Pretty Knickers and Gin? Ra-ther!

As I may have mentioned before, I am quite the fan of What Katie Did lingerie.  I have slowly built up my collection of stockings, shapewear and bras to have quite a nice little collection now (started with one of their fabulous Sophia corsets, not the most obvious starting off point).

Some of the lovely new things for SS13

Anyway, poured into various items from their A/W 12 collection and wearing a green lace dress I'd been altering until the early hours, I went up to their Portobello Green boutique after being invited to some sort of a show, and of course gin cocktails and cake...

 Along for the ride was Vintage Vessel and Kieren (it was technically work after all!)  In September, we'd taken a trip to the lovely boutique to see a preview of SS13 (and the launch of AW12) so I wasn't sure what this event would be if it wasn't going to be another catwalkesque  show.

The lovely Vintage Vessel,
also known as 'Snappy Browne'

We were in for a treat though as the faces of SS13,  Slinky Sparkles and Sophia St Villier did what they do best and performed burlesque routines wearing the Marlene and Coco sets, respectively. 

 

 

 

 

 Sophia also wore another new addition to the shop, a Bernie Dexter dress (the Beatrice dress in tiki mask print in case you were wondering).  I'd not actually seen any Bernie Dexter dresses in real life - just yearned for them via the internet, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that they are made from really good quality material, much better than you normally find in repro dresses.

 I was lucky enough to interview Katie again, the founder of WKD and she was lovely as ever.  She told me about the plans to stock Miss L Fire shoes in the near future - as if we need any more reason to go to that little paradise in Ladbroke Grove?!

 Here is the footage from our visit if you'd like to take a look.  Here is the link to the show in September if you'd like a better look at the whole collection, I even did captions so you know which piece is which - you're welcome!  And I may have treated myself to a little something after all the filming was finished, but I couldn't possibly tell you what...

 Do you have any What Katie Did in your wardrobe and what's your favourite piece from the new collection?

1940s Relived at Brooklands

When we set off from Brighton, the weather wasn’t as bright as we’d hoped, but we set off in a good mood regardless.  We’d been asked to attend the inaugural 1940s Relived event at Brooklands by Paul, the events manager, who we’d met at the Tweed Run in November.  As we arrived, we were greeted by a Concorde (oh how I wished I could go on one of those when I was younger, that and see the Spice Girls in concert!) That was only the start of many aeroplanes, cars and other vehicles.  I won’t go too much into them (to be honest, I’m not that bothered by cars, I just like them if they’re pretty), but here are a couple of photos in case you stumbled across this expecting hard-hitting motor journalism.

There was singing from the Swingtime Sweethearts (whom we later interviewed), rather a lot of dancing and displays from the Brooklands Homeguard and the strategic command.  We also had a nice chat with Charlotte from Restoration cakes, who told us all about making a birthday cake for Dame Vera Lynn (which is featured in the most recent edition of Vintage Life Magazine).

Charlotte from Restoration Cakes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 There also seemed to be some rather dapper RAF chaps about the place, although unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to speak to them.  Now onto the important stuff – the clothes!  There was a best dressed competition running throughout the day, with the winners chosen from the plethora of beautifully dressed people present.

The winners were;

 


Best dressed man – Jethro (on right),
wearing a CC41 suit from the late ‘40s

Best dressed child – Thor (yes, Thor)

Best dressed lady – Cindy, wearing a 1940s dress, coat and shoes alomng with a 1938 fox fur, a hat of her own making and a lizard brooch which was a reproduction of one of Wallis Simpson’s favourites. 

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it on here, but recently I have become rather keen on hats.  I have bought some lovely ones (from the early ‘50s and I think all from the same woman’s collection) and have made a few (there may at some point in the future be a tutorial about that).  Anyway, I’m getting off the point which is that there were some phenomenal hats at Brooklands (many made by the Best Dressed lady, Cindy including the yellow hat below). 

I think it has to have been one of the best dressed events we have attended so far (perhaps because of the high number of wartime civilian reenactors present. As such, I had a field day taking photographs of some truly beautiful outfits and here are a few of my favourites.

 

 

 

 

 

We had a really good day and considering it was the first time this particular event had been staged, I was very impressed with it.  All I think I’d ask for are a few more stalls, perhaps someone like Judy could curate?  All in all, not a bad way to spend the day before my birthday. Also, two separate people came up to me thinking I was Lola Lamour - unexpected but rather flattering!

If you spot yourself in any of the pictures in this, or any of my other blog posts, then do let me know and I’ll add your name.

* due to ongoing issues with trying to add photos to my blog (why won't it just work?!) I've had to leave a few out, so sorry if some of it would make more sense with pictures!

The truly fashionable are beyond fashion. Review of Style Me Vintage by Naomi Thompson

After spending the day with Naomi Thompson, the lady behind Vintage Secret, I was immediately compelled to read her new book ‘Style Me Vintage: Clothes’.  And this I did – cover-to-cover in an hour!  I was really impressed with the tone of the writing.  It wasn’t dumbed down, nor was it elitist as often vintage writing can be (e.g. ‘if you don’t already know, we’re not going to tell you’).

 

The day started off with Leslie and I driving down to Naomi’s lovely flat in Portsmouth.  With views of the sea, it was the perfect place to conduct our interview.  We chatted a while about Style Me Vintage, The Vintage Mafia and generally about vintage clothes.  But I’m not here to relay the entire conversation – that’s what we have our cameras for!  What I’d like to focus on today is her book.  As I said earlier, I couldn’t put it down and found it really engaging. 

The book is in two parts, firstly a decade-by-decade guide picking out the key looks, features and details of each period ranging from the ‘20s to the ‘80s.  The second half contains hints and tips for the general care and purchasing of vintage clothes.  It also has dedicated sections on foundation garments (or shapewear) and swimwear. 

The book features a few stock photos, but mainly contains photos taken just for the book, with models some of you may recognise, (did someone say the Vintage Mafia?)  The clothes shown are mostly original, including some absolutely stunning 1940s hats and 1920s frocks, but I was pleased with the inclusion of some reproduction clothing as well.  Clothes from companies such as Heydey! and a personal favourite, Puttin’ on the Ritz , are an informed addition.  The ease of care and more uniform sizing of reproduction clothing make them a viable alternative to buying purely vintage, but one that is occasionally frowned upon by some of the more diehard vintage wearers.

I also liked the way each decade was split into day and evening looks, as it is able to show, especially in the earlier decades, how social change could sometimes be slow but precursors to some key looks could be found decades earlier.

There were a fair few tidbits I found really interesting, particularly Laver’s Law and the changes in hemline.  The book is also peppered with famous quotes about style and fashion, my favourite being ‘The truly fashionable are beyond fashion’, Cecil Beaton.

For the uninitiated, there are some indispensable tips on dating, buying and trying on vintage, which are great as shopping for vintage can be rather daunting.  I will definitely be taking a tape measure out with me next time I go shopping, I can’t believe I’d not thought of it before!

At the back there is also a pick of the best vintage fashion blogs, the best sort of places to source your vintage goodies, important labels you may not know and some choice online boutiques.

Overall, (as you can probably tell) I’m really impressed with this book, and I think it will be a boon to those with previous vintage knowledge and those just getting into it.  It comes out on February 1^st and I’m sure it will be flying off the shelves (it’s currently sold out on Amazon).  Congratulations Naomi on a superb book.