Champagne in a tea cup... Well it can only be the Vintage Patisserie

At the end of last year and beginning of this year I bagged myself a placement at the fabulous Vintage Patisserie: Angel Adoree and her tremendous team turn dreams into realities with their vintage tea parties they put on in and around the London area. During my time there I did a lot of researching and bits and bobs here and there towards the then up and coming Vintage Tea party book and I learnt a lot about myself and about the Vintage Patisserie and all in all had a top notch time!
A lot of time had passed and before I knew it I saw plugs for the book being released on Amazon and I was pleasantly surprised when I got an invite through the door a few weeks back saying that I had been invited to Angel's Vintage Tea party book launch, even though I was stuck in the middle of nowhere in deepest darkest Lowestoft, I made sure that I managed to get my backside down to London for the party of the season!

I wish all invites looked like this!

 I wasn't really sure of what to wear as this was my first launch party (oh I felt all grown up!)  so I decided on something simple yet glam, a vintage black velvet pencil skirt and a peach embroidered blouse with heels, unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of my outfit because I was in too much of a rush!  (my feet felt like they were likely to drop off after getting back to my friends). But I trundled along to 93 feet east in Brick Lane and was greeted by one of the ladies from the Patisserie straight away.

Lauren and another beaut from the Patisserie

As I wandered around I was glad to see friendly faces who I'd worked with all those months ago and also saw other faces I recognised such as Gizzi Erskine, the TV presenter and chef and the Vintage Socialite Fleur De Guerre. The girls from the Patisserie were gliding round keeping the guests happy and making sure our cups were full of Champagne or Gin, yum yum  I was more than happy sipping taking the enchanting atmosphere in. I got talking to the lovely Gerado of Vintage Victory, what a super Gent! and looking very dapper I must say! By the looks of it everyone was having the time of their lives,women walking around with Victory Rolls in their hair and Angel was kept busy socialising with everyone, which must have took a long while because it was absolutely packed!!

There was a 40s style french swing band on who really got the crowd going and there were some great Lindy hoppers dancing along, this was Lindy hop at it's best, I'm not usually a big fan of it but I was in aw of it! This really livened the party up and everyone was dancing their socks off, it really was the perfect Vintage tea party.

 These two were fantastic, I really enjoyed watching them! I'd love to give it a go but I think I'd end up tripping over my feet, I'll stick to jiving I think!

I didn't stay too long but had a grand time when I was there and it was really great to see Angel and her ladies again, I do miss them all very much, so I'm hoping when I graduate she will have me back!
I even managed to wangle a goodie bag and it sure as hell lived up to it's name!

Look at all the goodies I got!! I was getting a bit low on stocking and nail polish so I was more than happy with these!

A little chocolate, it didn't last long trust me, it looked too good to eat!!

The book and goodie bag!!

Lookie look!! Angel mentioned me in the book for helping out! I feel honoured!

This really made me smile, I have to say!

I managed to have a look at the book when I was on the tube and it is truly an amazing book, there has been so much thought and effort into it, it's beautiful, the design, the recipes, everything about it, I can't wait to read it properly and try out (well attempt) some of the recipes, ha me and cooking, I should be so lucky!!
So if you've not picked a copy up yet, buy one because it is worth every penny!

Angel and the ladies of the Vintage Patisserie

Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx

The hour... well and truly gone by

You might have seen advertised on television recently a programme set in the 1950s named The Hour, a short series based around the BBC. The British equivalent to the world reclaimed Mad Men, well that's what I heard anyway.
I've been trying to watch the Hour on and off when it's been on and I've got to say its a funny one. I know something is never going to be as authentic as the real thing because of course that time has been and gone, but that authenticity for me isn't there.I suppose because I'm such a big fan of Mad Men, the Hour had a lot to live up to. Where Mad Men has everything right down to the tiniest detail by getting truly antique bits and bobs (I've read up on it, that's how much of a dork I am), The Hour just doesn't look like they've made that much effort and it almost looks quite happy shopper I think. But then I do suppose it is down to budget and it seems the Americans had a whole bigger budget than the English.

I know as I said it has a lot to live up to in my eyes from Mad Men, for instance Mad Men is set in 1960s and the Hour is set in 1956 in post war Britain so the glamour isn't necessarily there however Britain and America were very different places during that time.

Saying that though I do think some of the outfits that the actresses wear in it are truly beautiful and have made me crave a vintage knit pencil dress but as I've got literally next to nothing on the expenses side I've got to let that one go... oh a girl can dream. I find that the main character Bel Rowley wears some classic dresses but yet the stylists have rather let her down because her hair has no authenticity to it and frankly I think looks quite scruffy for a main character, which is also similar to the male cast, now I know it may appear biased as I'm some what a 50s enthusiast and I know the quiff wasn't a popular style in all men during the era but I also think that their hair could do with a good brush and need a dollop of black and white grease or bryll cream! I personally don't think that the outfits of this series won't be as influential as what Mad Men was, which is a shame because it is often nice to see some key pieces on the high street.

Bel Rowley played by Romola Garai

Freddie Lyon played by Ben Whishaw

The sets are great and a lot of it is still very art deco which it was at the time, but I think some of them looks too well put together so it doesn't appear natural, it still looks good and would make amazing sets for shoots but once again it isn't as natural as Mad Men which could just about been made during the 60s.

What is similar in the two programmes is that they're both quite long winded which I like because you get to pay attention to some of the smaller details (hence this blog ha!).

I generally like the idea of the programme and I do think the story lines work perfectly, with murder,conspiracy and a bit of naughtiness on the side however I find that they tend to name drop a bit too much for it to be completely authentic, like they are trying to prove that it is set in the 50s, for example 'I've got Bill Haley's records' or 'I've got to go Jive', a bit cheesy don't you think?

I do think for anyone who hasn't seen it, it's definitely worth a look especially for anyone who is interested in vintage drama because like I said, the story lines are great and I do like the programme however I think some of the styling aspects haven't been addressed but who am I to judge, they did a lot better job than I ever could! I think I'm just too much of a geek and think if it isn't the real thing it's just no good, pfft what a load of old rubbish!

Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx

Wildest cats in towns Bettina's style

I know this post is rather a bit late now as the Wildest cats in Town weekend is longgg gone but as promised in my last post I said I'd show outfits I wore to that weekend. The Wildest Cats, is well known for it's strong Teddy Boy following so you will see Drape after drape at this weekend, I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb because even though it is a Ted weekend you get a lot of other characters there that I must say had the strangest dress sense with ankle boots and circle skirts as just one combination!
I tend to go to weekenders with at least one pair of jeans packed away in my case but this time I made sure I hid them away and packed skirts and Capri pants because I remember once stating in a post that I was going to try and stop wearing jeans as much, I haven't really done that since said  post, until the Wildest Cats!

The first outfit of Friday, very summery I think, a yellow 50s sun top and atomic circle skirt with a yellow thermoset jewellery set, excuse the tatty headscarf, my hair was all pin curled up! With my dearest daddy outside the bar.

Friday night outfit!

  I love everything Hawaiian and I really think this dress brought the sun out for the weekend, well maybe not but it certainly brightened up my day (oh so cheesy!) The colours and patterns are so gorgeous, soft pastel blues and greens! I bought it at the Rhythm Riot last November and it is vintage, I'm not sure of what era I think quite possibly 60s or 70s but I think it looks perfect for a 50s weekend, it has changeable straps so it can be halterneck or spaghetti straps!
I teamed this with a vintage 50s white jewellery set and white wedge heels from New look.

Another view of my dress with my lovely mother in her Outerlimitz flamingo dress! (I really hate my posture in this picture I look huge!)

 The next day I noticed I managed to get lipstick marks on it, woops!

Day two - day time

Now don't I look attractive with my curlers in! This is a reproduction 40s leopard print beach set from Cal Noir of Hollywood! I was really nervous about wearing this but it was lovely weather for it so I thought I'd get my milk bottle legs out! I teamed it with black espadrilles and my wooden Enid Collins bag. This outfit is ideal for the beach (hence the name!) But I've worn it for shoots as well as at this weekend, I'd love to wear it to the High Rockabilly! 

Day two night time - Saturday night dress!

Saturday night of a weekender is the night to glam up so I thought I'd dust off my blue lurex dress I bought from Outerlimitz last year, I love this dress so much but it does scratch me something chronic! This dress can be worn to any event I think because I don't think it screams 50s too much so it could get away with being a dress bought out of a high street store, I love it and I love outerlimitz!
Because it is so low cut I put a cute vintage broach on the bust to stop my boobs making an appearance!
Once again teamed with my white jewellery set but this time I wore my vintage 50s Lucite heels and Lucite handbag, both very easy to find on eBay if you've got a lot of money and tiny feet (unfortunately I have clown feet but managed to get my shoes at a bargain price of seven quid!)

Another shot of my dress and my handbag with my daddy dearest, doesn't he look smart in his drape?

Day 3! Eek I had four changes on this day, how dramatic right? Well when a girl doesn't feel comfy she just doesn't feel comfy, I started off wearing my vintage 50s aqua cigarette pants but soon changed into my gorrrrgeous Bernie Dexter dress named after yours truly, yes the Scarlett dress!

I am well and truly in love with this dress, it is so comfy and the print is so cute! I teamed it with (my mothers) patent belt and my Vintage Aqua wicker handbag and cork heel wedges.
My dad said it was an evening dress but I thought it was perfect to wear on a gorgeous sunny day!

Evening Attire

I hadn't worn this dress since the Rockabilly Rave two whole years ago and I was so happy that I did again, I bought this dress at Hemsby a while ago and it is a vintage 50s yellow lace pencil dress and I have to say fits me like a glove (which makes it the more difficult to take off!) I was always too scared to wear it again because I love to jive and unfortunately in this dress I can't because of how tight it is under the arms, which most dresses were during the 50s!
But I kept it on for long enough to get an effect and I wore it with my gold Lucite handbag, Lucite heels and yellow thermoset earrings, this was definitely my favourite dress of the weekend, so simple but so stunning!

My dance outfit, yes I could breathe again! I made sure I wore comfy clothes so I could dance, a simple cream 50s blouse and a beautiful school themed 50s circle skirt I got at the Rockabilly Rave car boot this year! Oh and of course I teamed it with my Vivienne Westwood flats hehe!

I must admit even though it is not one of my most favourite weekenders going I have to say that I am pretty proud of myself for my outfit choices this time around, lets hope I can keep it up for Twinwood and Hemsby!  I still can't get over that I had nine outfit changes over three days, pretty mental huh? I'm a girl so it makes it OK!
Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx

The Vanity Box hits Wildest Cats in Town

During the first weekend of July I packed my gear up again for the Teddy Boy weekend of the year, Wildest Cats in Town, luckily it's only five minutes drive up the road from me so I didn't have lots of unfortunate travelling to do unlike some people, but the downer on was getting there stupidly early before anyone else and watching my father try and work the DJ decks because the silly blue coats had mucked around with them before hand! 
I've been going to the Wildest cats (or Pakefield as it's known to some) for a good few years now and for me it had started getting a bit repetitive year upon year until this year that is!
Before I had even gone I found out some great news that the Vanity Box were going to be doing what they do best and that's hair and make up! Which obviously got me excited because it meant I would be looking immaculate the whole weekend (well at least one night before my money ran out!)

When I got there I made sure I had a good ole catch up with the ladies Gemma and Verity while they were setting up, I was happy to hear that some women had already been taking an interest in the stall and they were taking bookings!

(picture stolen from Andy Munday!)

The stall could not look more professional, as well as providing hair and make up stands for the the ladies having theirs done they also had little bits and bobs you could buy such as hair flowers, clips and earrings, perfect to make any outfit complete.

Check out all those goodies! I love the fact that they had antique Esq gold frames showing what they did
I love the fact that they did not just specialise in forties, or just in fifties but they liked to do styles with their own unique twist to styles.

Verity hard at work styling the hair of a lady for the evening, they were set up in the main entrance hall so everyone could see what was going on

Gemma concentrating on make up, I think this is such a great idea especially if you feel like having a lazy weekend, getting someone else to do the hard work and making it look doubly amazing!

Time went on so slowly.. (swoon) on Friday and I thought I'd go get my hair done  by the girls, unfortunately I had already pin curled my hair for the evenings events so Gemma offered to brush it out and style my fringe for me and I'm completely glad she did because I always have an Afro when it comes to pin curls!
(picture stoling from Luke Domingo)

And here was the end result

Unfortunately not the best shot but I think it looks great and I got great feedback (from middle aged men mind) saying how good it looked! I thought my hair had got quite long so this was the perfect length when curled for me!
Gemma did a fab job! And I know from speaking to other ladies that both her and Verity were well received and I saw many ladies having their hair styled over the weekend, one lady I saw she kept her style in the whole weekend, it shows that you are definitely getting good quality styling from these ladies!

My mum even had her hair styled by them, and even though she was nervous she was truly happy with the results she got, she wanted the Rosemary Clooney 50s style Roll and it suited her down to a tee!

You can't see her hair very well but don't her and my dad look fab! Very proud of them both as they were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary that weekend!

I was so glad to see the girls at the weekend, they kept me company definitely! I know I've wrote about them before but I really cannot praise the work they did that weekend high enough, They were so relaxed through out and were welcoming to every lady who booked with them, I have heard that they are wanted again for next year, I hope to see them again there!

The girls finishing the weekend in style

My next Post will be on outfits I wore that weekend, I don't usually do that but without blowing my own trumpet I thought I looked rather dashing haha!

Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx



Rave today gone tomorrow

I've just returned from the 15th Anniversary Rockabilly Rave, I cannot believe how quick it's been and gone, unfortunately I thought it wasn't one of the best, it had a strange ol' kind of atmosphere going on, not to say that I didn't enjoy it, it was the Rave of course I did! But it was just a bit flat for me I think, but never mind I had a lot to drink, spent far too much money on clothes and burgers and overall had a giggle!  Here's a few pics of the outfits I wore over the few days

Wearing my vintage Hawaiian sarong dress with friends Graham and Julie, this dress
I bought at Hemsby a couple of years ago and was a bit of a tight squeeze, pity it didn't bring the sunshine out! I thought my flask matched quite well though don't you think?

Vintage one shouldered Aqua embroidered dress made from what looks to be Sari fabric with my fella,
we didn't mean to be matching but I think he scrubs up well when he wants to!  When I first bought this dress it was in a sorry state and also nearly was again when the shoulder ripped so I had to change quick!

Sunday night with the ladies wearing my vintage green halterneck

pencil dress and matching jacket, completely a play it safe outfit for me!

Unfortunately I didn't get to see a lot of the bands because I was too busy eating most of the times or shopping, yes I'll say shopping that's what us girls do! But the bands I did see were super, The Rhythm Shakers on Thursday night probably would have to be the top one of the weekend for me, I've loved these guys and girls for a while now and the rave was the first time I had got to see them, the rest of the wild records artists topped the bill on the Sunday night to a great response from the crowd and of course Saturday showed us the Inferno's( my all time favourite band!) and The Bellfuries who I had doubts about because they only played the rave last year but they blew us away again, the singers voice still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end!

I managed to pick up a few bits and bobs over the weekend including another pair of Capri pants in a beautiful aqua colour... I have 9 pairs now!! I will be able to stop wearing my jeans soon! A lovely printed circle skirt from the Car boot... Yes I managed to get up for the car boot, the first weekend in god knows how many years but I did it! Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea so it was heaving but I came away with my skirt so I was content when I went back to bed. I also bought a vintage white jewellery set and black beaded sweater, good weekend buys I'd say!
I generally had a blast this weekend spending time with close friends and making new ones.
I apologise for this post being a bit short and is a general overview, I'm finding it quite difficult to get motivated at the moment so am running low on ideas but as soon as I get one you lot will be in for a treat!
Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx

Kicking the summer off with some snaps

I came back to Lowestoft on Wednesday for three whole months, in this time I'm meant to get a head start on my dissertation, figure out what I want to do for my FMP, work and have a social life? How this is going to happen is beyond me. But I thought I'd start the holiday off with a little photo shoot on Thursday evening, it was at a place called Baconthorpe castle near Cromer, I'd never even heard of this and I've lived in the area all my life, sheltered life maybe? I found out it was going to be a group shoot with six photographers and three models so I was quite excited, but I also found out it was castle ruins not exactly a castle so I was a bit wary of how "Pin up" would work, but I got myself ready and away I went.

Here are some images from the group of photographers I worked with:

This was by Mark Whitmore, I think it looks quite moody and mysterious,

 even if I do look a bit young!

Love this by Andy Robinson!

Doesn't look like the average pin up and in

my comfy clothes too!

Love the vintage feel this one has to it by Andy Robinson!

I seemed to stay in this part of the ruins most of the shoot which I was a tad disappointed about because there were so many other parts to explore!

I adore this shot by Lynton Smith, the cropping of it is just amazing!

A shot by David Abbott, love the composition again, even though I was very uncomfortable
in rather tight Capri pants!!

And last but not least a finishing shot by Dean Mitchell
the angle is just so clever and like Dean said to me "this is my castle and what"

A fantastic shoot with a lovely bunch of photographers where I got some great shots for my portfolio I think!
The majority of the outfits I wore for this shoot are vintage minus the black Capri pants which were from Freddies of Pinewood, a fab repro jeans company, check them out!

I hope to go back to Baconthorpe to do more of a darker gothic shoot because I think the location is more suitable to that rather then Pin up! So keep your eyes peeled

Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx

Victory Rolls... The happy shopper version

So after my last post I had a comment asking if I could give any tips on how to do Victory rolls so I thought I'd quickly put some images together and give you a how to! because to be honest I'm not sure how I learn, I just practised one day and voila there we had it, Victory rolls... Bettina style! Now they're not perfected in any way yet but I think this will give you a rough idea of how I do them and you may be able to figure it out a bit better then I showed you!!

So here we go!! Excuse the really poor quality images and the person in the images wearing very little make up and Afro hair... It is a Wednesday and I have washed my hair!  But anyway...

I don't think it matters on where your parting is in your hair, I've had a side parting since I was about 12 years old because personally I do not think a centre one suits me but victory rolls often work really well with a centre parting and it is easier when it comes to sectioning your hair off because you get an even amount on each side...

Start by getting a small section of hair (enough to make quite a thick roll out of it!)

Then get a comb and back comb near the roots of the section so it makes it stand out a bit more,

make sure you smooth it all out before or after you've done your roll because otherwise you look
like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards and that is not a good look!

Next get the end of the section of the hair and roll it into a circle... If you're having trouble with this you can spray it a bit with hairspray so it all stays in place when you're rolling it. Once you have rolled the end into a circle, keep rolling it towards your head like you word a pin curl so then it looks like a barrel against your scalp. (Everyone now Roooolllll outtt thhheee barrrellll... no just me? )

 Grip it in place with Kirby Grips, you can try to hide them so it looks like it's standing up all by itself but if that's too fiddly just clip it in anywhere so it stays in place

And if any of that made sense it should look something like this!

Basically you have to do exactly the same on the other side but when it comes to Sectioning it make sure its around the same amount of hair as the other roll because when it comes to rolling it it could look uneven and ruin the whole Do!

Rolling the second one may take a few attempts to make sure it looks even and right compared to the other, but luckily you've got the other side of your head to look at to even them out!

And this is what the rolls should look like! Given they are a bit scruffy but you get the idea I hope?

Now if you have a fringe you could always leave it but I think this often ruins the hair style so why not try rolling your fringe too?

You don't necessarily have to have a fringe to be able to roll it, just make sure you section a small part of your hair before you start this whooole process

You do the fringe roll pretty much similar to the others but I don't tend to back comb mine, I used to have to do it with heated rollers or tongs but I've got the hang of doing it without these now, if you are still a bit wary you can just roll it with your tongs and then clip it in place with a grip

I tend to do mine at a diagonal angle because I think it shapes my face better but you can do it horizontal so you've got a Bettie Page Esq style fringe, I find it looks more forties then a diagonal fringe so I tend to stay away from it because I'm more of a fifties gal.

Try curling the rest of your hair with tongs or rollers to glam it up more or you can clip the rest of the hair up also for a easy up do!

But ta da here is what you should end up with!!

All in all this took me around 5 minutes to do, not bad really considering I've only

just got the hang of it! This may take you a bit longer at first but once you've got the hang of it you'll be able to do it easy peasy, but be prepared to have aching arms because you will get them and after all practise does make perfect!!

Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx