Sweet, Fair Isobel [Emily and Fin]

Emily and Fin Poppies a Plenty Isobel Dress

I’m ashamed to admit it, because I feel like I’ve been missing out, but this is my first experience with Emily and Fin. I’ve been following the brand for a while, loving, coveting, swooning. I always make a bit of a show out of buying my first piece from a brand, believing it will set the tone for our potentially loving future pretty-things-on-my-body relationship. So with Emily and Fin, I made a habit out of regularly visiting their New Items page and scrolling and scrolling, umm’ing and ahh’ing, putting this dress in my cart, then that skirt, then another dress, paralyzing myself with indecision as if I was deciding on something much more important and difficult than Which Pretty Thing Am I Going To Treat Myself To First?

 

Every time I decided I’d finally chosen my First Piece (yes, capitals, because we’ve established how important that is) I would excitedly go to purchase and–boom! It was sold out in my size. Because of course it was, their pieces are classic and lovely, and there were plenty of other women admiring their clothing who were being much less sentimental about hitting the checkout now button. Continue reading

Seaside Strolling with Vivien

Vivien of Holloway is considered by many to be the ruling monarch of the British reproduction vintage scene. All their pieces are designed and made in the UK, most of their clothing styles returning season after season in new colours and prints, with an army of avid fans happy to expand their Grace, Kitty or Sarong collections.

One of their most popular dress styles is the Halterneck Circle Dress, often referred to by lover’s of the style in shorthand as the HNCD. They watch the website keenly for the release of new prints, stalk eBay for signs of colourways they missed out on, and chat in Facebook groups about where they last wore their favourite dress. In terms of vintage style clothing, it’s a classic, one of those dresses that is quintessentially fifties. Almost every British pinup has one hanging in her closet, and I don’t know why it took me so long to try one.

Since all Vivien of Holloway pieces are UK made, I decided it was only appropriate to take my new dress to the seaside for a leisurely stroll with friends (and a sneaky helping of fish and chips, because if you’re going to seaside you may as well do it properly.)

Vivien of Holloway 1950s Halter Neck Circle Dress Turquoise Floral Continue reading

Purse Perfection [Lola Von Rose]

Lola Von Rose is a brand-spanking new handbag company, launched in early July and offering vintage-inspired box purses reminiscent of lucite lovelies so popular in our favourite eras past.

I happened upon the brand while scrolling through Instagram and immediately got excited about them. I couldn’t believe these perfect little purses could be out there, existing in the world, without my knowing, so it reassured me to discover that the company was new and I wasn’t habitually missing out incredible vintage-style products that everyone else knew about. No, it’s fine, Lola Von Rose are small and new, but I don’t think they’ll be that way for long. With purses like these, I fully expect them to be a vintage-style household name within our community soon enough.

Lola Von Rose Black Acrylic Vintage Style Box Purse Continue reading

July Outfits Round Up

After a kind of funky June that left me a bit tired and fed up, I’m pleased to report that July was a much better month. We actually had some summer (a big deal for us Brits, rain-sodden and perpetually cloud-shrouded as we are,) there was a lot of great quality time with family and friends, and there were outfits, as always, lots of outfits.

As usual, you can find links in the description to any item that is still available to buy. Anything not linked is from a past season and cannot be found for purchase any longer and/or is not available to buy online from the website from which I purchased it. To help give you some clarification that might make it easier for you to find certain items, please note that an item listed as ‘by’ a brand was designed by that brand, but items listed ‘from’ means that website merely sells the item and is not the designer, meaning you may be able to find it elsewhere with some searching.

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Sunday Picnic Red Gingham Penelope dress by Hearts and Found, White Cropped Cardigan by New Look, White cut out flats by Matalan

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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

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

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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

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

May Outfits Round Up

May means one thing to me: it’s mah birthday month! Half of this month’s outfits have been worn to a myriad of celebrations held in the name of my birth, because I’m one of those obnoxious people who love birthdays and gleefully drag mine out for at least two weeks, if not longer. My 30th will no doubt hold the record in this sense, as scheduling difficulties mean my final celebration doesn’t take place until mid-June, but I promise that this outfit wrap up post will be the last mention of the B word now until someone else’s comes along to claim that. At least it offers you a variety of outfits, from evening glam to picnic cute.

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Striped Poppy dress by Dolly & Dotty, Red Poppy Field Brooch by Erstwilder, Royal Blue Cropped Cardigan from Pinup Girl Clothing, Red grommets belt, old season everything5pounds.com heels

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Hamilton, Hamilton, Just You Wait! [Unique Vintage]

Okay, so if you’re familiar with Hamilton, the musical, then you’ll get the title reference of this post. You’ll probably also understand that when I first saw the Hamilton dress from Unique Vintage, yes, I did immediately love it for the dress itself, but I also at least partially snapped it up because of its name. I just had to. I’ve had the cast recording soundtrack playing on repeat for a couple months now and my heart is sad that I can’t see the show since I live in the UK (not that anyone can see the show really, sold out as it is) but now at the very least I can don this dress, head out into the sunshine and enjoy its musical namesake with a pair of headphones.

Unique Vintage Hamilton striped day dress Continue reading