Bettina presents to you : Stop Traffic Clothing

Ladies! are you after a new dress for the up and coming Christmas parties? I came across a fab company that stocks American clothing brands such as Bettie Page Clothing, Stop Staring as well as many British companies such as Miss Fortune. They are none other than Stop Traffic clothing, they stock 1950s reproduction clothing for all you aspiring pin up girls out there.

Inspired by women of the golden age of Glamour such as Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe, Stop Traffic clothing has a dress for every lady, I was just looking on their site and have already made a mental list of what to buy, bad huh?!

If you want to go all out for an event you may have coming up soon, go have a browse at some of the delights they have in stock.

Now how glamorous is this? Hell for saving this for the staff party,

 I'd wear it to uni!

Owner and all round vintage lover Rebecca McWattie hunts high and low for these beauts, from all over Britain to the other side of the pond in America, now if that isn't personal service, I don't know what is!

Rebecca says:'For some women they want a special occasion dress, others want to incorporate Retro into their lives. Lots of our customers love to wear the 50s dresses dancing, especially the 50s style petticoats. Since the hit TV series 'Mad Men' there has definitely been a huge interest.'

The fact that Rebecca knows what her customer is looking for makes this site extra special and shows that she isn't just another company jumping on the 'vintage bandwagon'.

glamorous Rebecca has an interest in everything retro since she was a teenager

after watching the timeless MGM films

Some of the latest designs instore by Stop Staring
As well as seeing glamour gals wearing these dresses
celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Nicole Kidman have been seen spotted

wearing their designs so you know you're getting high quality glad rags.

Stop Traffic clothing are currently running a competition for all their customers in collaboration with

The Powder Room

The prize is you get £150 to spend online at Stop Traffic Clothing, a vintage make-over at The Powder Room and a signed copy of Style Me Vintage: Make-up by Katie Reynolds.

To enter just email your full name and telephone number to sales@stoptrafficclothing.com

Competition closes December 31st 2011 and winner will be drawn at random on 2nd January 2012

 

You know I think I might have to enter this one, sounds a bit too good to be true! So ladies go for it, you never know you might be able to get your self kitted out for the up and coming seasons, Gents why don't you send your ladies name in, she'll never stop thanking you if she wins!

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

The return of the The Hollywood Starlet

Whilst I was at Blue water this weekend doing a bit of window shopping (and only that let me just clarify!) I noticed a few things that were quite different in some fashion shops, glamour is coming back ladies and not the trashy page three glamour either, that's right Hollywood glamour, I was looking at dresses, tops and there was a very strong vibe of decades from the twenties to the late forties. A friend and I spotted a 1930s inspired dress which was very Madeleine Vionnet , it was classic and it was enchanting, something that could be worn time and time again and a lady would look just as  beautiful in it each time. With a simple style to it I fell in love, however not so much at the price of £195 I had to let it go, bring on the January sales I say!

It seems people are looking back again at times where glamour was a way of life, women between the twenties and early sixties took great pride in their appearance and wanted to look feminine and beautiful and damn right they should. Women are meant to look glamorous and sexy this is what men love about us right?
I'm after a jumpsuit, I was a bit wary of this idea because I've never worn one in my life and I didn't particularly want to look like an eighties  reject and the majority of jumpsuits in shops are just tacky until I went into New Look and Found what seemed to be a seventies influenced but I liked it a simple black one shouldered jump suit.

See now this is something I think looks rather good(excuse my awful cropping of the image!) I tried it on and it just felt so comfortable, like I said it is very seventies however the seventies took a lot of influence from the forties so If I get this for my birthday I think with my hair pin curled it will look lovely! I like the fact that the trousers have a bit of a flare to them and are high waisted so this means it will suit my hourglass frame a treat!

But it was very classic and so was many other things I saw in shops, I mean of course dress lengths haven't really grown and I don't see them growing any time soon, its either maxi or mini I'm afraid and nothing in between, but the bodices of some of the dresses are very forties and fifties influenced and are very flattering for ladies. I also saw that River Island were selling Pretty Polly seamed tights.

Now obviously these aren't as good as seamed stockings in my opinion but for ladies that want a bit of class every day and a cheaper option these could be right up your street. I love the fact also the design is also very vintage inspired with the streamlined radio, the pose of the ladies legs and the general feel to it, very retro indeed.

You also now notice celebrities who go for the Hollywood glamour look such as Katherine Heigl, is it because they want to stand out from the rest or are they generally interested in past times? Or just wearing something their stylist simply told them would look good?

Katherine Heigl wearing a beautiful evening gown at an awards ceremony with fifties inspired hair, wowee!

All of this could be because of the new Cher and Christina Aguilera film BURLESQUE that is coming out this month. People have  certainly now opened their eyes to burlesque and it is certainly becoming more mainstream so are designers wanting to show this through their garments and give ladies a bit of retro chic?

Christina Aguilera in Burlesque

 Or are the general public simply following another trend similar to the "Mad Men" phase? I quite like it to be honest because I can now go into modern clothes shops and find clothes that are actually similar in design to those of the decades I am interested in, the forties and fifties. I can now mix and match vintage with contemporary without feeling too uncomfortable in it because some outfits now do just scream pure class and this is what I like, call me a snob, I don't care, I like to look good and sometimes high street fashion just isn't for me. Personally being a lady myself there is nothing more captivating than a woman dressed up to the nines in alluring garments with a bit of glitz, their hair styled nicely, beautiful red lips and a damn good handbag, I'm sure most of you would agree. So will we see a bit of Hollywood glamour over the Christmas period, oh I do hope so. Ladies, ditch the jeggings and go for something a bit more seductive with a ravishing evening gown or pencil skirt, or like me a classic jumpsuit.

Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx