Tag Archives: online shopping

Pretty Pia [Voodoo Vixen]

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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.

Voodoo Vixen Pia Skirt & Sophie Top Continue reading →

#MissAmyMayInTheUSA: The Haul

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Before I went to America I put myself on a big buying restriction. I’m infamous amongst my friends for buying new clothes, so for me that was a big thing to buy no new dresses for 3 months. I buy so much of my clothing from American repro companies, though, that it made sense to take advantage of being in-country for my shopping while i was there, so I saved and made multiple lists about what I wanted. Here, my little darlings, is my haul.

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Bernie Dexter Paris dress in Chrysanthemum print

Continue reading →

Little Filly in Tiger-Lilly [Voodoo Vixen]

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I love me some autumn and winter appropriate fabrics. Anything tweed, check, plaid, it all makes me really like this time of year when the dreary British weather can make it so much easier to dislike it. Finding swing dresses, rather than wiggles, in those fabrics can be harder, which is why I was excited when I came across the Tiger-Lilly dress by Voodoo Vixen.

Featuring a flared swing skirt, half sleeves, matching fabric belt, pockets, and a wide collar and button combination detail, this dress is a great piece for cooler weather.

Voodoo Vixen Tiger-Lilly dress Continue reading →

Fur Trimmed & Fabulous [Collectif Andrea]

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Earlier this AW season Collectif released their Juliette dress, a gorgeous black pencil dress with faux fur trim on the neckline, cuffs and hemline. I swooned and coveted. It was so classic and chic. Warm too, I suspected. And of course it sold out quickly. So I was thrilled to see they were bringing out a matching skirt too. Sporting the same luxiourius faux fur hemline trim, the Andrea skirt has all the glamour of the Juliette dress with the additional versatility of a skirt.

And guess what? I love it.

Collectif Andrea Skirt Continue reading →

Pretty in Plaid [Hell Bunny Aberdeen]

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I love black watch tartan. I’ve wanted a dress or full circle skirt in that colour of tartan for ages, but each time I find one it’s always out of stock. So imagine my delight when I found the Hell Bunny Aberdeen dress in just that print.

Hell Bunny AW15 Aberdeen Tartan Dublin dress Continue reading →

Sweet Suzanne [Voodoo Vixen]

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November is the month of poppies because poppies symbolize the fallen of the First World War on Remembrance day, November 11th. In Britain especially it’s a somber, respectful time, with red poppies flashing at you from the lapels of workmates, family, friends and strangers almost everywhere you go not just during the week of November 11th, but for much of the month.

For me, poppies hold a second association. On November 23rd 2003, my dad passed away following a 2 year battle against cancer. It was a difficult time and I barely remember anything much of the week and a half following his death. I remember coming home from the hospice and changing into the pair of clean spare pyjamas we had taken for him, not sure how long he would be in hospice–2 days–and I remember sitting at our lounge table a week later, trying to decide what to write on the little card presented to me that would be pinned to the flowers that would be lain on his casket.

 

We had poppies.

I remember the poppies. Continue reading →

Pretty in Plaid [Stop Staring! Dorathy dress]

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I don’t have a huge amount of experience with Stop Staring! I’ve only tried some of their wiggle dresses before while modelling for Deadly Is The Female and In Retrospect. I’ve always wanted to try some of their swing dresses but none had taken my fancy enough to order internationally until I saw this grey plaid Dorathy dress on Miss Victory Violet recently.

I put it into my cart on the SS website just ‘in case’ it ever went on sale then promptly forgot about it. Within a few weeks Stop Staring! held a $85 dresses sale, and what would you know, not only was the Dorathy dress included but I also happened to be in the states, meaning I could get free domestic delivery rather than shelling out the fees to receive it in the UK. Time for me to give Stop Staring! a whirl!

Stop Staring! Dorathy grey plaid swing dress Continue reading →

Sporting Cornfields [Chicwish Skirts]

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I think I’ve been pretty late to the game in discovering Chicwish. I only stumbled across them on Instagram a few weeks ago, but once I had I recognised several of their midi skirts as skirts I have seen on–and then coveted–several ladies online. The pricing is really budget friendly for a retro-style midi skirt, so I decided to order one to see what they were like.

Choosing just one skirt, first of all, was really hard because there were just so many prints I loved. I’m not a massive novelty print person but I do like bold prints in general, so their wide range of patterns, florals, cityscape skylines and nature prints really appeal to me. After narrowing it down, I had to decide on sizing. The sizing is asian, so checking the size chart is super important in general but even more so on a piece by piece basis as the general size chart can conflict with the charts on the individual product page, depending upon style and fabric used for the piece. I erred on the side of caution by sizing generously rather than sizing down and following the chart for the particular skirt I wanted, the Golden Wheat Field Pleated Midi. I opted for an XXL which was listed for 33 inch waists, my measurement. I hoped it wouldn’t end up too small, as reviews on the site seemed to vary between stating the items were true to size or way too small.

Chic Wish Golden Wheat Field Midi Corn Skirt Continue reading →

Doll Me Up, Darling!

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If you’ve been following me for a while you’ll have seen past mentions of Doll Me Up . They’re my number one choice for getting LA Splash lip products delivered inexpensively to the UK, and my black evening dress gets a lot of wear, particularly as it’s easily thrown on when I make last minute plans. It’s comfortable and simple, yet people always compliment me on it. I’ve recently bought it in red and know that this dress, too, will become a wardrobe staple that receives constant wear.

Doll Me Up have really expanded their stock lines this year, offering a wide selection of cardigans, both cropped and not, one of the prettiest selections of hair scarves I’ve ever come across, and tons of separates to mix and match. More often than not I’m a dress wearing girl, but DMU have plenty to offer there too. Recently I got my little British paws on the Sunrise to Sunset dress, one I’ve been wanting for an age, and took to the Texan woods to photograph it for you with help of my dear friend Sarah.

Doll Me Up Darling Tootsie Cardigan sunrise to sunset Dress Continue reading →

Building a Pinup Wardrobe from Bargains

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Building a pinup wardrobe from scratch can be an expensive thing, not merely because replacing all your clothes with a specific style means buying a whole wardrobe of clothes is a lot of pieces to be purchasing, but also because good quality reproduction clothing costs. It’s a niche market, automatically making costs higher, but also because most repro clothing companies like to invest in good quality materials, a thorough fitting process during the design process, and ethical labour costs often based in-country rather than sent out of country to continents where labour laws cost the workers and not the companies.

There are pinup brands for every budget, but there are also ways to build your wardrobe with items you love without having to bust out coin you don’t have. Here, I’ll be laying out every trick I’ve learned over the past 3 years to get the best deal you can in your retro shopping.

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Sign up: Every company that sells their owns goods online will have a ‘sign up for our newsletter’ option on their website. Do it! Not only do a lot of companies offer you a free gift or a discount code just for signing up to their newsletter, but the newsletter itself will give you a heads up on any sales or discount codes they’re offering, delivered straight to your inbox, sometimes with codes or sales held only for newsletter recipients. Continue reading →