Looking forward to 2014...

I can't believe that there are only a few days left of 2013!  This has been the best year for me and I am certainly looking forward to 2014.  2013 brought some exciting developments and this blog is one of them.  I have enjoyed doing outfit posts and also being able to comment on all the blogs I love to read - you vintage girls are the best!  You have the best style and are a great source of inspiration for me.  I also wanted to take the opportunity in this post to say a big THANK YOU to those of you who read my blog and for your lovely comments - I really appreciate them! 

OK, on to my outfit...

I have tried to incorporate more separates into my vintage wardrobe.  Buying vintage skirts in a small size is pretty easy but one thing I have found is that buying vintage tops in a small size is definitely not easy!  Even buying reproduction or vintage inspired tops is really difficult - this is one thing I think that the repro brands out there really need to get on top of - especially when it comes to sweaters!  Does anyone else have this problem?  Do you have any suggestions for where I can get nice vintage or vintage inspired sweaters from (in a small size!)?

This is one of my favourite cardigans and has a rabbit fur collar (I like to call it my 'Thumper Jumper'...)  I bought this on eBay about four years ago and it was the bargain price of £9!  These days, these type of fur collar cardigans seem to be more around the £50 price, so I was quite lucky to buy this one at this price.  I am also wearing the cashmere sweater and ? Bakelite hoop earrings, both purchased from Rhythm Riot this year.  I don't own many Bakelite items so I am not sure (and to be honest, not entirely bothered) if they are indeed genuine Bakelite.  I didn't pay very much for them and I bought them because I just love the colour and style!

Hope y'all have a great New Years!  See you in 2014!

Skirt: Vintage from Etsy
Thumper Jumper: Vintage from eBay
Sweater: Vintage from Dress Circle Vintage at Rhythm Riot
Earrings: Vintage from Dress Circle Vintage at Rhythm Riot
Shoes: Marks and Spencer
Bag: Vintage from Vintage to Vogue, Bath

Rhythm Riot 2013 Part 2

So this is the outfit that I wore on Sunday at Rhythm Riot...

 

I expected the weather to be super cold so thought that it would be a good opportunity to wear this wool dress.  I bought this on Etsy back in the summer and I only paid £25 for it!  I rarely get to buy such bargains on Etsy.  It's an Anne Fogarty and in great condition too (something I always worry about when purchasing wool dresses online.) 

 

 

 

 

I am surprised that these photos turned out OK as they were taken after only a few hours sleep.  After staying out late to see The Royal Rhythmaires on Saturday night, I got up to go the Boot Sale at 10am (couldn't manage getting there for 9am!)  The Boot sale itself was a bit disappointing because the prices were quite high for a lot of the items.  I did buy a few things (including the hat you can see in these photos.)

 

Although the Sunday Boot Sale was disappointing, the shopping in general at the Riot certainly was not!  Living in Southampton, where there are no vintage shops and the local fairs don't have a lot of pre-1960s, I felt somewhat overwhelmed at the amount of wonderful 1940s and 1950s vintage on offer.  Everything was just amazing and so as a result, I found it hard to distinguish what I liked from what I really liked!  I didn't have a huge budget either so I didn't go crazy but I did pick up some nice items including a 1940s rayon Carol Craig dress, a 1950s brown cashmere sweater, red ?Bakelite hoop earrings and a 1950s Anne Fogarty dress (which seemed as though it was destined to be mine as I was wearing the above AF dress at the time!)  My guy also found some nice items too which he was pleased about because men's vintage is harder to find, at least where we live.

 

 

 

 

Of course, everyone there looked fantastic as well!  It was really great being at an event where people appreciated the 1940s and 1950s lifestyle - from the clothes to the music to the cars.  When I go to local vintage fairs, often, I am the only one in vintage clothes, so it was nice to see everyone in lovely outfits.  I also got to meet some lovely people as well.  I thoroughly enjoyed my first Rhythm Riot and I would definitely go back!

 

Dress: Vintage from Etsy

Shoes: Office

Gloves: Vintage from Lou Lou's Vintage Fair

Bag: Vintage from Etsy

Hat: Vintage from a trader at Rhythm Riot boot sale

Brooch: Vintage from Tamara Watts at the Clerkenwell Vintage Fair

 

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