Electric Florals [Voodoo Vixen]

I do love a good floral, whether it’s delicate or oversized, pastel or bright, abstract or ultra real. People talk about what a cliché it is to wear florals for spring (Devil Wears Prada, anyone?) but I think it’s one of those things that’s a cliché because it really does work. There’s truth there. Florals look good on everyone and they make getting dressed in spring and summer feel as breezy and beautiful as the weather outside.

Saying all that, I love it when a floral is available which flouts the usual offerings in floral prints. It’s fun to find something that’s out of the norm, whether that’s because the design is a bit geometric and oversized or because it’s a flower you’ve never seen before, or because, like this Amber dress from Voodoo Vixen, it chooses to showcase an oft-overlooked colour on which to frame it’s floral print.

This bright yet unoffensive mid-blue isn’t used in clothing as often as I would expect it to be give how much people seem to lose their minds when I wear this kind of shade. Perhaps people just like how it contrasts with my pale skin and dark red hair, but they seem to show equal love for the colour itself, not merely how it wears on me, so I feel like it must be an underestimated colour in general. Regarding this dress in particular, I love that this blue combined with the white, yellow and pink flowers create a floral dress that is summery, airy and fun all without being overpowering. If you wanted to load up on brights you could easily accessorise with reds, yellows or even lime to make this dress POP, but alone it’s a floral that isn’t softly spoken nor shouty, a solid middle-ground kind of print that’s interesting and beautiful.

Voodoo Vixen Amber Electric Blue Floral Dress Continue reading

Look For The Lighthouse [Hell Bunny]

Let’s state the obvious right up front: I’m a fan of nautical prints and styles. Considering I don’t actually like swimming, going on boats, sunbathing, or anything else that happens near the sea really (except eating ice cream,) I can only assume what I love most about the theme is the combination of red, white and navy blue, three of my favourite colours to pair together. Plus, there’s often stripes in nautical prints, which is clearly a forever winner in style, and sometimes cute things like anchors and ship wheels as well, so I guess I’m just superficial and only care about appearances when it comes to this topic?? (Appearances and ice cream.)

Oh well, I’ll try to remember to feel awkward about it while I frolic in my cute new Hell Bunny nautical get-up at Eastbourne Pier. (Spoiler alert: no I won’t.)

Hell Bunny Coco Top and Lighthouse 50s Skirt Continue reading

If I Can, Toucan [Lady V London]

You may or may not know that I am very selective about my novelty prints. If they’re too cartoony, whimsical or bright, I tend to stay away. Same with featuring animals and fruit, typically. But, you know, there are exceptions to every rule, and the new Toucan print Estella dress from Lady Voluptuous’s SS17 line is one of them.

Considering it features both fruit and animals by way of pineapples and birds, you’d think it would be a no go for me, but colour plays a big part in what appeals to me about a print and it was the colour scheme of this birdie pattern that really reeled me in. The muted mid blues of the flora contrasted against the mustardy yellow of the pineapples and the rich navy blue of the toucans are magic for me, combining some of my favourite shades in one summery print that somehow isn’t garish, overpowering, or even brow-beatingly tropical despite the toucans and fruit. It’s kind of like a tropical print done by way of England, where our summers are typically breezy, less than sweltering, and sometimes a bit damp. This print is Summer Lite, if you will, Tropical Paradise at Twilight, Birds Sheltering From A Monsoon. It’s subtle as well as fun, and I like it a lot.

Lady V London Lady Voluptuous Estella Tropical Toucan Print dress Continue reading

Good Grace [Hearts and Found] 

Hearts and Found is one of those Etsy shops I go through phases of stalking. Because they custom make all their dresses in any of the fabrics they stock, I’ll check it several times a week to see if there’s a new print I absolutely have to have. And then after a few weeks of this, I’ll stop for a while because inevitably I’ll have spent too much money of late and I can’t risk that if I see something I need to own I’ll have to make the tough choice of being a sensible adult who doesn’t overspend again or, you know, having more pretty clothes. Guess which tends to win. Hence, sometimes it’s better that I just don’t look.

They offer skirts, tops, playsuits and dresses in several different styles, and after my first purchase of the Penelope dress last summer I knew my next buy would be the Grace dress. A couple of times I came close to a purchase of this dress style, only to be thwarted by everybody else loving the same fabric as I did and buying it out of stock. Finally, though, a few weeks back I spotted the newly added Livewire Chain link print, available in purple and a dark red, and I knew I’d found my Grace fabric. I ordered during the 20% off Lunar New Year sale and shortly after my pretty new pretty was in my paws.

Hearts and Found Dark Red Livewire Chain link custom Grace dress Continue reading

In Love With Iris [Louella DeVille]

Iris Frenchie Dress Louella DeVille Clothing YOSPS

In case you haven’t heard of Louella DeVille, I’m here to do you a favour by telling you: y’all, you need to know about Louella DeVille. It might spark your sense of recognition if I tell you that this clothing line is designed by and sold through what was once Your One Stop Pinup Shop, an Australian pinup boutique that has in the past included brick-and-mortar stores, pinup pamper photography session packages and, a while back, the original beginnings of this clothing line, before owner Bek’s lovely daughter began to walk and Bek put the line on hold.

Over the following years as her little girl grew, Bek grew her business with those Australian stores, as well as photographing hundreds of ladies in their pinup finest in her studio. Last year Bek moved the store entirely online, becoming Louella DeVille Boutique, and recently, finally, the time came for her to bring her ideas of her own vintage inspired clothing line back out to play. Continue reading

Watercolour Reflections [Miss Fortune]

Sometimes you see a skirt and you know you want it right away. For me, that often happens with landscape border print skirts. I find border print skirts are so uniquely vintage in style that they capture the attention and imagination of people from all walks of life. When I wear one out and about, a middle-aged lady might might stop me the pedestrian crossing to fawn over my Italian landscape skirt. A trendy guy my own age might pause on public stairs to let me by and tell me as I go that he thinks my outfit is great, with the skyline of Paris swishing at my knees. The worker behind the supermarket till might take a moment to ask about my Venice city skirt before we begin ringing up my groceries. People just like a good landscape print, I think. So it’s no surprise that as soon as I saw this Miss Fortune Amsterdam print skirt I was smitten, and so too have been many people that I’ve encountered while wearing it.

Miss Fortune UK Boardwalk Amsterdam Reflections in Watercolour Skirt Continue reading

A Dress Called Lana [Vivien of Holloway]

We may be gearing up to move into spring, but this autumn/winter season I developed a serious thing for burgundy and I don’t see that affection going away any time soon. It’s not even that I didn’t like the colour before only to suddenly see the merit in it, but my liking of it increased so suddenly you might be forgiven for thinking that the case. Possibly my normal obsession with red simply spread wider at the edges, encompassing the moodier, darker iterations of the shade, but no matter how it came to be, where it brought me was to the here and now, with my claret Lana dress.

Vivien of Holloway are renowned for producing their staple dress designs in dozens of different colours and patterns, leading to ladies with collections of Halter Neck Circle Dresses or Sarong sets. I noticed the Lana dress for the first time perhaps the winter before this one, so I’m not sure if that was it’s first release or whether I was just blissfully ignorant before then. What struck me most about this design was the beautiful draping of the neckline. I’m not really a 40s girl when it comes to my own wardrobe, much as I appreciate the styles, but when it came to Lana, I had little choice in the matter. Pass over that drape-age?  I think not. I could resist the style  when it came mainly in dark florals, but once this claret was released, I was powerless.

Claret Lana Dress vivien of Holloway Continue reading

Sky Blue, Gingham Too [Collectif]

Collectif Blue Jade swing dress Red gingham Lucy Cardigan

I feel like every season I say Collectif has outdone their last season, and yet here we are again, with li’l ol’ me fully in love with Collectif’s SS17. The particular torture of this love affair is that I actually got to view the line last September, so I’ve had 5 months of remembering what beauties lie ahead of us and eagerly awaiting the releases with grabby hands while also not trying to wish time away purely for the sake of clothes. But, you know, I was tempted to. Because if you haven’t seen Collectif’s new offerings rolling in to the New In section on their website, you might want to take a little look at the new arrivals, as well as at their Lookbook to see what other magic they’ve got in store for us. Continue reading

True Inspiration [Heart of Haute]

I’ve been into black clothing much more this winter than I ever have in the past. It’s always been chic and smart to me, but suddenly I’ve been more interested in black clothes of different textures, fabrics and finishes. Anything black with an interesting design detail has been more likely to catch my eye, so when I first saw images of this Heart of Haute Inspiration top I suddenly became a YES SIREE SIGN ME UP OYESOYESOYES THATS IT RIGHT THURR GOOD LAWD MA’AM HOT DAMN internet meme reaction of a person.

As with the HoH Divine Jacket I reviewed last week this top immediately jumped to the top of my wishlist, but with pre-Christmas budgeting in action I didn’t purchase it until several weeks later during Cyber Week from Deadly is the Female, UK stockist of many of the best quality vintage inspired brands. The moment it arrived it jumped to the top of another one of my lists, the Super Comfortable But Also Really Chic Clothing To Wear list. That’s one of my favourite lists because it means the items on it don’t require my squishy bits to suffer for my glamorous tastes by way of cinching and pinching, so right away this top was a winner.

Heart of Haute Inspiration top Deadly is the Female Continue reading

Utterly Divine [Heart of Haute]

Divine by name, divine by nature, this faux-fur trimmed jacket first caught my eye at London Edge previews back in September and hasn’t left me since. You might think, considering that, that I had planned to buy it, but I actually talked myself out of needing it in an unusual spurt of very adulty budgetary conscientiousness. (Yes, because I’m sure real adults say ‘adulty.’ I also say ‘Growed-ups.’ I’m not kidding anyone, am I?)

Yes, it’s a gorgeous piece that can be worn both as top and jacket, but I have more than one faux fur trimmed coat and rarely wear wiggles, with which I felt it would pair best, so it just made sense to let it pass me by.

…Buuuut then UK favourites Deadly is the Female began to stock it and OH WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT MUMMA’S GOT HERSELF A SEXY NEW FLUFF JACKET. Whoopsie! #sorrynotsorry

Black Divine Jacket Heart of Haute Deadly is the Female Continue reading