I told you at the weekend all about how much I love the Stella dress by Lady V London, so much so that it spurred me to buy this Margot dress because I loved its similarity of shape, simplicity, and the identical fabric from which it’s crafted. Margot is sleeveless, but that’s never stopped me from wearing a great dress in cold weather. Let’s layer up and take a little look, shall we?
Once upon a time black dresses just didn’t call to me. I wanted colour, prints, everything paired with red! All bold all the time, this bitch is underlined! Fast forward a few years to present day Amy and my tastes have changed several times over, these days favouring darker, rich tones, and definitely, finally, appreciative of a good black dress. And this Scarlette? Oh, she’s a good black dress.
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
When it comes to the company I keep, I’m a real girl’s girl. I enjoy talking about makeup, hair and clothes, all the clichéd things that then take on a whole new life of their own when you’re someone who’s adopted a vintage style. Luckily, my pinup friends are happy to indulge me in these subjects, and none more so than my bestie Giselle.
Beautiful, whip-crack smart and stylish in all manners, Giselle is most definitely my better friend-half. We share a lot of the same loves and opinions, one of which is that we adore The Pretty Dress Company. When the opportunity presented itself for us to twin in one of our favourite pieces from their Summer line, the Saint Tropez dress, we needed zero convincing.
The Saint Tropez pencil and swing dresses are exactly as chic and classic as the name would suggest. Available in white and silver stripes, as we chose, white and pink, or pink and silver, in every colour it’s a simple dress that still easily stands out. While I’m a swing dress girl and Giselle more of a wiggle fan, we recently donned our matching frocks during a weekend of fun together to show you just how wonderful this dress is.
I first spotted the Sabrina cape by Dolly & Dotty at London Edge earlier this year. I’m fond of capes and capelets in general, but as a curvy woman I do tend to feel when I actually don one that all the extra fabric results in me losing my waist, which is something I can’t really visually afford when constructing an outfit. This particular cape is a more cropped length, which not only makes it adorable but also stops it from eating up the outline of one’s body, regardless of curviness, as well as making it petite-appropriate. I was certain it would end up being the perfect incarnation of my cape-love so I’ve been eagerly awaiting its release since I first spotted it in January. I’m thrilled that it’s finally available!
A couple months back I reviewed the Andrea skirt from Collectif, a faux fur trimmed pencil skirt that was designed to be a part of a skirt suit set alongside the Deana jacket. I loved the Andrea skirt and badly wanted the Deana to wear with her, but I didn’t have the money to spend the £110 to complete the suit. Knowing Collectif run a 50% off sale after Christmas each year, I hoped ardently that the Deana would be in stock at the time so I could make her mine. My hopes were dashed when she went out of stock long before the sale was even rumoured to start, so I bought a couple of other items in the sale instead and inwardly moped about the perfect suit set that was never to be, because I am way too emotionally invested in my closet.
But then, it happened! At 7.05am of the last morning on the sale, when there were just under 2.5hours left of the sale, I received an email saying the Deana had been restocked. I ordered that baby so fast my Paypal could barely keep up! Days later, when the new up to 75% off sale begun, the Deana was included in that as well at the same half off price of £55. So just in case there are any of you ladies out there who have shared my yearning for this jacket but have some qualms with parting with your money, I decided it was time for a review to help you decide whether or not to buy.
The first time I saw the below picture of Idda Van Munster I got that keenly envious, inspired, awed feeling I get when I see an example of vintage perfection.
Idda Van Munster
I presumed the dress Idda is wearing was true vintage, not only because it looked so authentic but because Idda is a diddy little slip of a thing compared to I, and everytime I see a slim woman in an authentically vintage looking item of clothing that I immediately love it’s always vintage–and consequently out of the realm of acquirement and possibility for myself and my 33 inch waist. Hence why the reaction I get to seeing such pictures is a sharp inspired envy, because they are things I cannot have. Continue reading
Everyone should be able to wear whatever they want, without judgement or comment. Saying that, there are certain things I won’t go near personally because I just don’t feel they work for my body and the way I most like to highlight its features. Maxi dresses don’t show off my waist enough with that large expanse of skirt flowing straight down beneath it, and capped sleeves aren’t kind to my chubby upper arms. I store weight on my lower stomach and have wide hips, as well as considerable butt (awww yeaaah,) but those things mean when it comes to trousers and shorts, I just steer clear most of the time for simplicity’s sake, since I can’t be bothered searching for the perfect fit. Playsuits and jumpsuits, therefore, are clothing pieces I rule out, because when trying some on in the past I’ve found they don’t fit my lower body well and make me feel self-conscious about my squidgy tummy. No one really wants that.
However, I’ve been seeing some bodacious babes rocking some amazing retro jumpsuits lately and it made me feel some things. Miss Victory Violet, Simone of Atypical Girl Clothing and Kerry of Audrey Star’s Boutique are all working their jumpsuits like it’s nobody’s business, and it got me wondering.
L to R: Atypical Girl’s Simone. Audrey Star’s Boutique’s Kerry, and Miss Victory Violet
I have a thing for winter appropriate prints, checks, tweeds and weighted fabrics. They never go out of style, which means when you buy a piece in that kind of fabric you know you can wear it year after year regardless of the passing current trends. This holds even more true when the pieces are vintage inspired, so I was pleased to see that Voodoo Vixen made several pieces in their AW15 line that fit this outline.
The Pia pencil skirt is the one that most caught my eye from the VV workwear appropriate new pieces. It’s a lightweight highwaisted grey pencil skirt sporting a tweed inspired print with kick pleats in the back. From the same AW line I picked up the Sophie top, a black three quarter sleeved top with plenty of stretch for comfort and a great button detail staired neckline.
I’ve been aware of The Pretty Dress Company for a while and you recently will have seen me review their gorgeous Femme Fatale Gingham prom dress, but that wasn’t actually my first TPDC piece. Back in August, they offered a Bank Holiday 20% off discount code that I could ill resist. It was a tough call what I wanted to get because there were just so many beautiful pieces, but I followed my heart to the Priscilla dress in lemon gingham.
A classic midi sundress with wide, flat pleats making up the full skirt and spaghetti straps, the shape of this dress is one of those classic, quintessential summer style sundresses that I love so much. It’s lined, closes with a back zipper, and has pockets, my forever favourite. Just as the weather was getting ready to welcome autumn I took this dress with me to my September modelling job for Deadly Is The Female, a long time stockist of The Pretty Dress Company. There, Deadly team members photographer Gayle/Porcelain Photography and hair stylist Lauren/Lolita Noir indulged me in shooting this beauty as we wandered around the gorgeous Somerset town of Frome, Deadly’s home.
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Miss Amy May 