CHRISTMAS IS COMING, CHRISTMAS IS COMING! That’s pretty much where my mind is right now, looking forward to time with family and friends, good food and some time off after a busy month. Plus, twinkly lights!
Kimberley Black Faux Fur dress by Dolly & Dotty, vintage brooch, Primark flats
It’s been a strange month. Starting off hot then dipping into cooler and wet weather that made it feel a lot like Autumn had arrived early, it’s been hard to decide a lot of the time what to wear. It’s also been a busy month, with 4 family birthdays being celebrated, and my schedule on the whole complicated by the fact that I’ve been nursing a foot injury for more than 4 weeks. I finally went to the doctor and was diagnosed with Plantar Fasciitis, resulting in me being signed off work for 2 weeks to heal because my job was constantly irritating my foot into a worsening state that couldn’t heal. As such, there’s been several times this month I’ve had to abandon plans to shoot outfits for review on the blog because my foot has been too painful to stand or walk, which is why it’s been a quiet month on here. I’ve also had to abandon the footwear displayed in these photos several times during social events for a pair of memory foam slip-on trainers when the pain has become too much.
Foiled Outlaw jacket by Collectif, Panthera 50s dress by Hell Bunny (discount code AMYMAY20!%), self coloured and cut real hair clip-in bangs from eBay, Full lace front real hair Rosewood 99J wig by Irresistible Me, Velvet ballet pumps from New Look
This month I’ve really learned how hard it must be to rock the full head-to-toe 50s style in countries that easily break and exceed 30c in summer–let alone in spring and autumn, too. Good lord, our heatwave here in the UK has only been off and on for a few weeks, not often topping 30c, but the humidity is so unbearable that the idea of setting my hair in pincurls for a nice curly brush out is nuts. This month it’s been all about getting as much hair off my neck as possible, despite the fact that I’m not crazy about many updos on myself in general, so it’s been clip-in ponytails and neat buns to the rescue! Do any of you hot-weather pinup babes have good tips for cute vintage hair that doesn’t leave you feeling damp necked and pink faced?
The heat aside, it’s been a busy month, with the season of summer birthdays officially beginning. Most of my family have their birthdays over the next 3 months, so it’ll be a fun whirlwind of celebrations starting now.
Lorena-Sun dress by Miss Candyfloss, Kelly Green Tootsie cardigan from DMU, collapsible bamboo bag from eBay, Green Loretta heels by Miss L Fire
That’s it, the first month of 2017 done! Everyone keeps saying how long it dragged on for but I feel like it rushed by. I had a bit of a motivational slump coming out of Christmas, but I’m excited for a productive month ahead in February and already a bit eager to leave behind the winter weather for spring dresses and bare legs…not that spring, or even summer, guarantees the latter in England. Did you have a good January?
Black & White Striped Dollface dress by Vixen by Micheline Pitt (bought from DMU), Bow & Crossbones Justine necklace and confetti Grace bangle, Splendette black fakelite bangles, Burgundy Tootsie Crop Cardigan from DMU, old New Look burgundy flats, Classy Rebel Deluxe clip in Bettie Bangs
I am so psyched that April has been such a good weather month for me. Most shocking of all is that the best weather we had took place over the weekend when I went to Edinburgh on a little trip–Edinburgh! In Scotland! AKA the land of wind and rain. When my friend Giselle and I booked that trip we braced ourselves for the likelihood of bad weather and sodden hair, but we got nothing but clear skies and a happy sun. I even got a little bit sunburned on my chest the day we went to the Botanical Gardens. (I know, I’m super white. Sunburned in Scotland, FFS.) I had hoped I would manage better outfit pictures while I was away, so I apologies for the mirror selfies as they all I could remember to snap at the time. Oh how time flies when you’re having fun!
Tahiti 50s dress by Hell Bunny (AMYMAY20!% for 20% off), Ice Blue Tootsie Cropped cardigan from Doll Me Up, old New look flats
The Erin dress by PUG has been a wiggle dress staple offered by the company for a long time now. Available in many colours, it’s made of stretch bengaline and features a wrap-over bust detail. Recently redesigned, it’s now available in extra colours as well as two more cuts, one a wiggle with sleeves and the other a three-quarter sleeved swing dress.
I hardly wear wiggles, so while I loved the wiggle version with the capped sleeves I knew it would be an unnecessary addition to my wardrobe. The swing, though, tempted me. Yet I had pause. I love a full swing skirt, requiring a full circle skirt or then some, and very rarely do skirts with less than a full circle feel right on me. This skirt looked like it wouldn’t hold the petticoat I require and that it might cling to my fabulous love handles, so I overlooked it for several weeks.
Once it was released and customers began buying it up, I started seeing pictures of ladies looking fabulous in it splashed across my social media. Eventually I decided to give it a try.
I’ve reviewed a couple of petticoats on the blog before, the Malco Modes Jennifer and Lindy Bop petticoats. There were pros and cons to both, and for that reason I’ve been thinking lately I need to keep an eye out for other brands to review to give you more information on a wider selection of available pettis. In that light, today I’m reviewing the Froo Froo petticoat by Voodoo Vixen.
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.
It always surprises me how few repro clothing companies offer a variety of sleeved dresses for their AW lines each year. For people in warmer climates I know a sleeved dress has limited or no wear value for them, but personally I get a bit sick of having to layer a cardigan over most of my dresses in autumn and winter, even if the dress itself is very AW in print but simply lacks sleeves. And it’s not that I have a problem with cardigans, just that sometimes I want a dress that comes wearable this time of year as is, complete and polished and seasonally appropriate in wear. Collectif have come through on that with their Trixie doll dress.
Made of bengaline, it’s a super comfortable stretchy swing dress with half sleeves, a cross over style bust and a full skirt, with a gathered detail on the front of the shoulders.
Unique Vintage is one of my favourite websites for vintage clothing. I own several glamorous evening dresses by UV and the final dress in our party dress series here. the Dovima, is of that same ilk. There’s no two ways about it. The Dovima dress is pure, unadultered Old hollywood glamour. When it first launched in it’s original black and champagne colourways a couple months back I complained to more than one friend about how beautiful it was and how much that pained me. I had no good reason to buy a stunningly elegant evening dress that couldn’t be dressed down for daytime, and so Dovima and I couldn’t meet and love one another as I knew we should. Plus, in all honesty, I was a little bit worried that my upper hip area might look a bit prominent in a dress so sleekly draped of skirt, so I tried my best to put her out of my head, thinking we were not meant to be.
But it’s Christmas time. That is the party dress season. And Dovima is now available in rich red and emerald green, two of my absolute favourite colours. If that isn’t a sign, I don’t know what is. Dovima and I are obviously meant to be after all. And what better way to finish off this party dress review series than with the love that has blossomed between this beauty and myself.
Miss Amy May 