our intentions to do some jiving during the day, we were just too tired from all the walking/ standing that we didn't get to do any!

I also managed to meet up with my friends Vicki and Nicky who went for the day.  Vicki runs the awesome vintage shop This is Vintage in Bournemouth.

When I went in 2012, the planes were behind the fence in the airfield but this year you could get up close and touch them!  This was definitely one of the highlights of the day!  You often see classic cars at events but you don't normally get to see these types of planes, so it was good to get some photos!

Another minty dream machine!

And as with 2012, I managed to get to the Best Dressed Finals but did not win...

You can see fellow Vintage blogger Alex from The Forties Floozy in front of me during the parade!

Photo taken from the Goodwood Revival website

Photo taken by Men's File photographer Matt Hind (my serious face is also my moody face!)

All in all, it was a great day out!  My legs hurt so much by the end of the day (I changed in to ballet flats at lunch time but even that didn't really help) - there is just so much walking around and not many places to sit down and relax!  You may also be surprised to hear that I did not even look at any vintage clothes shops!  There were a lot of vendors but I really couldn't be bothered to sift through racks of vintage when there was so much more to see and do.  My boyfriend also enjoyed his first Revival so I think we will probably go next year.

I would love to know if you went to this year's event or have been to previous events!



The novelty print swing dress

A few weeks ago I attended the 'Retro Revival' event in Bournemouth and this is what I decided to wear...

I have to apologise for the quality of these photos, it is so much easier to take photos during the daytime on my phone (another reason why this blog is mostly dedicated to daytime outfits!)  However, this dress was just too amazing not to be featured here.  I first wore it at Rhythm Riot and I had tried to take photos there but they also suffered because of the night time quality of my phone photos.

This dress just fits like a dream!  I bought it from the Clerkenwell Fair (from the amazing stock of Tamara Watts) and knew I had to have it.  It has a rather awkward centre back zipper that does not go up all the way to the top but I can get over that.  It is so perfect for dancing because it has such a full swingy skirt.  ALSO, my guy happened to point out at Rhythm Riot that it is actually a novelty print and I hadn't even realised!  I thought it just had some sort of interesting floral swirly print but there are actually cherubs hidden within that! 

 

 

Dress: Vintage from the Clerkenwell Fair

Shoes: Johnson's

Bracelet: Vintage from Rhythm Riot

Earrings: Vintage from Etsy



Rhythm Riot 2013 Part 1

So a few weekends ago my boyfriend and I attended our first ever R'n'R weekender... Rhythm Riot!  We only learnt to jive quite recently and so I was a bit nervous about going to an event where there would be a lot of people but we had a really good time! 

Some of the outfits that I chose to wear have been featured on this blog previously so I won't bother showing you them again.  And my iPhone did not take very good quality photos of any of my evening outfits so I won't be showing you them either (and I did wear a rather lovely late 1940s dress on the Saturday!  Although I am sure I will wear it again at some point in the future.) 

First up is the outfit I wore on Saturday during the day.... 

As Rhythm Riot is a Rhythm and Blues and Rock 'N' Roll event, most people dress in either 1940s or 1950s vintage wear and so I thought it would be a good opportunity to wear this 1940s rayon dress.  It has quite a great print on it and I hope you'll be able to pick up on it in the photos.

As well as the yellow flowers on it, there is also a conductor and musical notation!  Also, the yellow flower by my shoulder actually has white beads around it too! 

I bought these vintage shoes from a random vintage shop in Chichester and they were pretty cheap.  When I bought them, I thought they were a 1960s/1970s does 1940s shoe but on further inspection when I got home (and some Internet research later on the brand name) I discovered they were genuine 1940s shoes (unworn as well!)  So I was pretty pleased with my bargain.

I don't want to bore you with all the photos of the cars I took (and there were lots of pretty cars) so here are two of my favourite 1950s cars.

As well as the awesome cars, there were also awesome bands too!  I really enjoyed seeing The Inteli-gents, Los Mambo Jambo, The Teenagers and The Royal Rhythmaires...

I think that's probably enough to fill this blog post so I will talk about the amaaaazing vintage traders and well-dressed Rioters in the next post :)

Dress: Vintage from Etsy
Shoes: Vintage from a Vintage shop in Chichester
Bag: Vintage from eBay
Necklace: Vintage from a Vintage Fair
Hat: Vintage from Lou Lou's Vintage Fair
Gloves: Vintage from Lace and Tweed Vintage Fair
Coat: Vintage from Vintage to Vogue, Bath
Fox stole: Vintage from a flea market in New York

Sunday Roast

At the beginning of November, I celebrated my Dad's Birthday with a Sunday Roast Dinner at a restaurant in Romsey.

I have been keen to wear this cute yellow sweater ever since I purchased it at the Bows and Braces Vintage Fair back in August but wanted to wait until the weather was cold enough to wear a sweater and it certainly is now!  I don't know if the details will show up well on my photos but it is a 1930s piece and has beading all over it!  It has been really difficult finding small sized vintage sweaters so I was really happy to see this was in my size!  I also couldn't resist adding another recent acquisition - the Bakelite Scottie brooch which I bought from Tamara Watts at the Clerkenwell Fair (she had some AMAZING items!)

You can also see the hat I purchased from Lou Lou's Vintage Fair back in October.  When I tried this hat on at the fair, I wasn't immediately sold on it but my friend convinced me to buy it and I am so glad she did because I now love it! The colour, the style, it fits perfectly!  I find it quite difficult to buy vintage hats because a lot of them look better on girls with longer hair, so whenever I see a hat that suits me, I tend to snap it up!

I am also wearing my new 1940s coat which I bought in Bath when I went to visit the Gangsters and Gunslingers exhibition.  It has such a lovely shape and also works really well with my fox fur stole (as I am sure you will see in some future posts!)



Please excuse my silly face!



Coat: Vintage from Vintage to Vogue, Bath

Skirt: Vintage from Classic Vault Vintage

Sweater: Vintage from Pret-a-Vintage

Hat: Vintage from a trader at Lou Lou's Vintage Fair Southampton

Bag: Vintage from Etsy

Gloves: Vintage from a trader at the Lace and Tweed Vintage Fair

Belt: Vintage celluloid buckle from Etsy

Brooch: Vintage from the Clerkenwell Vintage Fair

Shoes: Office

Hot Hot Heat

These photos were taken during a recent trip to Southsea.  At the time, it was during a heatwave but the weather has since cooled down a bit. 

I love playsuits and I own a lot of them.  Most are 1980s and this one is actually from Urban Outfitters, so not the least bit vintage but I just love the cut out bits and it does remind me of a 1940s style.  I am desperate for a 1940s two piece playsuit/ swimsuit but they are so expensive on Etsy!  And especially as there would be a very small window of time when I could wear this type of outfit, I feel that I couldn't justifying spending a lot.  I really need to move to a hotter place so I can justify spending a lot on a 1940s playsuit!

 

As it has been so hot, I have been a bit reluctant to wear some of my vintage outfits for fear that I will end up a hot mess and ruin them.  Does anyone else have this worry?

Luckily as it has now cooled down a bit here, I will be taking every opportunity to wear my 1950s summer dresses!

Playsuit: Urban Outfitters

Parasol: Vintage from a trader at the 'Crikey! It's Vintage' Fair in Exeter

Bag: Vintage from a trader at the Retro & Jukebox in Brighton

Sunglasses: Topshop
Earrings: Vintage from a trader at the Bows & Braces Vintage Fair
Headscarf: Vintage free with a purchase from Etsy!
Shoes: Next

Crikey! It's Vintage at Killerton

A few weekends ago, I attended the 'Crikey! It's Vintage at Killerton' which was held at Killerton House in Exeter.  The weather leading up to the event did not look good and I was not sure if we were going to go or not.  In the end we decided to make the trip which was a 2 and a half hour car journey.  Luckily, when we got there, the weather was ok and it did not rain though it threatened to do so!

The event was ok - I was quite disappointed with the classic car show as there wasn't that many cars there and the vintage fairground rides were for children only - not the ones that I had anticipated!  It did redeem itself by having a few excellent traders and I did buy 3 items that I love - a 1940s/ 50s brown bolero (I've wanted a bolero for so long!), 1950s pink and grey roses dress and a 1930s parasol (as seen in my last post, I have been desperate for a parasol and was so glad to finally purchase one!)

As it took place at a National Trust house, there were a lot of people there who weren't aware of this vintage event and I did get some eyebrows raised at my outfit. 

This dress is from Dethrose Vintage and I purchased it back in November.  After waiting about 10 weeks for it to arrive and a number of emails between me and the seller, I was given a refund in February.  Then in March I received an email from the seller to let me know that this dress had arrived back with her!  After 4 months of travelling the globe!  She asked if I still wanted it, which I very much did and I re-bought it and this time it did arrive at my house!  It is a lovely lightweight cotton 1930s/1940s dress and I love the cute geometric print on it. 

Enjoying an Elderflower mocktail from the Cocktail Caravan!

Dress: Vintage (Etsy)
Hat: Vintage (Vintage to Vogue, Bath)
Coat: Hobbs
Shoes: Office
Gloves: Vintage (Etsy)
Bag: Vintage (Vintage to Vogue, Bath)
Cardigan: Zara

War on the Line

A few weekends ago at the beginning of June, I attended the 'War on the Line' event held at the Watercress line.  I had always wanted to go to the Watercress line which is a steam railway line which runs from Alresford to Alton (in North Hampshire) and I figured it would make sense to go on a day when they are holding a 1940s event.

Although I see myself as a 1950s girl at heart, I do love the fashions of the 1930s and 1940s and do have some 1940s outfits (some of which have already been shown on here.)  The only thing is, with my short hair I can't do 1940s hairstyles any justice so I resided to wearing a headscarf on this occasion!

This is going to be a photo heavy post - it was a gloriously sunny day and so many people dressed up and looked fantastic!  I thoroughly enjoyed the day and would definitely go next year.



Me and Churchill!



I am wearing a late 1930s-early 1940s dress which I had recently purchased from Fab Gabs.  I have mentioned this Etsy shop before - it is beyond amazing!  When I found this dress, it was originally at the pricier end of my budget spectrum and I wasn't sure about purchasing it but when I woke up the next morning there was a 25% off sale so I bought it immediately.  You can say it was meant to be mine!  The dress does actually have a fairly big collar which I don't really like so I have tucked it in and I prefer this look.  What I love about this dress is the amazing swing skirt it has - it would be great to go dancing in!

The sunglasses were a last minute purchase from Topshop, so sadly not vintage.  I really want a pair of 1930s sunglasses but it is the kind of purchase that I wouldn't want to make online - some vintage glasses that I have tried on are really narrow so I am hoping I find one at a fair or shop some day soon.



I just love this lady's outfit (complete with gas mask box!) - and look she has a parasol!! At the time that I went to this event, I was desperately looking for a parasol and this would have been the perfect day to take one out as it was so hot and sunny.  I have since acquired a vintage parasol and it will be featured in some upcoming posts!



I just had to snap a photo of this 'vintage family' - I just love the girl's hair - so cute!





There was stuff going on at each of the four train stations and swing dancing was taking place at Alresford - it really reignited my desire to go dancing again!  I did do a Beginners Jive course at the start of the year but did not continue into the intermediate class.  It is something that I really want to do in the future and I am just working on persuading my guy to go with me!



All in all a great day out was had!

Dress: Vintage (Etsy - Fab Gabs)

Bag: Vintage (Vintage to Vogue, Bath)

Shoes: Vintage (Clobber Vintage, Bournemouth)

Gloves: Vintage (Fab Vintage, Winchester)

Headscarf: Vintage (free with some dress purchase from Etsy)

Celluloid necklace: Vintage (Etsy)

Sunglasses: Topshop