Museums At Night: 1920s' Party

Museums At Night is a great scheme that museums across the UK take part in every October, putting on special events for the public.  There is everything from lectures, musical performances, ghost walks and murder mysteries.

Cardiff Story Museum put on an 1920s' themed event a few weeks ago, and my husband didn't take much persuading to agree to attend.  We dressed up, drank bubbly and danced the night away!

Bath Fashion Week: Vintage Fair, Talks & Blogger Meetup

Bath In Fashion is in its 6th year and runs events across the city each March.  This year, the final day was 'Vintage Sunday', including a vintage fair and talks by authors of books about vintage clothing.  I'd received an invite to the talks so thought I'd make a day of it - I knew Catherine from Vintage Frills was going and that Mim from Crinoline Robot was fairly local, so I asked if they both fancied meeting for Sunday lunch.  Luckily they said yes!



The Vintage Fair
I arrived at the fair with my friend Victoria, both of us wet and windswept but partially restored by a cuppa from a tea house around the corner.  The vintage fair itself was held in Green Park Station, a really super venue that with its huge arched roof sort of feels like you're outdoors but with protection from the elements.  It's a fittingly historic setting for a vintage fair too, as it dates back to the 1860s.

London Edge With Voodoo Vixen and CiCi & Marie

London Edge is a big trade show that runs a couple of times a year and showcases alternative fashion, including vintage styled clothing.  You can imagine my delight when the lovely Carly from CiCi & Marie emailed little old me and asked if I would like to accompany her there.

Vintage style clothing brand Voodoo Vixen and its darker side, Jawbreaker, were sponsoring the show, and were recruiting bloggers to attend a press day.  In exchange for coverage of the event, bloggers would be gifted a dress to wear on the day, and get to attend the after party.  Free dress?  Party?  Chance to meet Carly?  We got in touch with Voodoo Vixen and as soon as our places were confirmed, train tickets were swiftly booked!  We were able to choose our dresses in advance, and picked them up on the day.  Spookily, we both knew which dress the other would go for  - Carly went for the Tilly dress and I went for the Adeline dress.  What do you think of our choices?

Caerphilly Vintage Fair, 5th October 2014

Those of you in South Wales might want to put this date in your diary - a local vintage fair is popping up just outside Caerphilly, this coming weekend, on Sunday 5th October.



There will be a fashion show, which is very exciting.  Run by a few ladies from the Women's Institute, it promises to be something a bit different from the big vintage fairs.  If you do end up going, please come and say hello!

I'd also like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to comment on my last post - for your lovely sentiments, and for all the tips and advice!  I'm very grateful to know such wonderful people in the blogosphere.  My brain is already busying away with plenty of ideas for upcoming wedding-themed posts.

Tempest Clothing Fashion Show at the Mercure Holland House Hotel

I love a fashion show but they're rarely held outside of London, so I was most excited to receive an invitation to the Tempest fashion show at Cardiff's Mercure Holland House Hotel and Spa.

Tempest markets itself as a brand of  'sexy, sultry and sophisticated' clothing for women with a range of figure-hugging dresses, that are loved by celebrities such as Holly Willoughby.  Currently, Miss Wales, Alice Ford, and West End star Sophie Evans, are faces of the brand.

Arriving at the Mercure, I was directed to the penthouse suite, where I had the pleasure of meeting fellow blogger Sophie from Twisted Individual for the first time, and we were joined soon after by the lovely Liz from Bambi the Style Hunter.  The suite was as ostentatious as a penthouse suite should be, with animal print soft furnishings and lashings of purple.  Even the walls on one side had leopard print wallpaper!  After a few glasses of champagne, and lots of admiration of the outfits that were arriving, it was time to head downstairs for the main event.  By this point I was feeling woefully underdressed having turned up straight from work, relieved that I was wearing a skirt and heels and had put more make-up on.  The invitation didn't say it was black tie!

Sophie and Liz

Costume & Make-Up BAFTA Event

Who loves costume and make-up?  We all do!  I was very excited to be able to attend a wonderful event recently hosted by the Cosy Club at St David's shopping centre in Cardiff.  BAFTA Cymru (Wales) and Grayling PR put on a fantastic event, with a talk by BAFTA winning costume designer Lindsay Belasconni, make-up artist Jo Evans and Producer Jane Dauncey.  There was a fab mix of creative types there, from fashion students to producers, make-up artists, costume designers and bloggers (there were some really good outfits, with a smattering of vintage inspiration) and everyone was really friendly, which is always nice when you go to something on your own.

Above: Me on the left, and a stylish lady in the centre who has a sweater clip on her collar - I might have to steal that idea!

Above: The lady on the right has a 1950's bag, and an amazing vintage dress

We were well lubricated with Prosecco, and rather than the 'nibbles' I was expecting, a tapas banquet appeared that I think could have fed over 100 people.  Alas, I had eaten my dinner beforehand and could only manage a few mouthfuls.  A shame, as it looked very appetising indeed, and judging by how busy it was it must be a popular place that warrants a return visit from me to investigate it thoroughly.

We all had a particularly lovely goody-bag to take away, that included Crabtree & Evelyn products, New Look make-up, and a Boux Avenue discount that I will be sharing with you in a separate post.

I personally won't use the Kelly Brook eyebrow palette because I'm addicted to Dior's brow pencil and won't give it up, so I am going to offer it in a little giveaway very soon with some other treats.

Thank you again to everyone who put on the event, it was great fun and I learnt a lot about eyebrows, lighting and costume-making on a budget!

Imelda May in Cardiff

Very pregnant, but still rockin' - how did she manage to last the set in those uber high gold heels?!

She was phenomenal, and we got to hear just how beautiful and tender her voice can be, not just how powerful. There are a couple of UK dates left to catch her - tomorrow (Sunday 6th) in Cheltenham, and in Ireland on Wednesday and then at the end of the month. See her website here.

Vintage Wedding Fair This Weekend!

Enjoy if you do end up going! I am not going. I'm not getting married. This morning I asked my other half what he would say if I made him a Leap Year proposal. His reply? "of course, dear". That's the kind of response I'd expect to nagging questions, such as "are you taking out the rubbish?" or "don't forget to buy the milk", not a marriage proposal!!

Puppini Sisters!

Earlier this week my other half took me on a date to see the Puppini Sisters!  I got to wear the new Vivienne Westwood for Melissa shoes (off Ebay, you don't think I paid £130 do you?!), and I took a tip from Lipstick and Curls and just used a handful of hot sticks rather then the whole lot.  I was really pleased with the results, what do you think?  The lippy is a sheer red by Poppy King for Boots No.7, I haven't had time to try out the Besame reds yet, but will report back when I have!

The Puppini Sisters were fantastic, it was their first in a series of Christmas shows, and we left feeling very, very festive.  I didn't know they were so funny as well as vocally talented, we had a good chuckle.

Their first outfit involved a corset, cropped jackets, and some very nice black trousers that made me want to ask them where they got them from, given my trouble with trousers recently!  (That's probably another story, for another time)  Then they wore some sarong-style dresses, I'm guessing they were custom-made?

Hope you're all starting to feel festive - I've been ill this week but am determined to finish my Christmas shopping today!

London Adventures: The Third Grand Anarcho-Dandyist Ball & More!

My trip to London was really wonderful, with the highlight being the Chap Ball in Camden Town Hall.  I wore a long dark red dress with a little black and white cape, black shoes and clutch bag, plus a big deco-style sunburst hair slide and an original deco pin on my dress.  I felt more like Babooshka on the way there, wrapped up against the very cold evening, but once unwrapped and the flats swapped for heels, I did feel quite elegant.

My own photos are pretty terrible.  Other people's are much nicer.  There are photo albums of the ball here:
http://www.philrussellphotos.co.uk/ClientGallery11/Client_gallery_11.html

And here:
http://thechap.net/content/section_news/?p=879

By the end of the evening I wasn't looking so ladylike - the cape was off, a gin cocktail spilt down the front (the perils of drinking next to energetic jive dancers), the skirt was hitched up, the curls had mostly dropped out and were plastered to my face with sweat as I danced like a complete loon for hours on end.  I had a bag of haribo stashed in my clutch to keep the energy levels up, and I only had a few drinks as I was more interested in dancing and exploring than getting drunk.  It was the best night out I've had in a very, very long time.

Lots of faces from the vintage blogging scene were there - Fleur, Yesterday Girl, Gemma to name but a few - but I was far too shy to go and say hello to any of them, particularly in my sweaty state when they were all looking so composed!!

My favourite bit was the speakeasy bar - a little hatch that opened when the bell was rung to reveal white-gloved hands handing you a card telling you to put the money on the counter and keep your mouth shut!  A gin cocktail in a teacup appeared and the hatch slammed shut afterwards.

On Sunday, I headed to the What Katie Did boutique for their 'Glamour and Seduction' workshop, which was a lot of fun.  I got some great tips from Amanda from Lipstick & Curls (did you know if you're short of time you can just use 6 or so hot sticks in big sections of your hair rather than using the whole lot??), and then met the lovely Polly Rae, who gave us all a reminder on posture, faking confidence, and giving ourselves a bit more attention.  Lovely cocktails in teacups again (the theme of the weekend I think!) and the most amazing little chocolate cupcakes.

The goodybag was a treat too - I now have a set of all 6 Besame reds to try out at home!  I can't wait to wear one of them tonight, as I'm off to see the Puppini Sisters.  It's definitely the party season!

Miss P xx

Vintage Events This Weekend in Wales!

No plans for the weekend?  Need an update to your vintage Autumn wardrobe?  Then head to one, or both of the following events!

Saturday 22nd October - Cardiff
Big Girl's Blouse, vintage and retro clothing and accessories specialist is moving from the courtyard off Wellfield Road in Roath to brand spanking new larger premises on Crwys Road, Cathays.  The new shop will be just over the bridge, next to the antiques shop.  From midday tomorrow, the new store will be launched with a live band, tea and cake, and the chance to peruse their offerings.  I had a rummage today and they have lots of great vintage dresses from the 1940s and 1950s, plus vintage slips and girdles, bags, shoes, What Katie Did lingerie, Outer Limitz clothing, and a selection of corsets.  I am saddened by the fact I shall be in work and will miss this event.

Sunday 23rd October - Swansea
Blind Lemon Vintage offers another opportunity for South Wales folk to attend a vintage fair.  Being held on  Sunday from 10.00am to 4.00pm at George Hall, Brangwyn Hall, The Guildhall, Guildhall Rd South, Swansea.  Get your tickets on the door for £4, or save yourself £2 by booking in advance online at http://www.blindlemonvintage.com/

Have fun whatever you end up doing,
Miss P x

Make Do and Mend!

I'm planning on some serious sewing this weekend - I have 3 days off, and a stash of clothes that don't fit properly, or need mending. So I am going to work my way through as part of Make Do and Mend 2011.


Sorry for being quiet recently - with regards to the ceiling leak and boiler crisis, we finally have a new boiler, and hot water and heating again (this is important even in June in Wales, it's really not very warm at all!) but I still can't move back into my bedroom for another week or so, just waiting on the carpet now. It's been an open house for tradesmen of all descriptions for the last ten days, I can't wait for it to all be over!

Van Dal Shoes: 1957 Shoes Relaunched!

Van Dal shoes, known for their comfy shoes for a slightly older audience, have relaunched some shoes from their 1957 range. Called 'Van Dal Vintage', there are three shoes directly reproduced from the 1950s, and two styles that are just vintage inspired.

Here are the three styles that were available in 1957:




You can also view their vintage catalogue from 1957 here.

Day Trip: Bath Wedding Exhibition & Afternoon Tea!

I've been on a small adventure today! A trip to Bath to see my friend Victoria, and her friend Jan. We are all vintage-obsessed, so a trip to the Fashion Museum was a must. The exhibition currently running is 'What will she wear?', a special collection of wedding dresses spanning well over a century. My Beloved did raise an eyebrow when I said I was going to look at wedding dresses until I explained that it was purely for Victoria and Jan to get inspiration for their creative works, and for me to do a little blog post. It's a great exhibition, some really interesting dresses. They're not presented in chronological order, so it was really noticeable when a modern 'bad taste' dress was nestled next to a vintage beauty - I'm citing the dress in the bottom right of my little photo montage as a prime example of this. Who would want buttock cleavage at their wedding?!

Dress ages, from left to right,

Top row: early 1900's; early 1960's; 1928

Middle row: 1940s; 1934; 1959

Bottom row: 1989; 1878; 1992

Vintage Market Let Down

Hello there dearies! And what has happened to the Spring? It's rainy, cold and dreary here in Wales and I feel like all the joy has been sucked out of me. It was only this weekend that I was enjoying a Spring walk with not a care in the world, and now I'm back to Earth with a bump and can't stop dwelling on negative things, like my day-job ending in July. Also, I have to report that the promised 'real vintage' market as part of Vintage Generation in Cardiff was a damp squib. Attached is a photo - it was in a gloomy little garage off a lane, and there were only 3 or 4 stallholders. I found one 1950's dress; most items were '70s, '80s or '90s. Nothing exciting, though I did like the hand-crafted cake-stands that used inverted little glasses as stems between the plates. It was too dark to take photos in there, so this one of the outside is all I've got!


Right, let's have some positivity:

- My Beloved is back from his Texas trip!

- I have a long weekend to look forward to.

- There's always cake.

If you're having a gloomy day too then I challenge you to find three positives in it!

Auntie P xx

London Trip: Yohji Yamamoto Exhibition

My trip to London this weekend wasn't filled with the adventures I'd hoped. I'm not much of a drinker these days, and after being plied with a substantial quantity of pink fizz, vodka jellies and even a Jaeger bomb (my first ever!), I have to confess that Sunday was a complete hangover day and we didn't make it out of Brixton. The only time we left the house was to go to the local round the corner for a big Sunday dinner. Being a Welsh contingent we then lazed the afternoon away and watched Twin Town followed by series one of Gavin & Stacey, eating a constant supply of chocolates, Indian snacks, and a take-away. I also read about ten fashion magazines. It was the first day I can remember in a long, long time that I was that lazy. It was bliss!

The next day I planned on plenty of adventures to make up for this, but alas I picked up a stomach bug plus had an allergic reaction to an eye-cream (red panda eyes!!) and really didn't have the energy for much. Instead, I went to the V&A to look at the Yohji Yamamoto fashion exhibition. (Click on the banner below for more details.)

I wasn't that familiar with Yamamoto's designs, and being contemporary it didn't tick the vintage interest box, but I have to say that now that I've started learning to sew it was incredibly interesting seeing the collection from the point of view of 'how do you construct that?'. Some really odd choices of fastenings to wonder over, such as a beautiful evening dress fastening up the back with giant poppers. I had to have a sit down afterwards (that's my feet in the pic above of the V&A courtyard!).

I had a quick strut up Oxford Street later, but you can tell I wasn't feeling 100% as I really wasn't in the shopping mood!
How awful that I didn't even get to a single vintage shop, or have any afternoon tea. I'll just have to plan another trip soon...

Cardiff Events: Vintage Generation

Hello there dearies!

Auntie Porcelina's back from her trip to London, and has news for Cardiff folks about a vintage-themed extravaganza of a week. That's what's promised anyhow from the people at Milgi and Cardiff Art's Institute.

Tonight there's Lindy Hop and Jive at the CAI. Other than that, the most interesting event is this weekend - they're running a vintage market in Northcote Lane (behind Milgi, in Roath) on both Saturday and Sunday this coming weekend. I'll pop along and check it out for you all on Saturday.

Click on the image below, and zoom in to read all the details! (or click HERE if that writing is still too tiny to read!)


London was great, but tiring, and I never did get that afternoon tea. Will post more about my adventures (or lack of!) soon.

Review: Abergavenny Vintage Fayre

I really enjoyed this fair! Much, much better than others I have visited recently.

As you know, it was hosted by Vintage Vision, a social enterprise and vintage shop in Abergavenny.

There was a variety - clothing, books, furniture, crafts - and they had a little area set up with tables for tea and cake, served on proper china. As for entertainment, they had live music and then they had a fashion show too, with a bee-hived group of college students wearing some of the items for sale.

It was a small event, but had such a great atmosphere and there were some lovely dresses at reasonable prices. (e.g. A flawless 1940's green striped sundress with big patch pocket, £55. A 1940's silk tea-dress, immaculate, for £40) And lots of bargains from the later decades, it really did not suffer from inflated prices syndrome! I would say only ONE of the stallholders let down the quality (obviously had pets at home, obviously allowed said pets to rampage through the clothes leaving their hair all over them!!)

Aside from Vintage Vision's stalls, there were wares on offer from a range of craft, vintage, food and book sellers.

Peach Blossom Designs
Retrobelle
Tea, Cake & Vintage
Dippy Hippy
Deli Delicious

I tried on a few dresses but ended up buying NOTHING for myself!! Well, a copy of 'Cloth' magazine, which doesn't count. Otherwise I bought a cute bells and hearts bracelet as a birthday present for a friend, and some edible rose petals, which will be used for a project very soon.

As my camera is now off for repair, I didn't take any photos, so I hope that Vintage Vision upload some soon to their website and blog. There was talk on the day on whether future vintage sales would take place in the market hall - I personally hope they continue.

And Spring was in full force - I borrowed a camera later in the day to take a few pics of the blue skies and bountiful blooms!





I'm off on a London adventure now, so will be back online Tuesday with tales of afternoon tea... Have a good weekend all!!

Miss P xx

This Weekend in Wales: Vintage Fayre @ Abergavenny

For all you South Wales residents, the social enterprise behind my sewing classes is hosting a little Vintage Fayre in Abergavenny's market hall this Sunday!

If you go to Vintage Vision's webpage there's also a competition to win some vouchers to spend at the fair.

Hope you all have a good weekend, I've been rummaging through the charity shops today but my camera is out of action so you'll have to wait a while for pics of my haul!

Review: Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair

Well, did I buy anything?

No!

Was I tempted?

Not really.

It was a very, very mixed affair. Lots and lots of jewellery and accessories, if that's your kind of thing. No stockings, just 1960's tights. Nice re-worked vintage pieces (old watch faces turned into necklaces etc.) Lots and lots of 1980s and 1970s items - knitwear, crazy shirts. Awful leather jackets.

In general, it wasn't for me - I'm not really into jewellery and I really had to hunt to find older items. I was also shocked that some bandanas/head scarves (the cheap cotton ones you can get on ebay or down the charity shop for 50p) were retailing for £3 each. Shocker.

In my hunt for sellers with items from the 1950s or earlier, here's what I found:

Maggies Dress - had a couple of 1950's items, including coats, capes. Nothing much old, mainly later eras.

Some other stalls...OVERPRICED!!! They had some nice 1950s and early 1960s dresses, summer ones, but they were £65 each and they weren't in great condition. I found a Swirl dress, beautiful print, but badly repaired underarms and a big yellow stain on the front. £65?!! They also had a lovely 1930's crepe black and white dress and jacket set, £98 though. Ouch. I also found on their rails a 1920s/1930s peach tennis dress that used to belong to me!!! I sold it on ebay ages ago for about a tenner, they were re-selling it for £38.

Me and the overpriced, poor condition 'Swirl' dress. Lovely print though!

Curious Cleo - by far the best quality and best prices in the entire fair. They had a sign, saying they only deal in 'REAL' vintage, and they were true to their word. They had a beautiful 1950s navy blue oriental style jacket and shift dress for £40, and a black shirt dress (late '40s/early '50s) also for £40. Neither with any condition issues. That's more like it!

I'm not sure if I would go to another one. Only £2 entry, but unless you're into later eras and jewellery (truck loads of it!) I wouldn't bother.