Lace and Tweed

A few weekends ago I went to the Lace and Tweed Vintage Fair which is hosted twice a year in Guildford. 

Here is the outfit that I wore on the day...

 

The dress is a recent acquisition from Fab Gabs on Etsy and I am pretty much in love with everything in that shop!  If only it were all my size *sigh*... luckily for me this dress was my size! 

Although I am not a fan of the colder months, there is one good thing about winter approaching - I get to wear fur!  This fox fur stole is particularly practical as I can wear it with a lot of my jackets and coats. 

 

 

 

I hadn't been to this particular fair before but was told that there was some great vintage for sale so I decided to make the train trip to check it out.  I don't always travel so far to go to vintage fairs as they are not always worth the money or effort travelling.  There was some really great vintage on offer but I didn't buy much (a 1950s jacket for my guy, a pair of 1940s gloves and some 1950s cat eye sunglasses.)

 

There were also some very well dressed people in attendance (something I don't always see at local fairs) and I just had to snap a photo of this vintage lady in her autumnal dress - doesn't she look great?

Dress: Vintage from Fab Gabs on Etsy
Shoes: Vintage from Clerkenwell Vintage Fair
Bag: Vintage from eBay
Gloves: Vintage, gift
Hat: Vintage from Etsy
Fox fur: Vintage from a New York Flea Market
Jacket: Vintage from Ballyhoo Vintage

Toffee and Liquorice

Another vintage fair, another vintage outfit... This is the outfit I wore when Lou Lou's Vintage Fair came to town at the beginning of October.

I bought this dress and matching jacket from Dethrose Vintage on Etsy and I just love the toffee and liquorice check print.  I had been looking for a matching set for such a long time!  It is becoming increasingly difficult finding dresses in my size and then to have the jacket be my measurements as well has been a challenge!  So I was overjoyed to find this set in my size and at a reasonable price.  It is quite a lightweight cotton so I'm glad I got to wear it out without needing an overcoat before the weather got too cold. 

I also wanted to show you a better photo of my hat... it is very autumnal!

Dress and jacket: Vintage from Dethrose Vintage on Etsy
Hat: Vintage from Etsy
Shoes: Vintage from Beyond Retro
Bag: Vintage from Vintage to Vogue, Bath
Gloves: Vintage from Etsy
Necklace/ brooch: Vintage from various fairs

Steak snob

As you are probably aware from my outfit posts, I don't go out a lot in the evenings, mostly because there is not a lot to do in Southampton (or the surrounding area!)  Most of my clothes are therefore day wear.  However, I do enjoy going out in the evening (especially when good food is involved) so I thought I would share with you some photos taken back in September when I went out for a colleague's birthday at a local Steakhouse.

You might remember that I blogged about this dress back here when I purchased it from Sweet Bee Finds on Etsy.  The colour, the dreamy chiffon and the cute peter pan collar made me buy it immediately!  I also decided to team it with my not-totally-comfortable Ferragamos.

I also 'apologise' for the odd poses in these photos and the fact that I appear to be at an angle, I asked my Grandma to take them before I left for the Steakhouse and she is not used to using a smartphone camera!

And now onto the steak in question.... Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE my food.  And steak is one of my favourite meals but I will only eat it from proper steakhouses and wouldn't dare try to cook it at home... best to leave it to the professionals!  Vegetarians might want to look away now...

I always have the fillet and I always have the 11oz size but each time I always feel that I could have gone bigger!  I am starting to get hungry just looking at the photo...

Dress: Vintage from Sweet Bee Finds on Etsy

Bag: Vintage from Etsy

Shoes: Vintage Ferragamos from Etsy

Holiday Outfit Post # 6: A new favourite?

OK so this is the last of my holiday outfit posts... and I like to think I saved the best 'til last!

These photos were taken in Narbonne and I think the canal makes for a great backdrop for these photos.  Out of all the places I visited on my short holiday in the South of France, I think Narbonne was my favourite - it was just a really lovely town and I would definitely like to go back there.

Now to my outfit... I bought this dress from the lovely Vicki of 'This is Vintage' in Boscombe.  I had seen this dress on a previous visit to her store but for some reason did not like it because I thought the colours made me feel dizzy!  However, I went back to her store a few days before my holiday and decided to give the dress a try - and I loved it!  

It does have a really good fit... perhaps too good because it is a little tight around the ribcage!  Usually if dresses are going to be tight, they are tight around the waist but this has an almost corseted feel to it and it is hard to take deep breaths in it... but with vintage clothing sometimes it is a case of "no pain, no gain."




These are probably one of my favourite pairs of shoes and although they are not vintage, they are a good few years old.  They have been re-soled once and have seen the likes of Paris, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Grand Canyon and Monument Valley... and they are still going strong.

Dress: Vintage from This is Vintage in Boscombe (Vicki also has an etsy shop too This is Vintage Dorset)

Bag: Vintage from the Retro and Jukebox Fair in Brighton

Shoes: Topshop

Sunglasses: Ray-Ban Wayfarers

Holiday Outfit Post # 5: The Carcassonne outfit

So back to the holiday outfits!  It's odd looking back to summer outfits when the weather in the UK has taken a turn for the worse...

This is the outfit that I wore when we spent the day in Carcassonne.  As you can see from the following photos, Carcassonne is straight out of a fairy tale!  Founded in the 5th century, it is an amazing fortified town and has been featured in many movies and TV shows. 

I am not sure if I should have worn the headscarf on this occasion... Do you ever look back at blog photos and regret wearing a certain item?  It's too late because I wanted to show you this 1950s two piece!

As soon as I saw this crop top and skirt combo on Crush Vintage I knew it had to be mine!  I love the cute buttons on the back of the crop top (even if it is a total pain to get done up by yourself *Thank you Alan*) and the bright blue colour.  The crop top is quite low cut so I had to wear a lace top inside (I don't really like low-cut tops or dresses.)

 

 

And here are some better photos of Carcassonne...

 

 

 

Crop top and Skirt: Vintage from Crush Vintage

Shoes: Topshop

Bag: Vintage from a trader at the Jukebox and Retro Fair in Brighton 2013

Headscarf: Vintage, was a free gift with a purchase from Etsy

Necklace: Vintage from Dear Golden Vintage

Sunglasses: Ray-Ban Clubmasters

Gangsters and Gunslingers

So I am taking a little break from the holiday outfits - hopefully you weren't finding them too monotonous! 

A few weekends ago I went to Bath, not just to visit the beautiful city but also to visit The American Museum.  I have always wanted to visit there but had never got round to it.... that is, until I saw that they were doing an exhibition called "Gangsters and Gunslingers: The Good, The Bad and The Memorabilia."  This got me super excited!  I have always been fascinated by prohibition era stories and being a fan of movies filmed or set in this time, I knew I had to go!

Here are some photos of what I wore on the day, the ones below are taken at The Royal Crescent.

I know for a lot of vintage lovers, autumn is their favourite season.  For me, I love summer but there is no denying that I love the colour palette that autumn brings.  Case in point - this lovely Jerry Gilden dress!  I wear it all year round (weather permitting) but wearing it this time of year, makes me look like I've made a good seasonal effort.


OK so excuse the awkward photo, but look at the print!



Oh! And I forgot to mention my lovely jacket!  I'm not really into designers and the label tends to be an after thought if I like an item.  I was looking for a 1950s little black jacket to wear with my dresses and to wear in the summer to autumn transition.  I did not have much luck on Etsy but then I found this jacket on Ballyhoo Vintage and at a reasonable price, I bought it.  It just so happens to be a Norman Norell!!  I'm surprised that the price was so reasonable!  I have dated it to late 1950s, according to the Traina-Norell label - I would love to hear from anyone else who owns any of his items!

OK, so back to why I am writing this post - the exhibition!

The Museum itself is set in Claverton Manor and is pretty amazing and has some lovely exhibitions - I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in American history (there was a to-die-for bedroom decorated circa Louisiana 1860!!)  I was really impressed with the Gangsters and Gunslingers exhibition too.  A lot of the items came from one collector - who had previously showcased his collection of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia in a previous exhibition (How amazing would that have been to see?!!  If anyone visited - please let me know what that was like!)

So here are some photos of what I thought was most interesting... please forgive my iPhone photos as most items were behind glass.

I can't get over the fact that Bonnie Parker was younger than me when she died!  I love this photo taken of her in 1933.

I guess I quite like morbid things, because I thought this was amazing (sorry that I have used that word a lot on this post.)  This is John Dillinger's death mask and you can even see the exit wound from the bullet that killed him.



The bullet proof vest that Bonnie wore when she died... obviously didn't work very well!  There are some gruesome facts about the nature of her death but you will have to go to the exhibition to find out (or you can read about it, if this photo comes up clear enough!)

And Clyde Barrow's watch that he was wearing when he died... again more gruesome facts surround why there is only half a watch remaining.... !!

I was going to do this post after my holiday outfits but as the exhibition is only on until 3rd November 2013, I thought I would do it now, in case there is anyone who would be interested in going.  The website for the museum is http://americanmuseum.org/

Dress: Jerry Gilden Vintage, from eBay

Jacket: Traina-Norell, from Ballyhoo Vintage

Shoes: Marks and Spencer

Brooch: Vintage from...?

Gloves: Vintage, gift from my Mum

Hat: Vintage from Etsy

Necklace: Vintage from a Vintage Fair (can't remember which one!)

Bag: Vintage from Vintage to Vogue, Bath

Holiday Outfit Post # 4: The Montpellier Dress

This is another dress that I wore on my recent holiday to the South of France and these photos were taken in Montpellier. 

I really enjoyed our day in Montpellier, it is a really vibrant city and we walked a fair bit so we managed to see quite a lot.  The photo above is taken in the city's Place de la Comedie (which is the main focus point.)

What impressed me about Montpellier was the transportation system - they are keen to encourage drivers to park on the outskirts of the city and so this is what we did.  We then did a 'Park +Tram' which cost only 4.40 euros for all day parking and for both of us to use the trams in and out of the city!!  I think that is pretty amazing value.

I knew through some prior Internet research that there was at least one vintage shop in Montpellier but I made a point of not remembering where it was, as we were only going to be there for one day and I didn't want to spend the day looking for a vintage shop, which may or may turn out to be good.  Despite this, I happened to stumble upon two vintage shops - both were called 'Absolute Vintage' and this was the store that I had previously found on the Internet.  I guess that my internal GPS is programmed to find vintage stores, even if I am not actively seeking them out!  Neither shop was fantastic for pre-1960s clothes but there was a rather lovely 1950s day dress in one of the stores which fitted really well but I did not think it was well priced at 90 euros, so I did not buy it.   

This next set of photos were all taken at the foot of the Statue of Louis XIV and is near the Promenade du Peyrou.



I call this the "euro pose" as I have seen a number of European girls doing this ladylike pose, not only on this holiday but on previous holidays too, so I thought I would copy it!


This dress is a really lovely lightweight cotton, so perfect for super hot weather (though as these photos demonstrate, at that time of day, it wasn't as hot as we thought it was going to be.)  I had planned to wear my straw hat with this dress but it was just far too windy, so it got left in the car. 

I have about 2-3 more holiday outfit posts planned (depending on if I am brave enough to show you my lovely Esther Williams swimsuit that I wore on the beach...)

Dress: Vintage from Etsy
Camera Bag: Vintage from eBay (unfortunately I do not own a vintage camera to go in the bag!)
Shoes: Aldo
Bag: Vintage from The Retro & Jukebox Fair in Brighton
Cardigan: Zara
Necklace: Vintage from Etsy