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

Rally of the Giants Car Show

Last weekend we attended the 'Rally of the Giants' classic American car show at Blenheim Palace.  I had never been to the Palace before or a specifically American car show and this was advertised as the "Best American car show in the UK" so I was really looking forward to it and it certainly did not disappoint! 

The cars were arranged by era and my favourites were easily the '50s!  I don't actually drive (would really like to learn in the future but have never been able to afford it!) but I have now decided that one day I would like to buy either a Ford Thunderbird (one of the first generation ones!) or a Chevrolet Bel Air.  We saw a few of these and the colours were just dreamy! 

I love going to car shows and it does make me hopeful that I can own one of these beauties in the future!

So a little word on my outfit... This is my new-to-me Bobbie Brooks dress which I love.  There were two being sold on Etsy when I looked - one appeared to be my measurements essentially but was just too short in the bodice, so I opted for the slightly larger one which was being sold and had it altered to fit (though it wasn't altered enough and I still had to do my own adjustments!)  I have also seen this dress featured in a blog post from Vivian de Violet (unable to post links at the moment) and she looks lovely in it!

Although generally I do not care if a dress is a particular brand or designer, when I find a dress with a style or fit that really works, I do like to seek out more from that brand and I am keen to do the same with Bobbie Brooks. 

We didn't explore the Palace as much as we would have liked to but the gardens were amazing!  We walked by the side of the lake and saw the beautiful cascade.  Above is a photo taken in the Rose Garden and below is a photo taken inside the Palace Chapel with me standing at the Pulpit!  All in all a thoroughly enjoyable day out!

Dress: Vintage Bobbie Brooks from Etsy

Shoes: Next

Bag: Vintage from Etsy

Necklace: Vintage from This is Vintage in Boscombe

Hat: Vintage from Etsy

Gloves: Vintage from Scarlet Vintage in Bath

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

Goodwood Revival 2012

So as I mentioned previously, I do have a backlog of photos from previous outings that I would like to share - most of these have been from this year but I also wanted to share some photos from last year's Goodwood Revival event.

This was the first time that I had been to Goodwood, despite having wanted to go for many years!  I went on the Sunday, though the Saturday looked like it had better weather.  It was amazing to see so many well dressed vintage ladies and gents!  If I had this blog back then, then I would have definitely have asked to take some photos of the other festival goers. 

As I'm a 50s girl, that is the look that I went with.  I wore a Jonathan Logan 50s dress which is one of my favourite dresses because it just fits so well!  I purchased it on Etsy and I have been scouring Etsy ever since to find another one of his dresses but I have not found one that I like in my size so far (it will happen one day!)  The headpiece is actually 1930s but shhh! I thought it looked well with my outfit and I love navy.  The bag is 1950s from Vintage to Vogue in Bath - another one of my favourite items because I have not seen a similar patchwork snakeskin bag anywhere else.  The shoes were not vintage - I don't think I would have been happy wearing vintage shoes anyway because most of the day I was walking on grass and I wouldn't want to ruin any vintage shoes!  Gloves are vintage, purchased from a vintage fair in Lymington.  Oh and the fox fur which you will see time and time again because it just goes with everything!

 

I am a fan of classic cars, even if I can't actually drive myself! 

The shops they had did have some good stuff but it was on the expensive side so I did not purchase anything whilst I was there.

In the afternoon, I got approached to be part of the "Best Dressed Competition" - which was quite exciting!  I had my photo taken in a booth and then from that, I was selected to be part of the competition later on in the afternoon.  Although I did not win, it was great to be in the company of so many vintage fans!

The lady in the middle won, though my favourite outfit was the one on the right! This photo is courtesy of the Goodwood Revival website (as is the one below.)

And this is the photo that was taken in the booth.

I am not sure if I am going this year, I will have to decide nearer to the time!