Come along with me on down to New Orleans

I was quite intrigued when we were invited to Storyville, an event organised by the Nightjar bar.  I was even more intrigued by the theme and dress code, “a hot-blooded tribute to New Orleans” and Bordello Chic, respectively.  Storyville was the name given to the red light district operating in New Orleans between 1897-1917, so I was expecting a certain amount of debauchery - think America’s answer to Bohemian Monmartre with added creole, voodoo and a few southern belles thrown in.

The dress code was going to be a bit of a problem.  You see, I’ve just moved house (I’ll be posting later on my new abode, the architecture round here is so beautiful it needs its own post) and as such only had one dress at my new flat.  Luckily, it was a handmade 1930s day dress in a wonderful ditsy-printed lime green artificial silk, so I thought I may be able to get away with it.  



The odd fan pose is due to the big blue ink stamp on my arm
(I think I confused the doorman by wearing gloves)

 Anyway, back to the event.  The venue (Factory 7 in Shoreditch) was very well decorated, with ivy-draped street signs, two opulent four poster beds, atmospheric lighting in reds and greens as well as three bars (one of which was a dedicated to the green fairy).  One original element I really liked was the presence of the actors and performers walking around the venue.  More impressively, most of these vagrants, madams and courtesans had hidden talents; among them a breakdancer, an opera singer, and aerial and fire artists.

 I had a quick chat with Natalie Fern who was the costume designer responsible for dressing these performers.  Based in Manchester, Natalie sourced a lot of the costumes from the Royal Exchange. She had to adapt some of the looks, particularly the prostitutes, to fit in more with the modern expectations of what a courtesan should look like.  She talked of how voodoo was also an influence, as were the performers’ particular skills; with the fire act wearing blacks and reds, and the aerialist looking ethereal in white.  

Natalie also spoke of how she found it difficult dressing the men due the fact that changes in men’s fashions throughout the 20^th century were rather subtle - the width of a lapel or the size of the turn-ups perhaps altering the look by decades.  She wanted to make the ‘Gentleman Jack’ figure to look slightly more roguish to differentiate him from your ordinary seersucker clad southern gentleman.  It was refreshing to hear that most of her inspiration came from google (and also an unlikely source in ‘The Princess and the Frog’).

  

Beforehand, I had seen that Swing Patrol would be there, but rather than a performance or lesson, I think they were just populating the dance floor (not that I minded - I got quite a few dances in Scott, thethe chap behind Swing Patrol who we interviewed last year).

Although £25 may seem a bit pricey, you were getting a lot for your money.  The night ran from 7pm-4am and there seemed to be some form of entertainment for most of that time.  Apart from the aforementioned wandering performers, there was a pianist, four bands (we were only able to stay long enough to see the brilliant Basin Street Brawlers– the joys of having to catch the last train) and a free tasting lesson over at the absinthe bar (courtesy of Enigma absinthe).  We tried some of the Jambalaya (which was rather expensive and a little disappointing) and a couple of glasses of New Orleans punch (a refreshing cocktail of Southern Comfort, Ameretto, apple and rhubarb, root beer and nectarines) which although very tasty, could’ve done with being a little ‘punchier’.

It is an event I would definitely go to again, and hopefully be able to enjoy more before having to leave.  I would say that if it were made slightly shorter to bring down the price, it may have been even more popular.   I must add that I am indebted to my dear friend Caroline for accompanying me and providing some of the photos on here (she is the resident N’awlins expert of my friends).



Caroline with our new friend Gentleman Jack

 Natalie Fern can be conatcted at Natalie.fern1@googlemail.com

A hat is an accent. It can set a mood. It can tell the world you are witty or romantic, timid or daring

Again, sorry for the lack of posting - but I have now moved into my new house and have the internet back (yay!) so I'll be able to post much more often.

Recently, I have become very interested in hats – especially from the ‘40s and ‘50s.  I’m not sure if everyone has found this, but it’s quite difficult to find nice hats in a good condition, that don’t cost the earth.  This Shop Rocks on Brick Lane has possibly one of the best selections of hats I’ve ever seen, but with the majority of my favourites being well over £100, they’re a little out of my price range.  This scarcity of hats that I could afford (and didn’t look like someone had just sat on them) led me to try and create some of my own.

Now, as I didn’t know any of the techniques or have any of the materials necessary to become the next Stephen Jones, I opted for cutting up old hats and making pretty new ones.  Here are a couple of those ‘upcycled’ (if you’ll excuse the phrase) hats and what they originally looked like.

I had to be told how to smoke in the photo of me - I was just worried about my
CC41 gloves catching fire! - taken by Russ Bell for The Chap magazine

After my fairly reckless quitting-my-normal-job-in-a-shop-so-I-can-work-for-the-Vintage-News-properly episode, I had a couple of days a week ‘spare’ as it were.  When I saw a tweet about a millinery internship, I decided that was how I wanted to spend those extra days.  The only trouble was that firstly, I have no millinery training and secondly, the internship was in London!  I didn’t let that deter me and so I headed to Battersea for my first day.

The internship is with Bundle MacLaren (who is absolutely lovely) and it's all very relaxed, just stitching away in her front room, with ladies popping in to pick up their bespoke creations.  Everyday I’ve been given something new to do – I’ve learnt so much!  So far I’ve made silk orchids, covered blocked bases in lace and silk, as well as preparing and mounting peacock swords.  One of the peacock sword hats that I made ended up on the Vogue website in their coverage of Ascot! 

 I’m taking a break for a few weeks what with the Olympics and Bundle being on holiday, but here are a few of the hats I’ve made over the past few sessions.
Oh, and the title of this post is a quote from Lilly Daché, one of my favourite milliners of the first half of the 20th century.

Vintage Nation and Emma Duggan photography

Apologies for the quite substantial gap since the last post, we've been very busy in the office launching the new website which went live yesterday.

This was originally meant to be a post about Vintage Nation at Brighton Racecourse, but as it was quite a while ago, I have quite forgotten what I was going to write.  Organisers and sponsors included Judy's Vintage Fair, Hairport and Crabbie's.  I do remember there were some fantastic bands that day (including old favourites the Swing Ninjas and Mr B) and another friend of ours, Simon Webster, was one of the DJs that day.  I also interviewed the members of Bad Bad Whiskey, a brilliant skifflebilly band who I’ve seen a few times around Brighton (playing gigs, not just lurking).  Have a look at the newsreel if you'd like to know more as I've not really put anything here!

Anyway, what I thought I’d write about was a lovely photographer who took my picture (along with 30 other attendees).  Her name was Emma Duggan and she was one of the nicest photographers I’ve had the pleasure to work with.  Emma was choosing a few people whose outfits she liked to record for here website.  When it came to my turn,  Emma told me exactly how to pose, which is such a relief when you don’t like having your photo taken!  Anyway, here are three of the pictures she took of me. 

Featuring our lovely (working) postcard camera and my recently lost card case (if anyone at the Chap Olympiad found it, I would dearly love to have it back – it’s full of my business cards so you should know it’s mine). 

My outfit for the day mostly came from my mum – I was wearing a ‘30s-style pink dress from the 1980s, a russet suede ‘Hunters’ jacket from the ‘40s that the mater bought in the ‘80s.  I picked up the shoes from a charity shop for a couple of pounds and the gloves, I think I bought at a previous fair at the Racecourse.

If you'd like to have a look at more of her photos from the day, or would just like to look through her work, have a look at her blog here.  Thank you to Emma for the lovely photos - and for sending them to me by the next morning!

Shooting the Romanovs in a Tea House

One of my first blog posts was about the New Sheridan Club spy-themed party in December and it was a delight to return for their summer party, this time jubilee themed.  The party was held at the Tea House Theatre, absolutely wonderful venue that I will definitely be returning to.

There were various jubilee themed games including ‘pin the safety pin on the queen’ (I was awful, getting one straight through her eye to gasps of “anarchist”).  ‘Whose Queen’ was another, in which you had to throw an inflatable crown onto Rachel’s head.  Depending on how complimentary you had been to Queenie, she could make it rather easy or quite difficult.  There was also the customary shooting game, this time ‘Shooting the Romanovs in the basement’ in honour (if that is the right word) of the last of the Russian royal family.  My past as a sharp-shooter for hire was finally put to good use in a vintage setting as I actually won!  As such, I was awarded the set of matryoshka dolls adorned with the faces of the Tsarina and her ill-fated children – along with the face of NSC member Will Smith in the place of Tsar Nicholas.  I think my tiara must have been bringing me luck as I also won ‘The King’s Speech’ on DVD in the raffle!

I opted to wear a beautiful dress that I’ve only worn once (for my 19^th birthday) as the lace is quite damaged and therefore I am unable to dance in it.  I also wore my tiara (bought for that very same 19^th birthday, I was dressed as the Queen Mother – don’t ask!) and a last minute alteration, a white opera scarf as a sash instead of the corsage I’d made.  As ever, the NSC threw a marvellous party and I am already looking forward to the next one (and finding out the theme).

A Rummy Old Day at the Launch of Mr B.'s 'The Tweed Album'

This post is a little out of chronological order, but it was such an enjoyable evening, it has jumped the queue a little.

We at the Vintage News, are great fans of Mr B. the Gentleman Rhymer , having seen (and interviewed) him at many events over the past few years (and even more so because parts of the video for ‘Chap-Hop History’ are filmed near my house!)  As such, I was delighted to be going to the launch of his third long-player ‘The Tweed Album’.  As is befitting of an album titled such, the launch was at the London branch of Walker Slater.  The venue was perfect for the launch, as Walker Slater has a fine range of tweeds in their London and Edinburgh establishments (incidentally, the front cover of the album was at shot the Edinburgh branch).

Even though we only saw him a few days before (at Vintage Nation), I was impressed that the set played was different.  One song I’d not heard before but particularly enjoyed was the shoe-gazing medley, also a big hit with the rest of the attendees – it certainly was unbelievable (sorry).  The launch was also an opportunity to have a nice catch up with Fleur De Guerre and meet Beatrix Von Bourbon (who was wearing the most gorgeous Terry de Havilland shoes).

A few people complimented me on my jacket (including one of the designers for

Walker Slater surprisingly) and I then proceeded to tell said people that it was a small boy’s jacket from the ‘80s.  I really should just have said thank you, I blame Hendrick’s.  

Hendrick's were the sponsers of the event
and ready suppliers of a few fine G&Ts.

Please excuse the awful photo of me, but it’s the only one of what I was wearing.  At least you can catch a glimpse of Beatrix’s shoes!  Apart from the album, Mr B.’s club tie was also on sale.  It features a silhouette of Mr B. and did not look out of place amongst the selection on offer.

I’d been listening to ‘The Tweed Album’ for the last couple of days so I was quite amused when ‘Curtsey for Me’ and ‘Edward’s Dilemma’ were performed, knowing full well their suggestive lyrics.  The album, starting as it does with the bold claim ‘I Invented Hip Hop’ meanders through various interpretations of Chap-Hop.  ‘A Rummy Old Day’ sounds to me very summery and brings to mind the music of the early naughties.  ‘Nicknackatory’ has a particularly catchy chorus and ‘Tinkerty-Tonk’ closes the album with a lovely lilting melody.  After a couple of weeks, the track that keeps popping into my head has to be the first of two Bullingdon related ditties; ‘They Don’t Allow Rappers in the Bullingdon Club’ (I think we need to get someone at Oxford to verify if this is the case!)

I’ve not listened to Mr B’s past albums in as much detail as ‘The Tweed Album’, but I can safely say that it is more of the sort of chap-hop finery that we have come to expect from everyone’s favourite gentleman rhymer.

Do let me know what you think about 'The Tweed Album' or any other Mr B albums in the comment section. Happy listening!

Sadie x

And what did we see... we saw the sea

The first time we had been invited to Portsmouth for a vintage event was for the inaugural Victorious Vintage (albeit on the second of two days) which was held at the Historic Dockyards.  As we arrived we saw that it was already quite busy, and there was more than enough to occupy the thousands of people through the gates.

There were three stages (including an acoustic stage) which played host all sorts of many bands.  However, the more ‘vintage’ singers had to perform in the smallest of the three stages, inside Boathouse No. 7.  I felt this was a shame as most of the rest of the event (stalls etc.) had maintained a ‘vintage’ theme, yet there were no swing or big bands that I saw (there was a rock ‘n’ roll band who played at least one song from ‘Grease’).  The headliners were Dodgy and The Lightening Seeds – big in the ‘90s but a slightly odd choice for this festival.



With Betty from Betty Blue's Loungerie

We had a few quick interviews with Betty from Betty Blue’s Loungerie (her siren suits are absolutely gorgeous), Katie Vale and Annie Andrews (who we also saw performing).  The day didn’t have a particularly ‘Jubilee’ theme, but I’m not sure if that was deliberate or not.

With Katie Vale the milliner

Annie Andrews performing

It was nice for people to be able to see some of the most important ships in British history without having to pay upwards of £20 a ticket (although this option was still available if you actually wanted to see inside the HMS Victory or HMS Warrior).  Incidentally, I found out yesterday that when my granddad was in the Navy, he was stationed (if that is the correct term) on the Victory in 1949, ’50 and ’57 - which is rather impressive and also explains why I spent a fair amount of my childhood looking round those very ships.  There were a few well dressed people (not as many as I was expecting) and here are a few I photographed.

I wore a blue and white striped sunsuit I picked up for £18 in Lewes.  I was hoping to be able to take off the white Broderie Anglaise skirt I was wearing, but alas it was a little chilly.  My shoes were from Marks & Sparks and the hat I made myself.  I was quite pleased when someone thought it was an original!

 

We bumped into Naomi Thompson
on her home turf in Pompey



All in all, I think it was a good day out, with a particularly interesting setting, but a few more clothing stalls (definitely more for men) and a little more thought with regards to the bands playing (‘Three Lions’ doesn’t strike me as particularly ‘vintage’) and Victorious Vintage will hopefully be an annual event and can come back much stronger next year. 

A jubilant day of fabulous hair, rockin' rhythms and ridiculously high shoes

For the past couple of years, on the Saturday of Brighton Fashion Week, I've strolled on down to the Dorset Public House on Gardener Street as they would no doubt be playing the best rockabilly and R‘n’R the '50s had to offer and this year was no different.

In the past, Simon Webster pitched up his 1930s barber's chair outside the aforementioned pub, offering rockin' cuts to those passing by.  Regular readers will be familiar with the name Simon Webster as the VN attended the opening of his salon back in March.  This year, Simon was set up outside his salon, along with The Vanity Box.  The girls from the Vanity Box were creating beautiful vintage coiffeurs for the ladies of Gardener Street and I think you'll agree, the hairstyles are stunning!

 

As I had already curled my hair for the next day, it was up to Les to step up and face the scissors.  We had a chat with Simon about how the past couple of months had been at the salon, after which we interviewed Verity from The Vanity Box, (all of which you can see here).

 

After we'd finished at the salon, we managed to catch the musicians performing outside the Dorset.  Firstly, there was Dollar Bill, a one man band performing a mix of blues and country who I'd love to see perform again, but preferably somewhere with a dance floor.  After Dollar Bill it was the turn of Hollerin’ Stollar and the Pine Box Boys.  



Dollar Bill, the blues one-man band

ring Hollerin' Stollar and the Pine Box Boys

Mark, the Dorset's manager 
even got in on the action.

For some reason I had a major crisis of confidence in what I was wearing (maybe the fact that the day before a man had loudly remarked that I looked like I was wearing fancy dress, hadn't helped), so I changed my outfit a few times.  In the end I didn't wear any vintage and opted for a Matalan blouse, Vivienne of Holloway pencil skirt, an elastic belt and shoes I bought when I was in New York.  It was the first time I'd worn the shoes and considering how high they are, they were surprisingly comfortable!

 

 

I was unable to attend the 'after party' at the Mesmerist as I was busy making a surprise visit to my sister at her new job in Rottingdean, but from what I hear, the party was rather good!