Seaside Chambray [eShakti]

Posted on July 9, 2018 by missamymay

If you haven’t come across eShakti before, they’re a custom-make company that offer a wide array of clothing that can be customised to your tastes by selecting the neckline, sleeve style and skirt length you most prefer for each design. Everything can also be ordered either in standard sizes or customised to your own measurements, and in some cases you can even have the item of your choice made in the fabric of your choice in their new Fabric Customization feature. They regularly host sales and provide discount offers, a recent example of the latter spurring me on to order this chambray belted beauty made perfectly for simple, stylish summertime wear.

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Cute Flats: Vintage Inspired, High Street, and Beyond

Posted on July 3, 2018 by missamymay

I’ve often featured cute vintage inspired heels here on the blog, but every time I do I hear from women who can’t wear heels, whether for health reasons or for lack of balance and will to torture oneself just to appear a little taller. I often feel most stylish when I’m able to finish off an outfit with a great pair of heels, but for practical reasons these days I feel the inclination to do that less and less socially. As such, I’ve been on a slightly obsessive hunt the last few months to find as many interesting pairs of flats as I can so that I can complete my outfits in both comfort and style without feeling I’m sacrificing any of the latter by sidestepping my heels.

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A Lobster Won Me Over [Collectif]

Posted on July 2, 2018 by missamymay

I’m not usually one for lobster motifs. These little red critters are a popular novelty feature in the vintage realm, but the reasoning behind that has always flummoxed me. Who would want a crimson crustacean featured on their clothes? I wondered, confused, as my Instagram feed filled each summer with beautiful modern pinups buying item after item in lobster print. I just don’t get it.

…And then, as always, I found the one dress that made me finally understand something I hadn’t previously, and now I’m like ‘lobsters? How cute!‘ So to whom do I owe the credit of this bending of my previously steadfast opinion? Collectif, step right up!

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June Outfits Round Up

Posted on June 29, 2018 by missamymay

This month I’ve really learned how hard it must be to rock the full head-to-toe 50s style in countries that easily break and exceed 30c in summer–let alone in spring and autumn, too. Good lord, our heatwave here in the UK has only been off and on for a few weeks, not often topping 30c, but the humidity is so unbearable that the idea of setting my hair in pincurls for a nice curly brush out is nuts. This month it’s been all about getting as much hair off my neck as possible, despite the fact that I’m not crazy about many updos on myself in general, so it’s been clip-in ponytails and neat buns to the rescue! Do any of you hot-weather pinup babes have good tips for cute vintage hair that doesn’t leave you feeling damp necked and pink faced?

The heat aside, it’s been a busy month, with the season of summer birthdays officially beginning. Most of my family have their birthdays over the next 3 months, so it’ll be a fun whirlwind of celebrations starting now.

Lorena-Sun dress by Miss Candyfloss, Kelly Green Tootsie cardigan from DMU, collapsible bamboo bag from eBay, Green Loretta heels by Miss L Fire

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Some Mix ‘n’ Match Leopard [Hell Bunny]

Posted on June 25, 2018 by missamymay

There are some specific features that make up a good leopard print, in my opinion. Famously leopard print can either look incredibly expensive or incredibly cheap, and putting aside the impact styling choices can make on a leopard print item, I think the print itself needs to have two things to read as the former; a variation in its depth of background colour, showcasing darker brown and near black patches mixed in with the lighter gold swathes, and a variation in size, shape and openness of the spots.

These things, when done correctly, will make the print look more realistic, and thus, expensive. What irony, then, that one of the best leopard prints I’ve found in our vintage-inspired realm comes from one of our most budget-friendly brands: Hell Bunny. Their Panthera leopard print is luxe and rich, and is available on a range of items that covers everything from capri pants to dresses. So whether your leopard style icon veers more Peggy Bundy or more Jackie O, Hell Bunny is bound to have options to fulfill your heart’s purring desires.

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Handbag Dreams [Hell Bunny]

Posted on June 21, 2018 by missamymay

Wicker handbags are one of my favourite things. Every summer I find myself buying more, then going to add it to my collection on my shelf and realising, oh, I have much more of these than I thought, I probably shouldn’t have bought another one…

And then I do it all over again. Considering that wicker bags are kind of delicate as far as handbags go, unable to handle an accidental bash against a wall or bump by a stranger without the risk of a snapped weave, that makes my compulsion all the worse. You’d think, then, that I would feel guilty about the subject of this post, but on the contrary, that delicate natural of my favourite arm candy is the exact reason I do not. Because sometimes with reproduction items, you miss out a bit on the magic of what the originals offered in the eras gone by, but sometimes reproduction fixes a problem that modern life only highlights, and these Hell Bunny bags do just that; say hello to wicker style handbags that don’t need babying!

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My Kind of Jean [Voodoo Vixen]

Posted on June 18, 2018 by missamymay

If you’re a regular reader of this blog then you’ll have read me announcing at least a dozen times that it was love at first sight for me when I saw a certain dress, or skirt, or bag, or pair of shoes…okay, maybe less like a dozen, and more like a hundred. But what can I say? I find men hard work, but falling for pretty things I can twirl in is easy.

In this case, I actually saw the skirt version of this dress first, and thence came the fall. I quickly realised, though, that Voodoo Vixen would not be making the skirt in their plus sizes. Thence came the devastation. Such heartbreak! Why would they forsake me so? However, it was coming in a dress version, I was told, and so returned hope.

I wasn’t fully sold on the dress style when I saw it initially, for reasons I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but after mulling over the reality of missing out on this print entirely, as well as reminding myself honestly that I almost never wear skirts compared to dresses, I came around to the idea of the dress and decided to give this print a second chance. We could make it, this print and I. I just had to be willing to open up my heart again. And boy oh boy, am I glad I did.

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You Better Get Loretta [Miss L Fire]

Posted on June 14, 2018 by missamymay

If you’re a Miss L Fire fan you’re bound to be a lover of their Loretta heels. If you aren’t familiar with Miss L Fire, allow me to make the introduction. Miss L Fire is a vintage-inspired brand passionate about producing beautiful and comfortable shoes, often with a modern twist. Some of their designs are on the more quirky side of the style spectrum, sporting giant embroidered novelty cherries or 70s-esque large leather flowers, while many are more classic and reminiscent of the most glamorous eras in fashion history. The Loretta heels are part of that latter section of the line that harkens back to a time of elegance, and I am more than a little bit in love with them.

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The Perfect Peasant Dress [Doll Me Up]

Posted on June 11, 2018 by missamymay

We all have things we like. You might like bodycon dresses, the colour black, cut outs. Your best friend may be in to watermelons, swing skirts, and novelty shaped buttons. I like all shades of yellow, dresses with lots of stretch, and peasant-style necklines. And, like anyone else, I get a bit excited when I find several of my favourite things represented in one item. In this instance, I have Doll Me Up to thank for this accumulation of Things That Make Amy Happy.

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A New Signature Sparkle [Hotter Shoes]

Posted on June 7, 2018 by missamymay

If you’ve been following this blog or my Instagram account for a long time then no doubt you’ll remember my signature red sparkly shoes. I had them in both sexy-skyscraper heeled and much-more-forgiving ballet flat forms, both pairs painstakingly and lovingly decorated with thousands of scarlet flat-backed crystals, each hand placed by myself over the course of many evenings. I wore them with almost every outfit, declaring happily that red goes with almost everything, I swear, but they make few appearances these days.

The reason is not that I have forsaken my love of a red accessory, but merely that crystal covered shoes are prone to losing crystals over time, leaving them looking a bit sad. It’s possible to replace the bare areas with fresh crystals, a patch-up job I undertook many a time, but eventually I just needed to make myself a fresh pair of the flats entirely and I lacked the time and motivation necessary to devote the several hours needed to that endeavor. What I needed, really, was a sparkly red shoe that could replace my signature crystal flats without losing any of the fun twinkle, while gaining a better sense of longevity. Hotter Shoes is here to answer that call.