Taking The B.A.I.T 

B.A.I.T Loraine heels green

I’ve wanted a pair of B.A.I.T shoes for about a year now. A lot of their designs aren’t much my style, as I typically find my love for the vintage aesthetic doesn’t tend towards the shoes as much as it does the clothes, but I do like their Ida’s and have especially been eyeing up their new mustard yellow colourway recently.

I’ve heard lots of confused talk about which styles run small, which don’t, et cetera, and that’s always worried me in and of itself, let alone factoring in the fact that I’ve never been able to figure out for certain what my US shoe size is. I’m a UK 7, but I’ve found every conversion size chart I check has me flip-flopping (ba dum cha!) as to whether I’m a US 9 or 10. I’ve tried to figure it out by also cross-referencing the European sizing but half of my UK 7s say 41 and the rest 40, so that only made things more confusing. All of this just came together to convince me that until I could find a UK stockist I would have to give up on B.A.I.T or else risk a costly returns process to the US. Continue reading

Sundress Sylvia [Voodoo Vixen]

I might accidentally be collecting yellow dresses. You might think that’s not a colour in which one needs a lot of different dresses, but I’m going to have to disagree. Particularly since, in my defense, each dress offers something different to the other: one’s polka dot, another is gingham, one plain, yet another is eyelet lace, and the last sports a vibrant blue Hawaiian floral. And now there’s Voodoo Vixen’s Sylvia dress, which has a mixture of many of those features, as well as something else entirely. It’s one of those dresses that is far prettier in person than pictures are able to capture, but I’ve given it my best shot for you anyway.

Voodoo Vixen Sylvia dress Continue reading

Babely Bustier [Fables by Barrie]

This blog post is one I wrote months ago and forgot to schedule. Since it wasn’t recently written my measurements mentioned are not my current measurements, but the information regarding the fit of the top and sizing apply to my size at the time so all the advice on that subject still holds true.

I only have a couple of vintage style bustier tops, both by Pinup Girl Clothing. Those bustiers have a frill bust detail and adjustable fit due to the button closure of the back. I love them but have been searching for a plainer bustier with a more traditional sweetheart shaped bust line and a folded collar style trim to the bust. That’s when I found Fables by Barrie.

The Scarlett bustier is a classic vintage styled bustier top featuring a sweetheart neckline and a darted and seamed bodice in cotton sateen, my favourite fabric finish for a versatile look. It’s a lovely piece so I wish I had better pictures for you, but after another wet washed weekend it meant taking pictures once more in my insufficient kitchen-cum-studio set up.

Fables By Barrie Scarlett Bustier in Black Continue reading

Marnie & Me [Tatyana]

It’s obvious that red is one of my favourite colours. It’s my go-to for lipstick 99% of the time, and my favourite shoe and accessory colour for 90% of pairings as well–honestly, half the time that I don’t wear red shoes with something it’s only because I’ve told myself I should stop being so predictable and repetitive, not because I think red shoes won’t work with that outfit. So, saying all that, it’s probably not surprising that a lot of the SS16 pieces I’ve been most anticipating release this season are items featuring a lot of red. The Tatyana Marnie dress is one of them.

Tatyana Marnie dress Continue reading

You’re Just Such A Sweetie [Heart of Haute]

If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a hundred times; I’m not really a novelty, kitsch kind of girl. I say that as a base rule so people can understand that my taste tends to lie in the more classic area of the spectrum and not often in the red-cherries area, but there are times here and there where I find myself liking something that’s distinctly more cute than it is distinguished. I can get down with select Erstwilder brooches. I can appreciate a candy cane hair accessory at Christmas. I wouldn’t turn down a cottage print circle skirt in winter. I like a good souvenir print.

And I instantly fell in love with the Meadow Daisy Print Sweetie dress by Heart of Haute.

Heart of Haute Meadow Daisy Sweetie Dress Continue reading

San Vicente Gingham [Unique Vintage]

Unique Vintage really know how to do gingham. At this point I’ve sort of become an accidental collector of the picnic-tastic print, rarely able to resist adding a new gingham piece to my wardrobe, but one of my all time favourite gingham pieces is this UV Manhattan swing dress.

20150903_094642000_iOSIt might even have been my first UV purchase, it was too long ago to remember now. It’s one of those pieces that’s so gorgeous that every time I wear it people ask where they can get it, which makes me feel a bit guilty and sad when I have to admit it’s long gone. Today, thankfully, I won’t be putting you through such heartache, because this San Vicente gingham halter dress is not only a new offering from Unique Vintage in their SS16 line, but it’s also widely in stock in sizes XS-4X and comes in both pink and black gingham. Continue reading

Dolly & Dotty + Giveaway!

Dolly & Dotty are a fairly new vintage style clothing company, based out of Brighton in the UK and offering a selection of budget-friendly retro style pieces in UK sizes 6-24. I first found them a few months back when I came across the two dresses below and fell in love.

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L: Anna dress, R: Polly dress

At the time both dresses were out of stock, so I inwardly whimpered a bit, tried to find them in stock anywhere else, failed, inwardly whimpered some more, then gave up. It wasn’t until Dolly & Dotty and I were in contact recently that I remembered the dresses that had escaped me, and I was thrilled to find that the Poppy dress, at least, was back in stock in Continue reading

January Outfits Round Up

It’s been a busy month, catching up with friends after the Christmas break and enjoying a weekend with one of my London friends, Giselle, coming down to stay. And, of course, there was Jenny January, the style challenge event I host in January on social media revolving around the Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny skirts and dresses. If you wanted to read about that event in particular you can find my blog post about it here, but if not you’ll find all my outfits represented below.

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Nina Skirt from Pinup Girl Clothing, Black Sabrina Top by PUG from Deadly Is The Female, Magnetic Crystal Starburst brooch from eBay, self-bedazzled shoes (tutorial)

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Fur Trimmed & Fabulous: Part II [Collectif Deana]

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.

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Ain’t Nothin’ But Some Houndstooth [Pinup Girl Clothing]

I don’t wear a lot of pants. I don’t find them as comfortable physically as skirts or dresses, nor as comfortable in terms of body confidence. However, since I’m trying to work on the latter I’ve been making more of an effort in the last few months to try different items of clothing I normally would steer clear from, with trousers especially, since winter is just a sensible time to be embracing them.

Most of the Autumn/Winter 15 offerings from Pinup Girl Clothing have been more along the lines of event wear, but the Houndstooth cigarette pants immediately caught my eye, even though, at first, I had no intention of actually trying them. As time wore on, I found myself wondering about them more. Maybe I would pick up a pair. The pattern might be somewhat disguising for my bumps and curves, I guessed, and they’re a better length than rocking capri pants in winter. The sizing information available, though, gave me massive pause. They size small, I heard, from multiple people and the size chart said they ran small. Laura Byrnes, PUG’s founder and head designer, confirmed it for me; they came in smaller than expected, size up. But no, I personally found they’re more forgiving than their past Cigarette Pants, someone else told me. What’s a girl to believe?!

Pinup Girl Clothing Houndstooth Cigarette Pants Continue reading