Custom Made with Violets In May

Violets in May custom made Green Tribal Gathered Skirt

Violets In May is an Etsy shop offering custom made vintage inspired pieces. Everything is designed and made in England by mega-babe owner Lola Diamond, pinup model and confetti lucite addict. Her store is perhaps best known for her kick-ass playsuits, offered in a variety of wonderful fun prints, but she also offers slinky lurex pencil dress, voluminous gathered skirts and a selection of beautiful structured tops. I’ve been following the store for a while but somehow had yet to order anything, until noticing a recent post of the Brittany playsuit being offered in a new green tribal print fabric.

I was sold. Continue reading

The Prettiest Little Forest [The Pretty Dress Company] 

The Forest Seville fabric from The Pretty Dress Company is just one of those prints that you can’t help but love. It’s a rich, dark green sporting a pretty, colourful floral pattern, destined to look good on every woman of every skin tone because it is sumptuous and classic and just plain lovely. When it first caught my eye it was on the Hepburn dress, though it’s available in three other dress cuts as well, but it’s that same Hepburn dress I kept thinking about months after I first spotted it whenever I rifled through my wardrobe and lamented my lack of dark green clothing.

L-R: Hepburn, Cara, Gina, Hourglass

The print reminds me of English country gardens, of quaint afternoons, of plates of scones and tinkling china and being very proper. It’s elegant and understated, so it only made sense that once I was lucky enough to get my excited little fingers on it that I would take to one of those English country gardens to shoot it for this review. Continue reading

A Spring Bouquet in Milan [Heart of Haute]

I’ve reviewed the Milan dress by Heart of Haute before. It was much earlier on in my blogging career so the way in which I detail sizing and fit specifics have altered since then, allowing for, hopefully, a more helpful and accurate review that makes it easier for you to figure out if an item of clothing is for you and in which size.

When I reviewed the Milan dress in the red cotton sateen colourway, I found it had tons of give, although even then I didn’t stretch so far as to giving you the most helpful flat measurements (for reference, my L measured 32 inches flat in the waist, and up to 35 stretched.)

When spring came and I began eyeing the beautiful Bouquet floral colourway of this dress, I first assumed I could order it in the same L as my red Milan and come up smelling of roses (ba dum cha!) I noticed, however, that the size charts for the Bouquet on different stockists noted that the dress sizes smaller and that between sizes should size up. Considering this, I did what I could to determine the best size for myself, ordered the pretty, and decided it was worth giving this dress style and colourway its own review to pass on the information I learned to ensure you all end up with the best fit as well.

Milan Bouquet dress Heart of Hope Doll Me Up Continue reading

Thea & Summer Strawberries [The Pretty Dress Company]

I first discovered the Thea dress by The Pretty Dress Company last September when I donned the red pencil version to model for Deadly Is The Female’s Christmas campaign for Vintage Life magazine. It was love at first slinky wiggle, but as I don’t wear a lot of pencil dresses I spent half the shoot in that dress cooing over the draping of the neckline and half lamenting that I would kill to have it in a swing style instead.

Fast forward a few months and my Thea swing daydreams became a reality. The Thea prom dress features the same gorgeous draped off-the-shoulder neckline and stretch twill fabric as the pencil version, but with a full swing skirt perfect for twirling. All of The Pretty Dress Company’s pieces are designed and made in the UK, so to celebrate that I decided to take my new Thea in this stunning patriotic cobalt blue out for a spot of strawberry picking, as it’s such a great British tradition at this time of year.

The Pretty Dress Company Cobalt Blue Thea Prom Dress Swing Continue reading

June Outfits Round Up 

June, ah. You started so well. Then came the rain. So much rain. There was a period in the middle there where it genuinely felt like the start of autumn, very confusing when new summer dresses were turning up in pretty parcels on my doorstep. Amidst all the water, it was a long and sometimes-difficult month, with social meet-ups sometimes put behind the need to stay home and recoup with some blanket time and Netflix. Saying that, there’s still been some outfits from this month that I really loved. Here’s hoping July will be brighter and better all round!

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Bouquet Milan Dress by Heart of Haute and Kelly Green Cropped Cardigan both from Doll Me Up, Felicity Double Orchid hair flower by Daisy Jean Florals, Erin Wicker bag by Banned from Audrey Star’s Boutique, old season H&M flats

Continue reading

Getting Reacquainted With Bernie

My first and only ever review of Bernie Dexter dresses was over a year and a half ago, when I was very new to blogging and still fairly new to being a pinup. At that time I’d tried several repro clothing brands but not nearly as many as I have now. My wardrobe had quickly and largely become full of Pinup Girl Clothing, still my favourite brand for top quality retro inspired pieces offered in a variety of styles and at a reasonable price for the high quality presented.

Comparatively, the Bernie Dexter dresses I tried were…kind of disappointing. I had a bad experience with the delivery, since UPS can be a pain in the ass to receive an international parcel from, as they don’t pre-alert you of the customs fee demanded upon delivery and arranging pre-delivery can be tricky sometimes. That aside, I opened my package of 3 Bernie dresses to discover they were shorter than, less well fitted, and made of less fabric than the dresses I was accustomed to, as well as being unlined and lightweight. And despite all that, they were more expensive than my usual Pinup Girl Clothing buys, which aren’t exactly cheap themselves. Add in the hugely costly shipping and custom fees and I was not just disappointed but massively out of pocket. Continue reading

Traveling with Tammy [Collectif]

I have a thing for vintage luggage. If you follow Junebugs and Georgia Peaches’s blog, or Amanda’s Modernjunecleaver Instagram account then you’ll have likely caught sight of her impressive and enviably vintage luggage collection. It’s the true embodiment of the meme-tastic GOALS sentiment.

Amanda/ModernJuneCleaver's amazing closet and luggage collection

Amanda/ModernJuneCleaver’s amazing closet and luggage collection (Picture from her Instagram)

Saying all that, I actually only own a couple pieces of vintage hand luggage. I don’t travel a huge amount, mostly taking day trips or weekends away, so I just have a vanity case in red and one in black so that I have something to match any potential outfit. My two cases get used as perfume and hair styling apparatus holders while I’m at home, since they’re a nice useful size for storing small things, but they’re only really usable as a single piece of luggage for one-night stay trips and nothing longer. I’m pretty rubbish at scouting out true vintage though; I live in the countryside where a trip to any town that will likely throw up vintage wonders is 30mins-1hour in the car, at least, and on weekends I’m typically so busy closer to home that I can’t block out a few hours to go scouring through racks and stacks, miles of piles, cases and boxes and rails. Continue reading

Ambling in Ambleside [Hell Bunny]

If you know anything about me at all it’s probably that I love nautical style clothes. Navy, white, red, they just go together so beautifully, and there’s something timeless and fun about nautical themed pieces, whether they’re simple colourblock styles or nautical themed prints.

When I was a little girl, I had a pale blue nautical style sailor-girl dress that I loved. Since it was the 80s, our family had three of these dresses in different sizes, so that me and my two elder sisters could match. Maybe that’s where my nautical love all began, who knows. What I do know is that my love has never waned, if anything intensifying over the years, so when I spotted the nautical offerings from Hell Bunny’s SS16 range, I was sold.

I already reviewed the Marin dress from Hell Bunny earlier this season, a seaside themed printed dress which I love and constantly wear, so I figured now it was time to review one of their simpler, navy pieces.

It’s time to take a countryside amble in the Ambleside dress.

Hell Bunny Ambleside dress Continue reading

I Wanna See You Peacock [Hell Bunny]

Yes, the title of this post is from a Katy Perry song. No, I’m not sorry. And you know why not? Because I live in the British countryside and, most randomly, a wild peacock has recently started to make frequent visits to our garden.

I know. It sounds like I’m making it up, but I’m not. I’ve named him Albert and he likes to also visit next door, where he helps himself to the bird feeder on our neighbour’s patio. We have no idea where he’s come from, as he comes by every day, morning and night, and while we live close to two farms bearing peacock enclosures, both swear he doesn’t belong to either of them.

So, you know, there was only one thing for it. I had to get a peacock dress and make friends with him. It’s the logical next step in this situation, right? Thanks to Hell Bunny, I could make that happen.

Hell Bunny 50s Peacock dress Continue reading

Mexicana Magic [Love UR Look]

Earlier in the year I attended London Edge to preview the SS16 releases from many different vintage inspired brands. Having featured Love Ur Look here on the blog last summer, I was eager to drop by their booth to see their new offerings for this season and to meet their owner and designer Ronke in person, who was even more lovely and charming than I had anticipated. As we chatted on and on about our favourite aspects of vintage styles, my eyes couldn’t help but roam the racks of new pretties on display around us. The Mexicana dress was an immediate stand-out for me and I couldn’t help but fawn a little over the print.

I took home a little postcard showing off some of their upcoming pieces, the Mexicana dress pictured front and centre, and pinned it to the magnetic chalk board I keep beside my computer, my blogging and reminders board, just in case there was any chance I could forget that dress. There wasn’t. I couldn’t wait for it to come out. And now, finally, the time has come. Let’s see if you’re as obsessed with it as I am.

Love UR Look Mexicana dress Continue reading