Marin & Me [Hell Bunny]

Posted on March 7, 2016 by missamymay

Hell Bunny Marin Dress Navy Nautical

Hell Bunny’s SS16 line offers the same varied mix of styles as their usual lines–some truly cutesy stuff, a bit of tropical, some kitsch, a range of plain staples, and a touch of nautical. For the first time they’re offering handbags too, but the piece that most stood out to me, lover of nautical themes that I am, was the Marin dress.

Available in red and blue, this dress sports a full circle skirt, pockets, a rounded neckline reaching up to self-tie shoulder straps and a nautical print featuring everything from rum bottles and ragged flags to crabs, ship wheels and compasses. My 4 year old nephew had great fun studying the print recently when I went to spend the morning with some of my family, although he did question why a ship would be in a bottle–I dunno, little dude, people have hobbies, I can’t explain how that ever came to be. Continue reading →

Gingerly Does It [Collectif Ginger Dress]

Posted on August 17, 2015 by missamymay

Anyone who’s followed me for long enough knows I’m a sucker for nautical coloured clothing–put some combination of red, navy or white together and I will probably love it. Another thing I love, but have rarely found in affordable repro, is a winged bust. So it’s time to say hello to Collectif’s Ginger line.

When Collectif launched their SS15 line I was thrilled to see they had included a winged bust in some wiggle dresses, a swing and a playsuit. And then I was sad that all those pieces featured novelty prints, something I’m very picky about and rarely partake in. The atomic flamingo wiggle dress was adorable–but not my style. The strawberry print play suit was super cute–but a no for me with that much fruit appeal.

I don’t know how it snuck by me, but I didn’t realise until recently that there was a nautical colourway of this dress, the navy and white Sailor version of that winged bust design available in both a wiggle and a swing dress. A mere week after I came across this information Collectif launched one of their infamous half price sales. Wing busted, sailor swing dress named Ginger, come to mumma!

Collectif Ginger Navy & White Swing Dress Continue reading →

[Sailor] Swing, Baby, Swing!

Posted on June 18, 2015 by missamymay

Continuing on with my recent resolution to review some of my dresses that feel most summery to me, today I’m reviewing my Sailor Swing dress by Pinup Girl Clothing. One of my favourite things about this dress is that it was one of those dresses that actually sparked my transition into pinup style.

At the start of 2013 I began to pincurl and wetset my hair to achieve heat-free curls after a bad experience with heat styling that left ruined my natural curls. I had always liked the fashions from the 50s but had never considered it something a modern woman could fully adopt, so as I began to tinker with my makeup to reflect a more 50s look I also began to search online for clothing options that might feel a bit 50s without being over the top. I didn’t feel confident enough then to wear the kind of outfits I do now, and as I was so tentative about the style change I also didn’t want to drop big bucks on clothing. I found this picture of the navy Sailor Swing dress on Tumblr and became obsessed.

Word up Doris Mayday, lookin’ hot! Image: Laura Byrnes Photography

Continue reading →

All At Sea With Joni

Posted on March 18, 2015 by missamymay

The Joni dress is another of the Voodoo Vixen dresses from their Spring/Summer line that I saw at London Edge and immediately knew I had to have. The print on the Joni dress features white anchors and ship wheels on a navy blue background, the perfect nautical print, but this same print is also featured on the Gywenth dress, the cute strapped wiggle counterbalance to Joni’s cap-sleeved flare design. They are lovely pieces and I kind of want to own them both, but for now I have Joni, whom I took to the beach recently to show her off in her natural habitat. Of course it took only a couple of minutes for the delightful British seaside wind to blow my pincurls to bits, as I should have foreseen, requiring a brief retreat to the car for an emergency bobby-bin salvaging session with my hair. (I think I deserve a Brownies badge in Emergency On-The-Spot Hair Salvaging Without Help Of A Mirror Or Brush.) Hair disaster only barely averted, Joni and I went for a bit of a wander around the slightly less windy wish tower and seaside pathways instead.

joni2 Continue reading →

Good Golly Miss Molly!

Posted on March 16, 2015 by missamymay

Molly. Oh Molly. Y’all know I love a Pinup Girl Clothing dress–PUG simply fits me like no other brand does, which means at any given time I inevitably have 10-20 items on my wishlist waiting to one day join my fairly extensive collection. The Molly dress is one of those wishlist items that has been chilling in my virtual One Day closet ever since she was released last summer. She comes in 4 colourways–navy with white polka dots, yellow with white polka dots, black cherry print and white cherry print–and I’ve been lusting equally over both the navy and yellow versions for months, never quite sure which one to choose until PUG graciously offered to send me a Molly of my own. It came down to little more than a mental flip of a coin, but I opted for the navy, my love of nautical colourways winning out.

Pinup Girl Clothing Molly Dress Continue reading →

Renee, Darling & Daring

Posted on February 25, 2015 by missamymay

Last summer Pinup Girl Clothing previewed the Renee dress, a halter neck dress with faux tied bust, Jenny-esque gathered skirt, and, most notable of all, a midriff cut out. Coming in 5 prints–Tipsy Elephant, Mint Pinup Girl, Navy and white Anchor print, and plain red and plain black–I immediately fell in love. Looking at the dress on Doris Mayday it, of course, looked utterly perfect. But I don’t have Doris’s body, and I have probably bared my midriff maybe thrice in my life? And that is just a guestimate as to what seems likely, not based on any actual memories of having done so. My stomach and its general surrounding area is my low-confidence area. So, while I haunted the Coming Soon section last summer waiting for the Renee (and the other dresses I was lusting after) to drop, I battled with myself as to whether I would have the ovaries to buy Renee when she came out.