Christmas nails!

'Emerald City' by Revlon with half moons and glitter on the top, done by my friend Paloma, I love them!

Cakes!

On 5th December I'm sharing a stall with my friend Paloma at the Morley Winter Fair. I'll be selling homemade cupcakes, cookies and brownies, while she'll be selling handmade chocolates!

I'm getting some flyers printed up, and have been trawling the internet for inspirational images! Just thought I'd share a few with you as I've found lots of lovely ones:







Click for sources and enlargements.
Sewing posts coming soon!

Autumn/Winter Fabrics

Just some quick pictures of recent purchases! Have been fabric shopping to Goldhawk Road and John Lewis:

From left to right: navy polka dot fabric for a dress, red for a pinafore or an A-line skirt, gorgeous wool green and navy tartan for a straight skirt, and some amazing fake cheetah fur for the collar of a jacket or cape!

Also bought myself a new vintage handbag from ebay:

Vintage Manicure

I've been wanting to experiment with some more interesting nail colours, as I tend to stick to a dark red. This post on Casey's blog was my inspiration (picture below). One of my friends who is into nail art did me a vintage style manicure with navy nail varnish to match my outfit. She did the whole thing freehand, I love it!


Also, I'm selling some things on ebay – some vintage style shoes and a Bettie Page Captain Dress. Click here to have a look.

Autumn Inspiration

Colours:


Suits:


Dresses:


Pinafores:


Hats, handbags & shoes:


[Click for sources or to enlarge, but I don't remember all the sources!]

Mint Green Dress

Apologies for no posts this month, I've had an unbelievably busy August! Have been working lots, spent the last two weeks in the south of France, and am moving this week! I've done a mountain of sewing too, most of it for my holiday, and will make up my absence by posting lots of outfit photos in the next few weeks. This dress is my favourite of the things I've sewn. Although I bought this fabric a while ago, I've been saving it for a really good project because I love it so much! It's mint green with a tiny white polka dot. I was inspired by sundresses like the ones in this post, and cut the pattern myself (first major pattern cutting project!) and am really pleased with how it turned out. It fits almost perfectly and I'm pleased with the details I added: the white straps with buttons, pockets, and especially the belt.


Shoes: Schuh / Earrings: Topshop / Chiffon headscarf: made by me
Check out my holiday tan! Also bought these espadrille wedges for my holiday, they have a big wedge and I love the rope instead of ribbon! Was inspired by these pictures:

(click for sources & to enlarge)

Let's K-nock K-nees

Have been trying to make myself get through my Fred & Ginger DVD Collection slowly, but the temptation is to watch them all in a row. It's definitely been my most loved recent purchase! It's quite expensive but the packaging is so lovely, with good quality stills on the covers, and 8 postcards of the original film posters. Was watching The Gay Divorcee last night and fell in love with the scene where Betty Grable sings 'Let's K-nock K-nees', the clothes are amazing! This is the only clip I could find, the scene starts around 2.35, and the backing dancers with the amazing clothes at 4.45. Love the jumpsuits!

Sundresses

I've found that sundresses are the most practical and stylish in the heat, so I'm making myself a couple to take on holiday with me at the end of August. Just thought I'd post some of my inspiration:


1 Not sure where this is from, larger image here
2 Vintage sundress on Etsy
3 Another vintage sundress
4 1940s pattern on Etsy
I do love a matching bolero like in the last one! Will update with pictures of the dresses when they're finished.

New Short Hair

Had my hair cut a few weeks ago, but I'm still not used to it! It's a bit easier to manage, but possibly more difficult to curl – I usually use hotsticks, but actually pin curls are much easier when it's short, so I am determined to practice and get better. I'm wearing my new favourite lipstick, Classic Rose by No. 7, which is a great vintage-style shade when I don't feel like wearing red.

Stripes and Turbans

I love a stripe just as much as I love a turban, here are my favourite combinations of the two:

From this picture I've posted before.


You have to wait about a minute before the appearance of the turban, but it's worth it! Isn't this an amazing Eleanor Powell clip?

Sorry for my lack of posts lately, it seems being on a break from university means a break from anything else on a regular basis.

Mint Green Love

Since buying the mint green and white polka dot fabric here, I have noticed clothes of this shade in shops so often! I really love this colour, and wanted to share some of the images I've come across lately that make me want to wear nothing but mint green:



1 Vintage slip on eBay
2 Vintage dress
3 Mint green shoes and skirt on the Freelancer's Fashion Blog
4 Vintage buttons
5 Mint green decor
6 Vintage satin dress
Also, here's a reminder of the mint green cupcakes I made a while ago.

Hair Flowers

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, have been really busy finding a new house for September. Just a quick pic of hair that came out well using hot sticks. I'm planning on having it cut and dyed a lighter shade of auburn soon, can't wait for a change!


I bought these cute flower clips from Accessorize, and the top is from Tara Starlet.

Shoe and Fabric Shopping

Sorry for the lack of blog posts this week, I've spent the last 5 days staying in Canterbury with my cousin. Had a lovely time and enjoyed the weather, though it being so hot made me rush out to buy new shoes as I didn't have anything summery enough with me! I'd had my eyes on these sandals from Office for a while, so bought them and wore them non-stop.


We also went to Whitstable for the day which is a lovely seaside town. I love all the little shops on the high street, and found myself buying quite a bit of fabric from the fabric shop there:

I'll make myself an A-line skirt with the white linen mix fabric, and a summer dress with the mint green polka dot – I am loving mint green at the moment! I got the polka dot in eggshell blue too, which I'll make into the blouse from this pinafore pattern. I was inspired to get the green after buying this pattern, I am dying to make the dress!

Dress with White Collar

Bought this 1940s dress on eBay a few weeks ago, I love it! It fits perfectly and has a really lovely collar (which is detachable with poppers!), and buttons at the front.


Dress: vintage, eBay / Shoes: Office / Earrings: Topshop

I still haven't mastered the trick of getting good and flattering photos of myself yet! My sister took these as I was about to go out so we had hardly any time, I have some weird facial expressions going on!

Also, I'm selling lots of 50s style clothes on eBay here.

Stripes in Fashion

I've been in a stripey mood lately, here's a collection of my favourite striped vintage images and clothes:




Click for sources or larger versions (some have unknown sources)