I’m a fan of the colour teal, pockets and interesting contrast design details, and the Evie dress from Voodoo Vixen has all three. I mean, do you even need to know any more than that? I reckon we should ship straight to the pictures.
As a pinup on the internet, you’ve probably encountered Micheline Pitt and/or her work somewhere online. She’s basically the most beautiful jack-of-all-trades that there is; clothing designer, illustrator and artist, model, hair and makeup artist, general badass. Micheline was once described to me as a woman ‘who does the jobs of 10 people’ and anyone who follows her on Instagram is bound to have picked up on that sense of unswerving work ethic.
Earlier this year, Micheline created her own line, Vixen by Micheline Pitt, offering ‘Good things for bad girls.’ She began taking pre-orders on her Etsy and it didn’t take long for wholesalers to sign up to carry her brand new designs. First offering t-shirts, Micheline channeled all the funds she had into setting up her own line of Made in the USA products, soon expanding into lapel pins, pencil skirts, gathered circle skirts, and two vintage inspired shirt styles. Dresses will be coming soon, but the items on offer so far feature cute makeup novelty prints or are available in a small selection of wardrobe-staple plain solid colours. Continue reading
Peter Pan collars aren’t usually my thing–unless they’re on a cardigan, that is. Something about a collared cardigan always strikes me as more polished than a regular round necked cardigan, so this Katy pearl cardigan by Voodoo Vixen won me over the moment I first saw it. Not only does is sport a Peter Pan collar, but said collar is trimmed with delicate faux pearls and finished with an eye catching ivory bow. Ding ding ding! We have a winner.
Let’s be real: anything named after vintage goddess Dita Von Teese is going to be a winner.
Voodoo Vixen released their Dita top last season, a work-wear appropriate short sleeved piece featuring a keyhole cutout neckline. Skip forward to their brand new Autumn/Winter season and Dita is back, this time as a dress with longer sleeves perfect for the cooler months.
This dress is a little out of my style-norm, thanks to its slimmer skirt and high neck, but the gorgeous burgundy red really caught my eye and I loved the idea of giving myself the style challenge of creating an outfit around a piece I’m not so familiar with styling. The verdict? I’m so on board.
If you pay much attention to my accessories, whether in my blog posts or my daily outfit posts on Instagram, then you’re bound to have noticed a sudden change that occurred early on this summer: I became addicted to Splendette.
In a way, I don’t know how it happened. Well, no, that’s a lie. I do. They produce hand made, beautifully carved, quality pieces that are reasonably priced and can be paired with a plethora of outfits. That was always their selling point. But it was the green that did it. This summer, Splendette released a vibrant new range of solid coloured fakelite bangles in bright new shades, including Chartreuse and Leaf Green. And I was immediately a goner. Because GREEN, you guys. Continue reading
For a long time, I’ll admit, I didn’t actually know what Hearts and Found was. I saw the account tagged on Instagram many times in ladies outfit posts but somehow I never twigged that it was a custom made Etsy maker, probably because their Instagram account is focused on posting collections of 40s and 50s era photos, rather than pictures of their hand made goods. When I finally twigged earlier this summer and took a look at the Etsy store, I immediately saw at least a half dozen items I wanted to buy. All were totally affordable in vintage-style terms, even when delivered to the UK from Vietnam where the maker, Marjorie, is based. I dithered for weeks over what I wanted to order first, changing my mind not just over which item of clothing but also which print, before finally settling on the Sunday Picnic Penelope dress.
I’m gonna get this out of my way right at the start: I am not normally a leopard print fan. I once heard someone say that (paraphrased) it is a print that is abundantly used in the fashion industry by the very cheap and the very expensive, and I think that perfectly encapsulates how I feel about the print on the whole. When done well, it’s sexy and chic and luxurious. Done badly, it looks…well, cheap. And while there’s nothing wrong with building a wardrobe in a thrifty manner, I think we all tend to hope our £3 bargain we were excited to snag doesn’t actually scream ‘THIS COST £3!’ We just want to be able to say that in an enthusiastic half-bragging fashion when someone cooes over how gorgeous it is. There’s a difference.
So with leopard print, I feel it’s a fine line. For that reason, I’ve stayed clear of it in the past, overlooking it in favour of prints or patterns that are less difficult to ‘get right.’ In recent months, however, I’ve found myself drawn to the print. Perhaps being in the pinup community means I’ve simply been exposed to a lot of brands who have got it right by leaning on their vintage inspirations to nail the sexy, stylish essence of the print. No matter the reason, lately I’ve been searching around for a leopard print top I can pair with a black pencil skirt and a sassy attitude to feel as slinky as the jungle cat it mimics. Thanks to Miss Fortune, I’ve found that top: the Leopard Polly Blouse.
September messed with us all here in England. It kept being (quote unquote) hot again. Which is fine–given we generally have crap summers you’d think we would be excited to have some surprisingly warm stretches in the first month of autumn. Sort of, but not really. Because I’m so ready to dig out my autumn wardrobe, as well as wear the new additions to it I’ve been buying the last few weeks, and so far there has rarely been the chance. My tartan, tweeds and plaids have gone unloved, my checks and flannels have been sadly unattended to. My summer clothes are pretty, but damnit I just want to wear the fall stuff.
So let’s be more sensible, October, shall we? You don’t have to rain or even get dreary (in fact, it would be kind of convenient for my blogging needs if you didn’t,) but a bit of a chill would be seasonally wonderful, if you would do me the honour. Okay? Okay. Just think about it, is all I’m asking. In the mean time, here’s the frustrated and temperature-confused collection of outfits I put together in September.
Lady Hay dress by Hell Bunny, thrifted belt, old season Everything5pounds.com heels
When you’re a bit of a shopaholic, sometimes you have to tow the line and pass over buying something you really want. If you’re lucky you’ll later be pleased you saved your pennies, because your shopping lust for that dress (or lipstick, or pair of shoes) dissipated faster than your attraction to that cute looking dude you saw on the street last week who turned around only to reveal he was sporting a rat’s tail hairstyle.
Those are the best case near-misses. You get to pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself at your Supreme Adulting. Continue reading
I have a massive thing for hard cased or structural bags. Whether it’s a wicker box purse, a vintage-style acrylic handbag, a sturdy frame handbag or a well structured clutch, I always just find them to be so interesting and chic. One of my particular favourites within this field is the somewhat new trend of the book clutchbag.
Bags that look like books are just too cute for me to handle, bookworm that I am. I’ve fawned over many of them, but I kept waiting for the specific cover art that would best suit my wardrobe. Over time my bookcase continually overflowed but nothing novel was being added to my bag collection. I kept waiting. And then earlier this year, while modelling for Vendula London‘s AW16 line, I discovered they were offering a new book clutch for this season, and a gorgeous one at that. The time had come! Continue reading
Miss Amy May 