Tuesday 31 January 2012

A quick snippet of Spring/Summer 2012 Couture

As a fashion promotion student, I am meant to know what's going on where and when and who's going to it... or so they say! Part of this includes looking at all the catwalks of every fashion week from every country going... BORING! Obviously I'm a great lover of fashion, I wouldn't have spent the last five years studying it if that wasn't the case, but I like to check out what’s happening, who's doing what, in my own time.
Like last week, I decided to have a look on style.com as I hadn't in so long and realised it was Couture week in Paris, woops, totally forgot about that one (bad fashion student!) I love couture collections because I find it's a way for the designers to go all out in individual pieces. So I started looking through and noticed a lot of the collections had a definite vintage feel to them... I always like looking at collections like this because it makes me feel nostalgic and all warm and fuzzy because they're creating pieces that look like they've stepped out of my favourite eras, if a designer can do that than they've got my vote!

I know I tend to write more about vintage and pin up stuff but I see if contemporary designers are creating retro inspired bits then it needs to be celebrated, so here are a few of my favourite outfits from the Spring/summer couture shows.

First we have my favourite designer of all time, Christian Dior, after all the controversy that happened with John Galliano at Dior, Bill Gaytten has currently took the reins for his second couture show at Dior, and this one showed the New Look from a different angle, using extravagant sheer fabrics and heavily constructed garments that gave it a retro, lady like feel but still made it look very edgy.

I love this outfit, it is something that could easily be worn out for dinner, the red and white dog tooth gives it that vintage feel; however the sheer cross over jacket with the bow on the side makes it look distinctive yet chic.
This dress just reminded me of Betty Draper from Mad Men, such a simple pencil dress but the detailing in the fabric is phenomenal, I love the gradient from black to white, so classic, I love that it is kept simple with just a necklace for accessories.
The finale pieces are always amazing, I must admit I did think at first these girls looked a bit like toilet roll holders but I still adore the detailing of the skirts. Bill Gaytten has dramatised the new look and made the focus of the hourglass very powerful but yet it is still elegant.
It makes me wonder how much fabric goes into pieces such as this one because look at all that net!! This piece is kept retro with the polka dot print on the bodice of the dress and the giant bow on the models waist, how cute! Once again I love the different shades in the skirt; it brings the garment to life!

Next designer is Alexis Mabille, now I'm going to be honest I hadn't really heard of this designer before but their collection really stood out to me, I think it was more from a styling point of view rather than the designs themselves. Here's a few that caught my eye.
 The style of this dress was so eye catching to me, I wouldn't completely say it's got that vintage style to it but it's a great pencil dress and they look good on anyone! I love the lace detailing on the sides so it creates an hourglass shape which every lady wants of course!
 This, I thought was just beautiful, the embroidery and the detailing, not forgetting the gorgeous aqua shade of the dress itself, if it was just a tad longer it would be the perfect evening dress to a vintage ball!
Ahh I love this one, so elegant and I love the layering of the skirt, it looks like a lace petticoat, so pretty and the colour is so calm and classic. What I love about this whole collection is the giant flowers on the models head and the matching coloured faces, it made quite a simple and classic collection have that wow factor, and this is why I love styling! 



Finally we have Elie Saab, I just wanted to try on every single dress in this collection, oh it was so glamorous, the colour palette was truly beautiful and every dress looked like it could have been something Grace Kelly would have worn! 
Pastel greens and pinks were the colour palette for this collection, you can see how much thought went into each dress because of all the detailing in the print and the embellishment, The bottom left picture reminds me of something Grace Kelly wore once I think to an award ceremony, the high neckline is so flattering and feminine, it just oozes forties glamour. The one on the right I love it has such a strong hour glass shape to it and I love the round neckline, this style was quite popular in the fifties and sixties and it just suits the style of this dress so much, I want it in my life!! I think I am partial to a bit of pastel colouring at the moment, which is never a bad thing!!

So there we have a snippet of the spring/ summer couture collections I love

Until Next Time
Toodle Pip
Xxx

Monday 23 January 2012

And they say romance is dead?

Valentines day is fast approaching and romance is in the air, so if you are looking for somewhere to take your loved one on that special day, then look no further because there is the most perfect event coming up that will have you dancing all night in the arms of your other half.

It's a Wonderful  Vintage, Love Boat ball has been mentioned by Time out as the top pick for the best alternative valentines events so you know it's going to be good. Following on from the sell out, It's a Wonderful Winter Vintage Ball which was the Christmas party of 2011 that I was lucky to be a part of as one of the judges for the best dressed competition.

There's a snippet of the Winter Vintage ball to give you a taster of what you might be in for if you go to the love boat ball!

With some of the top UK swing bands performing at the Vintage Love Boat ball, remember to bring your dancing shoes because the floor will be filled with Lindy Hoppers from all over London. Bands for the evening are Natty Congeroo and the Flames of Rhythm and singer  Catherine Paver.
But this isn't like your normal swing gig, no sir there is something for everyone to get involved with including Swing dance speed dating, where you might find your true love in the blink of an eye, 2012 love Tarot, dance competitions and Chinese love  lantern flying, to name just a few things to keep you busy that evening.

Remember to dust off your glad rags because if there is one vintage event to get dressed up for, this is the one. After seeing the effort everyone made at the Winter vintage ball, I'm looking forward to seeing the standard at the Love boat ball. 
I'm hoping to get down there because after being a part of the last event, I can say it was like stepping back in time  and everyone looked so sophisticated. This balls theme is nautical so get thinking about your outfit now! 
It's a Wonderful Vintage Love boat ball is on the 17th February at the Battersea Barge, 9 Elms Lane, London, it's a strict ticket affair only, with tickets on sale for a mere £15, that's good value for money considering it's on from 8pm until 2am
Tickets are available from www.wegottickets.com so make sure you buy yours quickly before they sell out! Hopefully I should see you romantics there!
Until Next Time
Toodle Pip
xxx

Tuesday 10 January 2012

A step into my past

Being a lover of vintage bits and bobs, I love anything old, when I say old I mean from the 1960s backwards, whatever people say I still cannot class 80s and 90s bits as vintage, even though it is, I just see it as mass produced tat I'm afraid. So as a lover of old things, I was rather excited to hear that my uncle had found some antique suitcases in our old family home oop in Coventry. As the house had to be sold, he had a lot of clearing out to do and he has come across so much family history. That house holds a lot of memories for many members and generations of my family so we were all sad  to see it go but also very excited to see what it unleashed!
Here are the suitcases my uncle gave my mum and I (he knew we liked pointless old rubbish and knew no one else would want them)
 This one is apparently from around the 50s or 60s, I should know this really but if I'm honest, I don't tend to look at luggage from those eras, more like what goes in the luggage! I really liked the unusual way of how it zipped up, I'm so used to seeing the zips going all the way round the case, not on the top! I loved the pastel blue colour of it too, I think this was probably used by my gran and her sisters. I got to keep this one and I'm a bit upset I can't use it! Apparently it's not sturdy enough for all my belongings... well whatever do they mean?!

 This one as you can see dated back a bit further than the 50s, apparently we weren't allowed to lock it because otherwise we couldn't get it back open again, there were some faint markings of a name but we couldn't make it out, I would have loved to know who it belonged to! I love the colouring of the inside, it looks like it was built to last, more than you can say for some of the cases I cart around today!

We think this little beauty might have been my great grandads, I think this was probably from around the 1930s maybe? It's more modern than the previous and in a lot better condition, I would quite happily take this on little trips away with me! Don't think mumma would let me though!


 Last but not least the oldest of the bunch, now I'm not sure if it was this one or one of the ones above but apparently one was taken by my Great, great grandmother to Australia which took six weeks to get there! You cannot imagine such a journey! I love this one because it looks like it could tell a few stories, it looks as though it should be a doctors case to carry the medicines around in! Once again in great condition for how old it is, I'm guessing 19th to early 20th century?!

Ohh the stories they could tell, if only they could talk! I am looking forward to seeing what else my uncle finds! He's already found us patterns from the 40s, jewellery, a dressing table set and my favourite, family photographs! Here is some of my family history...


 These are photographs of my grans side of the family, they have been gone over in pencil and paints which was all the rage at the time!


 My great uncle Chris on the left and my great grandmother on the right, apparently I have a strong resemblance of her but I can't see it myself!
These photographs are one we have had in our hallway for as long as I can remember, look it's me again!

There is still a lot I have to learn about my family, mumma's currently trying to piece our family tree together, it's going to be a biggun, considering we had family in Wales, Denmark, Australia, you name it my family has probably been there! I can't wait to hear some of the stories she unfolds so I can carry them on to my child in the future. 

This post is probably a bit more personal than my normal ones but I thought I would share a piece of my history with you all!
Until Next Time
Toodle Pip
xxx

Thursday 5 January 2012

2012 here we come

Happy new year to one and all! I cannot believe how quick the last year has gone and that we are now in 2012, where has the time gone?!

I hope everyone had a super christmas and new years? My Christmas was very quiet, but I quite liked it that way, I got some lovely little presents, including some fabulous vintage jewellery bits from my friends, Sam Cookes biography, a brand new camera, and the one and only Bruno Mars album that I have waited all my life it seems to own (believe me it was worth the wait! My life is now complete!)  and many other bits and bobs, I was so over the moon with all my goodies, I just don't know how I'm going to get them back down to Chatham!

The rest of the Christmas period was once again very quiet but New Years ever made up for it, I ended up going down to London to the Boston Arms in Tuffnell park, one of my favourite rockabilly clubs in London town, I had told myself that I wasn't going to go out at all and was going to spend it being boring in Lowestoft but no I got my arm twisted to go to the boston and I'm so glad I did.


I got to see lots of friends that I hadn't seen in many months and got to put my glad rags on and dance the night away, which I hadn't done in the same amount of months it seemed, and boy did my feet pay for it! I wore a vintage sixties velvet pencil dress which I decided to embellish myself by gluing gems on the dress and stitching beads around the collar, I kept it quite simple but I think it was effective, I teamed it with some black pumps from New Look and my white lucite handbag, ohh la la!

 Me and my gorgeous girls Clare and Tasha, you can almost see my dress!







A good night had by all I think, it really took it out of me being up until gone 5am but the bags under my eyes were well worth it I'd say, I did feel a little guilty going out but it was the last event of the 2011 so in 2012 I'll be good.
Which leads me onto my next rant, over the new year period, we all decide what our resolutions will be and I think this year I've decided on millions of resolutions that I want to achieve, I hope I'll achieve most of them, but we shall see as the year goes on!

My first is to graduate from university with an overall 2:1 because that really has been my goal since year two, I'm not expecting a first but if I got a 2:1 I would be over the moon because I know then I would have tried my hardest.

My second is to get a job or internship that I am happy with by the end of the year, so I know my course hasn't been a waste really, I've always wanted to do well and get a job that I'm happy in so if I got this, this year I know my life would then be on the right track.


I have lots of little ones aswell such as read more, I cannot wait to read for pleasure once I've finished university, I've got so many books I want to read but it's just having the time to do so, after May I will turn into a bit of a nerd for a few months, bring it on!  

Another is to spend less time on blasted facebook, it's rather difficult when I've got my fanpage on there but I think I have to do it because I'm turning into an obsessive hermit otherwise, so if I can limit my time on that and do something more better with my time, like read or do university work, Bettina will be a happy bunny!! 

Finally my last is to do more for others, now I like to think that I already do quite a lot for others but I always try and find room for improvement and I'd like to be less selfish and more selfless this year, even by doing the littlest of things hopefully I can make a difference. 

Lets hope I keep up with my resolutions!
I apologise for the lack of images, I forgot to take pictures of anything it seems

Until Next Time
Toodle Pip
xxx