Monday 30 August 2010

Outfit Post: Dress #4 and a 50's Belt

Here's yet another dress from my huge collection, this one is just a simple shirt dress from a charity shop, but I wore it the other day with another charity shop bargain - a 50's belt that I just adore! Also in the photo is one of the neighbourhood cats that likes to stretch out in our small garden, but he was a bit shy about being photographed.







It's always a great feeling when you find a nice vintage item in a charity shop! This 1950's red fish-scale belt with gold flower clasp was £1.50, such a steal!

If you fancy such a belt yourself, they have a gold version for sale at Rusty Zipper, that's much more flash than mine!

Thursday 26 August 2010

Outfit Post, and Poirot Saves Me From Cold-Induced Boredom!

These last few days I've been revisiting Super Kawaii Mama's post on How to Find Glamour When You're Sick.

I have in my arsenal against the cold: a giant rose-print tea cup and saucer that I've been refilling with lempsip and hot squash, an oil burner scenting the house, brand new cotton pyjamas, a vat of home-made chicken soup, and a selection of scarves to keep my hair out of the soup when eating it. I also have been consuming a little whisky for purely medicinal purposes. Alas I don't have a bed jacket - how I wish I'd kept the 1960's bed jacket my mother lent me when I was about 12. Powder blue and ruffled with pink roses I seem to recall. I must ask her what happened to it!

The other important thing when ill is to keep yourself occupied. I attempted knitting last night and while it did keep my attention off the feeling of being unwell, I failed miserably at creating anything beautiful - what I ended up with was a mishape, of no use whatsoever! I think I need to have another go when my brain is fully working. So today, after yesterday's self-imposed quarantine, I made it out of the house and borrowed some rather exciting entertainment - wait for it - the entire David Suchet Poirot collection on DVD!!! Oh yes, that's my social life sorted for the Autumn.

I'll leave you a picture of dress #3 from my collection, it's not vintage but I think it's very similar in pattern (though maybe not colours?) to a couple of 1940's wrap dresses I've spied. The bag and cardi are both from a car boot sale - the bag is from the 80s I'd guess, it bears the 'St Michael' label inside which was phased out in 2000, so that's my only date-clue. Well even if it is from the 90s (gasp of horror!) I love the puckered fake-ostrich skin look, it's one of my favourite bags!


Wednesday 25 August 2010

The Perils of Ebay and Etsy!

Good afternoon, on this particularly wet and dismal day! I've spent the day so far feeling sorry for myself and making a huge vat of chicken soup, as I wallow in the misery of a particularly heavy cold that was no doubt brought on by standing in the rain in fields for most of the weekend at various festivals!

As I'm in a grumpy mood I thought I'd stick with it and bemoan the recent misadventures I've had as both buyer and seller on Ebay and Etsy. Here's what has gone wrong:

As a seller:- Not one but TWO beautiful gowns (layers of taffeta, boned bodices, the works) went astray on the way to Germany! Plus many more small packages not being delivered.
- Buyers not paying.
- Buyers disputing clothes sizes and other issues that were clearly stated in the item description, had they bothered to read it.

As a buyer (where do I start?!)
- Being sent the wrong item and then not being refunded the postage for sending their mistake back to them so I could get the correct one.
- Not being sent an item at all!
- Sellers ignoring my messages/requests.
- Garment completely different size to that stated.
- Garment completely different colour to that stated.
- Garment different fit to that pictured (e.g. pegged to model and not stated)
- Receiving unprofessional, nasty messages from sellers when I leave purely 100% factual feedback that doesn't say they're perfect.
- Garments in much poorer condition than stated.
- Garments dirty - deodorant marks, pet hair, eurghh!

All in all, not a success story! I've spent extra money on reimbursing buyers for mistakes made by the Royal Mail, as well as extra money on cleaning and altering garments received in poor condition. It is possible of course to make a nice bit of extra cash from Ebay or Etsy sales, but sometimes it goes horribly wrong.

Here are a few words of advice for selling:
- State clearly that you are not responsible for items lost in the post, and that you will provide proof of posting for the buyer to claim from the Post Office in the event of this happening.

- Wherever possible provide European sizes if they're on clothing labels, as well as UK sizes. This has to be my most frequently asked question.

- Always be professional with your customers, even if they have left feedback you think was unfair. I recently received a rude and unprofessional message from a seller. Will I be shopping from them again? No. If their response had been courteous it wouldn't have mattered about their original mistake, but rather than try and fix it they just hurled blame at me!

- Keep a record of what postage roughly costs to what locations e.g. I just underestimated massively how much it would cost to send a pair of shoes to Australia, bye bye profit on that item! For next time I'll have a note of how much it will cost to Australia, and within the UK, so I can compare and make a more educated guess.

- If an item is true vintage, I tend to add the word 'genuine' or 'original' in the item description to make it stand out from all the 'vintage inspired' and 'vintage style' items.

There we go, that's my rant for the day over. I'll leave you with a recipe for an easy and nourishing chicken soup in case you are also feeling under the weather. The quantities below make a huge stockpot full of soup, but you can alter the amounts to make less if desired.

250g pearl barley (rinsed)
Half a cooked chicken, shredded
Pint of stock (chicken or veg)
Sprinkle of chilli flakes
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
Fresh herbs like Thyme or Marjoram if you have them.
As much garlic as you like, crushed.

The pearl barley needs to simmer away for at least an hour, so I tend to start it off by covering it in cold water and then adding the rest of the ingredients gradually once it's bubbling. As the pearl barley expands you will need to check if you need more liquid added. As well as the initial water covering it, plus the pint of stock, I added probably another pint of boiling water.

I hope you are all warm and well!

Friday 20 August 2010

Jacob's Antiques, Cardiff


Some pictures of a local treasure trove - Jacob's Antiques in Cardiff, set over 3 floors with lots of individual stall-holders. Unfortunately their vintage clothing has dwindled massively, I don't know what happened to the main lady that used to be there, but they still have accessories dotted higgledy piggledy all over the shop. Lots of homewares and teacups too, and a small haul of great mens vintage hats on the ground floor level. If you're into militaria and Star Trek you'll come out happy too! The little bag(40s or 50s? I can't decide) in the second picture was darling and just £12, absolute steal, but I wasn't in a purchasing mood. I loved the key in the bottom picture too ( bottom right) - I wonder what it opens?


Well lovelies, I'm off to a festival again this weekend - yes, despite a severe weather warning over Wales, I'm going to be in a field. So no vintage clothing whatsoever, I am going to be layered up in leggings, long socks, jumpers and waterproofs! And my new pink wellington boots. I hope the skies are sunnier where you are!

Wednesday 18 August 2010

Desert Orchid Corsets - SALE!


I do get a bit excited when I stumble upon corset sales! I haven't worn one for about a year, and because of the hefty price-tags they come with I've been trying not to look at them or encourage myself to buy more in any way.

But these at Desert Orchid Corsets are worth a look because not only is it a company based here in lovely Wales, but they are pretty spectacular and certainly reasonable. I love the one pictured above, so feminine and not at all S&M, which some corsets can be!

Don't ever be fooled by companies offering cheap cheap corsets. They may well have steel boning, but that alone is not enough to pull you in and give you that waspish waist! The effectiveness of a corset in waist-reducing also depends on the shaping and cut of the corset, and the fabric itself. There should be a minimum of 3 layers of fabric (unless it's a "summer weight" corset), and that fabric needs to be of a certain weight. Lightweight fabrics will not pull you in unless there's a sturdier fabric layer underneath to take the strain! This means that genuine high quality corsets are quite heavy - a good couple of kilograms. So if a corset is featherlight, it's probably only for show and not for practical body sculpting.

If it's a quality corset, you can expect between 2 and 4 inches waist reduction, and a lovely smooth shape. An instant posture improver also! I love my hot pink satin underbust corset from Kitty's Corsets, pictured below, with the lovely Violet Noir modelling the black version.

Tuesday 17 August 2010

For Sale - Wardrobe Clearout!

Don't forget, I have some items on ebay at the moment, they're up for sale until this Sunday! Apart from the gentlemen's hats they all have a starting bid of just 99p.

I still haven't listed the 1950's house dress but will do so later this week, with another batch of items.



Monday 16 August 2010

Outfit Post: Gaga over Gingham!

I've got a weak spot for gingham and checked fabrics in general. I posted a picture a while ago of one of my favourite dresses, a gingham red and white dress, let's call that dress no.1 from my extensive dress collection.

Here's a picture of dress no.2, a pale pink and white gingham with ruffled tiers on the bottom.


It's not vintage, but it's sort of like a fancy-dress dress if you know what I mean, I could imagine picking apples or cherries in it whilst holding a basket, like the lovely Super Kawaii Mama in her latest photoshoot with Helen Maclean.

I'll keep posting pics of my dresses, vintage and otherwise, there are plenty of non-gingham ones too!

Lipstick Advert, 1956




"Dreamy pink can lead to mink..." is an advertising slogan than could never be resurrected for the modern woman, in today's anti-fur environment, but it's interesting to see how sales tactics have changed since this advert was published in "Woman" magazine, 1956.

Today lipstick advertising seems to focus on durability (will stay on all day, is meal-proof, kiss-proof etc.), wearability (feather light, you won't notice you're wearing it) or kissability (i.e. wearing this lipstick will make men want to kiss you). Today's adverts are also a lot sexier, with open-mouth pouting poses - much more of a visual approach thanks to the high colour glossy magazines we now enjoy. The above advert seems quite dull in comparison. It's a shame we can't see from the black and white just how dreamy that pink is!

Pond's is still around, but I think the only product they have continued to make is their cold cream.
Nice to see a snapshot of history anyway - I have lots more adverts that I will gradually scan and upload when I get around to it!

Friday 13 August 2010

Outfit Post: Feeling Oo La La!


This morning I was feeling a little French, and have dressed accordingly! Nothing vintage today, skirt from Laura Ashley (on sale), top from Marks and Spencer (charity shop), and the bandana and trainers are just cheap high street ones (sacre-bleu!). I was on a mission to power-walk into town, hence the outfit, shoes and hair all had to be for comfort and speed!

Thursday 12 August 2010

Up on Ebay - Wardrobe Clearance Part 1!

The first lot of items in my mammoth wardrobe clearance is up for sale on ebay here.

Cream of the pickings has to be the original 60's men's hats, and the gorgeous 1930's inspired wrap dress.


Many more items to go up, but not until next week. Meanwhile, you can still make me an offer on the 1950's housedress I did an earlier post on, as it hasn't made it to ebay yet!

I hope all of you are managing to inject a little vintage glamour into your weeks - today before work I did my hair and make-up, put perfume on, and chose matching underwear. Very small things, but they made a big difference to starting the day on a positive note!

Film Review: School For Scoundrels



A classic British film from 1959, directed by Robert Hamer.

It stars Ian Carmichael and Terry-Thomas vying for the attentions of Janette Scott. Infuriated by the smooth - yet underhanded - tactics Thomas uses, Carmichael enroles on a college course of 'Lifemanship'. Tutored by Alastair Sim and his staff, Carmichael quickly learns 'how to win without actually cheating' and goes head-to-head with his love rival.

I really did enjoy this film! Thomas is superb as the cad, and how can you fail to love anything with Alastair Sim in it? The focus of the film is on the comedic relationship between the male leads, so there's little female vintage fashion to ogle, but it's great to see the streets of London before traffic really overtook them. Watch out for cameos by Hattie Jacques and John Le Mesurier too!

A Sunday afternoon film, best watched with a big cup of tea.

Tuesday 10 August 2010

Trials and Tribulations with Hot Rollers

It's hard work trying to get Hollywood glamour into your hair. I've tried so many different products, techniques and types of curling equipment and I think it's still a fluke when I get it right on occasion.

This last weekend was a murder mystery dinner party at the Park Plaza Hotel, and I wanted to be glamorous. I used the hot rollers (an old Carmen set from the 60s, donated by my sister!) and rolled the hair when it was slightly damp (sprayed with a heat protection spray), and then used John Frieda shine spray and a good dose of hair spray. After much fussing around with brushing them out (Denman paddle brush) I still had one side of my hair droopier than the other!







It didn't really matter as I had a few Pimms and didn't care anymore. Back to the drawing board, and youtube for hair tutorials...

Monday 9 August 2010

Wardrobe Clearout: Lovely Items for Sale!

It's a dreary day today, so after having vacuumed the downstairs I've been sorting out some items that I will be putting on ebay at the end of the week. I've got bags and bags of clothes that have been a) never worn, b) worn once, or c) worn twice at most! It's really shocking how much money I must have wasted on these items, so I'm resolved to put the lot up for auction on ebay, and raise some much-needed funds after all the dental work I've endured recently!

Here's a sneak peek of some of the items - among the best picks are an absolutely darling 1950s deadstock housedress (UK size 14-18), and a 1930s inspired wrap dress (UK size 12-14). Please message me if you want to nab either of them before they go up on ebay, I'm open to offers.



Friday 6 August 2010

Dita for Cointreau - The Sidecar

Here's the final web episode I could find, and we're back to the 1920s for this one...



I've never tried a sidecar, but I have an evening of cocktails ahead tonight and anything could happen!

Thursday 5 August 2010

Dita for Cointreau - The Margarita

As promised, here's the second web video featuring Ms Teese for Cointreau. I have to say, it's my favourite of the three, after all it's set in 1948. Love her shoes.



A Margarita, for me, is the ultimate summer cocktail, but my beloved has a rule that you have to stop drinking them once the sun has set. So always start drinking Margaritas in the early evening!

Wednesday 4 August 2010

Dita for Cointreau - The Cosmopolitan

My my, Dita's becoming quite the poster girl of late for a number of different beverages! After her residence in the Perrier Mansion it seems that Ms Von Teese is now the feature character in a number of stories on the birth of various cocktails, all including Cointreau liqueur as a vital ingredient.

I think she became the 'face' of Cointreau some years ago, but these seem to be new adverts that have appeared on Youtube. There's a different story for each cocktail, I'm starting you off with a Cosmopolitan, set in 1980s New York. Acapulco in the 40s and Paris in the 20s to come so watch this page!



It may have become a little cliched through over-use in Sex and the City, but a Cosmopolitan remains one of my favourites and I can sink a few with no ill effects.

Tuesday 3 August 2010

How to Look After Your Mental Health


It's not connected to outfits, burlesque or charity-shop buys, but this is a very important post!

It's about your mental health! And how every day you can do something to improve your wellbeing and increase your chances of being able to cope with whatever life throws at you.

There is some great, simple advice to be found on the Mental Health Foundation's website.

So come on ladies, do one thing today - pick up the phone and talk to a friend, actually have a lunch hour instead of working through it, go for a walk, or have a go at making something crafty!

I've just arranged to go for a long walk with a friend after work, even though it's raining, but that's what wellies are for.
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