Seaside Strolling with Vivien

Vivien of Holloway is considered by many to be the ruling monarch of the British reproduction vintage scene. All their pieces are designed and made in the UK, most of their clothing styles returning season after season in new colours and prints, with an army of avid fans happy to expand their Grace, Kitty or Sarong collections.

One of their most popular dress styles is the Halterneck Circle Dress, often referred to by lover’s of the style in shorthand as the HNCD. They watch the website keenly for the release of new prints, stalk eBay for signs of colourways they missed out on, and chat in Facebook groups about where they last wore their favourite dress. In terms of vintage style clothing, it’s a classic, one of those dresses that is quintessentially fifties. Almost every British pinup has one hanging in her closet, and I don’t know why it took me so long to try one.

Since all Vivien of Holloway pieces are UK made, I decided it was only appropriate to take my new dress to the seaside for a leisurely stroll with friends (and a sneaky helping of fish and chips, because if you’re going to seaside you may as well do it properly.)

Vivien of Holloway 1950s Halter Neck Circle Dress Turquoise Floral Continue reading

Summer Fun with Lulu Hun

For those who aren’t familiar with Lulu Hun, they’re a vintage-inspired shoe brand offered by Collectif. Their line has a real mixture of styles, from novelty print flats to classic T-bar and Mary Jane styles reminiscent of eras gone by, to fun wedges and smart-wear court heels. Every pair has a touch of vintage about them. Summer wedges lover that I am, it’s no surprise that the Jessie Textured Wedges caught my eye.

Lulu Hun Navy Blue Jessie Textured Wedges Continue reading

July Outfits Round Up

After a kind of funky June that left me a bit tired and fed up, I’m pleased to report that July was a much better month. We actually had some summer (a big deal for us Brits, rain-sodden and perpetually cloud-shrouded as we are,) there was a lot of great quality time with family and friends, and there were outfits, as always, lots of outfits.

As usual, you can find links in the description to any item that is still available to buy. Anything not linked is from a past season and cannot be found for purchase any longer and/or is not available to buy online from the website from which I purchased it. To help give you some clarification that might make it easier for you to find certain items, please note that an item listed as ‘by’ a brand was designed by that brand, but items listed ‘from’ means that website merely sells the item and is not the designer, meaning you may be able to find it elsewhere with some searching.

img_8243

Sunday Picnic Red Gingham Penelope dress by Hearts and Found, White Cropped Cardigan by New Look, White cut out flats by Matalan

Continue reading

Blue Clouds [Banned Petticoat Review]

I’ve tried a fair few petticoats over the last few years. My main concern when wearing them is achieving top volume with minor discomfort. That translates to a willingness to wear a slightly stiff petticoat if it gives me great volume, as long as it’s not scratchy, and a likeliness of overlooking a super soft petticoat if that softness subtracts from the puff power.

My ultimate petticoat find has been the Malco Modes Jennifer petticoat, which has great medium volume and 120 yards of perfectly soft nylon chiffon. Saying that, though, the only let-down of the Jennifer is that it maxes out at 23 inches long. Many of my dresses are 26 inches or longer, necessitating a bit of wiggling so that I wear my Jennifer down around my hips, rather than at my waist, to make it long enough. It works well enough as a stop-gap measure, but I’ve been looking for a soft, reasonably priced petticoat at a longer length to negate this practice.

Enter Banned.

Dancing Days by Banned petticoat Continue reading

Custom Made with Violets In May

Violets in May custom made Green Tribal Gathered Skirt

Violets In May is an Etsy shop offering custom made vintage inspired pieces. Everything is designed and made in England by mega-babe owner Lola Diamond, pinup model and confetti lucite addict. Her store is perhaps best known for her kick-ass playsuits, offered in a variety of wonderful fun prints, but she also offers slinky lurex pencil dress, voluminous gathered skirts and a selection of beautiful structured tops. I’ve been following the store for a while but somehow had yet to order anything, until noticing a recent post of the Brittany playsuit being offered in a new green tribal print fabric.

I was sold. Continue reading

The Prettiest Little Forest [The Pretty Dress Company] 

The Forest Seville fabric from The Pretty Dress Company is just one of those prints that you can’t help but love. It’s a rich, dark green sporting a pretty, colourful floral pattern, destined to look good on every woman of every skin tone because it is sumptuous and classic and just plain lovely. When it first caught my eye it was on the Hepburn dress, though it’s available in three other dress cuts as well, but it’s that same Hepburn dress I kept thinking about months after I first spotted it whenever I rifled through my wardrobe and lamented my lack of dark green clothing.

L-R: Hepburn, Cara, Gina, Hourglass

The print reminds me of English country gardens, of quaint afternoons, of plates of scones and tinkling china and being very proper. It’s elegant and understated, so it only made sense that once I was lucky enough to get my excited little fingers on it that I would take to one of those English country gardens to shoot it for this review. Continue reading

A Spring Bouquet in Milan [Heart of Haute]

I’ve reviewed the Milan dress by Heart of Haute before. It was much earlier on in my blogging career so the way in which I detail sizing and fit specifics have altered since then, allowing for, hopefully, a more helpful and accurate review that makes it easier for you to figure out if an item of clothing is for you and in which size.

When I reviewed the Milan dress in the red cotton sateen colourway, I found it had tons of give, although even then I didn’t stretch so far as to giving you the most helpful flat measurements (for reference, my L measured 32 inches flat in the waist, and up to 35 stretched.)

When spring came and I began eyeing the beautiful Bouquet floral colourway of this dress, I first assumed I could order it in the same L as my red Milan and come up smelling of roses (ba dum cha!) I noticed, however, that the size charts for the Bouquet on different stockists noted that the dress sizes smaller and that between sizes should size up. Considering this, I did what I could to determine the best size for myself, ordered the pretty, and decided it was worth giving this dress style and colourway its own review to pass on the information I learned to ensure you all end up with the best fit as well.

Milan Bouquet dress Heart of Hope Doll Me Up Continue reading

Thea & Summer Strawberries [The Pretty Dress Company]

I first discovered the Thea dress by The Pretty Dress Company last September when I donned the red pencil version to model for Deadly Is The Female’s Christmas campaign for Vintage Life magazine. It was love at first slinky wiggle, but as I don’t wear a lot of pencil dresses I spent half the shoot in that dress cooing over the draping of the neckline and half lamenting that I would kill to have it in a swing style instead.

Fast forward a few months and my Thea swing daydreams became a reality. The Thea prom dress features the same gorgeous draped off-the-shoulder neckline and stretch twill fabric as the pencil version, but with a full swing skirt perfect for twirling. All of The Pretty Dress Company’s pieces are designed and made in the UK, so to celebrate that I decided to take my new Thea in this stunning patriotic cobalt blue out for a spot of strawberry picking, as it’s such a great British tradition at this time of year.

The Pretty Dress Company Cobalt Blue Thea Prom Dress Swing Continue reading

June Outfits Round Up 

June, ah. You started so well. Then came the rain. So much rain. There was a period in the middle there where it genuinely felt like the start of autumn, very confusing when new summer dresses were turning up in pretty parcels on my doorstep. Amidst all the water, it was a long and sometimes-difficult month, with social meet-ups sometimes put behind the need to stay home and recoup with some blanket time and Netflix. Saying that, there’s still been some outfits from this month that I really loved. Here’s hoping July will be brighter and better all round!

img_6401

Bouquet Milan Dress by Heart of Haute and Kelly Green Cropped Cardigan both from Doll Me Up, Felicity Double Orchid hair flower by Daisy Jean Florals, Erin Wicker bag by Banned from Audrey Star’s Boutique, old season H&M flats

Continue reading

Getting Reacquainted With Bernie

My first and only ever review of Bernie Dexter dresses was over a year and a half ago, when I was very new to blogging and still fairly new to being a pinup. At that time I’d tried several repro clothing brands but not nearly as many as I have now. My wardrobe had quickly and largely become full of Pinup Girl Clothing, still my favourite brand for top quality retro inspired pieces offered in a variety of styles and at a reasonable price for the high quality presented.

Comparatively, the Bernie Dexter dresses I tried were…kind of disappointing. I had a bad experience with the delivery, since UPS can be a pain in the ass to receive an international parcel from, as they don’t pre-alert you of the customs fee demanded upon delivery and arranging pre-delivery can be tricky sometimes. That aside, I opened my package of 3 Bernie dresses to discover they were shorter than, less well fitted, and made of less fabric than the dresses I was accustomed to, as well as being unlined and lightweight. And despite all that, they were more expensive than my usual Pinup Girl Clothing buys, which aren’t exactly cheap themselves. Add in the hugely costly shipping and custom fees and I was not just disappointed but massively out of pocket. Continue reading