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

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



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

The Stampede of Sparking Stilettos on the Horizon

How on earth have I never heard of London Burlesque week? I honestly believe myself when I tell others that I'm a hermit and never venture outside the four walls of my bombsite of which I call my bedroom, its either this or I have  been walking around in a complete daze for the past few years, to be honest both of these sound true and those who know me, I'm sure you'll all agree!

To the matter at hand, London has a burlesque week???? This is purely amazing like I said I had never heard of it until last night when I typed in Burlesque into google because I was researching for my Dissertation (yes the dreaded essay has begun!) and I imagine it to be somewhat similar to London Fashion Week? Surely women aren't shaking their thangg down a catwalk to some bump and grind are they? 

 When I checked out the website it all seemed very exciting and, there was glitz, there was sparkle, the was the shades of romanticised red what more could draw me in!?

London Burlesque week is run by a gent named Chaz Royal who uses the yearly event to raise the profile of Burlesque in the mainstream which to be honest if you don't know about burlesque in today's day and age then you really have been sleeping in a cave somewhere. It was previously ran as London Burlesque festival and it shows bombshell beauties from around the globe strutting their stuff and titillating their tassels, it seems there really is something for everyone with newcomers of Burlesque getting to try out the waters and even "Boylesk" yes men's interpretation at suave clubs such as Madame Jojo's.

It does make me wonder whether the change of name reflects on London Fashion Week and another way of showing it in the mainstream fashion industry,this is only my thoughts though, it could be a load of old rubbish for all I know. But London Burlesque Week is something I want to be a part of, so I've dropped an email to Chaz Royal himself to see if I can get my hands dirty there (not literally I imagine to be get my hands glittered!) if not I'm planning on buying a ticket for one of the events to get an idea of what it's really all like at London Burlesque Week, it'd be great if I could go because I could do a bit of self advertising there myself  and you never know where it might lead. So if I do expect a review of somekind in the future months.

Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx

Pick of the Pops take two!

So I've done this before with songs that I'm obsessed with at the time so I thought while I'm in the blog writing mode I'd write my pick of the pops until the next time, I've noticed that my taste in music is always chnaging, my dad gave me a few cds recently and a lot of them were "atlantic jivers" which I assumed to be a cd based on the Record label Atlantic records, nope just a title it seems but it's got some great songs on it including these ones I am currently playing to death :

Big Maybelle: Pretty Good Love

This track I've always known of but never listened to properly until I was playing one of these cd's and god the voice on this woman, you can see why she was called Big Maybelle with some of the notes she hits. Such a great R&B track, not enough modern women cover this track but then you've got to have a set of lungs to carry this song.
Next Track is Jimmie Jones and the Savoys: Please say you're mine

This one I cannot  stop listening to, I remember my fella playing it ages ago and I didn't really pay attention then and then when I was listening to this CD and I suddenly thought "I remember this!!" and then realised how much I actually love this song, it's a classic jiver but I've still yet to hear it played at a record hop, this will soon change believe me!

This one is another personal favourite
Little Willie John: Lets Rock while the Rockins good

I remember hearing this on my mums phone and I didn't realise it was Little Willie John, the guy who sung Shakin, the stroller everyone went mad over a year back, this song is more sixties to me (I'm not sure when it was recorded so I can't say whether I am right or not!) but Little Willie John was a very big R&B star (not literally as he was only 5ft!) with such a strong voice.

One to finish on is a modern one but almost in a similar style
Cee Lo Green: Forget you

This is actually amazing, I have loved this since it's come out and I love that it has got such a retro feel to it, especially when I saw Paloma Faith sing with him, I fell in love with Paloma that little bit more.

Well Hope you like some of these, they might not be to your taste but they certainly are to mine!
Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx

What to do what to do

At the moment I feel so lost with who I am as a person because of uni commitments, this really gets to me because unfortunately due to be a second year student my work load has become somewhat unreal and having a life beyond this for me is not quite happening, I've just handed in my project and have gone crash bang wallop into my last one of the year which is involving film so I'm slightly terrified! As well as having dissertations and essays coming out of my ears I don't really know how to handle it all!

What really worries me is that I seem to have let go of my blog and my modelling and the whole vintage aspect on life.Whatever am I to do?!

I'm hoping I can organise my life somehow in a way I don't quite know but as this project is a 10 week one I'm going to attempt to keep up with this blog and try and do more vintage articles instead of fashion as this is somehow taking over my life at the moment, not that it's a bad thing but I miss writing about things that are close to my heart, so there is nothing holding me back now so I've got to get my backside in gear and sort my life out right?!
In the next month or so I've got a few shoots coming up, well I hope, I had to cancel some last month and I was really annoyed at myself that I did but work comes first! Also I've got lots of exciting rockabilly gigs that I'm going to so I might even do a couple of reviews on here for you! So to be honest there's nothing else for it than to get on with it really is there?!

A bit of exciting news, I was featured on Adorn London's website (www.adorn-london.com) from London Fashion week for their street style

there I am! looking rather startled I must say!

and also the fabulous Bernie Dexter has designed a dress for me and named it after me (yes another one!!)
so first we have the Bettina

(this has to be one of the most comfortable dresses I own!)

And now we have the Scarlett! how amazingly beautiful is this!!
I can't wait to get my hands on this stunner (oh and the dress!)
Check these gorgeous dresses on Bernie's website www.berniedexter.com

So more positive thinking for me and I've just got to learn to handle my busy life!
Oh what a chore!

Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx

Who said make up had to be pretty?

For my past project at Uni, I had to create a magazine and  boy have I had trouble with it, everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong thanks to malfunctioning usb sticks,CS5 insdesign, and stupid ink companies sending me the wrong ink, I cannot wait until I have a Sailor Jerry's & Coke on deadline day!
Here are some of the images from a make up photo shoot I did at the begin the project based on Spring/Summer trends for 2011. I wanted this to be completely different from other make up images, I didn't want it to be "pretty" because my publication is quite unique and alternative I thought I needed someone with this look. Luckily I found Charmaine in the library at Uni, I think she was quite terrified when I asked her to model for me but she had the look I wanted for my magazine.Once again I had my lovely friend Eddy taking the photos and Rhiannon Morgan doing the make up who I found through model mayhem!
Here are some of the images, I am pretty happy with them and cannot thank the people enough who helped put the shoot together!

Charmaine wearing a Vivien of Holloway dress (good choice!)
this look was based on Meadham Kirchhoff's catwalk make up, it looks quite scary but I love it

 
Charmaine had the perfect "evil" look for this style!
Rhiannon created this by just using fake eyelashes

This look was based on the Dior catwalk

I love this look so much! We couldn't get the same shade yellow but
I think it works just as successful! I think we should of used more of a
pink lipstick then red but it still looks 50s

This look was based on the Chanel catwalk, we added purple to the eyes to
make it look more interesting, I like the fact that the focus is completely on the eyes

We had the eyebrows more defined than the catwalk look which is what I prefer

The last look was quite simple and natural and I suppose quite plain for Charmaine but I think
it rounds the looks off nicely
it was based on the Caroline Herrera catwalk for what I called the "skaghead look"

I think some of these shots are really successful and I enjoyed doing a make up shoot however
I didn't realise how long they are because of doing different make up looks
Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx